Disbelief was, at the moment, a close and personal friend of mine, as the Bouncer big daddy and I just... Looked to one another.

How... How was it possible? I thought for sure that all the big daddies, aside from myself, had been wiped out years ago. Even if one had survived the initial uprising, it couldn't have possibly done so for this long, in Lower Rapture of all places... It just didn't add up...

Still, I can't say I'm not glad to see this. Another tortured soul trapped inside of a metal shell, having been forced and obligated to protect the twisted products of humanity. Even if it was a Bouncer, which, believe it or not, were pretty much the rivals of Rosies such as myself.

I wasn't particularly sure of the reason, so much as I had a guess. Two of the original big daddies constantly competing with one another for the limited territory, and supply of little sisters. Yeah, it had built up a sort of inbred sense of competitiveness and annoyance for whenever we would see one another. Even for the second generation big daddies.

In fact, this rivalry would often lead to conflict, and, from this, we had pretty much learned that these big daddies were formidable opponents, just as they did us.

Classed as the first breed of the protector project, Bouncers were made to be much stronger than its latter brothers... In some regards, that is. It was created, is created, with the strongest and thickest armor of all the other protectors. Alongside this, it, despite it's lack of ranged weaponry, was more than able to take out several opponents with ease. They were much more agile than they appeared, and, in the cases that this would not be enough, they were created with a special, highly vibration conducting metal alloy. This is where they get their names, as, with even the slightest of heavy stomps, a Bouncer can knock down an entire room of splicers, and so on. Rosies, and many of the later big daddies, were less than able to do so, their ground trembling slams needing much more force behind them, and even then still proving inferior. This, was the Bouncer.

... Speaking of which, he seemed a little... Off, for one. Overall, his general appearance was what was to he expected from a Bouncer class big daddy. Some details, however, were different. For instance, his armor was, rather than it's usual brown metallic self, a dark yet vibrant red– The carapace for his helmet was smaller, and pushed slightly higher up onto his body. Another thing of interest was that, on his signature drill, seemed to be what looked like a symbol. The word 'Epsilon' popped into my head at this. It reminded me of the symbol I had on my rivet gun, meaning Omega. Finally, most Bouncers are only supposed to have one protruding canister on their backs, used to recycle the air inflow, and allow most other of it's body's processes. This one had two. This second metal canister, which was placed square onto his adjacent shoulder blade, had several small rubber tubes coming out of it, connecting itself into the Bouncer's drill – And even that seemed modified, besides the Epsilon inscription, being made of a stronger and more layered series of metals almost entirely up his arm.

This drew a questioning gaze from me, but I pushed it aside with a shake of my head. I mean... Another big daddy... I was still pretty much stuck on that, let alone everything else.

For another moment or two, there was silence, partially filled by the sound of Winston and Garret's rotors as they hovered in place. The green of the two security bots' headlights merged with the yellow of the Bouncer's portholes, the faded, dying white of the ceiling lights above us, and that of the city that surrounded us from beneath the water's depths.

Neither of us moved, nor made to, as we seemingly scanned one another from our individual positions. He seemed more like a statue, though, as he did this, not even moving by the smallest of centimeters.

For a moment, my eyes narrowed, searching for any visible threat he may pose... But then I instantly felt like an idiot. Big daddies, as built into their programming, were made to only be a threat when they are threatened in return. Or when their little sisters are endangered.

Glancing to my own charges and back, I slowly, hesitantly, lowered my weapon. Still, there was no signs of hostility, and at this point, even Garret seemed to lower his guard.

Cocking my head slightly to the side, I raised a brow as I made yet another quick scan of the big daddy. Expecting some sort of answer, considering big daddies could actually understand one another fairly easily, I gave out a groan.

'Hello.'

Simple? Yes. Short? Most definitely. But, hey, I wasn't really sure what else to say at the moment. I was still relatively frozen in shock.

The Bouncer, however, didn't answer in any way at all. The silent type, maybe? It was a little ironic, considering most big daddies were made to be relatively silent, but, its not like I haven't met those kinds of protectors before.

