Title: Choosing His Pieces
Setting: 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
Disclaimer: I do not own the Gone series by Michael Grant. But I am wearing black socks speckled with black paint.
Authors Note: Sooo... Who else thought there was going to be a FAYZ in Japan after hearing about the somewhat unstable nuclear power plants? I really hope everything in Japan and the surrounding areas turn out okay. Keep them in your thoughts! In this chapter we meet the OCs. Tell me if they are Mary Sues and Gary Stus.

It just happened. The way Raynold Marshall pictured the world would end. Everyone disappeared. He was chilling with his older brother and his brother's girlfriend when they just disappeared. Gone. Left the room. Left the atmosphere. Kate stayed a bit longer than Richie but only a few more moments. It was her fifteenth birthday today too, he thought numbly. What a bummer. She had been panicking after Rich left, eyes wide and hyperventilating. Ray had just reached for the remote to turn up the volume on the TV and switch to what he wanted to watch. Suddenly the show he had been watching shut off and loud sound of static filled the empty room.

Raynold shrugged and set the remote aside. No problem. It's probably just a freak storm. Ray grunted and pushed himself off the couch. He walked slowly towards the window and pulled aside the curtains. He frowned. Not a cloud in the sky nor a person on the street. He turned back to the television and sighed. Maybe we got the cable cut off… he reasoned. He walked back through the kitchen. "Mooom!" He shouted. No answer. He kept walking through the house, shouting for other members of his family. Nothing.

Ray shivered. "Maybe this isn't a game…" He scrunched his forehead up, thinking hard. Suddenly a topic that they had been discussing the day before in school came into his head. Mayans and their crazy cut off calendar. Slackers who couldn't finish writing in all the numbers. Sweat beaded across his forehead even in the freezing air conditioning. "Maybe it's the end of the world. And I'm the last person alive!" A weird smile forced its way on Raynold's face. "Heh, just like in that one movie," his giggled nervously. His greenish brown eyes darted from side to side, now starting to get worried. I wish I had something to help me survive the Apocalypse or whatever this is. Raynold turned back to the couch and jumped. Sitting right where his brother and girlfriend had been frenching was a brand new DVD copy of 2012. Ray blinked. "So everyone disappears but I can have any movie possible…?" He grinned, fighting away a sick nausea feeling. He put the DVD in and jumped on the couch. "I could get used to this," he murmured, pressing the play button on the remote and trying not to think too hard about the fact that he was possibly the last person on earth. Thinking thoughts like that could ruin the movie.

Everyone was gone. Malachi Murdock grinned. At last he was alone. No more doctors bustling around him in clean white scrubs. No more security cops in their flawless uniforms, watching him with guns pointed at his chest. No more psychiatrists, looking at him over their wire rimmed glasses asking him 'How does that make you feel?' Only he and his stark white straitjacket were left. Because he was stark raving mad. That's why they called him the Mad M and M. Comparing him to a child's treat. He was no child inside his mind. Only his body made him a weak child.

Malachi stared balefully at where a security guard had been standing not five minutes ago. He was about to unlock the boy and give him back freedom of his arms. That's all he needed. Then the foolish guard would have been putty in his hands. But then everyone disappeared. At first Malachi was overjoyed. Now he was furious. He was almost about to escape when his salvation disappeared. They all just poofed, he thought, suppressing a smirk. The boy didn't realize how close his joke really was.

He frowned and leaned back against the infuriatingly white walls of St. Johanson's House for the Dangerous and Delusional. That's where his parents had thrown him once they realized what their little boy was doing to them. They chucked their little pumpkin into a mad house. Malachi ground his teeth together. For seven whole years he was forced to endure torture upon torture as doctors came from around the world to study his remarkable case. Everyday he was poked and prodded; looked at like a dangerous bug not yet named. It was not a place a child should be made to grow up in—normal or not. The only comfort he got from this ordeal was that it was costing his loving parents very much to keep him there.

Malachi pushed himself into a standing position. He pulled weakly at his clean bonds and walked slowly down the clean halls. Everything was clean here at St. Johanson's. They'd lose funding if it wasn't in complete condition. Based on the bills that were sent to the relieved families of the patients, the asylum didn't need any help from the local government. Malachi narrowed his eyes and kept walking. He stepped out of the serious cases corridor and found himself in the junior's wing. He had stayed there for a week until the doctors too noticed he wasn't a normal case boy. Then they too pushed him away to the truly crazy side. Malachi smirked as he padded down the halls then froze. He heard a soft crying. The boy blinked and walked towards the sound. He found a young girl about five or six rocking back and forth in a corner. He was her age when his parents dropped him of here with a several thousand dollar deposit fee and a laugh. He stopped and looked at her. She didn't seem to realize he was there. She just kept whining about losing Teddy, losing Teddy.

"Nutcase," muttered Malachi. Then it hit him what he said. He burst out laughing—something he hadn't done for a while. This stopped him and he blinked, shocked at his outburst. The girl did not even notice his laugh or his abrupt stop. Malachi shook his head at her and kept going down the hall. He poked his blonde head into another room and looked around. No one was home.

