Author's Notes: I re-wrote chapters 1 and 2. I didn't really like the way they turned out the first time. Leave a review or e-mail me for suggestions (Teela_ErnnLaties00@yahoo.com)

SLIGHT Duke 'bashing' ahead!

Metropolis: Fallen Light

Chapter 9. Fallen Security

Halo followed Rock all the way through the town, moving through people and forcing Upper-level working robots out of their way.

Rock wondered why his father would have killed President Boone and not tell him the reason . . . Or not tell him at all. What was Duke Red thinking? Planning? What was he going to do to Metropolis? To the people? To The Marduks? To Rock?

Halo was curious why Duke Red would kill a person of such an important stature, or why he would kill anyone at all, and what his plan had to do with Boone.

Thankfully the manor was soon in sight, and Halo knew that by looking at his face Rock was relieved as well. Relieved to be able to talk to his father, the Duke. Relieved to be home, if only for a short time.

Rock burst through the door.

"Father!" he called out. Halo, a bit timid, was standing away from Rock as though hoping no one could see her. The maid woman that had bid Kenna and Halo entrance to the manor before a meeting with Red came from a door down the hall to their left. Rock turned to her, his face twisted with confusion and slight anger.

"Till, where's Duke Red?"

"He hasn't returned home yet-" Rock was already leaving out the door, Halo watching him. She turned, sighing, to Till and shrugged, then followed him.

Rock and Halo ran across the grounds of the manor and back into Upper-level Metropolis. They stopped in the middle of the street, nothing around except robots and occasional humans. Halo turned to Rock, watching as he looked around for any sign of the Duke.

"Rock, maybe I shouldn't come with you?"

Rock stopped and turned.

"I mean, what good would I do if you did find Duke Red? I'd only get in your way. And I need to go find Kenna and Fern. Maybe I could help look for Rafe-"

"Rafe is dead." A look of slight sorrow struck Halo's features. She didn't like when humans died . . . humans or robots. "But you're right. You wouldn't be much help to me. I just wanted to talk to him, but I suppose you shouldn't be around if anything did get out of hand . . . Go down Back-Alley, try and find the others and stay there. I'm going to the Tower."

**

Halo found Kenna and Fern stuffing themselves somewhere down one of the Back-Alleys. They had been given food, courtesy of the Marduks. Halo stood in front of them, looking down at them as though they were disgraceful.

"What?" Kenna said.

"Boone is dead."

"Huh?!" Fern stood, her noodles still on her fork, halfway in her mouth. She swallowed with a very loud gulp. "What d'ya mean, Boone's dead?! He can't be dead!"

"Don't tell me that, I saw his dead body! His blood covered the whole damn window! Rock and I think - know - that Duke Red shot the president. We just need a motive and a way to place him there-"

"But he WAS there!"

"Yes, but there's no way we could prove it was him. He could have been shot by a stray bullet from the massacre, that place was loaded with windows everywhere."

They all fell silent. Some of the Marduks had turned to listen.

"We just need to find Duke Red. Rock told me to stay wherever I found you, but he's looking for Duke Red in the tower . . . I just don't know if he's there."

"If Rock told you to stay put I think you should."

Halo wheeled around to face Fern.

"I can't stand around and do nothing!"

"Why not? We have," Kenna said, his mouth full. But Halo was silent. She had found a flaw in her excuse about the stray bullet: The blood covered the window and there no windows in the opposite direction, supposedly where the Duke had been sitting.

But really . . . Why would the Duke go to the tower, if he was there at all? And why kill the president? It wasn't like he was totally against the plans of destroying the robots. He was practically funding the whole Marduk movement!

Halo sighed loudly and began walking slowly back the way she came. Kenna watched her go, but Fern accompanied her.

"Halo, why do you think Red would want to kill Boone?"

"I dunno. He's got everything you can think of, a manor, money, political aid, trust of the people, his own army, and now he gets to run a town."

"Halo, think about it. With Boone dead he's gonna get a load of paperwork, press conferences, interviews for the news, he's going to be pretty busy."

