seven ────────── jotunheim prison!

 The knife was lodged into the hood of the military jeep—beeping a few times before it exploded into puffy orange flames and gas. Elina pulled a gun from her own holster and fired it at any soldier she saw—marching beside Nanaue and Cleo. The rain continued to pound down on the Suicide Squad as they advanced towards Jotunheim. Bloodsport shoved Thinker towards the keypad roughly, ordering him to put the code in. Elina stood in front of Dubois and turned around, lifting daggers out of her belt while holding a gun in the other hand. The mechanical sound of the door opening caused Elina to almost spin around, but—she opted to take out a few more soldiers before. It wasn't until a hand was pulling on her underarm holsters that she went—Nanaue had urged her inside.

Elina looked around the room frantically, taking a headcount of who all made it in. Which was all of them, thankfully. Dubois began to hand out the bombs to each of them. "You get a bomb, you get a bomb." He was muttering, pointing off to each place they should be put. Dubous handed one to Elina, who immediately molded the substance together and placed it on the wall, sticking the wires securely into it. "Come on." Cleo had beckoned, and Elina followed her towards Rick, who was beside Thinker. The three of them found the elevator, guns at the ready for any soldiers they might encounter. Stepping into the elevator, the five of them stood in awkward silence filled with crunching metallic sounds and the elevator went down. Elina gulps nervously, wiping her hands on her pants before gripping the gun tightly.

The elevator dinged and lurched to a stop. Rick raised his gun as the door opened, Elina doing the same. Cleo and Sebastian curiously looked forward, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. The room was large—part of the ground was laid down with caged floors, where people moved beneath it. There looked like there was room for medical equipment, where more people were, and lining the entrance to the more open part of the room was two caged rooms—packed full of people...with starfishes on their faces. So this is Project Starfish? It was horrifying to say the least—the way the people reached for the group. Thinker smiled knowingly.

"Oh my God." Elina mutters, stopping in front of one of the cages, swallowing hard. Sweat accumulated on her hands, a dagger slipping from her grip and clattering to the floor. Beneath her feet, one of the people attempted to grab for the knife, moaning painfully. Elina let out a jagged breath and raised the knife from the ground, gripping it tighter than before. "What the hell is this?" Rick barks at Thinker, pointing his gun at him.

"I thought you were looking for Project Starfish." Thinker says, walking to the enormous window in the room, looking out into...something Elina couldn't quite make sense of. "I call it Starro the Conquerer. That's meant to be derisive. Sorry, old chum. These three are here to kill you. It's out of my hands." Thinker says as a huge creature appears in front of the window, the sound of its slamming limbs shaking the room. A large starfish. Elina involuntarily stumbles backwards, mouth ajar as her eyes bore into the starfish's one eye. Sweat began to bead her hairline as Elina began blink frantically, trying to make sense of what she's looking at.

"We need to help these people." Cleo cries.

Thinker shakes his head. "Impossible, dear. They're corpses below those stars." He informs. Elina feels her heart sink—as they poor people, suffering and desperate for help. She spins slowly around to look at them. "Who are they?" Elina asks aloud, a little shakily, stepping back towards Thinker with her gun aimed. "The fodder of powerful men through every age. Dissidents, journalists, politcal rivals and their loved ones. Oh, would you two unclutch your fucking pearls? We serve the same master." Thinker scoffs, rolling his eyes.

Elina drops the knives to the ground and cocks the gun, placing her other hand on it. "I should to kill you right where you stand." Elina threats, watching as Rick steps forward, hurt in his eyes. "We were sent here to stop you." Cleo says to Thinker, clutching Sebastian close to her. "Child, your government didn't send you here to protect the world from alien technology. Your government sent you here to cover up their part in it." Thinker informs.

Elina shakes her head, arm practically vibrating at how tightly she was gripping the gun. Rick pulled her arm down, stepping towards Thinker. "You're a goddamn liar." Rick growled. "You're a goddamn fucking liar."

"American goddamn astronauts found Starro. Yankee-fucking-doodle dandies. Although the Cold War was ended, your government saw the potential in weaponizing such a powerful beast, but banish the thought of any such experiments being held on American soil. Your people have always been squeamish about the sacrifices necessary for scientific advancement. So, the United States made a secret deal with the Corto Maltese government to conduct their illegal experiments here in Jotunheim. And they hired me to oversee them. And now, because of a run-of-the-mill fucking military coup, they're gonna destroy 30 years worth of efforts." Thinker explains bitterly.

"Yeah! You're the real victim here." Says another voice. Rick and Elina turn to see Christopher.

"The hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be upstairs planting explosives."

"I told you I didn't trust him."

Rick shakes his head, walking towards a large wall of computers, throwing his gun to the ground. "Your records are located in these computers?" Rick questions, crouching down and beginning to tear the tall towers apart.

"Colonel, what are you doing?" Cleo yells.

Rick stands, turning around—he's seething. "I joined the military to serve my country, not to be its fucking puppet."

Elina takes one step forward, placing her gun into its holster. "Rick, what are you doing? Who are you gonna show it to?" She asks.

Rick seizes the drive from the computer. "The goddamn press. People deserve to know. I'm tired of covering up their dirty little secrets. This time, these sons of bitches are gonna be held accountable—"

An unsettling sound fills the air. A gun cocks. A hand wraps around Elina's wrist, Cleo is pulling her away from Peacemaker and Rick. Peacemaker holds a gun at Rick. Elina tries to wriggle away from Cleo, but Cleo gives her a pleading look. "I can't let you do that, Colonel."

Rick stands. "Excuse me?"

"I'm truly sorry. Miss Waller charged me with makin' sure those records don't leave this building." Chris says, circling Rick, the gun continously aimed at his head.

Rick nods. "Of course. I should've fuckin' known. Waller's always got a backup."

"Come on, man. This isn't personal."

"Holding a gun on me is pretty fucking personal." Rick yells. After he speaks, a muffled explosion sounds from above their heads, the roof shaking and causing puffs of crumbled rock to fly down. Elina and Cleo swarm together once again, Elina's hand going to Cleo's arm. The bombs. "I'm gonna need that drive, Colonel." Christopher pries.

Alarms in the room blare loudly, basking the room in the occasional red light. Rick's eyes widen. "They set the bombs off too early!" Elina yells, panicked, holding Cleo close as chunks of the ceiling began to fall over them. "They experimented on children." Rick says, barely above a whisper.

"No one is saying what they did was right." Came Peacemaker's response.

Rick blinks hard—tears welling into his eyes and coming down his cheeks. Elina swallows hard, feeling her own tears well into her eyes. "They experimented on children!" Rick screams, pointing to the caged people just a few feet from them. The palm of Elina's hand comes to wipe her eyes, trying to hide them.

"That information gets out, it causes an international incident! Keepin' the peace is worth any price, including the life of a hero like yours, sir, so please...don't make me do this." Christopher pleads hardly, gripping the gun tightly—almost as a warning he'd do it.

The last thing Elina sees before the ceiling colllapse is Rick seizing his gun from his holster. Elina slams herself into Cleo, wrapping her arms around her before falling to the ground. Cleo falls limp from the fall, most likely hitting her head. Heavy rocks and debris slam into Elina's back as she covers the two of them before one hits her head, causing her vision to blacken, falling unconscious just as Cleo had. Was keeping the peace worth anything?

y'all gonna want this playlist for the next chapter