A/N: No, your eyes don't deceive you- I HAVE updated. shrugs So, it took me a little longer to update this time. Have you seen the friggin length of it?! It's gotta be the longest chapter yet and definitely contains the most violence. Anyway, I don't know when the next one will be up- I'm off to the states for a couple of weeks in a few days so it'll have to be after then.
Hope everyone's having a good Summer and I hope you guys like the chapter.
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Chapter fifty-two: Fearless
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Boy: Want me to put you down?
Max: Depends. If you hold me up here long enough, will your head explode?
-Max and telekinetic boy (Exposure)
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'Loaded, loaded up this gun
There's a killer in me
Hoping, hope that you're the one
But you always run away
When I come around
I don't mind
The day I track you down
Terrify'
-Four Star Mary (Pain)
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To the humans, it looked like Erin had disappeared. To the transgenics, it looked like Erin was blurring on the spot. To Erin, it was a true Matrix moment. Everything seemed to slow down. Sounds became muffled and everything around her was moving in slow motion. The bullets were still moving towards her but were moving so slowly, Erin could count them all. Erin herself was moving slowly too, her body felt heavy but she was still moving faster than the bullets. Gritting her teeth, she reached out and grabbed one of the bullets from the side, mindful that it was still moving and had a deadly sharp point. Her muscles strained as she reached out faster than the speeding metal, though it seemed to her like she was reaching slowly, pushing her fist through the air. It was tiring, but she was catching bullets. As soon as her hand closed around the tiny projectile, there was a slight pressure on her palm as the bullet continued moving and then it slowed to a stop and she could hold it in her hand, still hot from the barrel of the gun. Smiling grimly, Erin reached out and once again began to remove the other bullets from the air.
"What-" Thula stared as Erin reappeared, held out her hand and dropped the bullets to the floor. Her eyes grew large. No one could move that fast. It was impossible.
"I don't like this game." White sounded slightly frustrated now. He pulled a radio from a pocket as he backed away, "Fall back. I'm ordering a retreat." His voice was urgent now and it was obvious he was nervous. Erin had successfully ruined his good mood and destroyed his confidence in the situation.
Erin laughed as he turned around to see several guns aimed at his head. He'd forgotten that he was surrounded by transgenics.
"You can't leave now, White." Erin smirked as he turned around to face her again. "The game's already begun. You made the first move and you made the rules," she shrugged carelessly, "It's not my fault you named a game you can't win."
"You think this is a game?" White demanded, his anger obviously rising.
"Didn't you when you first started killing transgenics?" Erin asked conversationally, "Nothing wrong with having a little fun now and then, right Ames? I mean, if you can go around killing anyone you want, why not me?"
"We are NOT the enemy," White stated defiantly, "these freaks are!"
Erin chuckled and shook her head, "Dude, give it up- you did it for 2 reasons. One was jealousy- you hated Daddy dearest for abandoning your ways for them. Two, you just love the killin'. You use the cult as an excuse to get your jollies."
"You know nothing about me!" White snarled now, his face twisted with rage.
Erin smirked. Man, this was SO easy. "I know more than you think. Dude, you just don't seem to realize that things are different now, do ya?" The smile she gave him was not human; it was the smile of a killer- someone who was more of a killer than even he could ever be. "You're in the big leagues now, mate. You can't back out of it now. The fun's just about to start. Now," she took a step forward, "didn't anyone teach you not to annoy the crazy psycho killer?"
"Kill her," White forced his voice to lower, he turned to Thula, "Kill her and make it painful."
Erin's smirk turned into a full blown grin as she rubbed her hands together, "Ooh, goody, I get to play." She moved away from Max, further into the centre of the circle as Thula surveyed the backs of the soldiers, still facing the transgenics but moving around like they felt nervous as if their backs were exposed.
"Sumner, Davis, Hamilton, Thomas, Bates."
Five soldiers straightened without turning around and Thula continued, "Kill the girl and make her scream." She smiled when she said this and five soldiers detached themselves from the circle of men and women. The gaps were immediately filled behind them and the five soldiers moved forward.
Erin stood still, not looking at the Familiars as they approached her from different sides. She looked dwarfed by them as they came closer to her, she was tiny compared to their size and muscle mass, yet she didn't look frightened in the slightest. She looked relaxed, calm. When they had surrounded her, their guns trained on her body, Erin smirked at them, her hands relaxed at her sides, making no threatening movements.
"Let's see what you got."
They moved in and Erin was lost from sight, covered by hitting, punching bodies. Even a transgenic would've gone down under the onslaught, yet all that reached their ears, over the sound of flesh hitting flesh, was Erin's laughter.
And that was when the killing began.
Erin appeared above the soldiers' heads, spinning horizontally like a corkscrew on its side, to land behind two of the soldiers before any of them had time to realize she wasn't where she was before.
Erin grabbed them by their jackets and threw them over both of her shoulders simultaneously. She grinned at the 3 remaining soldiers as they finally realized she wasn't where they thought she was. "Don't worry," she bounced on the balls of her feet looking unscathed by their onslaught, "You'll all get to die."
She didn't give them the chance to attack her again. The first was Sumner- the only female amongst her aggressors. She was given a kick to the chest that sent her flying. Still moving, Erin turned to Bates, dropping down to sweep his legs out from under him before spinning back up into a standing position right in front of Davis. She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder. The other two- Hamilton and Thomas came rushing back at her but Erin knocked them back with a few blurred hand movements that sent them flying again. Erin was still bouncing on the balls of her feet "C'mon guys! I've not even warmed up yet!"
