Guess what guys? Snow. A fktonne of it. Just appeared outside my house. Still got to work though, even if the train waited for a few hours in the middle of nowhere. Not because of the snow, but because we hit and killed someone at 120 miles an hour and the associated organ mess takes a while to clean up.
Hence your longer - train based - chapter, sooner. In fact, it's almost half as long again. Enjoy!
The two unassuming teenagers stood on the platform, as their train slowly hissed up alongside them. The girl had funny shaped hair, and looked like she'd been crying. The boy was holding her hand, but it wasn't affectionate. It was almost like he didn't want to loose her. While the boy was looking nervous but determined, staring straight ahead at the train, the girl looked more... Inquisitive.
She rotated her head to watch the train carriages go by. They had letters on them, A, then B, then C, then... D... Then... E... Then...
The train stopped with a hiss that made Latias scowl back at it. It sounded almost exactly like a pokemon giving out a warning hiss, just before it attacked. Latias knew it was the train, but the noise still made her go on the offensive for a breif second.
As luck would have it, Mac had lead her right infront of where the doors stopped. With a beeping noise, the carriage door slid open. Mac had to hold Latias back so she didn't block the way out for the people wanting to get off. There were only three people getting off, but each one made Mac panic. What if they'd watched the news on their phone like he had? Not many people did, but it would only take one person to recognize him and call the police, and that'd be it. Game Over.
To avoid this, Mac stared at the floor and pulled his hood up, covering the distinctive blonde hair that could give him away, and hiding his face in one simple action. There wasn't much he could do to disguise Latias' human appearance - which was odd enough for people to note - but at least her picture hadn't been in the news. Which theoretically meant the military weren't looking for her. In her human form, at least.
"Come on Tia" - Mac had decided to call her by her nickname as it sounded a lot more normal in public - "Wai... Watch the step!"
Latias felt like she was in a dream. She was doing her actions, but it was like watching herself on a TV. Was it was because she was tired, or just the shock of their escape chances being slashed? She wasn't sure. But standing around wasn't going to help either situation. She paid close attention to the step like Mac said, and followed him onto the train.
Mac took her through to the first class coach. Not many people took first class on a weekend, it was generally only business people who took first class, and they didn't come out at weekends. So the entire carriage was thankfully empty. Mac took a window seat with a table, Latias took the one next to him, not wanting to leave his side.
Mac had chosen carefully. While it was a window seat, there was a piller in the way, so anyone looking in - mainly, police that could be on the platform - wouldn't see him. It was facing opposite the direction of travel too, the safest position available: If (however unlikely) the military forcefully stopped the train, the chances of him being without injury, and therefore chances of running away afterwards, were greater.
Latias still hadn't let go of his arm, gripping with a suprising amount of strength. She needed to calm down otherwise she'd attract all the attention of the airport police if and when they got there. Mac decided that once they were moving with enough engine noise, he'd explain his plan. It sounded watertight, so with any luck she'd stop panicing. Or at lease, not panic as much as she was now, at least. Poor girl. Hadn't done anything wrong, Abducted by the military, torn away from her own family, escaped to find she's on the other side of a foreign planet, and she thinks her chances of getting back home are around zero...
Mac didn't blame her for feeling unstable.
Mac swung his bag around so it was on the table infront, and decided to try normal socialization with Latias. That would make her more comfortable, at least.
"Have you ever been on a train before?"
Latias shook her head. Mac wanted actual words, even if they were only psychic. Once she started 'talking', she'd feel a lot better.
"Oh, they're great! Travel almost as fast as you fly when I'm on your back, take the shortest route along the ground, comfortable..."
Latias decided to engage, he was just trying to be polite, after all.
"What, and I'm not!?" The words materialized in Mac's head with unmistakable offense.
"No! Your very soft! It's just trains don't have 150 mile per hour winds in your face."
"Oh, Right. That never really bothers me when I'm flying..."
