To Conquer the Abyss

Warden descends down an elevator, standing, staring sternly at the door ready for whatever comes his way "Warden, remember that your goal is to remind the convicts just who is in charge, set straight the riot in the cafeteria" the earpiece goes quiet before the elevator screams to a halt, the doors to the circular elevator open up to a hallway, Warden leaves the elevator, lowering his head in order to not hit himself on his way out.

Prison riot in the cafeteria, inmates throw steel cafe plates at the shielded guards, some inmates even throw themselves at the guards, guards sit in the overwatch room over the circular cafeteria, keeping the doors closed and locked, overwatch receives a message over earpiece "Warden to Overwatch, open cafeteria breach 3" Warden walks toward a large double door, steel beams unlock releasing a Fisch of steam, the doors open toward Warden who walks through them entering the cafeteria, he lays eyes on the disarray but doesn't cease walking, he slowly starts to float, getting ever so higher, he stop and stands in midair crossing his arms "ENOUGH!!"

both guard and inmate stop and stare at Warden, he now has the attention of everyone in the room, overwatch lean over their consoles to see down below "I AM WARDEN! SENTINEL OF PLASMA, I HEREBY ORDER YOU TO RETURN TO YOUR CELLS OR FACE JUDGEMENT FOR YOUR ANIMALISTIC BEHAVIOUR!" ...quiet, nobody dares say a word, not even the guards, a crash of a crowbar can be heard "oh yeah?! what makes you think we'll suddenly bow your highness aye?" Warden turns to the man calling him out "your just one of us, a glorified Varlen, you sick excuse for a paladin!" Warden raises his arm at the man, the man is suddenly lifted and propelled toward Warden frightening the other inmates, the man makes contact with Wardens hand, Warden then holds onto his face tightly pulling him closer till his mouth is in his ear "Return to your cell, or i show you just what a Varlen looks like wretch" Warden throw the inmate back onto the ground, the man lands half off of a table, then falls the rest of the way onto the floor, both inmate and guard watch in aw as Warden just disrespected one of the big shots of the prison like a toddler, a few inmates back up in fear, some out right leave, guards begin to weigh in on what Ferus had invited, a Paladin, and Warden will do whatever to ensure the convicts stay in this prison.

Another riot has taken place in another part of the Deep, its to smaller scale compared to the cafeteria but the room is miniscule in size, a hallway, a group of 4 guards were jumped by a dozen inmates, more guards have arrived to help but amongst the chaos, they don't notice 3 inmates slipping away.

"you think they saw us?" 3 inmates lay prone in large air vents, makin themselves as small as possible "i don't know, I'm busy staring at that juicy curve Abbi" Abbi turns to the male "will you shut up, you'll get us caught Winter" the third inmate turns around to both of them "Abbi, Winter, shut the fuck up" Abbi groans "ugh, yes FaThEr" a voice from ground level gets the small groups attention "hey, did you hear that?" another guard comes up to them "hear what?" he points at the closed vent "i heard something in the vents" Abbi, Winter and unnamed male all stay quiet and as still as possible... "mm, must've been the wind, tends to howl in the vents, pressure and all that jazz" "i guess" the guards start walking away.

Unnamed male stands up and breathes a sigh of relief "right then, we should move" Abbi and Winter stand up, Winter stands shorter than unnamed male, Abbi shorter than Winter "this area is still a hot zone as its ground zero of a recent attack, they could send a patrol over to search for clues as they have done in the past" Winter raises his hand "what's your name?" Winter asks in a oddly cheery mood "Maxwell, or Max" Abbi buts in "i don't mean to interrupt the introductions but to make the best of ourselves, we need our elements in the game" Max points at Abbi "agreed" he then turns to Winter "White hair, what's your element? cant say I've seen this colour before, looks like ice but not as cyan white" Winter bows "why good sir, i am Winter and io have what is called the Cyber element, it is recently discovered and incredibly versatile" he stops bowing "i am also one of the first to gain it" Winter points at Abbi "she has the Ice element" he then covers his mouth from Abbi "also explains her cold attitude toward others" Abbi smacks him over the back of the head "i have the Ice element, born and raised with it" Max asks Abbi a question "inherited?" Abbi answers him "father had it, his abusive behaviour to me and my sisters earned him an... untimely death" she smiles vindictively "right~ so we have a crazy woman with daddy issues and a perverted dumb fuck who focuses more on the rear end of a woman instead of self preservation, oh we are so escaping with this duo, NOT"