The soldiers got to their feet and looked at each other.
"Don't just stand there!" Thula yelled at them, "Use your weapons!"
That was all the incentive they needed. Like the other Familiar soldiers, they were carrying guns- M11 9mms on straps across their shoulders. Thula had told them to cause her pain so they'd put them around to their backs, so they could still carry them if they needed them. They weren't going to use them because to cause the ultimate pain, they would normally use their hands. These soldiers were trained in torture. It was one of the things the Conclave demanded they learn in order to become the best of the best. Taught from the age of 10, it was considered basic training. Transgenics were taught it at the age of seven. Now, however, Thula was getting impatient. Erin was to be killed. Immediately. Thula's impatience would get them killed. Thula's impatience would get her killed. She just didn't know it yet.
The five soldiers swung their guns around as they moved to circle her again, careful to spread out as to not get caught in their own crossfire. Erin looked unaffected, that same smile on her face as she watched them take their positions.
"Aww, don't tell me you're afraid of little 'ole me, are 'ya?" Erin smiled at their cautious stances and the distance they were keeping from her. "But I'm just a girl, right?" She put on her best little girl voice, "Please don't hurt me!"
They snarled at her in reply and Erin openly laughed at them. "Wow, scary noises. Am I meant to be shaking in my Nikes?"
"Kill her!" Thula screamed at them again and with only one more look at each other, the soldiers fired.
Erin barely had time to move now, but the others wouldn't know that as they saw her blur once again. They didn't see her mouth the word "Shit!" as the Familiars opened fire.
They didn't see her come extremely close to getting shot by several bullets. Erin quickly decided that several people using any form of machine gun and more importantly, any using them on her, was a bad thing. It wasn't that the bullets were moving faster than when fired from an ordinary handgun; it was that there were just so many and they were coming at her from several directions. If Max was with her right then, she'd be dead. Erin turned, still pulling bullets from the air to look at Max. Max was still out of the way, and the bullets were getting no further than Erin was allowing them. New sweat broke out and it began to trickle down between her shoulder blades but Erin didn't stop moving at her impossible speed. One bullet came extremely close to her arm, nicking her slightly before she managed to get out of the way but it wouldn't be visible to the others unless they were looking for it, her own blood still coated her arms. For the first time, that little amount of pain seemed to bring the real Erin forward, allowing terror and desperation to make an appearance before the predator, whatever it was that seemed to be possessing her rose up again to push Erin aside. This all happened in a matter of seconds at that same high speed and no one saw as Erin was lost to them again. The bullets were all gone, dropped to the floor and Erin, the predator stood briefly amongst the fallen metal as she allowed her body to become re-accustomed to normal speed before she was moving again.
She looked down at herself. "Should I be wearing black leather and calling myself Trinity?"
The five soldiers looked down at their guns and simultaneously swung them back around to leave their hands free before pulling out knives; identical to the one Erin had swiped, unbeknownst to them.
"Aww, shiny!" Erin gave them one of those predatory smiles before taking a minute step towards Hamilton.
Seeing it, Hamilton took a step back as Davis and Sumner made a lunge for Erin. She didn't even bother to use her speed again.
Erin caught both Sumner and Davis' wrists and squeezed, making them yell out and drop their knives. Then, they found themselves flying as Erin swung them around and let go. She picked up the dropped knives as the other three launched themselves at her.
"Now children," Erin back-flipped on the spot, her feet catching Hamilton in the chin, making him stagger backwards, spitting blood on the floor. Erin spun and ducked low, thrusting one of the knives up into a gap in his armour, just below the ribs. "Don't you know you shouldn't play with pointy objects?"
Hamilton's eyes widened but he didn't yell out like the others had, only swung his fist at her head, ignoring the fact that she'd given him a lethal blow. Erin ducked and caught his arm with the hand holding the other knife, her other hand gripped the knife in his stomach and pushed it upwards, her face close to his as she pulled it up through his chest. Blood coated her hand and clothes, as his eyes widened even further. A trickle of blood ran down his chin from his mouth as he looked down at the girl, her face impassive as she put a long gash up his chest, using strength she shouldn't have to drag the knife through armour that should've deflected the knife.
She let go of him abruptly, and turned away as he fell, the knife still in his chest, her impassive face being the last thing he'd see.
Erin was moving again, throwing the other knife at Bates and hitting him in the throat. He was dead before he hit the floor.
Sumner, Davis and Thomas were much more cautious, pulling their guns out again as Erin pulled the knife from Hamilton's bloody chest as she walked towards them. There was no human emotion on her face now, only a cold blankness that soldiers wore on their faces. But Erin was no soldier.
All of a sudden, Erin was within reach of Thomas and Sumner, a blur that they barely caught before Thomas was skidding across the concrete on his stomach and Erin was twisting Sumner's hands on her gun as it let off a round. One of Erin's hands ended up near the end of the barrel, the other near the butt of the gun.
She looked up into the woman's angry face and grinned before suddenly launching herself up and over the soldier's head, her hands still on the gun that was now choking the older woman. Sumner began to choke and panic. Her face turning purple, her eyes pleading with Thomas and Davis as she spluttered and gagged.
Erin looked up as Thomas and Davis began to close in. Moving quickly, she released her hold on the gun, grabbed Sumner's head in one hand- turning it sideways against her chest and exposing the woman's throat as she brought the knife she had kept in her hand around to the woman's face.
