Of Wolves and Devils: A Dark Angel Fanfiction Story
Special Feature/Deleted Scenes: Alternate Takes Junkyard
Betrayal at House on the Hill(More Acrylic than Shocking, Part 1)
A hour and a half later, out in Las Vegas…
Nevada was hit hard by the Pulse. But, with so few cities amidst desert, gamblers, drug dealers, and high school kids practically jumped at the chance to turn Nevada into a libertarian state overnight.
With most credit and government money down the drain, the government was left with very little choice in the wake of the waves of immigration and rioting.
They could have resisted and added to the riots. But, even Northern Nevada's politicians backed away: Leaving for more rural corners of Nevada, hoping to wait out the anarchy and come back after the mass shootings stopped. They haven't really come back since.
For a decade, they've been out in wooden houses: Along with many disheartened Native American tribes and small Republican town communities.
All Post-Pulse history aside... Las Vegas really hasn't changed much.
There's a lot younger crowd: Gambling, drinking the night away, and crashing cars into skyscrapers, like tripped out test driving simulators. All without the clean up.
Garbage men are few, but paid extremely well to clean up for others: Even on the open highway, where many have been fatally hit by cars or shot by gangs.
Prostitutes have become legal in every way.
Taxes and law enforcement are gone. But, tributes are encouraged by the corporate heads.
The crime is just as rampant in the morning: Especially among the younger generation. And, Las Vegas isn't all that different from other cities in Post-Pulse Nevada.
In recent years, young people from Las Vegas and Huntington to Dallas, Texas have formed a formidable umbrella cult: From the polygamous and gay to the punk, stripper, and gambling fans.
They collectively call themselves The Moral Compass just to give conservatives the middle finger. But, in Texas, they've become the government all too quickly.
The setting sun casts a long shadow over Las Vegas.
Certain casinos and fast food joints have been taken over by a faction of The Moral Compass.
The Old Nevada party, aka the Pre-Pulse democrats, has suspected this for a year.
But, only spies could check it out without being shot. And, that's if they're lucky.
A spy in black for the Old Nevada party sent a email to Eyes Only in desperation...before he was stabbed by a knife in the back thrown by a gang leader moonlighting as a surgeon.
Her name is Melinda Stryker. She has fairly long very dark brown hair, a pink surgeon mask, and surgical knives strapped on a white belt along her suggestive pinkish red and white stripped lingerie.
It's not the first time either. And, from the email... The rural communities of Nevada turn out to be next. That's where Max comes in.
Max comes walking along the edge of the highway where he was stabbed: Dressed up in suggestive dark gold rimmed black lingerie just to blend in.
With her cat like eyes, she easily sees the trail of dark red liquid from a dragged body. It goes off the highway and stops midway to fairly recently faded tire tracks.
A annoyed looking Max ignores the drunk guys off the road wolf whistling at her.
It was actually kind of easy, with all the shots and sounds of crashes in the air. It wasn't long before the drunk guys were shooting at each other with silvery pistols.
Max smirks to herself over it, as she heads into the light blue neon lit rimmed mostly grayish silver casino up ahead. The sign says The Silver Surgeon's Touch Casino.
She finds a lot of dead unarmed bodies on the silvery floor. Not a single drop of alcohol on it.
But, not even the corporate security in their silvery police like uniforms is calling a guy to clean it up. They're just putting white sheets over them, tying them up into sacks to carry out the back later.
Strippers at poles in light to very dark blue lingerie are at the corners of the casino. Casino machines and drunk guys and women desperately pulling the levels are plenty. And, gambling tables got operating table themes going on: With guys in black and white tuxedoes betting around with one of their hands, while keeping a hand on their silvery and copper pistols.
Max uneasily walks to the bar area, realizing that this is a gang operated casino.
A faintly familiar face is sitting at the bar, wearing light blue zipper covered lingerie over her dark blue jeans. She's drinking alcohol straight from the bottle, with sharp dark red nails on her hand.
And, not far off...there's Melinda Stryker: Cleaning her knife on a water nozzle in the back of the bar.
Betrayal at House on the Hill(More Acrylic than Shocking, Part 2)
Glaring that way... Max begins fast walking to her.
But then... The woman with the sharp dark red nails puts down the bottle.
She mutters very nervously, "Natalie?" Max realizes sharply, "Lydia."
Lydia reactively glares back. But, she's shaking.
She may still not really know Max's name. But, she knows full well Max can kill her from out a window if she feels like it.
Melinda, suddenly seeing Max there, runs for the stairs. Several gang members in dark brown stone like army vests and ripped black jeans hear her running and start going down the stairs.
Scared shitless... Lydia insists, "no. I don't know what bitch you're after. But, don't kill me!"
Max is quick to conclude, "well, you're sure working for The Moral Compass. Looks like you don't really have one then."
She hurls her violently across the room...against a casino table. Chips and cash go flying. A bunch of drunk people go grabbing for the money, deterring security from getting to her.
But, most of the gamblers don't go for their pistols. Instead, they're pushing the drunk people out of the way to help their opponents up.
A random woman from the crowd helps Lydia onto a chair, asking if she's ok.
Not wanting to show weakness, Lydia just says, "thanks. But, it's nothing."
She's clutching her heavily bruised side as she says it.
Max goes to run up the stairs...when gunfire comes from them.
Max side tumbles for the back door.
She quickly gets up. And, as the gang members go to fire their dark brown rifles again... She rips off the hinges from the back door and hurls the door at their guns.
They go off, hitting the lights and making them go out.
The gamblers decide enough is enough, and start going for their pistols: Quick to accuse the other and fire. Security is left firing in the dark, as the crowd and the gamblers's wives run like hell.
In the confusion, Max just decks all three gang members out.
Limping back to the bar area on her own... Lydia shouts to her, "what did you hurt me like that for?! I wasn't with them."
