Holy crap. What is this? An update? But I thought Ratherhomely disappeared off the face of the earth. Read and enjoy.

"Hold on a second…" Jack turned towards me, his face indicating the impatience of stopping for even a moment. Not that I could blame him. The eerie feeling coming from the dilapidated testing area could unnerve anyone, even Jack, whose icy demeanor seemed capable of withstanding any psychological onslaught. But this place… Perhaps it was just the history of what the proving grounds was used for is what made it so creepy. It could have also been that I knew Fontaine was out to get me, and his surprise that he boasted over could be around any corner. "Jack, if you don't mind, could we stop here and rest?"

"I do mind." Jack's stern glare was uncompromising. "You are a Big Daddy. You don't need to rest."

"You're right." My electronic voice had an edge to it. "I'm just fine. But my dear Abby here…" I indicated to the little bundle coddled in my arm with my drill. "Is bushed. We stop." My porthole glowed yellow. "Now." If that bastard wanted to run my little sister ragged, I'd-

"Alright."

My porthole turned light green in surprise. "What?"

Jack started to walk towards a wall a short distance away, an area beneath the walkway that lined the walls of the large room we were in. "That thing is our key to getting to Fontaine. I'm not going to waste this opportunity because 'Abby' didn't get her nap."

I followed him, taking careful steps so as not to wake Abby. "She's not a thing. She's a living thing, just like you and me."

Jack let out a little laugh as he plopped himself down against the wall. "You know, even with all this time we've spent together, I'm still amazed. You care."

"Of course I do." I set Abby down gently, leaning her against the wall next to Jack, before taking a seat myself. "She's my little sister."

Jack shook his head. "No, no, no... I mean you actually care. The other Big Daddy's, they don't care what happens. They're just programmed, or something. I bet every single Big Daddy was the biggest bastard before they became a, well, a Big Daddy." He eyed me. "Present company not excluded."

I had been looking at Jack, but now looked away. I could feel shame welling up inside, and I couldn't bring myself to look him in the face. "You don't need to exclude me. I'm the biggest bastard of them all." A moment of silence passed. "Jack, I'm not proud of who I was before becoming a Big Daddy. You say that Big Daddies don't care. You say we're monsters." I looked back at him. "I say that becoming a Big Daddy was the best thing that ever happened to me. True, all Big Daddies may have been the worst, heartless, bastards ever to walk the face of the Earth. And I may have been the lowest of them all. But turning into a Big Daddy has given me the most beautiful gift of all. The ability to love, unrequited. To think of someone other than yourself. And I think that's true for every Big Daddy."

There was another remarkably quiet moment.

I let out an electronic crackle, my equivalent of a snicker. "God, that was corny, wasn't it?"

A smile grew on Jacks face. He started to chuckle, and said, "Yeah, that was really corny. But hey, it wasn't too bad."

As Abby woke up, the both of us had started laughing. "I've seen some bad movies," I managed between laughs, "And that speech would easily fit in!"

Jack had tears coming from his eyes. It was comforting to see that he could actually express an emotion besides constant seriousness. "Hey, at least you've seen movies before!" he joked. Abby seemed remarkably confused, and as we both settled down, Jack remarked, "Drill. You're alright. Corny, but not that bad. By Rapture standards, anyway."

My porthole emitted a lime green hue. Coming from Jack, that was the greatest compliment in the world. I lightly held Abby's hand as I stood up. "No time to waste. Heh, look at me, saying that when I asked for us to rest!" Jack didn't respond, since after the sound of a single gun shot, I looked over to see Jack clawing at his throat, before collapsing.

"Is he…?" I gasped.

"Mr. Bubbles?" Abby had a frightened look. "What happened to Mr. Jack?"

My light turned a scarlet red. "Get behind me Abby." Without a moments hesitation, she took refuge behind my leg. There was a loud clunking, like footsteps. I scanned the large room we were in, which had plenty of places for a splicer to hide. But the voice that greeted wasn't a splicer's.

A deep, deep voice spoke, seeming to rumble, coming from everywhere at once. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Mommy, can daddy come out to play?"

"Who are you? Show yourself!" I shouted. But that was all I could do.

"Ah, but don't you know me? After all…" A huge figure suddenly dropped from the balcony above, landing with a metallic thud in front of me, a red light coming from its head that was blinding at such close quarters. "You killed me." With that the thing grabbed the metal grating that protected my portholes, and to my shock, it threw me over its shoulder. And as I soared, I could only wonder, "Who did I kill? it couldn't be…" And I landed hard, scraping the metallic floor as I landed a good 20 feet away.

