Chapter 23

That last comment had pushed Kaiser over the edge, it was clear to see; his eyes were burning with a rage so intense that Slert thought he just might lose control and kill them all.

Luckily he didn’t, and instead the two combatants broke apart to prepare for their next confrontation. While Kaiser did this so he could plan a new attack, Sideos was just sick of seeing the Irken’s face so close up.

Once again the battle lines had been drawn, and they both were read to continue their battle for power.

Slert could feel her excitement grow as the two tensed and prepared themselves for the continuation of the fight. She needed to see who would be the victor; at the moment, escape was nothing compared to this.

Before they could do much of anything, though, a very loud sound caught their attention. It sounded very much like a bomb of some sort going off, and they sure felt the vibrations it triggered. The entire prison shook with so much force that even the wall-fort collapsed and Slert almost lost her balance.

All at once everyone’s attention was focused on the noise. Looking up at the flickering lights Sideos stole the words right out of Slert’s mouth, “What the FUCK was that?”

“It sounded like a 45T-Fritvena bomb detonating three, maybe four miles above the prison,” Gar said as he kicked a fallen chair away from him and got up.

“What the…” Slert muttered, looking at him oddly.

“When you’re a tactician, they teach you how to recognise different explosions. That one was obviously to let us know that they’re here,” he explained.

“That who’s here?” Meg squeaked loudly, confused about the matter. She was still caught up in the fight.

With a deep hate-filled growl Tamy answered, “The fucking army. The reinforcements have arrived.”

“Then we should get moving right away, before they infiltrate too deep into the base to cut off our escape,” Kaiser suggested randomly, making the fight with Sideos his second priority.

Sirra rushed to him, flirting, “We should; we need to escape and find somewhere to hide… like under some bed covers maybe?”

Kaiser smiled lustfully down at her, “We’ll have to bring some knives and whips, just in case…”

Sirra said something else but Slert didn’t quite hear it over Sideos’s shouting, “WHOA there Mr. Rushypants! We still have a fight to finish!”

As she dug the remaining Irkens from the rubble Katz yelled urgently, “You’ll have to postpone it to another time. And send me a ringside ticket, by the way; I want to see who wins.”

“HEY, I WON!” Sideos pouted, unable to let this go.

“No, you didn’t. I was about to kill you,” Kaiser told him smugly, as he and Sirra rejoined the group of escapees.

Pointing a finger accusingly at his foe Sideos yelled, “Prove it! You can’t because you were gunna get that stick up your ass kicked further… up your ass… I HATE YOU!”

Only just snapping out of spectator mode Cello gaped, “Wait, you mean they’re already here? Why aren’t we all running for the exits?”

Still amazed at how skilled the two were at fighting Slert piped up, “Because what’s the point in missing a good battle?”

“True, that,” Scintille agreed before adding, “Besides, I’m itching to kill someone.”

“I know this will end badly…” Neep groaned as he rubbed his eyes, “But we don’t have much time.”

Knowing it wouldn’t work but deciding to give it a try nonetheless Klik offered, “You could always just surrender?”

“Amazink. In times ov need, dhey gazher in order to fight dheir kommon enemiez!” Greep exclaimed, as he again started to take notes.

As Kunst and Vagnur yelled at Greep a bit, everyone else took the time to reorganize themselves. Slert soon found herself grouped with Scintille, Katz, and Meg, all of whom were guarding Klik and Greep. Cello and Tamy lead ahead of the group of six, with Sideos and Gar ahead of them, and all the couples bringing up the rear.

They were ready to head out, this group of the most dangerous Irkens Seven had to offer. Between all of them they’d done everything imaginable, but they weren’t thinking of that; they just wanted their freedom back.

Sideos quickly steered the group in the right direction, toward the nearest technician’s staircase. By now the elevators would be shut down, so the stairs were their best bet. It would cost them an extra thirty minutes in the very least, but they had no other options at this point.

“Alright team!” Sideos announced, as he turned around and walked backward, “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover with heavy fire and bad vibes coming from all around, so I want you all on your most vicious, mass murdering behaviour for the rest of the trip.”

Slert smiled. The fight had already begun to bring out her darker side, so getting the rest to come out would be fairly easy. And without a doubt she’d bring it out in order to survive; she’d choose death over another cell here any day, just like many of the others.

She turned to the two doctors and growled darkly, “You’d better not try anything… you don’t want to see me when it comes out.”

************

An eerie silence engulfed the group of convicts and they heard only the sounds of their footsteps and the sound of the various battles going on. They all held their weapons on the way to the third floor, always on the guard.

Slert smiled. They were on their way to the third floor, and after that they’d all finally be free. She could almost taste the freedom. She felt like she might not be able to make it, but the thought of the sun on her face kept her going.

From the back of the group they heard Gar voice many of their thoughts, “I... I can’t go on. I’m too tired.”

