Note: Using the word count on my computer, I found out that had chapter ten
gone as I planed, it would've been over ten thousand words. That hurts,
that really hurts.
Disclaimer: So, I went to this raffle ticket drawing that I thought was for ownership of the birds of prey, but it turned out that it was for a bird of prey, and imaginary. I was crushed.
Dedication: Alrighty, VixenRaign, and Squibler, this one goes to you guys. I figure that you could use a chapter for yourselves so I hope you like it.
Hidden within the cover provided by the surrounding trees, two figures watched the battle rage on. All of it was being recorded on a video camera that one held steady in their hands. "Are you getting everything?" Stevens asked, not taking his eyes away from the fight in front of him.
"I've got everything, don't worry about it so much. This is some amazing shit." Sanders was also in awe of the strength, power, and pure skill that was being displayed before her.
"Watch your mouth." Stevens scolded sternly. "I should wash your mouth out with a bar of soap."
"Too bad there ain't no soap here. I guess you'll just have to deal." All sympathies expressed were obviously false.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm our superior and that you shouldn't be speaking like that? I could report you." His threats were very serious.
"You're going to go all school yard on me, and tattle?" She asked incredulously.
"There is nothing 'school yard' about this. You're living in the real world, and here there are consequences to go along with your actions." Almost surprisingly, he turned away from the continuing fight in order to talk.
"I know full well that this is real. I'm not a fucking moron." She started.
Stevens interrupted, bellowing, "Language!"
An angry growl was given before she continued. "I'm not a moron. Real life? I understand that, I've been living in it for awhile now, and I'm thinking that maybe you're the one who'd like to join me there."
"What are you implying?" He challenged, veins popping in his forehead.
"That you're a dip shit. You think that you can just go running off to tell on someone every time they do something you don't like? Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but that doesn't happen for most people. They have to deal with things they don't like, and that is the real world." The video camera had been discarded and was now laying on its side, still recording the duel.
"I'm the in charge officer and I'll tell you what's right and wrong." He was raging, and not the quiet kind either. Only the concentration of all fighters kept them from being discovered.
"You think that's going to last forever? That you'll always be higher up than everyone else? Well fuck you. If we take another little trip to real life, we'll see your career diminish over time leaving you taking orders. What are you going to do then?" They were inches apart now, each challenging the other. Obviously, they had been a bad choice to team up together.
"That won't happen." There was an almost forced confidence to his words.
"Except for one problem, it will happen. Grow up." Her eyes were flashing.
"Shut your mouth." His voice was stern, brooking no argument.
"Why don't you make me asshole?" Came the expected retort.
Both were trying to stare the other down now, their gazes fierce and unyielding. At the same time, both chose to move into a standing position, Stevens to use his height as an advantage to intimidate, and Sanders to prove that nothing would make her back down. Chest was pressed against chest; they were toe to toe with barely any space between them. Hands fell clenched at sides with the knuckles turning white from the strength. Still neither would back down; too full of pride and too stubborn to let the other win on something like this. They had insulted each other, and now one needed to be proven right. Finally Stevens moved, slapping Sanders across the face, snapping her head side ways.
She turned back to him, placing a hand on her split lip to wipe away the blood. Promptly, she hit him back only instead of slapping him, actually punching him with enough force to send him stumbling to the side. His hand was put to the side of his jaw, feeling for the bruise that was sure to form later. Both of their eyes narrowed once more as they tried to make the other back down before the fight began. As expected, neither would, and a brawl broke out.
Punches were flying left and right each hitting the other with as much strength as they could muster. Neither were really even trying to dodge, their sole thoughts were that of making sure the other person felt ten times worse than they did. Sanders tackled Stevens to the ground and began punching him over and over while smacking his head into the ground. It became a battle of who could get on top then with neither of them winning. Sanders managed to pin Stevens once more, but he managed to snap out of his rage for a moment and remember something, he had a gun. With a surge of strength, he shoved her off, and reached for his gun.
Sanders stopped when she saw the gun pointed at her. Their breath was labored, and the memory of their mission was nothing more than a buzz in the back of their minds. "You don't want to do this." She warned, edging away from him.
"Don't I?" His voice was cold and his eyes were colder. He fired, and she ran.
Luck seemed to be on her side as every last one of the bullets missed her while she ran into the trees. Cover was provided afterwards, and she could here Stevens yelling behind her, but still she ran on with a desperate need to get away. "Psycho." She whispered under her breath.