Turning my head to Fluttershy and Rarity, who were still partially hidden behind the lounge's bar counter, I noted that their maws were still wide open, from what I guessed to be surprise. Even Mill, who I could feel shifting around in my bag, seemed to have suddenly become excited. I chuckled at this, taking a step towards the two, the idea of trying to calm them already clear in my mind.

As I did so though, there was, what felt like, a larger, heavier echo of my footstep. Again raising my brow, this time at the sound, I partially pursed my lips as I turned towards the source.

The Bouncer had, oddly enough, seemed to have taken a step to the side, just as I had. Aside from that though, it didn't look as though he had moved in any other way.

Curious, I took another step, which was again echoed by the big daddy... What the fuck?

Both out of confusion, and slight irritance, I let out another groan, trying again to get a response from him.

'Hello?' I repeated, this time in question. Just like he had done previously though, he stayed absolutely silent.

Scratching an itch at the back of my head, I once again looked to Fluttershy and Rarity. Their looks of surprise had turned to those of similar questioning and confusion as mine, which I had quickly found as they met gazes with me. Gesturing towards the Bouncer with a raised brow, I was met with an unsure shrug from Rarity, and a wordless open of Fluttershy's maw, as she seemingly struggled to make a possible explanation.

I crossed my arms as I looked to the two, and then to Winston, who seemed... Actually... He was quiet as well? That's... not normal...

The girls, glancing to one another for a short moment, looked back at me, before then gesturing for me to go on... Go on? Did they mean, like, talking to the Bouncer? That hadn't exactly proven to bring forth any results so far. Oh well... Anythings worth a shot, I guess.

Giving a quick exhale through my nostrils, I once more looked to the living statue of a protector, giving out another, louder, series of groans.

'Are you... Going to say, or do... Anything?'

Nothing.

'How'd you make it through the splicer uprising?'

Nothing.

'... Was this your assigned area?'

And more nothing. This was getting ridiculous.

Understandably, Bouncers were the more focused of the bunch. Their mindsets were, usually, almost completely replaced by their programmed intellegence and objectives. That, however, didn't mean that they would be completely blank. I remember having conversation with a few some years ago, when they were still, despite it's emotionless disposition, so, what made this one so different then?

Rolling my eyes at the possibility of having met a malfunctioning big daddy, of all the possible protecters to prove their existence, I crossed my arms, glancing to Garret skeptically. His headlights aimed towards me in what seemed like a similar gaze as I tried to think of some way to better approach this situation.

Before I could though, I finally heard a groan in response, deeper and more guttural than mine. What it had said though, left me confused.

'Execute... Protocol.'

"Ah! Look out!" I heard Rarity yell, as a loud stomp filled the room, followed by the grinding of metal, and the whirring of a drill.

Turning back to the big daddy, now with wide eyes, I was barely able to react as the Bouncer charged at me at incredible speeds, his drill spinning and moved before him. Even more shocking though, was that, by the time that I had looked, he was already in front of me, his drill no less than a couple of short inches from my face.

Instinct took over as I leaned and sidestepped around the bull of a protector's drill, time seeming to slow as it caught with the bandages that were still wrapped around my head, barely missing me as it shredded the covering as if it were paper.

Having leaned too far to the side in my avoidance though, and the sheer force of the air that circled around the surprisingly fast 'protector' pushing against me, I fell sloppily to the floor, giving a short grunt as the side of my ribs were pushed inwards for a moment, winding me.

The Bouncer, having narrowly missed me, continued in his charge until, finally, he was stopped upon his impact of the lounge stage, all but causing it to collapse around him as his drill was embedded into the wall.

Faintly hearing the panicked calls of my charges, I picked myself up from the ground in a rush, my heart beating in my ears from the near death encounter as I called out to the Bouncer one last time, my eyes narrowing, and my plasmids returning.

'What are you doing?!?' I groaned loudly, and angrily.

For a moment, the Bouncer held in it's ministrations, it's drill still entrapped in the wall as it slowly turned it's head and helmet towards me. It was only now that I saw the familiar crimson glow resonating from it, and I quickly realized that there was no arguing with him.

I, of all people, should know... Once a big daddy has been angered to this point, no matter the reason... It's a frenzy.

