The Billionaire Twins Need A New Mommy!-Chapter 804: Final Moments

[Present time]

Lola.

Chacha.

Second.

The Bennets.

Everyone.

There were just so many people on the line, so many things to lose. Atlas could not afford to die in here. He just couldn’t.

BANG!

Atlas clenched his teeth as his shoulder was tossed back, blood leaking from it. But that didn’t stop him from raising his rifle and firing at the one who shot him.

"Atlas!" Marceline shouted, firing back at those behind them. When she whipped her head, all she saw was blood trickling down Atlas’s fingertips. "You’re shot."

But Atlas just clutched his shoulder and glanced at them.

"We don’t have time!" he shouted, shifting his eyes to Draken.

Unlike earlier, Draken was no longer drenched in the blood of others. He was bleeding himself now, having shielded their group with his own body, and still carrying the elders until they insisted on going on foot.

Draken panted heavily as he stepped forward. "Let’s go," he breathed out, fighting his own consciousness and body from collapsing.

With that, their group continued moving forward.

When they left the meeting room, they didn’t meet anyone. However, as they continued moving, they encountered a lot of enemies. The guards here weren’t just guards who couldn’t fight. They were elite fighters whom Draken, Marceline, and Atlas had to face.

They also didn’t waste time, knowing every second counted.

Their time was limited, and they all knew they had to leave this place as soon as possible. Hence, their growing frustration every time they encountered another group of enemies.

It wasn’t time for fighting, but these guards the cardinal had placed here surely had a death wish.

Or perhaps... they didn’t know about the bombs.

As their group ran toward the hallway and made a turn according to the path Atlas had indicated, they stopped when they saw that the hallway was blocked by a large group of men.

"These fuckers—" Draken’s breath hitched as his eyes widened at the sight of the high-powered weapons they were holding.

"You are not to leave this place!" one of the men shouted. "Go back to the cardinal!"

Atlas ground his teeth, and before he and Draken could engage, Marceline shouted,

"Let’s go back!"

But as she turned, she heard footsteps — and before she knew it, another group had blocked the pathway from where they came.

"When did they—" she stopped, her wide eyes shaking as she stepped back.

Draken and Atlas were already injured, and only adrenaline was keeping them moving. Marceline was safe, with barely any scratches from fighting the enemies, but with all these armed men surrounding them, she couldn’t take them on alone.

Not to mention, the elders with them knew nothing about fighting. Even if they did in their prime, they were already too old.

"I said..." she gripped the rifle she had looted from the enemies earlier more tightly. "...I don’t want to share my death anniversary with all of you."

Draken darted his eyes between the men ahead and behind. His heart was racing in his chest, just like his mind.

Meanwhile, Atlas gulped. They had no time for this.

"This place is going to explode!" one of the elders shouted. "Stopping us shouldn’t be your priority!"

"You should leave this place as well!" another elder shouted. "It’s dangerous, and the best we can do is to save ourselves!"

"Don’t move!" one of the men responded. "Please surrender!"

The faint noise of gunfire and chaos echoed from above, telling them the fight still raged on.

If only their group could reach another floor, they were certain they would be able to regroup with their forces.

Just another floor.

"Hey, how many minutes do we have?" Draken asked, only for his eyes to widen when he noticed Marceline lower her weapon slightly.

"What are you doing?"

Marceline slowly lifted her eyes and met his gaze briefly. Then she turned her focus toward the enemies behind them.

"Deal with those guys over there," she whispered. "I’ll deal with these guys here."

She paused as she began marching toward them. "If I’m going to die... I’ll die fighting."

Even if she had to die with all of them, and even if in the future, on the day of her death anniversary, everyone else would remember others first... she would die proudly.

Draken watched her back and snickered, only to see Atlas already walking forward.

"Hey—" he stopped when Atlas stood in front of him.

"Protect the elders," Atlas said. "You’ve tanked everything. If you collapse, none of us could carry you."

"You—"

But Draken couldn’t say more as both Marceline and Atlas had already stepped forward to face the men blocking their path ahead and behind.

He ground his teeth, thinking these people were too small and weak to even dream of protecting him.

But just as the men blocking the path shouted, "Step back or we’ll shoot!"

Another voice echoed from somewhere.

"I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!"

Before anyone could react, a deafening round of gunfire erupted.

The elders covered their ears while the three leaders, who were ready to give their all and die fighting, saw smoke and sparks appear behind the men blocking the path.

They didn’t even know what had happened until the men dropped to the floor, unable to use their high-powered weapons — taken off guard by the surprise attack from behind.

"What..."

Thick smoke formed at each end of the hallway. A moment later, figures emerged from it.

"ATLAS!!!"

Atlas’s breath hitched as his complexion paled, his eyes widening upon seeing the man stepping out of the smoke.

There, wearing nothing but a shirt underneath a vest, one arm still in a cast and sling, while the other held a rifle, was...

"...Dad?"

"Atlas!" Charles reached out. "Let’s go!"

With Charles was Mark — Penny’s chief guard — and...

"That bastard," Draken chuckled through gritted teeth upon catching sight of Baby beside Atlas’s father.

Then, from behind, they heard voices calling. "First Brother!"

When Atlas and Draken turned in the direction Marceline was facing, they saw Hugo and Zoren sprinting over the bodies they had taken down. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Atlas wanted to ask:

What in the world were his brother, brother-in-law, and father doing here?

But when he turned to Charles and saw the fire in his father’s eyes, he didn’t need to ask.

He understood.

Atlas might be a husband and a father now, but at the end of the day, he was still Charles Bennet’s son.

With Hugo, Zoren, Mark, Baby, and Charles joining their group, Charles led them forward as the others assisted the elders.

Then, a screech echoed through the speakers.

"Sir, this is Pika! If you can hear me—" then, it was interrupted by static. "You only have a few seconds left!"

Their group stopped when Pika’s voice rang out again.

"Thirty seconds! Everyone, leave the place as fast as you can!"

Thirty seconds, but their group was still underground.

They looked at one another.

"We..." Marceline trailed off. "...will not make it."

And somehow, they all understood.

Atlas’s face twisted as he looked at his brothers, only to stop when he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder.

Charles smiled faintly.

"Son," he breathed. "I’m... sorry. It’s Dad’s fault."

And as Charles took responsibility in the final moments...

Everyone outside could only watch the timer, and once it hit zero, the explosions began, one after another.