The Misadventure

Chapter 44

Cavet's POV

Get up.

Get up.

Get up.

One eye open. Hand, move. Arm, extend. Other eye, won't open. Glued together with blood. Push, legs, move, stand.

I got up slowly, leaning against the wall and sliding myself up along it. The world spun slowly as I did so, but not enough that I would fall If I took a step.

I walked unsteadily down the hall, stump pressed firmly against the wall to steady and my other arm tucked up close against my body, ready to attack or defend, whichever came first. I picked up a broken off doorknob as I walked and rubbed it, gaining confidence as I moved until I could finally walk without support. Slow steps turned into a light jog, which sent throbs of pain through my head at every step.

I rounded a corner and immediately paused, taking in the sight before me. Bella and Evil stood side by side, hands up in defense, eyes focused on me. Both were panting hard, as if they had been running.

"What a day this is, then." I whispered. Bella frowned at me. "Ego and alter-ego teaming up once again. This is how it started in the first place, remember, Bella? You and her?"

Bella shook her head, but it was Evil who actually replied. "Wrong on that one, stumpy. That was all me. Now, how about you stand down for a little while so we can deal with our little manic problem?"

I squinted at Bella, who was staring pleadingly at me. My hand tightened around the doorknob, and I saw her shift and tense up.

Then I wound up and whipped it over their heads.

They both spun around just in time to see Maniac appear at the end of the hallway and get nailed in the face by the knob, immediately crying out and falling back, clutching her head. Bella turned around again, a smile growing on her face, but I launched myself at her and slammed her into the wall.

"I can handle a few problems at once," I growled. Bella leered at me and struggled. I pressed my good hand against her throat, pinning her there with my stump, but was yanked back suddenly and thrown to the ground. Evil loomed over me, eyes bright.

"Bella, you take Maniac, I got Cavet!" She called. Bella scrambled to her feet and raced down the hall to where Maniac had fallen, and I managed to look back to Evil just in time to see her foot raising in the air. I rolled and it came down hard where my head had been, and I grabbed it and pulled. She stumbled but stayed upright, giving me just long enough to get to my feet and face off with her. We stood opposite each other, silent, motionless, just staring.  I watched Bella out of the corner of my eye, grappling with Maniac as she nervously jumped around the continually appearing holes in the floor. It was also forcing Maniac to move, though, too, and they were moving nearer and nearer to us.

As I watched, Bella's foot got caught on the edge and she stumbled, nearly falling into the void once more. I turned back to Evil and struck out with my good hand, a move she easily blocked by back stepping. I lunged towards her again and she parried, taking another step backward. I did this again and again, until she was almost back to back with Bella as Maniac and the void pushed against her.

Evil looked down, shocked, when she bumped into Bella and then glared at me. The floor disappeared under Maniac and Bella now that they were out of room to move to, and I shoved Evil backwards into it. I watched as she fell, disappearing into the darkness, before I jumped after her. 

My feet slammed into the ground with a crack and all the breath seemed to leave my body as I rolled forward, biting my tongue against the scream boiling up in my throat. Bella and Maniac were at it again, this time joined by Evil. I sat up slowly and looked around.

We had landed in the control room, looking exactly as it had when we first arrived, completely restored. Bella shoved Maniac into a computer and it flickered briefly.

The computer.

Grabbing the desk nearest to me, I hauled myself up and hopped over to the main system unsteadily, eyes dancing between the keys I was already planning to hit and the fight going on behind me. I rested my good hand on it lightly, and then, with one uneasy look back at Bella, I began to type.