《The Petbe Gambit》Chapter 54: Come Hell or High Water
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The elevator ground to a halt two miles beneath the surface. Through an open door, a darkened tunnel stretched ahead. The air felt thick and heavy. Old.
"There are three tunnel sections between us and Lynch," Weizza explained. "The next is fully flooded. I don't expect more troops, but there may be automated defenses."
Alice nodded and checked her suit power again. Fifteen percent left. Hopefully enough.
They proceeded slowly down the corridor, scanning the walls and ceilings with their suit lights, wary for traps. Alice stopped and gestured to a series of coin-sized holes lining the wall.
Weizza shook her head. "Not a trap. Those are the water inlets for filling the tunnel."
The two continued until they reached a steel door with a wheel on it. Next to the door was an intercom.
Alice keyed the receiver. "Robert?"
"I'm here Alice. You ready to move?"
"Yeah. How does this work?"
"The tunnel on the other side is fully flooded. There used to be a reserve tank with enough capacity to clear a tunnel, but it looks like Lynch disconnected it to slow down access.
"Instead I'll need to pump water directly into the tunnel you're in. Once the water level equalizes you'll be able to open the door. Shut it behind you and I'll finish clearing the old tunnel. Got it?"
"Wait, so we're going to have to wade through this stuff?"
"Afraid so. Your tunnel will never be more than half full though, shouldn't go past your waist."
Alice shuddered thinking about slogging through tunnel muck, but saw no way around it.
"Alright, well get on with it."
"I primed the pump when you called. The water should start coming out on your side soon."
Alice put her ear to the door. The wall vibrated lightly with the work of the pump motors. A loud hissing from behind made Alice jump.
She turned in time to see the first water stream from the holes she'd noticed earlier. Soon a great deluge was pouring out through a long row of pipes. Not exactly the Bellagio, but there was a strange beauty to the fountain.
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Water pooled around Alice's feet. It was cleaner than she expected, and surprisingly cold. By the time it reached knee-height her teeth were chattering. Weizza, ever the stoic, just looked impatient.
Robert's voice crackled over the old speaker. "Okay Alice, the pressure will equalize in a moment. I'll pause the waterworks and you'll be able to move through the door. Call me from the other side."
"Will do."
Alice spun the wheel on the door and pulled. It swung ponderously inward, slowed by several feet of water.
Alice and Weizza entered the next tunnel, identical to the one they'd just left. Alice shut the door behind them and clicked on the intercom.
"Okay Robert, we're through."
"Great, I'll finish clearing out behind you. I've got some bad news though."
"What? Is it Marcos?"
"Huh? No, did you see something?"
"Never mind. What's your news?"
"The intercoms for the final two sections are busted. We won't be able to communicate once you go leave this tunnel."
"I think we can work around that," Alice considered. "Pause for two minutes once the pressure equalizes to let us get past the door, shouldn't be a problem."
"I suppose," Robert sounded hesitant. "Just make sure you get through in time. Remember that I have to fully flood the tunnel you're leaving. If you don't make it out in time..."
"I know Robert. I won't let you drown me."
The icy water had receded down to Alice's ankles; goose pimples covered her body. At least there wasn't a breeze down here. Alice and Weizza splashed through another featureless tunnel and waited for the water to refill and unblock the next door.
"What's your plan when we get to Lynch?" Alice asked.
"Torture him until he gives me the keys," Weizza answered. "I do not have my full surgery kit, but I can do a field install of a command module, especially if long-term survival is not a concern."
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"And then?"
"And then you will leave my employment, Ms. Yang. Your actions will determine the nature of your termination."
Alice gave a slight nod. In a fair fight, she was pretty sure she could take Weizza. With Weizza controlling the suits though... she didn't stand a chance. Was this just a fool's errand to trade one megalomaniac for another? Too late to change horses.
The water level was back up to waist-height. Time to go through.
"Alright Robert, we're heading in to the section with the broken intercoms now. We'll call you when we can."
"Good luck Alice. Be safe."
Alice and Weizza once again pushed through the doorway, closing the door behind them. This time there was no comforting link to Robert waiting for them. They were alone.
Alice visualized the miles of earth pressing down on top of her and her heart began to beat faster. She pushed the image out of her mind. Stay focused on the mission.
Suit power was down to 10%. One more tunnel after this one. She'd be lucky to reach Lynch with any juice left. Maybe it didn't matter.
Once the water receded to knee height they started walking, picking up their pace as it drained. As the end of the tunnel came into focus Alice could tell something was wrong.
"Where's the door?"
"Hmm?" Weizza answered.
