(Originally written Tuesday, November 4, 2003)
Chapter XII:
(Back to the story... and with a vengeance!)
Cream and Nougat looked around. Directly in front of them was the scarred man; everywhere else was filled by the horde of gunmen. Cream helped Nougat up and together they stood tall before the gang. Of course, the scarred man was still taller. He motioned with his hand, and every Pi raised a weapon in response.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Cream shouted with his hands out, "let's not be hasty here!" No response... he looked to Nougat. "You got any better ideas?" Nougat blurted as quickly as he could,
"Alright, now obviously we all hate each other, but I'm tellin' ya, this ain't the way..." Still no response. "...alright, fine! Shoot us..." As a few bolts were locked in the crowd, Nougat looked to Cream. "Just like that, I guess... bada bing, bada..."
Nougat was cut off viciously by multiple explosions. The door leading to the roof was blown completely in, as was every entrance on the ground floor. A thunder of gunfire bolted through the refinery in the form of disciplined, heavily armed teams. The confusion swept through the entire building as the Pi's froze - it was the opportunity Cream and Nougat were praying for.
Within the first quake of demolition charges, the two of them rushed the scarred man, knocking him back into the room from where he came. As Nougat continued to shoulder the man into the far wall of the locker room of sorts, Cream tore a submachine gun from a nearby Pi, sprayed the crowd in a wide arc, and closed the door behind him; he was barely able to barricade the door with a fallen locker before the rest could make it to him.
Relieved, Cream turned to the current fistfight between Nougat and the scarred man. His attention turned back to the mob outside when a burst of fire ripped its way through the metal door. Cream was quick to dive out of the way and spray the remainder of his ammunition into the door and adjacent walls. It was then when he saw Nougat pinned against the wall by a forearm to the neck, the muzzle of the scarred man's pistol pressed into his side.
Cream screamed hoarsely, gaining the scarred man's attention for a split-second before he grabbed the man's wrist and twisted as sharply as he could. The gun fired off to the side, narrowly missing Nougat's hip. The scarred man proceeded to backhand Cream, knocking him to the ground almost effortlessly - nevertheless, the pistol flew out of the scarred man's hand in the process. The man's attention diverted again, Nougat uppercut the man in the ribs viciously, easing the pressure off his throat. Once the scarred man's forearm was finally removed, Nougat thrust his forehead forward, smashing the large Pi in the nose. Finally free from the wall, Nougat followed up with a full-bodied uppercut to the larger man's chin.
Nougat dashed forward as the scarred man staggered; he ducked down for another uppercut. Unfortunately for him, the scarred man had adapted to his form and swung his own fist down fiercely, thus combining the strength of his own arm with Nougat's momentum. The sickening thud of the scarred man's fist upon the top of Nougat's head reverberated through the small room. Nougat dropped like a sack.
The scarred man went for his dropped gun, but Cream was quick to intercept him. Cream leapt forward and landed a devastating dropkick to the scarred man's solar plexus, bringing him down to one knee. Getting up quickly, Cream charged the kneeling man and crashed his own knee against the Pi's head. Cream used the chance to make for the gun, only to have his feet swept out from under him - the scarred man pounced on him.
While the back of Cream's head was being pummeled in by the Pi, Nougat - finally having risen from his previous assault - dove on the man as well. The fight degenerated into a writhing mass of blood, limbs, and garbled voices as all three men fought for the gun and against each other. All the while, gunfire continued to rock the refinery as the Pis struggled against the barricaded door and the counter-terrorists.
There was a muffled rumble; the gun had gone off under all the bodies.
Cream clawed his way away from the mass, racing his hands over his torso for fear of his life. He was fine. He looked at the remaining two men. The scarred man was quick to crawl away as well - Nougat remained still.
"Noug'!" Cream screamed. He looked back at the panting Pi... and felt nothing but pure, unrestrained hatred. He pounced on the scarred man's chest. The fists flew, and the man's head snapped from side to side loosely - the man did nothing to protect himself.
"Hey Whip'," Cream heard as he was tapped on the side of his head, "I think you can stop now." Cream turned around and saw Nougat standing, smoking gun in his hand.
Cream looked back down at the bloodied Pi and finally understood. The majority of the blood that had been pouring out of the scarred man was not of his doing; there was a bullet wound in the man's chest. Cream got off the Pi, still breathing hard from emotion - he shook quietly as Nougat knelt down over the Pi and ran his hands along the old scar.
"Just to make sure this time," he said. Cream just nodded.
With the brief lull in action, the two of them remembered the firefight outside the room - likewise, they remembered people were still trying to get into the room.
"Alright, Whip'," Nougat said, "I'm half-dead and don't really feel like thinkin'. Tell me something good." Cream quickly looked around the small, windowless room to no avail. He finally looked up, paused, and grinned again.
"Noug', boost me up."
