The Ultimate Rescue

Chapter XXVII

MIA

Music: Butsutekkai from Ikaruga

Okay, so maybe it was wrong of me to turn on Mackenzie like that. But I'm not going to let her--or anybody for that matter, but especially her--talk to me like that. She was standing on thin ice with me as it was, and she just had to make one final remark. When someone tells me off like that, I don't go down without a fight.

But now, I wish that I did go down without a fight.

Mrs. Smith hovers over us, laughing maniacally. Her voice echoes all throughout the room, reverberating off of the walls. The glow emitting from her body is nearly blinding, yet it seems as though her presence has clouded the entire room in darkness.

"You know, it was really clever of you to distract me with those fools out there," she starts off with, gesturing to the window outside. After looking out the window, we find the hovercraft (which has the rest of the Resistance inside) surrounded by several of the homunculi demons.

"I can't believe how well this worked out!" Mrs. Smith exclaims, grinning like a little girl who just received a doll for Christmas. "The only remaining threat to our power no longer stands, and it's all because you and your sister couldn't get over your beef for long enough to hold hands!" She looks between Mackenzie and I as she says this.

Mackenzie turns to look at me, and I've never seen her look this pissed off at me. Defensively, I yell, "Oh, don't look at me like that! If you had just kept your damn mouth shut..."

"If YOU hadn't been so stubborn..." Mackenzie growls, one hand pointing a finger at me, and the other in a clenched fist. Her face resembles that of an angry bull.

"Oh, this is just precious," Mrs. Smith snickers. "Even now, when you're about to die, you can't agree on who to pin the blame on. And to think that you two actually loved each other. Well, now you can argue about it in Hell!" Cackling, she throws her hands up into the air, summoning lightning. All ten of us take several steps back. Mackenzie and I look at each other again, but this time, instead of looks of anger, they're looks of guilt.

It wasn't Mackenzie that screwed up, nor was it me.

Both of us messed up. Big-time.

And we can't really blame one of us more than the other.

With electricity now circulating between her hands, Mrs. Smith flies closer to us, her dark red eyes switching their focus between each of us. "Hmm... who should I kill first..." she sneers.

Around Mackenzie and I, the rest of our friends don't even seem bothered by Mrs. Smith's threatening nature. They all look up at her with absolutely no fear. "You think you can take us? We still greatly outnumber you," Luke scoffs.

Mrs. Smith looks at Luke like she's not sure if she should be taking him seriously or not. "How cute. The little dumplings think they have what it takes to stop me."

"When it comes to us, strength in numbers is all we need," Avery says determinedly.

Mrs. Smith's eyes narrow. "We'll see about that."

Music: Catastrophe from Super Mario Galaxy

What happens next will probably scar me for the rest of my life. Mrs. Smith reaches one of her hands forward and pretends to grab something and lift it up. A red aura forms around Sam, Elle, Sean, and Shanna as they're lifted off their feet and into the air. With her other hand, she does the same thing with Heath, Luke, Skylar, and Avery. Either what she's doing has them paralyzed, or they're too surprised by this to be able to do anything. She then "throws" them into the wall behind us, and they all drop to the ground. While they're all still conscious, they all seem to be greatly in pain.