Elites Chapter III: New Empire Rising

XXXIII

After travelling along endless hallways for five minutes straight, Bismuth and Inferno had hit another dead end. "This doesn't make any sense; The holding cells should be right here." Inferno said. "Am I the only one who feels a breeze in here?" Bismuth asked. She walked towards a loose wall where the air current was significantly stronger. Bismuth slowly removed the panel to reveal a massive air vent leading into a space below, with bright lights and a metal floor. Without hesitation, Bismuth jumped into the vent, and Inferno followed.
The room was lined with glowing blue pods that reached the ceiling. "What the hell are these?" Inferno said. The pods were covered in condensation,  with metal frames. Bismuth then noticed that one of the pods at the end of the room was empty, lights off. Inferno wiped the frost off one of the pods, and yelped as he stumbled back in horror. "Bis..." He stuttered. Bismuth bolted over, and her eyes widened. In the bright blue lights, they could make out a pale face and brown hair, suspended in time. "It's Laura." Bismuth said. Endgame had succeeded in capturing countless Elites, locking them in cryopods until summoned. Endgame had finally done the impossible: They perfected their brainwashing process without turning the subjects into lifeless drones.
Immediately after the stunning revelation, Inferno then noticed that another pod was empty. Suddenly he was hit backwards into another pod, and fell on the floor unconscious. A dark red fist came swinging at Bismuth right after. She quickly dodged the initial blows before realizing who it was she was fighting. "Wade...what's gotten into you?!" Bismuth spoke, still dodging Guardian's repetitive attacks. Although Endgame had managed to successfully brainwash the Elites, it quickly became clear that the Elites were not in full control of their movements. Guardian was sluggish, and only used basic attacks. As Bismuth pivoted out of the way of another attack, she noticed an implant embedded in Guardian's neck. That must be how they're controlling him, or at least giving him commands Bismuth said to herself. She quickly got behind Guardian, and jumped on his back. "Wade, I love you, but I'm sorry. This is probably gonna hurt you a lot more than it'll hurt me." She pulled a metallic device from her belt, and jammed it into the implant on Wade's neck. When she pushed the black button on the device, and 150 amps flowed from the device through Guardian's body. In an instant, he fell to the ground, as the implant in his neck started sparking and smoking.
After a few seconds, Guardian awoke from his shock, and the implant had fallen off his skin. "Sam..." He murmured. Bismuth quickly walked over, and held Wade in her arms "I was so scared I wasn't gonna find you!" Tears rolled down Sam's face as she removed her mask. Wade quickly replied "I'm not going anywhere babe." The two then shared a kiss, a moment that felt like an eternity for Inferno as he sat in the corner. "Hey I'm right here!" He exclaimed, visibly upset. Bismuth and Guardian then stood up as even more of the pods began draining. "What now?" Caleb asked, as he saw the pods powering down and deploying the remaining Elites. Guardian raised his fists and bismuth extended her device into a taser baton. Caleb immediately knew what was going to happen next. If they turned their backs now they were dead; their only hope was to finish the job, and make sure nobody got past them.
Meanwhile, Stone, Lovelock, McKay and Punk were making their way to the center of the Citadel. They came across another catwalk. Stone walked slowly across, and as he looked down he saw bright lights, and a metal floor forty feet below. This must be the center, Stone thought to himself. He pulled up the citadel schematics again and knew what they had to do. "We're right beneath the hub, and we've got four minutes until we lose our window. Suddenly, all the hair on Stone's head spiked up for a split second. McKay instantly felt the electricity in the air, and lunged towards Stone, pushing him out of the way of a hard lightning attack. McKay could not get away, and he was electrocuted by a figure in black and blue as his spine was slowly being crushed. Stone immediately realized who the figure was. "Jay? What's going on? You almost crippled him!"
Bluestone slowly stepped off of McKay. His body still pulsing electricity inside and out. He started walking towards Stone as the others grabbed McKay off the floor. The others had to move quickly in order to take Kaiser down in time. Stone quickly said "Jay how did you get free? We need to get to Kaiser, come with us." Bluestone kept walking towards Stone. "We...are not going anywhere!" Bluestone said now running in a full spring while powering up for another strike. Stone quickly deployed the sleeve of his suit as a small shield to block the lightning, but was pushed backwards from the punch. "Run!" Stone yelled to his comrades as he continued to block his friend's attacks. Compared to Guardian's attacks, Bluestone's movements were more fluid and agile. There were no openings for Stone to attack, so he simply took all the blows best he can. When Bluestone started to slow down, Stone retaliated with a roundhouse kick, expecting for the blow to land. Much to his surprise, Bluestone caught the kick before it could land. He then tossed Stone over the edge of the catwalk. Stone then fired another grappling hook into the roof and started pulling himself up. As he did, Bluestone powered up for another strike. All the metal plating on Stone's left sleeve shifted into another shield to protect him from the attacks, as he continued to pull himself up with his right. Once he was above Bluestone, the scales on his right sleeve converted to a wrist sword and he continued to shoot the spikes off with his left. Bluestone dodged all the blows and quickly deployed a staff he had stowed in his left pouch. The two were quickly in a stalemate, until Bluestone did a full swing with his staff. Stone shielded the blow, and split the staff in two on impact. Stone was then able to land an uppercut. Bluestone stumbled backwards, but seemed unfazed. He simply wiped the blood off his lip and went back after Stone. Stone blocked another attack, but as soon as he blinked Bluestone had Stone's right hand facing up as Stone was bent over. In an instant jab from Bluestone's elbow, Stone shrieked as he heard his arm snap. Stone fell to the floor, and couldn't move his right arm. Stone struggled to stand back up; he grabbed the split half of Bluestone's staff, wielding it like a baton. With only his left hand, Stone attempted to fight back. Before Stone could land a blow, he was grabbed by his throat, and tossed over the catwalk again. As he fell, Stone turned himself onto his left side, and used the remaining scales on his sleeves to create a shield.
