When the rumbling started, every living organism was thrown from their peace and into a new world of chaos. At Stryker Team Alpha's campsite, Thrax immediately sat up and for the moment, ridding his mind of the vengeful thoughts that lived there.
"What the hell is going on!" Thrax yelled, standing and instinctively rushing over to Draco.
"We're going to be ejected!" Xion yelled, putting away his handheld. "Everyone hold hands or we're going to be separated!"
The Strykers all ran to the middle of the campsite and formed a circle, holding the hand of the person next to him. Thrax carefully picked up Draco, wanting to cause her no extra pain, and ran over to join the circle.
No sooner had he done so, a wind blew and picked The Strykers off their feet and into the air. Every single piece of debris and shrapnel were also sent into the air. As they rose higher, they were pushed forward, towards the needle. The shrapnel and debris also followed, sticking and slamming into any living thing that got in their way. Thrax tried his best to use his body to shield Draco from the onslaught. The Strykers would do their best to beat away anything that came near them without letting go of each other's hands.
Without warning, the wind velocity began to pick up as the plunger at the end of the syringe was quickly forced down. The Strykers screams as they were forced out of the syringe at an incredibly fast speed. After seconds, to them it seemed like hours, they finally landed on the ground again.
"That was a ride." Raven commented, standing up.
"Yeah, do it again!" Shade yelled.
"I'd rather not." Thrax replied seriously, shaking off and checking to make sure that Draco was all right. As he looked down at her, he smiled, thankful that she was still asleep and blissfully unaware of what was going on around her.
"What in God's good name is that!" Rip shouted, pointing to the sky.
In response, The Strykers all looked up, following the direction of Rip's arm. As they did, they quickly looked back down again, putting their arms over their eyes, shielding them from a luminous blue ray of light that was currently descending upon their heads.
"We're screwed!" Demo yelled as loud as he could.
The rest of The Strykers agreed with Demo's words, believing that their glorious reign of terror and destruction had finally ended. Thrax held Draco tight as the group of ten were finally engulfed in the ominous blue light.
Sub-Level F, De-Atomization Test Room, Viewing Area 1:02 PM
From inside the viewing room Dr. Sanders put on a pair of sunglasses as a blue flash lit up the room. After several seconds, the flash disappeared and Sanders took off his sunglasses and stuffed them in his coat pocket. What had replaced the light were roughly 21 organisms, which until today had been microscopic.
Behind Sanders, General Weston and his colleagues had gotten up from their chairs; their eyes wide and mouths open as they stared into the test room. As they walked forward to where Sanders was standing, they left their broken coffee cups behind on the floor. General Weston closed his mouth and then opened it again to speak, but found that no words came out.
"I see that you're speechless General." Dr. Sanders said with an accomplished grin. "Well, that is of course to be expected."
"Ssss….ssssss…Sanders!" The General stuttered. "I can't believe that this scheme of yours actually worked! Tell me, what am I looking at now!"
Sanders smiled and then replied, "There are 21 organisms in that room, all life-size, no longer microscopic. What we're looking at General are several species of virus, as well as two white blood cells and a cold pill. Gentlemen, the eight blue colored viruses are the new and quite fatal strain of influenza. The other eight, green colored viruses are the also new and highly deadly strain of the Bubonic Plague, A.K.A. the Black Death that swept through and killed about two thirds of Europe's population several centuries ago. The other three red colored viruses, is the new strain of virus that I have been tracking. I call them the Red Death, for obvious reasons."
"So you're telling me that we're staring at 21 deadly viruses, two white blood cells and a cold pill?" The General asked skeptically.
Sanders shook his head that the General's poor sense of perception towards the obvious.
"Yes, General. That is exactly what we are looking at."
De-Atomization Test Room 1:07 PM
"We're alive?" Raven said, lifting his arms off his head and letting them fall to his sides.
"Looks that way." Xion replied, looking over himself.
