A/N: You gotta love these over-dramatic plots. I've got over 300 reviews!!!! *jumps up and down* Thanks people!!! *giggles manically* Ahh, I think it's time for another dose of medication…
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Chapter forty-nine: The Weight Of The World
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White: Having a little family reunion?
Max: You must be the new bad guy in my life.
White: You know, 452, you're much prettier than in your picture.
Max: Gee, miss the old bad guys already.
-Max and White (Bag 'Em)
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'I got
Heart full of pain/ Head full of stress
Handful of anger/ Held in my chest
Uphill struggle/ Blood, sweat and tears
Nothing to gain/ Everything to fear'
-Linkin Park (Nobody's Listening)
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White had trashed the entire lab in a matter of minutes before he'd got a hold of himself enough to start taking it out on Max again. She now had a couple of cracked ribs and a few more bruises on her face. No biggie. Manticore had done worse to her. Being stuck in a tiny little metal box for a week with no food and water had damaged her more than this, though Max was smart enough not to tell White that. Instead she remained silent through his whole tirade. Nothing could break her. Not White. Not Manticore. Not Renfro. Not Lydecker. Not Kafelnikov. Not her haunted past of dead brothers and sisters, all lost to the evils created by man. No one, past or present had been able to break her. Even now, with the weight of a nation on her shoulders, Max stood, or rather sat, proud and defiant. Erin had given her hope, her family- all the transgenics out there looking for her, all of them gave her hope and made her proud. She would not go out begging for the pain to stop. She would not go out cursing her tragic life. She would go out fighting.
After taking it out on Max for a little while, White realised that though he immensely enjoyed hurting the transgenic, for his plan to work, she had to be able to walk, or at least stagger to where they were going.
After several hours of having her strapped to the table, White had had her handcuffed to a metal chair. This allowed him to access her back as well as allowing the Phalanx to shift the table to allow them to move about more in preparation for their next move.
452 still hadn't given him the location of his son, as a matter of fact, he still didn't know if he had survived the initiation ritual and this pissed him off to no end, but this time, he was following the Conclaves orders. If he didn't, then, basically he was a dead man. On the plus side, if this plan worked, all of the transgenic would be destroyed and the Conclave had promised to use their extensive resources to help him find out about Ray.
Thula walked into the room, covered in weaponry and body armour, she looked like something from an action movie.
"We've been given the go ahead. The teams are ready."
White smiled and turned to look at a soldier. The soldier nodded and moved to Max's chair.
"It's time for us to end it" White had Max dragged to her feet "It's time for me to watch you die…"
"Overdramatic much?" Max quipped as the huge Phalanx soldier pulled her to her feet with a glare. Several other soldiers automatically surrounded her.
"Shut up!" White slapped her face, rocking Max backwards.
"Quit with the dramatics, White" Max sneered as she was pushed forward with the butt of a rifle "kill me and get it over with."
With that, she threw herself sideways into the soldier on her right.
*Flashback*
"Remember" Alec paced in front of them, doing a very good impression of a Manticore handler Max had had to deal with when she'd begun training with the other X5s after she'd been recaptured. The only difference was that Alec didn't stink of cigarettes, had more patience that she'd ever realised and also tended to wear a stupid smirk on his face.
"When looking for a chance to attack the enemy, watch how they're stood." He grinned at the '09 escapees "I know this is basic stuff that you got taught before you left but you need to go over all this stuff again. Balance is the key in close hand-to-hand combat. The way someone is stood, the way someone is moving could change the outcome in an attack. When you see the enemy, pay close attention to the way they move. It could give you the chance you need."
*End Flashback*
The Phalanx staggered and went for his gun but Max was still moving. Her hands were shackled tightly behind her back with the biggest pair of handcuffs she'd ever seen, but Max still had her feet and she used them. The first thing she did was kick his knee cap as hard as possible, at the same time as hooking her other foot around his ankle. The Phalanx went down. Max spun quickly, kicking White in the chest before spinning and launching another kick at another Phalanx. She didn't get to finish the move before she was tackled by two soldiers and was crushed under their weight, hitting her head hard enough on the floor to see stars.