And with that, he reared his head back, the air thickening with tension, and then just as quickly, filling with a loud, ground trembling metal roar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was no doubt in Omega's, Fluttershy's, or Rarity's minds anymore. This big daddy, of which they had actually been relatively glad to see alive, was no more than a large threat to them, adding to Rapture's torment.

Omega's teeth ground at this as he raised his rivet gun towards the trapped lumbering being, the thought of having to kill one of his own out of nothing grating against him like a razor would a rusty piece of metal.

"No... Not one of my own... Not anymore." A small part of his mind argued, as the security bot next to him, Garret, once again readied his weaponry. To him, this Bouncer must have been having a major malfunction in it's programming, or, worse yet, it had lost what little humanity it had left to call itself a protector. Before long, Garret opened fire.

As had happened on the previous occasion that a security bot went against a being with such armor, back in Atlantic Express, these bullets did next to nothing as the Bouncer reactionlessly pulled out his still-spinning drill from the wall with a heave, taking down a large portion of the wall and it's debris with him.

It was at this point that Omega gave out a roar of his own to rival the Bouncer's, opening fire upon his protector class rival as he dug his way through his surrounding debris. As these rivets and bullets flew across the room, ricocheting off of, or embedding themselves into, the armor of the Bouncer, Winston began to move about.

Moving himself in front of the girls, and thus blocking their views, he began to slowly usher them out, backing them up little by little towards his intended direction. This was, of course, met negatively by the two.

"What are you doing?!" Rarity exclaimed indignantly, drawing Omega's attention, though he did not let up on his fire. "We are not going anywhere!"

To her, the idea of leaving their friend, even if they wouldn't be useful in such a situation whatsoever, seemed absolutely awful. Especially when she, and Fluttershy, had promised each other to stay close and help Omega in any way possible. Winston was slightly backed himself as Fluttershy, much to the surprise of Omega, glared at him, taking an authoritative step forward.

Before Winston could give up in his attempts to move the two somewhere safer though, he was quickly stopped from doing so as further support was added his way from another source. Omega.

Having momentarily taken his attention off of the Bouncer as he removed the empty rivet container from his weapon, before then, to his silent thankfulness, being handed a new one by a waiting Mill, he turned to his charges, groaning and moving for them to leave as Winston was instructing them. The two raised their brows at this, in both confusion and surprise.

"W-what? But, O-Omega, we can't just-" Omega interrupted his winged charge before she could finish, yet again repeating his previous gestures and groans for them to get somewhere safe, this time more aggressively.

He didn't like the concept of leaving them himself, but he felt that, at the moment, it was the better thing he could do. This wasn't just some splicer, after all. This was a rouge and rampaging big daddy! Outside of, possibly, the berserker splicer from before, this was the only real threat that would even remotely require such an action! Especially since, as far as Omega knew, this Bouncer was completely alien in comparison to the rest.

That charge from before had proven it. No big daddy, no matter it's size, should have been able to move so fast! This Bouncer was changed in more than just it's overall appearance, but it's combat traits as well! Who knew what else it had in store.

And besides, even if they weren't being watched by him, they would still have Winston with them.

"... That doesn't really help me feel any better."

Being brought to silence by their guardian's assertive command, the two shared gazes with the man, before, with reluctant nods, they began to make their way out of the room, Winston following shortly behind them.

Tightening the new clip of rivets into it's place in his weapon, Omega gave a silent nod as the door to the room closed shortly after the leaving of his charges, assuring their momentary safety, if only from this threat.

The sound of shifting debris quickly drew his attention, as he once again turned towards his and Garret's current target, who was now through the wall of debris that once surrounded him. As he raised the barrel of his rivet gun yet again, taking aim at the corrupted behemoth, a growl reverberated through the room.

With little to no warning, the Bouncer lifted his leg up high, Omega's eyes widening as he quickly realized what was about to happen. Before he could fire though, there was a deafening slam, followed by the roar of the Bouncer, as the room began to shake uncontrollably.

The tremors being much more intensified and powerful than any that Omega had ever brought about, he stumbled into a kneeling position, no longer able to take aim as he struggled to gain even a moment of struggle-filled balance.

Looking towards Garret, who he expected to have been continuing his fire, he was shocked to see that the machine seemed to be... Short circuiting.