"But if he's got a way to cover up if he did it-"

"That's the thing, you see, no one actually saw him shoot Boone, it's your word against his, and I can assure you with the people against robots and you on their side, it's pretty much a lost cause. You're gonna have to do some digging into this and catch Duke Red, somehow, some way. And even if he did do it and he is covering up his tracks, he'll still have paperwork and everything over Boone's death, and the fact that he's going to run the city after Boone doesn't help the position any more. Go to the Zigguraut, go all over the city again if you have to to find the Duke and talk to him, but you've got to get it on tape."

Halo was suddenly grateful that Fern was a reporter (really one of two reasons she was even there) as she took the tape recorder from Fern. She looked up at Fern, who was actually considerably taller than her.

"Thanks."

"Ah, it's nothing. You'll have to record over the tape that's in there. I record Kenna's snores." Halo gave a small laugh and began to run down Back-Alley and out into main Upper-level Metropolis. She could see the top of the near-complete Zigguraut Tower over the buildings that stood in her way. She wound her way through the alleys until she approached it.

She stood at its base, staring up at it. It was slightly intimidating, as much as she hated to admit it. It was so tall and . . . tall. That was one of Halo's weaknesses, to cringe in fear at things bigger than her . . . But maybe this was a sign? She wasn't even supposed to be there, she had only disregarded Rock's order, and she knew he didn't like people defying him.

**

The tower was large and Rock had to admit he was a little confused. He didn't even know if his father was here, yet he was determined to prove himself right . . . He hoped he was right.

"Father!" he called. He heard a clanking noise from the room to his left and turned abruptly, holding his gun high and still. A man emerged from the room, holding a large wrench in his right hand.

"Hey! Watch it, you mind your gun," he said. Rock didn't move.

"Where is my father?"

"Your father?" He looked at Rock for a minute. "You're Rock, right? The Duke, he . . . Uh . . . Well, he told me to tell you somethin' if you came up here but I can't remember-"

"You better remember fast, because if you don't remember soon you won't have a brain to remember with," Rock threatened, taking his gun even higher to point at the man's head.

"Right . . . Right, well, uh . . . Let's see . . ." Rock's hand tensed and the man saw him clenching that gun with his finger on the trigger so tight his knuckles were already white. "Something about a throne r-" But when he had spoken the word 'throne' Rock had taken off, knowing already where his father had gone.

**

The halls were long a dark and she had to navigate her way by running with her hand on the wall. When she came to another hallway she would turn. When she reached an elevator, no matter how long or far she had come, she would take it and go up a different floor.

As she ran along another hallway she saw a faint light beaming dimly through the crack between the door and floor. She walked to that door and got down on her stomach to try and peer inside. All she could see was the metal floor and a pair of boots. They moved forward, then back again, and now another pair came into view. She leaned up on her knees and pressed an ear to the door, where she could only barely hear voices, one of them noticeably being Rock's.

"But, sir-"

"No. You will hear me out. You are not to speak a word of Boone's death to anyone. Not the Marduks, not the public, I don't even want to hear it from you. You will keep your mouth shut!"

"But-"

"And your friend. That idiot girl that Harbin sent over as a representative, I want her shut up immediately." Halo reached down and pulled the recorder from her coat pocket and pressed the 'rec' button slowly and set it on the floor, the speaker facing the crack. "-probably already told her friends, I want them quiet as well. I don't care of your methods, just get rid of them. Lock them up, kill them, do whatever you can as long as they stay quiet."

"Yes, sir, but-" Rock was struggling to get a word in.

"On second thought . . ." One pair of boots went away and Halo saw a red cloak swing around his heels as he turned. That must be Duke Red, she thought. "Take them all captive. I would like to speak with that annoying girl personally. I believe she may just be the key to Harbin's own un-doing."

Red gave a small chuckle.

"But, sir-"

"What?"

"The throne, sir."

"What about the throne?" Red snapped. Halo could tell that Rock didn't want to say what he was about to.

"For whatever reason you did President Boone in, why not be seated at the throne? Wouldn't it be easier?"

Red laughed loudly this time.

"Rock, my poor boy, you don't even know why this is happening, so you should worry not where I am placed. I did not create the throne to be used by me. In fact, I did not create the throne to be used by a male."

Halo narrowed her eyes in thought. Only a female could activate this thrown, whatever it was. But why? Why did Duke Red care about the throne? Why create is specially for a female? And why kill Boone? Halo was jarred quickly from her thoughts as Red continued.