'Great' Max thought as she futilely struggled beneath the men 'now I have a concussion too.'
She was dragged to her feet and backhanded by White.
"Now play nice 452. I'm giving you a treat before you die. You're going to see your family."
"Great" Max snarled back "I'll get to see them gut you."
White smirked before turning to a nearby soldier "If she talks again, rip out her tongue. She doesn't need to be able to speak."
The Phalanx nodded and smiled. Max decided it was time to shut up as they moved out of the lab and into a narrow halfway.
Despite being old, the place looked immaculate and brightly lit. It was obviously getting some power from somewhere, maybe an internal generator. Down one side of the hallway, it's wall was made up of glass that allowed her to see at least 4 other labs almost identical to the one she'd been in. Dix and Jondy would have a field day in here.
At the end of the hallway was a little room. They walked into it, the doors opening automatically before shutting them in again. White was stood in front of another door as they squeezed themselves in, and he was punching a series of numbers in before the doors had shut behind them. Max's genetically enhanced hearing picked up the sequence and stored it away. If she ever got out of this alive, the code would come in handy.
The door in front on White opened and they were greeted with an alley. Max looked around her before realisation dawned. The old labs. They were behind the old labs CJ had taken refuge in. Made sense if she really though about it. The whole building had once been owned by Sandeman. Why not the foundations as well?
She kept her head held high as they marched her out into the night. The damp smell of rain was in the air and the sky was hidden by heavy clouds. A bolt of lightening lit up the night and for a second Max was blinded before being shoved forward by a soldier behind her. An X6 spotted them first as they moved into the more populated areas, heading inward towards the main activity. His eyes widened just a fraction before he took off running. In a matter of seconds, transgenics were everywhere, their guns aimed on them as they walked but they didn't fire. They couldn't. Max had several Phalanx guns trained on her. One false move and they'd have one headless leader.
"Isn't this nice" White sounded amused "a welcome party."
Max ignored him as she spotted Jondy running out of the Infirmary, a gun in her hand and a pissed of expression on her face. Her eyes met her sisters and she shook her head minutely. Jondy nodded once and blended back into the crowds. From then on, Max saw the odd face of each of her siblings, each blending back into the crowds as they saw her. They were regrouping.
The crowd was yelling now, angry at the treatment she was receiving as she received another shove and tripped. She was hoisted roughly to her feet by Thula before being forced onward.
Max frowned as she saw where they were heading… the parking garage.
Everyone stood to attention as Alec walked into their midst, the look on his face as cold and determined as their own. They were soldiers in a war. One of their own had be captured. Their mission was simple. Retrieve their leader and kill the sonofabitches that had kidnapped her and hunted down their kind like animals. Krit had already had a team giving out weapons to all able bodied soldiers before White and his taskforce had begun to move out from the lab.
Alec came to a stop in front of the inner circle. It seemed incomplete without Max there.
They all looked at each other as the other transgenics blocked in White and his freak circus.
"We can't shoot him while Max is there" Alec said quietly and the others, though they really wanted to kill White, nodded their heads in agreement. "We also need to find out anything about the breeding cult, see if he starts to mouth off about their plans." Again more nodding.
"The plan is simple. Wait for my signal. Once that's given, kill them. Kill them all. Got me?"
Once again, they all nodded before moving off, the crowd clearing to let them near the front of the perimeter surrounding White and his team.
Original Cindy stopped Alec from following with a gentle hand on his arm. She too held a gun, insisting that she new how to shoot thanks to her time in the army.
Alec looked down at her and read compassion as well as anger in her eyes.
"Don't worry, little boo. We'll get my boo back and then we can help yo' girl, aiight?"
