I sat there alone for a while, thinking about what to do now that I had lost my whole army and the flock had left a while ago. I could still return, but that would be just to be sent out again. I now had no purpose to staying there. And guess what. My luck just kept getting better and better! A noise from the direction of the Tyron building, which I recalled we were still extremely close to, roused me from my thoughts. Without a moment's hesitation, I swung into the tree closest to me. I wasn't in the mood for a fight, and like Ratchet said, my strength was useless against them. A few Erasers entered the humongo clearing, armed to the teeth. They had probably been alerted of our presense by mine and Ratchet's argument, but hadn't been able to get together for a little bit.
From where I was, I could see everything they were doing. One looked at a couple fire pits and burnt himself on an ember. Another spotted my supplies quickly. "There's one more still here," he growled, nodding to my ninja supplies and my pack. Silently, I slid further into the shadows, to avoid being seen. The other two came over, and one picked up my gloves cautiously. He pushed the button and the hidden bomb compartment opened, but it didn't come out, since I'd already used it.
"It's the Itex escapee," the Eraser announced, looking around, his eyes burning. I recognized this one as the one who'd been watching my fight and trying to retrain Max at the same time. No wonder he knew about the button! It was pretty much camoflauged. I held my breath, just in case. The last one, the smallest, gave an evil grin and nudged his buddies. I gulped as he nodded towards my hiding place. Knowing I was caught by scent now, I clammered up to the top of the tree. One of the Erasers had jumped up right as I started climbing and scratched lines down my boot, my only equipment I still had.
It would soon be that I was cornered at the top of the tree. I could either go with them, or chance my wings. An idea suddenly sprang to mind as I stood there, grabbing the tree truck to prevent from falling. I could go with them, but working with them this time. It would give me another chance to find the flock, and a chance to get back at my army since they'd deserted me. I smirked but stayed there until the attempts to reach me died down. I could just barely see the three Erasers lingering at the base of the trunk, waiting for me to appear. One of them held a gun to shoot me down if they had to.
I had to play this right, or else I could end up dead from one of those menacing guns that the Erasers were equipped with. Slowly, I eased myself down from my hiding place. The Erasers noticed and circled the tree expectantly, waiting for me to get close enough to grab. But I stayed carefully out of reach, but in sight. Exactly where I wanted to be. "I have a deal for you," I said, loud enough they could hear me perfectly fine. The three of them seemed surprised at the announcement.
"This is just another smooth-talk to get out of it," the head Eraser growled. I pretended to be offended.
"No," I gasped, as if it was the must ludicrous thing I'd ever heard. "It's a real deal. On your part, you don't shoot." I paused, waiting for them to spring the question.
"And on your part?" the smallest asked cautiously.
"I come to Tyron, not as a captive experiment, but as one of the...fighters of Tyron. Deal?" I said hopefully. This was either my stupidest idea yet, or my greatest one. We wouldn't know for sure until it folded out. And even then it might be too late.
I lingered on my branch, waiting for their reactions. It was mainly suspicion, skepticism, and amusement all rolled into one. I didn't know anyone could show all those at once, and one of them had a stupid look on his face from the combination. It looked like he'd just eaten something sour. I waited for them to say something, either that or shoot me down on the spot, but neither happened. "So is it a deal?" I pressed, breaking the silence.
"It's a deal," the head Eraser said, clicking the safety on his gun and putting it back on his belt. The other two did the same. Still a little cautious, I jumped down from my perch and in front of them. They didn't attack, so it was true that they were taking my proposal seriously, as they should be. "Just follow us, okay kid?"
"The name's Master," I said in reply, trailing behind the head Eraser after snagging my stuff. There was no reply, but as long as they weren't attacking, I didn't care. I was led to the Tyron building and inside it. When we entered, I stiffened nervously. At the moment, I knew I could trust these three, but I was still on edge. I was in the enemy's territory now, so I couldn't be too cautious.
Two of the Erasers branched off, no doubt to do some other duties, while I followed the head one. He led me into a room and told me to wait by the door, while he went across it to a whitecoat. He muttered something in the whitecoat's ear, and they turned to face me, the Eraser leaving. "I heard that you wanted to join Tyron?" he said expectantly.
"Yes, sir," I answered politely. "I'm not working for Itex any more."
"Why is that?" the whitecoat question. I muttered my answer, and he seemed to strain to hear. "Speak up so I can hear you."
"I got overthrown," I said sheepishly. You wouldn't have if you had done what you were supposed to. I ignored my Voice and tried to refrain from glaring at nothing.
"Well you made a good choice, Master," the whitecoat praised. I smiled. "There's just one thing that you need to do, first."
"What?" I asked suspiciously. The whitecoat took something out of his pocket and offered it to me in a fist. I held my hand out and he dropped it on my palm. It was a small, red pill, about the size of my index fingernail. "What do I have to do with this?" I asked.
"Take it. You need to get rid of any illnesses that you may be carrying, even if you don't know it," the whitecoat said, smiling. I shrugged. Sounded okay to me. I swallowed the pill in one fluid motion. It tasted kind of fruity. I blinked and shook my head, which was starting to get a little bit fuzzy. "Alright. Now go ahead and meet up with Slasher, and he'll show you to where you'll be staying." The whitecoat suddenly had a strange smirk on his face. I dismissed it and left the room, looking for the Eraser from before. My mind was still kind of fuzzy and I couldn't think straight. It was weird. Kind of like right after I got my memory wiped.
I found Slasher a few rooms down, having a snack. "The whitecoat guy told me to come and find you so you can show me where I'm staying," I said, almost without thinking about it. That was weird, too. He smirked at my quick explanation and stood up from his table, leaving his bag of chips there.
"Then follow me," he answered smugly. I meant to hesitate, but that didn't happen. Instead I just followed Slasher obediently. He chuckled to himself. "Smart," he snickered appreciatively. I raised an eyebrow in question but the actual words didn't leave my lips. He stopped in front of a door and opened it for me. It looked a lot like my room in Itex, which didn't help. I was homesick enough. "This is your room," he said. I entered and he closed the door after me. I went and fell down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly something hit me and I bolted upright. They had just controlled my mind with that pill!