In an instant, Stone struck the ground. The shield he had created was shattered, as well as his left hand. He was in excruciating pain, with nowhere to go. Surrounded by Endgame operatives, Stone had been defeated. Bluestone swung himself down to the ground, and stood emotionless. Punk, Lovelock, Silicon, and McKay were all lead out in cuffs at gunpoint. The whole plan was falling apart at the seams. "Good work Mister Thomas." Kaiser spoke in a robotic voice, as he wheeled up the ramp to his throne. "You have helped ensure a major victory for Endgame, in capturing the last Elites." Stone was writhing on the floor, still attempting to resist. "Now, who is the Elite behind this reckless operation? Go ahead, step forward." When nobody stepped forward, Kaiser responded "Very well, I know how you all have a soft spot for your allies. Kill the girl." Commander Barnes grabbed Lovelock by the arm, and put a gun to her head. She held her breath, and closed her eyes. Beads of sweat started rolling down Bluestone's face as he stood over Stone. As Bluestone shut his eyes, Stone blurted out "It was me!" The operatives lowered their guns from Lovelock, but she continued to breathe heavily. The operative then swarmed around Stone. Kaiser spoke "You nearly had us with this one. You've earned my respect Mr. Hilton. You have the spirit of a true fighter, and leader." Stone tried speaking, but couldn't get the words out. His heart was bursting out of his chest and his face was pale. Barnes tossed his pistol to Bluestone as Kaiser continued "Unfortunately, Endgame has no room for more leaders. Mr. Thomas: Kill Him." The two words echoed through the entire building. This is it, isn't it Stone said. This is how I'm gonna die. Bluestone aimed the gun directly at the back of Stone's head, finger on the trigger. Stone knew what was about to happen as the gun clicked. "Before you kill me, I wanna say something!" The room fell silent once again. The atmosphere of the steel grey forum was frozen. "You think this is over? My dying will only be the beginning of this war. This doesn't stop here..." Stone paused, as shivers went down his spine. He quickly noticed that there was condensation forming on the walls, and freezing. Everyone else in the room noticed the temperature drop right after. Stone finally said "Also...you all put too much faith in your selves. That's why you didn't see this coming." As soon as Stone uttered those final words, Bluestone took the gun from behind Stone's head, and pointed it at Kaiser's metal husk. Kaiser responded "So, you were able to find a way to disable your implant before going into cryostate." "You bastards should've killed me when you had the chance." Bluestone yelled, removing his mask. His blue eyes seemed to glow brighter than ever, his black hair was longer and more unruly, and on the back of his neck there was a bloody scar where his implant should be.
When Endgame had the Elites implanted when preparing to go into cryosleep, Bluestone had memorized where the implant was put in, and clawed it out before being put under. Because of it, Bluestone was able to escape brainwashing. The pain was excruciating from unknown suffering, but he had endured long enough to finally retaliate.
All the soldiers turned their guns on Bluestone and the injured Stone, but as they did, a giant wall of water and ice formed in front of the soldiers as they opened fire. The wall was a combo created by Aquamarine and Sapphire, both their hands touching the floor, controlling the attack. Now there was nothing between Bluestone and Kaiser. Bluestone then started shooting the gun at Kaiser, but all the bullets stopped on impact. Once his gun was out of bullets, Jordan Barnes climbed over the wall and started shooting at Bluestone.
On the other side of the wall, the soldiers were ordered to open fire on the two new assailants. Suddenly one of the soldiers whipped their leader in the back of the head, and took down the remaining five soldiers. The soldier then dropped their gun and removed their mask; none other than Nicole Gonzalez behind it. The coast was clear, but Ruby knew that Bluestone was gonna need her help. She ignited a small spark in her left hand and swung at the ice wall. In an instant there was a massive blast. Ruby blew open a massive hole in the ice and ran through.
Bluestone was now facing off against Barnes, blocking the majority of the bullets with his makeshift baton until he was out of bullets. Suddenly Barnes drew his swords and started swinging at Bluestone. Ruby then shot a large burst of flames directly at Barnes, who shielded himself from the incoming attack. Suddenly, Bluestone struck Kaiser in the face from behind with the baton. "Save some for me!" He yelled as he slid beneath Barnes' blade as he swung it through the air. The two then teamed up for a powerful combo.
On the other side of the ice wall, Stone was struggling to stand up as Guardian helped him. Guardian quickly began healing the shattered bones in Stone's left arm. Stone yelped in pain as Bismuth snapped his right shoulder back in place. As soon as he could move his right arm he was ready to break away and continue the fight. "No way man. I healed your left arm the best I could, but it's gonna take a while for the healing to finish. If you hurt your hand again it may never heal properly no matter how hard I try." Stone yelled "Laura, a little help here!" Aquamarine quickly ran over with an orb of water floating on her fingertips. She ran the water across the span of Stone's forearm and froze it as a makeshift cast on top of his sleeve to keep the broken bones from moving too much. "I'll be fine. " He ran off and fired another sharp scale at a metal structure on the other side of the ice wall. Aquamarine quickly followed behind him, jumping over a melting portion of the ice wall. The battle had just begun.