"Ah! What the hell are you guys doing here!" Diego yelled, turning around to find Sirus and Stryker Team Beta. He ignored Osmosis Jones, The Chief and Drix.
The members of Alpha and Beta immediately jumped into a line, facing each other and looking ready to fight. The members of Alpha and Beta both pulled out their melee weapons and paired up with their respective opponents. Thrax set Draco down out of harms way before he joined the line.
"I've been waiting for this!" Thrax yelled to Sirus, extending his deadly claw and licking his lips. "On my mark, cut them down!"
"YEAH!" Stryker Team Alpha cheered, getting into fighting stance.
"Now!"
"HOLD IT!" Someone yelled.
Thrax spun around to find Xion, holding his handheld and looking around the room.
"WHAT!" Thrax snarled at Xion.
"Before we tear each other apart, do any of you have any idea where the hell we are?"
The Strykers lowered their weapons and glanced over the room.
The De-Atomization Test Room was pearl white and there were no apparent exits. The only thing in the room with them were a set of robotic arms that hung from the ceiling, a machine that looked like a giant ray gun and a large mirror on the north wall.
"You know Xion, that thought never occurred to me." Diego said directing his attention towards the mirror. "Is it just me or does that large mirror really seem out of place?"
"It does, doesn't it?" Zen observed, walking over to the mirror. Zen put his hand on the glass and tapped it. "Hey Demo, come over here!"
"Yeah, what Zen?"
"Tap this, what does it sound like to you?"
Demo walked over to Zen and tapped on the glass.
"Huh, that's odd. It sounds hollow, as if there's something behind it."
"My thoughts exactly."
The rest of Stryker Team Alpha walked over to the mirror and tested it for themselves.
"Demo, can you blow it?"
"I could, but I don't have any explosives."
"We could do it." Shade offered.
Demo laughed and replied, " What are you two going to do, break it with your faces?"
"Hey! That's not funny."
"I'll do it." Thrax said sternly. "Everyone stand back and prepare to leave. Rip, get Draco for me."
"You got it Thrax." Rip replied, rushing over to Draco and picking her up in his arms.
"Fire in the hole." Thrax said evilly, forming a large fireball in his hand and then throwing it like a pitcher during a baseball game, into the mirror.
Viewing Area, 30 seconds prior
"Sanders, what is he doing?" General Weston asked, pointing at one of the red viruses in the testing room.
Sanders' eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He saw the virus grin and then release a fireball that was now hurtling towards them.
"Hit the deck!" Sanders yelled, diving under a table and covering his head with his arms.
Seconds after he had, the 3-inch thick sheet of glass shattered, scattering pieces all over the room. The fireball exploded as it hit the glass. Pieces of glass rained down like a shower on top of everything in the area.
Sanders was about to get out from under the table when he heard footsteps and the crunching sound of glass underfoot. Sanders slowly took his hands off his head and turned around, looking up at a tall, dark figure.
The figure was dressed in black and was covered in a thin white veil of glass. Sanders watched the virus brush the glass off its coat and out of its hair, which were purple dreadlocks. As Sanders looked into the virus's eyes, he saw nothing but pure hate and evil. It was at that moment that those hateful eyes spotted him. The virus walked over to the table, reached his clawed hand under it and pulled Sanders out from under the table, lifting him high into the air.
"Would you mind pointing us to the exit." It said coolly.
Sanders lifted his arm and pointed to the door. The virus's eyes followed Sanders' hand. When it saw the door, it released its grip on Sanders and he fell onto the glass-laden floor.
"Let's go." The virus hissed, snapping his fingers on his right hand together as he headed towards the door. The group of green viruses followed, grinning and sneering at Sanders as they left. The red virus kicked the door down and it gave with out much effort.
"It's been a blast." The red virus said, firing another fireball into the room, this one aimed at Sanders, before he and the other viruses left.
