Part 6 of The Edge of the World
Perma-note: Dames’ name is Dexter in this series. I’d already named him before Book 2 came out so I’m keeping it that way here 😀
A/N: And here’s the second part of the chapter!
Summary: Damien and Dexter face each other head-on. Now with Eros’ reinforcements on the way, it’s a race against time. Will they make it?
Disclaimer: Characters/canon belong to Pixelberry
Screaming at the walls of fire
They’re closing in on me
I hunger for the vertigo, the silver moonlight
It’s where I wanna be
Screaming at the walls of fire
But I’m still running free
In the silver moonlight I can breathe
———-
Damien and Alana had been chasing Dexter for several minutes now; racing through different trails, winding in different directions as he tried to throw them off. But eventually, they managed to catch up with him.
Dexter had been about to throw another smoke bomb, only for it to be knocked out of his hand by a well-timed round kick from Alana. “Nice try, Robocop,” she quipped, as Damien maneuvered behind him, blocking a potential exit.
Dexter narrowed his eyes, annoyed. “Really Alana? Robocop?”
“Sorry sweetie, but you’ve impersonated a detective, you’re carrying a gun and handcuffs around and you can manipulate cars.” Alana said smugly. “Just calling it like I see it.” Then her face became all-business once again. “Now I have better things to do than to play three blind mice with you and your sidekick, and my partner is one more wisecrack away from rearranging your circuitry. I suggest you start talking.”
“About what?”
That was all the excuse Damien needed. “You know what!” He snarled and gave him a hard shove back into a tree. “Where’s Maya?!” He had his collar bunched up in his fists. Numerous emotions were flashing through eyes identical to his own as Dexter processed that question. This apparent indecision only heightened his suspicion.
When he didn’t get an answer, Damien slammed him into the tree again. “Answer me!” He snarled.
“The hell does it matter to you?” The robot fired back.
Damien looked him dead in the eyes. “Everything.”
He punched him, knocking him to the ground. Damien knelt over him and grabbed his collar again. “Tell me where she is, now!” The answer was silence and he drew his fist back again, only to pause when he noticed the Match’s eyes.
They had turned glassy and weren’t watching him, or anywhere for that matter. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as if in deep thought.
The sight of it unnerved Damien and he shook him again, snapping the Match out of his daze. “Hey! I’m talking to you!”
Dexter opened his mouth to answer, but then the faint echo of heavy footsteps padding along the forest floor got their attention. Damien glanced in both directions, then back to the match only to find him smirking.
“Damien, behind you-” Alana was cut off with a loud THWACK! and he turned around to find her engaging two men in black suits; both of whom he recognized as some of the guards who’d ambushed him at the museum. Alana knocked one down just as she aimed a back kick at the other.
This was just enough of a distraction for the Match to shove him away and jump to his feet. He immediately threw a punch, which Damien caught and yanked downwards.
“What the hell are you playing at?!” He demanded as they continued to exchange blows. “Replacing me?! Toying with Maya?! Attacking Alana?!”
“Didn’t she throw you all under the bus just days ago?”
“But that’s not how I do things! And neither should-!”
Just then, two more guards rushed into the clearing, gunning for Alana.
Damien started to run towards them, reaching out for one of the men’s collar, fist at the ready. But Dexter hauled him back, spinning him around so his path was blocked. He elbowed him aside and pressed on, only for the Match to charge forward, bracing his full weight against Damien’s shoulders to hold him back.
“Why are you doing this?” Damien hissed. “Aren’t you supposed to be me?!”
“I’m not you.”
“Oh sure, now you decide to be honest!”
Dexter gripped his shoulders, trying to shove him back but Damien stood his ground, straining against him as he wrestled back each time. Both of them were locked in a deadly stalemate, gritting their teeth and snarling, as each tried to overpower the other.
“Physically, I might be ‘you’,” Dexter countered. “But I have a different purpose.”
“And Maya? You think you’re gonna feel good about yourself if she gets hurt?!”
“Do I look like I care?!” Damien felt his back slam into a tree as Dexter yelled in his face. “I’m. Not. You. Only in part!”
“No part of me would ever hurt Maya!” Damien shouted back.
Again that clouded look appeared in Dexter’s eyes. Damien couldn’t quite decipher it, but there was no time to question that.
He peered over his double’s shoulder to find the newly arrived guards rushing Alana and slamming her back into the tree while their comrades jumped into the fray, surrounding her.
Alana fought vigorously, knocking them down in a flurry of skilled martial arts strikes, only for them to get right back up. There was no hesitation on her part, but having fought alongside her for so many years, Damien knew her little tells; she was getting overwhelmed.
He let out a frustrated shout, shoved the match back and prepared to charge him again.
“Easy there, detective,” Another man’s voice sounded from nearby and all movement ceased. Though the voice was familiar, it sounded far from friendly. Damien glanced up to find Harley. In his clutches was-
“Maya!”
“Damien!” Her eyes lit up with relief upon seeing him, though there was still some fear in them.
He instantly felt lighter upon seeing her in front of him, alive. But the feeling dissipated when he saw the state she was in; her face streaked with tears, light bruises on her jaw and clothes ruffled up with leaves and dirt.
Harley had her by her hair and was gripping her wrists tightly behind her. “Nice to finally meet you Mr. Nazario,” he jeered. “I trust Maya’s told you about me before?”
“Get your hands off of her,” Damien growled.
“Sorry, Damien.” Harley shrugged. “But I only take orders from my father.” His face twisted into a glare. “Besides, you’re hardly in any position to tell me what to do.” He tilted his head towards the side where the guards stood. Two of them grabbed a now-restrained Alana by her elbows and hauled her to her feet.