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She had gotten lost long ago, even her abilities, as Huntress were too confused to figure anything out. On the plus side, she seemed to have lost the big beast that had been lumbering after her. The entire time had been spent running and it was only now that she slowed down to a walk in search of some place to sit that wasn't on the ground. A fallen log was just to her left, so she sat down and took the time to catch her breath and to think.
That fight had been harder than she expected, much harder than she could've anticipated. Sure, there had been a giant wolf man running at her, but it didn't just posses strength, there was a level of intelligence there. It didn't just attack her, it actually fought her, using all of the abilities it possessed to its advantage. Whatever it was could learn, and react as was appropriate. There was no point in denying it, that thing had kicked her ass, actually getting the mighty Huntress to repeat. That was completely unacceptable; she shouldn't have to run from something like what that thing was.
Then her thoughts drifted towards her girlfriend. Both of those things had to have been working together for a charge like that to come about. If she had that much trouble fighting her own opponent, how much trouble did Dinah have? There was no way for her to tell since she hadn't gotten a very good look at Dinah's enemy, but if it was anything like her's, well, she shuddered to think. But when she had last looked, Dinah seemed to be doing okay, so it was possible that she at least won. It also meant that she would be worried sick.
Not that Helena herself wasn't worried; the thought of Dinah alone somewhere almost had her panicking. If Dinah had won, then maybe her own opponent had gone after Dinah. That was a hard thought to comprehend. Especially if she hadn't beaten the other one, then Dinah would be up against both of them. Guilt flooded Helena as she thought of that scenario. "I should've stayed." She scolded herself. She was still a little fatigued, but nothing compared to the concern she felt for Dinah right now.
Just as she was about to get up and find her way back, something stopped her. That something was big, fury, and very strong, something it proved by throwing her into a tree. Helena was stunned, she hadn't heard the thing coming at all, and it just blind-sided her. Without Huntress out, the blow hurt a lot more than it usually would too, and Helena was having trouble recovering from it. The beast however, was having no problems at all and hit the dazed Helena across the back sending her skidding into the ground. Pain was coursing through her body, especially in her ribs, which had taken the brunt of the first blow. She was fairly sure that they were cracked at least if not broken. Slowly, she managed to rise to her feet, and was surprised that the beast let her instead of attacking her while she was down.
All at once she transformed back to Huntress knowing that her chances were better that way. This time she launched the attack and caught her opponent by vague surprise. It was a snap kick to the thing's jaw followed by a backhand that seemed to barely hurt the thing, although it did whimper in displeasure. No way in hell was Huntress going to let that thing recover though, it could already do enough damage and she needed to get in what hits she could. She gave a kick to the diaphragm that doubled over the beast, then she clasped her hands together, and brought them down across the thing's back. It nearly sent it to the ground, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
It's head lifted, and it let loose a low and deadly growl that chilled Huntress's bones. Swiping at her, Huntress tried to block, but was still tossed to the side, she did however, manage to land on her feet this time. Recovering well enough, she managed to dodge the next blow that was aimed for her, but when she stood back up, she wound up in an unexpected bear hug. Her already sore ribs felt like they were going to cave in, and she was struggling to breathe. The beast just snarled in her face, almost as if it was taunting her, but could figure out how to say any words. Her world was blurring, but there was no way in hell she was going to go down like this, so she rounded up what strength she had left, and delivered a hard kick.
Immediately she was dropped to the ground and allowed to catch her breath while cradling her sore ribs. A grimace crossed her face as she attempted to get into a fighting stance, however, the pain was great and even Huntress failed to do so. It finally recovered and tackled her down to the ground; paws on either side of her face, and its snout so close that she could kiss it were the desire to come upon her. The breath coming from it was foul beyond all belief, and for the second time that day it slobbered on her. This time though, she did nothing, she just didn't have the energy to fight it and the pain right then. It saw that she wasn't fighting, and picked her up along with itself. Snorting in her face from disappointment, it threw her into another tree, which her head hit hard. Everything went black for Huntress.
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"I don't want to just sit around doing nothing. I feel useless." Reese complained as he paced back and forth.
"We aren't doing nothing, Reese. Charging in unprepared is no way to do this." Barbara was t ring to reason with him, but over the past while, he had become increasingly annoying. She longed for the silence that she was once allowed to work in, but unfortunately, Reese wouldn't let that happen.
"And what exactly am I doing? You're the one getting us all prepared, and you have the technology. I'm just standing here." He shot back.
"Oh how I wish you were just standing." Barbara mumbled.
"What?" Reese asked confused.
