NOTE: Sorry for the delay in this, it's been sitting on my PC for about a month and I never pushed myself to edit and post. You'll notice that this is a short chapter, and the conclusion may be roughly the same length. Look for the finale soon.

XIII: Lure of Death

Mike didn't know if it was the smell of the charred flesh, or the smell of the various oils used within the machines, but his nose burned from the stench of it. He forced a sneeze to ease the sensation. Bailey turned and looked at him, but thankfully Mike's hidden camera was out of his view. Mike waved him off. "We should get going."

With a loud sigh, Bailey said "not without the Corporal. I have to obey chain of command."

"That's right." Mike laughed. "You have to follow orders."

Corporal Smith walked over to their encampment. "Area looks clear, but I'm not taking chances. You two stay with me and my patrol." Smith turned to another man. "Contact the El Tee. Give him our Sit Rep."

Sergeant Haze wondered close. "I'll take a small fire team inside to Central. This spots all yours."

"Yes sir. Good hunting." Smith said.

Mike looked toward Melissa as she happily poked the dead body of the iceman. He wondered toward her, and could hear her words.

"So much Adam, Bubbles. Look it. Look it!" Melissa said.

Mike was within five feet now, and he could hear the two Big Daddies turn toward him. Instinctively, seeing the massive guardians glaring at him, he stopped. "Melissa?"

She quickly turned to face him. Her eyes were emotionless and blank, but with that she quickly smiled. "He was full of Adam. But now, he's an Angel… dancing. Can you see him dancing? See his wings?" She turned back to the body.

Mike took a step forward. "Meliss…"

Both Big daddies stepped in his path, roaring disapproval. Melissa jumped to her feet and stood behind them. "You don't come near me!"

Bailey and Sergeant Smith saw this. "What the hell is going on?" Bailey huffed.

Mike waved them off without turning to face them. "Don't come any closer. It's like she's…"

"Regressing." Karen walked past Smith and Bailey and stood with Mike. "This should not be happening."

"No shit." Mike agreed.

Melissa looked around the two Big Daddies and saw Karen. "Hi, Karen!" She ran forward and grabbed Karen's hand. Pulling Karen toward the dead splicer she began to point at its corpse. "Adam! So much Adam! Look! We need to get it."

"We are not gatherers anymore. What is wrong with you?"

"We can't let it go to waste…" Melissa's words were cut short when Karen suddenly slapped her, spinning her head sharply to the right. "Awww!" She moaned.

The two big daddies roared in protest but Karen faced them. "Stay your place!" She ordered.

They froze.

Turning back to Melissa, she said, "what has happened to you, sister?"

A lone tear trickled from Melissa eye as she rubbed her cheek. The pain was long gone, but the act still lingered in her mind. "I … I have nothing on the surface." She sniffled. "The other girls have families, careers, but I … I couldn't. This was all I knew. I left with Jack because I hoped… I hoped there would be more for me up there. No one adopted me like the others. I lived in the system. My sisters were my only real friends growing up… and they visited me in the shelter whenever they could, but they had their own lives to live. I wanted to come back. I wanted to come back! I'm sorry I didn't! I couldn't find my way. I told myself that I didn't really want to come here, but my heart cried out every day."

Karen cradled Melissa's head onto her shoulder.

She sobbed. "I finished school, and got a job, and that has been my life. I was miserable."

"Hush now, my sister." Karen coddled. "We have no time to be weak at this moment. I need your strength."

Melissa pushed back and dried her eyes. "I know. I lost myself. Sorry."

The Com officer stepped forward. "Sir. El Tee confirms that second platoon is top side. They are sending support down to us now."

The marines all cheered, happy to know they were no longer alone. Haze nodded and looked toward Melissa and Karen. "Shall we go ladies?"

Kate stepped in front of the three massive splicers. They were full of Adam and swelling with the enhancements to their muscles. "You are no longer needed." She stated.

"You promised us!" One of the men yelled. His voice was high pitched and cracked with each word. His breath seemed to boil with fire and his eyes glowed. The man was no longer a man, he was a weapon unleashed by three little girls, and the two other men beside him were exactly the same.

"And we will hold up our end of the bargain." Kate said.

"No you won't! You're just like that bitch mother of yours!" The man roared. "She promised us more space, instead she locked us up in Apollo Square… we're not going to stay silent!"

The other man cut in. "They're trying to cut us out of another deal. This is what those sisters do! They all lie! They lie! They lie!" He began pulling his own hair out. What little he had was clumped in his hand as tiny beads of blood began to dot his balding head. "I'm tired of the lies! Too many lies!" He lashed out, slapping Kate across the chest. The girl was flung across the room and landed against a pile of boxes.

Kate's two friends simply smiled. "Today will be a glorious day." They each looked up as the three men charged toward them."

The youngest girl shrieked suddenly and loudly. Four big daddies charged into the room. The three men, seeing the big daddies approaching, roared and began to throw fire and ice toward the daddies. The two girls giggled as they retreated toward the big daddies.