"Look ahead. I just see rock. Where's the door?" Panic crept into Alice's voice. They couldn't turn back, a wall of water pressed closed the door behind them.
Alice sprinted to the far wall, frantic. There'd been a cave-in. Someone had blasted the ceiling above the door, and a wall of rock blocked their progress.
The last of the water drained from the tunnel. Soon it would start refilling. And if they didn't make it through the cave-in, they would die.
"Help me!" Alice yelled as she flung chunks of rock away from where the door should be.
Weizza threw herself into the task, working with Alice to clear the rubble. Some of the boulders weighed hundreds of pounds; without their power armor, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
Alice had the sensation of being trapped in an hourglass, each drop of water a moment of her life slipping away. If they weren't out by the halfway point, the water pressure would lock them in forever.
Alice watched her energy meter fall as the water rose. It was going to be close. The top third of the door was clear, but the water was already knee-height. They needed to go faster.
"Can you blast it?" Alice asked as she hurled a boulder back behind her."
"I believe an explosion sufficient to destroy the door would cause a further cave-in. It is moot, we are out of rockets."
The two toiled in silence, conscious of every extraneous movement. The water reached the halfway mark and the flow paused as Robert gave them time to get through. They had two minutes until the water resumed and they were trapped.
Just three boulders still blocked the bottom of the door, though they were hard to move underwater. Alice's fingers were numb from cold, and kept slipping off the muddy stone. Her suit flashed a warning; 'BATTERY LOW.'
"Almost there!" Alice shouted. "C'mon."
Weizza pried one of the stones loose and rolled it sluggishly away from the door. Alice wrestled hers up and out of the water, tossing it over the pile that had formed behind them.
The water fountains sprang back to life, resuming the deadly flood. Their two minutes were up.
Alice spun the wheel on the door as Weizza cleared the last rock. She pulled. The door was clear, but would not budge. They were too late.
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The Beast of Kulain
Val, a young man betrayed by his loved ones and cast out for being a dall'in, a beast controlled by it's endless hunger. Dall'ins' are remorseless and pitiless, with barely a mind of their own. Cast out and forced to flee from those hunting him, he runs to the Kuran mountain range and attempts to hide. Where will he be taken in this world of blood and iron, when he begins to hear a voice urging him forward to greater heights, what will he do to obtain power immemorial? The story begins in the mountain ranges, and his past is slowly revealed as to how he became what he is. But the question is, if dall'ins' are mindless beasts with no forethought. Then what manner of beast is Val? ---------- First story constructive feedback pls papi cover from book called the kings bastard by Rowena Cory Daniells ty to 91Blodhevn for tellin me
8 99The Curio Shoppe
Kellan Klein is an ordinary college student with an average, if traumatic and painful past. Everyone grows up grappling with depression and anxiety that seem to be genetic in a house with parents that, while loving, fight all the time and have weird ideas about what kids should and shouldn't do, right? Everyone deals with bullying, racism, judgement on their romantic inclinations and their family's economic status and just general shittiness, right? All of Kellan's friends sure did, and for all of them, entertaiment media were a welcome escape from their painful, dreary lives. After all, who wouldn't want to sail the seas with Monkey D. Luffy and the Strawhats, or help Meng Hao con increasingly powerful and influential people, or join Cecil Harvey and his friends on their weird journey to save the world, or make friends with Peter Parker while pretending to not know he was everyone's favorite wall-crawling superhero? Kellan certainly wanted to, and while he pursued college to seek out a career he saw himself enjoying, something felt inexplicably empty about his life. So when a decidely sinister force kidnaps him and the prettiest man he's ever seen saves his life and offers him his wildest dreams, Kellan becomes the shopkeeper of a mysterious, dimension hopping shop, complete with a system that helps him acquire items. abilities, materials, and other cool shit to stock it with, as well as some other neat perks. Will Kellan become a boring overpowered MC, like the kind from web fiction that he reads to sate his boredom? Will he keep his generally kind, sweet nature despite the shit he's gone through and will go through, or will he inexplicably become a scary, violent, irrational arrogant douchebag? Will he use his newfound abilities to explore the multiverse and improve the lives of himself and others, or will he become his own antithesis, a purely mercantile jerk obsessed with money and profit, with no concern for anything that doesn't help or hurt his business? Find out in The Curio Shoppe! Author's note: Please suggest possible setting he could visit in the comments. I'll gather ones i'm familiar with, and at the end of every arc, a