Sumner's eyes widened even more as she saw what was about to happen, her struggles getting more and more frantic as the blade lowered. But then, all she could do was watch as the girl whispered in her ear, "Say goodnight." A sharp pain and then all she saw was darkness.
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Alec forced himself to watch as his girlfriend slit the Familiar's throat like butter. Her face was shut down. No emotion. Inhuman. It was as if he was watching another person. This wasn't his girlfriend. This wasn't the woman he loved. This was… something else…
He winced as the thunder boomed again overhead, but he didn't take his eyes off of Erin or Max. He was there for a reason and Erin had just saved Max's life. He had to remember that.
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Sketchy stared wide-eyed as his friend fought like a transgenic against the bad guys. He knew that the Familiars were meant to be strong, feel no pain and all that shit, but this was ridiculous! Erin was making them look like Ordinaries as they stood around watching their own die. She was taking them out one by one, but that wasn't what had got him so freaked out. It was the fact that Erin was doing it so coldly. Her face- when he could catch a glimpse of it, was not the same laid back Erin he knew. This one was too cold, the look on her face scared him. He thanked however was listening that he couldn't see her eyes, because he knew that he'd get a major A Class wiggins. Sketchy shivered as he caught sight of her again, this time as she flipped over the Familiar woman's head to slice her throat open. Sketchy felt like he was going to throw up the last of Josh's dinner as the woman's blood sprayed the concrete. That was not his friend he was looking at, that was not human.
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Max watched in silence, practically itching to join in the fight but her body refusing to let her. She was too injured. She could barely see out of one eye and she knew she had at least one broken rib and several tazer burns. She'd be healed in a few days but right now, it took all of her strength to keep her exhausted body standing.
Instead, she used her time to watch the Familiars, trying to predict their moves as well as Erin's. It appeared that she had been forgotten for now, a good thing because she knew she wouldn't last facing off against just one of these bozos, let alone 27 of them. But Erin, wow, Erin seemed to be doing just fine. If she didn't know better, she'd say that she was a super transgenic. Her movements were hard to track and it was impossible to predict where she'd hit next. It looked like she was striking out wherever and whenever she felt like it.
Max smiled as she looked at the last 2 Phalanx. Erin had scared them, or maybe she should say, scared them even more because they were absolutely terrified. It was clear to see that their soldier masks were cracking under the pressure of this one small girl. But then, Erin was no child, and they were finally beginning to see it. Max's smile disappeared as she saw Erin kick one of the soldiers. No, she was no child.
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Thomas and Davis were the last of the five remaining and they knew without a doubt that they were dead.
The first was Thomas. He and Davis both managed to shoot off a round at her before she was on him. He let go of his gun as she grabbed his arms in a vice like grip, making his eyes water. She'd taken a step back, releasing him before he realised too late that he'd done what she'd wanted him to do. Erin kicked the barrel of the gun so hard that it spun on it's strap, over his head and into Erin's waiting hands where she deftly twisted it around and fired it point blank at Thomas's body. She let the gun drop as she was sprayed by his blood and he crumpled to the ground, a look of absolute shock on his face. She turned away.
Davis, seeing his last ally in the fight dead, turned to look at White and his
Commanding Officer. White was stood impassively at the sidelines, watching Erin's moves as she turned towards Davis. Thula looked enraged but stood her ground and Davis knew, right there and then, that he would not get out of this alive. They were using him as a guinea pig and it didn't matter how good a soldier he was. He was going to die. He turned terrified eyes towards the teenager watching him. Soaked in his unit mate's blood, calm and uninjured, she looked like something out of a horror movie. Innocence corrupted by violence and a need to kill. These thoughts were ironic coming from a soldier raised in a breeding cult, taught to torture at 10 years old. As a child he'd been innocent once. That didn't last long either.
Erin began to walk towards the soldier calmly and he began to back up. She licked her lips as she tasted his fear. Davis blinked and then suddenly felt a hard kick to his side. He spun around with the blow, his eyes snapping open to see the concrete pillar coming at him. He felt a hand on the back of his neck- the only sign that he wasn't flying. 'She's strong,' was the last thing he thought before his head hit the concrete with incredible force, shattering his skull.
Erin let the soldier drop to the floor and moved into the centre of the carnage she had wrought. Her blank face melted into one of contemplation. "Hmm," she murmured and then began to whistle. Erin looked down at the bodies littering the floor, before picking up their guns and throwing them over the heads of the Phalanx to the transgenics nearest her. She then began to drag the bodies- two at a time to one side of the circle, clearing what everyone considered as the battle arena. The whole time, she was whistling the song 'Bitch' by Meredith Brooks. In an overly chipper voiceand over exaggerated American accent she began to sing the chorus.
'I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I'm your hell, I'm your dream
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way'
Erin began to bop her head as she continued to shift bodies.
'So take me as I am
This may mean
You'll have to be a stronger man
Rest assured that
When I start to make you nervous
And I'm going to extremes
Tomorrow I will change
And today won't mean a thing'
"This is insane," Thula muttered to a stoic White beside her, "She's killing us off one by one and we're letting her do it."
'I'm a bitch, I'm a lover
I'm a child, I'm a mother
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I'm your hell, I'm your dream
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way'
"We need to see what she can do, the Conclave wishes to know about her," White commented without taking his eyes from the girl. "Besides, how do you expect us to kill her while keeping our backs covered?"