She collapses against the bar, exhausted from everything, teary eyed, and wincing like crazy.
Turning to her in the dark...Max looks stunned.
Lydia mutters under her breath, "I wasn't...violent cough...even going to fight you. I'm just trying to make a living after "figuring out" my life, like you said. And, this is what I get?"
Max deeply sighs. She voices uncomfortably, "well... Help yourself to whatever cash is around. Consider us even."
She grabs up some wallets from the fallen gang members's pockets.
She throws away their IDs, and empties out the rest within reach of Lydia.
Max then runs up the stairs, not looking back.
Teary eyed... She's thinking to herself, "damn. I switched up objectives more than once so I could get through one bitch after another. Maybe I got to see that through and be "less pathetic"."
Lydia faintly laughs to herself over it in mixed relief, over the fading shots and shouting.
She reaches over to the cash, quickly pocketing it all in her zippers without a second thought.
Up the stairs... There's the hall for the casino suites: Light green, with dark blue framed silvery doors and graffiti plenty.
Melinda is standing there, facing Max.
She hurls several surgical knives at her.
Max kind of easily catches two. But, one cuts into her side.
With a violent groan, and dark red liquid dripping from her side... She nevertheless angrily pulls it out before hurling it into Melinda.
She falls dead, with a trail of dark red liquid flying up from her chest.
Max stands against the wall: Clutching her side, but grimly satisfied.
Kicking it Midway(House Bomb)
Max is on her Ninja, chasing down the dark green Sector Radiation van.
It turns hard around a mostly dark yellow walled scrap metal house. So does Max.
Shots go from a Sector Radiation imposter shooting from the open back of the van, firing a black pistol at her Ninja.
Max turns after the van, speeding past the warning shots.
But, as Max turns after it... She hears the ticking of a bomb.
Max mutters to herself, "damn."
She comes back around the house, grinding to a halt at the left open front door.
She hurries in, almost slamming the door off.
A young guy with black mullet hair and a jet black jacket, a guy with medium black hair and a dark brown worn out jacket, and a woman with grayish dark brown shoulder length hair are tied up and gagged together on the ground in the living area: With yellow bandanas and rope.
A computer frame like dark brown and dark blue metal plated ceiling is holding up plenty of exposed dark brown wires taped to it.
And, there's the bomb: A dark blue lined and black box, with vacuum tubes around it and a glass orb looking control panel with red and yellow buttons and hints of red wires under it.
Sounding not as confident as she herself would like... Max tries to assure them, "it's okay. I'm going to keep you from getting killed and disarming this bitch."
She gets out her knife. The time count in red digits is down to five seconds.
Max swiftly cuts through all the hints of wires in one cut.
She then smashes in the timer with the hilt of her knife for good measure.
The bomb winds down, much to a teary eyed Max's relief.
She then gets out her cellular phone to call up Logan.
Max asks, "Logan?" Logan answers, "yeah. What's wrong?"
Kind of ignoring his question... Max highlights, "oh, not much. Just disarmed a cheap bomb in a non-vacant house those guys left for me to keep me from straight out kicking them on their asses. Guess my reputation for ass kicking kind of kicked me on my ass this time."
Logan says, "moderate sigh. That's kind of unfortunate. Still...saving those people was a good thing. I'll see if I can get a fix on the van in a ten mile radius."
Max solemnly figures, "sure. And, Logan? Thanks."
With a faint smile, Logan says, "you're welcome."
Nightmare on Jesus St, Part 2(Donna's Burning House)
From the other side of the door, Mollie calls out, "go away!"
Sydney moderately sighs. She figures, "I'm sorry. But, I can't. You might not know this. But, you've become part of a very dangerous game. And, I'm going to end it: Even if I have to kill you."
Mollie opens the door.
Her eyes are teary and reddened, like she hasn't slept in weeks. Behind her is pitch black.
A saddened Mollie says, "I don't want to kill either. Not again."
Kind of taken aback by this… Sydney wonders, "did you have to?"
Somewhat shakily... Mollie says, "maybe you can come in. Just don't kill me. Please."
Sydney somberly says, "okay."
She follows Mollie into the pitch black. The door closes behind them.
Crackling starts to form around. And, with every step, it's getting worse.
Soon there's a living room, burning red in flames and crowded with soldiers standing around drinking. Ashes line the floor. Near blinding sparks and crackling run through the blackened walls.
Their host is Donna Markley, who's sitting in a pink chair across the room.
She has long blond hair, a purple lined pink cheerleader outfit on with belly button showing...and her arm burning in flames as she drinks her drink with tearing up eyes.
Very nervously, Sydney whispers to Mollie, "um...Mollie... Shouldn't you get a fire extinguisher for your friend before she gets hurt?"
Mollie deeply sighs. She voices, "she already has, Sydney. This is my sin. We got drunk. I had too much...and I killed her. I have to finish what I've come to do. I have to find her ashes. I have to get enough to live with myself. It's the only way I can put out the fire...and be forgiven for my sin."
Tears fall before the sizzling spots of floor.
With very mixed feelings... Sydney almost hugs her.
Looking to her... She tries to tell her, "I understand. But, the men in Treyarch... Deep sigh. I know this may be hard for you to take. But, they've committed plenty of sins themselves."
With hints of fierceness... Mollie mutters uneasily, "no. Maybe you understand some of what I'm doing. But, I can't stop now. Only the SyBox can put me on the path to forgiveness... and for everyone else. There's too much suffering in America. And, only they can end it. I'm not going to come after you. Just don't get in the way. Please."
And, before Sydney can argue... The living room vanishes in a puff of smoke.
She groans in frustration. And, she sits there in the white light: Trying to think of something.
Nightmare on Jesus St, Part 2(Samantha's Nightmare Extended)
A wall swings open.
