"What kind of problem?" Renae crackled back over the radio. Chapman kept staring out the window.
"Phoenix is here."
Deren looked up, eyes widening in disbelief. As silence fell over the radio, the other monster in the room spoke up.
"I thought we took care of them." Chapman grunted in response. "We scared them off. But if you recall, Maddick, we let them get away."
Renae's voice came over again. "That changes things...what's the plan?"
"Well, the way I see it we realistically only have one option. Now that they've made contact, they're likely going to get their help in repairing the Comet, meaning that closes our window drastically. I propose we go after them. All of them."
"What about the kid?" Deren called back, loud enough for Renae to hear. "And the prince as a matter of a fact? Renae you know firsthand that they're also not to be trifled with. You really think they're just going to let us take them?"
"We can cross that bridge when we get to it." Chapman snapped. "For now, we'd really have to check our fire. If we're going to move, we have to go now. So if anybody has objections…" Despite a glance from Deren to Maddick, there was silence.
"Good. Blackhawak, maintain surveillance, wait for further orders. Panther out." He shut the radio off, grabbing his plasma rifle. He pulled the bandanna up over his nose, nodding to the others.
"Let's move."
Frisk leaned against the wall, eyes trained on the floor. Cole pulled down the blinds beside him, looking out to the road. Frederick and Amelie were in the process of grabbing their go-bags. Asriel and Sans meanwhile were keeping an eye on the rear windows, watching the alleyway behind the home. Cole glanced over to Frisk.
"You good?"
Frisk glanced up. "Just found out my parents are in fact not dead, and sent me off to protect me from the same killers that are trying to get us now, sixteen years later? Doing about as well as you can expect." He muttered sarcastically, much to Cole's amusement.
"Yeah, from the sound of it you've had a hell of a life. And here I thought mine was crazy." Frisk looked off to the side. Cole suddenly frowned, looking up at the hotel across the street. He spotted a pair of eyes staring back, before the blinds quickly shut. Immediately an uneasy feeling rose within him.
"We need to leave. Now." He reached behind, pulling a pistol out from his waistband. He called into the house.
"Hey! Time's up, we're leaving!" Frederick quickly came downstairs where Amelie was already waiting. Cole raised a hand as they started for the front door.
"Not that way. Out the back." He jerked his head. Frisk followed his gaze through the blinds, just in time to see three gunmen walk from the hotel, dressed in black, plasma rifles in hand. Cole jerked the blinds up, firing out through the window. The gunshots sent the gunmen scrambling.
"Go!" He shouted to Frisk, shoving him to the backdoor. Already the others were ducking out into the alleyway as Frisk sprinted through the kitchen. He darted into the alleyway after them, Cole exiting last, slamming the door shut behind them. Cole took the lead, shooting at the lock on the apartment building just in front of them. He threw his weight against the door, shoving it open.
"Come on!" Frisk waited while Frederick and Amelie rushed in, Sans ducking in after. Before Frisk could follow though, he froze as he saw the back door of the house kicked open. One of the masked gunmen raised a gun, hesitating when he stared Frisk down. Asriel grabbed Frisks' arm, jerking him inside. Shaking himself from his momentary trance he was quick to follow the others. Frederick pushed ahead of Cole.
"Follow me. We've got a getaway car in the parking bay." The man reached into his go-bag, pulling out a pistol of his own. Just as they started down the staircase, they heard the door being kicked back open. Amelie quickly reached into her own bag.
"Here." She called to Frisk, tossing him another pistol. "I'm not the best with them, sounds like you know what you're doing." Frisk nodded at his mother, cocking the gun.
Frederick led the way through the door at the bottom. Frisk remained at the tail of the line, preparing to follow. He gasped as he slipped near the bottom, falling hard on his side. He let out a shout of pain, grabbing the attention of Asriel, who was already well into the garage. The prince started running back. Hearing footsteps on the stairwell above, Frisk frantically reached up, closing the door, cutting Asriel off. He banged on the window, shouting inward.