Not many people seem to be home anyway he smirked, thinking of the girl again. He unconsciously shifted in his straitjacket again. To be free! Malachi sighed and kept going. Suddenly a chubby ten year old with shaggy red hair and freckles appeared. He looked at Malachi suspiciously.

"You're not here to give me medicine are you?"

If he had been able to, he would have raised his arms in a peace gesture. "No," he told the boy. "No one will give you medicine anymore."

The boy smiled. "Good, because it tastes awful. Nothing like candy." The red head made a face and stuck out his tongue. "Hey, what's up with your arms? That looks like a tight coat. Want me to help you take it off?"

"The straps are in the back," Malachi told the younger kid. He waited patiently as the boy freed him. Malachi suppressed a smirk at the foolish child. He didn't even have to use much effort and already this boy was bending to his whim.

With a click the jacket slipped off. Malachi gasped slightly as he was able to freely move his arms and hands. He smiled and closed his eyes, feeling very pleased with himself. "Thanks," he told the boy, walking away. Though Malachi considered his encounter with the ten year old over, the younger boy definitely did not.

"My name's Jeffery!" said the boy, following Malachi.

"Is it now?" he said through clenched teeth. "Well, that's nice."

Jeffery nodded, humming a song in head. "Are you going to go find candy? Because I want some... Candy is so much better than my medicine." Jeffery stopped and looked suspiciously at Malachi. "You're not going to make me take my medicine are you? It tastes horrible. Doesn't taste like candy."

Malachi could barely handle this child's nonstop prattle. He moved his left hand mechanically as if he was playing the piano. Instead what he was doing was playing the boy's empty mind. Instantly Jeffery's face froze and went blank. "Now, if you are going to follow me, SHUT UP! If you are not going to remain quiet, leave." Malachi thought for a moment. "We are going to go look for candy," he murmured, eyes lighting up. His left hand stopped dancing and Jeffery blinked, looking slightly dazed. He rubbed his forehead but followed Malachi silently.

"Very good, my stupid pet," murmured Malachi, rubbing his left hand gently.

Loud sirens sounded all around Raynold. He glanced up blearily, already engrossed in just the first fifteen minutes of his movie.

Sirens? He watched the screen for a moment. There wasn't anything bad happening yet. Raynold frowned. The siren screams got steadily louder. Loud enough for Ray to flinch and pull at his ears. He slid off the couch and ran to the window, pulling back the curtains. He saw kids younger than he all standing outside their houses looking confused. This both scared and relieved him. At least I'm not the only one alive then… He looked farther down the road. A car had crashed into a water hydrant and two kindergarteners and their dog were hoping around in the cool spray. But where are the adults? Ray fought back a rising panic. He paused the movie and slid on some shoes. Not even bothering to grab his cell phone, Ray ran as fast as he could towards Pilot Spring's emergency station. Maybe that was where all the sirens were coming from…

Brian O'Hare was ready for when this would happen. He had watched all the things on the news, talking about the gigantic orb that appeared around some small beach town in California. He remembered the newscasters talking about the horrible things going on in the globe—if anyone had survived, the madness inside the prison, pure desperation and starvation—and how no one had ever escaped from it. No one was sitting safely outside after they hit their not-so-sweet fifteen. The first tip off he had about what was happening was when the nuclear sirens went off. Brian had done his research and figured out that the bubble which trapped the town in California had a faulty power plant at its center. Pilot Spring also had a bad power plant. But instead of covering up their blunder, the town's mayor set up brand new shiny nuclear detectors if the radiation ever got bad. Brian winced. The sirens were going off, screaming Bloody Mary.

The next clue that Brian got that warned him of something bad was everyone older than him disappeared. He was fourteen and a half and it seemed everyone past the age of fifteen blinked out of existence.

But the final and most obvious clue was the buzzing white wall that surrounded the town of Pilot Spring. It cut right across his house at the top of Grant's Hill—the farthest outskirt of Pilot Spring town. Brian had pressed a hand against the wall and felt the energy buzz into his body. He screamed and ripped away his hand as soon as possible. Brian stared at the wall for a while longer before grabbing as much food that he could fit in a bag and trekked down Grant's Hill.

Green eyes blinked from their raised spot in the forest shrubs. When no one was watching, a girl with olive toned skin and rich, black hair stepped into Pilot Spring town. She smiled at younger girl wailing about her mommy and nodded towards a rather frazzled looking boy with dark hair hurrying someplace downtown. The girl watched him for a moment, her cool eyes calculating, and followed him to the town's emergency station. She fought back a smirk at the boy's wild expression as he searched for the siren noise. Then orange foam ear-plugs appeared in the boy's ears. The olive skinned girl blinked again. He didn't just put them in. They appeared there. He cast a panicked look around and almost saw the girl. She stepped back into the shadows and the boy's unfocused gaze swept over her. He seemed to relax and readjusted his ear-plugs. She smiled an even and white smile. Nerezza had found her first follower.