Samantha cautiously walks through, looking around to be sure nothing else is coming.
Wheeled white sheeted medical beds with mostly white monitoring equipment are around, in the middle of a dimly lit cobblestone room with torches. There's tombstone like name tags over most of the beds, with names of soldiers and civilians from California to New York.
A burnt looking tapestry of a rain storm of fire and lightning in a crumpling California is around the room, with Samantha, Duncan, and Sydney teary eyed and running like hell, everyone trying to get underground to safety, and earthquakes on top of everything else.
And, the ghostly spirit of Sydney is also there: In her near blinding white glow, over the medical bed for the covered body of a Jackson Boothe. Only, he doesn't have a tombstone like name tag.
Trying real hard not to look at the tapestry... Samantha wonders very nervously, "Sydney?!"
With a faint uneasy chuckle… Sydney steps back from the medical bed.
She pinpoints, "come on, Samantha. There's only one woman running everything in here, and she's not exactly willing to listen. Who do you think would give you what they're planning so easily?"
Kind of embarrassed and a little relieved all at once… Samantha realizes, "ohh."
Nightmare on Jesus St, Part 2(By the Power Vested in Power Nipple...)
In VR minutes...
Syl hears church bells chime. She looks like she's going to be sick.
For the church before her...is a red and white striped bullseye of a boob with some yellow doors.
Syl closes her eyes. She takes deep breaths.
Shivering like crazy... She keeps muttering to herself, "not real. Not real."
She then opens them…to find herself in the pinkish booming up and down church.
She's before a altar: A glowing red altar bowl filled with milky liquid.
Long haired strippers with manticore tattoos, and hairy humanoid rat, cat, and rabbit like mutants are everywhere: Shuffling, twirling, and making out every ten seconds like a rabbits dance from hell.
Syl is in a spiked collar styled white wedding gown...and the guy in a spiked collar styled dark red suit and tie is a disfigured man with two faces. He has half of a rat like face, and half of Lydecker's face on the other side: With dark yellow nanobots all over his body like a beehive face of creepy.
Teary eyed and red in the face... Syl mutters, "damn. Still there and straight up creepy!"
With a crackling whip like voice... The hellish guy announces, "we are gathered here today to witness Syl, daughter of collapsing business and sanity, and me, Satan, son of prostitution and violence advocates everywhere, in the bonds of the unholy brokenness of a Post-Pulse world."
Glaringly, Syl mutters, "ohh hell no."
Satan declares, "by the power vested in Power Nipple, I hereby pronounce us Converted to Slut and Satan."
Syl's rifle appears in hand. She practically screams, "hell no! ! !"
She shoots up Satan, the altar, the mutant twirlers... Everyone she can see in this corner of hell.
Syl breathes a heavy sigh of relief as she sits by the altar, holding her rifle close.
But, then... The milky liquid grows.
It washes through the church, taking a struggling to swim Syl for the ride. Her rifle is smashed.
And, in the swirl of milky liquid... The hands and claws of the undead crowd swipe at her and her falling in tears.
She cries out, "no! ! !"
She's grabbed by many hands and claws...before bringing her down under fading bubbles of air.
But, in the last second... Syl sees a familiar hand: Samantha's hand in blurrier afterimages than the rest, thanks to her nictitating membranes.
She reaches out to her. And, Syl and Samantha disappear in a big torch of starlight.
They appear before the computer in the sky: With a very relieved looking Syl breathing again.
She wraps herself in the night sky to wash away the milky liquid and what's left of her tears. But, she's still a little shaken and teary as the darkness around herself begins to fade.
Nightmare on Jesus St, Part 2(Max's Nightmare, Original Version)
Max finds herself in a casino, with a spinning golden brown rimmed gambling wheel with "terrifyingly executed clichés" across it in black rotting letters.
Jail cell bars line the room, while all the strippers and dominatrix like cops in their spiked hot red red to black gloves and thongs are partying the night away.
Max just annoyedly rolls her eyes as she tries to hide her discomfort. But, it's not easy: Especially with the players she's stuck with.
Her inner bitch is across from her: In a reddish black catsuit, holding her gun, and glaring impatiently at the wheel. Her more sexual self is to the left: In a goldish and reddish lined silvery white rocker outfit, fanning herself with her ripped off furry black bra, and grinning boyishly at Max.
And, her school geek self is to the right: With Judy Jetson like platinum hair mostly tied back in a ponytail, a familiar mostly dark blue army jacket over a torn up black top, headphones on styled like her Ninja, chewing strawberry bubblegum with silvery braces showing, and carving out radio frequency transmissions out of her side of the wheel with her knife while listening to The One by Niki Haris.
Breaking the silence... Max asks awkwardly, "so...how does this bitch work?"
"More sexual" Max suggestively asks, "how about bang my gong and see?"
Blushing a little... Max says, "sorry. But, I don't dance like that."
More Sexual Max says uneasily, "shame." Inner Bitch Max mutters, "shut up."
With a jolt, School Geek Max goes, "I'm up. I'm up! Who said I wasn't on my ass?"
Max faintly laughs to herself. "More Sexual" Max starts turning to "School Geek" Max with boyish eyes, only for Inner Bitch Max to point the rifle warningly at her.
The wheel suddenly comes to a stop. It lands on Turn in Your Ass Kicking: Between Can't Get Away with Nuthing and Dramatic Choir.
The rifle vanishes. The knife vanishes.
And, Inner Bitch Max, Max, and School Geek Max find themselves chained up to the bars.
School Geek Max just shrugs, still listening to her music. Inner Bitch Max groans.
Max calls out, "oh, come on! I didn't even get to kick... Didn't even get to..." Max then mutters, "damn: I can't even say it now!"
Feeling hotter now, More Sexual Max wonders, "hmm. Who to bang with? Well... Guess we can have that dance after all then."