Sanders dove back under the table again to avoid the blast. The fireball missed Sanders and overshot, landing on one of the unconscious bodies of Sanders' superiors, burning him alive. Dr. Sanders got out form under the table again, and ran over to the control panel. He then scanned his thumbprint and flipped open a steel cover, revealing a large black button. He slammed his fist on the button as hard and fast as he could.
When he did, red lights began flashing on and off and a female voice repeating, " Lockdown procedure initiated. All personnel please proceed to the upper levels."
Sanders then pressed several other buttons on the smaller control panel next tot he lockdown button. A large titanium door came down, replacing the sheet of glass that had been blown out earlier and sealing anyone or anything that was still inside the Test Room, in there for good, or until the door was opened again.
"General Weston!" Sanders cried, rushing over to General Weston's body. The General was lying on the floor a few feet away from newly placed steel door.
"Huh? Sanders? What happened?" The General said, lifting his head up off the floor.
"The viruses got out sir." Sanders replied, helping the General get to his feet.
"What!" He screamed. "They got out! This was supposed to be a contained experiment!"
"I'm sorry sir. How was I supposed to know that they could shoot fire balls?"
The General angrily pushed Dr. Sanders aside as he picked his hat up off the floor and went over to check on the rest of the men who were still lying on the floor.
"It was your job to know Sanders."
"I'm sorry sir." Sanders replied, lowering his head.
"They're all dead." The General said with a sigh.
"I'm very sorry sir."
"Damn right you are, or at least you had better be. Get me on the com."
"Yes sir." Sanders said, handing General Weston an override key to the facility's intercom system.
"This is General Weston with a message to all personnel, there are…. uh… viruses loose in the complex. Project Black has failed. You orders are to terminate the project immediately. They are armed and very dangerous so use extreme caution when confronting them. Don't let them out of this facility. If you see them, don't hesitate to kill them. In fact, it is an order, no a directive to kill them. Weston out."
Sanders removed the key from the intercom override system and followed the fuming General Weston out the door and to the second elevator shaft.
Inside the Main Elevator 1:13 PM
"How long does this stupid thing take to get to the main level!" Thrax screamed impatiently, punching the control panel, causing it to short-circuit. The elevator continued its ascent up the shaft.
"Thrax, clam it down. You'll wake Draco."
"You're right." Thrax said with a sigh. "You're right Diego, however, I would really like to know what the hell is going on around here. That was a human back there and if that was the case, then we're not microscopic anymore."
"I think I may have figured this thing out. Permission to elaborate?" Xion asked.
"Granted. Spill it Xion."
"Alright. I'm not sure how yet, but some how the humans were able to increase our size to theirs. So now, we're no longer in micrometers, but in feet instead. We're life size so to speak."
Thrax's eyes lit up.
"Which means that we have the potential to kill large numbers of humans than we ever thought possible." Xion finished.
It was at that moment that Thrax let out a burst of eerie and chilling laughter that filled the elevator shaft and sent chills up every one of the Stryker's spines.
"This is perfect!" Thrax said through his laughter. "Those fools have no idea what horrors that have unleashed!"
Suddenly, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. As the Strykers got out, they were greeted by a group of heavily armed soldiers who looked ready for combat.
"Let me handle this." Thrax said to the Strykers.
Thrax took several steps forward. The barrels of the guns were all aimed at him. Thrax ran his claws through his dreadlocks and began to hum, grinning as he did so. The soldiers looked intimidated by the virus seemingly obliviously humming in front of their eyes. Thrax then stopped humming and reached inside his coat for his sunglasses.
"Don't move!" One of the soldiers in front of Thrax shouted.
Thrax ignored the soldier's command and put his sunglasses on.
"Why? So I can become an easy target?" Thrax replied with a grin, taking one step towards the soldiers.
"I said don't move!" The same soldier yelled, aiming his weapon at Thrax's head.
Thrax again ignored the soldier and held his hand out in front of his face, examining his perfectly sharpened claws. He then took another step forward. The barrels of their weapons were now only mere inches form Thrax's body. The soldiers' expressions were a mix of fear and uncertainty.