"Save us, Mr. Bubbles!" The middle girl playfully gestured. Even though their lives were in danger, the girls couldn't help but be overjoyed with the excitement. They were finally living their dreams. They were sisters, but better than that, they were the daughters of the sisters.

Kate pushed the box off of her. She felt the wound on her chest and quickly examined it. It was healing, faster than she thought. She looked across the room as the splicers fought against the big daddies. Four big daddies would not be enough to stop the three powerful splicers she had made, but that wasn't the plan. The plan was to have a battle; a final battle where their angel would come and save them. He would come, and he would arrive just in time. Kate fought back the urge to fight against the splicers, bottling her anger and focusing on her dreams, her dreams would come true. Soon the door would part and the man they had deemed their Angel would run to save them.

She climbed free of the boxes and ran toward her sisters. "Kill them Bubbles! Kill them!" Caught in the wave of emotions and the frenzy of the moment, the eyes of Kate and the two friends began to glow.

With Hephaestus Core secure, everyone pushed toward Ryan's Office; Central Control of Rapture. Karen felt her pocket and the key was still secure. She didn't know what she was going to say to her daughter, if her daughter was indeed inside.

Melissa held a short wave radio in her hand and continued to call out. "I repeat, can any of you hear me?" With a sigh she pocketed the device. "Nothing from the four sisters we stationed here. I hoped they escaped."

Karen nodded. "As do I. Though my daughter did not grow up in a time of war, she has learned all that I knew. She either has them as hostages, or eliminated them earlier."

Melissa looked back to the others. "You sure you want to come? This will be dangerous."

Mike smiled. "As bad as the iceman? I can't wait." Haze was silent and focused on what was about to come. Behind them was Bailey and four other marines. Bailey knew that his best chance at Adam was in Ryan's office.

Ahead of them all were ten Angel Big Daddies. They stopped as they neared Ryan's Central Control office door. They looked back and Karen nodded. The big daddies readied their weapons and pushed open the massive door.

Kate rolled back as her big daddy's frozen form was smashed by the enraged splicer's hulking fists. She turned and began to run, not showing any sympathy for the fallen big daddy. Two more Big daddies fell to the power of the other two splicers, leaving only one daddy to protect them.

"Where is he?" The little one screamed. "Why hasn't he come?"

Kate stood with the other two girls as the last big daddy bravely charged into the three splicers. The first splicer caught the powerful drill arm of the daddy, and even with the drill spinning into his hand and cutting away flesh, the splicer seemed unaffected. A discharge of electricity swelled around the big daddy and the other two splicers closed in to attack its dazed state. The second splicer punched the big daddy and knocked him backward, and the third splicer covered him in flames.

The big daddy struggled to ignore the flames and fight, but the damage was too great. As he began to move back toward the three splicers, he fell under his own weight.

The three splicers turned toward Kate and her friends. Slowly Kate stood in front of them. She thought everything would be alright. Perhaps they would get hurt in the battle while their angel struggled to save them, but it was becoming painfully clear that their angel would not arrive in time and that could mean death. However, Kate had no plans of dying. Her eyes still glowed but now the back of her neck began to boil just below the skin. She took one step toward the three splicers and heard the familiar sound of a metal door groaning open.

The door of Ryan's office had finally parted. The Angel had arrived.

Kate inhaled as much air as she could and then screamed, "Save us!"

The three splicers looked at her funny and then they heard the thud of big daddies entering the room. They looked back and were surprised to see that these big daddies were the personal bodyguards of Karen Tenenbaum. Four of them charged into the room, with four more following close behind. One of the splicers tossed flames onto the Angel Big Daddies, but the flames blew out almost instantly. Another splicer tossed ice, but the big daddies blew through without slowing their pace.

The big daddies began to fire their powerful rivet guns, tearing into the splicer's flesh, but for some reason the splicers could not heal as fast as they had before. The Angel's rivet guns were infused with some form of Adam that counterattacked their healing.

Happy that their lives were saved, Kate looked eagerly passed the Big daddies. "Where is he?" She said with a soft sigh.

"I do not see him!" The little one shouted in disappointment. Only the big daddies appeared in the room.

"Wait!" Kate pointed toward the door as four men staggered into the room. Haze, Bailey, Mike and one other Marine. "He has come."

The middle girl turned to the splicers. "Do it now!"

Confused, the lead splicer dodged a rivet and looked passed the big daddies. He saw several men, and it was just as the girls had said. They were mostly military men. She hadn't lied to them. The military was coming to take over and take their homes away.

The plan had originally been to protect Ryan's office from being taken control of. That was why the three men volunteered to receive the power, but when Kate told them, only a few moments ago, that they were no longer needed, the men thought they were being cut out of the deal. If they successfully protected Central Control, Kate promised them a king's ransom and habitat within any location in Rapture.

The lead splicer leapt into action, and his two partners eagerly joined him.

To Be Concluded...