Live to Rise

As the moment stood still, they shared a gaze, a faint smile rising on both their faces as the world collapsed around them.

It felt freeing in a way—no tomorrow, no rush. They could stop for the first time. No running from the sun chasing the moonlight. They could just... well, breathe.

A feeling of relief. Their eyes lit up as they saw each other...
Fair, to say the least—no one goes first.

The moment slowly passed.

-“Maeve... I think you fucked the timer up.”

-“Oh fuck you—no, shoot—it's late at best.”

-“Well why aren’t we goo then?”

-“I don’t fucking know, give it a second.”

-“It’s been like ten. The other guy melted in seven.”

-“Maybe it's delayed slightly?”

-“I mean, I feel like shit but that’s because of everything else.”

-“WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME DIE IN PEACE?”

-“OH IT’S MY FAULT AGAIN?”

-“JESUS!”

-“IT’S A PLACEBO, YOU FAKING IDIOTS!” the man in black shouted, scrambling for the gun.

-“Pla-what-now?” Max yelled in confusion.

A cold sweat rushed over Maeve’s whole body. The hair on her skin stood on end as the word echoed through her mind.
Her body started shaking—rage overtaking her.

-“It... it means it’s a... a FAKE,” she spat through clenched teeth.

-“Fake?” Max’s eyes flicked back to her.He chuckled, dry and shocked. “Fucking A.”

-“WILL YOU STOP SQUABBLING AND KILL HIM BEFORE WE ALL DIE!” the man screamed from across the chaos.

The silence shattered.

The illusion was over.

Time to end it.

–he looked back at her,

-“We kill ‘em all.”

-“You bet.”

A surge of energy flowed through them both. They jumped to their feet.

-“Crab guy first,” Max questioned.

Maeve smiled and nodded her head.

The speakers buzzed again for a second,
a familiar song roared across the system.Twinkle Toes was blasting through Max’s headphones, now glued to the mic.
A grin formed on Max’s face, stretching from one ear to the other.

-“Man, I love that kid!”

They sprinted forward, their bodies aching from the wounds, screaming the multi-tool flying from one hand to the other in a perfect rhythm.

Maeve vaulted toward Blackbeard, catching it mid-air.

She climbed up his suit, jumping from one leg to the other.

-“Nothing personal, but you and your friends gave us quite a shit day,” she growled, slamming the tool into one of the joints, locking it in place.

Blackbeard tried knocking her off, trying to hold on she hurled the tool back over her shoulder. to Max.

-“LIKE I WAS EATEN BY A WHALE-LEVEL SHIT!” Max shouted, practically soldering the leg to the floor from the other side, locking Blackbeard in place.

he lashed out, fighting back with desperation, his voice rang out:
- “Why fight then, if we are not enemies? Are we allies?”

-“Cut the crap, Mr. Krabs,” Maeve interrupted.

-“Yeah, nobody’s buying your Shakespeare shit…” Max added.

-“I’m surprised you even heard of Shakespeare.”

- “And I’m surprised you’re this big of a whelp! Ha! How do you like it, asshole?” Max shouted, kicking with full strength, barely staying upright on the other leg.

The hit rocked Blackbeard back and forth, limbs on one side getting locked in place while others were torn off on the other.

-“YOU MORON, THAT’S NOT HOW YOU USE IT!” he yelled back in anger as the whining noise from his claw started again—now pointing directly at him.

-“Sorry, doc. No can do.”

Maeve plunged the tool with a lit torch straight into the opening.

-“NO! YOU FOOLS—!”

“DUCK!” Max shouted.

The claw screamed, the two dove for cover—

BOOM.

It cracked open.

The suit, barely resembling its original form, became completely immobile—mere scraps away from defeat.

Maeve and Max peeked up from behind cover.

Max gave her a crooked grin. “So… that went well.”

As the dust settled, Blackbeard launched himself toward the control panel—body burned, his leg bleeding, barely holding together. He pulled himself toward it, every movement followed by a heavy grunt. He moved like a snail, a trail of blood behind him as he slowly climbed up the console, his small hand reaching for the singular giant red button.

