Author Notes: I'm back, and it looks like I have a couple more seconds to live... to make this short... enjoy... * awkward silence* :)

*shots fire... lights dim*

Into Reality Chapter 3 – Fighting back

"Speech" or "Emphasis/hint"

'Telepathy'

(Specific Location/ extra information)

Previously:

The three of us were in a tight triangle formation with Raid in front and me and Latias to the sides. Me and Latias drafted off Raid; 'We are climbin' to the heavens in the dark, we'll be climbin' so fast we'll see Spear Pillar, we are climbin' really fast….. Uh, I can't keep going, guys, mind lending a paw?' Latias yelled into our heads while singing in chorus. Off in the distant, four F-22's screeched across the sky on afterburners about 20 minutes out from what is our 'training ground'.

After arriving Raid proceeded to get his Frisbee's ready and got one out of the bag and handed the bag to Latias. 'Let's take a minute or two to recover. I'll admit, that wasn't fun at all.' Latios said in his native language. Raid tossed the Frisbee hard in to the wind. I took a split second and tried to calculate the angle of my attack as well as counting all of nature's factors, from wind speed to turbulence, to distance before impact, etc. Raid was just about to throw the Frisbee when out of nowhere the four jets mentioned earlier screeched their way into 'our airspace'. Me and Latias for one were taken back completely while Raid got all defensive. The four jets passed merely a mile out from our present positions and broke formation as we all heard one of the pilots say, "I think I know why we're here" (via quick mind reading).

I was on the verge of panicking as I quickly read his mind for his next move, "Good bye winged beast from hell." The pilot removed the safety and began shooting his machine-gun showering the sky with tracers and leaving me no room to escape as he had all routes taken. Now I was in trouble.

Back in Combat:

'AHHHHH! Great I've been locked' I cursed as now I was the one fighting for survival as I dove in and out and banked hard left to right. But no matter what I did this pilot wasn't letting me out of his sight.

Continuing the dance between me and the jet was harder than I originally thought, sure I was so much faster at turns but this pilot sure knew how to get the most of his jet as he matched my turns with his own. Reading his mind at this point was useless as I already knew he was trying to eliminate me and I knew he'd match each of my moves.

'RAID, LATIAS! IF YOU'RE NOT BUSY RIGHT NOW I'D GREATLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!' I yelling into my mind making "dead" sure my friends heard that I was in distress.

'Love to help but if you didn't already know I'm sorta' busy doing the same thing you're doing right NOW!' Raid said back with a sense of distress in his voice as well.

I knew that turning and cutting corners alone wouldn't get me anywhere so I decided to get smart with my enemy. 'Raid, where are you relative to me?' I said demanding an answer back.

'I'm on your 4 o'clock, heading Northwest with you, 700 degrees downward' Raid said as soon as he heard my thought.

'Good, time to have some fun. Climb and head Northwest, 800 degrees vertical, and maintain your speed, we're gonna have to cut it close with a two-way intercept.' I said filling Raid in on the detail.

Raid quickly got the idea and proceeded to comply. Bullet's continued blanketing the sky as me, Raid, and Latias were doing all we could to evade oncoming fire. As Raid closed in, I made my move and sped up at the last second as I went inverted and passed Raid overhead as our wings nicked each other on their tips, this close interception was way too close that neither pilot saw it coming in time causing a two-way mid-air collision between the Raptors. Metal shrapnel was sent flying as two multi-million dollar planes were reduced to splinters in seconds. Raid and I were already far away from the explosion that we each flew around the massive fireball descending rapidly towards earth, inspecting our work as it fell. A quick glance and the sight of a few tracers flying by sent us back into action, Raid and I regrouped and quickly spotted Latias. Latias unlike us was playing is smart and using her psychic powers to create a shield around herself, but instead of deflecting the bullets she was collecting them like flies to a flytrap. One by one as bullets became trapped in her 'attack'. Me and Raid saw where this was going and knew she had everything under control. We proceeded to find the other jet as there were 4 jets from the beginning of the fight. But to our surprise, the jet was nowhere in sight. We split up again and head out to try to find the runaway jet.

Back with Latias

She was literally surrounded by bullets she collected and began letting some of them go in an attempt to the engines or destroy the cockpit itself entirely. As she dodged more oncoming attacks the pilot saw her plans and planned to destroy her shield with a missile. Switching tactics, the pilot aimed the missile, removed the safety, and pushed the button. Little did the pilot know, Latias knew her opponents plans before he even thought of it. Seeing the attempt, Latias rotated her position and faced her opponent while flying forward and took aim at the pilot. Rage filled her at the thought that this person was trying to remove her and her friends. Instincts took over as her primary objective, which was to eliminate the threat.

'Latias, you know better, don't let anger control you, you taught me this so show me control' I telepathed feeling her anger from miles away. Latias coming back to her senses takes aim at the cockpit and launches her attack…

What mere seconds felt like hours as Raid saw his sister unleash her attack at the pilot….