"Now you boys wouldn't dare shoot an unarmed man, now would you?"
There was silence from the group of soldiers.
Thrax bent over, putting his hands behind his back and leaned closer to the group, a large grin spreading across his face. It was this grin that caused one of the more terrified soldiers to fire. Thrax stood completely still and remained in a state of relaxation as the stray bullet whizzed just inches away from his head and hit the wall behind him.
"Now." He said coldly. "I would like to know who was responsible for firing that bullet."
Thrax stood up straight again, his newly acquired 7 foot 3 inch tall body towering over the average 5 and a half-foot height of the soldiers.
"Who was it!?" Thrax asked again, this time raising his voice.
None of the soldiers answered the terrifyingly intimidating figure in front of them. Their expressions were now that of pure terror and in some cases confusion. After moments of silence, some one finally spoke up. That brave soul was Lieutenant Owens.
"Who gave you the authority to order us around?" Owens questioned, stepping forward.
"And who, are you?" Thrax asked, pushing his sunglasses down his nose to get a better look at the human who had dared to oppose him.
"That's none of your business."
Thrax pushed his sunglasses back to his eyes, turning around to face Stryker Team Alpha, his back to his human inferior.
"You turn around when I'm talking to you!" Owens yelled, shaking his fist in the air.
Thrax just laughed and shook his head in reply.
"Who are you!" Owens shouted.
Thrax laughed again. "Who am I, who am I? I'm the Fires of Hell incarnated into on being."
Thrax then turned around and shoot fire from his hand onto Owens. The fire danced as it landed on Owens' hair. Owens screamed as the fire engulfed his body and in a matter of seconds, was reduced to a pile of smoldering ash. It was at that moment that the soldiers finally decided to open fire. Unfortunately for them, it was already too late. Thrax jumped up in the air and released a wave of fire form the palms of his hand that engulfed the solders, melting away their flesh and turning them into lifeless skeletons. Then the skeletons burned and were also reduced to piles of ash.
"Let's move." Thrax ordered, walking away from the elevators and over to several parked Humvees.
The ten viruses climbed into three separate hummers. Diego and Thrax got into the first one, climbing into the two front seats after putting Draco in back. The second hummer was occupied by Xion, Raven and Shade, with Zen at the wheel. Demo, Rip and Spike got into the third and final hummer. As Diego put the hummer in gear and began to pull out, two more large groups of armed guards came rushing out of the elevators and guard stations. These groups wasted no time in aiming their weapons and opening fire on the trio of fleeting hummers.
"Floor it." Thrax ordered.
"You got it Thrax." Diego replied, slamming his foot down on the gas pedal.
Thrax opened the window, hanging the top half of his body out of the vehicle and returning fire on the groups of soldiers.
"Uh Thrax."
"What Diego?" Thrax hissed, turning around and bringing himself back inside the car.
"We're coming up on a big door and I don't think I can plow through it!"
"I'll take care of it." Thrax replied, leaning out the window.
About 100 feet and closing in front of the hummer, the security guards had closed the second set of steel doors, hoping to keep the final products of Project Black inside this facility and away from the outside world. The guards were now positioned between the doors and the oncoming vehicle, armed with a pair of machine guns. They opened fire as soon as they saw Thrax lean out the window.
"Vaya con Diablos boys." Thrax said in his best Spanish accent.
He grinned as he powered up a fireball and let it loose. It connected with the steel doors, blowing them and the two guards in front of it to pieces. The humvee trio sped through the hole and into the next section of the complex. When they cam upon the main set of doors, Thrax did the very same thing he did to the set prior, blew it up. The convoy of hummers slipped through the over confidence of the government and into the oblivion and uncertainty of the outside world.
Near the Secondary Elevator 1:22 PM
"GET THEM!" General Weston shouted to the soldiers when he saw the drive through the newly created hole in the second set of interior doors. "DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"
Several groups of soldiers got into some of the other parked hummers, pulled out and floored it, following the trio of fleeing hummers.