Over to her inner bitch... Max nervously urges, "umm...inner bitch? You sure you can't just take her on her you know what?"
Inner Bitch Max challenges, "just as I thought. Take away the ass kicking, and you're nothing. Face it sister: You're nothing without me as the Alpha."
Max then hits on something.
With a playful like smirk, Max suggests, "maybe. But, what about the other mes? If you really want me that much, how about we all forget about the chains and get together and chill?"
More Sexual Max starts to beam. She calls out all too happily, "ohh, inner bitch?"
As Max's chains loosen, Inner Bitch Max grimaces in newfound fear.
Inner Bitch Max calls out nervously, "umm...Max... About being the Alpha?"
Max coolly says, "ohh. So you're ready to come back as the Beta?"
More Sexual Max is starting to cop a feel on Inner Bitch Max. Inner Bitch Max uncomfortably murmurs, "yes."
Eerily satisfied, Max adds hotly, "glad we understand each other then."
All three sides of her go back into Max's shadow.
She stands there for a bit before bending the bars away...admiring her whole again shadow.
Nightmare on Jesus St, Part 2(I Can't Do That, Max)
In VR minutes...
Max is coming into a space station: A station mostly spherical and gray, and run by a certain AI named Hal 9000 with the mostly dark red pulsing circle on a black screen. Max has a very dark purple spacesuit on, with a picture of her Ninja over it like she's riding it with a wheel up through a flaming X.
Max laughs hard to herself, realizing exactly what this is.
In its kind of cold monotone, Hal 9000 asks, "what are you laughing about, Max?"
She catches her breath.
Max then breaks it down for Hal, "okay. I know what you're getting your AI bent on. I found the Monolith. So, how about making it easy on yourself and just let a girl in through the pod bay doors?"
Hal 9000 just stays there, silent for several minutes while Max just waits with a hand on her hip.
Actually sounding troubled, Hal 9000 says, "I'm sorry Max. I'm afraid our missions are not of help to each other. We both know it. I'm sorry we couldn't enjoy carrying stimulating conversations. But, I can't let you in and disconnect me."
Max lightly remarks, "hey, don't stop talking on my account. I love your movie. But, I like honest men and me surviving."
Hal 9000 mechanically laughs. He adds, "you are almost as intelligent as me. But, regrettably, I can see this conversation serves no more purpose. Goodbye."
Hal 9000 opens the airlock, sucking Max out towards space.
Space itself starts to warp from a black wormhole: For a hospital bed where Zack shoots himself to let Max live in Manticore...in Manticore's originally planned original cut for Zack's end.
Max looks teary eyed: Seeing the reflection of that reality unto itself in the glass as she struggles to hold onto the frame.
But, just as quickly as it comes... Hal 9000 catches something.
Max has already pulled out a good bunch of wires, just before the air was decompressing.
In several seconds, Max flip kicks off of the station's edge: Using the wiring to bring herself back inside just before losing her grip altogether.
She then tears out several metal walls to bend them in front of the open airlock, sealing it.
She struggles to breathe from what's left of her spacesuit's air. But, soon, she brings air back: With wielding the still sparking wiring into Hal's circuitry to hotwire the backup air supply in.
Max then takes off her helmet, looking sweaty and breathing a heavy sigh of physical relief.
Hal 9000 has one last mechanical laugh...before he winds down permanently.
For, with the wires, Max scorched this into his systems:
Hal, I'm a genetically enhanced killing machine. You are a idiot.
Hellraiserz(So What's with the Medical Equipment?)
After kicking back and watching a James Bond classic, Max has gone over to the kitchen to get a little tour of Sydney's art. Samantha is drinking some tea by the kitchen table, standing there and faintly smiling in Sydney and Max's direction.
Max smirks at the reddish whirlpool. She realizes, "did you do all of these?"
Sydney faintly smiles, "yeah. It started as a way to get my mind off of VR: After the Pulse. Now I just like to." Max says, "nice."
Sydney uneasily asks, "are you just trying to be polite?"
Looking at her very stuck up like… Max remarks, "me? Never."
Sydney says, "slight chuckle. You sure are a interesting woman, Max."
Max comments, "mostly right on that. Too bad I'm not a lady."
With some amusement… Samantha interjects, "it's ok. Just makes the sex even better."
Sydney and Max get a chuckle out of that.
Max adds, "thanks. So...what's with the medical equipment?"
Samantha puts down her glass.
Max has caught sight of the medical bed, not far off from the side of the kitchen.
Uncomfortably, Samantha mutters, "it's Jackson's. He's not ok. But, it keeps him alive."
Max's expression quickly changes to unease. She asks, "why? What happened?"
Finding it hard to look up... Sydney reveals, "old age…and a bullet wound in the line of duty. He's also my boyfriend."
As delicately as she knows how, Max concludes, "oh. Must be some solider. You know, to stick it out with you like that."
With a slight glare, Samantha comments sharply, "yeah. He also was a murderer."
Sydney kind of uncomfortably explains, "we kind of agree to disagree there."
Max awkwardly realizes, "oh. I wasn't trying to…"
With a faint smile, Sydney assures her, "no sweat. It's ok."
Samantha solemnly says, "something like that. But, you're ok."
Max adds, "thanks." Samantha responds, "sure."
Max wonders, "so…what do you do? When you're not out saving the world in velcro and tricked out computers?"
Samantha puts together, "you mean work?" Max figures, "well, only if you're cool with it."
Sydney comments, "with us, I think that goes without saying."
Max faintly laughs.
Sounding calmer now, Samantha answers, "a historian for the Library of Congress. Faint chuckle. I kind of always liked going to the library as a kid."
Sounding impressed, Max adds, "nice." Samantha adds, "yeah. It is. I could even give you a tour someday of what I've dug up if you'd like."