Abbi leans on her leg putting her hand on her hip "what about you? what's your element?" Max responds "Life" Abbi isn't impressed "your gonna heal a way out?" Winter gets giddy "your THE Maxwell??" Abbi turns to Winter, then back to Max, and Winter again "what? is he famous or something??" Winter turns to Abbi "It took 6 Paladins to finally match with him" Winter turns to Max "it was 6 right?" Max try's to speak "well-" before getting cutoff, Winter turns to Abbi again, even more giddy "It took 6 Paladins to take him down!" Abbi doesn't know how to react "calm your farm Winter, its not everyday i see you get more excited about a man over a woman" Winter promptly gets on his knees holding one of Abbi's hands "for you my love, i would never" Abbi swiftly slaps him across the face.

Abbi, Max and Winter walk through the vents, the vents are massive, big enough to walk through, Maxwell speaks softly "we'll have to be careful about repair crews managing the vents, we don't know what kind of communications they have, for all we know, they could be equipped with EF88's" Abbi turns to Max "they're here to repair vents, not kill Satan with the power of god" Max looks at Abbi "what evidence do we have that they aren't armed?" Abbi doesn't say anything "besides, this is a maximum security prison after all" Abbi stops looking at Max and focuses on the Path ahead "clearly not, they don't have motion sensors on the vent walls, or cameras" Max looks behind at Winter who is in a daze staring at Abbi "Winter, less dreaming more thinking" Winter answers "ohh I'm thinking alright, thinking about repopulation" Abbi turns around walking backwards "no we are not" Winter looks up but not up at Abbi's eyes "even better" Abbi groans of disgust "when we get out of here, I'm going to kill you" Winter finger guns Abbi "good luck baby cakes" Abbi stomps toward Winter "do you want another slap??" Winter raises his arms "no no, I'm ok, you made my face asymmetrical enough" Abbi stops and turns about turns "good" Max shakes his head as he squeezes the bridge of his nose "can we get a fucking move on?" Abbi passes Max, waving her hands to dismiss him "yeah yeah, how do we get these collars off?"

Abbi approaches a corner, she carefully peers around it, she sees no one, Max comes up behind her "thought you weren't worried about repair crews" Abbi gut checks him "shut your mouth" Max falls onto his knees making a loud boom, Winter and Abbi stay quiet, Abbi uses the wall of the vent to stabilize himself, Winter keeps his balance like his life depends on it "Winter, now is not the time to be eyeing me off" Winter turns to look at Abbi after keeping on eye on their backs "what kind of a dumb ass do you take me for?" Abbi turns back around at Winter "you, dumb ass" Max tries to stand up again "next time Abbi" he pats her shoulder "see that you get the gut and not the next generation" Max carries on ahead, Abbi as cold as ever "fortunately your the last of your bloodline" Max pays no movement to acknowledge her but responds "unfortunately for you Abbi, i already have 2 kids, both gorgeous little girls" Abbi resumes walking.

