The Origin of Roh-Shan

F: Bridge III

Roh's coughing fit left her with stinging tears pouring down her face and unable to take in air, to the point of fighting consciousness. She could hardly see a thing through her watery eyes, and opening them just made it worse. She vaguely registered that something crawled out of the grate to her right, though it was hard to hear anything over the sound of her own coughing.

Iden stood up and tried to sneak out without Suley noticing, but her limp gave her away.

"Iden, how do you launch a missile here? I forgot what I did the first time."

Iden's eyes went wide, hearing his plan. Everything was already engaged from the first launch; the aim, the preparation chamber... He just needed to--

He started to reach for the correct lever, and Iden dove forward. She jammed her left hand in the slot so the lever couldn't be brought down all the way.

"Well, thanks for telling me which one it is, dumbass." Suley shoved her away, but she jammed her fingers in harder and held on for dear life. For the lives of the survivors still out there.

He was definitely pissed. "Do you think you're gonna stop me with one hand? And would you shut up!" He turned back to Roh, who was coughing every few seconds with hardly any break.

Iden had no plan other than hold on. She tried to take him out with a series of kicks and maneuvers, but he just stepped back, and she couldn't reach him without taking her hand away. Seeing her stuck position, he reached over and slammed at the lever a few times, pinching and bruising her fingers, but otherwise doing nothing.

"Why do you want to do this anyway? They were leaving." She asked.

Suley scoffed. "The Earth Kingdom won't take them. They'll be back eventually. They're a direct threat to freedom."

"They haven't done anything wrong!"

"Not yet, but they will. The nation needs a fresh start."

She just looked up at him. "You've genuinely gone mad."

"I'm just a product of the world, aren't I?" He gestured to her hand, "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

She narrowed her eyes. "You already know my answer."

He looked around the room. "Well, I know your stubborn ass would let me cut your hand off, but I don't have time for that." He bent down and yanked the piston out of the dead guard's chest, pulling back the spring to reset the spiked end.

Iden jammed her hand in further, making sure even if he did cut off her hand, he would still have a hard enough time getting it out that she could maybe retaliate--

Suley stepped forward and raised the bloody piston barrel to her forehead.

She swallowed hard and locked eyes with him. He'd threatened to kill her plenty of times, and even made it seem like he would act on it more than once. But he'd never been this close. A finger twitch away, and willing.

The tension didn't get past Suley, either. He had a flash memory of holding her as a baby, but it didn't faze him.

Her face was calm and her voice unnaturally steady as she said, "What kind of mayor lets his people drown?"

He drew in a breath through his teeth and raised the wrist holding the piston, keeping the barrel in place. "I should kill you just for insinuating..." He trailed off.

She just smiled, almost sweet. "I'll tell Dad you said hi."

Suley pulled the trigger.

Something snapped inside the weapon, like a spring knocking loose, but nonetheless when he drew it away, there was a small red stain dripping from her forehead, and she dropped to the ground, the sound unnaturally heavy for someone so light on their feet. The force pulled on her fingers with several snaps from inside her hand and wrist, and Suley pried the rest of her hand out.