An Act of Chivalry (Sander Sides)

Chapter Twenty Nine

After that, we waited. I guess we had hopes that he'd wake up soon. Sadly that didn't seem to be the case for the prince remained motionless. After five minutes of waiting, we had to keep moving. So, instead of leaving him on the ground, we took turns carrying him. Now it was my turn.

"Ah, Jesus Sir-Sing-A-lot, what did these people feed you," I mumbled, shifting his weight from one side to the other. Once Thomas was confident I wouldn't drop him, he stepped away. He had passed the hero to me and I already hated the job. 

"It doesn't seem like a lot."

"Hah..." I trailed off. "But um-your joking right?" Thomas glanced down to Roman, his face grew hard. This gave me my answer. "How can you tell?"

Thomas sighed, stepping back over and grabbing the hero's wrist. He messed with his hand for a moment. He pinched his arm slightly before dropping his arm and looking back up to his face. He took Roman's face and shifted it from side to side, dropping Roman's chin when he was finished.

"His skin sunk back onto his arm instead of bouncing back like thick elastic. That means that he's dehydrated. His pale complexion tells me the rest of the story." The mentor shook his head, "Come on, we've got to keep going."

I nodded, using my free leg to kick the stairway open. It slammed into the wall with a loud clang. The sound made me cringe.

-----

I lead us upward, keeping things clear for Virgil as I go. The emo consistently rallied against any attempt I made to help him. Although he stumbled every few seconds, he insisted on carrying Roman. I didn't argue.

'Thomas?'

I hummed, pausing at the fourth-floor entrance to glance back at Virgil. We had skipped the third floor, knowing that we wouldn't find the control room on a floor designed for sewage. It was best to skip the search until further notice.

"What's up, Thomas?"

"I thought you were asking me something."

Virge shrugged, "Nah, your just hearing shit. Maybe it's the sewage from the last floor."

"Patton would be...semi-proud of that joke." I smiled. It wasn't a full smile, but a genuine one.

"Whatever, keep going, please."

The emo rolled his eyes, ushering me onward. For once I listened to him and pushed open the fourth-floor door. This room was warm, hot even. Machinery roared in this room, cascading any chance of pinpointing sound. Along the ceiling glass tubes crawled, carrying the same red liquid around a corner. The tubes ran everywhere, but I didn't get why or how. In a way, the substance creepily reminded me of blood. It's less thick and brighter appearance was the only parting difference.

My eyes traced over the glass tubes, looking for something else of interest. I almost missed the tag, but to my luck, Virgil was ahead of me. The emo shifted the hero in his arms, sending me a warning glare that stated 'don't ask, I can hold him.' So I raised my arms defensively and waited for him to scan over the sticker on one of the pipes. I guess he had the same suspicions as I had.

"Thomas, these were built recently."

"How recently?"

Virgil paused, scanning over the sticker again, "Only a week and a half."

My lips pursed at this, "I bet you Logan built this?" I studied the perfect architect with a curious stare. The pipes were perfectly even and built in a quick yet sturdy fashion. It had to be Logan.

"Your right Thomas," my heel shifted to the side, allowing my head to fall sideways toward the right side of the hall. Logan approached us casually. One hand in his pant's pocket and his other hand adjusting his glasses. "I did, in fact, build this, not by my own will, however-"

"Logan! What the hell!" Virgil interrupted. "What the fuck is actually happening?"

"We're speaking-"

"No," I interrupted, taking a safe step back. My brows furrowed together as my brain scrambled to explain the situation. "What's actually happening, do you expect us to TRUST you? Fat chance. Now I suggest you chose your next words carefully." I uncovered my pistol and put the barrel into his head. "If you want to keep your life that is?"

"I can guarantee Thomas, that I am in fact Log-"

-----

"Bang!" I watched Thomas pull the trigger without hesitation. I didn't know how Thomas was so confident in his decision, but he wasn't wrong.

The Logan duplicate recoiled. His head split apart on impact, and the fiend took a single step backward. Whatever was left of his head folded in and built upon itself quickly until the hole on both sides of his head were gone. This took us by surprise; Thomas took a step back, and I stepped into the wall.

Killing him would be harder then we thought.

'Logan's' head snapped to the side, and he almost laughed. "Try it again, I dare you." He taunted; No one moved a muscle. "No? Ah your no fun." The villain pouted before poofing into a pile of dust. The black ashes then rebuilt themselves and unvailed Deceit, who straightened his outfit upon entering. "Miss me?"

"Bang!" Thomas shot the gun again, this time making the villain warp out of existence. "Thomas, Thomas, Thomas ThomasThomasThomasthomasthomas." You could hear him click his tongue from a mile away. "That's a pointless venture."

"Still feels fucking great to watch you leave," The mentor growled in response. 

I went to set Roman down but the prince moved for me, twisting out of my grip and kicking me into the wall. I fell into it, but a hand pulled me back out before I could enter the dimension fully. Gripping me by the wrist, roman ripped me back out and spun me around him before slamming me back into the wall. This time I hit the hard wall with great force. Purple bangs fell over my eyes, only partially blocking my vision to the world. Only partially blocking out the sword that waited, centimeters away from my throat.

"Don't hurt him!" I heard a familiar voice plead before the hall went quiet. My head barely moved. Just enough for me to follow the silence. Thomas had disappeared. So had deceit.