It's headlights were flickering repeatedly, with a small spark occasionally showing itself from the bot's side, and it's altogether flight was suddenly made unsteady.

"H-... How...!?"

Despite the unanswered question in his mind, teeming with shock and bewilderment, Omega shook his head left and right,–Not unlike the rest of his body–focusing his vision ahead of him again. It seemed even that was shaking as well though, as he was provided with a blurred and strenuous picture of what was actually before him.

His eyes narrowed as he was barely able to make out the porthole lights of the Bouncer among the other melded imagery, all of them glaring and seeming to leave a small trail of light as they moved about without control.

Within moments, there was another roar of ferocity as the lights grew in their intensity and focus. Omega quickly realized what this meant as he moved both of his arms towards the floor and pushed himself off to the side.

He could make out the sound of the Bouncer's charging as it passed right by him, grinding to a halt somewhere nearby, rather than crashing into another wall, as it then turned to face him.

Omega momentarily was stuck on his back, feeling akin to a turtle that could not flip off it's shell, as the ground below continued to refuse it's inherent provision of balance or footing. He stayed like the for some time, his hands braced against the timber floor as he struggled to inhibit his, almost-siezuring, mind and body.

Thankfully, this wish of his was granted as the vibrations began to calm, his eyes finally regaining of the world around him, just in time to catch sight of the drill plunging towards him.

Not even being able to catch his breath, Omega quickly rolled to the side, making yet another narrow dodge of his opponents strike–For the most part.

The wooden floor below him, and the Bouncer, groaned and collapsed into the shallow water below, the small drop of a few inches surprising him more than the attack itself had.

Nonetheless, despite his daze, Omega quickly retaliated as the Bouncer lifted his drill yet again.

Planting his legs against the big daddy's chest, he gave a powerful push against the former protector, shoving him backwards by a fair distance, and allowing himself the time to stand up.

His legs shook slightly, seemingly in aftershock from the previous tremors, as water dripped off of his now standing figure, much like it did the Bouncer, and he fired off even more rivets. Like last time, they again began to embed themselves into the weaker parts of the Bouncer's armor, causing blood and pressurized air to begin leaking from it's suit. Along with this, the security bot, who had recently regained control of his systems, took aim at these now vulnerable areas of the armored attacker.

With these sudden bouts of pain surging through his body, the Bouncer let out an infuriated roar. Lifting his leg again as he sought to end this fight, Omega quickly reacted, outstretching his arm out to his side and grabbing hold of a random object with his Telekinesis plasmid.

He launched it towards the big daddy with full force, the object, which had turned out to be a fallen stage light from when the Bouncer had collided with the wall, causing the Bouncer's armor to dent as it collided with him, and for the big daddy himself to stagger backwards, stopping his earth-trembling attack before it could occur.

A smirk coming to his face as he realized the effectiveness of his attack, he once again mentally grabbed hold of a broken down piece of the stage, before tossing it at him. This occurred again, and again, until, finally, the Bouncer had enough.

With various dents in his armor, and cracks in several of his portholes, the Bouncer batted away the next strike with his drill, growling in fury and irritance as he did so.

Giving his own growl in response, Omega tried yet again to grab hold of a prop, only to be met with nothing, as the glow in his arm and the flow of a foreign strength in his blood came to a halt.

His eyes widened as he looked to his hand, then back to the Bouncer, who seemed to have noticed this change, as he once again began to lift his leg.

Omega scrambled for an EVE hypo that he had long held in his bag of supplies as the Bouncer yet again prepared his unusually powerful shockwave of an attack. As he grabbed hold of it, it's cool and smooth glass exterior feeling odd against his hand, he extended forward his ESU, and sparks and jolts of electricity cracking along it and it's three separate electrical conductors, setting it to overcharge.

Within an instant, an incredibly fast, almost unperceived, jolt of electricity shot out towards the metal daddy. The Bouncer was stunned a short millimeter before it hit the ground, the water that still covered parts of him increasing it's effect as he released an odd, stuttering roar.

While this went on, Omega had finally grabbed hold of an EVE hypo, lifting it out of his bag, shifting it between his hands, and, with a quick breath and brace, sending yet another pinprick into his right arm's wrist. It's contents were emptied within a few short moments, and Omega quickly felt his plasmid's latent ability returning to him quickly after.