"Nothing. In all honesty Reese, there's not much you could do right now even if you weren't in the clock tower. So, my suggestion is to deal with it." There really was nothing to do at the moment, and even Barbara was taking the time to enjoy a nice book. "Why don't you try reading?"
"I can't concentrate that long on something right now." He responded still pacing.
"That's it! Sit down." Reese looked at her in shock having not suspected her to yell at him, and it was that shock that got him to comply. "Why can't you do anything but pace, and annoy me to death?"
"I'm worried about Helena." He confessed easily as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I find it interesting that you always seem to forget that Dinah is out there too." Barbara commented sarcastically.
"What are you implying?" He eyed her warily.
"Nothing really. I just want to know what your intentions really are. Is it to help, or are you simply trying to get my daughter, I mean, Helena into a relationship?" Blushing a little at her use of the word daughter, Barbara managed to finish the sentence.
Reese quirked an eyebrow, but his better judgment told him to say nothing about the little slip. "I want to do everything I can to help, and if in the end I wind up in a relationship with Helena, then I won't fight it."
"What I really want to know is how that 'relationship' might come about." Hand mimed quotation marks were used around the word relationship.
"Well, uh, I might, uh," He swallowed deeply, "ask her?"
"After the experience she's gone through?" Barbara's tone displayed neither disapproval nor approval, so Reese found himself lost on the right answer.
"M-m-maybe?" He actually winced at his answer.
"Try again, and this time, with a real answer."
"I-I might mention something." He answered cautiously, looking at his hands that were neatly folded on his lap.
"And if she doesn't want anything?" Barbara looked straight at him at the seriousness contained in her eyes was almost frightening.
"What would I do?" He silently asked himself, however, this obviously wasn't an answer that Barbara would like, so he lied. "I would leave her alone."
Her gazed remained pinned on him for a few moments, but she soon turned back to the original subject. "Just stay sitting, we'll get them back." She went back to reading her book and said nothing more.
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Okay, so maybe running into the woods with no direction wasn't the best idea, but it was the best choice at the time. Between getting lost or getting shot by a gun-wielding maniac, well, it really wasn't too hard to pick. She was fairly certain that she wasn't being followed, and so had opted to slow down to a walk. There was nothing to worry about now, that psycho was left far in the dust. She was safe, or at least she thought she was when there came a noise like something running through the trees. "Shit."
What came out of the trees though was hardly what she had feared. It was one of the girls they had been watching, Dinah, she believed her name was. Unfortunately she had yet to be spotted by the girl running, and they collided together both being sent to the ground.
Dinah got up from Sanders with confusion written all over her face. "How can you be alive?"
"Gee, I'm fine, thanks for asking." She remarked sarcastically. "I don't think that I can answer that right now."
"Look, I want some damn answers. Last thing I saw of you, you were dead laying in a grave that Huntress and I dug for you."
"I took a drug that simulated death." She finally admitted still sitting on the ground.
"Why? What are you doing here?" Dinah was shocked to say the least, and nothing seemed to be making sense.
"Running from a gun toting psychopath. You?" Her tone was casual, and Dinah found it disconcerting and annoying at the same time.
Responding in kind, "Running from a freak with lot's of sharp metal coming out of places where there shouldn't be any."
Sanders looked solemn for a moment, then rose to her feet with eyes still to the ground. It looked as though she were making a hard decision. "What if. . .What if I were to tell you, that I know about the things sent after you and your friend?"
Within a second she found herself pinned to a tree by an unknown force and a dangerous looking blond scowling in her face. "Tell me what you know. Why us? What did we do? Who do you work for?"
"Slow down. I'm an agent who was hired to look after you two. There was nothing personal in it being you guys, the only reason you were picked was because you were going on a trip, and were Meta. We were here to make sure that you got to where you were supposed to be, and to make sure that you didn't die before those things showed up."
A look of realization came over Dinah's face. "My injuries. You, it was you wasn't it?"
"Well, me and my partner." She tried to shrug but it wasn't working too well.
"The other pilot?" Dinah correctly assumed the anger was slowly fading away.
"Exactly. As for the things that are after you and your friend, you've just been introduced to the prototype of the next generation of soldiers." Dinah's brow furrowed as she let go of her hold on Sanders. "They're forced mutants. None of them asked for this, they were just some unlucky people who have been made into monsters."
"How can someone do something like that?" It truly was hard to comprehend.
"Some people are just twisted okay? I'd tell you to get out of here, but there really isn't anywhere to go." This time she was able to pull off her shrug.
"What do you suggest then?"