Thula clenched her fists and turned back to the girl. Erin had the gall to give her a little wave, showing that she'd heard every word they'd said, before sauntering back over to 452. Thula fought to keep her face as blank as the transgenics. "I will not let that bitch kill us all!" She watched as the girl turned her back to them, an obvious display of indolent disrespect towards them and Thula fumed.
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Max tensed as Erin turned and walked towards her, whistling the pre-pulse tune. She readied herself for something, though she had no idea what.
"Max, you have to go now." All amusement disappeared from Erin's face as she stopped in front of her, her back once again to the enemy.
"What? Hell no!" Max glared at the younger girl, "I'm not leaving you here to fight them all!"
She looked around at the Phalanx before her eyes fell on White and her anger flared.
"Max, look at me." Erin gently touched her arm her fingers sticky with blood. Max brought her gaze back to her friend. "Do you think what I just did was a fluke? You have to let me do this. I promise I'll explain later, okay?"
Max stared at Erin, debating if she truly was insane before reality disappeared from her again with another flashback of her dream.
"The first battle approaches. Lines will blur and shades of grey colour hearts and heads. A warrior will come into play. Choose your battles and when all is done, know if you have an enemy or ally. Ask what is needed."
Erin was the warrior. She'd been telling Max of her own change, of her own involvement with their war. Knowing immediately what she should do, Max looked into her eyes through the shades, "What d'you need?"
Letting her hand drop, Erin looked away, out to the faces of their friends- the friends she'd betrayed.
'What do YOU want?' Max thought quietly. The darkness of the night didn't seem to touch them as they stood amongst the chaos.
The light of the flames flickered on their skin and The Link became silent. Screams filled the air once again and Max winced.
The girl's face became void of emotion and she looked at the ground. One word escaped from her lips in a mere whisper "Trust."
"Trust," she whispered before looking back at Max, "I need your trust."
Max looked around her and closed her eyes. In her dream she'd given her trust. In her dream, she'd known it was the right thing to do, but now it was different. Erin had lied to them to gain their trust. She'd lived amongst them, purposely deceiving them. Max opened her eyes and looked at Erin. Yet, here she was, protecting her. She had just saved her life, doing something that no transgenic or Ordinary ever could. She'd caught a bullet that had had Max's name on it. She took a deep breath and held out her hand, "You got it."
Erin reached out and shook her hand.
Max regarded the girl by her side 'That's what you need?'
The girl said nothing.
Slowly, Max held out her hand to her 'Then you have it.'
The girl looked up at her then, her eyes wide. A real smile spread on her face making her look like an angel in the flickering light, for this girl was far from ugly.
She slowly reached out and grasped Max's hand.
In reality now, Erin's smile was far from angelic. It was feral; no human could ever smile like that. But then, Max now knew, Erin wasn't human. Erin was something else and a killer was most definitely one of them, but weren't they all?
"Good," Erin looked around her and up before clapping her hands together with a smile that looked more human, "Now, let's get you outta here."
"I don't think so," Thula stepped forward, "She dies here with the rest of them."
"Um, no." Erin replied dismissively, turning back to Max and beginning to pull her away.
"That is it!" Thula yelled, "I'm not gonna just stand here and watch you kill us off one by one!" She paused for a second and when she next spoke, her voice came out deadly calm. "I'm not gonna let you do what you want here!"
Erin stopped, let go of Max and turned to stare at her. She cocked her head to one side like a bird or dog does when they're curious or focusing on something. "Then stop me." she said quietly and Thula smiled.
"Oh, I will." Thula said, taking up the challenge and beginning to walk towards her. White stopped her with a hard grip on the elbow.
"Are you nuts?! She's the Link, Thula- the Destroyer!"
"And?" Thula asked, "Look at her, White." She gestured to Erin who had moved away from Max into the center of the circle once more. If it weren't for the blood and tattoos, she would've looked like an innocent girl.
"Like you said, everyone knows legends can be exaggerated."
"She's stronger, Thula. Not just faster. She'll kill you with that strength. She's playing with us; she's actually having fun killing us. Do you not understand? The legends are not exaggerated. She really is the world's best killer. She really can destroy armies."
"Look at the size of her, White." Thula gestured to Erin again, "There is no way she can be as strong as they say she is. Her muscle mass it too small. It's scientifically impossible."
"You and I know that science does not come in to this," White argued, "And your inability to accept that will get you killed."
Thula shook her head, "Wrong, White. It won't. I'm going to go over there and make her suffer. Then, when I snap her neck, we will complete our mission and I will be given honours from the Conclave while you will be mocked as the one who refused to take a chance." She smirked as she yanked her arm from his grasp. "But then, you're used to that now, aren't you?"
She walked away, leaving a man behind who now didn't care if she was killed by the girl or not.
Thula stopped within 10 feet of Erin, her eyes taking in her opponent and her relaxed stance. "You really don't care that you're about to die, do you?" Thula frowned at this, it would lessen the pleasure. Thula savoured the looks of her victims, the look of fear, of total terror on their faces before she ended their lives.
Erin shrugged carelessly, "I could say the same thing to you, Thula. You know what I am, what I can do, but you just don't want to believe that I exist. You don't want to believe that there is someone better than you."
Thula rolled her eyes, "Please. You know nothing about me."
Erin smirked, her voice coming out sugary sweet "I know 452 got you handcuffed to a post in Jam Pony."
Thula snarled at her and began to circle her slowly.
