Sorry for the long wait. I finally got to this chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 16- Pegasus's Captives
Heba led the remainder of his team forward. He knew that there was a chance that Pegasus was already aware that they were on the island, and they had to be ready at all times.
The sudden gunfire on them had the entire team ducking for cover.
"Return fire!" Heba ordered.
The entire team aimed for where the gunshots had been fired from and started firing.
A few moments later, there were loud explosions all around them.
"Move back! Grenades!" Heba shouted.
The entire headed backwards to avoid being hit by the gunfire.
Heba took a grenade out from his belt and took out the pin before he threw it toward where the gunfire had come from.
There was an explosion from up on the kill, and several men were thrown down.
Heba used the radio to convey his orders. "Red and Strone are coming with me. The rest of you, use grenades and fire. Give us cover. We're heading up." Heba said.
There was an affirmative response from every member of the team.
Heba motioned to the two he named, and the three headed started up the hill.
The factions continued to fire at each other as they engaged in an all-out gunfight.
Heba and the other two snuck up to where they were being fired at from, taking out several assassins that they came across out.
'Pegasus had a lot of assassins on this island. He is truly paranoid.' Heba thought.
The group soon found the main group of assassins.
All three took out grenades and removed the pins before they threw them where the assassins were.
The men were taken off guard and many of them were taken down.
Turning their attention to where Heba and the other two were, the assassins started to fire at them.
Heba and the other two quickly fell to the ground on their stomachs and aimed their weapons and opened fire.
Given that the assassins were being hit from both sides, the assassins were soon all dead.
"Hold your fire. They're all dead." Heba said.
The firing from below stopped.
With his gun ready, Heba walked over to the men that were on the ground and looked down at them, making sure that they were indeed dead.
"Leader." someone said over the radio.
"What is it?" Heba asked.
"We have a lot of dead down here." the man said.
"How many?" Heba asked.
"There's only three of us left." the man replied.
"All right. Get up here. We have a mission that we have to complete." Heba said.
Before long, the remaining three joined the three that were already on the hill.
"Leader, what about our dead?" one asked.
"We all knew the risk of death coming in. We knew that there were chances of death for us all. There was no way around that. This is one of the fortunes of what we do. When this is over, we collect the dead if we are able to." Heba said.
The other nodded, knowing that Heba was right about what he was saying.
"We have to keep moving. We need to get to that castle. Falcon won't let this continue. We don't know how long their equipment will be down." Heba said.
The other five nodded their understanding.
With their weapons held ready, the team walked on forward into the forest.
Heba was in the lead, and he made sure to look all around him as he walked forward. He knew that they had a long way to go. 'Pegasus is a dangerous man. We need to get into that castle soon and kill Pegasus so that we can get out of here.' Heba thought.
Heba may have seemed cold toward his fallen comrades, but he cared deeply and wanted this to end so that they could gather the dead and take them back.
Ryou along with the remainder of his team headed on through the forest that they were in.
When the team reached a clearing, Ryou motioned for the entire team to take cover behind the trees.
Looking out, Ryou scanned the area, trying to determine if it was safe for them to move on.
"Fox, it might be better if we go around the clearing in the trees." a member said.
"That will only add to the time that we will have to take to reach that castle." another pointed out.
"Maybe, but we will be better targets for anyone that is out to get us. We'll have more cover if we stay in the trees." the first one said.
Ryou listened to this and knew what had to be done. "I agree. We need toe cover. Taking the extra time is worth the cover we will have. We would be sitting ducks if we were to be caught in the middle of the clearing in a gun fight." Ryou agreed.
With that decided, the team started around the trees so that they had cover as they made their way forward.
The sound of a stick breaking had them all stopping.
Ryou looked back at his team, asking with his eyes if anyone had stepped on something.
Every member of the team shook their heads, saying that they had not stepped on the branch.
Ryou motioned for the team to hide among the trees so that they were not seen yet.