At that point, the train lurched forwards, making Latias' emotion change from slightly depressed to absolute alarm. Mac reassured her. "It's okay... That's normal. Well, actually, since we're on time, I'd say it's completely abnormal!" - A joke? Considering the perils he was in, he'd perked up a lot now they were getting closer to the airport - "Seriously though, at this rate, we'll be at London International airport in about an hour."
The airport? That had the airplane in it, and the airplane would take her home! This cheered up Latias more than anything else, and her face reflected it. Mac smiled when he saw Latias' face brighten up.
"But let's just chat for now. I've seen you do so much so far, but something tells me you can do a lot more. It'd be better if you mentioned it now so I can incorporate it into any plans..."
After a moment of consideration, Latias telepathed Mac.
"Well... I can do both psychic and dragon type attacks, as well as normal, a few elect-"
"Slow down? Attacks? Types?"
Latias rolled her human eyeballs. "You know how I turn invisible? That's a skill. Many other pokemon can do that skill, though some in different ways. But there are other skills, known as 'attacks' that we can do too. There's simple ones like 'bite' that are instinctive. But because we've got special powers - like psychic - we can also form 'attacks' which we can use in battle. If the attack is unique to us, we either are born with or learn by accident. My unique attack is called Mist Ball. It's made of a combination of dragon and psychic type power, and due to its nature, only I can do it. Part of the reason we battle is because we know attacks, and how good a trainer is is based on how good their pokemon can do their attacks."
Mac slowly tries absorbing the information, but it was like trying to soak up syrup with a brick. So much had happened to him in the last few hours.
"Oh... Kay... So how many 'attacks' do you know?"
"About 50"
Mac had expected a smaller number, so that she could tell him what each one did. But it looked like that wasn't going to be the case. He chose the one Latias mentioned last.
"So, how would you go about doing a 'mist ball'? and what does it do?"
"Well... I focus my aura around my chest area, then let it build. While that's happening, I put some psychic power into a ball of mist I imagine until it becomes real. I power the aura into that, then propel it with some dragon power. It hits the opponent and does a bit of damage, then it bursts and does much more. And only I can do it. My brother has a unique move, it's called Luster Purge. It's like a beam of energy, but I've no idea how he does it..."
Mac wasn't often confused. But what he was now surpassed confusion. Sure, it sounded simple in theory. In practice, Mac knew nothing of her version of energy or power or aura. And the information wasn't particularly useful by way of helping a plan.
"Well, Okay. But what do you mean by damage? As in, does it hurt the pokemon, and if so, does it also hurt a human, and how? Could we use them to stun someone or something?"
After a pause, she turned up in his head again. This time, Latias' mental voice was a bit more stern. "Listen. Me and my brother are generally peaceful. Leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone kind of thing, only more social and caring. But we are protective, and we are just animals, really. If I bite a human with force, they're losing a limb. If someone starts attacking Latios and it looks serious, I will attack them and it will be fatal. But that's only if it's a human and looking serious. Don't let it change your opinion of me, because, you know. I'm normal and kind, aren't I?"
Mac was seriously spooked now. All it'd take would be to hurt her accidentally and there would be a strong possibility he'd loose his head. Literally. A change of subject was in order, he thourght.
"Okay, don't worry. I think your okay... So... They call you a dragon type, but don't dragon's have a forked tounge so they can sense smell better?"
Latias was glad Mac wasn't too freaked out about the whole 'Hurt me and I kill you' speach. And his question was interesting... He definitely had a point.
"Well... I think it's kind of got a fork shape to it, but I don't know what you mean exactly. Next time I'm myself you can check. I do have an above-human sense of smell though. For example, I know from your smell that you're a male human going through adolescence. You smell kind of like a male in heat, though the wrong species and not a particularly strong smell either, so not a very attractive mate prospect."