"This is all your fault Sanders!" General Weston yelled, his anger exploding as he turned around to face Sanders. "If it hadn't been for you we wouldn't be chasing after a group of god damn fire bugs!"
"They are viruses sir."
"I don't give a rats ass what they are Sanders but I want them captured and destroyed!"
"Yes sir."
"You know what will happen if we don't catch them Sanders?"
Sanders knew all too well what would happen. He knew that he would easily be fired after this incident and would never be allowed to work in a government position again. His name, assets and memory would be destroyed so that he would never be able to share with anyone the things that he currently had knowledge of. He would go from being a highly respected somebody, to an invisible nobody.
"No sir." He replied wisely.
"Your ass will be fired and you will be disowned by the government after I'm done with you. As for myself, I'll be on the President's shit list for the rest of his term! My judgement and authority will be put into serious question and doubt. I'll be ruined and it'll be all your fault Sanders!" Weston screamed, his face burning red with anger.
"Don't worry sir. We'll catch them."
"For your sake, we had better."
Research Facility Main Access Road 1:27 PM
"Yo Thrax, we got company!" Diego shouted, looking at his side mirror.
"Diego, who's in the last hummer?"
"Demo, Rip and Spike."
"Good." Thrax said, reaching over and taking the receiver of the CB radio. Thrax tuned it, pressed the button on the receiver, and spoke into the microphone. "Demo, Rip, Spike do any of you copy? Over."
"Hey Thrax, this is Demo. Yeah we copy. What's going on? Over."
"Demo, do have any explosives left?"
"No. I'm all out…. Hey wait a second. Heh, looks like Demo found a new toy."
"What?"
"There's a rocket launcher under the back seat."
"Demo, would you mind taking care of our unwanted guests?"
"My pleasure. Over and out." Demo answered, putting the receiver back on the radio.
Demo then reached under the back seat and pulled out a box containing a rocket launcher.
"This thing is primitive." Demo commented to himself, loading one of the rockets into the launcher. Demo then rolled down the side window and leaned out, the rocket launcher resting on his shoulder. "Hungry boys? Eat this."
Demo pulled back on the trigger and the first rocket was released into the air. Seconds after its firing, the rocket hit its target. The first pursuing hummer exploded in the middle of the one lane road. The other two hummers sped right through the fire and smoke, undaunted.
"That was just the appetizer. Here comes the main course."
Demo pulled the trigger and the second rocket fired away and into the next hummer. He then repeated the procedure for the last one. When he was through, he got back into the vehicle and packed the rocket launcher back into its box.
Demo reached over for the radio receiver. He took it form the hook on the side of the radio, held it up to his lips and pressed the button on the side.
"Thrax, you there?"
"Yes Demo, I'm here. I see you took care of our friends back there."
"Yeah. I did."
"Good work Demo. Thrax out."
Thrax replaced the receiver, leaned back in his seat, took a deep breath and sighed.
"So where to Thrax?"
"I have no idea. As you guys would say, I'm winging it here baby."
"Well I'd say your doing a pretty good job."
"Thank you." Thrax put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "You know, we're going to have to ditch these hummers soon."
"Right. We're going to need something more conventional. Like one of those." Diego said, looking at the vehicle in front of him as he pulled out onto the highway.
Thrax opened his eyes to see what Diego was looking at. Driving a few feet in front of them, was a large, black van. The van was large enough to comfortably fit six or seven of the Strykers.
"That's a start Diego, but we're going to need something else, like that." Thrax's eyes lit up and he grinned as he saw a dark blue Ford Explorer drive by them and then change lanes, squeezing in between the van and their hummer. The two vehicles began to move slightly over to the right as they got off the highway and onto an exit ramp which would lead them to a rest area.
"You want me to follow them?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Diego confirmed, getting off the highway and onto the rest area exit ramp. The line of black hummers followed the van and the Explorer, parking as close to them as they could. They waited until the drivers left their vehicles before getting out of the hummers.
