CG opened his eyes only to see a sliding door in front of him. A terrible inhuman racket could be heard on the other side.

He was by himself. Computer Station?, he wondered. Where's everyone else??

Holding the Plasma gun ready, he kicked open the door and saw that there was a whole group of imps, zombies, and a hungry looking Pink Demon, all charging right for him. He let loose with his weapon, knocking the monsters down like bowling pins....

Cole woke up face to face with a zombie.

Cole swung his chaingun at the monster, surprising it, then grabbed for the trigger and sprayed him against the wall, getting backsplashed by it's blood in their cramped quarters. An imp walked in on them, and got splattered for its trouble. Cole saw the yellow key at his feet and he grabbed it and stuck it in a pocket for safekeeping, wondering why he was by himself.

Creeping out of the yellow key nook, he stayed up on the overhang, sniping any monster that rushed by the computer alcove.

Connor opened her eyes in shock as she felt herself being knocked to the ground by something with very sharp claws. Three imps started trying to rip her to shreds on the platform which held the blue key.

Kicking and swinging at them, she scrambled to her feet, but they were very quick, and there was no place to escape to, a huge slime pool surrounded the platform.

Connor shoved the nearest imp away and managed to wrestle the chaingun from another, as he tried to rip it out of her hands. Groping for the trigger, she caught the one imp in the face, and he went down, but the one she had shoved grabbed her pack and yanked her to the floor, as the third imp slashed at her armor...

Kaveman was suddenly aware that a zombie and an imp were bearing down on him, and he could see a Pink Demon just rounding a close corner. He was in some sort of computer room.

On reflexes alone, he pulled his chaingun up front and knocked the zombie and imp to the ground just as the Demon hunched and jumped over the two enemies, heading straight for Kaveman.

He ducked, and the Demon sailed right over him and out an open window that had been just behind him, plummeting down to an ooze lake below. Not stopping to think, Kaveman jammed down on the chaingun's trigger, sending the imp and zombie, now joined by a few more, right into oblivion.

He could hear awful noises coming from out of the window, and whipping around to look, he could see a person grappling with a couple of imps on the blue key platform, just across the way.

Shots were being fired from another window on the other side of the lake, and one of the imps jerked and fell, having been hit by not so friendly fire.

Two more zombies showed up behind Kaveman, and he jerked around and caught them before they could pick him off. Looking over his shoulder again, out the window, it dawned on him who was down on the platform. It was Connor!

The snipers across the way were still firing at her, and now he could hear pings right around him, meaning they had spotted him too. He fired his chaingun at them, watching as they fell out of sight from the window.

Connor was clearly losing, as the last imp had her on her back and Kaveman dropped the chaingun and grabbed a shotgun from one of the dead zombies at his feet. Aiming carefully, he centered on the imp and fired.

The imp was thrown down by the blast, landing right on top of Connor, and she rolled him off of her, using up what little strength she had left.

This is it, she thought, feeling pain from everywhere. Now, whoever killed the monster has a clear shot at me! She lay still on her back, closing her eyes and waiting for the blast that would take her out.

"Connor!!" a voice she knew very well called out. She tried her best to sit up but she was too injured.

"Don't move!" Kaveman called. He could see that her stomach was ripped open, and she was trying to stop the enormous loss of blood, but it didn't look good from his vantage point.

"I'm on my way, just hang in there!!" he shouted. She raised a bloody hand, indicating she'd heard him, and he raced out of the area, grabbing his chaingun and the red key.

CG stood gasping for breath, feeling adrenaline rush through his body as he glanced about him at the total destruction lying all around. Scores of enemies lay in mangled bits, scattered in bloody pools.

Standing in the main entrance, CG decided that the best course of action would be to try and get hold of the keys. From what he remembered, the yellow key was closest, so, with laser gun poised, he headed cautiously down the left corridor toward the small computer alcove..

Cole had been hearing a huge commotion coming from somewhere on his right. He didn't see any more enemies in the immediate vicinity from his vantage point on the upper level of the computer alcove, so he quickly skirted the ledge to the down elevator and descended to the floor.

CG came around the corner, and immediately they saw each other, automatically drawing their weapons but fortunately recognizing one another in the nick of time. "CG!!" Cole exclaimed, "Where'd you come from??" CG was just as relieved to see him.

"God, I thought I was in here all alone!" CG said, panting slightly. "Have you seen either

Kaveman or Connor anywhere?"

Cole shook his head. "No... I started out up there..." he indicated the upper level of the alcove with his hand as CG looked up to where he pointed. "...and a zombie almost took my head off! I haven't had a chance to look around for them... You think they're in here somewhere?"

CG looked at him seriously. "I don't know..." he said, worried. "I started out right at the

beginning... I was shocked that none of you were with me... How come we weren't all together? We grabbed on to each other before Kaveman hit the switch..."

