(Logan)
Author's Note: For those who are sick of the cliffhangers, I'm actually just re-posting an RPG here, and I'm really far behind what's already been written. If you want to read on ahead, go to www.delphi.com/darkangelfans/messages , go to the folder marked RPG, and find the thread called The LTB Invitational. There you can see the story up to today's posts, and there are new additions almost every day. _______________________________________________________________ Point of View: TREAD *****************************************

"Hey B*tch! You forgot this!"

Brin looks up from Max just in time to see 700lbs of Harley Davidson flying at her sideways like a gigantic boomerang.

I don't know if it's luck, chance, or my subconscious getting in the way, but the rear tire makes contact with her mid section, sending her flying with the bike bouncing after her.

I want to go over and make her eat the damn thing… but Max is laying there in sad shape, and the bike crashes over on top of Brin, pinning her.

I quickly check Max out to see if she is still among the living. She's breathing regular. A little stressed, but regular.

I hear the dull clonking sounds of the bike moving. I look back and see Brin is still pinned but taking aim with the shot gun again.

The world moves in slow motion. Brin is still hurt pretty bad, so the gun wobbles as she aims. If I can dodge a Manticore aiming at me, a real gamble considering they can track faster than I can move, Max will be hit from this angle.

I scoop Max up in my arms, risking moving her with unknown injuries, and tuck myself up into a ball in the line of fire. The shotgun blast slams into my back, knocking me forward onto my knees and a little on top of Max.

My gamble paid off… The shotgun was loaded with heavy buckshot and not slugs. Still hurts like hell, but my Kevlar vest plate, built into my jacket caught most of it.

I'll have to dig the three pieces of shot that hit ME out. Later.

I look up and see the rear door of the cabin burst open as Logan almost flips himself over, trying to take the step that was evidently not modified for wheelchair access yet.

He can cover Max while I subdue Missabitchy!
I spin around, facing Brin who's trying to wiggle out from under the Harley. I launch myself, panther-like at her.

It's too much ground for me to cover in a single bound, so when my hands hit the dirt I use my momentum to flip.

I'm low and I ball up tight as I spin picking up speed. When I land, my feet send clumps of dirt and sod flying at Brin's body as she finally pulls herself from under the bike.

I know from my tussle with Max when we first met that Manticore love to do those pretty high jumps to get away from adversaries. I'm close enough to the Harley to rip out the chain from the motor's drive mechanism. With the same motion, I slash the chain high into the air.

Surprise b*tch. Speed is great! Skill is better!
Brin was already turned around and sending a kick at me. Not only do I manage to block it, mostly by chance, but Mr. Bike Chain slashes her upside her head and across an eye.

As she lands on her feet, holding her face, I see she's a little crumpled over to one side where the rear tire hit her.

My turn!

I brace the arm with the bike chain on the ground and swing my body into the air. Both feet push kick her in her 'soft' side.

She lets out a surprised yelp as she flies through the air out of control.

She lands on her other side, on her shoulder, and twists again…letting out a wailing moan this time.
It's the shoulder where I hit her back at the hotel. Guess I tagged her harder than I thought.

I snap back up onto my feet. She crawls herself back into a crouched kneeling position and looks at me wide eyed. I see fear run over her face for the first time.

She wheezes a little as she draws a breath, and coughs as she exhales. A trickle of bright red blood runs down her lip and drips onto the ground.

She regains her composure and glares at me as she wipes her bottom lip. But it falls apart as quickly as it came when she sees the blood on her hand.

I slowly start to advance on her. She slowly backs up until she's at the corner of the house.

Her eyes are locked on me until and she starts dragging herself upright along the side of the house.

From around the corner Lydecker run out. Gun in hand. He points at Brin.
I figure, we got her. I figure wrong.

He looks at her, still a little drunk and fuzzy…

"Baby Sister?" He turns the gun at me… "What are you doing you psycho! I should've know you were working for Lydecker."

