The elite 3

Crash and Wake Them Up

  That's it, I've made up my mind. I'm going to stop James, and wake up my friends for our final goodbyes.

  I figure out a way to get the ship flying, then set it to collide in 5 minutes. Afterwards, I walk over to the cells. I decide to first wake up...

  —Mackenzie. I find the keys sitting on a nearby rack and undo her lock. She is laying curled up in a corner, and I kneel by her. I gently shake her until she wakes up. She looked so peaceful asleep, I feel almost bad for waking her up.
  "Huh? Mary? Are you okay? Where are we?" She looks around, suddenly frightened and panicky. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
  "Mackenzie, this is gonna sound crazy, but we've only got 5 minutes until this ship crashes with another that belongs to James." As I turn around, the counter has changed to 4. "We will be saving a lot of people but..."
  Mackenzie's face is one I've never seen on her before. She's so scared and confused, then I see her trying to calm herself. "Oh," she says, "I get it. It's okay." She hugs me and starts to shake a little. "Hey, you're a good person, you know? I don't want you to go down thinking I felt bad about this." 3 minutes. "This was a good choice. Now, let's go wake up Emily to say goodbye."
  Tears roll down her face as she attempts to stand up, but it seems sitting is even an effort for her. She starts to panic a little.
  "I... I don't know... I don't know if I can... How about you go get her?" She says, trying to look as if nothing is wrong. As if death isn't heading towards us in 2 minutes.
  I make a quick decision. "It's okay. I'll stay with you. We don't have time left anyways. Might as well just let her sleep." She doesn't respond. Only nods.
  Suddenly, Mackenzie looks up, and grabs my face, and gives me a quick kiss. My face turns bright pink, butterflies fill my stomach, and Mackenzie laughs. "I've never kissed anyone before. You seemed like a good first person."
  In the middle of the moment, the timer strikes 1, and something catches Mackenzie's eye. She points, "Mary! Over there! A hatch!"
  On the other side of the room, there's a door that's meant for smaller ships to depart from. With no time to spare, I run to the control panel and tries to find any way to open it. Mackenzie tries to crawl or drag herself out of the cell and to the other side of the room.
  Out of a window, I can see the other ship, headed for our path. Suddenly, the world goes in slow motion. I find the button, and the hatch begins to open. I run towards Mackenzie, and pick her up, bridal style. I sprint towards the opening, just as the plane crashes on the other side of the room, where the cells are located. The blast pushes us up into the air and out the door, sending us flying through the sky.
  We both land and everything goes.

                         "Error"

  I see this word in the dark space behind my eyelids.
  "What?" I hear an unfamiliar voice say, seemingly from inside of my head. "You can't do that! Chosen one, you've cheated?! Why would you do that!?You've messed it all up!"
(See bottom for ending)

  —Emily. I find the keys sitting on a nearby rack and undo her lock. She lays on her back in the middle of the cell, and I kneel next to her, gently shaking her to wake her up.
  When she comes to, she asks, "What? Where am I? Mary? Are you okay?" I place a reassuring hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
  Emily, this is gonna sound crazy, but we've only got 5 minutes until this ship crashes with another that belongs to James." As I turn around, the counter has changed to 4. "We will be saving a lot of people but..."
  Emily looks away from me and says nothing. I can hear her take in a deep and shaky breath. She turns back to me and her face is red. "Damn it all." She says under her breath.
  A sudden pang of guilt hits me. Maybe it would of been better if she had never known. Maybe I should have let her sleep.
"So... this is goodbye then?" She asks quietly. I nod. Tears begin to fall.
3 minutes
"Damn, man. This has been a hell of a ride, though. All of this stuff we did? Who would have thought? Going from no one to saving a bunch of people? How cool is that? And hey, I'm glad I got to do it with you."
It feels nice when she says that. I smile, knowing that if I open my mouth, I'll only begin to sob. I let out a small chuckle, followed by me rolling my eyes in a sad sort of way. I lean in to hug her.
"Hey, let's go wake up Mack," she says. She tries to get up, but there's no point. Tears roll down her face as she attempts to stand up, but it seems sitting is even an effort for her. She starts to panic a little.
She laughs. 2 minutes. "Maybe you should go get her."
   I make a quick decision. "It's okay. I'll stay with you. We don't have time left anyways. Might as well just let her sleep." She doesn't respond. Only nods.
We sit there, and I begin to lower myself, and we both lay on the ground, wrapped facing each other. "Who knew we'd go like this, huh? Pretty cool, if I say so myself."
"Cut the crap, Mary. This is the worst. We deserved more. More time, more opportunities. All we can say is that it's been cool. We've gotten to do some cool things but this sucks. I'm just glad that in my final few moments I'm with... LOOK!" Emily lifts her head and points to the other side of the room. "A hatch!"
There's a hatch used for smaller planes to leave this one. As the timer strikes 1, I jump up and search the panel for a way to open it. Emily begins to drag herself out of the cell and to the hatch.
   Out of a window, I can see the other ship, headed for our path. Suddenly, the world goes in slow motion. I find the button, and the hatch begins to open. I run towards Emily and pick her up, bridal style. I sprint towards the opening, just as the plane crashes on the other side of the room, where the cells are located. The blast pushes us up into the air and out the door, sending us flying through the sky.
  We both land and everything goes.

                         "Error"

  I see this word in the dark space behind my eyelids.
  "What?" I hear an unfamiliar voice say, seemingly from inside of my head. "You can't do that! Chosen one, you've cheated?! Why would you do that!?You've messed it all up!"

<CHEATER'S ENDING>