Play With Me: A Banana Bus Crew Fan Fiction

Chapter Fourteen

With grappling hooks courtesy of Craig, Early Bird and Paper Bag Man converged at the twentieth floor of the IAA Building, very close to where the explosion had occurred. The twentieth floor was filled with smoke and void of life. Despite this, Paper Bag Man called out into the emptiness, "Ohm! Where are you, ya' fuck?"

He trudged into the smoke and Early Bird followed in search for Ohm. Early Bird immediately began to put out the larger fires, assisting both the remaining agents in the building and buying himself and his partner in time. Paper Bag Man, despite wanting to be helpful, was blinded by the rage and contempt he had for a former friend. He was angrier than everyone else in the Banana Bus Crew. He felt responsible for Brian's disappearance and regretted not staying, but panicking and leaving him behind. Now, he had no idea where he was and that bothered and ate away at him. The only true hope he had left to find Brian was finding Ohm. 

The two moved through the building, repeating their search tactics, floor by floor. If Ohm was still there, they had to be getting close. 

Ohm's eyes shot open and darted back and forth. The explosion was so quick, he hadn't even realized that anything had happened. He woke up in a compromising position, slumped over a wooden desk that had suffered some damage from the blast. He lifted his head and surveyed the room. Satt was in a corner, his back to the wall and his head sitting to his right. Max was face down in the middle of the floor, surrounded by glass and other types of debris. Both were still breathing. He took a breath of relief. 

He looked out of the massive hole in the wall and out into the city. On the left side of the hole, he could see a beat up ladder, but aside from that, as the moonlight lit the room, the view was gorgeous and free of blemishes. He was at eye level with skyscrapers and dwarfed other buildings in the city of Los Santos. Their glow paled in comparison to that of the moon, but their presence was welcomed. A picture wouldn't do this view any justice. It was the sight, along with the quiet ambiance, that made this special. But his gaze couldn't linger long. He had a job to do.

He turned his head back towards the door that had been blown to bits in the explosion, but his view of it was blocked by the barrel of a pistol aimed directly at his head. He jumped to the left as the trigger was pulled and avoided the bullet. He went straight to Max, dragging the unconscious man behind another desk that had been damaged in the blast.

"Where the fuck is Brian, Ohm?" Paper Bag Man screamed as he reloaded the gun. Max stirred his head as he slowly gained consciousness, but Ohm didn't have time to wait. Whatever they were going to do, thy had to do it now.

"Max, the tape!" Ohm yelped in Max's ear, helping him get his mind together a bit faster. He picked up his arm slowly and pointed towards Satt. Now that he was closer to him, he could see the tape hanging out of his pocket. He got ready to make a dash, but underestimated how close Paper Bag Man had come. He hadn't been deterred, desperate to find Brian, he had made a significant amount of progress towards the desk the two were hiding under. Ohm panicked, but thought quickly, he bent his knees and positioned himself under the desk, and when Paper Bag Man was close enough, he stood up and threw the desk on him and made a run for the tape. He snatched it from Satt's pocket. Once snatched, Satt began to rock his head back and forth. He, too, was beginning to gain consciousness.

Once the tape was in hand, Ohm made a dash for the tape deck on the console on the far wall, or at least what was left of it. He hadn't taken notice that Paper Bag Man had freed himself from under the desk. The superhero picked up a nearby steel pipe from under glass and pieces of wood and as Ohm ran past he struck him in the face, sending the Maskedgamer to the floor. Ohm's back his the floor with a striking force as he had not been expecting the blow and had no time to prepare for the fall. A sharp pain shot up his spine and settled in his shoulder blades. Max, now fully conscious and aware of the situation, got up from the floor and attempted to catch the hero by surprise. Paper Bag Man turned around and the two locked eyes for a millisecond before Max, too, found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol. He fell to his knees to avoid the shot and then made a run towards as collapsed wall as Paper Bag Man emptied the gun clip, trying to land a shot.