Title: Choosing His Pieces
Setting: Perdido Beach, an unknown spot underground, and Pilot Springs
Summary: "He would have to choose his pieces. The best that he could find. The Gaiaphage and Nemesis were finally ready to face off." Perdido Beach's big three are sent to battle foes chosen by the Darkness.
Rating/Warning: T - Very little language, decent amount of violence and fighting, some romance...T just in case.
Disclaimer: One would think that after six disclaimers, people would realize I'm not Michael Grant but I still have to do this. I do not own the original characters or Perdido Beach. I do, however, own my characters and Pilot Springs. I beg to the evening star that they aren't Mary Sues.
Authors Note: This is my first full-length, multi-chapter story with an actually plot, and boy is it going to be a doozy. I've been working since June on this and if Plague comes out and messes everything up, pretend it doesn't exist. This prologue basically sets everything up. The first section is in present tense...kinda weird but I reverted back to past tense for you readers for the other two sections. Due to the long chapters (what's new?) I've had to split them up into two parts each...so be forewarned. Please enjoy and I hope you and I will both see this to the end.

The helicopter freezes in the air as if held by invisible hand. A spectator's observation wouldn't be that far from the truth. Five fearful faces peer through dirty and cracked windows at a boy with outstretched hands while a pair of brown eyes watches him from above a stalling rotor. Diana stirs from her jumbled pile where she was tossed. She glances at the pilot of the helicopter and, for a brief moment, their eyes meet. He gives her a wobbly smile before darting his gaze back to the freak who is deciding his and his family's fate. Little does Sanjitand his adopted family know that their free hospitality that they had given the boy and his company was inadvertently keeping them aloft. Without the strength of the Cheerios, the freak would never have been able to keep both the helicopter up while holding Penny in the air. Nor would he have been able to save Diana.

Suddenly the helicopter is turning. Sanjit quickly snaps to the controls but is able to glimpse the boy's expression before the helicopter is all the way around. What was before only a look of mild discomfort now has erupted into a grimace of pain. A warning shudder threatens the helicopter's newly found peace. Sanjit nods once towards the boy on the cliff as he tries to maneuver back to Perdido Beach. At the same time a flailing Penny drifts slowlytowards the edge of the coast. She is hovering a few feet above the rocky edge of the cliff before her safety net pops. With a loud shriek she belly flops on the hard ground. She lets out pitiful cries and tries to drag herself away. The freak who had pulled her back does not try to force her back. Instead he sighs and his brow softens. Softly, so not to startle him, Diana is behind him. She places a hand on his still outstretched arms.

"Thank you," she whispers to him in a breathless voice.

Caine Soren's hands drop weakly to his sides and he wakes from his trance. He falls to his knees and bows his head in exhaustion. Without Sanjit's food he'd have surely died from the pure effort needed. Through heavy breaths he is able to calm his heartbeat. Somewhere behind him a wide-eyed Penny scrambles to her feet and limps away. Silent and unseen, Bug follows her. Together they leave the opposite direction. The two are assuming Caine and Diana will return to the mansion and are not wishing for another confrontation.

Caine pretends not to hear what Diana said to him. He struggles to his feet and ignores Diana's outstretched hand.

"Thank you Caine," Diana repeats in a much louder voice. "Maybe you aren't the total sociopath everyone thinks you are," she mumbles under her breath.

Caine looks up at her and for a moment his cool, calm eyes are unfocused. "Never…again," he rasps to her. Never again will the Coates boy risk his own life to save someone else's. He casts one last baleful glare at Diana and staggers away.

Diana closes her eyes and takes a hitching breath. Inside a battle rages on. Should she follow him or should she go back to the mansion for food? She opens her eyes, stares blurrily at the departing form, and looks back at the mansion. Her stomach rumbles loudly. She frowns at the leaving Caine.

"I'm sorry…" she whispers. She stands up and makes her way shakily towards the food stocked mansion. "I'm sorry Caine."

I will not…

I will not be…

I will not be beaten... The slow, sluggish thoughts come from what was once a great monster.

I am…

I am the Gaiaphage…

Slowly the monster was gaining its strength. Though the foolish humans had thought they had defeated it when they tried to drill it away, they really gave the Gaiaphage the edge it needed. As soon as they began to relax, it decided to strike. It had used Healer's gift to form a new body from the mangled pieces of the boy who had drilled though it. The Gaiaphage was sure it would finallywin and enslave all those who had opposed it. Even Nemesis. But then things went wrong. Horribly wrong and the stupid humans beat it.

The Darkness twisted and seethed with anger. It was so close.

I will have my revenge…

Plans swirled in its mind. It would have its revenge.

