A/N Thanks to all reviewers. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter folks. I've got an important note down the bottom so please read that.
Disclaimer: JP owns all cannon
Claimer: All original ideas and characters are mine
It was dark.
It was dark. Then slowly, out of the depths, an image started to form around me. It started off as mere lines on the darkness around me, simple white lines as if some child was drawing it. The lines joined together and eventually a building formed in front of me. Glancing behind me, I saw other buildings also being drawn, taller than the one in front. A corporation if I had to guess.
I glanced back at the first building and blinked. It was fully coloured in. Wait. . . I know this building. I took a step back and gazed at it a while longer, waiting for the details to be filled in.
"Come now Max, don't tell me you have to wait till everything is filled in first. You should know this place."
I sighed and turned around and guess who was there. Yep, none other than the nameless Eraser herself. I think I'll call her Fluffy as seen as she doesn't want to give me her name.
"So Fluffy, where've you been these past few sleeps. I was so bored without someone to talk to in my dreams."
"Fluffy? You've decided to call me Fluffy? Well now Maxie, don't you think that's slightly immature?" Her shape faded as ghosts of people faded into view. I took the opportunity to glance around and saw that the whole street was now filled in. "Come now Maxie, surely you remember this place."
I growled lightly at her use of my name and tried to find her in the crowd. "Stop calling me Maxie." I glanced back at the building. "And this is that building we destroyed isn't it? The one where we got Total."
Fluffy smiled lightly and stepped through a person, stopping right in front of me. "You are indeed correct Maxie." She laughed and turned around, swept her arm and the building disintegrated into rubble and flames. "A pretty picture wouldn't you say? This is probably how it looked after you escaped. The whole building probably collapsed from the weaken supports. Sure the flames might be a tad unrealistic, but it certainly looks good wouldn't you say?"
Laughing she twirled around and all the builds seemed to collapse inward. Reduced to rubble before my eyes. "Isn't it pretty Maxie? All this destruction, all this decay, all this death, it just warms my soul."
I shook my head. "Why are you showing me this? I won't let this happen you know, I will defeat you and Itex. I'm meant to save the world remember? It's my destiny." I smiled at her. "You of all people should know that."
She simply chuckled. "Keep on believing that Maxie. After all, everyone needs hope." She took a bow and vanished from my sight, leaving me standing in the ruins of a city.
I hate her.
--
I woke up to someone shaking me. Blinking, I brushed away the hand and slowly opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Total's eyes close to mine. . . too close. . . picking him up, I threw him off to the side. "And stay there," I mumbled.
Total ruffled his fur and shot me a look. "That's the thanks I get for waking you up?" he muttered just loud enough for me to hear.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll buy you some proper food once we get out of this mess okay?" I glanced over at the rest of the Flock and saw them all napping. "I guess it's time to wake everyone up?"
Total nodded. "I'm not certain if anything is up, but the Alpha got a radio message before. And now. . ." I followed his gaze and noticed that the Alpha was not at her usual position.
I glanced back at Total. "Wake them up and tell them all to get ready." I surveyed the other Erasers, there were less of them, but they all held their weapons at the ready and where all at strategic locations. "We're about to get company."
He glanced at me then looked at the Erasers before scampering off, touching each member of the Flock in turn with his cold nose. Some sat bolt up and threw Total, others woke up slowly, clearly confused while the rest simply opened their eyes and knew what was about to happen.
Moving slowly and silently, we got ourselves into position and waited. I suppose we could have spread the word, but there was no way of doing that without some sort of sign being given by the civilians as to what we were planning to do. I scanned the area once last time and caught the eye of one of the security guards. I gave him the barest of nods and tilted my head towards the nearest Eraser. He nodded back.
I've always thought that all through life I've been waiting. Waiting for the next experiment, waiting for the day we could escape, waiting for Jeb to return. . . Waiting, always waiting. And now? I was waiting for any sign of the remaining SWAT so that start our plan. Like I said, I'm always waiting for something to happen in my life. Most of it turns out to be bad.
And now. . .? Gun fire reached my ears and we all tensed up. Now, the waiting is over. Fang was the first to move, climbing up and dashing towards the first Eraser. By the time the Eraser had reacted, Fang was already in attacking distance and did so. Getting up myself, I grabbed the nearest civilians arm and dragged her to her feet and gestured in the direction of Gazzy. The rest soon followed
"Iggy! Where's that-" Flash of white light and even though I was not looking at it, it still took me a couple of seconds to recover.