Sanders eyes turned wide with fright. "Fight that." She pointed behind Dinah at the former human she now had to fight.
"Not again." Dinah pleaded under her breath as she dodged to the side while using her tk to push Sanders out of the way as well. Rolling into a crouch, Dinah awaited the next attack. The attack didn't come for her though; instead it was aimed at Sanders.
Using her tk, Dinah caught the abomination in mid leap trying to keep it away from its target. It seemed to have a resistance against long-term use of her powers though, and had Sanders not gotten out of the way, she would've been dead. Sanders noticed this as well, and as the thing turned to face Dinah, Sanders jumped on its back sending it into a frenzy of trying to get her off. This was an opportunity not to be taken lightly, so Dinah took advantage of it by getting in as many hits as she could. In no time, Sanders had been thrown off hard into a tree and was now of no more help due to her unconsciousness. One opponent was out of the way, and that left Dinah alone to deal with this creature once again.
There was no time to think, only to react. Slashes were coming at her faster than she could counter, and she began to back pedal while trying to dodge the strikes. An inconveniently placed tree wound up behind her though, and she dropped to the ground in order to dodge a swipe aimed at her head. While still on the ground, she swept its legs from under it, and then slid it backwards with her tk putting in so much force, that I wound up lifting from the ground despite the fact that she hadn't meant it to happen. Now she used her tk to grab Sanders's prone body, and float it behind her as she ran through the forest once more.
The next sight she came upon was most unpleasant; in fact, it was one of the worst things she had ever seen. Huntress being tossed as though she was nothing, and then hitting the ground with a sickening thud of dead weight. "Helena." Dinah whispered in anguish, dropping the prone Sanders without even realizing it. Blood was forming in a pool under Helena's head, and Dinah knew that it was bad. "Helena." She repeated, her voice more strained than the first time. Tears blurred her vision and she did nothing to stop them from falling. "Helena." She felt lost, she felt scared, and she felt alone, things that she never wanted to feel again. "Helena."
A whir of blades was coming from behind her, and the monstrous beast had finally spotted her, and decided that it too would rush her. None of this really mattered, except that they were the ones who hurt her love. Their fault, and now they would regret it. Letting loose a scream of rage, frustration, and sorrow, Dinah unleashed her attack. Using her powers, Dinah threw the beast at the bladed wonder, damaging both of them although not severely. They managed to rise to their feet, but Dinah was already in front of them. Using the beast as a sort of ramp, she ran up it, and then kicked it into the back of the head to get leverage to perform a spin kick aimed the blade's head. It connected solidly and it stumbled a few paces along with the wolf man.
Both were surprised by the ferocity, but quickly got over it. Blade tried to punch her, but she stopped the fist, and preformed a drop kick sending them both to the ground. While there she used her tk, and wolf man's momentum to send him crashing face first into a large tree. Flipping back to her feet, Dinah waited for blade to get back to its feet as well. When it finally did, they had a small stare down before trying to beat the shit out of each other. Dinah unleashed a kick that was blocked by another leg then followed up by an attempted punch, which she batted away and then grabbed to bring blade in for a vicious head butt and right cross. It tried to jab her with its knee, but she was prepared and used tk to block it before backing away to hit with an open palm thrust to the thing's chest.
By now wolf man was back on his feet as well, and more than willing to take Dinah out, she was hardly about to make it easy though. Odds were against her though; she now had two immensely powerful creations to fight in close quarters at the same time. The strikes came one right after the other, and Dinah was forced to use her tk to block the wolf man, while careful blocking blade with her own hands. She made as though to tackle blade, but grabbed its sides and brought her foot back and into its face, a move that it had not expected, but it left her free to deal with the wolf for a minute.
She turned to backhand him, and connected, but it didn't absolutely nothing to him. He was busy trying to get in his punches and slashes, none of which could hit her, but he was also ignoring every hit she gave out. Nothing seemed to phase this thing, and it was no wonder that even Huntress had lost. Dinah was running low on steam, and blade had recovered from her last attack. During her distraction of looking towards blade, the wolf man managed to get in a hard punch to her Diaphragm, knocking the breath out of her, and sending her to her knees. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the sensation of being unable to breathe.
Blade unhooked something from the wolf man's pants, and pressed a button on the side. "We're bringing the objectives back to base."
Note: So, this was where chapter ten would've ended, about twenty-seven pages had it all been together. Wouldn't that have been fun to read? I know, I should let it go, and I will. Anywho, hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and sorry helenakyle1, but they have been captured. But what will happen now? Lot's of fun stuff I hope. That's it for now; please send reviews, I like to know what you guys think.