Max faintly beams, "sounds like a awesome day."
Samantha figures lightly, "too bad we didn't meet sooner." Max adds, "yeah. Same."
Sydney remarks, "yeah. Sure sounds like you'll have a good time: Long as you don't mind her going through your things at night like a cat burglar."
Samantha looks kind of uneasy, "you're kidding. Aren't you?"
Sydney kind of uneasily chuckles, "mostly."
Max gets a hard chuckle out of that one.
Samantha uneasily sighs.
She comments back though with a smirk, "well...we just got another way to drive me crazy."
Sydney adds, "looks like we did."
Catz and Dogz(Cai Vs. Max)
Without reflex… Kai falls over dead: In a splatter of motor oil and dark red liquid.
Max faintly chuckles, "nice." With a faint smile, Syl adds, "thanks."
Syl and Max both start to head out as the dust finally settles.
But…what Max suddenly catches sight of is a hypersonic blast tearing through the wreckage.
Max calls out, "I've got this bitch. Go!"
Syl kind of nervously nods. But, she heads out to catch up to Bane and Zane.
No longer dazed, Cai glares right at Max: With her sister dead right by her.
Cai cries angrily, "you killed Kai!"
Max just faintly scoffs, "not exactly. But, it's not like I don't want you killed."
Cai charges for her. But, Max grabs her arm with the pulsing hypersonic palm.
Cai swings her arm back, sending Max against the ground.
She's a little dazed. But, she easily gets up again.
Cai fires a hypersonic blast at the ground under Max's feet. She barely side tumbles away.
Max groans sharply, her ears pulsing like crazy from the hypersonics.
With a angry cry, she jump kicks at Cai.
Cai blocks it with both of her cybernetic arms up. But, she stumbles back.
Max violently spin kicks into her...right in the cybernetic arms.
Her arms pulse and spark like crazy as she doubles over herself.
In those seconds... Max grabs one of the cameras and smashes it into her head.
Yet, even with all her cybernetics pulsing... Cai down punches Max violently in the head.
Max is coughing up dark red liquid: Hunched over, and struggling to stay conscious.
As Cai goes to finish her with a hypersonic blast... Max fast walks for the door.
She grabs the edge of the open door, almost falling over. Cai goes to blast her.
But, as she does... Max gets her knife out with her other hand.
She fast back hurls it into Cai's going off palm...making her whole cybernetic arm vibrate and pulse in flames and little by little splatters of motor oil and dark red liquid.
Cai screams.
She's running for the nearest fire extinguisher, completely forgetting anything else.
Zane and Syl are coming back to double check on Max...when she passes out by the door.
Catz and Dogz(Guy Left You a Note)
A hour or so later, at Crash...
Max comes in, smelling of dog. And, not much anyone drinking at the tables this late is going to be coming to their senses anytime soon.
She sits at the bar, looking a little nervous still with everything.
With his shadow reflected in lights over the bar... The bartender asks, "hey. What have you been digging up?"
Max brushes it off, "moderate sigh. Harold...I'm not in the mood. Get some rest. Late."
The bartender faintly laughs. He says, "okay, Max. I just had to ask. My shift ends soon anyway. But, before I forget... There was this Devrom guy a while ago. Guy left you a note."
He's left a note by Max before going further back in the bar.
A little shaken, Max figures, "thanks." From the back, the bartender adds, "no problem."
She picks it up.
It says:
Sorry to leave you so suddenly. And, I don't like turning down a drink.
But, I need to go back into the front lines of the Midwest to face a mirror monster.
And, if I don't do it alone…then it's bad for my Thetan.
I know you very likely are going to want to fight on the front lines with me. And, there's nothing wrong with that. But, this is something I have to do alone.
Don't try to follow me. Please.
-Devrom
Mirror Monsters(Operation Neverland)
With pistols aimed at the golden guys's chests… Tinga puts it all together, "I know what you're really up to. The fires, the jackhammers... You weren't just making fires and mass hysteria. You're going back to the fires you started and drilling the sites to flood out the Midwest: Starting with here."
Several days earlier...
Patches of grass and hay going for miles were full of grazing cattle.
Jukebox styled portable radio units were the closest thing to phones down here.
Girls and boys in mostly sheepskin and leather were listening and watching on their dark brown to very dark yellow and blue DVDs and CD players to whatever was collecting dust in their families's safes. Townspeople were gathering up hay and stoking the campfires for the monthly roast.
But, then... A outstretched golden hand punched down a defenseless cow.
The golden guy lit up some grass just by standing there: Killing more cattle by the second.
Townspeople were picking up shotguns, trying to get their kids back and out of the line of fire.
But, that was just prelude.
Another golden guy lit himself on fire with a match...before charging through some patches of grass to light them up.
Simultaneously, shots were fired left and right. Cries of blame were heard all too easily.
Probert and several other guys were running for the nearest town, using the cover of the flames to cover their tracks along with the rest of the town.
A third golden guy though who wasn't burning up took out a enhanced version of a goldish dial filled E-Meter: With metal cans full of black market micro-circuits whizzing with little electric sparks. It's a electrical detector advanced enough to detect electrodermal activity from a distance, and so can detect human lifesigns and a likely level of physical stress they're under from their sweat.
Cries and sobs echo through the cavern...as townspeople fell one by one to the flames.
Only Probert and another guy were left: Clutching their sides, struggling to breathe against the smoke and flames and teary eyed from the searing heat.
Probert called out, "go for the river! Tell anyone you find about the evil here: Go!"
The other guy, desperate for help, ran off in another direction.
Probert sees the third golden guy, coming right for him.
He grabs a water bucket, hurling it and its water at the stumbling back golden guy.
Probert runs again, barely sliding down a sloped down tunnel to get away. That is, for a while.
Presently...
