The Sleepwalker

Part Three: 20

Overseer Vindicator 
​


"Vindicator! Wait up!!" Invoke shouted, rushing along. Vindicator wasn't even running; he was just walking fast down the hall right outside. A female Agent and male Agent followed close behind.

"Keep shouting," He grunted, "that's a good way to put a 'fresh meat' sign over our heads."

"You could have at least waited for us." Invoke huffed.

"Why? We both know where we're going, Sickle told us."

"But... we're stronger as a team!"

"I can't protect you or anyone else without a weapon. If something finds us, you run. I'll buy you some time."

He said the second last part louder so the two Agents' could hear too. Unlike what Cogsworth seemed to believe, Vindicator would not be sacrificing his Agents to save himself. If anything, it'd be him jumping onto the Sleepwalker so his soldiers could escape up the elevator shaft.

Suffice to say he disagreed with his 'boss's' actions.

And as any normal human would be, he was a bit pissed off that he had almost been murdered. It had been in the back of his mind while entertaining the oni, but now it was front and had center stage.

Invoke went quiet, but Vindicator noticed she was upset. Maybe Warden's attempted murder annoyed her too.

He tossed a glance over his shoulder. "You hear me? You run if you see anything. DO NOT attempt to fight it."

That's my job, he thought

Both Agents nodded frantically as they continued down the dark hall.

"Juliet."

Vindicator looked over at Invoke, who he was sure had spoken, since the voice was loud and almost commanding. "What?"

She pushed her golden hair out of her eyes and looked up at him expectantly. Red light glinted off her long, equally golden hairpin. "What... what?"

The Overseer of Cellblock B stopped suddenly. "Indexers up. No noise." He whispered. They followed his orders and stood in a circle, looking around silently.

The hall they were in was quite dark, (what a surprise), but Vindicator could still kind of see, and half-open doors surrounded them. A monster could be in any of the rooms, just out of sight. They were put at an immense disadvantage.

He nudged the female Agent. "Does the name Juliet mean anything to you?"

The Agent thought for a moment. "I think that was my name a long time ago."

Down the hall, the darkness broke up as a light began to suddenly shine. Vindicator didn't dare hope that it was help, as the light was joined by the sound of clopping, not unlike the sound of horse hoofs on metal tile.

Vindicator let out just a single swear before the light-bearer came into view. And the Overseer was correct to not hope, because the thing that stood ten feet in front of them was definitely not hope.

A headless man dressed in medieval armor sat on a jet-black horse, holding a severed and rotting head up by the hair that had light coming from his mouth, as if a flame sat on its tongue. It was wearing a huge, idiotic grin. On the other hand, he held a human spine with a leather hilt. It looked like a whip.

"Juliet. I bring your end." It said, the voice coming not from the head, but also not from the bloody stump that was the neck, as it was not a clean cut. The voice seemed to just loudly echo around the corridor.

Vindicator stood in front of the Agent - Juliet - and held his Indexer in front of him.

"Speaking of ends," he grunted, "you should start leaving."

The thing cracked the spine whip. "Do you know not of who I am? I am the dullahan. I bring Juliet's end."

Vindicator shook his head. "You take that pony a step closer and I'll blow your head into so many pieces you'll never be able to hold it in anything but a bag."

The dullahan did not speak again, but spurred the horse, which caused it to snort out some sparks. Immediately and without warning, the horse suddenly surged forward, charging so fast that its hoofs went red hot and left scorch marks on the floor. Vindicator threw himself backwards at Juliet and knocked them both just barely out of the reach of the spine whip. Nevertheless it tore at Vindicator's armor and sheared the breastplate in two. Invoke and the other Agent had jumped to the other wall.

"Frickin'..." Juliet mumbled. Vindicator realized he had accidentally crushed her arm when he pounced, since she went down on her back and her arm was pushed behind her against the wall. It looked painful.

"Are you okay?" He asked, tone rough.

"Better than the whip," Juliet mumbled. She was very obviously out of it.

Down the hall, the dullahan came to a halt without touching the reins of the horse. His severed head turned toward them, black beady eyes flickering in between Vindicator and Juliet. evidently displeased that they evaded him. He spun the horse around, cracked his whip, and prepared to charge.

Vindicator, Invoke, and the male Agent all brought up their indexers and had fired off five shots before the horse began to run. Of course, none of the laser beams did anything to the horse or body, and the horse was gunning right for Vindicator and Juliet.

A lightbulb went on over Vindicator's head, veritably. He didn't like the new idea, since it'd leave Juliet out in the open, but it was their best chance. So he quickly crossed the hall to Invoke and the male Agent, who both looked at him like he was mad.