By the time the big daddy had recovered from his shock, the bullets that peppered him from the security bot continuing to be more of an inconvenience than an issue, Omega already held another piece of the stage in his plasmid's power, launching it forward.

The metal man saw this coming, his drill revving as he placed it forward, shredding the speaker to bits as it was brought towards him, like a branch to a wood chipper.

Omega did not yield, grabbing hold of yet another object, and preparing to launch it forward. Before he did, however, a quick glance at the object stopped him, and for good reason.

Within his telekinetic grip, the red barrel from earlier was held, small droplets of oil falling from it's bottom. An idea was quickly formed in his mind as the Bouncer let out another yell, his feet steadying against the ground before he lashed out in a charge.

Omega and Garret were both able to easily, for the most part, avoid this attack, the barrel of flammable chemicals remaining juggled in Omega's mental grip as he did so.

His metal boots screamed against the ground as Omega took careful aim, knowing that he only had one chance at doing this. In the meantime, the Bouncer had already turned himself around and was once again beginning another charge.

With a cock of Garret's gun, and a partially reluctant sigh from Omega, the telekinetic grip was released, and the barrel was flung forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three could easily overhear the muffled sounds of combat from the main room of Ryan Amusements, Fluttershy and Rarity worriedly watching the door as Winston continued to fly around them, prepared to fire upon any threats... If only because he knew what Omega would do to him if even a single tuft of their fur was out of place by the time he got back.

Rarity and Fluttershy just couldn't believe what was going behind those very doors that they had been sent out of, no matter how much they tried to. The first sign of another big daddy that they've seen since they arrived, aside from Omega, and... He goes wild.

They had thought that, from Omega's description, big daddies were meant to be guardians, even if they didn't nessecarily have anything to protect. From the sudden, unprovoked charge that this one had brought upon though... They wondered about this.

Of course, as much as they found negativity in this, they also, oddly enough, were partially grateful. After all, this big daddy had likely been around for as long as Omega, if not longer, and it had lost all of it's control.

Omega, on the other hand, had retained his humanity, despite the hard outer shell that contained over these years, and the death that surrounded him on a daily basis. He was certainly unique, and they were grateful for that.

They had thought themselves to be lucky when they came across a caretaker such as Omega when they first came here. Now, they thought themselves even more so.

... And it was for that reason that they felt so bad remaining away from him. Even if he was doing it for their own good, which they understood completely, they were still breaking a promise that they had made; To stay by his side no matter what.

The sudden sound of a loud crash brought them out of their thoughts, Fluttershy giving out a silent gasp of surprise and concern from the sudden sound.

The air became filled with a thick tension as the sounds of combat behind the door came to a momentary stillness. Even Winston, who had stopped his scanning of the area at the sound, was now focusing intently on the door, awaiting for another noise to come... And it did.

A roar filled the air, alongside the sound of an explosion, as the door to the lounge was shattered to pieces. From it, the heavy body of a limply collapsed big daddy was launched, parts of it's body charred and burning, along with punctures and dents in it's armor.

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Winston watched in shock as the body tumbled down the stairs that led to the lounge, ending it's voyage shortly in front of them.

Fluttershy and Rarity backed themselves away, gaining a distance from the corpse of similar kind to Omega, Rarity's hoof over her mouth and Fluttershy's eyes doing their to look away from the sight. This was... A horrible sight for them to see.

If not because of the mere appearance of the crippled corpse, but because of how it seemed with it's darkened portholes, and bloodied armor breaches... It reminded them of the times they had seen Omega die, and the agony he must have gone through each time.

As the sound of footsteps, accompanied by that of whirring rotors and tired panting, entered the room, the three pointed their gazes towards the broken down door, where an exhausted Omega was being accompanied into the room by a single security bot, his rivet gun slightly dragging across the floor behind him as he entered.

In an instant, the three made their way over to the exhausted Omega, who kneeled to meet them, also doing so out of the weariness he felt overcome him.

"Oh dear! Omega, are you all right?" Rarity asked as both she and Fluttershy came before him, concern clear in their eyes.