This embarrased Mac somewhat, but Latias read his thoughts, so he didn't have to say them outloud to get her response. Whereas he was embarrased, Latias just thourght it as daily life: there was no embarrassment discussing relationships with other animals.
"Yes, male's don't have 'heats' as such. But you do give off a smell which indicates interest, even if you're human and not aware of it. And no, it's not me you're interested in, I don't think. You're probably just giving it out because you're adolecent and unsettled or something. Or perhaps just the excitement that's been happening..."
Mac mumbled under his breath. "Yeah... pheromones and stuff". Latias heard but didn't understand what a pheremone was. Perhaps it was the complicated name for a smell. Speaking of, she missed Latios' smell. She'd grown used to it while he was around, but now it wasn't there, she felt like something was... Missing...
The carriage settled into an awkward silence devoid of verbal or psychic communication, as the two sole occupants debated their own thourghts: Latias about Latios and getting home, and Mac on controlling how he smelled like even though he couldn't smell it.
Neither two were particularly easy subjects.
After a pause, her voice appeared in Mac's head again, sounding a bit more needy. "Mac? I'm tired. Can I sleep?".
"Do you want something to eat? Didn't you say that would be better?"
"Oh yeah! But I can't smell anything around here that's edible."
Mac wondered if her nose was still super sensitive even though she was in this girl's form. Probably not without her adapted tounge or nostrils. At any rate, he heard a clatter that would answer Latias' question soon enough.
Right on cue, the automatic door whooshed open and the snack trolley rolled in from behind them, pushed by a slightly fat woman.
"Here, this okay?" Mac said as he raised his hand to attract the trolley ladies attention. Latias' response was just a confused stare. She failed to see how the trolley could provide enough nutrition. It didn't even look edible...
The trolley pulled alongside the table and the woman eyed the pair suspiciously. What were two kids doing in first class?
"Can I see your tickets first?" She asked, not bothering to mask the scorn in her voice. When she was their age, the back seat of the bus was privileged transport, and theise two were in flippin' first class!
Mac had seen her suspicious expression and was worried she'd seen his picture on the news, and was hugely relieved when she returned his ticket and apologized, voice a tad brighter. "Sorry. Don't get many kids in first class normally, is all..."
Even though he was nearly cacking himself, Mac made the effort to sound cheerful, laughing as he made up a reason for first class other than 'I don't want someone recognising me and end up being killed by the military'.
"Decided to treat the girlfriend to a week in London, and had some spare dosh is all". The trolley lady gave a knowing nod and secretly wished her husband was that nice. "Lucky lady she is then, innit love?", giving Latias a friendly nudge, like she wanted her to pass a comment.
Latias was confused. Was the woman talking to her? What was an 'innit'? And at any rate, she couldn't respond.
"eh... Sorry... She's a mute. Can't talk" Mac told the woman in a matter-of-factly mannor.
"Oh, right... Hey, less nagging for you then! Anyway, what is it you'll be wanting then?" she asked, indicating with a sweep of her hand all the goods the wheeled convenience had.
Mac couldn't tell what Latias was looking at, but she probably knew what she wanted more than he did. Mac took a guess that she'd be naturally inclined towards sweet tastes as she was a wild female animal that would normally go picking fruit for the male or children. Unless it worked the other way round in pokemon. It occupied Mac' inquisitive brain though, a welcome distraction. "Go ahead, just point at whatever you want..."
Latias looked at the array of packaged foods available. She couldnt smell any of them, the packets were airtight. But when she chose berries, the brightest ones always tasted nicest. Latias took a second to analyse which packet looked the most colorful, and pointed at the brightest packet visible. Mac did the talking. "Okay then. A bag of skittles please. Actually, make it 3. And do you have any energy drinks?"
The woman frowned, but looked in the drinks compartment anyway. "They'll do you bad, son, you know. But if yer' want. What kind?"