Erin mimicked her movements and they circled each other slowly, their movements silent, fluid. Erin didn't need to do this, but the savage part of her- the part that enjoyed the taste of fear, the exhilaration of the hunt and the satisfaction of the kill enjoyed toying with the soldier. She enjoyed letting the woman believe she had a chance, despite all that she had seen Erin could do. She enjoyed using her stupidity and arrogance against her.
"Thula, Thula, Thula," her smooth voice carried to everyone watching, "Always so predictable."
Her calm face was the total opposite of Thula's whose forehead was creased in concentration as she kept her eyes narrowed on Erin's confident movements.
Round and round, they circled, round and round. Thula kept moving sideways, keeping her front to the threat as said threat walked casually around, like she was taking a stroll. Round and round. Round and round.
"Always wanting to be the best, always wanting to be the scariest, the killer, the bad, bad girl." Round and round. Round and round.
Thula ignored her taunts as best she could, her nostrils flaring as she fought to rein in her short temper.
"Thinks if she takes out the Destroyer, she'll be the baddest on the block again." Erin shook her head and chuckled, "How sad." Round and round.
"Shut up." Thula ground out and Erin smirked. She knew she wouldn't last long. Patience was not one of the Familiars' strong points.
"Just stating a fact," Erin held her hands up defensively, "not my fault you have issues."
Thula remained silent as they continued to circle each other. Round and round. Round and round.
"Are we gonna fight here, or do you just like walking in circles?" Erin continued to move, her voice pleasant now. "I mean, I know you Familiars do this a lot, but this is a bit ridiculous-"
And that was when Thula made her move.
The Familiars' way of fighting was to basically beat their opponent into a bloody pulp using nothing but brute strength. Erin was about to use that against her.
Erin didn't move away from Thula's punches, she didn't move from the spot at all, she just blocked everything. Thula, realised she wasn't getting any hits in and started to incorporate kicks into her moves. Erin moved slightly now and Thula spotted an opening.
Feinting with a right kick and left hook, her hand lashed out at Erin's face.
Like the rest of her hits, it didn't connect. Erin caught it an inch from her face. Thula looked past her fist to the girl's face and gritted her teeth at Erin's condescending smile before she found her arm being twisted behind her back and found herself being propelled towards another pillar, just like Davis. However, when she got within arms reach, Thula planted her feet against the wall and flipped over Erin's head, just like 452 had done to her at Jam Pony. She landed behind Erin, and her fist shot out for a hit in the kidneys, but Erin wasn't there, she was beside her, catching her fist once again and propelling her backwards before releasing her and watching her as she staggered.
As soon as she was on firm footing, Thula launched another attack with the same results. A solid side kick to the chest shoved her away again and Erin shook her head sadly. Thula was tiring quickly and Erin wasn't even breathing hard.
Sighing, the Destroyer walked towards her calmly as Thula readied herself for another attack. Erin beat her to it, punching her once in the face, splitting her lip and drawing blood. The next hit had her doubled over and gasping for breath against several broken ribs. The one after that had her collapsing back against the burnt out car, blood trickling from her mouth.
Gritting her teeth and snarling like an animal, Thula launched herself at Erin again, albeit, a lot more slowly.
"What d'ya think this is? The WWF?" Erin taunted, skipping out of her reach easily. Thula grunted in response, her anger keeping her going despite exhaustion creeping up on her fast. She launched a high kick at Erin's face.
"You want wrestling?" Erin caught the kick to her head and held onto her foot. "Fine. I can do wrestling." With that, she gripped Thula's bullet-proof vest with her other hand and literally threw her across the courtyard. Thula landed badly and the sound of breaking bones reached their ears. She struggled slowly to her knees, obviously in great pain.
Erin walked towards her casually as Thula finally managed to get to her feet and glare at the younger girl.
Erin smiled pleasantly, "Hurting yet?" Thula spat at her and Erin dodged it. The older woman sneered at her and suddenly, Erin was beside the soldier, making her step back. Then, just as suddenly, Erin's hand shot out and gripped her neck, causing Thula to choke as she tried to hit at Erin with her hands and feet. Erin blocked all of her blows with ease while still keeping a firm hold on her. She gave her that look again as she cocked her head to one side. She gave her a curious look as if trying to understand her thought processes.
"Did you truly think you could defeat me?" she asked allowing her hand to relax a tiny bit to allow Thula to speak. It looked ridicules really, someone as small as Erin managing to hold someone as big as Thula still and with one hand.
"I mean, really? I can kill faster, and more efficiently than you ever could. I have knowledge of martial arts and fighting techniques in my head, thousands of years old." Erin spoke calmly, like having a normal conversation with someone she wasn't holding by the throat. "I know how to inflict pain," she continued, "how to torture, how to do things you could never dream of. I know how to break a mind, how to drive people insane by just showing them what I can do with my bare hands. I know how to defeat armies; how to keep a man alive long enough to see his heart beat one last time in my hand. And you thought that you alone could kill me?"
"Where I fail," Thula chocked out, "Others will succeed. You cannot win. Our path is written in the stars. We have been around for centuries. You cannot stop what we have set in motion. No one can."
Erin brought Thula close to her so she could see her smile. "Wrong. You see, you are what is known as the bad guy. Bad guys always lose. That is the way of it, don't you understand that?" Erin looked her up and down and added as an afterthought, "Plus, there's this whole thing where I could hunt you all down and exterminate you all like rats if I wanted to. Either way, you lose." She gave her that slightly insane smile before allowing her face to become blank which was just as scary. "Bored now."