The dullahan grinned wider and charged at an exposed Juliet. Right as he passed Invoke and the other Agent, Vindicator held out an arm and completely clotheslined the headless horseman off his horse. The force of the impact sent the dullahan to the floor, right on top of Vindicator. The horse vanished into black smoke when the dullahan's keister left the saddle.

They struggled to get untangled, Vindicator and the headless horseless man, but soon the dullahan realized that Vindicator was in fact holding the severed head, pinning it to the floor.

"Invoke!" Vindicator shouted. "Get Juliet and RUN!"

He saw her nod and race past the dullahan's flailing whip to Juliet, the male Agent following close behind.

Suddenly the whip hit Vindicator's back. It went right through the armor and tore a long cut into his flesh. Rather than hinder him, though, the pain made Vindicator roar like a bear and twist around to deliver a devastating blow to the dullahan's stomach, utilizing his nebulium arm. Ever get hit with a metal bar? Now imagine that bar is fist-shaped and being swung by a bodybuilder.

Saying that the dullahan went flying was an understatement. He caught like, three seconds of air time before crashing into the wall and filling the hall with the sound of his metal armor scraping on the metal siding. It had let go of the head and the whip, one of which Vindicator held. The whip was now on the ground a little ways away. The dullahan stood wobbily.

In the dimly lit corridor, Vindicator saw that they were the only two beings there. Where Invoke and the crew went, Vindicator didn't know. But he had bigger things to worry about. So he turned to the monster, back aching.

"That's right, look at me." Vindicator growled as he tossed the head into one of the open doorways and closed the door afterward, his eyes always on the monster, who seemed to be watching him without eyes. When the door was shut the light in the hall dimmed considerably, but they could still see each other just fine.

They stood in silence like this was one of those Wild West standoffs, whip on the floor between them. Neither moved. Neither made a sound.

Then the tension snapped, and the dullahan dove for the whip. Vindicator had a much different tactic. Before the headless horseless man could even touch the hilt, he received a boot to the chest, sending him backward. Vindicator didn't know if the monster could breathe, but a kick like that would knock the air out of anyone's lungs.

However, the dullahan seemed barely bothered. He just scrambled to his feet, turned toward Vindicator, and curled his gauntleted hands into fists.

The Overseer did the same.

"That's the spirit," Vindicator grunted.

They ran at each other. Vindicator landed the first punch, hitting the dullahan right in the breastplate and further denting it. The headless horseless man swung wildly, but Vindicator ducked and took hold of his enemy's armored leg, pulling it out from under him and sending the dullahan to the floor with a crash. The monster reached for the whip, but Vindicator kicked him right in the side and stomped on his wrist. Vindicator shot multiple times, each one hitting the dullahan's armor at such close range. It didn't seem to damage the monster, but they did stun him long enough for Vindicator to scoop up the whip and hold it high.

Suddenly the dullahan spoke in the same echoing voice as before, which was more then a little bit weird given the fact he had no mouth.

"You can't save them." He said, not struggling against the Overseer. "She's already dead. Both are."

Vindicator did not reply.

"Juliet and Leo. I brought both of their end."

"Enough. Lies won't get you anywhere, and unless you can be in two places at once, they're still breathing."

The dullahan let out a small chuckle. "They died not of my own hand."

To say Vindicator didn't believe him was an understatement. He cracked the whip high in the air to silence the monster.

"I said enough."

The dullahan still didn't move. "You cannot eradicate me. I will be there for your end as well."

"Can't wait for round two," grunted Vindicator, as he brought the whip down to the monster. It sliced through his armor, but didn't harm the rotting flesh beneath. He swung again, but the monster's laugh was still heard over the clang of bone to metal and crack of the spinal segments. Out of anger and rage, Vindicator continued, until someone lightly touched his shoulder. He spun and almost whipped the newcomer, but realized it was Invoke. She looked shocked. He let his guard down.

The dullahan threw a single punch up and landed an almost perfect uppercut on Vindicator, who stumbled back into Invoke. The two Overseers went down together, and the whip was dropped.

A cold, high laugh sounded as the headless horseless man picked up his weapon, brandishing it. He did not speak as he approached the two Overseers.

Time was running out in his hourglass, Vindicator realized. Was this really how he'd die? His eyes handed on Invoke's long, pointed hairpin. It looked sharp. Kind of.

The dullahan stopped just a foot away, raising his whip. If his head was on his shoulders, Vindicator assumed he'd be smiling. At least until Vindicator ripped the hairpin out (along with some hair, much to Invoke's pain) and shoved it into the horseman's exposed chest, right between the slashed breastplate.

The effect was almost immediate.

The dullahan screamed, dropped the whip, and tried frantically to take the long hairpin out from his chest, though Vindicator had gotten it pretty far in since he had put a whole ton of force into it.

The monster fell to his knees, still screaming, and in a final moment of anger gave the Overseers a very unwelcome gesture that Vindicator wondered how something from the Dark Ages knew. Then the dullahan melted into smoke, which promptly dispersed in the air.

