There's going to be a lot of gun-fire and good crap like that between Rock/Kenna/Halo. This chapter's gonna seem weird but it's all gonna fit in with what's gonna happen with the robots. Enjoy.

Metropolis: Fallen Light

Chapter 5. Fallen Metropolis

Kenna eased open his eyes. Karen stood over him with an angry look on her face.

"You're disgraceful!" she hissed at him. He leaned up, wondering what in Hell she could be talking about. Looking around over the bed he sat on he saw Halo was no longer there.

"What're you talkin' about?" he said, now looking back at Karen.

"Damn it, you know what I'm talking about! Halo ran out of here at four in the morning, crying, saying something about how she wished she could never come back. Do you know WHY, Kenna?"

"Uh . . ." Kenna tried his best to look thoughtful and curious. "Well . . . She did hit me over the head with something that felt enough like cast iron." This only served him in receiving a raw slap across the cheek.

"Kenna, you ass!" Kenna then remembered a few things . . . His shirt was gone and his fly down and unbuttoned. Fortunately enough, nothing had happened between the two (A/N: sorry to disappoint you ^.^).

Kenna sat up straight and looked out the window. Artificial lighting shone clearly through the window.

"Well . . . Where did she go?"

Karen shrugged. "I dunno. And even if I did I wouldn't tell you."

*~*~*

"Rock . . . Hold me."

Rock didn't know how to reply to this, except to pull her close to him. She nuzzled herself into him and wrapped her arms around his upper waist. He knew she was crying; he felt her tears on his shirt.

"I was . . . Scared." Her voice quavered with fear and worry. "I was scared . . . I didn't know what to do . . ."

"What? What do you-" She tightened her grip and pressed her face firmer against him.

"Don't . . . Don't talk about it. Please."

Rock respected her plea and didn't say anything more about it.

"You shouldn't let him do that to you."

"He . . . Lost control of his anger, I guess."

Rock gave an irritable sigh. That really wasn't it. Or, well, at least that wasn't all there was to it.

*~*~*

"She better not be with that damned Marduk."

Kenna was fitting his shoes back on and putting a holster on to hold a gun.

"And what're you going to do about it? Kenna, it's over, she hates your guts, no way in Hell you're gonna win her back."

Kenna didn't reply for a minute. Just before he walked out the door he said,

"I know."

Out of the tower, down the road. Kenna was prepared to search everywhere in Metropolis for her. Or at least for HIM.

The first places Kenna searched was the bottom of Zone Three and Back-Alleys IV- XII. After he sifted through Zones Two and One, then Back-Alleys I- III, the only place left was the whole of Upper-city Metropolis. He dreaded going up there, but he knew he had to . . . For her.

Kenna walked the sidewalks silently, his gun thankfully covered by his coat, which he wore to cover his arms. He knew what was going to happen. He didn't want to, but he knew.

Arriving at the only other un-searched place in town, he knew they had to be here. The park. He began to run, knowing they were there, knowing they weren't leaving. Finally he got frustrated and called,

"Halo!"

*~*~*

"Did you hear that?"

Halo jerked up.

"What?"

"Kenna. He called my name. He's . . . In the park. He knows I'm here."

They both stood.

"You wanna run?" Rock suggested.

"No. He already knows, just let him come. If you want, I'll let you kick his ass."

"Oh, now I get a little action?"

Halo nearly giggled but stopped as she saw Kenna standing maybe seventy-five yards away, pointing what looked like a gun their way. He squeezed the trigger and Rock yelled,

"Get down!"

Rock shoved Halo out of the way.

"Is he mad? He's shooting at us!"

"No, he's shooting at you." Rock looked at her.

"Thanks, Halo," he said sarcastically. "Well . . . Can I shoot back?" Halo moved out from under him.

"Whatever. I don't care."

Rock looked at her unsure, but was then thrown back [again] by Kenna (A/N: My, what a sneaky bastard! lol). They went flying over the bench and ended up landing in a furious heap in grass. They wrestled each other madly, then Halo noticed Rock's gun near the fountain- it had been thrown from his grasp when Kenna knocked him over.

Halo walked silently to it, picked it up, made sure the safety was off, and held it up.

"Kenna," she shouted to get his attention. Neither of them stopped so she fired two shots at them, one reverberating off of Kenna's inpenatrable metal arm, the other narrowly missing Rock's left leg. They both stopped, ending the scuffle with Kenna pointing his own gun at Rock's heaving chest.