Mac didn't normally have energy drinks, but Latias might want them depending on how tired she actually was. Assuming they would work on her, having not got a human anatomy and everything. "It's going to be a long day. Can I have a can of Red Bull and a can of Monster?"
The trolley lady handed over the two cans. There was an age Iimit on them, and the couple looked young, but over 16. Travelling first class, for heavens sake!
"That'll be nine pounds thirty five." She told him, adding the numbers up in her head faster than your average maths nerd could.
Mac knew the prices were steep and had already pulled out two notes, a £10 and a £5. He was feeling generous. "Take both". It wasn't like he would going anywhere that the change would be useful.
The lady thanked him for the change and wheeled the trolley on, pushing it through another sliding door and down the train.
Once the door closed, he opened and passed a pack of skittles to Latias. She took the packet with her left hand and removed a single yellow sweet with her right, taking a bit more care than normal. The packet didn't look familiar, and it could work a different way. Or just fall over for no reason, like if she ever tried handling human-made things in her dragon paws.
She looked at Mac for confirmation that she was meant to eat this bit, it was yellow, after all, not the most friendly of colors. On the other hand, it smelled really sweet. Mac chuckled and nodded. She put the sweet in her mouth and started chewing. It tasted artificial, but very sweet and flavorsome. Like a nicer version of a pokeblock. It tasted good though, so she smiled to let Mac know.
Mac smiled back and began talking, taking care to speak quietly so the engine noise would mask his voice to any listening devices. "Like them? Good, I thourght you might. Now listen, I'm going to tell you the revised plan."
Latias nodded and listened in closely.
"To get through the airport, my passport needs to work, which it won't because the police will have blocked it".
Latias stopped chewing on her sweet and looked shocked, so Mac quickly continued.
"BUT! don't worry! Here's what's going to happen: Before we get off this train, I'm going to program this box" - he lifted up a small plastic tub with some electrical connections at the side for Latias to see - "to send a message to 70,000 computers worldwide. They will, in turn, starts sending messages to the computer that deals with authenticating passports. That'll overload it long enough for the airport having to resort to their local copy of the passport database that was last updated" - he checked his watch, oblivious to the look of total confusion on Latias' face - " fourteen hours ago... Before they were looking for me and will have blocked my passport. So on their copy, I'll be okay to travel. I'm going to leave this box on the train and activate it with my phone just before we get to the check-in desk. That way, they'll read my passport as OK, and I'll get through fine!"
Latias continued chewing the sweets. She hadn't really been listening to his plan, but if it was as confusing to everyone else as it was to her, they didn't have a hope in catching them. She hadn't eliminated the look of puzzlement on her face, though, and Mac explained further.
"You will arrive at the airport in human form, but before security, go into a toilet and turn into your invisible form. The security hall should be tall enough for you to fly over all the scanners while I pass through them. On the other side, you go into another toilet and change back. I clear security, find you and we board the plane. Then it's only 6 hours to Hong Kong. From there, we're safe, and you can take as long as you like flying us home"
Latias perked up at the word home, feeling a blast of happines. She also felt a bit less tired. Perhaps the sweets were working. Perhaps the raised hopes about getting back to Latios were just making her feel more energetic. Either way, she couldn't wait.
Mac saw her face light up at the mention of home. So she was at least listening to that bit.
The train continued to thunder down the track, pushing it's way through the British countryside at a cool 130 miles an hour.
Mac had set up his laptop and linked a cable through to the plastic box, and was franticly tapping out lines of code, much to Latias' confusion. The Latptop looked like Bianca's, just a lot more... futuristic... And the words he was typing didn't make any sense...
She decided that her brainpower was better used understanding the bag of sweets.
Latias had just finished the bag when the ticket conductor entered, announcing his entry with the standard "Tickets Please", delivered in a bored voice that only someone who's said the phrase five thousand other times could master.