"What are you doing?!"
"Buying you some time...nnh...GO!" Frisk hollered back. He put his back against the door, aiming the gun up at the stairwell. He didn't look to see if Asriel had left. A black boot and a rifle barrel poked around the corner. Immediately Frisk squeezed the trigger. The bullets slammed into the wall behind the barrel, and the mercenary ducked back. There was a brief second of silence, before a voice called around the corner.
"This is silly kid, this isn't your fight. Don't get yourself involved."
Frisk adjusted his grip. "You involved me when you shot my friend." Three more gunshots rang out. Frisk tried to inch himself closer to the wall to get a look around the corner. Just barely spying a leg, he readjusted his grip. Four more shots. The leg ducked back, and a pained yelp rang out.
Frisk smirked, seeing a small bit of red on the wall. He tried to fire again, his heard immediately sinking as instead he was met with a click. Just a split second later, the wounded soldier poked against the corner, plasma rifle trained on him. With nothing left to do, Frisk slowly raised his arms.
The leader of the mercenaries stalked downstairs, grabbing Frisk by the shirt, pulling him aside before pushing him against the wall. The other two burst through the door. Frisk smirked as he heard an engine roar, and the squealing of tires peeling away. A few shots from the plasma rifles followed. But it was just seconds before the uninjured merc sulked back in.
"Dammit!" He shouted in frustration. The leader never broke his eyes away from Frisk's. Frisk tilted his head slightly, noting a distant familiarity in them. The man grabbed his radio, turning it on.
"Panther to Blackhawk."
"Receiving Panther." A female voice replied immediately. This one Frisk recognized immediately, matching it with the monster they had fought earlier.
"Change in plan. Move in now, secure the scientist. Do what you have to. Meet at Rallypoint Gamma, I'll explain there."
He shut the radio off without waiting for a response, grunting. "I told you not to do that."
Frisk scoffed, rolling his eyes as the man pinned his arms behind his back.
"What are you doing?!" Asriel yelled. Cole turned around, eyes widening as he saw the prince still at the door.
"Buying you some time...nnh...GO!" Cole grabbed Asriel's arm, pulling him from the door, towards the car.
"We have to move!"
Asriel turned on Cole. "I can't just leave him!"
"You don't have a choice! We'll come back for him!" Cole shouted back. Sans opened one of the back doors.
"what're you guys waiting for?! an invitation?!" Before Asriel could protest further, Cole shoved him into the backseat, climbing in with him.
"Drive!" Cole ordered Amelie. Sans glanced out the back window. "wait, where's frisk?"
"Holding them off, now DRIVE!" He barked. Amelie stamped on the accelerator. The car peeled out of the parking spot just as two mercenaries burst through the doorway. Plasma bolts struck the car, metal pangs ringing out as they quickly left the lot, skidding onto the main road. Cole turned forward.
"We need to get out of the city and off the road. Fast." Amelie nodded, taking a deep breath.
"I know a way."
Asriel balled one hand into a fist, punching the inside of the car door. "GOD DAMMIT!" He yelled, making Frederick jump.
"We shouldn't have just LEFT him there!"
"We didn't have a choice!" Cole shot back.
Asriel turned on him. "That's my brother back there, if he dies because of you...and what about you?!" He rounded on his parents. "Don't you care what happens to your son?!"
Sans grabbed Asriel, shoving him back against the seat, glaring into his eyes.
"enough!" He huffed. "as much as I hate to admit it, cole's right. we'll find a way to get to him. right now though, we need to get the hell out of here."
Asriel jerked against Sans's iron grip. The skeleton lowered his voice. "hey buddy, cool it. i need you right now, not the other guy. you need to stay in control. we'll get him back. i promise."
Asriel met Sans's gaze, and the skeleton saw the true fear behind his eyes. As the prince began to relax though, Sans lightened his grip, soon leaning back with a heavy sigh. Cole closed his eyes, folding his arms.
"We need a new car."