He thrust his arm into the air, ready to slam it down—

BANG!

A gunshot rang through the room.

His hand burst like a balloon from the wrist up, blood gushing like a fountain as he screamed, falling over the console. He pushed with his legs as his bones popped against the floor beneath him, reaching with his forearm—

Bang! Another shot hit his back. He jerked from the pain.
Two more followed.

He dropped to his knees, blood oozing from his mouth as he slowly turned his head.
-“Fuck you Ameri—”

BANG.

The final shot blasted his head wide open as his body hit the floor, riddled with holes.
The two stepped toward him, staring down at the corpse.

Max tilted his head. “I think you got him.”

-“Step away from the console.”Deckard demanded, aiming at them .

-“Only if you ask nicely,” Max teased.

-“Oh, fuck it—I’ll kill you anyway,” he steadied his gun.

-“And how you gonna do that?” Max said with a wicked grin

The man was struck with confusion.

-“What?... What do you mean ‘how’? ..WITH THIS GUN!”

-“So is the gun gonna kill me, or are you gonna kill me? ’Cause buddy, you need to get your ducks in a row if you plan to run this place.”

The man stood there baffled, his aim lowered.

“Are you like… special needs? Is he special needs?” he asked directing his attention to Maeve.

-“Oh, he sure is special.” she reassured him

-“Yeah bitch, I’m super special compared to your bland ass.”

-“I feel as if I’m having a stroke. Am I not holding you at gunpoint right now?”

-“Yes you are,” Maeve nodded.

-“So what the hell is wrong with him?”

-“Well, simply put, everything,” she said, looking at him with great admiration.

The man, confused, steadied his aim once more.

-“Pleasure doing business with you.”

-“PLACEBO!” a voice yelled from behind.

-“Oh what now?” He turned for a moment, tossing his head back—

his stomach bursting in an instant, blood gushing as a cable with a makeshift hook ran straight through his gut.

He yelled out loud in excruciating pain. “What the fuck?!”

Richard stared him down, half of his side missing, yet he stood strong.

-“For my crew…” his eyes glanced over toward the two, “It was a pleasure.”

They nodded in shock, their faces carrying a light smile.

As he stepped back, the light leaving his eyes, his final breath left. His body toppled over the edge as he soared down the side of the building.

-“What a fucking mor—” he stopped for a second as the cable quickly tightened, pulling him from his feet to the ground.

-“SHIT!” he shrieked as he tried to grab onto anything as he slid across the floor, the hook deeply embedded in him.

It pulled him, screaming, over the edge.

Gone.

Silence.

-Then Max, still catching his breath, leaned against the console and muttered, “I think he got him.”

As they both turned towards the console:

-“We did say all, didn’t we?” hers fingers curled over the button.

The sun slowly rising the first rays shined, burning the skin.

-“We’re fucked either way... might as well fuck them back a little,” Max rambled.

She turned toward him.
-“You really think... you know, I think they might have a McDonald's here as well.”

-“Kinda lost my appetite.”

-“Really?”

-“Nooo, I’m starving.”

-“So... fuck ‘em?”

As they looked at each other, for what they knew was their last moment—
-“Fuck ‘em,” he spoke, resolved, with a smile on his face.

-“Ahh, fuck it,” she said, slamming her hand over the button, lighting the console like a crimson tree.

The whole planet shook to its core for a second.
The whole world trembled.

One by one, nuclear missiles rose from the deep sea across the planet, all in one great unison—
Blasting through the water from the depths into the sky, colliding in the upper atmosphere,
Illuminating the whole planet.

For the first time, with no stars in sight, they saw the color of the sea,a never-ending blue horizon .
With the sun barely cracking through it was a truly remarkable sight.

Then
The sound of a thousand fireworks rained upon them from above, as the ocean trembled
It roared across the whole planet at once.

The light dwindled,
Clouds of smoke spread from above one by one.
Ash rained from above, slow and soft. Flakes drifted onto their skin—gentle, almost kind.

The sun vanished behind the rising clouds of smoke.

They stood there, hand in hand ,together.

The world, ending before their very eyes...