Mac once again delved into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, then presented the two tickets to the conductor. He looked at them breifly enough, and sure enough, it was valid. First class and all. Two of them. So the other one was for the girl.
He faced away from the table with a "Thank you sir", then carried on through the carriage, through the door which slid shut shortly afterwards. Mac hadn't said a word the entire time. But it didn't look like the ticket man had recognised them. He just looked bored.
Latias wanted the other bag of sweets, but didn't want to psychic Mac, he was pretty focused on his laptop. She had tried Bianca's vocal chords before, and only ever managed to produce an uncontrolled high piched wining noise. Useless for communication. But it might do to get his attention without making him loose track of his thoughts like a psychic communication would.
Mac heard a whinging sort of noise and realized it was Latias. He looked up from his code and at Latias instead. "Yes?"
"Hungry. Food?". The words appeared in his head without hesitation, and he responded by grabbing another bright red packet from his pocket, holding it up for Latias to inspect. "This?"
A nod of the head told him 'yes', so he opened it and passed it over to Latias, who eagerly took it and started daintily eating the sweets one by one again.
Mac thourght she might be thirsty too, and asked her. "Drink?". Another nod and Mac reached for the can of Red Bull, snapping the tab open with a 'PISHHHHPT!' sound that startled Latias and nearly made her drop the sweets. Mac noticed her alarm and presumed it was an animal instinct of some sort. Hissing noise prempts an attack, or something.
He passed the can over to a very wary Latias.
The hissing noise sounded really like a threat, more than the train, and she wasn't pleased with having to hold the can. Who knew what could be inside? With a hiss like that, it could be anything. Then again, Mac wouldn't give her something that he knew would harm her, surely?
She took the can with her spare hand and inspected it. It was predominantly silver, and on the 'front' was a picture of a taurous, shaded in red. Text was above and below it. Inside was some sort of liquid, which smelled quite nutritious. She could see it through a hole in the top, which she imagined you were supposed to drink it from. A straw would be good.
But she didn't have one, and Mac was sat looking at her, waiting, so she tried taking a gulp from the can, by lifting it to her mouth and tilting with her mouth up against it.
The majority went in, bar a small spill which she could easily deal with after considering the taste. It was strong and very sweet, but what Latias craved more right now was carbohydrates - not that she knew that was the name for them. Whatever they were called though, the liquid in this can had it in abundance.
She continued to gulp the drink down as Mac watched. He wasn't really sure if it was 100% safe for her to drink, but she seemed to be enjoying it.
He went back to his laptop, hammering away at the keys.
In a completely different section of the train, the trolley lady had just parked the trolley and took a 5 minute break. She wasn't entitled to one, but what we're they going to do? Lower her minimum wage?
She'd been going since 7 that morning and hadn't even gotten to see the news that morning because she'd overslept. She slipped her phone out of her pocket and breifly cycled through the headlines.
The top news story caught her eye though. More specifically, the picture next to the headline. It looked exactly like the boy in first class...
"Well I never", she muttered, as she grabbed the train phone from inside a panel in the carriage, and dialed 999.
Back in first class, Mac was leaning back, waiting for his computer to finish uploading the program to the box. There was no testing the program, though. If he'd got so much as a hyphen in the wrong place, it wouldn't work and the airport would most likely get him caught. To take his mind of the prospect of failure, he looked at Latias.
Latias was still sipping the drink, but interestingly any liquid that landed on her blouse would just quickly evaporate. Mac put it down to psychic as the computer made a 'pling' noise, task complete. Excellent. He unplugged the box and flipped a switch on the side, checking a series of lights on the side, before flicking the box back off.
Two miles out of London, the train started to slow down, ready to pull into the platform. Mac sensed this and packed up the laptop and cables, shoving the remaining drinks can and bag of sweets in a hoodie pocket, getting ready to leave the train as soon as it arrived. Latias gave him a puzzled look.