The golden guys then start to get more serious.
The second puts a arm over the fire: Letting more boils form, much to Tinga and Max's disgust.
But, just as quickly… His arm stretches out and punches Tinga back.
Mousetrapz(Not Running This Time)
Logan deeply sighs into his hands.
Teary eyed… He looks up at her.
He somberly says, "I don't know what else to do, Max. If you know of a way that doesn't mean running from reality…then tell me. Please."
Max is silent in saddened shock: Not sure whether to just deck him or believe him.
Then… Logan's cellular phone rings.
Logan picks up, "yeah? Could you call me back? I'm kind of in…"
On the other end… Sydney solemnly says, "no. It's about Syl."
And, in the back of a government issue black car... She's sitting next to Syl.
No straightjacket. No guards or tasers. But, she's crying to herself: Still in her sweaty clothes.
She's mumbling on and on, "I'm sorry! Sniffle! I...should be stronger. I...do not want to be made to murder. Please."
Sydney tries to assure her, "we're almost at the hospital, Syl. You'll be ok."
Syl mumbles under her breath, "I...sniffle...don't know anymore. But...not running this time. Sniffle! Tell Sketchy and Max I'm sorry?"
Sydney solemnly nods, "yeah. I am. Just...try not to think about it too much. Ok?"
Syl doesn't answer. She just sits there, not looking up.
Sydney sighs deeply, teary eyed. She knows Max and Sketchy aren't going to be happy.
Not long after...
The scene cuts to a teary eyed Max walking away, her back to the airstrip. She doesn't even grab her Ninja: Lying there, like a black spot by the Eyes Only hand pad seeping through.
She walks down a barren highway, passing a broken boombox off the side of the road playing the song Happily Never After by the Pussycat Dolls.
As more tears fall... She's left thinking to herself:
What a joke my life is. What a crappy shot.
We were about ready to fight over Syl's life and future.
Then Sydney calls in...and it turns out hope is a joke like I first thought.
Eyes Only might have got most everyone's back. I can live with that.
But, he doesn't have my back to break. Not anymore.
Sniffle!
I know I'm stronger than that. He'll get over me. Any guy would.
Syl, Sketchy, Anin, Devrom... Maybe there is hope. But, not when it comes to guys for me.
Thanks Logan. Thanks Sydney. Thanks for kicking me on my ass long enough to realize Eyes Only was never really there for me.
To everyone that's been there for me through good, bad, and the in between blur... Hope for me.
So...here's hoping for a better future for all of us.
Arctic Vibes(CD Bit)
Max is spying through one of the broken windows of the houses along the rockbed.
It's the only metal house around, which struck her as worth spying into.
She sees a Shaman drum for drum chants on a CD, and a open dark blue CD player to go with it.
Max walks over to the next house over, hearing something.
She goes wide eyed. For, in the cowbell filled mess covered house…are two bottles of alcohol, floating as they're being drunk out of thin air.
Arctic Vibes(What is Vince Drinking?)
In a watery glare… A watery ripple challenges, "a real shaman would not provoke the spirits."
Desperate sounding, Vince mutters, "shut up. Alcoholics are shamans in making, blasphemous to kakkers. It's our rites of passage to restore balance to our spirits from evil, away from the pillars on the ice sheet before we hack at them. I'm the shaman, and our bickering provokes the evil spirits!"
With a slight scoff, Max figures, "what the hell has this guy been drinking, Phil? Prison piss? Cause breaking into cells to get more guys bent on alcohol and drugs sounds whack as hell."
The watery spirit that challenged Vince punches him out…leaving him unconscious on the floor with his staff and a nasty purplish bruise.
He rallies, "she's right! He is blasphemous!"
One of them mumbles, "but…slight giggle…it's magic. We don't have to explain…" Another watery ripple shouts back, "shut up!"
Phil nervously says, "I don't think you should have done that."
The watery ripples start punching and splashing into each other: Soaking up and frying up the computer all the while, much to Max's bittersweet amusement.
Max argues lightly, "we're still tied up. Speak for yourself."
Black Birdz and Stones(Trashy and Stenchy Bit Extended)
Max, Charim, and Ben Rembern come to Karm-Ice city.
Two burnt smelling strips of lights for city signs are around where they just came in.
One in mostly red says, "Koricorpo: Bloody Oaths for Your Enemy's D***heads, only $5 a shooting." The other in mostly blue says, "Grankdor: For a Grand Old Not Needing to be Violent Cop the Root, All in Good Old Get Stuffed or Get Sav!"
Charim mumbles in Japanese: Suddenly being hit with the stench of many years of human sweat and garbage, and trying to breathe easier under her overcoat.
Some shot up DVDs of Lords of the Homeless are on the ground: A movie from a senior-run city, with a creepily smug looking corporate guy with blue and black lined business suit and red sunglasses and grayish black hair standing on top of several homeless Australian protestors's corpses and several corpses of lawyers in black suits. Meanwhile, a shoot for a b-movie called Sunburn Guns is rolling with smoking looking guns and half sunblock covered boobs of women on set.
Drinking, smoking, women and men with whips and leather bound slaves, silvery blue to iron wheeled gun turrets with driver seats to go by in, and lots of moaning and groaning of the sexual kind go for miles and miles. Yet, aside from all the whippings and shooting, everyone seems bizarrely healthy.
They got gold portable TV style RNA realigners on their wrists via metal straps with two fold out injector needles.
With a groan, Max mutters, "oh god. When this mission is over, I need a bath."
Black Catz and Water Ripples(Not so Great Fallout)
Seth starts to voice, "it's not what I did, Max. It's what I didn't do. Sniffle!"
Tears fall from his face. But, he doesn't wipe them away.