“Now,” Harley started. “I think you’ve delayed things long enough.” Then he leaned his head closer to Maya’s ear, smiling slyly when she recoiled. “Come with us quietly and your girls will be just fine.”
Damien looked between Maya and Alana, clenching his fists as he racked his brain for a solution. But before he could make another move, one guard swiftly approached him and punched him in the face. Another came from behind and grabbed his arms to keep him upright just before his comrade delivered another savage hit to the gut, knocking the wind out of him.
“Damien!” Maya cried out as he doubled over, coughing.
The guard took advantage of his fall forward to slam an elbow into his back, forcing Damien to the ground. Then he planted a foot into his back, pinning him down while the other wrenched his arms behind him, handcuffing them.
“Leave him alone!”
“Relax, Maya. At least he’s alive, hm?” Harley taunted. There was a flash of pure rage in Maya’s eyes as she stomped on Harley’s foot and tried to run to Damien. The Match merely laughed at her efforts and held her back.
“Bangsat.” Alana was struggling more aggressively against her captors. Dexter snorted and Harley watched with raised eyebrows as she launched into a string of expletives in a language apparently only they could translate at the moment. “Kurang ajar, emang!” As the guards began to drag her along, she planted her feet on the ground, halting them long enough to spit in Dexter’s face.
He sighed and wiped his face, gesturing at the guards to move ahead. “You realize this could’ve all been avoided if you’d just come with our guards as originally planned?” Dexter addressed Damien matter-of-factly as the latter was hauled to his feet.
“And you would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for us pesky kids and our little dog, too?” he drawled. “Not my fault your guards were shit at close quarters combat.”
“Big talk, coming from you who couldn’t take down … well, you.” Dexter gestured to himself, smirking when Damien glowered at him.
Harley watched this exchange, amused. “You know what? I take back what I said before, Maya.” He chuckled. “See, Damien here put a bit of a damper on our plans when he escaped the guards at the museum. But thanks to this little stunt of yours, you just delivered him right into our hands. Thank you so very much.”
Maya started to protest and pull away, but then Harley yanked her hair further back against him, ignoring her pained yelp. “That’s enough out of you.”
“Harley!” A harsh voice stopped everyone in their tracks.
Harley looked to Damien, thinking he’d been the source of the interruption . . . only to find him staring at Dexter, nonplussed.
Dexter shifted awkwardly at the sudden shift in attention and cleared his throat, as if to brush off his outburst. “We’ve wasted enough time here. Let’s get a move on before their friends get to us.”
“Right, I forgot about them. Should we just capture them all right now?”
“We don’t have the space or guards for that. And those weren’t Cecile’s orders. We were only supposed to take these two, remember?” Dexter gestured to Damien and Maya who were watching them, dumbfounded.
Harley sighed. “Fine. I imagine she would bring them up to speed once we’ve updated her.” A triumphant grin spread on his face. “Now they’ll have to listen to us.”
“Whatever,” Dexter muttered. “Now hand her over.” He tilted his head in Maya’s direction.
Damien and Alana’s eyebrows shot up.
Harley blinked, taken aback. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me. Hand her over,” Dexter replied, beckoning at him. At his accomplice’s questioning look, he elaborated. “You seem a little . . . overwhelmed. I can take it from here.”
Harley’s eyes narrowed. “And why does this matter to you?”
Dexter stepped forward, challengingly. “I think I should be asking you the same thing.” A tense silence passed as they leveled hard glares at each other. Then Harley let out a breath.
“Fine, have it your way.” he said simply, before shoving Maya forward.
Dexter caught her before she could fall and quickly secured handcuffs on her wrists while she gaped at the two androids in shock. “Let’s go,” Dexter muttered as he tugged her along, albeit a little more gently than his partner had.
Sensing that the conflict was over, the guards proceeded to drag Damien and Alana in the direction of the hill ahead, where a small black van was waiting. Still keeping up his pace with the guards holding him, Damien turned to look at Maya, fixing his gaze on her while glancing suspiciously at Dexter every now and then.
‘I’m sorry,’ she mouthed to him, but Damien shook his head, forcing an encouraging smile on his face.
‘It’ll be okay,’ he mouthed back.
Maya felt tears prickling at her eyes again. This wasn’t supposed to happen. All she’d had to do was to escape through the forest and make it to the road. If she hadn’t stopped to rest, would she have made it out? Would she have been able to help Alana when Eros’ reinforcements had shown up?
She and Damien were finally together again, but at what cost? And where were their friends?
As they made their way up the hill, Maya walked as slowly as she could, hesitance in every step as she glanced around her every now and then, seeking some way out of this. She felt Dexter nudge her forward just as Alana and Damien were herded into the van.
She swallowed hard as she stepped in, Dexter holding his hand above her head to keep it from hitting the top. The sheer irony of that was truly laughable, but she couldn’t bring herself to express it.
We were so close . . .
Maya sat in the back with Alana and Damien as Harley, Dexter and the guards piled into their seats. Alana locked eyes with her for a brief second, before she sighed and shifted her gaze to the window; her cool expression not giving away anything.
Maya kept her eyes away from the front, willing herself not to see Harley sneering at them from his seat. Instead, she shifted closer to Damien and leaned against his shoulder, burying her face in his chest as he planted a soft kiss on the top of her head.
The last thing they heard before the doors slammed shut was Dipper’s mournful howl into the night.
These days are lonely now,
Breathing in the coldest lies
I think that’s only what you have in mind
Holding on to the best of you
I hit the pavement
Going down, I won’t bow…