Tick, Tick, Tick

Powder walked out of a dark archway, and seeing the cannery building in front of her and light shining from inside, she took a deep breath and adjusted the bag she was carrying on her shoulder. She exhaled and quickly walked toward the building, then started climbing the side of the building using the old wooden scaffold.

Through the cracks of the wooden scaffolding, Powder saw Violet standing in front of the big man. Her eyes widened from shock and worry seeing the machete in the big man's hand... I have to hurry and help.

Powder started climbing faster, but it was that moment, a crack, a plank broke, and she almost fell and was barely able to hold on. This did not stop her in the slightest as she was determined, no, desperate to help her family and gain their recognition.

She continued to climb and by the time she made it up to the ledge on the side of the building, she could see Violet had already taken down several of Silco's men through a narrow window.

A little bit more and Violet who was like a killing machine was almost done wrapping things up.

However, things could never be that easy.

The moment Violet took down another one of Silco's men, a squeal resounded throughout the building.

Turning her head toward the sound, Powder saw a humanoid monster as tall as a bear with glaring cyan-coloured eyes. Its whole body was covered in pulsating, glowing bluish-purple veins.

(A/N: Photo)

Powder could immediately recognise who the monster was. It was someone she was familiar with, Deckard. She did not know how he became like this, but she could care less about the reason because it was at this moment, that Violet had attacked Deckard.

And just like she had expected, Violet came out on the losing end. She was grabbed by the throat instead, her legs struggling to find the ground as she desperately tried to escape from his grasp.

Deckard just needed to exert a little bit more strength and he could easily snap Violet's neck like a twig.

But contrary to expectation, Deckard threw Violet to the ground, just a few metres away from where Vander was being held captive.

No one knew why Deckard didn't kill Violet straight away. It could have been that he wanted to relish this new power of his, or he wanted to show off to Violet who he had always lost to, but none of that really mattered.

Upon seeing Violet being thrown, Powder didn't have time to think about such matters. She had let out a gasp before she hurriedly opened her bag. They were three bombs inside, she grabbed one that had clouds and a bird face painted on the surface.

This bomb was called Smoky, yes, Smoky and just like what the name entails, it was a smoke bomb.

(A/N: Photo that I drew. I'm actually proud of it lol.)

This was the same bomb that she and Art had worked on a few hours ago. She didn't know if this bomb would detonate or if it would turn into another failure, like all her other inventions, but right now all she could do was believe.

"You have to work. For me. Okay?" Powder said to Smoky before cranking the top, thus activating the built-in timer.

***

"Eeeee!"

A squeal resounded throughout the building.

Turning her head towards the sound, Violet saw the monster that killed Benzo. Her eyes widened, and her mouth slightly opened the moment she caught a glimpse of the monster's face.

She was surprised but it was only for a second before it turned to anger with a mix of fear. She was angered at the bastard in front of her for killing Benzo and feared him for what he has become.

She wanted to know why he had done it and why he had become like this, but there was simply no time.

Violet raised the gauntlets to her chest and started running up to Deckard. She jumped onto the railings before jumping into the air, raising her gauntlets above her head, getting ready to smash Deckard's head.

The plan was to use her weight as well as the momentum gained from falling to increase her attack power. But before Violet could react, Deckard's arm moved with a jolt and grabbed her by the neck, hanging her high above the ground as if she was like a piece of paper.

Violet began to struggle desperately but it was to no avail. A little bit more pressure and Deckard could snap her neck like a piece of twig.

But contrary to expectations, Deckard let Violet go, well, to be more specific, threw her on the ground.

It was unknown why she was still alive, why she hadn't been killed and why Deckard was walking towards her at a speed that would make a snail proud. It could have been that there was still some humanity left in him despite being turned into a monster, either that or he was having fun watching her struggle for yesterday's events.

However, no matter what the reason, Violet didn't have time to think about such matters. She didn't even look back. She was in extreme pain, grunting as she struggled and crawled with all her might to get away from Deckard's grasp.

After being thrown like a rag doll, there was no way she would try and fight him again.

Violet kept on crawling and eventually made it to the room where Vander was being held. She closed the sliding metal door, using all her strength and locked it. Just about the same time, there was a bang, it was Deckard who started banging at the door.

Out of breath, Violet slid down against the sliding metal door into a sitting position. She then stood up and used her body to fortify the door so that Deckard couldn't easily break in, but even this was enough to stop him as there were already dents in the thick metal door.

It was just a way to buy a little more time for Mylo to free Vander and escape.

"You did good," said Vander and at the same time, Mylo had freed one of his arms from the metal strap. He just needed to lock pick the metal strap to his left leg and they could escape to the hole in the wall Claggor was digging with a metal pipe.

All the pressure was on Mylo, this was his moment, his time to shine and prove himself to Violet and his family that he was someone of value. Even the sound of the metal sliding door being broken down and Claggor digging a hole in the wall was drowned out by his inner thoughts… I can do it, I can do it, I can do it!

A moment later, with a click, Mylo was finally done with the lock on the metal strap and managed to set Vander free while Claggor had finished creating an escape path for them.

"Good, let's go," said Vander. "Vi, you go first."

Violet didn't say anything and limped heavily over to the hole in the wall.

Bang!

However, as soon as Violet stopped using her body to hold the metal door, it was broken down and came crashing down with a loud thud.

On the other side of the door, Vander and the gang saw Deckard and more of Silco's goons staring at them with bloodshot eyes. Vander and the gang armed themselves, ready to take a last stand.

"Kill them all!" Silco shouted from the other side of the bridge.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The moment Deckard and Silco's goons were about to take action, they all stopped in their tracks and watched an unknown metal object roll in front of them... A bird?

For a moment, there was silence, not even a pin drop could be heard. It was then the sound of a clock ticking resounded throughout the room.

Tick, tick, tick!

"Run! It's a bomb!" One of Silco's goons shouted and dove away.

Seeing this, there was a chain reaction, the rest of Silco's goon followed him while Deckard put his arms in front of him.

"Huh? Smoke?"

"What is going on?"

"It wasn't a bomb stupid! It was a smoke bomb."

Smoke began filling up the room and soon their vision was obscured. They broke into a fit of coughs and their eyes began to water. By the time the smoke was gone, Vander and the gang were nowhere to be seen.

It goes without saying, Silco was enraged. He had spent many months planning for this moment and if he failed now all of his other plans would be severely delayed.

Failure was not an option.

"What are you waiting for!" Silco shouted angrily. "Two of them are injured they couldn't have gone that far. Find them and kill them!"