At The End Of The Tunnel

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At The End Of The Tunnel

Co-Written by Harley Quinn and Froggy22651

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Harley: You want drama, Ant? Well Froggy, smack the bitch up. This chapter damn well OOZES that drama shit.

Froggy: Bitch is firmly smacked. Up.

Harley: The bitch, so that you know, is the drama. And we’re smacking it up, as in cranking it up a notch. I do not condone woman beating. That’s Cur’s job.

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Chapter Twenty: All The Way Down

As Keith cat-napped in the next carriage, Breech and James sat on opposite seats, Breech staring at her feet, deep in thought.

James sighed and slumped back in his seat, exhausted after the exertions in Korriban City.

Breech pulled the Chaos Emerald out of her Cultist's robe, smiling, "I found it."

James looked over at her with a little smile, "I knew you would."

Breech placed it back into her robe. She didn't know why, she just... liked having it near her.

James nodded, "Now we just need to find the other one... wherever it is..."

"Well, like Gus said, Robotnik and the Cultists are searching for it too," said Breech, "We just follow them, kill them when they find it, and take it from them."

The calm, cold way she said those words sent a chill down James’ spine. He nodded and looked up at her, "...Are you alright?"

"Why shouldn't I be?" Breech replied, evading the answer

"Well... gosh, tell me how you feel. You've just been reunited with your son." It was something of particular interest to him, considering his lack of relationship with his own son.

"I... it's still such a shock," Breech replied, "I keep thinking I'm dreaming - a good dream. I never imagined I'd see my little boy again..."

James smiled, glad that he got something right for a change.

"Thank you... again," said Breech.

"You're very welcome. I'm happy for you."

Breech smiled. It was like someone had switched a light on in her serious, dark eyes, it was such a change. James felt like someone had lit a fire in his chest, seeing her truly, honestly smile for once. He couldn't help but return the smile.

"I wish that I could invent a new word," Breech continued, "A word that means more than thank you, because thank you doesn't cut it right now..." And she hugged him, and it was different. It wasn't out of fear or misery, but it was somehow more real than before.

James blinked, surprised by the show of affection, but quickly returned it, hugging her tightly and nuzzling her neck, "You don't need to thank me. I'm just glad that I could make a difference for you..."

Eventually, Breech disentangled herself from James and went to the window, "When I was a little kitten... people told me that nobody would help me, that I wasn't worth helping, that if I was ever in trouble, the only person I could rely on was myself... I guess they were wrong,” she turned back to James, "There's you, at least."

"No one should be alone,” James answered, “I can't think of anything more cruel than having to go through life without someone beside you."

Breech just shrugged, "I always had someone beside me... They wouldn't go away."

"But there's a difference between someone standing there... and someone who actually gives a damn whether you live or die, whether you are happy or sad," James insisted.

"I guess," Breech sighed, and leant on the train wall, "Never went away..." she muttered, as if lost in her thoughts.

James stood up and leant against the seat, "Hey, what's bothering you? I know something is."

"Something always is," Breech glanced around, "It's just... it's always there. Always. Whether I'm all alone, or in a crowd, I always remember, I'm always… waiting for it... for... for..." she stopped.

James frowned, "What? What is 'it'?"

"Him," Breech said finally.

"Him wh-ARRGHH!!" James bellowed in pain as electricity danced over his body, sending him to the ground in convulsions.

A sickening chuckle sounded from the shadows as a familiar figure stepped into the light, holding a .45 at Breech and some sort of rectangular device at James, "I think she's referring to me, Prower."

"CUR!" Breech screamed. She was about to dart to the door, but remembered that Keith was in that room... She flattened herself against the wall. The worst thing was that she didn't seem at all surprised, only terrified.

She didn't look at James, "Him," she said, calmly, looking straight at Cur.

"I really didn't like being left behind in the desert, Breechy," Cur growled, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

"Don't call me that!" Breech hissed at him, "And believe you me, I'd rather you were in plain sight than me having to worry about when you're gonna jump out," she snapped.

Cur cocked the gun, "I'd watch that attitude if I were you. After all, you have a son now to lose."

James looked up, "Brother... what are you..."

Cur growled and kicked James in the general area of the kidneys, "Don't you dare give me that warrior fraternity crap, Prower. I never bought into that load of hypocritical brainwashing, and I'm not about to start now!"

"If you dare harm my little boy I'll rip out your eyes, Cur!" Breech snarled.

Cur shook his head, "Let's get one thing straight..." he fired a round into Breech's arm, "You are MINE, and everything that you have belongs to ME! This mental retard at my feet cannot and will not change that!"

Breech clamped her mouth shut and clutched her arm, refusing to scream.