Sideos, who wasn’t one to stand for his underlings giving up, shouted fiercely, “MOVE IT! If you don’t, I’ll take you up in pieces! Understand?”

Sirra, from somewhere along the line of irkens, made an insult of some sort. Slert didn’t catch exactly what it was, but apparently Gar had. And he didn’t like it.

“FUCK YOU GUYS!” he yelled madly, “I’ll climb this damn thing and kick each and every one of your arses!”

This only made the lot of them laugh harder, something that the majority of them needed desperately. Though they hadn’t been at this very long it felt like they’d been climbing the stairs for hours. As it was, if they continued at this pace, it would be at least another hour before they reached the next floor.

Because of the nearly constant explosions rocking the prison-asylum they had to move slowly; any wrong move could send one of them tumbling into the abyss of the elevator shaft.

Slert shivered with everyone else as she climbed the stairwell, a cold and icy breeze drifting through the air. She hadn’t realized that the planet outside had been so cold; she’d never been allowed out, and there was seldom a window with a view of the exterior.

She now realized that the sub-zero climate was harsher than she could’ve imagined. The perfect place to do research on the most dangerous criminals and insane. Among the harsh life of the planet surface they were completely hidden.

“I’m never coming to another ice planet... I’m going to toast myself on some desert planet first,” Sideos complained, unaware that his voice carried so much in the tunnel.

From across from Slert Katz commented, “I didn’t know you were into tanning?”

They saw their leader look down to yell at her, but he stopped before he could and muttered softly, clinging to the ladder, “Whoa.”

“What?” Neep frowned, pausing, “Are you afraid of heights as well as ghosts?”

Slert couldn’t help but let out a giggle, but quickly quieted down and listened for his answer. It could be entertaining.

“Nooo...” he growled, “But I just got one of those... you know when you’re in a voot and you’re coming down on a planet and the whole planet is there before you and it’s like ‘dude, we’re so high’? Like one of those things.”

Having done a few experiments in the area Slert suggested, “... You mean vertigo?”

“Kinda, yeah. But maybe that’s the point,” the irken chuckled, as he began to climb again, “Damn, I can’t remember the last time I was this high.”

A discussion about everyone’s academy days boiled up to pass the time shortly after that, but Slert stayed silent. She’d been hunted nearly since birth, and had never gotten the chance to do anything like that.

Listening to the stories kept her going, though, and before long they reached the exit. To signal that they’d reached the end Sideos exclaimed excitedly, “FINALLY!”

Doctor Klik, his voice brimming with hope, asked with relief, “The exit... about time, my arms were getting tired.”

A brisk order from Gar for him to shut up quickly caused him to quiet down, but it was clear that he was happy to see the door.

This better be the exit, you moronic prick,” Gar told Sideos, growing tired of the constant distractions. He just wanted to get out of this hellhole.

“Oh, I don’t know...” Sideos replied sarcastically, “Maybe it’s the sign and flashing light but DAMN, it could be a closet.”

“Just get climbing!” Tamy insisted over Gar’s grumbling, “I wanna get back to shooting people in the face!”

Slert agreed with everyone else, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. The freezing cold of the outside planet was starting to get to her, and she wasn’t sure how long she could hold up in these conditions.

As they continued through the last of their climb Slert looked around nervously. Explosions could be heard from every angle now, and it caused her to wonder just how much time they had left.

She didn’t know much about the military, but even to her it seemed like they were rushing to get in. There was no way they could be taking proper care with their operations, which didn’t bode well for their safety.

Trying to shake the thought from her mind she continued on, head down. Not wanting to focus on the distance to the top she climbed mindlessly, and was quite surprised when she tried to take a step but found that there was no step there.

Falling face-first to the ground she scrambled forward to allow the others room, she looked up and smiled widely; they’d finally conquered the stairs.

“That... took too long,” Sideos sighed, as he collapsed against the wall for a short and well-deserved rest. Scintille agreed and did the same, in need of a break.

Noticing that the entire space was a catwalk in the darkness Katz announced, “Well, this is just super, isn’t it? Trapped on a freezing catwalk in the middle of a big dark tunnel... super.”

::end of chapter 23::

So! Another chapter up for you all to see! They're up the stairs, and if you've read Escape like I told you to, you'd know what's going to happen next. From a different angle, of course. Actually, on that note, Escape hasn't been updated for... a long time. Very nearly a year. SO, since I don't want to keep you all waiting, the next chapter will start to deviate from Escape and will again be completely original... or, as original as a fanfiction can get haha! Kind of nervous about that since I'm sure Invader-Sideos has something awesome lined up for the finale, but I guess trying my hand at it isn't such a bad thing.

That being said, next chapter will be out... either later today or in a week or two. I go on vacation in a couple days, so I may not be able to update on time. We shall see.

Escape (c) Invader-Sideos
All characters (c) their respective owners
Invader Zim (c) JV