I'm sure Lydecker is a good shot, as is Zack, but between the alcohol and the normal human senses I have no trouble dodging him. Brin look totally confused now.

"It's me, Zack, I've had plastic surgery to look like Lydecker! Get out of here, I'll hold this guy off."

Brin stares at him. There is no way the look on her face could be anything but skepticism.
Still, as he starts shooting at me, she takes the opportunity to run.

"YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I yell at him.

"Protecting my sisters!" He fires off a few more shoots! "Dammit! I'm never this slow!"

His gun is empty and he runs around the corner after Brin.

I stop and look back at Logan.

"Go. I'll take care of her!" he yells.

I grab my busted up Harley and start pushing it like a scooter.

The Hummer had to spin around before Brin could make a run for it. I coast down a small hill on an intercept course with it getting up enough speed to catch up.

My timing is perfect. I pop a small wheelie at just the right moment and wedge the front wheel of the Harley into the front wheel well of the Hummer. Metal and rubber twists and mangles on both vehicles, and my momentum throws me half way through the passenger's side window. Tinga is still in the back! My Harley whips end over end slamming my legs as the untied vehicles start to spin out of control.

Brin panics and the lets go of the wheel to fight with me.

Tinga comes to, with all the bumps and bangs. She sees Brin and grabs her.

Through the windshield I see what's left of my Harley flying over the hood of the Humvee.

Then the whole car begins to flip over…
Brin is slammed up against the drivers side door as the passenger side raises in the air dropping me head first on top of her. Tinga fairs a little better in the empty back seat. Arms, legs and little military gadgets are flying everywhere.

All I can do is brace and wait for everything to stop rolling.

Point of View: JONDIE****************************************

When we finally reached Logan's apartment, I felt like I had been walking for hours. My foot was screaming for relief, but I continued to ignore it. It was a little trick that I'd found very useful at Manticore. All the other X-5's had their physical strengths except me. Max had excelled in escape and evade, Zack in hand-to-hand combat, but none of them had a stronger mind than I did. I could suppress my emotions, ignore extreme amounts of pain, forget everything I knew, and recall it with ease. It had been my mind that had gotten me through the hell of Manticore. Whenever I wasn't good enough for 'dear old dad' I'd just push away the frustration, ignore the pain, and focus my anger on the objective. I might not have been the strongest little soldier, but I was the most intense.

The sight that met our eyes when we walked into Logan's apartment was something that neither of us expected. The entire apartment was trashed, and there was a person-sized hole in one wall and liquor bottles scattered around the kitchen.

"What in the world happened here?" I ask in amazement surveying the damage. Despite the mess, I've never seen anything this nice in my life. Obviously Cale has some money. Zack merely grunts some kind of reply as he begins methodically checking the apartment. "Always the soldier," I thought and rolled my eyes.

"It's gone," he says looking slightly surprised as he walks back into the living room where he left me.

"What's gone?"

"All of Logan's computers and equipment. They're gone."

"Do you think Lydecker was here?"

"No. He wouldn't have any need for Logan's computers. They must have come back here and gotten them."

"Where would they go?" I ask and watch Zack's face go through a spectrum of emotions. He's obviously remembering something, but I decide that it's better not to ask.

"Cale has a cabin a little ways outside of the city," he says tersely. Suddenly he looks at me his face filled with concern. "Can you make it?"

"Of course I can," I answer, pushing away the pain in my foot.

"C'mon. It's time to save your big sister," he says leading the way out of the apartment.

Point of View: LOGAN****************************

Bling is finally reviving when we hear the gunshot. Kendra and Cindy jump, Cindy looks like she's about to start outside. Kendra looks like she's about to panic.

I know the feeling. Max is outside with a psychotic X5, a delirious X5, and a drugged Lydecker, and one of them just got shot.

Logic takes over. "Stay here," I tell Cindy and Kendra. "Help Bling. We might need him."