Vindicator, who was on his knees, fell backward with a groan, which killed his sliced-up back, but he didn't think he had the strength to stand now that the adrenaline wore off. Invoke's face appeared over him, and he briefly thought that in another universe, they were probably married and woke up this same exact way.

"How's Juliet?" he grunted, closing his eyes.

Invoke bit her lip. Again, the thought of them waking up together hit Vindicator like a freight train. "I left them together 'round the corner and down the hall in some sort of supply room. I wanted to find you but didn't want to put them in danger."

Vindicator sat right up. "So Juliet isn't dead?"

Invoke looked a bit surprised. "Last I saw, no."

"How long ago?"

"Like... fiveish minutes. Why?"

Vindicator, back aching, stood up, grabbed the spine whip on the ground, coiled it, and ignored his sore body. "Argh... show me where they are. Right now."

Invoke had worry written all over her face, probably because of Vindicator's condition. She grabbed his arm, threw it over her shoulder, and half-dragged him down the hall, round a corner, and brought him to a door that looked just like a bunch of others all lining the hall. Vindicator realized how basically every hall looked identical to the last and was sure to write a formal report on how they should get some decorations or something in here.

"You're sure?" Vindicator asked, scanning over twenty doors that looked just like this one, only some had glowing red edges, meaning they were locked. Theirs was not only green, but also slightly, just so slightly, ajar.

"I... think so. It was kind of dark when I left them," She said as she pushed open the door, revealing... nothing. It was just an empty supply room.

They stood there in silence for a while, processing what they were not looking at.

"You're sure?" Vindicator repeated, quietly.

"I'm positive." Invoke responded.

Vindicator stumbled forward and out of Invoke's grasp. "They should be here. They should... they..." He shut up realizing the uselessness of shouting.

"Maybe they went off to the armory without us?" Invoke offered, looking around at the cleaning supplies inquisitively, as if they could tell the pair all their stories.

Her fellow Overseer shook his head, leaving the room. "They didn't. They should be here."

His heart was racing. The dullahan told him Juliet was dead. Did the other Agent have to die too?

He limped to the next green door, throwing it open. Nothing. He went to the next. And the next. And the next. Before he opened his sixth door, Invoke lightly placed a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down.

"If they left that room, they probably moved to the Armory," said Invoke, quietly, "they knew where it was."

Vindicator shook his head, stressing. "No, they didn't. The dullahan warned me... he told me that they both... that they both freaking kicked the bucket."

They stood in a few moments of silence, looking at each other.

"How do you think they died?" Invoke wondered aloud.

Vindicator attempted to control this rage that was boiling inside him, and he tried to not shove it out at his friend.

"I don't care how. I care what did it."

"Okay... what do you think...?"

"I don't know. But I'll kill it either way."

Vindicator didn't say anything more. He just turned and started to walk down the hall, following Sickle's directions.

"We can keep looking!" Invoke called after him. "To be sure they're dead! The thought of leaving them alone here terrifies me."

"They're dead."

He couldn't explain why he knew, but something deep inside him told him that they were both dead. Neither would be stupid enough to ignore his calls.

Invoke ran after him to help steady his slow and painful walk. He grunted his thanks and continued onward. Due to his tired and injured nature, he missed a turn or two, but Invoke was able to steer them true.

About five minutes into their trek, they heard a noise. It sounded... like people. Vindicator held his breath. Finally he'd get to see another face other than Warden's.

Then he heard screams and shouts of two grown men, which is a weird sound to be sure, but not one unfamiliar to Vindicator, and he and Invoke shared a glance that passed a spark of understanding between them.

Down the hall and quite a bit of ways away, Sickle and Pilgrim ran, holding blasted (which works both ways; he had a blistering laser wound on his shoulder) Warden between them. They looked wildly at the two Overseers. Behind, running on all fours, was something that looked like a humanoid-bear-deer-skull-head thing. It didn't look friendly.

"Vindicator?" Pilgrim shouted, sounding equally 'help-us' and 'I thought you were dead and gone'.

"I think we should go," Vindicator said, trying to gather his strength. Invoke nodded, and they started to run toward the armory together, followed by the three men and the skull-monster.

But had Vindicator opened that door that they left behind, the sixth one, he would have been greeted by an interesting sight, an equally horrifying and peculiar one.

On the other side of said door was another supply room, most likely a janitorial closet. It was nothing special, the door had probably been opened only a few times before.

However.

The small vent on the ceiling had been torn off the wall. Blood dripped down from it, falling onto two bodies, one male, one female. If one were to look at them in the face, they would see what was right behind the two Agents, because a huge circular hole went right through their heads, from their chin to their brow.

They had no face.

They had been caught unawares.