Chapter Eight: Central City

The roads had been cleared of traffic. They'd seen no one since they left the resistance camp nearly an hour ago. This did not bode well. DG was the only one to ask why.

"Means the Longcoats probably took control of the main road to Central City," Cain replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "If that's true, we're probably gonna hit a blockade. When we do, I want you and Az hiding in the back. We can take care of it."

DG pulled a face, but Cain's eyes whipped around to stare seriously into hers. They hit a bump, and Cain was quick to look back to the front as he swerved only slightly.

"I mean it, DG," he said plainly.

She pouted and crossed her arms in a clear expression of displeasure. Hark made a short chuckle as he cleaned the gun in his lap. "She's a little firebrand, ain't she?" he asked, flicking his eyes up to the two in the cab.

"Only when she doesn't get her way," Cain offered back, trying to hide the smile that came involuntarily to his lips.

"I'm not a little girl," DG grumbled at the both of them. "I know you're talking about me."

"Look, Princess," Cain said as he slowed their speed slightly, "what do you think your mother would say if I showed up to rescue her from Zero and had to tell her that I didn't do everything in my power to protect you? Or Az?" He sighed a breath and glanced over at her. "I know you're not a kid. That doesn't mean I don't get worried when you run head-first into things without thinking."

He left it at that, and neither had anything further to say on the subject. Hark quirked a single eyebrow up at them and continued to clean his gun.

Just as Cain predicted, the blockade arrived before them within fifteen minutes. The guards standing one hundred yards from the blockade waved their arms for them to slow down. Seeing a truck of their own design, they were slightly less wary than normal, Cain supposed as he observed their placid faces. They couldn't see in through the tinted glass of the cab, but Cain pulled the brim of his hat down anyway. He motioned with his thumb for DG to take her place in the back with her sister. Jeb exchanged places with her, and father and son sat together.

"Glitch," Cain called quietly and he slowed his speed and pulled closer to the actual barricade of felled trees. "You take Hark out the back with you, or else they might try to scissor us. Close the princesses in behind you."

"Got it," Glitch said, standing near the loading door and cracking his knuckles. Hark flashed the royal advisor a strange look but didn't argue. If the Tin Man and Jeb placed faith in the strange man, who was he to argue?

"How many are there?" Hark asked, checking to be sure that his gun was loaded.

"Seven that I can see," Cain responded, slowly applying the brake. "Three behind, four in front. Jeb and I got them."

"Good luck, sir," Hark said to Jeb, quickly snapping his gun closed. Jeb nodded, unsheathing the sword that he had stolen from Zero ages ago.

"I still think—" DG began, holding tightly Az in the center of one of the bench seats, but Cain held up a hand quickly.

"It's all right, DG," he assured her. "We'll be back in no time."

The truck bumped to a halt several yards from the blockade, and the Longcoats began to move in around them. Cain caught Jeb's eye, and the younger nodded again. There was a faint smile on his lips.

"Go!" Cain urged suddenly.

At once, both doors of the cab flew open, as well as the one in the back. Such was the surprise that Jeb smacked one of the Longcoats in the face with his door. A spray of blood from the man's broken nose splattered on Jeb's window, and he leapt out toward the second man suddenly charging at him.

Cain jumped out and took a quick shot at the first man he saw. It hit him squarely in the chest and knocked him flat onto his back. The other man was too close too shoot as he charged in, and Cain took a wide swing at his jaw. They met with a sick crunch.

Glitch was out the back door feet first, clocking the first man he met with both, right under the jaw. There was a howl of pain and he hit the ground. Glitch stood over him and cracked his right foot into the side of the man's face for good measure. Hark took a quick shot at the remaining two approaching Longcoats as he shut the door hard behind him. One bullet hit the man's shoulder, and he reeled back at the velocity of the shot, but did not fall.

Az covered her ears and curled her chest up against her knees. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she uttered an involuntary whimper. DG's head was up and alert, like a protective guard dog, ready at the slightest hint of danger. One hand cradled her older sister close to her, and the other smoothed Az's hair carefully, calmly.

Jeb's stolen sword met steel as the Longcoat blocked the swing with his long-barrelled gun. They both swiped their weapons back, glaring menacingly in the cold, long stare of battle. It pumped all the way into Jeb's fingers. He took another swing, swift and well-handled for an untrained boy. The gun flashed out again, used as a shield rather than a weapon. The Longcoat sneered a cold grin at Jeb and knocked the handguard of the sword with the butt of his long gun, and the hard metal bit into Jeb's hand. He only growled and response and doubled the strength of his return swing.