Disclaimer: So, I went to this raffle ticket drawing that I thought was for ownership of the birds of prey, but it turned out that it was for a bird of prey, and imaginary. I was crushed.
Dedication: Alrighty, VixenRaign, and Squibler, this one goes to you guys. I figure that you could use a chapter for yourselves so I hope you like it.
Hidden within the cover provided by the surrounding trees, two figures watched the battle rage on. All of it was being recorded on a video camera that one held steady in their hands. "Are you getting everything?" Stevens asked, not taking his eyes away from the fight in front of him.
"I've got everything, don't worry about it so much. This is some amazing shit." Sanders was also in awe of the strength, power, and pure skill that was being displayed before her.
"Watch your mouth." Stevens scolded sternly. "I should wash your mouth out with a bar of soap."
"Too bad there ain't no soap here. I guess you'll just have to deal." All sympathies expressed were obviously false.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm our superior and that you shouldn't be speaking like that? I could report you." His threats were very serious.
"You're going to go all school yard on me, and tattle?" She asked incredulously.
"There is nothing 'school yard' about this. You're living in the real world, and here there are consequences to go along with your actions." Almost surprisingly, he turned away from the continuing fight in order to talk.
"I know full well that this is real. I'm not a fucking moron." She started.
Stevens interrupted, bellowing, "Language!"
An angry growl was given before she continued. "I'm not a moron. Real life? I understand that, I've been living in it for awhile now, and I'm thinking that maybe you're the one who'd like to join me there."
"What are you implying?" He challenged, veins popping in his forehead.
"That you're a dip shit. You think that you can just go running off to tell on someone every time they do something you don't like? Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but that doesn't happen for most people. They have to deal with things they don't like, and that is the real world." The video camera had been discarded and was now laying on its side, still recording the duel.
"I'm the in charge officer and I'll tell you what's right and wrong." He was raging, and not the quiet kind either. Only the concentration of all fighters kept them from being discovered.
"You think that's going to last forever? That you'll always be higher up than everyone else? Well fuck you. If we take another little trip to real life, we'll see your career diminish over time leaving you taking orders. What are you going to do then?" They were inches apart now, each challenging the other. Obviously, they had been a bad choice to team up together.
"That won't happen." There was an almost forced confidence to his words.
"Except for one problem, it will happen. Grow up." Her eyes were flashing.
"Shut your mouth." His voice was stern, brooking no argument.
"Why don't you make me asshole?" Came the expected retort.
Both were trying to stare the other down now, their gazes fierce and unyielding. At the same time, both chose to move into a standing position, Stevens to use his height as an advantage to intimidate, and Sanders to prove that nothing would make her back down. Chest was pressed against chest; they were toe to toe with barely any space between them. Hands fell clenched at sides with the knuckles turning white from the strength. Still neither would back down; too full of pride and too stubborn to let the other win on something like this. They had insulted each other, and now one needed to be proven right. Finally Stevens moved, slapping Sanders across the face, snapping her head side ways.
She turned back to him, placing a hand on her split lip to wipe away the blood. Promptly, she hit him back only instead of slapping him, actually punching him with enough force to send him stumbling to the side. His hand was put to the side of his jaw, feeling for the bruise that was sure to form later. Both of their eyes narrowed once more as they tried to make the other back down before the fight began. As expected, neither would, and a brawl broke out.
Punches were flying left and right each hitting the other with as much strength as they could muster. Neither were really even trying to dodge, their sole thoughts were that of making sure the other person felt ten times worse than they did. Sanders tackled Stevens to the ground and began punching him over and over while smacking his head into the ground. It became a battle of who could get on top then with neither of them winning. Sanders managed to pin Stevens once more, but he managed to snap out of his rage for a moment and remember something, he had a gun. With a surge of strength, he shoved her off, and reached for his gun.
Sanders stopped when she saw the gun pointed at her. Their breath was labored, and the memory of their mission was nothing more than a buzz in the back of their minds. "You don't want to do this." She warned, edging away from him.
"Don't I?" His voice was cold and his eyes were colder. He fired, and she ran.
Luck seemed to be on her side as every last one of the bullets missed her while she ran into the trees. Cover was provided afterwards, and she could here Stevens yelling behind her, but still she ran on with a desperate need to get away. "Psycho." She whispered under her breath.
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She had gotten lost long ago, even her abilities, as Huntress were too confused to figure anything out. On the plus side, she seemed to have lost the big beast that had been lumbering after her. The entire time had been spent running and it was only now that she slowed down to a walk in search of some place to sit that wasn't on the ground. A fallen log was just to her left, so she sat down and took the time to catch her breath and to think.