More crashes coming from somewhere outside. I yank open a cabinet near the door, grab the gun and clip concealed in the back.

I try to get out fast, but it's not easy. Godd*mn chair. Godd*mn step.

I barely get down before Tread tosses Max into my lap and turns back to Brin.

Max is breathing but she's dead weight. I'm trying to inventory her injuries while keeping an eye on Tread and Brin. Max has blood dripping down the side of her face. Looks like the bullet skimmed the side of her head, enough to knock her out but thank God not enough to kill her. The rest of her is not in much better shape.

Brin's not looking too good either, and Tread is a match for her, so I focus on trying to stop Max's bleeding.

Until the gunshots resume and instinctively I try to cover Max.

"YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Tread yells. Lydecker is shooting at him, covering for Brin. Fortunately he's a lousy shot when he's drunk. When he runs out of bullets he runs around the corner after Brin.

Max moans. And oh God, starts to shake.

Tread looks over. "Go. I'll take care of her!" I yell.

Somehow, I will never know how, I get Max and myself up the step and into the cabin. Bling is standing and looking only slightly disoriented. "What's going on?"

"She's been shot, she's beaten up, and she's seizing."

From outside there's another crash.

Point of View: LYDECKER*************************************

I'm not sure what's wrong with me, and quite frankly I don't care right now. I must still be having after-effects from the anesthetics used during the plastic surgery. That could be the only reason why I'm this slow.

I didn't trust that psycho from the start, and as I watched him attack my baby sister, I knew he was working for Lydecker. I heard the fighting and came around with my pistol in hand. Tread was supposed to be protecting Max, but there was Max in pretty-boy's lap, and nutcase was attacking Brin. B*stard!

"Baby Sister?" I call out to her. She looks rather skeptical. No wonder since I didn't even know myself after the surgery. I pointed the gun at Tread. "What are you doing you psycho! I should've know you were working for Lydecker."

I fired several times, but the monster must have had as good of training as us. He managed to dodge every shot. Damn! Brin was totally shocked.

"It's me, Zack, I've had plastic surgery to look like Lydecker! Get out of here, I'll hold this guy off." I yelled to her. She wasted no time running like hell. Good girl, I thought.

"YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he yelled at me.

"Protecting my sisters!" I shout, and fired the rest of my clip at him. "Dammit, I'm never this slow!" I take off after Brin rather that do some hand-to-hand with Tread.

Brin is gaining ground on me easily. She's heading to the hummer. She jumps in and starts it. She sees me, and I veer off a little, reloading my gun. Everything is so wobbly right now. She had to go uphill a little to whip around, and pick me up, but Tread was suddenly flying down the hill on his busted up Harley. For a second I was sure my heart was going to stop as the two vehicles collided, and then suddenly began rolling down the hill.

I'm after them in a second. They roll over and over, landing upside down. I ended up tripping (a first for me) and rolled half-way down the hill, ending up splashing into the ice-cold stream meandering down the hill. The coldness makes me feel way more alert as I run the last few yards to the hummer.

Tread is trapped, half of his body in the hummer, his legs pinned under, stuck through the window. The only thing keeping him from being crushed alive was the Harley was jammed in the wheel well, giving him some support. He's pretty dazed, and somewhat unconscious, but I know he'll be ready for action way too soon.

Tinga is struggling in the backseat. She looks shocked to see me, but that's acceptable. "It's me, Zack," I tell her. She looks doubtful. Damn, this was good surgery. "When you were ten you had a puppy named Mr. Sparkles," I say quickly. That was something Lydecker wouldn't know. Her eyes widen, and she lets me help her out of the car. We get Brin out, and I realize that we only have seconds before Mr. Ugly is back in the game.

Tinga looks like she wants an explanation, but I pick up Brin and make a hand gesture. Escape and Evade. She hesitates, and I give her my best CO look. She knows what I mean. We start running through the woods. I can't believe it's so hard to carry Brin. It must be the anesthetics. Tinga takes her from me, and we slip through the forest.