Latias knew better as her plans succeeded. Her newly formed plan was to blast the pilot's cockpit breaking the canopy leaving the pilot completely exposed to the wind. As the canopy exploded from her attack, the pilot was completely overwhelmed with the force of the wind forcing the jet to slow down or risk killing the pilot. As Latias took advantage of this she got closer to the pilot still shielded and inspected the damage. The pilot wasn't hurt at all to the relief of Latias but upon closer inspection, Latias determined the pilot to be a female. This shocked her as she was used to the idea of men doing the fighting.

Back to Raid about 20 miles out from Latias's position

'Marlon, this doesn't look good, I don't see that jet anywhere and you know I can see far', Raid said a bit worried that their secret may be out and may be found out by the public. It was true that Raid could see far since Lati were known to have far superior eyesight over humans.

8 miles west of Raid's position

'Don't worry, we'll find em', just have faith', I said trying to inspire Raid to keep looking. 'We've gone over this area already, let's head back and help Latias if she's not already done', Raid said wanting to help his lone sister. 'Roger, heading back south, I see you, let's pick up the pace back alright?' I said also concerned for Latias's safety. This was mainly because neither Latios nor I knew what Latias was capable as she never really showed much of her potential unless asked to. However, even through the doubts, we both knew she was well capable of taking care of herself, we just didn't know for how long though. I was a ways out from Raid so I went into high gear in an attempt to catch up quicker. Once we regrouped, we quickly gained more speed trying to get back to Latias as soon as possible.

It took us mere seconds to flyby Latias at near subsonic speeds as we split formation and prepared to execute a team support strike. Latias saw our movements and recognized our strategy but little did we know she had other plans. Both Raid and I were physically and mentally tired but we didn't care so long as one of us was in trouble we pushed it aside like it was nothing. Coming around from a wide turn, we both prepared to launch our Dragon Pulses ignoring the exhaustion; as we neared our target we launched about 500 feet early before impact going 200 mph to help our aim. We awaited the inevitable explosion but were both surprised to see Latias defending the jet by blocking/throwing our Dragon Pulses aside.

At this Raid was furious since his sister was defending the very creature that tried to eliminate her, little did Raid know Latias had her reasons.

Raid and I regrouped with Latias as we flew around the broken canopy of the Raptor.

'Raid this one means no harm, she merely attacked me because she had no choice, her commander ordered to shoot or be shot by one of her teammates.' At this Raid still questioned her defensive actions. Latias however countered, 'Her mind is clear, she has a good heart, let me show you'. At that, Latias flooded Raid's mind with examples that would immediately convince any serious judge to give up on the spot.

At that Raid loosened up towards the situation and agreed with Latias; all the while I just followed Raid's wisdom and agreed too.

(I know Latias is smart, but I still had a few doubts, but if she did her homework correctly and was able to convince Raid, it should be alright, right?) I thought to myself.

At that still confused, I just followed Raid's lead. (Now) With Latias back in formation along with the jet, the pilot received an incoming transmission from home base but with the wind, she wasn't able to decipher all of her commander's orders. Raid was able to read her mind and catch all the parts she didn't hear along with the rest and told the rest of us (not including the pilot).

'Her commander wants her to disengage but record data on the mysterious objects for later evaluation... Now what do we do?' Raid telepathed.

'For now I say we find out how they found us.' I suggested.

'She doesn't know, her task force was just sent here without explicit orders and were told they'd be debriefed once they got here, but apparently weren't .' Latias answered.

'Great, for now I say we wipe her memories clean of this event but keep an eye on her just in case', Raid suggested not wanting for any of this to go public.

'Alright, we'll fill these empty spaces with false information so that she'll believe she did completed her mission.' I added on.

Reaching to a small aerodynamic bag I made myself attached to my back I grabbed a small GPS tracking device and threw it deep into a damaged part of the pilot's jet, deep where it could not be found. Raid and Latias proceeded to eliminate the pilot's memory while I kept an eye out for the missing jet. While Raid and Latias handled the pilot, we were flying North West at 270 mph approaching the Californian coastline. Even with all the time that'd passed since Latias broke the Raptor's canopy, the pilot continued to give off a strong sense of strength as she battled the winds and fought her exhaustion to stay alive.

To say the least, I was impressed. Minutes passed and Raid and Latias finished 'memory swapping' the pilots memory. We immediately cloaked and left the pilot there who changed her flight path and started heading north towards what I believed to be Edwards Air Force Base. We on the other hand started heading south back to my house.