That fight had been harder than she expected, much harder than she could've anticipated. Sure, there had been a giant wolf man running at her, but it didn't just posses strength, there was a level of intelligence there. It didn't just attack her, it actually fought her, using all of the abilities it possessed to its advantage. Whatever it was could learn, and react as was appropriate. There was no point in denying it, that thing had kicked her ass, actually getting the mighty Huntress to repeat. That was completely unacceptable; she shouldn't have to run from something like what that thing was.
Then her thoughts drifted towards her girlfriend. Both of those things had to have been working together for a charge like that to come about. If she had that much trouble fighting her own opponent, how much trouble did Dinah have? There was no way for her to tell since she hadn't gotten a very good look at Dinah's enemy, but if it was anything like her's, well, she shuddered to think. But when she had last looked, Dinah seemed to be doing okay, so it was possible that she at least won. It also meant that she would be worried sick.
Not that Helena herself wasn't worried; the thought of Dinah alone somewhere almost had her panicking. If Dinah had won, then maybe her own opponent had gone after Dinah. That was a hard thought to comprehend. Especially if she hadn't beaten the other one, then Dinah would be up against both of them. Guilt flooded Helena as she thought of that scenario. "I should've stayed." She scolded herself. She was still a little fatigued, but nothing compared to the concern she felt for Dinah right now.
Just as she was about to get up and find her way back, something stopped her. That something was big, fury, and very strong, something it proved by throwing her into a tree. Helena was stunned, she hadn't heard the thing coming at all, and it just blind-sided her. Without Huntress out, the blow hurt a lot more than it usually would too, and Helena was having trouble recovering from it. The beast however, was having no problems at all and hit the dazed Helena across the back sending her skidding into the ground. Pain was coursing through her body, especially in her ribs, which had taken the brunt of the first blow. She was fairly sure that they were cracked at least if not broken. Slowly, she managed to rise to her feet, and was surprised that the beast let her instead of attacking her while she was down.
All at once she transformed back to Huntress knowing that her chances were better that way. This time she launched the attack and caught her opponent by vague surprise. It was a snap kick to the thing's jaw followed by a backhand that seemed to barely hurt the thing, although it did whimper in displeasure. No way in hell was Huntress going to let that thing recover though, it could already do enough damage and she needed to get in what hits she could. She gave a kick to the diaphragm that doubled over the beast, then she clasped her hands together, and brought them down across the thing's back. It nearly sent it to the ground, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
It's head lifted, and it let loose a low and deadly growl that chilled Huntress's bones. Swiping at her, Huntress tried to block, but was still tossed to the side, she did however, manage to land on her feet this time. Recovering well enough, she managed to dodge the next blow that was aimed for her, but when she stood back up, she wound up in an unexpected bear hug. Her already sore ribs felt like they were going to cave in, and she was struggling to breathe. The beast just snarled in her face, almost as if it was taunting her, but could figure out how to say any words. Her world was blurring, but there was no way in hell she was going to go down like this, so she rounded up what strength she had left, and delivered a hard kick.
Immediately she was dropped to the ground and allowed to catch her breath while cradling her sore ribs. A grimace crossed her face as she attempted to get into a fighting stance, however, the pain was great and even Huntress failed to do so. It finally recovered and tackled her down to the ground; paws on either side of her face, and its snout so close that she could kiss it were the desire to come upon her. The breath coming from it was foul beyond all belief, and for the second time that day it slobbered on her. This time though, she did nothing, she just didn't have the energy to fight it and the pain right then. It saw that she wasn't fighting, and picked her up along with itself. Snorting in her face from disappointment, it threw her into another tree, which her head hit hard. Everything went black for Huntress.
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"I don't want to just sit around doing nothing. I feel useless." Reese complained as he paced back and forth.
"We aren't doing nothing, Reese. Charging in unprepared is no way to do this." Barbara was t ring to reason with him, but over the past while, he had become increasingly annoying. She longed for the silence that she was once allowed to work in, but unfortunately, Reese wouldn't let that happen.
"And what exactly am I doing? You're the one getting us all prepared, and you have the technology. I'm just standing here." He shot back.
"Oh how I wish you were just standing." Barbara mumbled.
"What?" Reese asked confused.
"Nothing. In all honesty Reese, there's not much you could do right now even if you weren't in the clock tower. So, my suggestion is to deal with it." There really was nothing to do at the moment, and even Barbara was taking the time to enjoy a nice book. "Why don't you try reading?"