She'd finished the drink and second bag of sweets, feeling a lot better. She didn't know what they were, but they definitely made her less tired. If anything, she felt really energetic. She was going to get home! And see Latios! Mac had a plan!
Mac stood up, gesturing for Latias to as well. She did, but needed a little push until she realized she was meant to get into the isle. "Come on!"
The pair walked to the exit door in the carriage annex just as the train pulled into the station. Mac looked out of the window set in the train door and his mood changed from confident to worried. By the looks of it, they'd pulled into a platform that was still under construction:
Cables ran across the floor, scaffolding reached up past his field of view and the digital displays that normally indicated what the next train would be were half-installed, faceplates hanging off and lights lit in no discernable words or pattern. He knew that the station was old and constantly being maintained, but it shouldn't have been in this state, and anyway, there was no one waiting on the platform ready to board the train when the existing passengers had left, like their normally would be. Something was seriously up.
And why would they have pulled into an platform that clearly wasn't even built properly yet?
With an uneasy jolt that made Mac nervous, the train jarred to a stop. Something just didn't feel right... And why wasn't the 'door open' button lighting up? Why weren't they being let off the train?
5 seconds passed.
10 Seconds...
The light wasn't lit, but Mac was pressing the button anyway, just in case the bulbs were broken. They weren't. The door remained closed and locked.
30 seconds...
Mac didn't see anyone on the platform, but because of the narrow window quite a lot of it was out of view. Either way, someone extra must have got on the train, because an announcement from none of the on board staff came over the tannoy.
"This is the police" - Mac nearly fainted there and then - "The train is surrounded. Would the gentleman in first class exit the carraiage via the rear door with his hands on his head. Leave any items where you are sat. All other passengers remain seated. I repeat. You know who you are. Exit the train NOW, with your hands on your head. Final Warning. You Are Surrounded."
Mac took another look out of the window, nearly shitting himself. This was serious. Although he had to admit, they didn't look surrounded. The platfor-
Before he could finish that thourght, his doubts were shattered and worst fears confirmed in one gut-wrenching, heart splitting truth.
From behind the pillars that were holding up the train station's grand roof, armed police swarmed and fanned out, immidiatly dropping down to the firing position the moment they were in place, supporting their gun with one hand and aiming with the other, all in sync. Like the world's most morbid ballet.
An orchestra of clicking noises rang out from the police lines, as one by one, every wepon's safety was flicked into the 'OFF' position. One click, and it became a life or death situation.
In fact, the force consisted of every single firearms officer London had. 75 men, 40 with assault rifles and 20 with various automatic weapons, both of which also had a taser concealed in a variaty of hiding places. The remaining 15 were normal bobbies who just so happened to carry PK9 pistols.
In seconds, every single one of those primary weapons was pointing directly at the train.
The shock hit Mac like a punch in the stomach, and Latias looked fit to cry again. Mac had seconds to think of a plan. Seconds. Not minutes. Think of a plan now! Leave by the opposite door? No a glance confirmed that there were police on the opposite platform as well. But latias hadn't been told to leave the train by that announcment. So the police were still in the dark about her human form. They were just here to detain him. And hand him to the military. And most likely a firing squad. He needed a plan. NOW! What tools did he have for his disposal?
A T bar key that could operate any function of the train. Smoke grenades. His little plastic box. Some wire. Pen knife. Latias...
Latias... Innocent looking, crying child. Also used as a meat shield? No. Too high a risk... But...
"LATIAS!" Mac said, as urgently as possible, shaking her by the shoulders, making her look up. Mac tried not to notice the look of defeat in her eyes.
"Listen, We can still escape. All I need you to do is run down there" - he pointed to the door to standard class - "And look like you're crying. Running, if possible. Could you?"
"I don't want to leave you." The sobbing voice materialized in his head. Mac was growing angry, but tried to hide it.
"I'll be running right after you, don't worry. I won't abandon you. But if we want to avoid gettting killed, you need to do this NOW. Run down the length of the train and wait for me at the end of it."