The Gaiaphage paused. It struggled for a few fleeting moments to find the bonds it held on the weak, pathetic humans it possessed. It could not find a single one. Neither Whiphand nor Healer. The Darkness mulled this over for a while. It was out of the trap that it was the center of. Suddenly Nemesis's power weakened and the Gaiaphage tried desperately to pull down the walls. If it could succeed in that, then every single being in the FAYZ would belong to it. Nemesis screamed back his challenge and the protecting walls were built back up again. The Darkness realized that building the protecting wall in the first place was not the right thing to do. With a being as strong as Nemesis to protect those in the FAYZ, the Darkness had no hope of destroying both the Nemesis and his pieces. It thought again. The Darkness could do it again. Find another source of food, consume the stronger minded adults, and mutate the remaining life. Bring down the wall and have its power invade the surrounding land. It could have more slaves to destroy the unfaithfulones. Once the Gaiaphage's power spanned far enough, it would be strong enough to bring down the FAYZ wall once and for all. Once the wall came down, all hell would break loose and all citizens of Perdido Beach would die or succumb to Darkness's power.

The Gaiaphage pondered over these thoughts for a while. At last it would have total control over its slaves. With a cold satisfaction, it sent its dark tendrils into the earth and sucked her of life. Slowly its plan began to set in motion.

I am the Gaiaphage…

Pilot Spring. A population of 500 comprised mostly of adults. Despite the rather low population the town was fairly large. It held a hospital, three schools, multiple restaurants, and several subdivisions; Pilot Spring had everything a town needed—complete with a mental hospital a mile down the road. The town was also self sufficient. Mountains bordering the small city ensured that not many travelers reached the town without a purpose and the only news came through electronic media. Even the nuclear power plant in the middle of Pilot Spring was run completely by the citizens and was the only source of power for the entire town. But the plant was built by amateurs, eager to boast their ingenuity amongst their rivals. Pilot Spring's plant was always a loose cannon and a recent inspection of the building hinted that not all was well.

Like most small towns, it was a close knit community where almost everyone knew everyone else and what their great-grandmother's maiden name was. There were few secrets. Of the 500 citizens only a third was kids and from there only 75 were under the age of fifteen. Most of those children were under the age of five from the recent 'baby boom' to have hit Pilot Spring.

A young man, a week or two from his fifteenth birthday slipped quietly outside. The trash bag he was dragging behind was decidedly less stealthy. The boy dragged it to a rather beat up steel drum, tossed it in, and headed back to his house before jerking to a stop. He walked back to the trash can and searched for the metal lid that belonged to it. Some animal scrambled near the young man, causing him to jump. The boy calmed his heart and kept looking with no avail. He cursed his luck and wished he wouldn't be so forgetful. He glanced balefully at the lidless can and sulked back to the house. Doubtless he'd hear of it later when that same creature knocked and scattered all of the trash.

Another boy was in the middle of something completely different. Sour smelling lab coats swirled around the child, who currently had a look of great distaste on his face. His hands and arms were bound tightly in a humiliating straitjacket. The doctors, some pimple faced and fresh out of doctoring school while others were old enough to have taught the newbies' parents, poked and prodded the boy incessantly with sharp and pointless objects. Before the boy would kick and scream, cursing and begging to be released. Now he sat still and calculating. It was all going to be a matter of time before he was the one in control.

Somewhere else a boy, completely unlike the first two yet somehow in between, was helping his little siblings into their pajamas and into bed. He fought back exhausted yawns as he painted exciting pictures into his brother's and sister's minds. He ignored his own wants, namely to get to bed himself, and placed his siblings' desires before his. With the younger ones safely in bed and asleep, he turned off the light and slipped out of the door.

A girl at about the same age was perched on her father's makeshift cot at the town's disaster safe house. Her father, one of the head plant managers, pulled on thick leather gloves while questioning her on what to do in various emergencies. 'What would you do if the radiation siren went off?' he asked her. The girl thought for a moment before admitting she had no idea. He sighed sadly and told her there wasn't much that one could do. The girl never drew the conclusion that something was wrong until it was too late.

A young girl, about six years old, was also being tucked into bed. The girl stared at her caretaker with blank eyes and followed the prompts she had been taught ever since she was a baby. Suddenly the young girl's trance broke and she began to cry about losing Teddy. The women gave the child a thin smile and held a pink, demonically grinning bear out towards the girl. She tried to placate the girl but had no success. Disgusted, the nurse threw the wrong bear at the shrieking girl and stalked out of the room. Without Teddy the young girl couldn't tell anyone about the pictures in her head. The pictures that were threatening to burst out. The girl retreated into herself and refused to deal with anyone until Teddy was back in her arms.

As Pilot Spring settled down to a quiet night's sleep, a slow light was pulsing at the nuclear plant. A dark skinned girl watched it hungrily while the green light caused her emerald eyes to glow. No one was accompanying her…no one even knew she was there. There were no guards to stop her. With a malicious smirk the girl pushed a button and the light began to flash red. By the same time tomorrow Pilot Spring would be forever changed.

Well, there's the start of Choosing His Pieces. I hope it will do well. Sadly, this is the shortest thing I've written (The Prologue) and it's still over 1,000 words. Hey, the only way this story can get better is if I either get kidnapped by aliens and have my brains swapped with a famous author oryou kind readers give me constructive criticism. The former hopefully won't happen and the second would be much more appreciated! If my characters seem Mary Sueish already, I give you permission to skip the flaming criticism and set me on fire directly. Thank you for reading and more will definitely come!