"Now, Rock, I want you to go and catch the little mice for me."

"Yes, sir."

Halo could hear the thumping of his boots getting louder and snatched the recorder and started running. She was mere feet away when the door slid open.

"Hey! Get back here!" Rock yelled. Halo was done for. He was as superior Marduk and could easily shoot her down or catch up with her. Normally she would have thought that he wouldn't do anything, he couldn't shoot or come after her, but she knew quite well that he was loyal to his father and would surely, almost willingly, do anything Duke Red told him to do.

She approached an elevator and slammed her fist onto the button. It opened quite slowly and she leaped in, punching in the last number on the scale. As the doors closed she saw Rock turning the corner and come running at the elevator, but she was gone before he got there.

Halo leaned against the wall and slid down, out of breath. It would be a long way down and she was quite sure the Tower didn't have any stairs. She looked down at the recorder and saw the 'rec' button was still down. She pressed 'stop' and it clicked. When the doors began to open again she saw, through the darkness, the doors of the Tower where light leaked in. She ran for it and had nearly gotten there when she stopped and looked over her shoulder. Rock had run out of the elevator opposite hers. She looked at him for a minute, then gathered herself and continued out. Now all she had to do was go somewhere where Rock, Fern, Kenna, or anyone could find her.

** Halo's POV **

I knew I had to go somewhere where Fern and Kenna couldn't find me, for if I went to them they would get caught, and I had to get away from Rock. I still had my gun in one of my trench-coat pockets, but what use would it be against Rock?

Well, I knew where I was going to go: Zone One. It was easily the most crowded place in all of Metropolis and I could just as easily lose him in there. People knew me very well down there too and would surely protect me from him.

I had to admit, though, I was only half angry at him. Even though he was out to take me captive, I knew he was only doing it because he was loyal and faithful to his so-called father. But I was angry because he couldn't see past Duke Red's outer exterior of 'love' and to his innards where he was really using Rock.

I was on the gate to Zone One. I had gotten on my knees on the platform to reduce the chance of taking a bullet, but as I looked through the bars I saw he had stopped. His gun was in his hand yet a smirk played across his face. He turned and I saw him running the different direction . . . Not towards the back way to get into Zone One, but in the direction of the Back-Alley.

I gasped suddenly and stood straight up, nearly dropping my recorder in the process. It slipped to the tips of my fingers yet I managed to cling on. Rock knew where Fern and Kenna were. He had told me himself to look in Back-Alley, sure of where they were, and since I got to him so quick they must have been in one of them, and the closest was Back-Alley VII, the place where I had found them.

He was going to try and bribe me! He was going to try and bribe me into giving myself in! Well, not yet. I wasn't going to give in to Rock and Red.

I began pleading the guy controlling the gate to make it go faster, and he told me that it was as fast as it went (what felt to me like 2 mph). I slumped myself down against the metal bars and waited until we got near the outer gate. When we were close enough I jumped off the rail and had gone clear out of sight of the gate when it finally arrived.

The first place I headed was to the closest bar. It wasn't really a bar, they just had pool tables and card tables and such in there. When I entered it was so full of smoke I could only barely see through it. I edged my way between the cramped pool tables, making sure that my gun was showing from my pocket for fear of being groped. I stood away from people, searching for the two people I knew could help me. I spotted one and continued forward to him (still making sure my gun was visible).

"Halo!"

"Atlas!"

I approached him with as good a fake smile as I could muster. I hugged him loosely for a minute then pulled away.

"I . . . I need to talk to you . . . Alone."

He leaned back against the side of the pool table where he had been, grasping the cue stick loosely.

"What's wrong?" he asked. I didn't wanna tell him in front of people. He turned as someone tapped him on the shoulder to tell him it was his turn. He turned and leaned over the table, looking for a good shot. He began circling the table to continue his search and I followed.

"Where's Parth?"

"Ah, he's somewhere around," Atlas replied, getting ready to take a shot. "But what do you want to talk about?"

I hesitated before replying, in a somewhat small and timid voice, "About the Duke." He had decided to take his shot right when I uttered out the last word and ended up making a Scratch. We watched the cue ball zoom across the table and into the corner pocket.

