An Act of Chivalry (Sander Sides)

Chapter Thirty

"Where did Thomas go?!" I watched helplessly as the emo looked through me directly. I was still there, but apparently, Virgil didn't know that. 

"Virgil? Virgil! I'm right here, don't panic I'll-"

"Virgil can't hear a word." The eerily familiar voice stated. I turned to the side and stared him dead in the eye. 

"What have you done." The snake rolled his eyes in response, shrugging at the harsh question. "Don't lie to me, you dick, what did you do to me?!"

"I haven't done a thing. Roman's the one using his grand potential." His hands clasped together as he said this. His back straightened and his face seemed to light up. "Oh, out of all of your pupils Thomas, Roman has got to be one of your least appreciated...Little did you know that an illusion could go a long way."

"Roman can't-"

"Yes, yes I know." Deceit interrupted, his gloved hands waving dismissively. "Logan couldn't shoot electricity and Patton couldn't collapse a city using his bare hands."

My brows furrowed together, "What did you do to them?" I wasn't trying to kill him at this point. The objective was currently useless considering I didn't know how to dent the devil.

"Thomas, are you familiar with the term epigenetics?" I nodded stiffly. "Then you must be aware of their rare genetic mutations, correct? I mean, all it took was a nanobot...Because, unlike you, they get the job done...It'll hurt for a while, but that's okay."

"Hurt who?"

Deceit turned away from Thomas, pondering, completely ignoring his question. "Oh sure, Virgil will scream. He'll cry in agony as his brave and dashing mentor watches helplessly to the side. But it's all for a good cause." The snake paused a moment, his face falling ever so slightly. "He WILL understand. And once Virgil understands the world won't be able to say no."

"Virgil won't listen to a bastard like you-"

"But he will." The snake hissed. "The hero's no different from Roman, Logan, and your dear, DEAR Patton. I think Patton was the saddest of them all...but!" His brow rose, allowing his dim yellow eye to glow brighter before simmering down with his pause. "Like Patton, Virgil will understand. He'll understand."

"We'd all die before we willingly joined you."

Deceit visibly frowned, throwing back his cape as he spun his back to me. His hands clasped together again, something the villain seemed to enjoy doing when he had the opportunity to throw my heart out and smash it.

"How FUNNY, I remember Roman saying the same thing...Would you like to make this a challenge? If Virgil truly wishes to die then I can kill him now."

The sword Roman controlled inched closer to the hero's throat but the hero didn't move. He was paralyzed with the knowledge that any move would be his end.

"It'd be intriguing to watch him die on YOUR command."

"That's not going to happen!" I growled. If I stared myself in the mirror even I'd be scared, but I didn't back down. This threw Roman off, and so I took that as my sign to bolt. I stepped back before reeling around. Roman may have beaten me once, but that was only because I let him. So before I could blink, the prince like figure was collecting himself and rising off the ground. Deceit had fancy gloves, but mine doubled at iron knuckles.

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His sword inched closer and I prayed to whatever the fuck was out there that he wouldn't do it. Luckily for me, I didn't need to wait for an answer. 

The reaction was quick. I could hear something skim across from the floor. Then the air lashed backward as something ran through it and knocked Roman to the cold hard floor. Something shifted in the air, and with a blink, Thomas was standing in my path. One of his signaled me to stay back so I complied. It took a moment, another two blinks before the black and yellow fiend appeared out of thin air.

"Virgil, run." Thomas huffed, kicking Roman's sword behind him and away from the prince's grasp. "Virgil?" An orange substance slid down Deceit's arm, finally triggering Thomas to move. "Virgil go!" He shouted, passing by me but grabbing my arm and tugging me to follow as he went. 

This snapped me out of my trance and I kicked the fallen sword by the hilt. The sword was kicked into the air and I grabbed it before it could hit the ground again. My pace picked up and after a sharp turn, we were off once more.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, thud. A shelf fell, then another. Running was growing more difficult so we exerted more force. "Patton?" Thomas panted as we ran. I nodded in agreement. The fatherly figure was close by. We turned our heels around another corner and ran until my foot ran into the next stairwell door. The door flew open, hitting the wall with enough force to knock it off its hinges. When the door clanked against the floor behind us we kept running. When shouted echoed up the stairwell we kept running. When Patton opened the fourth-floor door we kept running upward. When we reached the fifth floor and no one stood before us we ran.

The fifth floor was more like three giant rooms. We went through one and entered the second. the room had a control panel and a smaller cut off. The cut-off was a split into what seemed to be a prison. It took up only one-sixth of the room and made me feel small again. 

"This is the room! Thomas huffed, slowing down only when he approached the control systems. His hands hovered over the controls as he walked down the long panel. It was split into three different sections. One was a security system, one controlled the water flow, and one controlled the sewage systems. On a table nearby was an open computer. I recognized it as Logan's.

"It's his computer...well Logan...lecture me later." I pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger. Glass shattered, keys flew, components collapsed, and the deed was done. The wired connection was lost and you could hear the raging machines below die down. Some were still active, but those notes belonged to the water and sewage systems below.

Then both the left and right door burst open. The gravity got heaver. Not too heavy, but enough to keep us from running. From the right door, Roman and Patton entered. Roman's arms twitched. Fists clenching and unclenching constantly, searching for the hilt of the sword he knew wasn't with him anymore. 

Patton, who was the first to enter, wasn't smiling. I don't think I've ever seen Patton not smiling. That was one of the scariest things in the room. 

From the left door, Logan and Deceit came. The door slammed against the floor and Logan stepped over it, adjusting his tie as he entered. Deceit followed, not quite entering the room but leaning against the door frame with a hurt sliver of pride hanging in his eyes. 

"What a party." Deceit started in a cheery tone, although his face clearly didn't show the same attitude. "However, if you came to stop my little chemistry project your a little late." A manic grin finally showed itself and the snake doubled over in laughter. One eye followed his motion to the ground but the other stayed independent, staying focused on us. "What, did you think I was stupid? Do you think I wouldn't see THIS coming a mile away? Your right, I didn't." Logan stepped out of the way, allowing a single whirlwind of orange energy to come to life. The object hit Thomas, knocking him off his feet. "I SAW THIS COMING A COUNTRY AWAY!"

The room was getting smaller, the walls were closing in, my only sane friend was on the ground, and the sense of fear washed over the entirety of my body. Have you ever felt genuine terror? I was about to. And I didn't like it.