Alec nodded, looked away, then turned back to his friend. "If Max doesn't make it, I won't stop until they're dead, you know that right?"
Cindy nodded solemnly "If he hurts my boo, that bitch is gonna get his lily ass kicked. Straight up fact. No one messes with any of my boos. No matter how superior that stuck up, uppity breeding freak thinks he is, he's goin' down tonight, and you have Original Cindy's word on that."
Alec smiled grimly and then led the way after the rest of the people he'd come to think of as his own family.
"Isn't this anticlimactic" White drawled as he looked around him, his gaze moving over the angry transgenics moving around him before finally resting on Alec's familiar face. "The demise of your fearless leader in a toxic dump."
White was loving this, cherishing every moment as he took in the angry faces of the transgenics.
The Phalanx spread out so they were in a large circle with White and Max in the middle. The transgenics shifted, all of their weapons on the enemy but non fired. White looked around him and up. They were on 5 floors of the parking garage, all looking down on them, on him. He knew what they were waiting for. 494 was the leader without 452 around. He'd seen his record. Highest ranking transgenic followed by someone called 599 and then 452. He imagined that 599 was the blonde next to him but he wasn't certain. What they managed to find of his record was very sketchy.
"Let her go, White" 494 spoke up, his normally cocky face more serious than he'd ever seen it.
"I don't think so" White grinned before delivering a punch to Max's face. She staggered but remained standing and he hit her again with a hard punch to the stomach. When she was leant forward gasping, he followed it up with a kick in the face. "I'm having too much fun."
The blonde narrowed his eyes and made a move to step forward but another transgenic male put his hand on his shoulder to hold him back.
White turned back to 452.
As soon as they stopped in the courtyard, Max was looking around her, spotting Alec, Zack and the others. Erin wasn't there. She sighed with relief before beginning to worry. If she wasn't with the others, where was she? Max met Alec's eyes and she had her answer. Erin wasn't there because something had happened to her. Something extremely bad. Max kept her face soldier blank as White started speaking, not really paying attention to what he was saying as she took in the scene around her. Nearly everyone was there. Obviously, they still had security on the perimeters, probably extra so they would get alerted if there was another attack from the outside. Everyone else though, was here in the parking garage. All were armed, all were aiming at the Familiars and all weren't bothering to hide their expressions, they were pissed. Max knew that as soon as they were given the order by Alec, White and his soldiers were dead. Max allowed a small smile on her face before White wiped it off with a fist. Max focused on what he was saying now, waiting for the chance she'd get to run for cover. White hit her again, this time in the stomach. And followed it up with a kick in the face. Her mouth bled as she staggered. Straightening up, Max glared at White before spitting her blood in his face.
"You're a dead man, White" she growled at him, anger coursing through veins. "There's no way you can get out of this alive."
White simply punched her hard in the jaw.
Erin stared down at White hurting her friend as she already bled from his previous abuse. The transgenic grunted, but refused him the satisfaction of crying out as she swayed under his onslaught and blood loss.
A blinding rage raced through her, crashing into her like a physical blow and Erin staggered.
This was not right, what was happening to her? She looked down at her hands and spotted something strange happening to her skin. It was kind of itchy, hot, like fever hot. Her wrists were darker. No, her arms were darker. The very skin seemed to be turning black. Wait, it wasn't. Something was appearing on her skin, pushing up painfully from inside of her and Erin staggered again. Her eyes on her arms, she saw blood begin to trickle from beneath the dark shapes.
Erin gripped the wall, trying to keep standing as she began to shake more violently. She glanced down at the courtyard, at her friends. She didn't need this right now, Max was in danger- they all were. A rushing white noise took away any sound. She couldn't hear what was being said anymore and that frustrated her even more.
White was still stood there, taunting everyone as he hit Max, causing the transgenic to stumble, blood splattering the concrete.
More rage hit her system and that was the final straw and there was nothing she could do. Erin's hands were soaked in her blood and they slipped from the wall.