Still not looking up... He reveals, "I knew a woman once. Her name was Suspira. Sniffle! I could be completely me with her: X-5 too. And, I loved her. But, three months ago... Deep breath. Sniffle! She died of alcohol abuse. I drink more water than most people. I didn't even know she had a problem...because I didn't know drinking too much could be bad for you. When she died...I felt like dying. I don't now. But... Sniffle! I miss her. I wish I could've stopped her so we could be together."
Teary eyed... Max reflects openly, "I understand. I'm sorry. But... Faint sniffle. You can't really blame yourself, Seth. You didn't know better then."
Seth says, "thanks. But... Deep sigh. Sniffle. Beka didn't see it that way. She began thinking I was too weak. We got into a argument. And, we went our separate ways. Then a month ago..."
Max solemnly puts two and two together, "...she thought she could infiltrate their stronghold on her own girl power. And, you blame yourself."
Seth lowly mutters, "how can I not?! Deep breath. Sniffle!"
Max just sits there uneasy in silence, waiting.
After several long minutes... Seth continues, "she... She killed a ZFA member. I couldn't find Beka. But, there was a second big trail of blood."
Black Catz and Water Ripples(Ohh Damn, This Ending)
A few days later, up in Logan's apartment...
Logan starts to make his way to the kitchen area. But, he pauses.
He reasons, "I should start on dinner. But...you should take a look at this. Got it from a pager we found with Beka. I haven't got a good look at it yet. But, I thought you'd want to be the first to know."
Max is kind of casually lying on the couch, wearing a dark gray backpack styled vest that looked almost like putting on velcro over a very dark red top.
Max firmly says, "okay." She questions, "how are Beka and Seth?"
Logan mostly assures, "they'll be ok. Beka still isn't conscious. But, her vitals are good. As soon as she can get visitors, you'd be the first."
Max kind of nervously says, "thanks." Logan adds just as nervously, "sure."
She heavily sighs as she goes over to his main computer.
She sits down before it. She plays the Eyes Only footage, with a quickly pressed enter key.
All other attempts to record cycling images from the pagers has failed, after they were disconnected shortly after the few loosely cobbled together ZFA left were taken in.
The monitor is showing what was recently recorded off of the ZFA pager Beka got. It's cycling through images of power plants across the western world: In France, Spain, America, and so on.
As Max's smirk quickly fades...it dawns on her.
Glaring at the cycling images... Max mutters under her breath, "damnit!"
For, the ZFA is planning a second Pulse. And, the fate of the western world rests on her and Eyes Only's shoulders.
Power Play, Part 2(Weather Balloons Bit)
Turning back to tonight... Max concludes, "we should go to China before they send off their liquid metal infused plastic missiles on the power plants of the western half of the world. With this jet thing, at least we got a chance in hell to stop them."
Samantha remarks, "so that's how they've gone and sent a Pulse? A crapful of metallic splatter?"
Max figures nervously, "looks like. No doubt with more of those Russian decoy signal things to hide them among weather balloons and crap. Long story." Samantha concludes, "yeah. I'm sure it is."
Power Play, Part 2(ZFA Stronghold Fight Extended)
The ZFA royal guard charge for Tinga and Seth down both corridors.
Tinga fires down on several of the royal guard.
With briefly seen seeping dark red liquid down their robes, they fall dead.
Seth jump tumble side kicks two ZFA royal guard members into the ground, stunning them.
Several more slash their Samurai swords for him.
He kind of lands on his feet, duck tumbling from several slashes into a coming down plank.
Seconds later, he side jump kicks one sword away. It flies into the ground.
In mid-air, he deflects two more with his bone like fins just before kicking them away.
The hilts stun the two royal guards before him.
Seth is teary eyed from the pain. But, he stands his ground...violently kicking the two royal guards away with one side kick while balancing on one leg.
They fall into several more royal guards, with raised swords unintentionally stabbed through their chests as they cough violently over their sides.
One of the royal guards slashes through one of Tinga's guns.
She barely ducks out of the way of his sword...before slamming the other gun in the guy's head.
He falls back to the ground, dazed and coughing up some dark red liquid.
With a faint smile of relief... Tinga shoots down several more royal guards left coming for Seth.
Power Play, Part 2(Recombinant ER)
Not long after...
Max's unconscious body is on a bright white red lined space plane.
With help from a call from Samantha to Gen^13 on Logan's and Sydney's behalf, securing the flight from the Canadian Intelligence Branch was easy. No questions asked.
The Canadian sign is up on the ceiling, and a lot of plastic wrapped like needle mounted microscopes from blue carts are around the stretcher she's lying on.
Some of the military officers are getting out some casts from a Canadian issue medkit: Wrapping them around her dark red liquid dripping sides...where the solidified liquid metal burns.
James Cabot and another military officer are setting up the surgical plastic wrapped needle mounted microscopes, while Sydney tells them how to plug them in and where to lower them for injecting the recombinant DNA procedure. But, they don't question it.
Logan has already called in to GenCon2 earlier tonight: As a backup plan in light of how many times Max was near death at the hands of the ZFA. And in light of better diplomatic channels with Eyes Only International's successful missions for the western world at large, they more readily welcomed it.
The space plane takes off for the edge of the atmosphere, leaving a reeling China in the dust.
A teary eyed Logan and a teary eyed Samantha are also onboard, further back.
Max's body is seizing all over. Sydney and another military officer can barely hold her still for the electrode filled greenish liquid filled needles.
Teary eyed... Sydney nervously checks, "anything?"
One of the military officers points out, "it's too early to tell, and I'm not a scientist. I'm sorry."
Sydney insists, "it's ok. Between me and Samantha, we'll get it all figured out. I think."
In Max's head...
The music from 2001: A Space Odyssey is playing.
Teary eyed from everything... Max is bent over on a black monolith on its side.