"You'll shoot me, Halo?" Kenna said, giving a small laugh of doubt.

"Is that a challenge?"

"It'll be pretty damn hard to kill me."

Halo knew he had a point there. Both arms were all metal and wire, and the right side of his chest was metal plating.

"I didn't say I wanted to kill you." She moved the gun down, and Kenna noticed just at the last second where she was aiming. "I just want to hurt you." She squeezed the trigger, ripping a fierce hole into his right leg. He flinched and fell over off of Rock, who got up gasping for air. Rock took Kenna's gun, spun the chamber, and took the bullets. He threw them to the concrete ground around the fountain where they rolled into the cracks, disappearing into the earth.

"Give up." Rock threw the gun down, cracking the barrel. Rock took his own gun from Halo and pointed it straight down at him, then he kneeled and hissed silently, "If you don't leave her the Hell alone, trust me to make it painfully personal." He gave an evil-like smirk and stood, putting the gun back in its rightful place. He put his right arm around the base of Halo's back near her waist and began to lead her on out of the park and back to the tower.

"You'll just leave me here then?"

Halo turned to him briefly but didn't say anything, just continued walking.

*~*~*

Rock didn't flinch when Duke Red's hand went across the right side of his face. He rebounded quickly and continued to stand straight.

"You idiot! You had the good chance to nab her and you let her slip right through your fingers!" Rock said nothing as the Duke began to fume with anger. Rock let her go purposely. He had his own little plan.

The Duke had proposed quite a task for Rock: to sort of kidnap Halo so they could commit a coup. Well, that wasn't really good enough for Rock, so he had devised his own little plan: get close to Halo and then . . . Well, that part would come later.

"But, father, I would have to-"

Duke Red whipped around again and hit him so forcefully that Rock was flung to the ground.

"I don't give a damn! And don't call me father! How many times must I-"

Duke Red stopped as he watched Rock standing and walking from the room. He had learned to tolerate the vicious blows he often received from his father. Sometimes they were completely ignored, just another fight with another robot. But this wasn't how Rock pictured Duke Red at all. Rock considered him more of a father figure, but then again he practically was, considering Rock's situation.

But then again, consider the Duke's.

*~*~*

"Where's Kenna?"

"The park."

"What's he doing there?"

Halo shrugged her shoulders in a rather obvious lie.

"Don't know, don't care."

She slumped herself down into the wooden chair at the table. Fern was washing dishes while Karen made coffee.

"Where're the boys?" Halo said, attempting to change the subject.

"In their room, asleep," came Fern's reply.

Halo looked up at the off-white ceiling. That ugly color formed by nicotine that had been floating around in the air from Kenna and Fern gave the effect that it was a lot of stale milk. Halo was staring up at it with disgust, obviously somewhat fascinated with it. Karen noticed it, because then she forcefully set a large cup of coffee in front of Halo on the table. The loud 'thump' made Halo drop back to reality (oh, there goes gravity . . . A/N: sorry, i'm listening to that song right now and i couldn't resist ^.^).

She looked down into the thin brown substance in that cup and just stared at it.

"It's coffee," she said.

"What, you were expecting coco?"

Halo shook her head roughly.

"No . . . I just . . ." She hopped up, ignoring the coffee, and walked out the front door. Fern and Karen looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged.

Halo sat on the top step to the spiral staircase and put her arms around her knees and held them against her chest. Kenna would surely come. And . . . Rock could have finished him off, yet he didn't.

"Maybe Kenna's right. Maybe I can't trust Rock," she murmured to herself. Inside, however, she had totally different feelings. Rock could have killed or hurt her plenty of times and yet he hasn't. If he was aiming to kill her, he would have done it by now, right? Or would he have? Was he planning something, just waiting for the right time?

Halo groaned and began to walk down the stairs. When she neared the door, she heard angry voices outside. She was mere seconds from turning the doorknob when she heard their words.

"The Duke ordered me-"

"You're not going in this door."

A shot rang through the air very vividly and Halo soon her a thump near the door.

"Move him."

There were then a few groans as two men moved the body from the doorway. The doorknob turned under Halo's hand and the door was wrenched open, throwing her forward and into someone's waiting arms.

Author's Notes: It's slightly shorter, but hey, who cares? Anyway, it's not much of a cliffhangar but it's not exactly who you think it is anyway ^.^ . The guy who owns those 'waiting arms' that is. Anyways, you know what to do, make me happy, praise me, give me your opinions, or . . . well, just review.