Attack
Terra was getting tired, she hadn't slept very well for the last couple nights, the journey to the lab was taking longer then she had expected. She wasn't sure if it was impatience or fear that burned within her gut. Terra didn't fear what they might find, what ever confronted her Terra was confident she could over come it for Beast Boy, but if they found nothing she might not be able to save him, and that terrified her. Unlike Terra, Torrent was taking the long trip very well, the constant movement and lack of rest seemed only to make him more exuberant, but Ann on the other hand was obviously not pleased with the endless trek. It wasn't the lack of food or sleep, it was Ann's fear that what Terra might find would hurt her more then she already was.
Still Ann followed as Terra stampeded through the undergrowth, trampling through the sharp branches and pointed thorns with no regard to the scratches they ripped into her clothing and skin. Every now and then, Ann was forced to jog to keep up, in the wake of Terra's and Torrent's path. Her mind told her that they where getting close, but then again Ann could never really tell if it was her telepathy speaking or if she was just talking to her self. When Terra suddenly hauled Ann's suspicions where confirmed. A clearing lay just beyond where she stood, it was littered with the rusted remains of what was once a large carnival of some kind. Long and rusted, jagged claw like spikes emerged from the ground at the place where the Farris wheel once turned, shards of reflective glass glowed like rows of sharp white teeth where the house of mirrors had stood, and a small untouched tool shed stood in the center of the destruction, the only thing that had half way survived the tests of time. The slowly fading light gave the area an eerie atmosphere, and as Ann had suspected, it was not abandoned. Two guards stood at either side of the tool shed as subordinates slowly ferried supplies out of the hidden lad below. Terra followed the workers path with her eyes and saw a large black-hawk helicopter being loaded with the supplies. Three more guards sat near the helicopter, one of witch was sitting behind a large Vulcan cannon machine gun. The soldiers casually laughed and chatted with one another as the workers hauled the heavy scientific equipment. Occasionally one would yell and strike out at one of the laborers, but other then that the soldiers seemed content in smoking and partaking in social exchange rather then keeping watch for possible attacks. This is most likely the reason why the sudden appearance of Terra, Ann and Torrent had gone unnoticed. Terra stepped to one side and hid behind a tree. Then she suddenly turned and addressed her two friends,
"Stay here, and make sure no one follows me." Ann looked surprised when Terra said that she was actually going to try to reach the lab,
"Wait, you're going to try to get past that huge gun and all those guards and down in to the lab… and by your self no less… look I know you love Beast boy but…" Terra didn't even let Ann finish. She just walked out from behind the tree and began to cross the empty clearing that separated her from the guards. Ann watched in horror then covered her eyes to avoid seeing her friend being torn to shreds by the mounted cannon.
The guards didn't even see Terra for the first few seconds, their emersion in the conversations they where having was distracting them, the two by the door where the first to see her, but the soldiers didn't even raise their guns. They watched inquisitively as she crossed the field. Once she was ten feet from the door one guard raised his hand and started to speak, before he could begin however Terra's hands shot upward and the earth trembled beneath their feet. Two hands, resembling Terra's, formed from rock and earth ripped out from the depths beneath the soldiers' feet. They enveloped the guards' entire bodies and hauled them screaming downward into their black and silent tomb. The others watched in shocked horror as the unfortunate pair's screams where muffled as dirt filled their lungs. The workers fled in fear, their yells and shrieks filling the once silent clearing. Terra heard a clicking sound to her left and glanced over to see the barrels of the Vulcan cannon begin to revolve, she lifted her left hand and a solid wall of rock erupted in the line of fire of the gun. Before the gunner could stop his shots ricocheted from the hard surface and ripped his fragile body to shreds. The last two ran around the large rock barrier and charged Terra. Two small rocks levitated from the ground and hung, suspended in the air level with Terra's eyes. She paused for a moment as if calibrating for wind current, then set the rocks loose. They shot forward at speeds far to fast for the human eye to capture; each found its target in the two soldiers' skulls. They flipped backward and landed lifeless on the ground.
She stood in the same place that she had stopped, not a step had been taken and all five guards where no more. Terra remained motionless at that spot for nearly a minute, Ann could fell Terra's anger, hate and regret resonating off of her like a burning heat. Ann knew that regardless of what she found in the underground libratory her pain and anger would remain, revenge was fueled by anger but it did not remove it. But Ann knew that this war had to be fought by both sides, and like it or not, they would have to be the good guys in fight. Terra took a slow step forward, then another, and another. The sheds door groaned slightly as it swung open, the hatch that led down into the dark truths that she sought lay open. Terra stood in the slightly rotten arch way of the old tool shed and considered the door with a look of deep seeded anxiety. She dreaded walking down its cold halls and through its empty rooms once again, the very thought made every inch of her skin crawl. Regardless of her fear of what waited for her Terra stepped through the door and disappeared into the inky darkness below.