"I can't concentrate that long on something right now." He responded still pacing.
"That's it! Sit down." Reese looked at her in shock having not suspected her to yell at him, and it was that shock that got him to comply. "Why can't you do anything but pace, and annoy me to death?"
"I'm worried about Helena." He confessed easily as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I find it interesting that you always seem to forget that Dinah is out there too." Barbara commented sarcastically.
"What are you implying?" He eyed her warily.
"Nothing really. I just want to know what your intentions really are. Is it to help, or are you simply trying to get my daughter, I mean, Helena into a relationship?" Blushing a little at her use of the word daughter, Barbara managed to finish the sentence.
Reese quirked an eyebrow, but his better judgment told him to say nothing about the little slip. "I want to do everything I can to help, and if in the end I wind up in a relationship with Helena, then I won't fight it."
"What I really want to know is how that 'relationship' might come about." Hand mimed quotation marks were used around the word relationship.
"Well, uh, I might, uh," He swallowed deeply, "ask her?"
"After the experience she's gone through?" Barbara's tone displayed neither disapproval nor approval, so Reese found himself lost on the right answer.
"M-m-maybe?" He actually winced at his answer.
"Try again, and this time, with a real answer."
"I-I might mention something." He answered cautiously, looking at his hands that were neatly folded on his lap.
"And if she doesn't want anything?" Barbara looked straight at him at the seriousness contained in her eyes was almost frightening.
"What would I do?" He silently asked himself, however, this obviously wasn't an answer that Barbara would like, so he lied. "I would leave her alone."
Her gazed remained pinned on him for a few moments, but she soon turned back to the original subject. "Just stay sitting, we'll get them back." She went back to reading her book and said nothing more.
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Okay, so maybe running into the woods with no direction wasn't the best idea, but it was the best choice at the time. Between getting lost or getting shot by a gun-wielding maniac, well, it really wasn't too hard to pick. She was fairly certain that she wasn't being followed, and so had opted to slow down to a walk. There was nothing to worry about now, that psycho was left far in the dust. She was safe, or at least she thought she was when there came a noise like something running through the trees. "Shit."
What came out of the trees though was hardly what she had feared. It was one of the girls they had been watching, Dinah, she believed her name was. Unfortunately she had yet to be spotted by the girl running, and they collided together both being sent to the ground.
Dinah got up from Sanders with confusion written all over her face. "How can you be alive?"
"Gee, I'm fine, thanks for asking." She remarked sarcastically. "I don't think that I can answer that right now."
"Look, I want some damn answers. Last thing I saw of you, you were dead laying in a grave that Huntress and I dug for you."
"I took a drug that simulated death." She finally admitted still sitting on the ground.
"Why? What are you doing here?" Dinah was shocked to say the least, and nothing seemed to be making sense.
"Running from a gun toting psychopath. You?" Her tone was casual, and Dinah found it disconcerting and annoying at the same time.
Responding in kind, "Running from a freak with lot's of sharp metal coming out of places where there shouldn't be any."
Sanders looked solemn for a moment, then rose to her feet with eyes still to the ground. It looked as though she were making a hard decision. "What if. . .What if I were to tell you, that I know about the things sent after you and your friend?"
Within a second she found herself pinned to a tree by an unknown force and a dangerous looking blond scowling in her face. "Tell me what you know. Why us? What did we do? Who do you work for?"
"Slow down. I'm an agent who was hired to look after you two. There was nothing personal in it being you guys, the only reason you were picked was because you were going on a trip, and were Meta. We were here to make sure that you got to where you were supposed to be, and to make sure that you didn't die before those things showed up."
A look of realization came over Dinah's face. "My injuries. You, it was you wasn't it?"
"Well, me and my partner." She tried to shrug but it wasn't working too well.
"The other pilot?" Dinah correctly assumed the anger was slowly fading away.
"Exactly. As for the things that are after you and your friend, you've just been introduced to the prototype of the next generation of soldiers." Dinah's brow furrowed as she let go of her hold on Sanders. "They're forced mutants. None of them asked for this, they were just some unlucky people who have been made into monsters."
"How can someone do something like that?" It truly was hard to comprehend.
"Some people are just twisted okay? I'd tell you to get out of here, but there really isn't anywhere to go." This time she was able to pull off her shrug.
"What do you suggest then?"
Sanders eyes turned wide with fright. "Fight that." She pointed behind Dinah at the former human she now had to fight.