If Max is working with Tread, then she must be in league with Lydecker. It makes sense now. She took crazy chances around me so that I would get caught. I'm the gateway to the other X-5's. No wonder Lydecker never raided her boyfriend's place despite his problems keeping things classified. They probably had drinks there all the time. The thought of a drink causes something to flash in my mind like when you try to remember a dream when you wake up, but can't. Irrelevant to the mission at any rate.

Point of View: KENDRA**************************************

Original Cindy and I are trying to revive Bling when Logan comes in the door. The sound of him entering scared the crap out of me. I'm just glad it's not that crazy girl with the shotgun. Dam I can't even remember what her name is.

A little bit later I heard a gun go off. My first thoughts jump to Max. I hope she is okay; however she seems like she can take care of herself. Then Logan starts yelling. He tells me to stay here. He's got nothing to worry about, I for one, am not going to wonder out there with that girl on the loose. She scares the sh!t out of me.

Just as Logan gets down the stairs, this guy puts Max down on his lap. I am going to have to guess this guy is Tread. Max looks like she is really limp. For a moment I think she is dead then I see her start to shake. I run over to Logan to see what I can do to help. I'm not a doctor or anything but I did work at the hospital for a while.

Point of View: MAX***************************************

The last I can remember is Brin standing over me, as what sounds like a Humvee drives up. Someone's yelling . . . sounds like Logan . . . And then there's a loud crack that splits the air and everything goes black . . .

I'm cold. It's dark here.

I have no idea where I am. Everything is so far away. I hear a voice, but it's faint. So far away . . . "She's been shot, she's beaten up, and she's seizing."

Are they talking about me? I don't think I've been shot . . . I don't feel it. Something Zack told me once at Manticore comes back to me: "You never hear the one that gets you."

Well, I'd heard the shot . . . or I'd heard *one*

Max, snap out of it! I have to give Logan those papers I found in Tread's saddlebags. I feel awareness returning to my body. And it hurts like a b!tch. Before fighting with Brin, I'd put them in my shirt to keep them safe. Are they still there? I reach a hand tentatively towards my body.

"What is she doing? Keep her still." A strong hand clamps down on my wrist. Another hand takes my chin and raises my head. What are they doing? Something touches my lips. "Take the pills, Maxie, they'll stop the seizing."

I press my lips together. I have no idea who these people are. I don't take candy from strangers.

"Max, please," a voice near my ear whispers, "take the pills." It's Logan. I open my mouth and allow him to 'force-feed' me Tryptophan.

"Good girl." I can feel him relax. "Bling, get the first aid kit. We need to tend to her injuries."

Injuries? That doesn't sound good.

"Let me help," Kendra says. Now, I love Kendra. She's a great roommate, and bless her heart, extremely generous. But I WILL NOT let her attend to my injuries. I try to sit up, but Logan holds me down. Good thing actually, my head is throbbing.

"The papers," I croak.

"What?"

"Manticorny. Classified papers."

"Where are they?"

"Down my shirt. And if you don't free my arms, you'll have to fish them out." Did I just say that? OhGOD! Please let me be delusional.

Logan looks like he's about to actually do it when the door bursts open . . .

Point of View: BLING *****************************************

My head still isn't clear. I get the First Aid kit. Between all the wounded and beaten around here it's running really low.

A moment ago it sounded like a small war went on outside.
Cindy and Kendra take the First Aid kit from me. Kendra look at me a moment.
I see some concern on her face.

"Are you going to be okay?"

I try to smile and nod.

She drifts back over to Max, Logan and Cindy and starts to help.

Max starts talking about "papers", I'm trying to follow, but my head is outside the cabin. Tinga is out there. And in spite of everything that's happened, everything she's done… I'm can't seem to get her out of my mind.

Man… Some one should hit me in the head again I guess!