"The Duke?" he said. He looked around for a minute, then, "Then I guess we'd better go outside." He put the cue stick down and announced he'd be right back. I had a disgusted look on my face when the buddies he had been playing pool with sent stupid smirks towards me . . . I didn't wanna know what they were thinking.

Atlas and I finally emerged from the smoke-laden billiard hall and he directed me toward a room. He opened the door, flicked on the light, and let me in before shutting the door behind him. He looked at me, a somewhat grave and worried look on his face.

The room was laden with around five or six extra chairs. He took one and I sat across from him.

"What's this about?" he said sternly.

"I . . . You know who Rock is?"

"Duke Red's son, leader of Marduks, why?"

"I've . . . I should start from the beginning. You're not going to like this, but . . . You really should trust me, okay? Promise you won't interrupt or get mad and yell or anything, okay?"

Atlas paused then nodded. I took a deep breath and started to explain.

"I work for a secret sort of society and it's run by a man named Harbin, and, well, we support and help robots." Atlas narrowed his eyes slightly. "I was sent here with Kenna, Fern, and Karen, but you knew that, but what you didn't know is we were sent here as representatives for that secret society to persuade the Duke to allow robots more freedom than they have, or send some out of Metropolis to try and achieve the freedom that they want somewhere else." I knew Atlas wasn't too happy with me now.

"Well, our first attempt didn't work, but I wasn't as worried about it as I should have been, and I let myself sort of become . . . friends . . . with Rock." Atlas's mouth twitched at the corners, but he kept his word and didn't say anything. "Duke Red and President Boone ordered a rally of robot-supporters to gather at the City Hall, and there were a few hundred humans there, and Red ordered the two hundred or so Marduks to begin a massacre, which had been what the rally was supposed to be anyway.

"I didn't believe it myself, but almost all of the humans died, and Red and Boone did this for political power and to have more control over the city, because, in their minds, the less robot-supporters the better. Rock called off his Marduks after Red and Boone were in the Hall, yet in that time Red killed Boone off, and we don't have a motive yet." Atlas had raised an eyebrow, and this was making me quite nervous of his reaction when I had finished.

"Rock and I went and searched for the Duke. Rock told me to depart from him and find Fern and Kenna while he searched Zigguraut tower for Red. I found Fern and Kenna, and Fern told me to go back after Rock and try and speak with Duke Red. When I got there, Rock had already found Red in something called the 'throne room'. I knew their conversation was confidential, so I had to eavesdrop and I recorded their conversation."

I began to dig around in my coat pockets for the recorder. I pulled out my gun and dropped it on the floor, then I began to pull out a number of other things until I finally came across the recorder. I held it up so he could see.

"I can't really explain what was said, you'd have to hear it for yourself." I placed the hand-held recorder on the chair beside mine and pushed the 'play' button and it began to read out Duke Red and Rock's 'confidential' conversation.

When it was finished Atlas looked at me for a minute, then looked back down at the recorder, then back at me.

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

"I . . . I want you to help me, Atlas. Rock . . . He's not secure anymore, it's like he doesn't know what he's doing yet at the same time he does . . ." I just confused myself! "He knows where Kenna and Fern are. I was hoping you could round up a few people and help me confront Rock, because I can't do it alone. He's . . . he's too loyal to the Duke and easily manipulated by him. He could kill me off and I would have failed Harbin and the society, and the robots."

Atlas waited for a moment, thinking, his eyes still slightly narrow but his brows furrowed. I watched him, my eyes imploring.

"Halo . . ." I had been holding my breath this whole time and I still hadn't let it go. "I am against the robots, but also against the Duke. As you are my friend . . ." He looked at me, hesitating (again). "I will help you." I took a breath and smiled faintly. I put all my dumped belongings back in my pockets and stood up. Atlas led me out and as we walked back past the pool tables, where his disturbing buddies began whistling at me as I walked past. I must say I was rather tempted to pull my gun out, but I didn't wanna cause a scene.

Author's Notes: Okay, that's it. Chapter 9. Enjoy? Hope so. I'm going to go and try and write chapter 10, though I must say I think I confused myself. I'll figure it out, in the meantime, keep yourselves busy by reading my other stuff (if you haven't already . . .) and PLEASE try and find and read my story at FictionPress.com (Pearly Gates, by Moonlit) and remember to review/email me with suggestions to this or any of my other work. ^_^