The man kicked up at Cain from the ground, the foot catching him behind the knee and pulling him to the ground with him. The ground was cold and hard, and Cain barely managed to catch himself on his hands. The Longcoat quickly had his arm around Cain's neck from behind, pressing hard at his throat to cut off air. Cain tried gasping only once and threw his elbow backward against the man's ribs. No use. He did so three more times, his mouth opening and closing with nothing to fill his lungs.

The final Longcoat reached Hark with a burst of speed and lashed out with a fist. Hark was quick to block, but couldn't estimate the second blow to his abdomen from the hand holding a black pistol. Hark doubled with a grunt and felt the cold barrel of the gun pressing into his fleshy middle. He might have popped off a shot if Glitch hadn't been quick to jab a straight hand into the man's throat. The Longcoat gagged violently, stumbling back with a hand at his neck. Glitch arched his leg up and cracked a windmill kick across the side of the man's head. He fell in an instant.

DG couldn't stand it any longer. She was up off of the bench seat and made her way up to the truck cab to stare out the front window at the proceedings, biting her lower lip in worry. The sight she saw made her heart stop for only an instant.

She saw it at the same time Hark and Glitch did as they rounded to the front of the truck. Four more Longcoats had appeared from the surrounding woods, all with pistols out and aiming at the Cains. Three bullets whizzed by harmlessly, and one cracked into the windshield of the truck. DG gasped and fell backward into the driver's seat as the glass spiderwebbed around the bullet embedded in the—thankfully—bullet-proof glass. She shuddered to think of what might have happened if the Longcoats had been cheap in their construction.

Hark cracked off two shots, taking down one of the four. Glitch planted his foot in the face of Cain's assailant, who rolled off him holding his nose. Cain was up on his feet in an instant, breathing deeply with one hand massaging his throat. The other hand held his gun straight at one of the new Longcoats that had arrived on the other side of the barricade.

Jeb was through with playing nice. His foot lashed out and caught the gun of the Longcoat. It jerked just enough to be out of the way, and the boy stabbed straight out at the man's now unguarded stomach. It made a sick, squelching sound. Jeb twisted it twice and pulled it out with a flourish. For good measure, he spat down on the man.

"Jeb, look out!" Hark cried, pulling the young man back by the shoulder. The bullet meant for him thudded into the side of the truck, right through the air Jeb had occupied only a moment ago.

The three remaining Longcoats vaulted over the barricade all at once, and the men barely had time to react. Just as they drew their guns together, all pointed at separate targets, the engine to the truck growled like some caged animal, and it leapt forward. The front of the truck collided with the barrier in with a loud crunch of metal and bones. Two were killed instantly. One coughed thick blood onto the hood of the truck and tried to aim his shaking gun through the already splintered glass of the windshield.

Cain's precise shot to the man's forehead made sure that he never got off that final shot.

The protectors took a combined breath. Cain shoved his gun into its holster once he was convinced that no one else was going to pop out of the trees. Jeb let his sword sink into the ground and clapped Hark on the shoulder in thanks. The engine grumbled to a stop.

DG hopped out of the driver's side of the truck, her breath short. "Is everyone all right?" she asked, looking around at her friends. Glitch smiled warmly, completely unscathed.

"Never better, doll," he assured her, making sure that his hair hadn't come down from its nicely-coiffed state.

Cain wasn't brimming with the same enthusiasm. He watched DG in a way that was angry and worried at the same time, something he seemed to have perfected. He opened his mouth to scold her, and he quickly shut into a thin, white line. She blinked in his direction, nonplussed.

"I stayed in the truck, didn't I?" She asked, knowing exactly the thoughts running behind his eyes.

His eyes flicked over hers, and without a word, he turned away. "Glitch, tell them to help get these trees out of the way. DG," he said, pausing in his stride, but not turning to look at her.

"Yes, Wyatt?" she asked.

"Back up the truck," he told her succinctly.

"DG, that was excellent," Jeb said as he and Hark joined them at Glitch's suggestion. He took the girl's hand in both of his to make his point.

"You weren't so bad yourself, cowboy," she said lightly with a smile. She looked up at the open driver's side door of the truck, where Az was seen poking her head out to observe everyone's condition. Jeb patted DG's hand and moved off to help his father, and Hark stopped to lay a hand on DG's shoulder as he passed by. She smiled after them and stepped toward the truck and her sister.