Raynold reached the emergency station which consisted of a fire truck, an ambulance and a volunteers' bunking house. He stared at the fire truck and then the ambulance rather stupidly for a few moments. Finally he looked at the red speaker above the two. The siren noise wasn't coming from any of those and again he was the only one on the block. Raynold turned and noticed a tall yellow and black megaphone above him. From that was coming the high pitch screaming. Ray shuddered. He didn't know what it was for exactly but the nuclear symbol on the side certainly didn't mean good news. Suddenly the siren's wailing became too much for Raynold. He instantly thought of his old hunting ear muffs and wished he had them with him. As soon as that thought was out of his head, the world around him became muffled. He could feel the blood pound in his head. Wide eyed, his hands flew up to his ears. He pulled out an orange foam ear-plug and stared at it incredulously.

"How did you get there?" he mumbled, trying to remember if he had slipped them in his pocket before leaving the house. He shrugged, assuming he did, and shoved the noise blocker back into his ear. Again the world became quiet and peaceful. He didn't notice an olive skinned girl come up behind him and he definitely didn't hear her call his name. But he did feel her poke his shoulder. He spun around and shouted in surprise.

The girl tossed thick black hair and smiled at him. "I am Nerezza. It is nice to meet you, Raynold Marshall."

Ray blinked. He pulled out his earmuffs. "What?" he shouted above the sirens.

Annoyance quickly flashed across the girl's face but then was gone, replaced by a forced smile. "I am Nerezza." She repeated. "It is nice to meet you, Raynold Marshall."

Raynold backed up. "How do you know my name?" he looked at her warily.

Nerezza's smile grew larger and seemed genuine. "I know everyone here." While Ray had to cup his hands around his mouth and shout to be heard, the girl could speak without raising her voice. Without knowing why Raynold could feel his arm hairs prickling.

"Are you new?"

"Yes." Nerezza said with a firm nod. Ray looked skeptically at her but she seemed unfazed by his suspicions.

"Erm, okay then. I guess it's nice to meet you too, Nerezza…?"

"Dark. Nerezza Dark." She smiled another pearly smile at Ray and despite the broiling hot weather, he suppressed a shiver. He was about to tell her goodbye when Brain O'Hare ran towards him.

"Ray! Thank goodness I found someone!" he wheezed out. "Everyone over the age of fifteen has just disappeared! By my calculations…and the fact that my brother who just turned 15 yesterday has vanished and I haven't seen anyone over that age yet."

Ray frowned. He was turning fifteen soon. In less than a week. Five days to be exact. "Do you need help or something, Brian?"

"Do you know what this is, don't you?" Brian asked Ray with wide eyes. "This is what happened to that town in California!"

"Perdiddy Boats?" asked Ray. He remembered seeming something like that on the news a few months ago. "Like the place with the movie stars?"

"Perdido Beach!" snapped Nerezza, interjecting herself into the conversation for the first time. Brian blinked at her.

"Who are you?"

"Nerezza," she told him, green eyes narrowing. This one was dangerous and a threat. "I'm new."

Brian nodded, more concerned about their current predicament than a new kid. "Well, this is exactly what must've happened in Perdido Beach." He nodded towards Nerezza again. "I don't know if their people disappeared but ours did and we have the same wall. And a power plant that malfunctioned."

Ray's eyes glanced up at the still howling siren. "So that's what it's for…"

Brian followed his gaze. "Yeah, it happens when our power plant busts. We should go check it out and maybe try to do something about the uranium. Can't have it seep into the water system. Maybe it'd give us all superpowers." Brian smiled blandly.

"My Spidey Senses are tingling," Ray giggled nervously. He was still a bit terrified with what Brian said with the age limit.

Nerezza glowered at the new boy. He's going to mess us all up! Talking about power plants and Perdido Beach. And superpowers! Nemesis is going to catch us soon enough if he hasn't already made this human one of his pieces. The girl probed stealthily at Brian's subconscious and was shocked to find he wasn't 'corroded' by Nemesis. Regardless, Nerezza had to get rid of the boy.

She looped an olive toned arm around Brian who looked very uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Maybe instead you should go tell people to meet by your town's main square. Your town might have to elect a leader and you'd definitely be the right choice," she purred. Brian cast one last wide eyed look at Nerezza and Ray before heading off towards the main square.

Ray watched him leave and turned back to Nerezza but no one was there. He frowned and looked the other way. No sign of the mysterious girl. Raynold shrugged and followed Brian to the main square. Before he left though, he shoved his ear-plugs back into his ringing ears. Some one needed to shut off those sirens and it sure wasn't going to be him.

Bleerrggg. I'm sorry about the spacing and breaking. It's kinda annoying to have a paragraph then change views. But that is the only way it'll work D:... Hey guys, hey guys, if you review, I might be tempted to post the second half of this chapter later this weekend. Thanks to all of my faithful and awesome reviewers.

Unlucky Word Shaker - Mmm...Paint won't be able to join Human Crew anytime soon. I don't know what the flip I'll do with Tyrell. We'll just see what happens with Caine :D Thank for the review
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