"Not again." Dinah pleaded under her breath as she dodged to the side while using her tk to push Sanders out of the way as well. Rolling into a crouch, Dinah awaited the next attack. The attack didn't come for her though; instead it was aimed at Sanders.
Using her tk, Dinah caught the abomination in mid leap trying to keep it away from its target. It seemed to have a resistance against long-term use of her powers though, and had Sanders not gotten out of the way, she would've been dead. Sanders noticed this as well, and as the thing turned to face Dinah, Sanders jumped on its back sending it into a frenzy of trying to get her off. This was an opportunity not to be taken lightly, so Dinah took advantage of it by getting in as many hits as she could. In no time, Sanders had been thrown off hard into a tree and was now of no more help due to her unconsciousness. One opponent was out of the way, and that left Dinah alone to deal with this creature once again.
There was no time to think, only to react. Slashes were coming at her faster than she could counter, and she began to back pedal while trying to dodge the strikes. An inconveniently placed tree wound up behind her though, and she dropped to the ground in order to dodge a swipe aimed at her head. While still on the ground, she swept its legs from under it, and then slid it backwards with her tk putting in so much force, that I wound up lifting from the ground despite the fact that she hadn't meant it to happen. Now she used her tk to grab Sanders's prone body, and float it behind her as she ran through the forest once more.
The next sight she came upon was most unpleasant; in fact, it was one of the worst things she had ever seen. Huntress being tossed as though she was nothing, and then hitting the ground with a sickening thud of dead weight. "Helena." Dinah whispered in anguish, dropping the prone Sanders without even realizing it. Blood was forming in a pool under Helena's head, and Dinah knew that it was bad. "Helena." She repeated, her voice more strained than the first time. Tears blurred her vision and she did nothing to stop them from falling. "Helena." She felt lost, she felt scared, and she felt alone, things that she never wanted to feel again. "Helena."
A whir of blades was coming from behind her, and the monstrous beast had finally spotted her, and decided that it too would rush her. None of this really mattered, except that they were the ones who hurt her love. Their fault, and now they would regret it. Letting loose a scream of rage, frustration, and sorrow, Dinah unleashed her attack. Using her powers, Dinah threw the beast at the bladed wonder, damaging both of them although not severely. They managed to rise to their feet, but Dinah was already in front of them. Using the beast as a sort of ramp, she ran up it, and then kicked it into the back of the head to get leverage to perform a spin kick aimed the blade's head. It connected solidly and it stumbled a few paces along with the wolf man.
Both were surprised by the ferocity, but quickly got over it. Blade tried to punch her, but she stopped the fist, and preformed a drop kick sending them both to the ground. While there she used her tk, and wolf man's momentum to send him crashing face first into a large tree. Flipping back to her feet, Dinah waited for blade to get back to its feet as well. When it finally did, they had a small stare down before trying to beat the shit out of each other. Dinah unleashed a kick that was blocked by another leg then followed up by an attempted punch, which she batted away and then grabbed to bring blade in for a vicious head butt and right cross. It tried to jab her with its knee, but she was prepared and used tk to block it before backing away to hit with an open palm thrust to the thing's chest.
By now wolf man was back on his feet as well, and more than willing to take Dinah out, she was hardly about to make it easy though. Odds were against her though; she now had two immensely powerful creations to fight in close quarters at the same time. The strikes came one right after the other, and Dinah was forced to use her tk to block the wolf man, while careful blocking blade with her own hands. She made as though to tackle blade, but grabbed its sides and brought her foot back and into its face, a move that it had not expected, but it left her free to deal with the wolf for a minute.
She turned to backhand him, and connected, but it didn't absolutely nothing to him. He was busy trying to get in his punches and slashes, none of which could hit her, but he was also ignoring every hit she gave out. Nothing seemed to phase this thing, and it was no wonder that even Huntress had lost. Dinah was running low on steam, and blade had recovered from her last attack. During her distraction of looking towards blade, the wolf man managed to get in a hard punch to her Diaphragm, knocking the breath out of her, and sending her to her knees. The last thing she remembered before blacking out was the sensation of being unable to breathe.
Blade unhooked something from the wolf man's pants, and pressed a button on the side. "We're bringing the objectives back to base."
Note: So, this was where chapter ten would've ended, about twenty-seven pages had it all been together. Wouldn't that have been fun to read? I know, I should let it go, and I will. Anywho, hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and sorry helenakyle1, but they have been captured. But what will happen now? Lot's of fun stuff I hope. That's it for now; please send reviews, I like to know what you guys think.