"Everyone, into those two vehicles!" Thrax shouted to the Strykers.
Diego went around to the back of their hummer and took Draco out of the back seat, cradling her in his arms.
"Xion, you're with us in that blue vehicle. The rest of you, in to the van!"
The Strykers were easily able to break into the black van for it had no alarm system and the driver had carelessly left it unlocked. Zen took the wheel and Demo climbed into the front seat next to him. Raven, Shade, Rip and Spike all got into the back of the van.
Getting into the Ford Explorer was slightly more challenging. Thrax had to force the door open, almost pulling it off to get into the vehicle. As he did, the alarm went off, blaring wildly. He ignored it as he unlocked the rest of the door in the vehicle. Xion got into the front passengers' seat while Diego got into the middle through the sliding door, placing Draco in the back seat.
"Damn alarm." Thrax said, reaching into the dashboard area, ripping out the main component to the alarm system and throwing it out the window.
It was at that moment that the owner of the Explorer came out, holding a newspaper and a cup of coffee, which he dropped, when he saw his car begin to back out of the parking space.
"Hey! You! Stop! That's MY car!" The driver yelled running to his Explorer, which had now completely backed out of the parking space. "Get the hell out of my ca-"
The driver stopped in mid-sentence when he was who or rather what was at the wheel.
"Aliens! Aliens are stealing my car!" He yelled to everyone in the parking lot.
Thrax floored it as he pulled out of the rest area, nearly hitting a couple of cars on the way out. The black van followed, maintaining a constant speed behind the Explorer.
"That was easy." Xion commented.
"Phew." Thrax said, wiping his brow. "Diego, how's Draco?"
"She's fine Thrax, still sleeping. She hasn't changed since the time when we were still inside the syringe of that needle."
"Okay. Thanks Diego."
"So where to?"
It was then that the Ford Explorer drove by a sign. It had the names of a few cities listed on it and the number of miles away they were. On that sign were five cities, but only one of them caught Thrax's eye, Los Angeles.
"Los Angeles." He replied coldly.
"Ah, El Cuidad de Los Angeles."
"What?" Xion asked from his seat. "English please."
"It means The City of Angels Xion." Diego replied. "I'm surprised you don't know that."
"Hey now Diego. C'mon man, I know over 150 spoken languages, my Spanish is just a little rusty that's all."
"Yeah sure Xion." Diego replied shaking his head.
"Why Los Angeles Thrax?" Xion asked, ignoring Diego.
"I've killed a few people in that city before. It brings back some fond old memories and besides, what better place to start our killing spree than in The City of Angels?"
"I guess you're right about that one but you do realize that according to the sign, Los Angeles is over 450 miles away from here."
"I know. I can read Xion." Thrax replied, sounding a little irritated. "I'm already flooring it so we'll be there in a few hours. So sit back, relax and shut up."
"Sure Thrax." Xion replied, taking out his handheld.
Thrax sighed again as he swerved out of the way of an oncoming car before getting back into his lane. His thoughts flooded his mind and his emotions overwhelmed him inside. He felt anger, hate, accomplishment, disappointment and worry all at once. He was angry because of the fact that he wasn't able to keep Draco from getting hurt. He hated Sirus and was thoroughly disappointed with himself that he had passed up the opportunity to kill him. He was accomplished in the fact that he was now larger than life and was still able to gain the upper hand, although he knew nothing about the world outside the microscopic one.
Above all, he was worried, not for his own safety but for Draco's. Draco's condition had neither improved nor worsened over the past few hours. In their world, she would most likely have healed and been pretty close to normal but in this one, he wasn't sure how everything would turn out. Would being here cause her condition to improve or deteriorate? Would Draco live or die? Would he lose the one person that ever held any personal meaning to him? To those questions, his mind could formulate no answers to and in his mind, caused him to feel ever more unsettling.