Abbi catch's up with Max while Winter walks behind them both "mum looking after them?" Max moves his head toward Abbi but his eyes dose off into the ground "...no" Max's expression goes pale "i killed her..." Abbi looking at Max, doesn't know what to say "she jumped in the way of the man she was cheating on me with..." Abbi's eyes drift downward before looking ahead again "i was already angry when i found out that she was about to destroy the girls lives" Max looks on ahead, still pale expression "but when i hurt her, i lost myself... when i came to, the man was no longer recognizable, just a bloody mess..." Abbi takes a deep breathe "I'm not sure if its the same but, i killed my parents, my mother and father abused my sisters and i, we couldn't do this, couldn't do that, don't touch this, don't touch that, then when i finally snapped, i took the closest thing and beat them both to death with it, my sisters were... mortified? is that the right word? whatever, they saw me as a monster, just another consumed" Max snaps back into reality and looks at Abbi "consumed? now that's just too far, look" he puts his hand behind his head "i don't know you, but having your whole life revolve around abuse by the very same people that brought you into this world, i understand you motive for killing them, its like a uhh, a weight off your chest" Abbi smirks "talking about it makes me feel lighter, never felt so... vulnerable?" Max sticks a thumbs up in Abbi's face, it grabs her attention, he looks up at him and sees him smiling... "you hide behind a smile, don't you?" Max's smile fades into surprise, he covers his mouth whilst looking a bit forward again "yes, yes i do" he removes his hand from his face "i smile through the pain because that's what Abigail did" Abbi tilts her head "Abigail?" Max answers her "my wife" he smiles looking up "she had snow white hair, ocean blue eyes" he peers down at Abbi "she was elementless but it didn't stop her from doing the impossible" Max looks back up "she worked in the Particle Accelerator, part of the research team, helping with technological breakthrough after breakthrough" he sighs "she was my once in a lifetime" he keeps smiling, a tear runs down his face "and yet, her blood is on my hands"

footsteps echo down a hallway, 4 guards escort a high value target, the brigadier, Winter sees them coming through the vents "its the brig, rumour has it he has a special key that removes collars" Winter turns his head around to Abbi who behind him on his right, you know where he's looking, a wide grin takes over his face "Ehehehh" to Abbi's disgust, slapping him would alert the brig "i am going to kill after this" Max gets Winters attention who's on his right "focus Winter, what evidence do we have?" Winter faces Max "others here couldn't help but notice his ring of various keys" images of a ring of keys on Brigadiers belt jingle away as he walks through the cafeteria without a care in the world "there's one key that hasn't been used on any lock" a key with a unique and intricate design falls through Winters mind, it seems outdated but polished with utmost precision, this key is heavily looked after "the design seems to fit the key hole in the collar" Winter glides a hand over the keyhole on his collar as he looks through the vent, Brig approaching "but that's all it is, a rumour" Winter looks back at Max "well then, time for a new episode of MythBusters"

The escort and the Brig get beneath the vent, Max holds onto the handles on top of the vents, as the first pair of guards walk past, he lets go, bursting through the vent and landing right on top of the Brig knocking him unconscious, Max swiftly swings at the head of a guard that walked behind the Brig, one of the front guards grabs his baton and winds up to hit Max, however as the guard swings, a descending Abbi kicks his arm bruising it and knocking the baton out of his hand, the other front guard makes a run for it, panicking to grab the radio, Winter clumsily falls onto the second rear guard as Max starts to rummage around the Brigs Belt, Abbi checks her guard in the next generation "no more of those" the guard cups his children as he falls to the ground in the worst pain, Winter gets up and removes the helmet of his guard "oh come on, a male? there's gotta be some female guards here" he grabs the collar of the guard and winds up before he hears a click of a lock, he turns and sees Maxwell's collar drop to the ground, he drops to his knees as his eyes shoot wide open "Holy god, wow!" Max's veins coarse with the Essence of the Life Element, every cell in his body, enriched with power once more "its like, i can breathe again" Winter holds his hand out "yeah yeah, gimme the keys" Max drops the keys by Winter as he tries to stand again, turning around "you do not DARE TO RUN!" Max winds up his right arm and throws his arm around, green vines sprout from Max's arm and chase down the guard, closing in fast, the guard finally gets onto the radio to send word but as she presses her finger down to talk, the vine wraps around her neck, the sudden stop throws her to the ground as her radio fly's out of her hand far forward, she's reeled in, dragged across the concrete ground, her body armour getting scratch marks but no breaks.