"o... okay."
Without a word passing her lips, she set off towards the front of the train, pausing only briefly to figure out how the door opened. It opened when she went near it and she dashed through.
Mac did the next task as quickly as possible.
He pulled out a smoke grenade from his bag and pulled the pin, before rolling it on the floor into a corner near an air con intake. 8 Seconds before it went off.
Next, he opened another air conditioning grill to his left with the t bar key he stole from the station office a few years ago, and slid in the plastic box he'd spent the last hour programming. He checked for the green lights, before slamming the grill shut and locking it again. You couldn't see inside the shaft and it was opened with a legitimate key, so it looked untampered with
Mac zipped up and swung his bag over his shoulder, and had a second to prepare himself before the grenade went off, filling the carriage annexe with thick smoke in under a second.
He let it build to almost unbearable levels, then took a step into standard class, allowing smoke to spill out of the door before he stepped through it himself. He needed to make this look genuine...
Up until that moment, the people in the standard class carriage had been staring opened mouthed at the police outside. That changed when a boy ambled in, doubled over with smoke pouring in from behind. After coughing twice, he spoke up, everyone listening in.
"Never mind the guy in first class. First class is on fire!" Mac coughed out to the people in the carriage. As predicted, it took a few seconds to sink in, but then they all realized. Smoke? First class on fire? Wait, Wait... THE TRAIN IS ON FIRE?
50 minds all reached the same conclusion at once: Get off the train now, or you might catch fire.
50 People exiting a narrow tube through one walkway is bound to cause chaos, which is exactly what Mac planned. Chaos was the best form of disguise, and so long as he acted chaotic along with them, slipping away unnoticed - with Latias in tow - should be easy. Theoretically.
In the real world, people had got fed up with waiting to go through the door, and instead started smashing the train windows with the emergency hammers, and jumping out of them instead. Not only was that even more chaotic, it also cleared the gangway for Mac to begin 'evacuating' the next carriage. After fighting his way to it through the escaping crowd, he was plesently suprised when word of the made up fire had been grossly exaggerated, so the next carriage was trying to escape the 'raging inferno', according to one woman. As Mac went down the train from carriage to carriage, he encountered fewer and fewer people, the rumor of a fire reaching people before he could.
At the front end of the train, a very confused Latias stood and watched as Mac calmly walked through a broken automatic door that had had its glass front smashed by fleeing people. This didn't stop it from sliding out of his way when he reached it.
Mac gave Latias a breifing. "Right. Everyone is on the platform, running for the exits. We mingle with that crowd, we escape past the police with them, then it's next stop airport. Okay?". Latias nodded, looking determined for once. Mac grabbed her immitation shoulders again, and leaned in close. He wanted her to understand this next bit 100%.
"Listen. If they catch me, run away. Fly away if you need to. Just get out. You're needed back where you belong, I'm disposable. If you ever think of coming to rescue me, just remember who your family is. Your loyalty is with them, not me. Now let's go!"
Mac dashed out of the train door that had been opened via the emergancy handle by paniced passengers. Latias followed, looking as hectic as possible for the sake of blending in, but as she ran, she mulled over Macs words... Her loyalty was with family? Yes. But Mac had saved her? Mac was family, for all intents and purposes. If she had learnt one thing from his miniscule speach on the train, it was that she was going to disregard everything he said if it involved being selfless.
The police were confused. The plan was for the mark to step out of the train, or failing that, officers to apprehend him on it should he resist. But instead of one mark with his hands on his head, the 75 policemen were now faced with a 200 civilian riot, heading right at them, intent on escaping through the platform emergency exits, that they'd tactfully tried to block off to stop the mark escaping, should he try to do a runner. Thew weren't equiped for this, not even a single riot shield.