And then, to everyone's surprise, she let Thula go. Thula's eyes widened before she smiled and took a fighting stance.
Erin stared at her for a second. "Still think I'm not strong enough?" she asked before pulling back her arm and, putting all of her weight into it, punched Thula hard in the face.
The soldier flew up into the air once more and landed back on the other side of the courtyard, not far from White. She didn't get up again.
If anyone were to get a look at Thula's face, they would be met with a horrible sight.
Erin turned away and looked down at her bloody fist and nails with disgust, "That's gonna take ages to get out."
Cautiously, White approached Thula's body and knelt down by it, turning it over. He looked at what was left of her face. Her nose had been pushed back, thecartilagesplintering in her brain. Her upper jaw was broken; her lower one hanging at an odd angle and her eyes had burst. It looked like she'd been hit with a sledge hammer.
"Impressive." White said as he looked down at Thula's corpse. He obviously didn't grieve the fact that she was dead.
He stood up once more and looked Erin up and down as if seeing her in a new light. "They say you could flip over a car if you wanted to. Is that true?" he sounded curious rather than scared.
All he got was a small smile in return.
"They say you can tear a man limb from limb." He continued.
Erin's smile disappeared. "Maybe you'll find out."
White smiled, "It's your instincts, Erin. They tell you to cause pain, to hurt, to kill."
Erin stared back, that same blank look on her face.
"You're controlling them, aren't you? If you weren't, everyone here, absolutely everyone would be dead by now."
"I'm not ruled by my instincts, White." Erin stated calmly, "I don't ignore them, but I'm not controlled by them either."
"You should listen to your instincts, Erin. Don't suppress them."
Erin pulled out a large hunting knife, its blade glinting in the flickering light and smiled, "Glad we agree."
She took a couple of steps forward- that movement alone screaming predator as she seemed to glide forward.
"What the hell are you doin', Erin?!" Max's angry voice broke the heavy silence and Erin's head snapped round to look at her.
"Listening to my instincts. Right now, they're tellin' me to give 'im a bigger smile, shatter his knee caps and rip out his spine. Got a problem with that?"
She moved silently, softly, intently, the movements of a predator stalking its prey. It was enough to raise the hair of everyone watching, or maybe that was the coldness of her smile and the way she seemed so at ease with the situation. She knew what was going to happen. She knew she was surrounded but she knew that they were going to end up dead by her hands and not the other way around. She knew it with a cold certainty of someone who was more than a fighter. She knew it simply with the certainty that she was better.
Max grabbed Erin's arm, pulling her away slightly, only to pull her hand back coated in blood. Max grimaced. She, like the rest of the transgenics, had watched everything in silence, her soldier mask firmly in place to cover her fear, shock and whatever else Erin's display of cold-bloodedness caused her to feel.
"We need him alive!" she whispered and Erin looked back at White before turning to Max again, putting the knife back in it's sheath in the small of her back with a sigh of disappointment. The sheath was black and couldn't be seen if you weren't looking
for it. Max wondered where she got it from then decided it was probably best if she didn't know.
"Don't worry, Max. You'll get your answers, but first, you've got to go."
"No, I won't leave you here to fight them all alone!" Max replied immediately, straightening her spine and putting on her best soldier face.
"Max, you've got to. You should know this already. You're the leader; you need to be able to know when to fight. You have to choose your battles. You can't always play the hero and you can't always run. Sometimes you just have to step back."
Max stared at her and Erin paused with a frown, "What?"
"You kept saying something like that in my dreams," Max whispered and Erin stared at her for a second.
"Creepy. Oh well, listen to my dream self, okay? You can't fight. You're too injured. Besides," she grinned a grin so much like Alec's that Max couldn't help but smile a little back, "I can look after myself."
Max examined Erin closely. Max was good at judging people. She could tell what they were thinking, except of course, unless they were transgenic. Erin was most definitely not transgenic if what they were all saying was true and she wasn't from their world. Even so, Max couldn't read her now. Erin was all sarcasm and confidence, but they were all like that. It usually hid what they were really feeling.
Max took a deep breath. She had told Erin that she would trust her and she would. She closed her eyes briefly before nodding.
Erin smiled, "Cool." She looked at White who was watching them closely, not coming any further. "Now, if anyone takes a shot at Max," Erin spoke loudly to the Familiars. "I can guarantee them a long and painful death after I drive them slowly insane through torture and the execution of their families." She said cheerfully before gently leading Max towards one part of the courtyard. They stopped and Erin looked up, Max and everyone else following her gaze. The old pulley system was directly above them.
Max looked back at her, "You've gotta be kidding me?"
Erin grinned in reply, "Nope."
"But it's so high up!" The chain was two floors above them and too far away from the wall for the transgenics on that floor to reach.
"Yup. You don't have a problem with heights now; do 'ya Maxie?"
"Hell no, it's just even we couldn't jump that high."
Erin looked back down at Max, "I'm not a transgenic."
She backed away across the courtyard, her eyes on the chain, "I'm somethin' else" she murmured before sprinting back towards Max and launching herself upwards. She propelled herself off of the wall and reached up to grip the chain halfway up. The pulley gave a loud screech of protest before her weight pulled it down and she fell to the floor, still gripping the chain to land on her feet, looking at Max expectantly.