Winters collar clicks and his collar falls to the ground, his eyes also pop open "OH FUCK YES! WE'RE BACK IN BUSINESS BABY!" without wasting any time, Winter commands his arm to transform, his right lower arm expands out where the Ulna and Radius sit, the skin stretching to accommodate the new shape, his hand sinks back into his arm toward his elbow as his extended parts pivot at where the wrist originally sat, skin tearing revealing a metallic cyberplasmic alloy (CPA), a metal that is robotic but human by nature, unique to Cyber users, the CPA reconnects after pivoting 180 degrees, the new structure is arm width at the wrist and gets fatter further down the structure, at the end of the new arm structure, a circular cutout leaving what seems to be a pincer, little holes on the pincers crackle of electricity completing the transformation, Winter laughs "I'm gonna evaporate that head of yours! HAHA!" the guard starts to squirm under Winters weight, Winters arm cannon charges up, the cackling of electricity grows more wild as Winters smile grows more sinister, finally the cannon shoots a ball of pure plasma leaving no head behind and the neck cauterized, burn marks where the head once was, Winter giggles "that felt refreshing" Abbi looks at Winter, her guard still wincing and whining about his next generation "thought you said you weren't a psychopath" Winter perks up and turns to Abbi, she has one foot on the torso of her guard "i uhh" Abbi raises an eyebrow as Winter gets defensive "no I'm not a psychopath" he crosses his arm and turns his head away "don't know what your on about" Abbi holds out her hand "yeah yeah, i really don't care, give me the keys" Winter kindly hands her the keys, sliding his hand on hers when pulling away, Abbi holds the keys like its infected with cooties.

Her collar clicks and it falls, she falls on her knees, eyes bulging and breathing in like she couldn't breathe before "that" she coughs once "that's powerful" Abbi starts falling to her right before she catches herself, she stands up once again, her body empowered with the Ice element, she winds up her right leg to kick the guard, striking him in the back of the head knocking him unconscious, the guard Max is dragging across the ground is yanked into his hand holding onto her collar "tell anyone and you will die a gruesome death" she tries to speak but cant, Winter looks at her "Ooo, can i have her for myself?" Max ignores him, Abbi cuts in "that neck grab must have damaged her vocal cord" Max looks back at Abbi, then back at the female guard "nod if you can breathe" the girls nods before passing out, Abbi looks some what worried for the girl, she looks at Max, then back at the girl, and Max again "died she just die?" Max answers her before laying her safely on the ground "no, she just fainted"

Max stands back up and faces the other unconscious guard, he faces his arm toward him with an open hand, vines extend out of his wrist and over his hand, they make contact with the guard, Abbi is puzzled "why?" Max and the guard's body's glow a bright green "because you kicked him in the balls" Abbi rolls her eyes "from my own experience, getting kicked in the no no square is far worse than being punched or elbowed" Abbi walks away "whatever"

Winter calls out "wrong way" Abbi and Max look at Winter who is staring off into space "what are you looking at?" Abbi walks back towards the two of them, Max thinks back to his study's, he looks at Winters eyes, their cybernetic light cyan with traces of white and black circling the pupil "those eyes" Winter glances at Max before locking back onto the same part of the ceiling "you see something, don't you?" Winter confirms it "i see... a- a control room" Abbi stands next to Max "sitting in a single room above the cafeteria, round in structure, lined with OC after OC" Max and Abbi look at each other "if i can get in there, if i can gain control of it, i can rule the prison under my thumb" Max tones Winter down "buddy, we aren't made of Cyberplasmic Alloy like you, what's an OC?" Winter spurts out the answer "Operations Console" Max scratches his head "lets try and think of a way to get out of here" Winter buts in "i have an idea, its high risk high reward" Abbi and Max tunes in "your the expert" Winter looks up, he sees the vent and the lights above "for now, we hide the bodies inside the vents, tie up those that are unconscious and clean the mess down here, that way we avoid detection" Abbi nods, "lets start that now so that we have a better chance of executing this"