poll will be held to decide the next location he visits. There will be polls for other purposes, and I might not always go with the poll winner if I feel one of the other options is more fun to read/write about. I will not use the settings of other RRL writers without their permission.Do not ask for that, unless the author in question gives permission. Most settings he visits will be slightly AU in some way or another, but please remind me if I drift too far from canon unintentionally or characterize a character wrongly. This work will eventually fit all tags I selected once he visits universes suited to those tags, so don't ask when or where a given tag is coming. I do not own the cover art, it belongs to Nicholas Belanger Thiel, and I will stop using it if he asks me to. Kellan doesn't look like the old man on the cover, though once he acquires a disguise-type ability he may occasionally use that appearance. The tapir, however, will be a thing, as despite looking like a failed attempt at an elephant, tapirs are cool and this dragon finds them to be kinda cute. The art, along with more of Nicholas's pieces, can be found at https://www.artstation.com/artwork/51bXz
8 196Changement : Version Face [French]
Notice: This story is in French, not in english, mainly because of my poor english. I may translate it later if I get better, and hopefully I will. _ Les cris de souffrance résonnent dans ses oreilles, dans sa tête et dans son coeur. Cette dernière image, ces derniers instants, ces morts incompréhensible, rien ne sera plus jamais pareil pour Nils Nocquat. Il sombre, et dans les ténèbres, découvre la fache cachée de son monde. Qui est coupable? Démon, Ange et autres Sonen, tous se renvoient la faute, et maintenant, Nils Change, il doit faire un choix. Indécis, il lance une pièce. Face. Il a choisi son camp. Il deviendra un Ange, le meilleur ou le pire de tous, ce n'est qu'une question de point de vue. - Author's note: this story is a concept. During the first chapter, the main character is faced with a major decision, which will change his life forever, and, not knowing what to do, he decide to play heads or tails, and let fate choose for him. And so there will be two versions of this story, one for each of the result, and their consequences for the main character, as well as all those around him. Here, he got heads. Note de l'auteur: Comme dit plus haut, cette histoire sera en français, car je ne suis pas assez bon en anglais. De plus, cette histoire est un concept un peu particulier, le personnage principal va se retrouver face à un choix décisif qui va changer sa vie pour toujours, et, ne savant pas que faire, il va jouer à pile-ou-face, en laissant le destin décider pour lui. Il y a donc deux versions de cette histoire, une pour chacun des résultats de son lancer. Lien de l'autre version: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/28317/changement-version-pile-french Je vous encourage à ne pas lire les deux versions, ou en tout cas, à ne pas les lire en même temps. Elle sont assez peu similaires, mais des choses vont, logiquement, être répétées, et les confusions risquent d'être rapides, surtout au début des histoires. Dans tout les cas, ces deux histoires vont s'éloigner assez rapidement, tout en restant intrinsèquement liées par leurs personnage principal. Libre à vous de choisir la version qui vous plaît le plus, sachant que vous n'aurez pas besoin de lire les deux pour comprendre toutes les intrigues, elles sont absolument indépendantes l'une de l'autre. C'est la deuxième fois maintenant que je publie quelque chose que j'ai écrit, mais ça ne me rends pas meilleur en terme d'orthographe et de grammaire, donc si vous relevez une erreur, où même si vous remarquez des incohérences, n'hésitez surtout pas à me le faire remarquer. Toute critique, qu'elle soit positive ou négative, est appréciée. En terme de rythme de publication, je pense sortir un chapitre par semaine dans chacune des deux histoires.
8 149A Big Time Rush Logan and Camille Love story
8 164Tentacle Lord
Kagero Kogami was a normal highschool student which love Anime and Light Novel a little more than others, in other words he was an otaku. With him being an otaku, it was normal for him to be looked down upon and hated by his classmate. But that all changed after he and the other four classmates of his were summoned by the kingdom of Laturey to their world, it was a fantasy world pictured in his Anime and Light Novel, but while the others were the new generation of hero party, his job was [Tentacle].Stuck with the middle boss-like job, Kagero was determined to survive in the new world using his job as [Tentacle] and wits. This was the beginning of the tale of the Tentacle Lord, surviving and dominating all in his path.( this is my first time writing a FanFic, if you have opinion and advice for me, please don't hold back and tell me. I will use your opinion and advice, good or bad, to grow as an author. This is my first step to make my first Fanfic, Tentacle Lord, into a Light Novel. To show everybody just how hot a tentacle really is ! For sparing your time to read my fanfic, thank you ! ,- Erogami )
8 75Second chance mates with the KING
I love her. Those words ruined her. Almost for life. She's gone.Those words killed him in side. A second chance saved them.
8 143