"That was quick thinking, Deege," Az said, sitting now in the driver's seat and looking pale.

"Hey," DG said quickly, laying a hand on her sister's knee. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," she said, waving off her sister's concern. She smiled for her sister, plain and simple. "I haven't seen you in action for quite some time."

"I do what I can," DG said with a shrug.

They both turned to watch as the men grabbed the timber hooks used by the Longcoats and hauled the long logs far enough to let the truck pass through without injury. The dead Longcoats that had been pinned simply crumpled to the ground before the truck. Jeb observed the damage to the front of the vehicle and wiped away some of the blood with the arm of his long-sleeved red tunic.

"Looks like the engine's fine," he said, feeling the dent with his fingers. "She should run all right, but she's got a hole in her smile."

"She doesn't have to look pretty to get us to Central City," Cain said as he arrived beside his son, rolling one shoulder to crack it.

"How many more blockades could there be?" Hark asked, tipping the brim of his hat back to observe the others.

"Considering the amount of guards posted here," Ambrose cut in, observing a tear that had appeared in his dress uniform with narrowed eyes, "I'd say this is the main barrier. Perhaps one more near the city." He sighed and picked at the seam that was widening at his elbow and up his arm. "I do tend to get myself in trouble, don't I?" He asked, a glint in his eye that spoke of adventure.

Fortunately for them, Ambrose had been wrong. On the main road, that had been the only blockade. The forest crowded in around them as the city neared and the numbers on the signs pointing toward town decreased. At a secluded point, Cain swerved off of the road and bumped into the brush. He pulled behind a thicket of trees and shut off the engine with a press of the red button. The engine whirred down with a purr and clicked off.

"Well," Cain prefaced, leaning heavily forward on the steering wheel, "there it is."

DG took her gaze up through the foliage to the glistening towers of Central City that hovered above everything. The clouds were low and mingled with the tallest of the towers. There would be rain, she could feel it. There was a smoky look about the city, but it also held an otherworldly glow that was anything but warm. It was just as uninviting now as it had been when she first arrived there. She scowled at the city, as if that might help in any way.

"My offer still stands, you know," Cain said, looking over to the girl beside him. "I go in, find Zero, and try to negotiate."

"Don't even think about it," DG scolded. "We both know he wants you dead. And with no one to back you up, he'd do it."

Identical looks of inspiration seized across their faces, and Cain's mouth dropped open slightly. DG began to smile in an 'are you thinking what I'm thinking' way. Surprisingly, Cain's mouth morphed into a smile all on its own, and his hand grasped her upper arm tightly.

"Princess, you're a genius."

"Hey, that's my job," Ambrose protested from the back.

"First off," DG said, ignoring the advisor to look out of the cracked windshield, "how are we gonna get in? And better yet, how do we find Zero once we're in there?"

"I was a Tin Man stationed in Central City for a little over thirteen years," he told her with a knowing sideways smirk. "If there's a back way I don't know about, I was in a tin suit when they built it." He lowered his gaze at the towers that lay on the other side of the forest. "It can't have changed much in eight years. I'll find a way, Princess."

Her mind boggled with the math of trying to suddenly figure out how old Wyatt Cain really was. She shook her head to be rid of the thought of age difference. "You don't have to call me that."

His eyes on her were quiet, observant, something cool and questioning as opposed to the way he had watched her after she'd rammed the Longcoats with the truck. "DG," he corrected himself.

Glitch poked his head into the cab from the back. "Did we come up with a plan while I wasn't paying attention? I think it's important that we know the plan."

Cain rolled his eyes to stare back at Glitch. "All right, keep your zipper up."

They all gathered in the back of the truck, one big circle with heads ducked in, to plot and plan their invasion. Weapons were checked, and what little of the supplies they could fit into their pockets were packed away. Cain took the hatchet stored in the back of the truck to chop down a few of the younger trees to cover their transport. They would need it hidden and safe if they were to make a quick escape on it.

As they sat on the edge of the forest, watching and waiting, Cain turned his head to the girl beside him.

"I didn't say thank you," he mumbled, looking away to his feet when she looked up.

"No, you didn't," she answered. She was surprised to hear him chuckle. Typical DG response.