Torrent suddenly jerked and cocked his head. Ann watched and felt Terra's pain, oblivious to what Torrent was doing. He sniffed the air, sucking in quick sharp gulps of oxygen through his noise. Hidden in its fragrance Torrent had detected the sign of another person, a male, forty feet to the east, upwind, he smelt surprisingly a lot like Terra. Torrent didn't move of try to get Ann's attention, it was a very good chance that the mystery spectator was watching him. So Torrent stayed still and waited for Ann to read his mind, Ann however was far to busy worrying about Terra to rip her eyes from the empty shack. Then a slight movement caught Torrents sharp eyes, across the field and through a dozen trees a twig fell from the branches to the soft foliage underneath, Torrent looked upward towards the twigs original position and saw the spectator. It was a young boy, maybe a little younger then Torrent was, he was crouched on a branch close to the middle of the tree. He wore a slightly red tinted vest, his first mistake, that red tint shone like a beacon for Torrents sharp eyes. He wasn't moving, his second mistake, Torrent's nose picked up his smell as he sat motionless and let they wind carry his smell toward him, and his final mistake, he had his eyes fixed on Ann, so he had not yet noticed that Torrent had spotted him. Torrent was not about to let the spectator know that he was on to his little game, so he kept his eyes looking toward the shed but watched the silent observer in the corner of his eye.
Splice had hunted down Terra's tracking device, but found it had been removed from his prey and cast aside in the middle of an empty field. The tracks left by Terra and the others where however easily enough to follow. He quickly pursued them and had just now come in to contact with his targets. He had seen Terra's unexpected display of power and had decided it would act toward his advantage to wait to catch her on her own, rather than move to a direct assault on all three enemies at once. The other two, Ann and the one they called Torrent seemed content to sit and wait for their obviously more powerful leader to return. He saw no tactical threat in attacking these two by himself. Splice looked down and pulled his berretta from it holster on his ankle, when he glance back at the two targets he noticed that the one they called Torrent was gone. His eyes readjusted and saw him slowly climbing through the trees to Ann's right. Splice smiled to him self and leapt to the ground. Ann looked up in surprise and Torrent froze in the tree, Splice raised the gun and fired.
Torrent cried out and fell from the tree. He landed with a thud on the hard earth and didn't move. Ann screamed and started to run to his side, another shot rang out. The bullet hummed through the air inches in front of Ann face, she froze and looked toward Splice. The gun was aimed toward her and its barrel still smoked.
"Then next one won't miss, Hunter wants you alive but I still think that he could still find uses for your dead body." His face and body looked human except for the spikes running down his spine and the strange designs covering his skin, but his voice was an entirely different matter. Ann gasped when the strange demonic sound came from under his large collar. "Now come here." Splice pulled a small orange disk from a pocket on his vest.
"I'd rather die!" Ann shrunk away at the sight of the control disk.
"Well then, it looks like you'll be joining your dead friend." Splice raised his gun.
"Do you mean Torrent? Because he not dead, just try looking behind you." Ann smirked. Splice laughed loud and long, he paused long enough to speak a short question,
"Did you really think that that would work?" He laughed even louder and let his gun drop to his side, but his merriment was cut short as her heard a clicking sound followed by a whirring noise. Splice turned around just quick enough to see Torrent sitting the controls of the Vulcan cannon, and he was smiling.
Bullets flew from the gun like water from a hose; each found its mark in Splice's chest sending the berretta and the control disk flying in to the bushes. Splice was sent sailing backward into a tree. Torrent continued firing, but the bullets simply struck Splice's body and ricocheted off. Ann hid behind a tree as the reflected shots thudded into its bark. Torrent gritted his white teeth at the recoil of the gun passed though his body. Splice slowly pushed himself from the tree and began walking toward the helicopter, the bullets still colliding with his skin. The ricocheted shots made a clinking sound each time they glanced off their targets hardened body, Ann was forced to cover her ears from the combined sound of that and the continuously firing cannon. Splice was gradually coming closer and closer. Torrent could feel the multiple barrels heating up and burring the palms of his hands, he could smell the sent of searing flesh, but Torrent still remained smiling. Once Splice stood only five feet from the cannon, he stopped walking. The gun fired for several more seconds then slowly spun to a halt, smoke and the smell of gunpowder rising from the barrels into the air. Splice cocked his head to one side and asked,
"Give up?" Torrent was panting heavily but his still answered,
"Out of ammo." Splice laughed and Torrent smiled back, then Splice pulled a knife from his boot and to a step toward Torrent.
Splice felt a hand touch either side of his head, a finger on each temple and pain so intense that the knife fell from his hand ripped through his brain. Ann stood behind the screaming splice with her eyes squeezed shut. The chip berried deep within Splice's brain sparked and shorted out, John fell to the hard ground unconscious. Ann looked down at him for a second then stepped over his body and ran to Torrent.
"Where are you hit?" Ann began to run her hands up and down each of his limbs in search of puncture wounds, Torrent remained silent and sat back to enjoy they investigation. Finally Ann stopped and raised one eye brow,
"He didn't hit you did he?" Torrent, still smiling, raised a broken stick he had kept in one of his hands,
"Shot off my hand hold, made me fall." Ann glared at him then punched him in the arm, he snickered slightly and smiled up at her. She smiled too and helped his out of the gunner's sheet.
They both froze when they saw Splice standing in front of them, he held the knife in one hand and his vest was open to expose his beast like lower jaw. For nearly a minute they stood looking at one another, and then Splice bent and returned the knife to its scabbard and walked away into the forest.