James looked up, "You... traitorous... son of a bitch..."

Cur chuckled, "Oh come on, Prower, is this actually a surprise to you? She tried to tell you over and over, but you wouldn't listen. You see your precious royal guard through rose-tinted lenses, never seeing the bad in it."

James closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold off the painful truth, "How could you..."

Now Breech was pulling the bullet out of her arm with her claws. Another scar. How imaginative of Cur. He paid no attention to her.

"I'm not loyal to the Guard, never was. And I'm not the only one. Those guardsmen working for Robotnik aren't doing so to fight him, they do so because they are corrupt and disillusioned by the bullshit they were force-fed their whole lives. You are living a dream, sir."

James shook his head, "You’re a liar..."

Breech winced, "I tried to tell you, James," she said, "I warned you that you might meet people you thought you knew. I showed you too," she continued, "CF and BL. The first day we met. Remember?"

James' eyes snapped open and his jaw dropped, "No... no it can't be..."

Cur grinned wickedly, "Oh, yes it can. I had quite a lot of fun with Breechy here. Even earned a profit from her. She was the Guard's personal whore for a while..."

"You... BASTARD!!" James shouted as he tried to get to his feet, but he just stumbled and bashed his face against the floor.

"What are you doing to him, Cur?" Breech asked him

Cur smiled, "Oh, just shooting an unhealthy amount of electrical energy into his key systems. It'll stun him at the level I have it set. At higher levels his life support will shut down, effectively ending his freak cyborg life."

Breech nodded, "Like my staff." She started to reach into her cloak

Cur growled and aimed the gun at her again, "Take it out slowly and hand it to me."

Breech cursed under her breath and pulled out the staff, "Thief," she snarled, and somehow the word had extra venom, as if she was referring to far more than theft of property.

Cur snatched the staff away, "AND the gun..."

Breech ground her teeth and took the gun out, handing it to him. To James, it seemed quite insane that she didn't use her weapons to attack Cur.

Cur snatched up the gun and examined it, "A Glock... I'll take my .45 over this plastic piece of crap anyday. Now that's a real man's gun..." He reached into James' cloak and removed his desert eagle, "Now look at this oversized hand-cannon. This is something you use when you are compensating for something..."

"I can see why you'd want it then," Breech snarled at him.

Cur smiled icily at her and flowed forward, pushing her against the wall and digging the gun into her stomach, “Getting cocky, Breech? Forgetting your place? Perhaps I should remind you…”

He struck her face hard with his fist, then kicked her to the floor and climbed on top of her, “It’s UNDER ME!” he roared at her, and started to knead her flesh painfully hard.

“Mom? Mr Prower?” a young voice spoke up, making all three occupants of the car look up.

A grin spread over Cur’s face. He stood up, kicked Breech one more, and aimed the gun at the child that had entered the car, "Hello there, Keith. Why don't you join us?"

"You leave him out of this!" Breech snapped at Cur, trying to stand.

Cur looked thoughtful, "Hmmm... Nah, he can stay. Come over here, kid. I want to play a game..."

"Don't move, Keith!" Breech ordered him, automatically.

"He moves, or he dies,” Cur said coldly.

Breech shuddered, "What are you going to do?" she asked him, her voice a whisper.

Cur smiled as he pulled Keith in front of him and put a gun to his head, "We're going to play a game I just invented. Bastard Says. You say what the bastard tells you to say... or the kid gets a hole in the head."

Breech's claws dug into the metal floor of the train with an unpleasant sound, "And what does the bastard say?" she asked him.

Cur grinned, "Bastard says, 'Who do you belong to?'"

Breech bit her lip until blood came, "You," she answered, "You're a fucking psycho, Cur, and it's only right that I belong to you."

Cur smiled, "Quite true. Now..." he gave James a sharp kick in the head, "Bastard wants to know what you see in this jerk on the floor. Why would you leave me and betray Robotnik for him?"

Breech flinched at the kick, "I compared you to him," she answered, "And though you're both bastards, at least he doesn't mean to be one... he's a victim of circumstance."

Cur sneered, "I don't think you're telling me the whole truth, babe. But we'll get back to that later. I've got some more interesting questions... Bastard wants to know why you never tried to rescue Keith here. Explain to him why it had to be James to break him out of that laboratory hellhole and not you."

"I couldn't rescue him while I was working for Robotnik," Breech muttered, “Where would I hide him? How would I look after him? It was too complicated.”

Cur chuckled, "Sure... so much for family loyalty, eh kid?"

Keith whimpered slightly in response, no words, he was just staring at his mother.

"This isn't fair on him," Breech growled, "Let him GO!"

