Rise from the Abyss

Torrent Tide slinked down the dark hallway, barely able to make out the beautiful patterns carved into the white marble walls on either side of her. The sound of her hooves clip-clopping on the tiled floor failed to overpower the thunderous beating of her heart as she slowly grew closer to the dim light emanating from the end of the corridor.

As she grew closer to the archway, she began to make out the sound of arguing from somewhere in the next room.

“I don’t care! I DON’T CARE! You told me the DOCTOR would give us more! But now you’re telling me he won’t’!? You say he ‘won’t let you in’. But the doctor let HIM in! Or… are you just lying to me? Trying to keep all the Adam to yourself, aren’t you!” The voice was crazed, boiling with a visceral rage teetering on the edge of insanity.

Tide poked her head out of the doorway, quickly scanning the moderately sized room for the source of the shouting. Her eyes located it in an quickly as her vision focused on two tall bipedal figures standing in the middle of the barely lit room.

One was thin, his small frame was made even more pathetic by the second figure, who loomed above him as he cornered him against a column in the middle of the room. A heavy pipe wrench clenched tightly in his bandage wrapped hands. Tide couldn’t make out many details about their faces in the dim light of the room.

“Tony p-please! I asked the d-doctor to spare us a bit of Adam, but he said he wasn’t gonna! Said it was b-bad for us. Told me to n-never come back! Please Tony, I'm telling the truth!” The meek creature placated, raising his hands in a symbol of surrender looking on the verge of tears as he pleaded with this newly dubbed ‘Tony’.

“Don’t LIE to me Willy! I know you have the Adam!” Tony snarled, his high pitched, screeching voice grated Tide’s ears as he pushed ‘Willy’ hard against the pillar via a sudden tight grip on the frail bipeds shirt.

“P-please! The doctor won’t see us! He won’t see anybody! Please, I promise that’s the truth! I’d never try to sneak Adam from ya Tony… You’re like a brother to me!” Willy’s tiny wispy voice pleaded again, his feeble body shaking with apparent terror.

“Don’t BULLSHIT me! You’re just a backstabbing snake! Trying to pull the wool over my eyes, well I'm not gonna let you get away with this shit you fucking RAT!” Tony shrieked. Tide watched as he raised his wrench high above his head.

Tide was frozen.

A gasp caught dead in her throat as she stared at what was the second of the two creatures, now slumped, sitting against the bottom of the column. The lone creature stood. Towering over its fresh victim, warm crimson red dripping from its impromptu weapon. Tide could feel her body begin to tremble as she stared at the monster in front of her, her breaths grew quick as panic set in, her muscles tightened and her throat grew dry as every fiber of her body screamed at her to run away.

She decided to listen to her body, taking a shaky step backward, readying herself to bolt. But her mind was derailed in a moment as one of her armor clad hooves collided with something hard and cold forming a loud -tink-.

“Wha- who’s there?!” The tall being hollered, turning to the source of the noise. That was all it took to set Tide’s flight instinct to overdrive, as she whipped around and began galloping back down the dark hallway she had entered from.

“Hey! Get backhere!” The biped shouted. Tide was suddenly aware of the heavy footfall of the monster behind her as she ran down the hallway and back through the lobby.

As Tide ran, she felt her hoof catch something hard and jagged, sending her face first to the ground. Looking back, Tide laid eyes on a piece of rubble laying on the ground only a few hoofsteps away. But behind the rock stood the imposing form of the monster, his wrench hung tightly in his right hand, still dripping hot blood onto the tile floor beneath him. Tide gagged at the sight.

“Why?! Why are you running from me?! I’m not a bad person! You shouldn’t RUN from me!” The creature screeched, his voice manic and crazed, cracking slightly as he shrieked at her.

In the marginally brighter light of the lobby, Tide could make out more details about her assailant, his tattered black formal vest, thrown over a torn up off-white dress shirt. A chipped porcelain masquerade bird mask obscured the entirety of the individuals face, all except his bugging, yellow eyes, which stared needle sized pupils straight into Tide’s soul.

It was a long moment before Tide even realized she had been asked a question, taking a moment to swallow the lump in her dry throat, before she calmed her breath enough to give an answer.

“Y-y-you killed him! You killed another of your kind! You’re-you're insane!” Tide stuttered, her moral indignation temporarily impeding her sense of safety as she berated the monster now staring daggers at her.

“Are you calling me crazy?! I’m not crazy, It’s the voices who are crazy! I’m FINE, I’m not crazy at ALL!” Tony squawked in his shrill, deranged voice, as he began advancing on Tide.

“It's YOU people who are crazy! I just wanted my fair share ofADAM! But Willy had to go and take it all for himself! He got what he DESERVED! And you call ME crazy!” For every step Tony took toward Tide, she only managed to get half a step back.

Tide’s mind raced for any way out of this situation, for anyway to escape the insane man infront of her, finally her mind came to a decision.

The submarine.

She was in the lobby where it docked, all she had to do was get back to it and she would be home free.

Her mind finally formed a plan. Tide nearly didn’t have time to register as the monster above her brought his wrench above his head, Tide only saw it at the last moment, barley rolling out of the way as it came down on the dirty tile floor with a loud -crack-

Tide used the momentum from her roll to throw herself to her hooves, and began galloping through the rest of the lobby, her aggressor still hot on her tail as the large brass bubble came into view, all she had to do was reach it and she would be safe.

With a whiff of air over her backside, she felt the heavy wrench brush against the brass plating of her armor. His pounding footsteps grew closer mocking the thundering of her own.

“I’m not crazy! I”M NOT CRAZY! I’ll prove it! Just come here! JUST STOP RUNNING! I’m NOT crazy!” He growled.

Tide’s hooves skidded on the smooth floor as she dodged a pile of abandoned luggage, a flare of panic rushing through her as she scrambled to stay upright, the brackish air burned her lungs as she frantically raced down the station hall.

As Tide grew only hoofsteps away from her saving grace, a large metal gate swung closed inches from her face, completely blocking her access to the sub.

Tide pushed, shoved, even kicked the gate, but it refused to budge. And she watched as her only way to the surface sunk back below the pool of water, Tide could swear she saw the shadows of figures inside. As it disappeared below the waves.

Fear slowly began to set in as Tide realized the situation she was in. She was cornered, with nowhere to go, as the footsteps of her aggressor grew closer behind her.