-Back to the second team-
"God fucking damn it!"
Rebecca — the other Rebecca — shouted furiously, throwing her guns onto the dusty, half-rotted couch in the Sierra Madre Casino's grand lobby. Her voice echoed off the cracked marble walls and broken chandeliers, a raw, guttural noise of rage and helplessness.
Maine slammed a fist into a nearby column, cracking the stone. His breathing was heavy, his cybernetics sparking slightly from the abuse. Lucy, Sasha, and Pilar stood nearby, looking grim and exhausted. None of them could hide the bitter disappointment on their faces.
They had done everything they were supposed to: Maine and Dorio had triggered the damn switches for the Gala Event, just as that old bastard Elijah had ordered. And the moment the bells tolled, everything had gone straight to hell.
First, the Ghost People swarmed them — silent, feral, and grotesquely mutilated by the toxic clouds outside. They came out of every shadow and crevice. Maine and Dorio fought tooth and nail, buying time for the others to make it through.
But the traps... The whole damn plaza was one big death maze. Rigged bombs exploded out of nowhere. Spears shot from hidden walls. Floor panels gave way to spike pits.
Dorio didn't stand a chance.
A mine caught her side, blasting her back into the grasp of a Ghost. The others piled on her. Maine tried — God, he tried — but even his cybernetics couldn't tear through them fast enough.
They overwhelmed her, dismembering her with horrifying efficiency before dragging her corpse off into the clouded halls. Maine had been left alone, bleeding and roaring in fury.
And now here they were. Broken. Leaderless. One down. No way to recover Dorio, not without walking into a certain death trap.
Lucy hugged her arms around herself, trying to hide the trembling in her hands. Sasha sat on the floor, staring at her blood-spattered boots. Pilar, usually quick with a joke or a taunt, said nothing — just silently worked at reloading his pistol.
The other Rebecca was pacing like a caged animal, her jaw clenched so tightly it looked like her teeth might crack.
"This was supposed to be easy."
She spat.
"Flip some fucking switches. Meet up with that damned old Fucker. And steal some dumb treasure."
Maine growled, his red cyber-eyes gleaming under the flickering casino lights.
"Elijah set us up. He knew this would happen to Dorio. He wanted this to happen."
"We're just disposable."
Lucy whispered, voice tight with grief.
Rebecca whirled toward them.
"Maybe. But I'll be damned if we die in this haunted shithole."
Pilar finally looked up, his grin sharp and dangerous.
"Then we make 'em regret ever touching us."
Sasha finally stood, slow and deliberate, brushing ash from her coat with a rigid calm that didn't reach her eyes. She looked at Maine, then back at the others. "If we're gonna survive this, we need to get our shit together now."
But Maine didn't hear her.
He stood stock-still, fists clenched so hard his knuckles had started to spark. His breathing was fast—too fast. Shallow. Loud. His gaze darted to the left, to nothing in particular, then jerked to the right. His massive frame trembled, and the muscles along his neck twitched involuntarily.
"Gone…" he muttered. "She's gone… because I wasn't fast enough."
His voice cracked, but then his cybernetics surged, drowning it in static. A low, synthetic growl vibrated from his throat.
"Maine." Lucy stepped forward slowly, cautiously, hands raised. "You need to breathe. You're spiraling. Dorio wouldn't—"
"Don't you tell me what Dorio would want!" Maine barked, his voice booming like thunder, distorted by the unstable implants. The sudden outburst made even Pilar flinch. The column Maine had punched moments ago finally crumbled, toppling with a crash behind him.
Rebecca instinctively drew a sidearm—though she didn't aim it. Not yet.
"Maine," she said, tone hard but measured. "You wanna lose your damn mind, do it when we're not surrounded by laser-spewing ghosts and death traps. You go off now, and we all die. You get that?"
But Maine was barely registering her voice. A shiver racked through his frame, and his eyes flashed red and white in stuttering pulses. The last of his inhibitors were clearly failing. The lack of Immunosuppressants — combined with Dorio's death — was letting the beast out.
Lucy turned to Sasha. "We need to get him a dose of something now, or we're next."
"I'm not a doctor," Sasha snapped. "And this place isn't exactly stocked with trauma teams."
Rebecca looked around, thinking fast. "What about stims? Chemicals. Med-X? Psycho? Even Buffout! If it slows his brain, it might stall the feedback loop before he—"
Pilar was already digging into their stolen loot sacks. "Got some Buffout, a dose of Med-X, and… whatever this glowy red thing is. Might be Elijah's personal stash."
Lucy grimaced. "Give me the Med-X."
She approached Maine carefully, like one would a wounded, cornered animal.
"Hey," she said softly, voice cracking slightly. "Maine. I'm here, okay? We're all still here."
She touched his forearm.
For a moment, there was nothing but static and the ominous whine of surging power.
Then Maine grabbed her wrist — too fast, too tight. Her eyes widened in panic.
Rebecca cocked the hammer on her pistol. "Maine, don't—"
But Maine, still gripping Lucy, suddenly let go, and dropped to one knee.
"…She always told me to protect you," he said hoarsely, the red in his eyes dimming slightly. "Not to hurt you…"
Lucy didn't hesitate. She jabbed the Med-X into his side, squeezing the injector with a trembling hand.
There was a brief convulsion. Sparks flew. Maine groaned like a dying engine.
Then he collapsed, unconscious but breathing.
Silence fell across the lobby, broken only by the distant chimes of the casino's haunting musical loop.
Rebecca exhaled. "We need to restrain him. If he wakes up again in full psychosis…"
"Yeah." Pilar sighed, pulling out a length of cable. "But we're not leaving him behind."
"No one's saying we should," Sasha said. "But let's be real—without Dorio, we're not walking out of this the same."
Lucy nodded solemnly. "No. But we're still walking out."