"Now, now. I'll let him go when I'm ready. Piss me off, and I'll cap him AND your new boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Breech insisted.

"The way you two played tonsil hockey on the way to Korriban suggested otherwise,” said Cur with a chuckle.

"You... saw that?" Breech asked.

Cur smiled, "I was here the whole time. I got to give that to the guard... they trained me well."

"Fucker..." Breech snarled.

"Thank you," Cur said smugly, "Now tell Bastard what you really think of Mr. Prower."

"I... I don't know yet," Breech stammered.

"We’ll find out," Cur gave James a kick in the stomach, "Hey, did Breech ever tell you how she feels about me? She must have told me that she loved me a few thousand times during our little play sessions," he said, prompting a growl from James, "Of course, now she won't tell that to anyone but me. Makes me feel special..."

"It's not like that..." Breech whispered, closing her eyes tightly.

"Oh really?" Cur stepped forward, pulling Keith behind him, "Then what is it like? Bastard really wants to know... and I bet Prower does too."

Breech shuddered, "Fine... It's evil, it's vile, it's like I'm having my fur shaved off with a cheesegrater... it's like all the demons of hell are tearing into my body... it's like hate, only more intimate and viscous,” Breech was rocking herself back and forth, "It's like someone's ripped out my heart and they're rubbing it in my face... it's like they've stolen my soul and they're trapping it in a box..."

James looked at Cur, the final realisations sinking in, "Cur, you monster... I'm going to kill you... You're going to die screaming you evil piece of shit..." He looked back and forth from Cur to Breech, hating that he was unable to do anything, "...You don't belong to anyone, Breech, especially not this jerk! You can beat him; I believe in you!"

Breech just rocked herself back and forth, "I wish I believed in myself," she whispered.

Cur sneered and kicked James hard in the face, "She's spoilt goods, Prower. She wouldn't dare fight me." As if to prove his point, Cur tossed the guns over his shoulder and smacked Keith against one of the car walls.

Breech started to growl, "You said you wouldn't hurt him if I played the game," she snarled, straightening up.

Curtis chuckled and hit Keith again, "I lied."

"He's my little boy! Leave him alone!" Breech shouted.

"Make me," Cur shoved the boy to the ground.

"Fine! I will!" Breech screamed, and leapt at Cur, furious.

Cur yelped in surprise and dropped the EMP device, which shattered on the ground. He struggled with her, trying to push her off.

"YOU BASTARD!" Breech screamed at him, trying to throttle him, "YOU STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

"Get offa me, you crazy bitch!"

Cur freed one hand and punched Breech in the face in an effort to push her away. She yelped in pain and fell back a little. He scrambled to his feet and made a mad dash for the guns he had tossed away.

"What's the matter, Cur?" Breech snarled, getting to her feet and pushing Keith and James behind her, "Scared of a helpless woman?"

"No, I just feel like filling her full of lead!" Cur gave up on the guns and tried the bare-fisted approach, fighting back against her, but soon learnt that her claws hurt a whole lot more than his fists.

Breech wasn't thinking anymore, she wasn't even trying to defend herself, she was just trying to get a good grip on Cur's neck, "You killed me; now I get to kill you!" she shouted at him.

In a final move of desperation, Cur shoved himself and Breech towards the nearest window and tried to smash her through it. Breech gasped in pain as the glass shredded her robe, freezing up for a moment.

Cur shoved her through the window and sighed in relief as he watched her dangle out the side, hanging over a very high cliff.

Breech bit her lip as glass dug into her hand, then latched onto his wrist and pulled him through the window, "If I die, you're dying too!" she screamed down at Cur, who was hanging onto her ankle for dear life.

James stumbled over the window and reached for Breech’s paw, "Hold on, Breech! I'll pull you up..."

Breech wouldn't let herself look up at James. Instead she looked down at Cur with contempt. She let go of the window sharply, and they dropped together.

James watched in horror as both of them tumbled out of sight and off the cliff towards the river below. The train passed on by before he saw them hit the water.

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About halfway down the drop, Cur grabbed a vine that was sticking out of the cliff. The jerk that he stopped with almost tore his arm out of its socket. He was still holding Breech by the ankle, but now she was dangling below him, the robe hanging over her head, screaming.

“Now who’s in charge, whore?” he asked her, slamming her against the cliff face.

“You!” Breech screamed, terrified.

Cur smiled wickedly down at the blinded and helpless Breech, and let her go, sending her tumbling the rest of the way down the cliff.

He saw her hit the water.

Then the rocks.

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End of Chapter Twenty

Harley: SHIT! Review right now! What are you waiting for?

Froggy: We're so great! We kick ass!

Harley: And we're not finished with kicking yet!