Max smiled, impressed before gripping the chain tightly and wrapping her feet around it. "Hoist away." she grinned and Erin quickly did the same thing as before, her weight pulling the other end of the chain down and Max shot up into the air. Erin landed and began to forcibly pull the chain and Max further up. When the chain could go no further, hands reached out and managed to pull Max over the wall of the 5th floor.
"Cheers Josh!" Erin called, noticing that he and Jondy were no longer on the ground floor. She looked around her and smiled. "Now, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" She turned to White, " Are you gonna do what Thula said? Let me kill them off, one by one?" She folded her arms, " 'Cause it's no problem, you know."
"Oh, I think I've seen all I need to see," White smiled briefly, "I think it's time to end this game of yours."
Erin raised an eyebrow and moved to sit on the hood of the burnt out car.
White turned to the Phalanx nearest him. "Samson," he ignored the snort from Erin's direction, "Your team is now in charge of killing her."
"Yes Sir!" Samson smirked, taking a step out of formation to fix Erin with a glare.
Erin now began to whistle a song that sounded suspiciously like something by Tom Jones. Erin gave him a little wave before he turned to his men.
The circle around them was getting smaller as the Phalanx were taken out one by one, yet the transgenics didn't move. Alec hadn't given them the order and he wouldn't while Erin was still playing whatever game it was she was playing.
He knew that before all of this, Erin had been sane. But was she now? Had this change effected her personality? It appeared so. It appeared to everyone that she loved violence, loved messing with the Familiars' heads, loved killing them off. It appeared to everyone that she truly had gone off the deep end. Was she messing with them? Or was it all real?
"Beta unit- you have your orders!" Samson continued to smirk at Erin, "Kill her."
There was 9 of them. All coming towards her like a giant wall of muscle. All male. All pissed at her. All huge. All armed. Erin ran. Not away from them like any sane person would do, but straight at them.
Barrelling into them with a rugby tackle that would make the English Rugby team proud (of course, the Americans would think of it as more of a football tackle), Erin knocked two soldiers flying into 3 others. Landing on top of one of the soldiers' chests, she reached down and snapped his neck before being hauled off of him by two soldiers gripping her arms tightly. She was hauled to her feet as the two soldiers pulled at her arms in opposite directions, as if trying to rip her arms from their sockets, which was what they were probably trying to actually do.
Erin felt her shoulders beginning to pop as two other soldiers brought their guns around and opened fire.
Time seemed to slow down again as Erin twisted in the soldiers' grasps. Her eyes watered at the pain they were inflicting on her arms, pulling her in two directions at once. She saw two other soldiers move around in front of her and take aim.
Gritting her teeth, Erin looked between the two soldiers holding her arms and reacted the way any normal person would. She pulled back. The soldiers slammed together in front of her, still holding onto her arms. The bullets hit them instead of her, and Erin continued to move faster than them all- planting her feet onto one of the falling soldier's backs, she launched herself into a backwards somersault that sent her impossibly high up into the air to land near the edge of the battle arena. Reaching behind her, she snapped the nearest soldier's neck and took his sidearm from him.
Shooting off a couple of rounds, Erin ducked down behind the burnt out car, her back to the rusted door as she checked the gun and listened.
They were approaching slowly, cautiously. Silent to the human ear, almost silent to the transgenics. To Erin, they were loud enough for her to pinpoint their locations. She closed her eyes and smiled. Her hearing and sense of smell were increased significantly and she knew that she could hear the Familiar closest to the car. Not just his movements- the sound of his soft footfalls as he placed his feet carefully onto the concrete, not just the soft rustle of fabric. She could hear his heartbeat- faint, but getting louder as he cautiously snuck forward. She could smell his sweat, his deodorant, his male smell. She could also smell his fear. Her smile grew- so scared, so sweet.
There was a loud crack as lightening lit up the sky, illuminating the parking garage more brightly than the torches for a fraction of a second before it was once again plunged into flickering shadows.
At the same time as that flash of lightening, Erin launched herself backwards over the dinted roof of the car, shooting two soldiers dead as she slid to a stop before the soldier she had smelt.
"Boo!" she grinned making him jump and take a step back as he brought his gun up.
Laughing, Erin reached around him and removed his handgun from its holster, spun him back around as he tried to spin away from her touch and shot him point-blank under his chin, blowing his brains out.
Still laughing, Erin brought up both hands, each holding a gun and shot two more soldiers- killing them instantly, before dropping the guns and blurring once again.
Erin was a hurricane, soldiers seemed to be whipped up in the air when they were barely within reach of her before flying off in different directions.
The next one to die was Samson himself as he tried to get her in his sights. Erin spun, blurred and dodged in the style of the transgenics to keep him off balance.
Appearing for a second before him, she grabbed his knife from it's sheath on his belt and spun back around in a complete circle, her body becoming a blur of grey and black, her feet lashing out to kick a soldier backwards before she spun back inwards again, as if on a string, coming to a sudden stop back in front of the soldier. She smiled up at him as her arm shot upwards. Blood sprayed her face as she rammed the knife home, up through the soft part of the skin under the jaw, pinning his mouth shut and ramming the blade up into his brain.
Erin stalked up to the last member of Samson's team, deftly disarming him before her hands once again became a blur, hitting him at strategic points on his body and causing him to choke and fall to his knees, his nose bleeding and unable to move. Erin then reached out and gently put a finger on his forehead, giving him a gentle push. He fell backwards choking. Erin didn't stand around to watch him die. Instead she casually strolled over to the rusted car and jumped up onto it's roof.