Returning home

It was getting really late as all of us were both mentally and physically drained, not to mention out of breath from having to evade/cheat a death experience. Beginning our descent, Raid took a quick glance at the moon, 'It's 11:45 p.m., we need to pick up the pace so we don't have any problems with your mom and dad Marlon.' Raid suggested knowing that it's been quite a long time since I left, and my parents had to have been home by then if not already arrived. Latias and I agreed and picked up the pace, racing at 500 mph keeping our distance from clouds as we didn't want to attract any more attention from random streaks through clouds. We were tired but not weak; we still had more than enough energy to fight again.

It was a false thought in my mind but it was one that I might have to pull through if the moment came again in the future. Latias kept us all engaged by asking questions along the way home, 'Raid how'd you get rid of the jet following you?'

Raid took a second and replied, 'Wasn't that hard actually, me and Marlon had a close intercept where two of the jets collided, Marlon was the one to come up with the maneuver while he was getting shot at.'

'Ahhh, teamwork, not bad, maybe you'll help me next time Marlon, what do you think?' Latias came close and nuzzled me tempting me to start a war all over again.

'Latias, not now, not while we're flying, I don't want to crash again with Raid.' I said trying to remove of the accursed beast that called itself Latias; She didn't stop to my displeasure but to hers instead. Not wanting an accident, I let her be as she happily nuzzled me all the way back home 'cooing' (the sound Lati make as they speak or display emotion) along the way. But even while distracted, I was now more concerned than ever for our safety as everything was now at stake, after the Raptor escaped from us.

Now about 10 minutes out from my house, Raid wanted to ask me about the tracking beacon I placed in the girl's jet. It was actually a story I didn't want to bring up as it involved a misunderstanding between me and a First Sergeant in charge of an Air Force base. I knew Raid would find out eventually but now wasn't the time. I on the other hand was still more worried about how I would explain everything to my parents since I left, but Latias and Raid assured me that they'd help... somehow.

I started to come up with excuses and I came up with, 'How about, I had to go get something for an event that would happen in the future for my volunteering club?' I asked my two friends.

Raid shrugged.

'Not bad, don't worry and stop panicking, you're doing worse than you were just fighting those jets earlier.' Latias said amazed that I was becoming a nervous wreck. I never really had to deal with something like this in the past as we always had something planned but this was different. If there was anything I was most afraid of, I'd say my parents over Arcues himself.

(Note: Exaggeration but you get the point)

We neared my house still invisible and found that my parents weren't home yet. This made my fears worse at the thought that my parents could have left home to the police station to report my absence. I flew into my backyard and turned visible again. I was then greeted by my little dog I named "Blacky"

(Note: It's such a scary name right? And I don't know his species; he's not that big, maybe small poodle size and with black fur…)

He was jumping up and down trying to pounce on me like he always does. I closed my eyes and focused hard on my human form and forced energy from around me into myself to make the transformation work. When I opened my eyes, I was my original self, wearing my black pants and my blue shirt along with my pendant, shaped like a Latios from the side, I made to remind myself of "Who I Am". Raid and Latias remained as they were and we all headed inside. Once inside I rushed for the phone and called my mom. For every fraction of a second felt like days to me as I waited for a response, luckily my mom picked up asking what's wrong in her normal calm voice. I was relieved as I knew she hadn't come home yet, I asked what she was doing but didn't want to disclose that information to me to my own annoyance. A small conversation later and she told me goodnight as I hung up. After that I took a deep breath of relief and headed for the shower. By then Raid and Latias were all done cleaning themselves from the carnage that remained from earlier after a nice refreshing shower (and yes, my parents built large showers by accident without double checking the blueprints they drew ahead of time). A quick hot bath later and I was in bed trying to piece together all the things that happened in the last 3 hours Normally, they'd go their rooms but after today, we all felt a bit afraid of the night and chose to be with each other. Latias came in through the sliding door and took her position next to me while Raid stuck to using giant sleeping bag I had since I was in elementary.

With the doors closed we all said goodnight and thanked the lord for another day to be together healthy and safe, but we still talked to each other about what happened. Latias was happy that it was all over but I had to disagree, ' Latias, this isn't over yet, now we're at risk since that lady had an encounter with us, sure we removed unwanted information from her mind but she was still with us and her leaders know it too. So as far as we're concerned we're gonna have to lay low for a while.'

Latias and Raid agreed as we proceeded to going asleep although Latias was a bit upset that she didn't get to hit the Frisbee first as she grew a bit attached to the Frisbee but was happy that she was able to defend herself while her two brothers had to work together. To her this was perfect blackmail material for later. Raid sensed Latias's sadness about losing the Frisbee but assured Latias he'd get another one later. Latias coo quietly with joy in response making us all feel better as we fell into a long needed rest. Little did we know that the two pilots that were involved in the collision actually ejected after the collision and were still alive…. :o

To be continued next time...

Oh Latias, of all the things we just went through and you had to think about the frisbee... *sighs* oh well...

And what a cliffhanger, wonder what happens next, the CIA gets involved, the president calls nuclear attack on my house... my mom makes me a sandwich? Find out... in the next (or next) chapter...