Cole just shrugged. "You think we should look for them?" he asked.

CG threw him a disgusted look. "Of course, you idiot! They might be stuck somewhere, needing our help or something... Do you have the yellow key?" Cole, mad at being reprimanded, looked at the ground and nodded.

"Yes..." he hissed. "I'm not stupid, you know..."

CG shook his head. "Whatever, Cole... come on, we've gotta find them."

He led the way to the yellow door just ahead of them, keeping an eye out for any sounds or signs of movement. Cole threw him a dirty look, following reluctantly...

Kaveman jumped onto the down elevator exiting the red key room. He was met by a few random imps as the lift descended, the rest of the enemies having been wiped out when he had opened up on the snipers firing at Connor.

Looking around himself quickly and seeing no more immediate enemies, he leaned out the long window overlooking the blue key platform. He could just see Connor over the low wall surrounding it. She didn't appear to be moving.

"Connor!" he called, hoping she'd still be able to answer.

"...That you, Kaveman?" came the weak reply... "Where are you?" She shifted slightly, trying to figure out where his voice was coming from. It sounded remarkably close...

Kaveman swallowed, hard. "I'm right across the lake at the low window. ...You think you can hold out until I get there?"

She waved a hand, tiredly. "Oh... sure! ...It's not bad..."

Kaveman smiled sadly, shaking his head, knowing she was lying. "...If you say so." he answered, quietly. She called out to him.

"Hey... CG and Cole with you?"

"No..." he answered, "I don't know why we were separated." Kaveman was feeling steadily worse now, wondering if this was the last conversation they'd be having...

Connor seemed to be thinking the same thing, cause she said in a low voice that Kaveman had to strain to hear, "Take care of yourself, ok?..."

Kaveman lowered his head. "I'm not giving up on you!" he called over to her, "...Don't you go dyin' on me! I'll be right there..." She didn't answer.

Taking a last look at where she was, he raised his chaingun and skirted around a broad central pillar in the middle of the room, hearing a secret door open, letting out a Pink Demon and a couple of zombies. Surprising them from around the pillar, he plowed them down with the chaingun, then trotted out into the next hallway, picking off an unsuspecting sentry in another slime pool platform to his left.

He was upon a branching corridor now, and Kaveman immediately chose the right branch,

dodging a fireball from an approaching imp and splattering him against the wall. Grabbing a box of bullets that were lying nearby, he crouched and hurridly reloaded, knowing he'd have to haul ass across a wide bridge that had a huge descending column in the middle...

Connor, smiling slightly at Kaveman's words, listened carefully as she heard him leave, hearing the chug of the chaingun. He'll never have any problem taking care of himself, she thought. ...but me? ...I gotta do something about this mess...

She could feel her limbs growing cold, even as the blood escaping her body felt hot to her hands. She made herself roll to one side, groaning with the instant agony, and shrugged her pack off one shoulder.

The world started to spin, and she bit her lip hard to keep from going under. Rolling over the other way, she managed to free herself from her pack and slid to the side so she could access it. I have to get that sphere gel out... she thought, desperate now, as the pounding of her head made her feel panicky and her fingers, wet with blood, kept slipping on the latch of her pack.

Finally it opened, and she grabbed inside and fumbled for the broken sphere they had used on Kaveman. The pounding in her head was getting fainter, it seemed to her, and it seemed to be slowing.

I wonder why... she thought, feeling like she was starting to float, Must be a dream...

She started to drift off.

Sooo tired... I won't hurt anymore, her mind seemed to say.

This... is... much... bet.. t...

WAIT!!! She shook her head, hard, and was jolted back. Grabbing as much of the gel as she could scoop out, she spread it over what was left of her midsection, the instantaneous feeling of fire causing her to yell outloud. A sudden rush made her head reel, and she lay still, gritting her teeth as she felt strength slowly ebb back into her body.

Cole and CG stood in front of the yellow door, knowing that on the other side, the enemies would have the advantage. Most of them would be situated on an upper deck, cleverly concealed on top of a computer mainframe taking up most of the room. In the game, a shield surrounded the upper level, with a small gap running along the bottom of the cover.

"Ready?" CG asked.

Cole nodded, inserting the key in the slot, hearing the lock open. CG, holding his weapon ready, kicked the door. It slid upward, smoothly, and sudden roars filled the corridor as Cole and CG sprayed plasma bursts and bullets in all directions.

They moved in together, fragging enemies on the upper deck, shooting them in the feet and as they fell, tearing into the rest of their bodies.

An occasional imp came charging around a corner of the mainframe at them, catching a nasty surprise as their combined firepower ripped the brown flesh to ground round... They circled the entire unit, dropping zombies and imps, until all was finally silent.