"Listen," he said, watching as Hark counted his bullets and Glitch ran his hand comfortingly over Azkadellia's. "I want you next to me," he told her quickly.

Before DG could blush, she forced it back down with a determined inward glare.

"When we go in, there's no telling where the Longcoats are gonna be, and who's on their side. Jeb and Glitch have Az, and I trust them to take care of her. I don't trust anyone else with you."

She bit at her lower lip in the effort it took not to spring up into his arms, or something similarly embarrassing. "Not even me?" she asked instead.

"Especially not you," he added with a shake of his head. "I know you too well."

That did it. Her ears were definitely red and burning. She was weak and she knew it. "You're stuck with me then," she muttered. "I'm your problem now, Wyatt Cain."

"Hey," Hark said brightly from a sparse few feet in front of them, "don't we got some royalty to rescue?"

Cain glared at the back of the man's head, as if he could set him on fire just by thinking it. DG tried not to laugh and straightened her face into a mask of seriousness.

"We're ready whenever you are," Jeb backed up his man, making a point to look down at his stolen Longcoat gun rather than his father.

"Just stick to the plan," Cain urged, taking DG by the wrist and urging her to follow him. "And if anything happens to Az, stick with her. Pull back to the safe-point here if you can, or hide out until we can get in contact. Understood?"

"Stick to the princess," Hark recited, standing straight again. "Priority number one."

"Damn straight," Cain grumbled back. His fingers tightened protectively on DG's wrist.

Of all the back ways into the city Cain was familiar with, there were two he had picked for least likely to have twenty guards posted. At the first, he saw that the entrance had been bricked up long ago, and his muffled curses were kept low. They inched along to the next, and he was glad to find it minimally protected. This, of course, didn't mean that they were off the hook. He knew that closed-circuit cameras were stationed at the main gate, as well as at least one other entrance. He swept his eyes around and found nothing, and nodded to Glitch. The advisor smiled. His step was proud and thorough as he emerged from his hiding place.

Two guards were immediately on their feet as he approached, hands on their guns. Glitch held up his hands in surrender, his face pulled back in fear. Cain chuckled silently—either Ambrose was a terrific actor, or he was genuinely terrified. The one thing he knew was that Glitch wasn't afraid, and that was what mattered.

It was over in a flash. Glitch had pounded fists and legs through the air as if he was gliding. He dusted off his hands as he stood over their prone bodies, smirking at a job well-done. Hark shook his head in amazement.

"That's one hell of an interesting fellow," he muttered. Jeb managed a laugh.

"You should see him dance," the young man responded as he moved to join the advisor. He swooped down to pick up the set of keys and ID card on one of the guard's hip. "These should come in handy."

"There isn't one marked 'Zero's Lair' is there?" Az asked as she pulled the scarf around the top of her head and over her mouth to cover her identity.

"Ah ha!" Glitch proclaimed. "You see that? She is funny! Remember when I... And she..." Glitch shook his head with a pleased sigh, resting one hand on his hip. "Oh, I needed that."

Jeb swiped the ID card in the reader near the gate, and after a green light flashed, the lock clicked open. He gestured Glitch and Az in, followed by Hark, who still seemed amazed at Glitch's performance. DG was quick to pull a scarf on over her mouth and hair as her sister had done, smiling only once at the man beside her.

Cain and DG were locked together by their hands as they stepped past Jeb and into the city. Jeb's eyes followed them, blank and unreadable. He stooped down to relieve the other guard of his keys, as well as to smash their communicators, and closed the gate behind him. He locked it with the stolen keys, tossing the extra pair to his father, should they get separated.

The dark, steamy underbelly of back-alley Central City unfolded before them, and Cain could almost feel it welcoming him back.


AN: Hey again, folks! How goes? The usual for me. Boy, am I having fun with this fic! If the quality is going down, you srsly let me know and I'll do something about it. That fight scene was way fun for me. Esp. Glitch kicking some ass! I'm having much fun with Glitch, but if like Az or Jeb is OOC, you'd tell me, right? Can you tell I'm paranoid? XD Well, Central City is coming next, and since we really only got to see the entertainment and red-light districts, I'm looking forward to really getting into the heart of the city. What is their plan?! Where is Zero?! However will our heroes win?! Well, that's it for my AN on this chapter, besides to tell you all how much I appreciate your input and well-wishes. They're not going astray! I keep them all here in my heart! And, as always, I expect you all to STAY AWESOME!