TAKEOVER!: a newgrounds AU storyline

CHAPTER 11: Half of a Reunion

Cassandra, Pico and Salad Fingers were scanning around the facility, looking for other members.

"You really saved my life back there.. meanwhile I didn't even recognize you at first and even tried to run away from you after you had been through the most awful thing-", Pico calmly started, slowly raising in anxiety and sadness as his voice began to crack.

"I-it's alright, all is f-forgiven. J-just please don't c-cry, you look s-so broken down... wh-what did they do t-to you?", Salad Fingers cut him off, trying to comfort him. Pico looked at him, tears forming. His entire body had been trembling badly eversince Piconjo put him through that hell. Pico's trembling worsened and he walked closer beside him. Salad Fingers noticed this and took on a concerned look. He listened carefully as Pico began to explain the terrible events that happened just 1 hour ago.
"It was Piconjo.. he got all the enemy tankmen rallied up into an army, and he got at least 15 to do an ambush attack. He... he walked out of that crowd after they beat me to the ground.. he had this needle filled with tranquilizer or something and attacked me with it. I woke up in this awful place... in a room. I was in there for days... and just a couple hours ago, he led me out of that room into a cardboard replica of my old classroom. It was funny at first, all a facade with cardboard cut-outs of my teacher and stuff. I was relieved and thought the whole situation was hilarious... that is until I opened another door in the back of the fake classroom, expecting something innocent or cringeworthy like where I was. When I opened that door, though... it.... it was horrifying. I was actually reliving the nightmare... everything was in the same spot... the posters... the doors... it was so..... empty.. nobody was there where I was. Suddenly, it happened. Shots rang out, blood hit the walls, bodies fell.
All over again... like dejá vu. It triggered something, and I've just been panicking for the past hour eversince I got out of there...", Pico said in a whispery, crackled voice that seemed to get more and more desperate and afraid. Salad Fingers looked on in horror as he relayed the events. Salad Fingers picked him up and hugged him, almost crying as Cassandra's one cat-like ear lowered down as she looked at them, having heard everything in the conversation. She purred and comforted Pico as he held onto his friend.
"Y-you poor thing... they too-took it too far this t-time around..", Salad Fingers comforted, his tail wrapping around the two of them.
"And y-you?", Salad Fingers chirped to Cassandra. She growled and snarled while making small hand motions and Salad Fingers listened on, nodding and taking on a grim yet saddened expression.
"Th-that's truly tragic, Cassandra.. y-you can't fu-fully return t-to your original st-state, can you..?", Salad Fingers stated as Pico looked on in astonishment.
"Woah, you can understand her? That could be useful! What'd she say?", Pico asked him.
"Sh-she said that Convict and P-Piconjo were working t-together.. Convict t-took on the form of a close f-friend, Nene she said, and t-tricked her into retrieving items su-such as s-speakers and red paint.. afterwards, wh-when she found out that these were going to be used ag-against you, she retaliated.
Th-that must be why they did th-this to her...", Salad Fingers solemnly said as Pico looked at her with tears in his eyes, now walking towards her.
"They.... pawned you? They.... used.. you?? And the items.. used against me...? It wasn't real?!" Pico whispered, confused. He began to sob and shake violently while gripping his head and curling into a ball.
"THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! I NEED TO WAKE UP! SOMEONE, ANYONE, JUST GET ME OUTTA HERE!!! IT'S NOT REAL! PLEASE LET ME OUT, I HATE THIS PLACE AND I HATE THIS DREAM!! LET ME OUT!" Pico began to panic and Salad Fingers jumped back in terror from the sudden noise, only for his fear to be driven further when he saw the destroyed state his friend was in. He quickly grabbed him and began to hold on tightly as he gripped his damaged sweater and buried his face into it's soft material. Cass looked on, realizing just how damaged and bent backwards the poor guy was as he sobbed and shook. He felt cold, and his shaking was so bad that Salad Fingers felt it trembling through his body and the spines on his back ever so slightly shook.
Meanwhile, Captain, ENA, Monster, Senpai, Hank, and Tricky were out warning people about Convict, not knowing about the main mastermind.
They were preparing for war, rallying up old members of the gang who were on break for a while. Captain John pulled out his phone and dialed up a number. Two voices rang out.
"Whaddya want, Captain? Can't you see we're on break!?", one voice said. It was slightly higher than Captain's although it was almost identical.
"Yeah, man! I'm tryna chug a bottle of scotch here!", another gruff voice called.
"It's Convict, men. He's back and trying to kill us. He's got a ton of the gang.
HE HAS PICO!", Captain John yelled angrily at the two men.
"I'm not talkin' to you morons as a friend right now, this is an order. We're rallyin' people up to fight this prick once and for all.", Captain growled.