Control is Everything(18)

A/n: Two more chapters

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At an office somewhere on the second floor, D4C emerged from a table drawer with the arrow in his hands. Taking out the radio, he began to call someone on the other side.

"Washichi. Any updates?"

[Uhhh... we have lost control of the dinosaurs because Mariana got gravely injured by Sheer Heart Attack, but Alessandro's Stand got her out before she could get captured while Born this Way is almost at the exit.] Washichi replied from the other side of the radio, [I'll come pick you guys up at the exit that's on the first floor with the van waiting. Good thing we didn't try to bring the van through the underground parking lot because of Wheel of Fortune and Horus being there and they would have caught up and stopped us right there even though they are still busy dealing with your clones.]

"I know. Just be ready and tell Katey to prepare the plane for our arrival."

[Hai.] Washichi said before ending the radio call.

Placing his radio back, D4C was about to advance when he suddenly heard the door open, coming in was Lawrence with an M4A1 assault rifle.

Pointing the gun at him, Lawrence coldly muttered, "You've caused quite the trouble here, D4C."

"Agent Lawrence... let me pass."

"And why would I do that?"

"So that I can continue my road of control for this world and others. Don't make me kill you, because otherwise Molly will be devastated knowing you were killed."

"Don't bring her into this!" Lawrence screamed fiercely, raising his gun and was about to squeeze the trigger.

Unfazed from the gun pointing, D4C brings out a small box with a ring inside, which causes Lawrence to widen his eyes.

"How did you..."

"It was on the rooftop so I picked it up. I know it's yours, I was gonna keep it here in this office and leave, but you're here so I'll just keep it on this table here." 

Politely said to him, D4C closed the box and left it on the table before shifting his glance back to him and questioned, "Do you really think you can have a future with her, Lawrence... in this mad and uncontrollable world where death can say hello to you anytime?"

In an indifferent tone, he continued, "Believe me, it will end in tragedy by either you being extinguished or Molly and one will have to mourn the other's death."

"Just shut the hell up! The dinosaurs are gone, we now have the advantage and our chances increase, so give the arrow and surrender!"

Still calm about this, D4C starts walking around the room while still holding the arrow, Lawrence meanwhile keeps his assault rifle pointed at him and never leaves his gaze.

"Do you know that famous line from Far Cry 3? The definition of insanity." D4C stated.

"No I don't!" Lawrence grunts a bit, due to his injuries, "Where are you going with this?!"

"It means doing the exact same thing over and over again expecting things to change. Aren't you sick and tired of doing the same thing repeatedly again Lawrence? Expecting something to change in your life? Because judging by your sleep deprivation and being pale as a corpse skin I think you are really tired of it and are turning... insane very, very slowly." He glanced at the table while he walked and took a frame picture of Molly, "The reason you haven't gone fully insane is because Molly is always there for you and you promise to come back to her every time and that is what has kept you going. But what happens one day when you don't come back or better yet she doesn't... from death."

Bang!

In anger, Lawrence fired a shot next to his feet, stopping him in his tracks. When D4C turned to face him, he could tell that Lawrence was losing his cool and began to grow more irate.

He stated, "You don't know me, D4C. I'm ready to risk my life for others and for the ones I love, even if it leads to you becoming color blind, being sleep deprived, losing a part of my humanity and sanity." He added, "I know things will become better one day in this world and if it doesn't, well... I'll just have to accept things the way they are."

Pulling something out from his pocket, D4C throwed a Polaroid photo at his face, but Lawrence swiftly caught it while keeping the assault rifle pointed at him. He looked at the picture and saw...

It was a picture of him and Molly with two kids—a boy and a girl—next to them who shared similar features to him and Molly. And what made Lawrence seem odd on looking at the picture is when he sees himself as normal and healthy in the photo rather than how he is right now.

"W-What is this?"

"This is your family, in a parallel world where SCPs don't exist. My ability allows me to allow an unknown number of parallel worlds or dimensions to co-exist at the same time. In this parallel world you live a normal life and don't have to live in fear of the SCPs and have a future and a happy ending, but here in this root world that you and I are walking and breathing right now, the SCPs exist and you deal with them on a regular basis."

Approaching Lawrence slowly, which he reacted by aiming at him cautiously, but D4C seemed didn't care and just continue moving forward and said, "You take the next step Lawrence, with Molly and you will only take a step closer to death, and if you expect the foundation to give you a vacation or free time then your slowly mistaken. You, Molly and the rest of the staff here are assets that need to be used against the SCPs, and I mean without you the world would be in ruins right now. Once they find out that you are dead, a backstabber or no longer of use, they replace you."

With his mental state reached a breaking point, Lawrence dropped his rifle and his mind fell into a mental crisis, he continued to stare at the photo even though D4C was already standing next to him.

"May I also remind you that SCP-999 is the child of the Scarlet King and Molly was told specifically by an O5 through a secret recording that if she were to speak out about this very confidential information, she would be terminated."

When Lawrence looked at him, D4C continued, "You and Molly are working and risking your lives, sanity and future over and over again for an organization who is ready to go down to very deadly levels to keep secrets and limiting your choices and not thinking of what you want to do with your lives and ready to kill you if you try to speak out even a bit, That my friend, is called... insanity. That is the true definition of insanity you all are going through right now, and it is-... apologize for my language... 