The general watched the mayhem from inside a mobile ops unit parked just outside the station. It was relaying live video from the station, train and officer helmit cameras. The cameras in the train had recorded right up until the point where the mark had let off a smoke grenade. After that, all the ones inside were smoked over and unusable, the smoke quickly spreading through the air conditioning system which, due to a design flaw, ejected the air directly in front of the security cameras. If the general was less professional, he would have slapped his forehead. But he was a professional, and so set out immediately doing the professional thing, which involved a lot of shouting, a lot of swearing, and a fair amount of cursing the guy who designed the train.
Eventually, he calmed down enough to issue a command to his officers, slamming down a 'TRANSMIT' button and barking into a microphone.
"Attention. The smoke source is not a fire, it is a smoke grenade. I repeat, the train is NOT ON FIRE. Hold the crowd if possible, but if not filter them through the exits and disable anyone who looks remotely suspicious. Mark is as briefing, white male, blond hair, average height, and wearing a blue hoodie. He also has a female companion who is wearing a blouse and miniskirt. Disable and detain both at high priority. Standard rules of engagement still apply, don't let this spill out of the station otherwise we'll be in the shit with the media. Again. Over."
His reply was 75 "affirmatives".
On the platform, Mac and Latias had both made their way undetected into the centre of the escaping crowd, who had broken police lines and got to the exits with minimum difficulty. Yes, the police had guns, but they weren't allowed to fire them unless someone posed an immediate threat. And the majority of the panicing passengers were too busy running from a made up fire to even remember they had guns in the first place.
Mac and Latias made it to within 5 meters of the exit and freedom, when a huge SNAP! followed by a crackling noise made every single person's head turn right, towards a policeman who had just fired a taser in Mac's general direction. It had missed though, and the wires trailed uselessly around the legs of the crowd. The crowd all halted and ducked slightly, like he world's most tense flash mob.
A second of silence passed, the humans considering what the threat was and Latias considering how to respond to it.
"TARGET IDENTIFIED!" an officer behind the one who just fired the taser cried out, breaking the silence, and pointing his wepon at Mac, also making the crowd all react in the same way: By screaming and running even harder towards the exit.
Mac hit the deck as the other officer fired his taser, the shot missing him by centimeters and hitting a woman behind, who went down, spasoming wildly as the zapping noise of the electric current entering her filled the air, panicing the crowd further. If that was even possible.
Mac realized it might possibly be game over, after all, every single policeman could see him now he'd been pointed out. But he didn't stop trying.
Springing to his feet, he felt awfully guilty about shoving his fellow travellers to the side to use as a meat shield. He'd already pushed at least 5 people into the path of the tasers pointing in his direction. But it was either that or get hit by them, stopping Latias from getting home.
Said disguised dragon was trying desperately to keep up with Mac. Because of all the shoving Mac was doing, keeping up wasnt difficult. But the noise the tasers made was horrifying, and for some reason they made her disorientated, her internal compass failing whenever one fired. She kept pace with Mac though, and was relived when he managed to break through the crowd, out of the door and into the safety of the street beyond, safe.
The same could not be said for Latias. A foot short of the door's threashold, a flurecent bib wearing policeman tackled her to the ground, screaming to his fellow officers even as him and his charge fell.
"SECONDARY TARGET DOWN! COMPANION APPREHENDED!"
Mac heard the man screaming, stopped running and turned around in enough time to see Latias' fake human eyes looking up at him from the ground, as she herself was pressed down by 3 police men. A fourth slapped on her hand cuffs, while a 5th relayed the information to some unknown person. The remaining officers had either switched to their primary deadly wepons and had them all pointed at Latias head, or were finding another way out not blocked by people to get to Mac. It would take them a while through all the people.
Even though she was mute, Mac could see what those eyes were saying. Latias was thinking the same thing, trapped on the ground, ready to be taken away, surrounded and utterly hopeless. They'd fill her with bullets the second she tried transforming.
"I'm sorry, Mac."