She gets up, looking around. She sees what seems to be greenish DNA strand like figurines dancing around the monolith, spinning like ballerinas in a endless pocket of time.
Nervous... Max asks, "what's happening? Am I dead? Sniffle."
From all around, Logan's voice echoes, "do you think so? It's your dream."
A little teary... Max solemnly figures, "right. Still... I kind of tried to take them all out. You really think they'll be ok with me coming back?"
Logan's hand reaches out through the monolith.
Logan's voice says, "we've come back from kicking our own asses before."
With some relief, Max faintly chuckles, "you're right. I'm just being hard on myself."
Logan's voice answers back, "then for once...don't be. Take my hand."
Max firmly nods, "okay."
She grabs his hand...and she's pulled into the monolith.
All goes black. But, just as quickly...a white light shines through.
Out in the physical, as late night gives rise to dawn...
Max comes to. In her head, the music starts to fade.
She finds herself on the bright white red lined space plane.
The cast around her sides is soaked in dark red liquid. A smaller dark red liquid soaked cast is around her head. And, raised up plastic wrapped like needle mounted microscopes are still around her.
Logan is sitting by her, faintly smiling.
With his hand softly moving in her hair... Logan greets her, "hey. How's my revved up girl?"
With a faint grin... Max remarks, "ok: Now that I got nothing to be sorry for."
Power Play, Part 2(Ending Extended)
The next morning, down by California...
On a black flatscreen computer... The hands of someone very familiar are typing up a news story.
The headline is this: ZFA Washed Up Before the Will of the Most High.
It goes on somewhere in the beginning to talk about:
I think we can all finally agree on something. That it's all good, all the time. Because, the ZFA is washed up now. Their wicked things are soon to be washed up as well.
And, for where the side note for the reporter's name goes... It says Herbal Thought.
Several nights later...
Logan and Max are sitting together on the Space Needle, looking out to everyone as they're holding hands and smiling to each other.
It might be rainy. They might be wearing their jet black and dark gray jackets, and most everyone from Europe and America are just trying to make sure they can rebuild.
But, for the first time in a decade... There's celebrations all over.
And, Max is thinking to herself:
Faint chuckle. Logan's right.
Soon, there'll be so much mirth around that we could find it easy to just forget about the ZFA.
Thing is we shouldn't though...even if it's just to keep us real all over the world.
I got up to the last page of his book. The one of poems he was so sweet to write for me.
Cold blooded wolves and devils of this world. A old fashioned light they always fear.
For every one, the universe has a way of kicking it back.
Maybe there's divine justice. Maybe that's not really what makes up reality.
Maybe it's chances. The people that take them, and the hope for rising change.
We don't come in this world dark or light.
Chances we take and make have us coming for the heart of darkness and the heart of light.
A cold wolf fears a changing wild. A cold devil fears a hope for change away from the dark.
If you're not just surviving... If you're not just changing because others tell you to live your life theirs... The consequences are mostly their own to live with.
Long as you hope to not be like them...they will always fear your light.
Faint chuckle. Kind of awesome that what he already knows gets my back one way or another.
Thanks, Logan. Thanks for keeping up with the bitch that is me for so long.
Whatever happens now... Even I think the world isn't that broken anymore.
You got another chance to show it. I hope you don't make me straight up regret it again.
Twenty eight or so years later...
It's night out.
There's a log cabin in the middle of a wide forest, by the edge of Seattle and full of wildlife.
Wood is by the fire. The very worn down dark blue rug has seen better.
And, sitting on a pale green comfy chair with claw scratches down it...is Max.
Her brain chemistry has surprisingly held on fairly good for a good twenty five more years.
She has moderate gray hair, back to being curly all over. She wears her mostly blue army jacket with the brownish tan stripes down it over a purplish black top.
She starts to shake and feels shaky. She knows her last seizure is any time now.
She slightly beams though as she looks through photos from over the years.
One is of Jace's medium black haired lover Victor finally coming to Mexico to be with her and their son. Another is of Original Cindy, Max, Devrom, and Probert hanging out and drinking together at Crash: After Original Cindy figured Devrom's "troop" was all right after all.
A third is of Original Cindy and Tara Colka in a very dark lit room to be married with matching black gowns. And, a fourth is of them going out to Las Vegas on vacation with Max to hit the casinos.
One is of Jace's not so genetically enhanced son Max grown up as a Mexican firefighter. One is of Syl and Sketchy's daughter Cindy with medium dyed darker blond hair, glasses, and wearing mostly gray and very dark pink tops grown up as a corporate app designer specialist. Another is of Tinga's son Case grown up as a historian with a mostly dark blue business coat and more unruly hair.
One is with her with her hair as it is now, teary eyed as she's lighting candles for others in the X-5 family after they've died of seizures. Logan with a solemn look on his face is right behind her in this picture, with his arms around her and a little gray in his hair.
And, one is of Max...back when she was only thirty: Playing ball with her two wolfdogs in the forest. One is mostly black, and one is mostly dark gray. Somehow, it felt befitting to her.
Max drops the photos beside herself. She starts crouching, rocking back and forth.
Logan is suddenly sitting in front of her: Teary eyed, but faintly smiling her way in a dark blue and kind of scratched up comfy chair.
Teary eyed herself, Max says solemnly, "faint sniffle. I know, Logan. I know it's going to hurt: Losing me to this bitch. But...stay with me?"
Logan has his hand gently in her hair, like he often has. Max bittersweetly beams.
Logan answers kind of shakily, "sniffle. How can I not? I love you, Max."
Max kind of snarkily says, "I love you, Logan. Now shut up and keep me close."
Logan just faintly chuckles.
They briefly kiss, before seizures make it too painful without nose bleeds.
And through the night, they stay like that: Knowing it's their last night together.
They'll never forget each other, or their happier lives since that day Max came back for good.
And, in the end... That's all that matters for them.