Both breathing heavily, they peered out a long oblong window that showed the gigantic outside courtyard. They could see lots of enemies milling about near the exit access off to the right.

"You know we're going to have to take them out to get to the exit..." Cole said.

"Yeah," CG said, "but we can't do that till we find Kaveman and Connor and get the rest of the keys." CG headed back around the mainframe. "Come on," he said, "let's head toward the red key area. Maybe they're over that way..."

They jogged to the next corridor leading to the blue door, and past it, intent on reaching the red key nook. Surprising several patroling zombies, CG and Cole opened fire, fragging the jarheads.

Slowing now, intensely alert, they cautiously crept up to the area that led to the bridge with the retracting central column. Stopping short of the clearing, CG and Cole leaned back against the wall, neither one anxious to step out in the open.

"We're gonna get killed out there!" Cole whispered harshly. "They're gonna be shooting at us from several directions..."

CG took a deep breath. He knew Cole was right. "Look..." he said, "You hang back and cover me. I'm gonna run up the bridge just far enough to trigger that column... You tag the goons on the top as they come down. I'm gonna get back here and start shaggin' anything I see movin' in any of the surrounding windows. If we use these walls for cover, we should be able to clear out enough of those monsters to let us run across... You with me??"

Cole nodded his head. "Yeah... I got it..."

They nodded at each other, bracing themselves to cut into the open, but just then, they heard a loud rumbling coming from the bridge area... They looked at each other, wide eyed.

"...That's gotta be the pillar!" Cole said, shocked. He held up his hands defensively as CG stared at him. "...Honest CG!..." Cole exclaimed, "I....I didn't do anything!"

CG glared at him. "I didn't say you did, asshole!"

Just then, without warning, Kaveman came flying around the corner, right past them. "Wait!!" CG called, now totally confused as Cole ventured a quick peek at the bridge.

Cole's mouth dropped open. There were zombies and imps jogging straight for them, chasing after Kaveman! Cole yelled and drew his weapon, opening fire.

CG, whiped around at Cole's voice, letting out a yell himself, when he spotted what was

approaching. Jerking his plasma gun to his hip, he jammed his finger down on the trigger. A flurry of bullets and fireballs pinged and splattered off the walls of the opening, and CG and Cole quickly scampered for cover on either side of the corridor, incredibly lucky not to be picked off.

Kaveman, being too intent on just crossing the bridge in one piece to even notice who he'd just run past, skidded to a unsteady stop halfway down the corridor upon hearing CG's voice.

"Wha??.." he gasped, turning around in time to see Cole and CG take on the small army that had been right on his heels. Hearing growls right behind him, he whipped around and saw more imps coming around another corner.

He flattened himself against the wall and cut loose with his chaingun, blowing the beasts into body parts. CG and Cole caught up with him, immediately bombarding him with questions...

"Do you have the red key??"

"Isn't Connor with you??" CG and Cole both blurted at the same time, making Kaveman's head swim...

"SHUT UP!!" he yelled, glad to see them, but he didn't have time for the 3rd degree right now...

"Yes! I have the red key," he stammered, trying to catch his breath, "but we gotta hurry... Connor's hurt bad. Come on!" He motioned with his weapon and took off down the corridor, following it left. Cole and CG scrambled to catch up with him.

Kaveman, gun to the fore, held down the trigger as he ran, cutting a couple of roaming zombies down as he ignored the bullets flying past him from the long low window on his left. CG and Cole stopped just short of the opening and proceeded to take care of the monsters firing at them from across the narrow slime river.

Skidding to a halt at the red door, Kaveman jammed the red key in the slot and pounded on the door, sending it flying upwards, dreading what he might see...

The red door slid upwards, and to Kaveman's enormous relief, Connor was sitting on the wall, covered with injuries, but looking at him gratefully.

"I was hopin' you'd show up in one piece." she said, smiling painfully. "You still have that other soul sphere, don't you? Oh, and...uh...can I borrow your shirt??"

Kaveman glanced back down the corridor, but Cole and CG were still fragging enemies through the hall window. He grabbed the red key out of the slot and stepped through the opening, as the red door closed behind him, locking again.

Cole motioned CG to stop.

All the immediate enemies were piled on the other landing, covered with their own gore. A hidden chamber had opened behind them as the red door had slid upwards, triggering the secret nook, and together, they sprayed a couple of zombies that ran out at them. They ran to the red door, and CG pounded on it, but the door didn't budge.

"Hey!" CG said, "What gives??... Kaveman?? You in there??"

Cole tugged on his arm, indicating the empty key slot. "He locked us out...." He leaned back heavily on the wall next to him. "Why would he do that?"

"Maybe she's dead." CG said, wide-eyed. They looked at each other, wondering anxiously. There was nothing they could do but stand guard and wait.

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