Dangerous by Default

62. I don't care what happens, as long as I rip this bitch's head off

Retrieving the goop had been easy enough. Mina half expected to find the fridge where the Goop lived destroyed in a picturesque swirl of ash and flames, White Wing's doing no doubt, and the pounding of police boots on the sleek floors of Dimensions sounding her inevitable demise. Yikes. She had watched too many action movies as a child. The reality had been much more lackluster.

Mina's dancerly body had begrudgingly carried her back through the runaway-like hallways above the robo test space. No problem following the same set of glass doors that swerved and curved like a miniature see-through labyrinth. Piece of cake. The raven head of hair continued to sway for a second when she stopped to press her hand into the special grooves of the chameleoned entrance to her playroom for the last year. The same whoosh of air greeted her as the blast proof door opened once more, only this time a much weirder scene was sprawled out before her. A tiny voice in the back of Mina's head, like an audience member watching a slasher film, begged her to not enter. Never go in there alone! You're gunna die up there, ya dumb bitch! Mina swallowed these thoughts. There wasn't any time to speculate. Just had to keep moving.

Her boots crunched on the fallen debri, breaking the silence. And then she realized what the little bits and pieces that scattered the floor were. Things had really gotten out of hand in the amount of time she and Caine trickled down to the sewer grate. A foot. A twitching limbless torso. Looks like the Doves made it out of the lab alright. How the fuck did they manage to dissassemble so many of you? My poor babies! She had stepped not just into the remnants of her labs, but a robo pup battlefield. And from the looks of it, The Doves had taken the upper hand. Mina wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real, or some twisted nightmare of White Wing's personal making. No turning back now. Keep it moving, because either way they won't hesitate to do the exact same Mortal Kombat shit to you, tuts. It took her every last bit of strength to turn on her heel and rush back to Caine, to say hell with the Goop and just make sure they all made it out of Dimensions.

Mina pressed on. The fridge was only a few paces away, but it was hard not to feel like something was about to jump out from the shadows. She was starting to get scared. She felt dissociated tearing the mini walk-in fridge door open, like her body was going through the motions of retrieving the Goop from its special place but her mind was somewhere between screaming out for help and completely checked out. She barely felt the deep chill that goosepimpled her baby soft skin. How many times do I have to remind you, You only feel danger when... fuck. You know the rest, just keep pushing, until you're dead. The sooner you have it, the sooner you'll see Caine again.

Mina slammed the door behind her with the fresh vial carefully tucked into her bra, just like the night prior, when White Wing had attacked them just a floor above. What else is a bra good for? Clearly safer than that stupid duffel bag.

A weak smile had barely stretched the muscles on Mina's face when something shifted in a pile of fallen robo pups to her left. She let out a shrill scream.

Pushing bits of circuitry aside, Artemis bounded from the nearby elevator bank.

"Jesus, I thought you were a goner! I've never been happier to have you sneak up on me, you punk." Mina wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. She immediately headed towards the blast proof door, never skipping a beat.

"C'mon. We've gotta catch up to Caine and Ami, and I could certainly use your help in case the Doves get in the way."

Once again, Mina sank into the feeling that the world around her was some sort of surreal dream. Her hair flowed behind her in majestic ripples, her bosom swayed, and a trusty hunk of canine circuitry ran at her side. All they needed were matching costumes and a spunky name, and they'd be america's next super duo. The only thing that seemed to root her somewhere close to reality was the small vial of Goop that poked into the side of her breast. A gentle scratch that said, "This is really happening, space cadet!"

Mina prayed that somehow in all this uncertainty, Caine and Ami were okay. That Caine had no issue injecting adrenaline into the meaty part of Ami's thigh, and she would be foggily rubbing her eyes as they made their way into the sewer tunnels together towards salvation. Why couldn't it happen that way?

Thump thump thump. Her temple pulsed as she and Artemis entered the robotics training lab. No sign of the Doves. No White Wing. A rush of deja vu hovered over her, and as the drumming of their footsteps came closer and closer to janitor's closet door, the end of a very long night seemed to be on the horizon.

With her right hand outstretched, Mina had barely touched the cold door handle before it was thrust open with a bang. The force of the door sent her toppling to the floor, banging her head on a nearby work table on her way down. She shook her head as a heavy fog tried to descend on her consciousness, quickly wiping away tears that had reflexively threatened to blur her vision. Artemis had rushed to her side, releasing a chilly air onto the bump that had already started to form.

"Caine?" Mina called out in her dazed state.

A harsh laugh greeted her, "Guess again, Gorgina!"

Mina swallowed a lump the size of a boulder. As her vision steadied, the outline of a crimson cloak came into focus, sending a shot of awareness through her veins. White Wing.

"Just when I thought I'd have to do this without you," White Wing sneered. She grasped a bleary-eyed Ami, one fist gripping the top of her head by the hair as the other pressed the heinous buck knife against her best friend's throat. But where was Caine?

Mina's mouth went dry, and White Wing quickly read the panicked look on her face. With expert timing, crimson fabric swooshed aside to reveal a crumpled body, face down. Mina's heart rate went to warp speed.

"No!" Mina struggled to stand up.

"Sad you missed that part of tonight's show, babe. Wish for his sake he went down with a fight, but he was too busy trying to help lil Mimi here."

"Fuck you!" Mina's words shook. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Fuck the womb, fuck the Goop. I don't care what happens after tonight, as long as I rip this bitches head off first.

The crimson figure laughed, even louder and crueler than before. She's enjoying this.

"I was hoping it'd come down to this, etcetera, etcetera" White Wing barred her teeth, the light shining from her whites with a menacing glare. "Let's take out the middleman, shall we?"

Mina had barely planted her feet on the floor when a spray of blood wet her face. In the blink of an eye, White Wing slashed Ami's throat and tossed her body to the side, as if she were a two-year-old who had grown tired of a teddy bear.

And just like that, both Caine and Ami lay dead on the floor in a puddle of blood.