All of a sudden the door burst open! I grab for a nearby hand gun.

I'm a second away from shooting when I see a tall Asian woman and little girl rush inside and hide.

"You people are insane!" she hollers as she covers the little girl.

I go over to the door still wide open and peer out. At the bottom of the hill is a smoking Humvee on its side with a motorcycle stuck into it at several places.

I can see the foliage across the road moving. A sign that some one just ran off that way.

"This b1tch is finished." Cindy says as she tosses the First Aid kit aside.

Logan calls to me.

"Bling, How's it look out there?"

"Quiet. For the moment."

"Three and a half genetically engineered killing machines out there and it's quiet? That's probably not good."

I know the sound in his voice. He want something, but he doesn't want to ask me to put myself in danger.

"What do we need Logan?'

He pauses.
"There should be another First Aid kit in the back of the Humvee."

"Right" I nod.

"Bling!" He calls to me.

"Tinga may be back there too. Be careful."

I nod to him.

I start making my way down the hill toward the wreckage.
When I'm closer I start to feel …something. It's a little like being watched, or walking through a graveyard at night.

I stop dead in my tracks when from under the Humvee I see two metal tipped Motorcycle boots sticking out.

I take one step closer, then that weird feeling comes on strong!!! I wince, almost by reflex!

THERE'S A ROAR FROM INSIDE THE HUMVEE!!!
Its like part lion and part person screaming.

Two hand prints are punched into the top of the Humvee. Then two fist prints punch into the hand prints and the metal rips a little. Two hands finally punch through folding back the metal roof making a hand hold. The entire time there is sub-human growling mixed with grunting.

I point my gun at the Humvee, mostly out of reflex!

There is another ROAR as the Humvee moves and shudders. The hand holds rip even more and trickles of blood start streaming down from the hands poking through.

One of the legs underneath twists, like it's part of a rag doll being yanked from the other side.

The hands disappear for a moment and there is a third ROAR coupled with a cracking sound, one I know all to well as a physical therapist. It's a dislocated joint being snapped back into position.

I consider going to help, but that weird feeling holds me in my tracks… paralyzed by fear.

I hear heavy breathing. Growling. The two hands stick through the holes again. This time the Humvee lifts higher and the other leg drags loosely underneath.

Before the vehicle can fall back to the ground, the bloody hands appear underneath, and the Humvee tilts over revealing the man the parts belong to. He's crouched in the space that was the Humvee's window.

When I was young there was this toy, it was a man made out of little pieces of bead. He was strung together with a tight string. There was a plunger at the bottom, and when you pushed it the man collapsed as all the strings loosened. When you released the plunger, no matter how disarrayed the pieces were, the man would pop back into the upright position. I played with it for hours as a child… but I never thought I would see it happen to a human being.

I watched… this… man?!?! pull himself back together coupled with the sound of a thousand knuckles cracking. I considered running when he lurched into a crouching position looking directly at me. His eyes were solid Black on White. No iris color what so ever. His face, the most fearsome thing I had ever seen. Like the face of the devil itself! I knew if I moved, he would tear me apart. I slowly drew a breath into my lungs. Slowly… so it wouldn't make a noise.

"Tread?" My voice cracked as I said it.

The thing forced itself to blink once. The second blink was less forced. Then he shook off that look, and I noticed the green back in his eyes, and the weird "terror" feeling subsided, as he seemed to become a person again.

"Bling. The butler." He finally said.

I was too relieved to be offended. I took a deep breath and started to talk to him.

"That's right, we haven't met but I'm Bling, I work with Logan and…"

In a single move he twisted and leaped on top of the Humvee, now turned upright. There was another growl, but this time it was more of a comment than a statement. He faced the direction where I saw the trees moving before.

"What are you looking for?" I asked as a walked around to see his face again.

His tongue was stuck out and curled. He was sucking air over it. He pulled it back in and made a little slurp to moisten it again. He looked at me

"I'm going after them."