The madness continues. r&r!

Chapter Eight
"What was that about?" Brin asked softly from her cell.
Max was sitting up now, examining the area and trying to break the steel bars. She turned back to Brin, rubbing her sore knuckles. "I don't know, Brin," she replied carefully. "Those explosions don't sound like testing...they sound pretty real from here."
Zack perched up from his cot and leaned over to look at his siblings. "Well," he said, "if you want my opinion, it is real. Who it is? I don't know. But if there is a God out there, I think he just sent an angel to disrupt them and help us escape!"
"I didn't know you believed in God," Brin murmured.
Max said nothing as she studied the steel bars carefully. "As much as I'd like to escape," she said tersely, "I can't. I'm too weak. Or maybe the bars are too strong...either way, something is wrong and I don't even know what the hell it is!" She slammed her bolted fist on the floor in frustration.
Zack was now confused as he tried to twist the bars with all his might. But as much as he groaned and squirmed, nothing was happening except getting red hands. He shouted in absolute frustration as he said, "Dammit! The drugs! They must've injected something to suppress our abilities down squat!" He groaned. "So much for having angels if you got devils running around and knowing where to hit you!"
"So much for believing," Brin said sadly.
Max sighed, thinking, I wish that I never took that message seriously. I could be in my apartment right now talking to Original Cindy or maybe at Logan's place
Suddenly, the door bursted open and two people looked in. They were clad in black, one taller than the other. The tall one was in a leather jacket with matching gloves and dark, dark pants wearing glasses under the cover. The shorter one was wearing a trench to the floor with cut off sleeves and gray gloves with holes for the fingers and ran up to her mid-bicep. The person's head was covered by a hood, and not much was shown beneath and was dressed in the same persona as their companion.
Max went into stance. Were these two X10s? She was going to find out soon enough.
"Who are you?" Brin asked desperately.
Max and Zack glared silence at her, military training in effect.
Brin fell silent.
The short one nodded. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of this ruckas," the short one said, clearly a female by the voice, but strangely gruff. Was this person only a child or someone with a strangely childish voice? She would find out soon enough. The short one headed towards Zack's cell and took out something. "Hey, help me with the locks."
The second one grunted but followed, starting with Max's.
"Damn, these are hard," the young one groaned. "Y'think that they can loosen but locks for once in their miserable lives."
"Maybe if you don't complain as much, we'd be out," Zack said.
The short one glared at him, despite the fact that he couldn't see her face, her eyes. "Hey, watch it, you heap of hunk," she snapped harshly, thinly, "otherwise you can stay right where you are, at the mercy of those bastards outside that's gonna go after us in five minutes. So zip it."
Zack was stunned as she unhooked the lock.
"Okay, I got the other two," the other person finally said.
Max and Brin got out of their cells and quickly embraced before Max looked at the older person. That voice is so familiar---"Logan?" she asked uncertainly.
The person looked at her, straight at the eyes. Although the glare was sort of painful to look, she looked into the person's eyes. Yes, she recognized them, all too painfully clear. Yes, it was he! It was Logan! "We better move it," he stated gently.
Bullets hammered into the wall.
"Damn!" the short girl swore. "They must've figured that the explosions were a diversion....or somethin. Damn, damn, damn!" Her hands went to her belt immediately and she took out the taser that she was polishing earlier.
"You're not serious!" Brin rasped.
"Sorry, but I am," she stated simply as she clicked the capsule, loading the bullets in them. She then looked at the disguised Logan, though her pupils were nowhere visible. "I want you guys to start running when I start shooting, and don't look back."
Max shook her head. "I'm staying behind," she told them.
"Max!" Zack scolded.
She locked glares with him. "They're X10s," she declared. "How the hell do you think you can achieve distracting them enough for all five of us to escape?" She then looked down at the short one. "I think there's a bit too many for you to handle."
The short one did not blow off her top, and it was interesting since she nearly fragged out Zack just a few moments on something that wasn't even important. "A bit too much?" she mimicked. "I think not. Besides, you haven't seen be battle yet." She turned back to her gun, walked over to the left side of the door for a moment as the firing continued. "Here we go...one...two...three!"
She kicked open the door at full blast and began shooting with her taser. Logan grabbed Brin and Max's wrists and started dragging them out the door, ducking and running with Zack behind. The strange part was that the short one was shooting the guns off their hands, one by one. Logan produced his own gun from his side and shot two guards guarding the end of the corridor. They hid at the end turn.
Now the short one was out, her hood down to reveal her pale white skin, her dark raven hair and a pair of shades so no one could see her eyes. Max gaped; that was the girl that crashed into Logan's place a while back. She watched as she set in motion a series of flying kicks, punches and bruises on the X10s. the soldiers plummeted to the wall. What got her was how she did not get a single scratch from these updated models...odd.
She looked at them. "What are you waiting for? Run!"
She followed them out, her gun still at hand, as they rushed through corridors. Logan headed the pack, but was beginning to slow down because Max and Brin were hanging back, their steps growing weaker at every moment. Zack was also beginning to slow down.
"Max? Max!" Logan cried.
"It's no use, Mr. Cale," Mugen said softly, catching Zack before her cluttered the floor and dragging him up to his feet. "I've seen this before...they must've injected the drug that makes a person's capabilities down to nothing. It's extremely effective with enhanced soldiers."
"How do you know all this?"