As I slowly stood, I could feel the pain of the impact. And looking up, I saw a horrific figure. A Big Daddy, a good foot taller than the usual Big Daddy. It seemed as though it was a Rosie model, except there was a ton of scrap metal sloppily welded on all over its body. On its back, from what I could see, was a pack similar to what all Daddies wore, but… different. I could see the gun that killed Jack, a rivet gun welded to the creature's left arm. The weight didn't seem to encumber the beast at all. But the worst thing wasn't the left arm, but the right. It wasn't there. The Daddy was missing its right arm. Surely more than one Daddy had a severed limb…? He couldn't possibly be…

And in its left hand it held Abby.

Nobody touches Abby.

I let out a Big Daddy wale, and charged the figure, who didn't move. Charging towards it, I unleashed the most fearsome drill swing I'd ever done. It wasn't very assuring to me when my drill bounced right off the thing's armor. "Like my new coat? Fontaine had all this extra metal welded on. You can't hurt me." He threw Abby to one side, and with a cry she hit the ground, letting out a light sob. "But I can do plenty to you." Making a fist, it let loose an earth shattering punch, again knocking me back an astounding 10 feet. "The extra strength running through my body is nice too. The more drugs the merrier." I stood up. Again. No way I could win a head on confrontation. I slowly began backing away. "Distance won't help. After all, you should know I'm the best shot in Rapture. I taught you myself."

I froze. I muttered, "You can't be Richard. Richard died. I saw him in his final moments…"

"You thought I died!" Richard roared. "And you were the one who caused it! You let me die that day!"

I mentally winced. "I couldn't save you! I've lived that moment over and over, wondering how I could've changed what happened!"

"Liar." Richard's voice was filled with venom. "Fontaine was the one who saved me. He brought me back. I don't know how. And he made me better. Stronger. You were always so cocky, with your whole 'speaking' crap. Fontaine promised me my revenge! And I plan to take it. Now, watch some of my new toys in action!"

"Fontaine's just using you…" I began, but Richard had already pressed a button on his chest, and the strange pack on his back roared to life, flames jetting out at a horizontal angle. And thanks to those jets propelling him forward, Richard charged at me with lightning speed, a full on body slam that hit before I could react. Richard effortlessly pushed me back, finally pinning to me to a wall with a metallic crash echoing through the room. And slowly, painfully, I could feel my metal armor caving in under the immense pressure.

So. This was it. Killed by my one of my best friends. What a way to go. If I had eyes still, I'd shed a tear…

"Hey!" Richard released me, while also turning off the jets from his back. He turned. Through clouded vision, I could see Jack. "It's called a vita-chamber, asshole."

Richard laughed. He began walking towards Jack, leaving me to recuperate. "I killed you once. I can do it again. This time without a gun."

Jack smirked. "You look pretty heavy."

"Yeah. And…?"

"And it's a good thing I used cyclone traps on one spot."

"…Wait, what the…" And with the next step, Richard went soaring into the air, high enough to hit the ceiling where Jack had planted at least five proximity mines. A huge explosion echoed through the room; with the result bring a massive thud as Richard was sent hurtling back to the floor, hitting hard enough to leave a dent. Then, as the smoke cleared, all was silent.

And then there was a groan.

And Richard began to rise.

"Crap." Jack muttered.

"Jack!" I shouted. He looked at me, seeming controlled but I could tell he was panicking deep down. One of his best tricks hadn't worked. "Take Abby. Kill Fontaine. I'll handle him."

Jack looked at me for a second, mulling something over in his head, finally making up his mind. "Good luck." Breaking into a sprint, he grabbed Abby's hand, both of them disappearing as they left the room. I turned my attention back to the hulking mass of scrap that was now dusting itself off.

"I will admit," Richard growled. "That hurt a bit. I may feel a bit achy tomorrow. As for now…" He charged, as fast as a train and hitting like one two. You'd think I'd have learned to dodge these… I went sailing, hitting the wall behind me, slumping to the ground. Richard began walking towards me, obviously enjoying the pain he was causing me. But even with all that hate, I couldn't help but feel there was still something I could connect to.

"Richard, why do you hate me? We've been friends for as long as I could remember…"

"Friends? Fontaine's finally showed me that you were never worthy of my comradeship. You've always been a self-righteous prick. Since you could talk, all the Little Sisters liked you the best! They never truly loved me! But now… With you out of the way, Fontaine says I can have all the Little Sisters I want! He says you're the cause of all my problems! You need to go!" He'd reached me now, arm-mounted rivet gun pointed at my head, a lethal range for a lethal weapon. "Any last words?"

A moment passed. "Richard." I whispered. "You think the Little Sisters will love you now? You think you're now better than me? Tell me; at the beginning of the fight, what did you do with Abby your precious Little Sisters?" Richard didn't say anything. "You threw her aside. Like trash. You say you want their love? Well, then, by all means, hurt every single one till you achieve your goals."

Richard didn't say anything. He just stood there, ready to pull the trigger.

And that's that. Hopefully I'll finish up the conclusion of Inside much faster than I did this. Hey, you guys don't mind waiting another year or two, do you?