Chapter 3 - Yggdrasil
As Akande started to discreetly cut at the net they were all in, his nose scrunched up, as if smelling something putrid. Sure enough, the others would soon feel the same way; the area started to smell like decayed flesh. The barbarian, meanwhile, merely smirked, the stench not seeming to bother him at all.
“My God! How long has that girl back there been dead?”
“Dead? A hah hah hah...you got it all wrong, man.” A female voice spoke up from behind, and the Talon commander gasped in pain. A quick glance behind him revealed a green hand had turned the knife on him, stabbing him in the back. The girl who had done so chuckled, looking up at his look of shock with an evil grin.
“I’m alive. And so will you be...once you shed those mortal chains of yours.”
“About time you showed up,” the barbarian snarled.
“One of them got away.”
“Ah, Brother Shan Yu...the eternal collective leaves no one behind…” The zombie girl let go of the knife, and Akande rushed to keep it in place. Her now free hand gestured behind her. Above them floated a giant bubble, where Moira lay, completely immobile.
“Even when away from it all, I can still free you all...lead you into the world of eternal peace…”
Bubbles now formed around those still in the net, breaking the ropes easily. Those within would begin to see psychedelic images, colors and sensations that completely took over their mind. There was only enough time to hear the zombie’s last words before they were completely trapped in the trippy prison of their own minds:
“...and ROT.”
---
The humans in the sewer suddenly felt drowsy as some form of gas started to seep around them from canisters hidden in the trash.
“As much as I wished we’d fight. I promised to bring you all in alive.”
“Tch, you’re no fun. I’ll make sure to… ngh… pay you back… when I get my… hands…!” Larxene began to threaten their shared adversary, before seeming to gradually succumb to the gas.
Whatever this gas was made of one by one the group started to fall unconscious leaving only Megatron standing.
“For you I have something else.” The giant robot in disguise would have a hard time trying to defend himself in the cramp sewer space as the Batman who laughs with uncanny speeds managed to guide him into the water in the middle.
“You will feel just a little prick,” The Batman grabbed a large cable from under some debris and tossed it into the water sending enough electricity through the robot to shut it down.
“And then there was one...”
Meanwhile Will had made his way back to where the group had come down...only to realize that the ladder had been destroyed leaving his escape plan ruined. Instead he felt another presence different from the Batman Who Laughs but with a similar murderous intent.
“...You…” A strained voice growled from behind.
“Looks appetizing-ing-ing...but...no SOUL!” Before he could react Will was slammed head first into the wall hard enough to crack it.
“Now now, don’t destroy the robot, we’ll need him as well.” Will could hear the voice of the Batman coming closer.
“Let’s just short him out for now and take him with the others. I’m sure they are going to love their new home away from home!” And that was the last thing Will recalled before slipping away.
...
As most of the group started to wake up they could hear Ashley talking.
“Everyone accounted for...whose not dead?”
“Never better,” Larxene, among the first to awaken, quipped, her voice ripe with irritation but with no clear target, aside from perhaps the so-called Batman Who Laughs.
The people who had been ambushed by the Batman found themselves inside a huge holding cell with the group that headed to the factory.
“So you were caught as well?” Dhaos asked the other group.
Looking around the giant cell area they could see a generator and some jump start cables latched onto the steel mesh surrounding them. It was clear that despite looking quite flimsy that their makeshift cage was heavily electrified so it was best not to touch it lest you wanted a very unpleasant shock. Looking around the area you found that Megatron was not with the group inside the cell. Instead he had been strapped to what seemed to be heavy steel bars attached to an iron structure on the other side of the room. He seemed to be strapped in there well enough that he had a really hard time moving his body around. Despite being trapped the group had been re-united, but why they were alive and not killed was still a mystery.
“Ugh...my head…” Akande sat up, rubbing his scalp as he groaned.
“At least that strange bubble seemed to halt your wound’s progression into something more serious,” Moira replied, moving to treat the stab wound, albeit rather sluggishly herself.
Ashley did not seem happy.
"On top of this all of our equipment is gone too. Fuck...I don't get it they seemed to have both of our groups dead to rights. So my question is...Why aren't we dead yet?" And perhaps that question would be answered soon enough.