"As I said, I've seen this happen before," she stated simply. "This is going to be harder than I thought...hurry. We must get out before they realize that their unit down where the cells were and send in reinforcements. This way---we must hurry." She lead Logan down the other hallway, taser out and dragging the drowsy Zack along.
Logan felt his arms pinned back as he carried the two girls down the hall behind Mugen. He felt Max groan as they were running in such a quick pace. Logan tried hard not to move so instantaneously so she wouldn't have to moan as much. At least Brin wasn't going sick on his inability to run. "Logan," she murmured. "Logan, I…"
"Shh," he hushed her. "Don't say…anything."
"Logan, I'm sorry," she murmured anyways.
Logan looked down at her, baffled. "For what?"
"For…getting you into a mess like this…I didn't know…"
"Yah, you didn't know," he assured. "Now, stay still and keep quiet…we're almost out of this hellhole."
"X10s…"
"Don't worry, Mugen will take care..."
Mugen gasped. "Logan, stay back! We've got company!" She slammed onto a sidewall where it shielded them from the incoming X10 soldiers, dressed in their drab black uniforms and carrying guns. Mugen swore again. "Damn, damn, damn!"
She lifted her taser. "Just start firing!"
"Right!" He took out his own gun and they both started firing. Pow, pow, pow! The steel bullets knocked the X10 soldiers at their shoulders, they knees, their thighs, their arms. The funny thing was that they were still standing, and still firing, but a lot more pissed. Mugen was pretty crafty though; she was shooting down their weapons. After all their weapons clattered to the floor, she motioned Logan to stop shooting and stay back before dropping the silent Zack as she charged towards the remaining X10s who were standing.
Sidekick, front kick, right punch. Down they went.
"Behind you!" Logan cried but it appeared she had it already covered. She ran towards the wall, climbed it with what seemed to be defying gravity, somersaulted behind the X10, ducked down and knocked him off his feet. She then turned, launched a flying kick and knocked another senselessly to the ground.
Two remaining X10 soldiers, ready to make the kill. She then reached down to her bootlegs and revealed the two slim sticks wrapped in velvet. Only they weren't sticks, but very slim daggers, shiny and ready to kick some X10 ass.
The first one launched his assault with a very sloppy punch. What's this? Mugen asked herself as she blocked the punch, ducked down and elbowed him at the belly and still holding her daggers out. The soldier groaned; she must've hit him hard enough when she then swung her foot out and dropped him to the floor.
The second one was disgusted at the first one's mistake as she revealed two knives of her own. Mugen tilted her head to one side, adjusting her focus and examining the weapons the second one carried. The second one charged with not much as a sweat but Mugen was as cool as rain. They flung their weapons out and they met with an extraordinary clank.
Mugen released the grasp and then swung her dagger out. The second one swung back and then straightened her dagger in a stabbing mode. Mugen went out of her way and then turned and kicked the dagger out of her left hand before kicking again and the second dagger went flying. Seeing that the second one was going to catch it, she kicked the soldier again as the dagger fell harmlessly to the floor with a clank.
"You bi---" she spewed.
"Where are your manners?" Mugen asked as she twirled and kicked her again. "Maybe I should imprint some in your brain! Oh, I forgot, you're too busy analysing information through your brain of who I am and how to defeat me to even think about your manners!" She then finished her off with a side punch that knocked her to the floor.
"We better get moving," she told them as she recollected Zack from the floor and continuing their way down the corridor, through the battlefield of fallen X10s.
Wonders cease to amaze, Logan thought.

"The explosions seemed to have stopped," Madame X said slowly, trying not to jinx the moment.
If you wish not to jinx the moment, you wouldn't talk, Lydecker thought ruefully as they got to their feet. Rumble from the ceiling and the walls were on the ground as he, his pissed-off boss and some of their guards were covered in dust and dirt. "I want a full explanation of all this," he started when the comm system of one of the soldiers sounded.
"Well?" Lydecker asked after he was done.
"The prisoners, sir, the X5s? They've escaped."
That struck Lydecker like a thunderbolt. Of course! Why didn't he see that before? It was a diversion so they would be more worried about the safety of the compound than the prisoners. And now there would be hell to pay. "What?! How?"
"Two people broke in during the explosions…"
"And the soldiers, the X10s? Did they stop them?"
The soldier wheezed. "Um…well, they're all headed to the infirmary. Sir."
Damn! "How?" he asked himself.
Madame X heard the entire conversation as she got to her feet, brushing off the dust and dirt. "How can that be? The X10s were the most top of the line! No one can defeat them!" she finished off, both surprised and confused.
"By the looks of their wounds, ma'am," the soldier said dryly, yet full of fear for his dear life, "they were beaten up pretty badly. They told us that they were beaten by a mere girl."
"Max…" Lydecker grumbled.
"Lydecker?" Madame X demanded.
Lydecker shook his head. "Never mind," he told her tersely. To the soldiers, he said, "Call for immediately reinforcements. Secure the perimeter. Nobody gets in or out without going through security fir---"
The klaxon sounded.
"What the hell?" Madame X demanded.
"Dammit! Someone accessed the perimeter!" Lydecker said.
"I'm on it!" the soldier said, summoning another few soldiers out to the hallways and towards the frontlines once again.
"Lydecker…you need some explaining to do…" Madame X grumbled.
Lydecker did not say anything as he loaded his gun and ran out the door with the remaining soldiers to the frontlines. Those X5s, he thought, always causing trouble. At this rate, I'll have gray hair. You think I don't have enough to deal with…nonetheless…