...fucking insane."

Leaning into his ear, D4C quietly whispers, "But I can promise you two a bright future if you join me that is. I can guarantee that you two can live a peaceful life by helping me get the arrows and get control over the evil things over this world, control over the decisions that can lead to destruction and control over your own fates and others. Then this world will have true peace, and both of you can live a peaceful life just like your parallel world counterparts. If you think I'm lying and think that photo is fake, believe me it's not. It truly is from a parallel world and your true fate is in that parallel world. So what's it going to be Lawrence? Death and insanity or peace and true happiness?" 

Taking one step back, D4C observes as Lawrence glances aside then continues looking at the picture. When he thinks about it, he realizes that D4C was right in his assertions. All of it. Is there a guarantee that the future will be alright for him and Molly? Because once they entered the SCP Foundation, things never stayed the same, and death was actively attempting to tear them apart. Will taking the next step be the right choice, or will this crazy world of monsters sweep them away or drive them insane? 

"What about those who don't agree with your idea of control?" He asked.

"They perish by my hands or die at the hands of an uncontrolled world which I can make better. My methods might not be perfect but I'm doing this for a better world where the most dangerous of things can be kept controlled, even if it means getting blood on your hands."

"I see."

"So what is your decision?"

Returning back to the photo of himself, Molly, and his counterpart's children, he glance at the small box on the table, then noticed a mirror on the wall and saw his own face in the reflection. Lawrence then gained a determined look and slyly went for his right side holster before slowly drawing a Glock pistol. 

"Your offer is tempting and you're right about what I've been through with the foundation and how the foundation, especially your idea of a controlled world is great and all but... it means you had to do a lot of evil things to get here. Right?"

"Sometimes you need to do a bit inhumane to get some good done in this world. And also, Lawrence... Please don't pull out that pistol." D4C muttered, Lawrence stopped his action and realized he got caught.

Sighing in disappointment, D4C shook his head, "You disappoint me, Lawrence. Even after telling you the reality of things and what the foundation can do to you both. You choose this despicable and god forsaken place?"

"No... I choose myself!"

Lawrence then draws his Glock pistol, but D4C instantly gets right up his face and with full force, he punches a hole right through his abdomen. In response to this assault, Lawrence puked up some blood, and D4C snatched the photo out of his grasp.

"Before you drop dead on the floor, I'll tell you something. The world from where I'm from and most of the Human Stands are from a world where SCPs are nothing more than just mere fiction. Killer Queen already told Amelia, Green and Molly to keep it a secret from all of the foundation... including from you."

Lawrence weakly glances at him as his eyes widen. 

"You heard me. Now die knowing that one of your friends and loved one kept this a secret from you, so that you didn't go more insane and feel envy of us having a better world where SCPs are just mere fiction and everybody lives peacefully, while all of you in this world have to live in fear of the monsters hiding in the shadows."

As D4C releases his arm from Lawrence's abdominal cavity, the latter collapses on the ground with his face first. Leaving the poor man, D4C then opened the door and was about to leave when Lawrence shakily grabbed hold of his hand, the same hand he had been holding onto the Stand Arrow. Lawrence coughed up some blood, which made his hand slippery and slowly slipped from D4C's hand, and the palm of his hand made contact with the arrow head, leaving a scratch mark. As a result, he went limp. 

Catching him slightly surprised, D4C looked at the motionless Lawrence and narrowed his eyes as he noticed a tint of his blood on the arrow.

"Valiant last effort but now whether you live or die it's up to the arrow, but if you do live and get a Stand you will regret your choice of not accepting my offer in the first place and live a life of a Stand user and being treated as a freak by the foundation."

D4C subsequently left the room and started walking down the hallway, unaware that Molly, who was hidden behind a wall, had seen him leave the office. Holding a scalpel that she had just happened to find, she cautiously followed him, but as she turned to look at the office he had just left, she saw Lawrence lying motionless, which caused her eyes to shock and horror. 

"LAWRENCE!" 

After quickly kneeling next to him, she checked his pulse but found nothing. She then shook his head and repeatedly called his name and tried to desperately wake him up. However, when he made no response and didn't move, she was forced to face the harsh reality that he was dead. 

Bursting out into tears, she begins to sob and hugs his head tightly, "Lawrence! Please... wake up! You always said you will come back and promise to never leave me or any of us! So please... Come back to us! To me! P-Please..."

When Molly noticed the tiny box Lawrence intended to open in front of her since on the rooftop earlier, she grabbed it and opened it to reveal a ring within. 

Molly covers her mouth, and more tears begin to pour out, "Oh... Lawrence."

Molly now understood the reason why he searched for her on the rooftop, and the reason she should take the next step, were both now clear to Milly. It was all meant for this. Knowing the realization that he was gone and that they could not move forward together broke Molly's heart. After giving him a kiss on the forehead and picking up the Glock pistol, Molly exits the office and with sadness and vengeance in her heart, she sets out to find the person responsible for what happened to him... D4C.

Once her presence was completely left from the room and the hallway outside, an unknown voice began singing in the office where Lawrence was lying motionless. 

"🎶There ain't no grave, that can hold my body down🎶"

Then, for just a brief moment, something materialized next to the motionless Lawrence before dissipating.