by The Eurostar and LLance
Edulcore Cicciotto:
Knell charges at me. He's mad, furious. I don't see my son. He has somehow lost him. And now he's furious. I become a ghost, and he passes right through me, ending on the wall, while my friends engage in a terrible battle with the lizard-men.
"Knell, you monster. What was it they called you? Oh, right! Doctor Clone! Where's my son?"
The monster turns back, hissing at me. "Curie! That bassstard. He hasss kidnapped Eddie!"
"Who's Curie?" I ask. The name sounds familiar.
"My help!" says Knell, and I suddenly remember hearing him call a bald, frail-looking man by that name on the thirteenth floor. "I know where he'sss going! To sssell him to Walker!" Only now I notice a large bleeding wound on Knell's back. Curie must have shot at him.
"Find Eddie! Love him! He'sss a beautiful baby," hisses the monster, just before closing his eyes and falling flat on the floor.
Well, the man who could have been my worst enemy has just died. But my son is gone. Around me enrages the battle. A kid has died to save us. Now it's time I take my responsibility.
"Revolutionaries!" I shout. "Regroup at the corner!" Each of us runs to the corner of the large room.
"Everybody okay?" I ask, while we shoot at the guards at full power, with all of our abilities. Everyone nods their heads. "Good. Now, listen to me! M'xy! You can see this tower like a blueprint from outside our dimension. Find the infirmary and bring the kid, Jason, there. There should be some sort of cryogenic device. Freeze the kid's body. Nowhereman and Naecken, go with him and secure the room. We'll arrive soon to help you.
"Velo, these guards are reptiles, so they are cold-blooded. Find the conditioning controls, and bring the temperature near five Celsius degrees. They will fall asleep! Sorry I don't know Fahrenheit, but you are a scientist, right? Danny, help him. Tobias, come with me. We have both supervelocity, and phasing powers. We must each bring a surviving prisoner and scientist to the infirmary. We'll regroup there, and then we'll see what to do. There is a big marine serpent out the tower, so we must act before it finds a way to crawl inside! Now, GO!"
And each one does exactly what I have said. M'xy, Nowhereman and Naecken disappear. Velo and Danny fly off the opening in the roof, and Tobias and I run away at full speed, phasing through the guards, heading to the levels below. And for the first time since I have met these men, each one seems proud of what he's doing.
While I run through the corridors of the Citadel, I can't help but sing, "You better watch out, you better not cry..."
"'Santa Claus is coming to town'?" Lance Lorenzo said aloud. "Someone is singing in this hellhole?"
Lance had hidden himself by phasing into a false ceiling. He had seen security running about and then lizard men leading some gaudily clad men into a room. He then saw someone run out of the room after the ceiling had apparently collapsed. What was more amazing was that the man had a child in his arms with live snakes protruding from his head. Lance had felt his stomach turn just a bit.
Now, Lance still felt confused. He wanted out of this place, but wasn't sure if he should make a break for it or not. Finally, the singer came into his line of sight. It was one of the men who had been prisoners of the lizard men.
"Maybe these guys will help me!" Lance whispered under his breath. With that decision made, he floated out of the false ceiling and directly in front of Marv Velo and the singing Eurostar.
Edulcore Cicciotto:
Running and phasing from corridor to corridor, I cross Velo and Danny en route for the conditioning installation. An instant later, a man phases down the ceiling, stopping right in front of me. "Help me, please!" he shouts.
"Your name?" I ask, amazed at seeing a man with the same phasing power as mine.
"Lance Lorenzo."
"Edulcore Cicciotto, the Eurostar. Pleased to meet you." I take him on my back and run forward, looking for other prisoners.