Omega felt as if it were a struggle just to lift his eyes towards them, the overuse and exertion of his plasmids from earlier having finally caught up with him, but he managed to give the two a nod, as Winston and Garret seemed to converse with one another.

"Oh, a-are you sure? We were so worried, and, we didn't know of we should have... Or..." Noticing the apparent stress that was building in her and Rarity's voices, Omega gave the two smiles, lightly and reassuringly patting them atop their heads.

They took these gestures kindly, giving small, though still concern riddled, smiles towards him.

As he pulled his hands away from them though, Omega found his gaze slowly shifting towards the dead Bouncer, followed shortly after by those of Fluttershy and Rarity.

"..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

... I couldn't just leave him like that. No matter how badly he tried to hurt me, or how twisted his mind was in comparison to mine... I just couldn't.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I already had the body in my grip, all of the exhaustion I felt being pushed aside as I secured my arms around the big daddies corpse, dragging him to a nearby wall.

Fluttershy, Rarity, Mill, Garret, and hell, even Winston, were silent as they walked along with me... I appreciated this more than they could imagine.

Finally, after what felt like an hour of pulling, and a time filled with the continual grinding of the big daddy's armor on the floor, leaving behind a small trail of scattered blood, I managed to make it to a relatively clear and clean wall.

Taking in a breath, I heaved the big daddy around me, placing his lumbering form firmly against the wall, so that he could be in a seating position. His arms, drill and otherwise, laid limply to his sides, and his helmet pointed slightly downwards, in a dead stare towards the ground.

Once I was sure that he wouldn't fall over, I pulled away from his corpse, standing up as I, and my current companions, looked to him in silence...

This Bouncer... He was different from the rest. That was obvious, really. The way he fought, how fast he was, the strength behind that drill and stomp of his... He was made for something different, because there is no way that he could've been assigned to a little sister when he was still in commission. Not with weapons like these.

Even his programming was off. For him to turn hostile for next to no reason... And what he had said earlier, about 'executing protocol'...

Whatever they had done to twist his mind and body to such an extent... At least I can that I ended his suffering in that regard... Even if I am back to being the last big daddy, in a matter of moments after meeting one too...

Before I could dwell on this for too long, I felt my bag shift once more, as Mill wriggled his way out, and onto my shoulder. I glanced to him for a moment, taking notice in the fact that he was, as well as the rest of us, looking towards the fallen big daddy. He only did this for a short second, however, before he began to softly nuzzle against the side of my neck and head, almost comfortingly.

The corners of my mouth tugged at me from his attempts, as I reached for him and softly pet his head, eliciting a gentle trill from him.

Glancing to my charges, and programmed escorts, I quickly gained their attention with a clear of my throat, all of their respective eyes and headlights looking towards me...

We had to get back to looking for that terminal. This... This was a matter that would have to wait.

Gesturing for the four of them to follow, my charges solemnly nodded their heads, and the two security bots gave two simultaneous beeps of confirmation.

Without another sound, I turned myself to a nearby staircase in the room, beginning to make my way down it, and towards one of the two only other areas in Ryan Amusements.

The Hall of the Future was nothing more than a place to buy plasmids, and I was certain that we wouldn't find the monitor we were looking for there. The one other place here though, with it's impressive scale and branching pathways, was much more likely to hold what we sought for... Though I wouldn't like it.

On to The Journey To The Surface, I suppose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the door to the more 'popular' attraction of the amusement park closed behind the group mismatched beings, a light flickered in the main room.

The air, which was once quiet, began to become filled with an odd humming noise. The corpse of the Bouncer was bathed in a light that came from the far corner of the room, it's eerily shaded green shining brightly off of the few uncharred pieces of metal on his suit and pools of blood on the floor around him...

Or, as would better be worded, that used to be around him.

Author's Notes:

Well... Fuck. There goes that... I think.

Now, as you can tell, this chapter focuses solely on the conflict between Echo, and Omega, with only a scant few references to everyone else. Now, the reason I did this was because, as a big daddy himself, this sort of thing brought about quite the mental conflict to Omega.

In other words, plot development!

... Especially if you figure that little hint at the end... :D

Until next time everyone, I leave you with this!

(Thanks Papa Bear. ;D)