"Max!!" I turned around and caught the gun Fang threw at me.
Spinning around, I located one Eraser who had just managed to recover and I took aim and fire. It would have been a lot more dramatic if it was a straight headshot and that I'm some sort of miraculous shooter, but instead I missed completely. Don't get me wrong, it made the Eraser blink and that was enough time to get myself behind some rubble.
At first the only gun fire was ours as the Erasers tried to regain their composure, only managing to get off a shot or two. Now though, their gun fire roared into life, magnified by the echo. I didn't even have time to say goodbye to all the other sounds. How rude.
I pressed myself against the rubble and winced each time I heard a bullet scrap and ricochet off my hiding place. I looked over to my left and saw Fang in a similar position, cradling his left arm. I glanced over to my right and saw the rest of the people rushing out while Gazzy and the rest of them tried to cover them. Bodies littered the ground, blood stained the floor crimson.
Had I managed to save them? Or had I merely sent them to their deaths trying to escape?
I shook my head. This was no time to be thinking about such things. Standing up, I fired off three shots then ducked back down. Taking a couple deep breaths, I stood back up and flinched when a bullet whizzed past my ear, but fired.
Click.
Crap. Ducking down, I dived off to the side and rolled off behind a larger piece of rubble. The first time I tried to stand up, I collapsed onto the ground. Bewildered, I glanced down and saw my bandages soaked with blood. Gritting my teeth, I used the wall as support and stood up slowly, making sure to stay covered from gunfire.
Looked off to the side and saw the bodies. So many of them. . . too many. . . this wasn't supposed to happen. Sure, there was an element of danger and some would die, I knew that, but this many? No. . . this wasn't right, how could so many have died. . .
There was a loud explosion from above. Silence. We all watched as the ceiling collapsed inward. Closing my eyes, I braced myself against the shelter. The ground shook, it trembled, the groaned under the weight. Dust filled my mouth and nose, it filled the air and hung there. Small pieces of the walls and roof were picked up and tossed back. Shrapnel. I could hear the screams as it cut into people. I could hear it as it sliced the air next to me.
This wasn't meant to happen. There were less than a dozen Erasers. It should have been simple to escape. No one should have died. Take down the nearest two Erasers, grab their guns, shoot down the rest. It was simple. It was straight forward. It had failed.
I was standing in a pool of blood. No. . . not a pool, a sea. . . I was standing in a sea of blood. A thin layer coated the ground. My own blood dripped and mixed. I opened my eyes slowly and they watered. I tried to breathe and chocked on the muggy air. I slowly stood back up and the clothes stuck to me. When did I collapse?
"Max! This way!" I stumbled after Iggy's muffled voice, tripping over more than once on rubble and bodies. "Come on, come on, hurry!"
"I'm hurrying you idiot!" I yelled back, but I don't think he heard me, I could barely hear me. Stumbling along, the door and Iggy slowly faded into view and I made my way through.
The person on the right of me held out a cup of water. "Thanks," I replied and gulped it down. "Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be with the other civilians?"
She simply chuckled. "I'm with the US Marines. I've got the next couple of days off so I decided to vist my family and all this happened. That was a daring plan you had there, it could have gone a lot worse. We got lucky."
I nodded. "I realise that now, but at the time, it was our best option. Plus, it offered a distraction for the SWAT people to get in."
She nodded. "So your friend here told me." She held out her hand. "Name's Julie. You run ahead and make sure everything is going on fine up ahead. We'll keep the Erasers company down here." Smiled lightly. "Yes your friends told me what they're called, though why I have no idea."
"It's because they erase life," replied Fang. He glanced over at me, "I suggest you get moving Max. Gazzy's having trouble controlling everyone because he's too young."
I nodded and raced off in the direction Fang pointed. Why can't people just listen to those that obviously know more than them?
A/N I've got an announcement which is updates will not be coming weekly anymore. I'm sorry, but I write fanfiction for critique so that I can improve. As seen as I'm no longer getting any critiques, I've decided to spend less time writing fanfiction and more time writing my original story. However, I will try to have an update every two weeks or so.
Reviews are nice, critiques are must.