Erin's body dropped to the floor, shaking like she had a seizure. Her head hit the concrete loudly and Erin's eyes rolled back into her head as her hands balled into fists, her nails biting into her skin until her hands bled. She couldn't speak, couldn't move to get up, couldn't hear what was going on down in the courtyard, couldn't even hear her own laboured breathing.
The pain was like nothing Erin had ever felt before. She couldn't feel anything other than the pain. She couldn't feel her body, couldn't see, couldn't feel the concrete against her cheek. Erin was in more pain than her body could handle. She couldn't think passed the pain like she'd done as a child, couldn't switch off so it didn't seem so bad. The pain was overwhelming, yet under it all, there was something else. There was power. If Erin could form a coherent thought, she would've realized that the pain was the power. Whatever was happening to her was making her convulsing body stronger. Her muscles tightened even more, her body jerking violently as she lay on the floor and with the pain, the power rushed forward.
Erin could feel something else now as blood began to ooze freely from the skin of her arms and back- soaking her black tank top and causing her skin to itch like she had a rash. Erin felt hunger. Hunger for one thing. Blood.
As that one thought managed to get passed the pain and form a coherent thought in her brain, Erin opened her eyes and screamed.
Next Chapter: Catching Bullets…
"You should listen to your instincts, Erin. Don't suppress them."
Erin pulled out a large hunting knife, it's blade glinting in the flickering light and smiled "Glad we agree."
A/N: What can I say? Time for a little violence me thinks *smiles evilly* Remember, no questions about the preview.
Marty: Wow, you remembered the episode? *smirks* I thought you told me you turned it over? Yes, the end is nigh, yes Alec is being all manly but he's not TRYING. He doesn't need to. He's manly without even thinking about it :P Well, seeing as I made her say dude as she's dying, I think it can be done, don't you? Lol, don't worry, Max is now out of the room and they're gonna be somewhere else for the next several chapters, okay?
Messymissy: It wasn't the last chapter I had to split up, it was a future one nearer the end- lots of action and stuff in it. Well, the reason why Erin is always in Max's dream is that their futures are linked together. Because of this, Erin or rather, the form of Erin is being used as a kind of messenger.
MaxCat452: *smirks* Do you notice any familiar lines in that chapter dude? I thought you might like to see it included. See!!! Reviews do inspire!!! How else would I have been able to come up with that insult? Careful dude, all these compliments might go to my head and before you know it, I'll have set up a Yodes appreciation society, hehe. I have no idea how I came up with this story, I promise drugs were not involved. Wow, all the sarcastic things I could've said to that… *grins stupidly* Aha! What if Erin DOES die and then it's all about the effects of her death on those around her? After all, the title of the sequel has no mention of her name in it, right? Never thought of that did ya? *cackles* Now *tries to look serious* were you on drugs when you last reviewed? ^^ it's just that you were thinking dangerously like me for it to be normal :P *looks out window and waves* Now THAT is impressive. I've never met anyone who could fly before. *calls outside* I'm already writing the next chapter!
goldstranger: Nah dude, it's not her subconscious at all, but the dreams definitely DO mean something. It's building up to something big, something, ah, well, I can't tell you without giving too much away. Just remember this, not all of it will be answered in the sequel. Some of it won't be answered until the last part of the trilogy.
Professional scatterbrain: Lol don't worry, Logan will get publicly humiliated, just not until the sequel. And no, Erin won't be able to fly, so sadly, she won't be able to dive bomb him. Her powers will be, well, again, I can't say. Damn it!! This is really bugging me now! I want to tell you all what's gonna happen but I can't!!!
Elin: Good idea. Maybe later *grins*
Riley: Dude, no one is gonna pimp slap Logan!!! That isn't to say he won't end up looking like a total twat later on. Mind you, he does that all by himself anyway with his ferrety hair…
MirellaM: Thanks dude :P As for your questions? I guess you'll just have to see…