After the three of them haul the bodies into the vents and clean the mess downstairs, they now reside inside the vent where the 2 unconscious guards lay restrained, Abbi looks at Winter who is now shirtless for functional reasons "I'm surprised" Winter looks up at Abbi "at what part?" "not once did you stop to look at me or the female guard" Winter smirks as he looks back down "i guess after seeing the control room above the cafe, the sight of freedom was unlocked to me" Max looks at Winter "to be frank, i thought this prison would be where i reside for my last years, would get sick and die, or just fall over wrong and boom, lights out" Winter fiddles with his nails, getting gunk out from underneath them "tell me Winter" Winter looks up at Max who's leaning on the vent wall "how long have you been here?" Winters eyes drone toward the vent wall before leaning back, using his arms as support as he stares up at the ceiling, groaning "i was 28 when they locked me up" he pauses... "I've been he about 11 years now?" Abbi's eyes widen "11?!" Winter corrects himself "no, wait, 10 years, I'm 39 and added the extra one" he chuckles, Abbi shares how long she's been in for "i have been here for nearly 2 years now" Max raises his arm "4 years, was 23 when i arrived" Abbi adds onto her info "nearly 2 years and yet its enough for me to forget the faces of my sisters" Winter sits up again "they haven't visited you?" Winter shakes her head "not even once, guess I'm just that much of a monster" it goes silent again... "this plan Winter" Winter stands up "yes" Max pushes himself off the wall "share with the class if you don't mind"

Winter starts laying down the plan, he uses his eyes to project a self-made hologram of the plan in steps.

"Step 1: i will use the electrical current from the corridors lights from below to pop up out of an OC inside the control room (CR), from there ill use a secret concoction of mine to put the personnel inside to sleep"

Abbi raises her hand "what if someone escapes the control room?" "good question but my sleeping gas is fast acting, on top of that i have info that they leave the door to the CR closed and locked at all times, special access is required"

"Step 2: ill grab 3 earpieces and come back here, ill give you one earpiece each and link them between us so that nobody else can hear us"

"Step 3: we will equip the earpieces, you two will descend down to the Abyss while i return to the CR to start causing chaos"

Max raises concern "what kind of chaos?" Winter points at Max as the hologram morphs to show Winters mind "good question, I'm thinking of this" the hologram shows a stop motion of inmates running out of open cells "opening every cell?" the hologram morphs again "and" hologram shows collars falling "deactivating all the collars? that's some chaos you want to cause Winter, are you sure?" the hologram changes again "when have i ever been wrong?"

"Step 4: using the chaos as cover, you two go down to the pitch black, whoever is in there will likely massively aid us in the escape"

"Step 5: freedom"

Winter blinks and the hologram is gone, Winter looks at Max, he has his arms crossed, he looks at Abbi, she leaning on her right leg with her arm on her hip "any questions?" Abbi raises her arm again "do you know who is in the pitch black?" Winter shakes his head "i don't, whoever is in there has been here longer than me, some say he's an illegal element user, others say he's a real monster" Abbi looks down at the floor "few say he's just a consumed playing human, but i did get one thing, an outsider who witnessed his capture says it took more than 10 Paladins to fell him" Maxwell's eyes burst open in shock, Abbi takes a step back.

Winter peeks through the vent, looking for anyone coming their way "the capture gives me a good idea who is in the pitch black though" a man, bound by chains and suspended inside the pitch black, he has no clothes to speak of, burn marks across his body and steam emitting from his very body "then he is the most feared man on this waterlogged world, a man who hunted Paladins, Azazel Master"