"Are we havin' fun yet?" Erin jumped up and down on the severely dented metal shell that had once been the roof of the car. It groaned quietly in protest.
"Why are you doing this?" White demanded as he looked around at the carnage she had wrought. Bodies littered the concrete like used sweet wrappers dumped on the floor by a careless hand, no longer needed or of any use.
Erin snorted "They were trying to kill me. Duh!"
"No, why are you helping them?" White gestured angrily to the silent transgenics.
Erin shrugged. "They're my friends." Erin moved from the roof of the car to the hood. "They don't deserve to die."
"They don't deserve to die?" White gave her a truly exasperated look, "You're a killer! You were born to kill!"
Erin simply stared at him.
"You were born for war!" White roared as Erin continued to lightly jump up and down on the car.
Erin continued to stare at him as she jumped up and down. "I feel so special. Can't you see? I'm blushing."
"They're an insult to everything you are! They were created and taught to kill. You were born for it! You are the world's greatest predator! You crave it- the violence, the kill. It's in your blood. You were born to destroy!" White was fast becoming enraged by Erin's lack of reaction.
"I was also born in a different world, White! Or did the huge blue portal I came through escape your attention?" Their audience shifted slightly. The confirmation by Erin herself seemed to shock the transgenics. She had just admitted that she was not from their world. They wondered what this made her. What this meant to their relationship with her. They were already doubting it as it was, now, it just got a whole lot more complicated.
Erin jumped off of the car and leant against it, folding her arms across her chest.
"You're insane!" White yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration and spinning on his heel to begin pacing angrily.
"I've been called worse. Oh, c'mon! If you'd done your research on me you'd know I've spent some of my time in what you might call a hospital," Erin began to examine her nails, unadorned by nail varnish, "I prefer to call it a loony bin. Quiet place really. Great place if you wanna get high. They dose you up with all sorts of crap and those padded rooms are real cosy. Only thing I didn't like was the straightjackets. Definitely not bondage fun." She looked up and gave him a smile that suggested she wasn't all there. That maybe, just maybe, White was right and she was insane. This made Erin a whole lot more dangerous. "Gives you time to reflect, you know?"
"Reflecting? Mental homes? Drugs? What is this shit?! You are the Destroyer, Erin! You live to kill. You hunt, you maim, you tare to shreds anything you can get your hands on."
Erin pointedly looked around at the bodies surrounding them. "I think I just proved I can and will do that." She reached into a pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. She put it into her mouth and began to chew. "Ah, minty freshness."
"Then you should be killing them!" he yelled, pointing at Alec and the others. "You're not meant to be dating one of them!"
"Okay, that's it!" Erin straightened up. "I don't know where you get off on trying to tell me what to do, but I'll do as you say… to a certain extent. I'll hunt, I'll maim and I'll tare to shreds every bit of flesh I get my hands on, okay? Only, it won't be them. It'll be you." She stalked forwards. "I was getting tired of this game anyway."
And then she grabbed the Phalanx nearest her and threw him at a pillar. He landed below the pulley system and Erin began to stalk towards him angrily. When she reached him, she kicked him into the wall again.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" she asked the cowering Phalanx as he half crawled, half dragged himself away from her.
"Not as much as this will." a voice said from the opposite side the circle as another sound filled the silence.
Erin looked up but it was too late. The chain wrapped itself around her neck and pulled, the sound of the rusted metal moving quickly through the pulley filled the air and Erin was yanked off of the ground by her neck. Her hands immediately went to the chain, trying to loosen it as it strangled her. Soon, she was several floors above the ground, her legs flailing as she tried to free herself.
Transgenics were yelling now, but unable to do anything. They had no idea how this was happening so had no way to stop it and Erin was swinging too quickly for them to be able to get a hold on her.
Erin gave one last burst of energy, trying to get free but it was too late. Her arms went limp and soon she was just swaying above them. She wasn't breathing.
"No!" Alec's shout echoed in the heavy silence that fell upon everyone. And then, as if knowing what he was feeling, the clouds finally broke and the rain began to fall.
Next Chapter: Falling Rain…
"…She could've killed us all!"
"She didn't, that's all that matters." Braker glared at White. He obviously didn't like taking orders from him, "Now, what d'you want me to do with the body?"
A/N: Is all hope lost? grins at preview well, there's gonna be a sequel, so what d'you think?
wiggins= the creeps, scared, shivers etc.
Arwen-amy: Yeah, I'm tempted to call this thing the Neverending fic :P
Cat x5-989: Um, yep, and she's gonna feel extremely bad and it's going to have to be something she has to deal with. Great rolls eyes more issues for Erin.
Riley: I actually planned this bit. I know when most of the action stuff is gonna happen, it's just all of the emotional stuff I tend to include at the last minute that aren't expected. Jensen looks pretty fit as usual. I've seen pics at different sites. There's even a rumor he'll be in a scary flick soon. Go check out the NunswithPens message board. There's a thread on it.
Messymissy: Erin doesn't know anything about the Manticore stuff. If she did, it would've been mentioned already. But as you know, she's very good at hiding her emotions (except with Alec) and she's also very good at acting. Remember, only SOME of the stuff to do with Erin is going to be revealed. The sequel is going to be very big on Erin's past etc and a bit more on the whole Link/ Destroyer thing.
RiotGirl04: I'm not sure what Logan's planning. I decided to mention him 'cause people keep asking where he is. I'll think of something, and then he'll probably get his arse kicked for it grins