The team did as they were told and hid among the trees, having their guns drawn and ready.
There were sounds of dried leaves crunching and branches snapping as a group walked forward.
"I hope that we find all of these idiots who decided to come to this island. I hate having to walk through this forest all of the time." one man said.
"I know what you mean. It gets tiring." another agreed.
Ryou readied his gun as he saw a group of about three dozen men walk into the area. 'How many people does Pegasus have patrolling this island? He has a severe case of paranoia. Than again, when you've done all that he has done, I can't really blame him. He's scared of being found.' Ryou thought.
Once the men were within range, Ryou signaled to his team to open fire.
The team started firing at the assassins.
"Take cover!" a man shouted.
All of the assassins ducked for cover and started firing at Ryou's team.
Ryou aimed and fired, managing to hit several of them. He took out a grenade and removed the pin before he threw the grenade forward.
When the explosion hit, several trees were blown down, and there were some of the attacking men that were thrown back and to the ground.
The gunfire continued.
Several of Ryou's team took out their grenades and removed the pins to throw at them.
More of the enemy assassins were killed.
Ryou ran out of ammo in his gun and quickly replaced the ammo in his weapon before he continued to open fire on his enemy.
The enemy assassins started to move back as they had no idea how many they were up against.
"Shoot to kill!" Ryou ordered.
Ryou's team started to move forward.
When Ryou realized they were heading for the clearing, he said, "Force them into the clearing."
The team soon had forced all of the enemy assassins into the clearing.
"Damn it! We're sitting ducks!" one of the assassins shouted.
Ryou's team started to open full-out fire on the assassins.
All of the assassins fell to the ground.
Ryou kept his weapon trained on the assassins as he walked forward.
Once Ryou was satisfied that they were all dead, he turned around. "How bad?" Ryou asked.
"We are the only ones left." one said.
Ryou knew that that meant that there were only five of them left. He sighed and said, "That is one of the things that are common in our line of work."
"What do we do?" one of the others asked.
"Simple. We move on. We continue with the mission. We will not let their deaths be for nothing. We have to get to the castle." Ryou said.
The remaining members of the team headed on toward Pegasus's castle.
Joey led his team slowly through the forest. They had come across several assassins that were patrolling the forest and taken them out.
"Mutt, how close to the castle are we?" one asked.
"No idea. We keep moving until we reach it." Joey replied.
The group moved forward stealthily. They were careful not to let anyone get the jump on them.
Suddenly, two assassins of Pegasus's walked out.
The two were obviously startled to see Joey and the other members of his team there.
Before the two could draw their weapons, Joey had fired twice, hitting both of them in the head. They were dead before they hit the ground.
"They're everywhere." one member of Joey's team said.
"Falcon is paranoid. After all the crimes that he had committed, he knows that one wrong move could kill him or end him up in jail. He's obsessed with making sure that no one can get to him." Joey said.
"It's crazy if you ask me." another said.
"I didn't ask you. We have to keep moving. We have a ways to go before we got to where we need to be." Joey said.
The group on forward.
Joey was still alert as he knew that there was a chance that they could come across assassins at any point and time.
The group continued to walk when they heard footsteps and talking ahead.
Joey motioned for his team to get into hiding.
The entire team hid behind and in the trees.
Peering around the corner, Joey saw that there were about two dozen assassins around. 'I was right. Pegasus is paranoid.' Joey thought. He gripped his gun tightly.
Joey had decided to wait until the assassins were at a good range to where he knew that they could easily kill all of the assassins.
Once at the range he wanted, Joey made the motion to open fire.
All of the team started to fire at the enemy assassins.
The assassins were taken by surprise and several fell right off while the others moved back and opened fire as well.
Joey aimed and fired at several assassins, taking them down easily.
The assassins started to fire back at Joey and his team as they ran away.
Joey took out a grenade and took out the pin before he threw the grenade forward.
When the explosion hit, several of the retreating assassins were killed.
"After them!" Joey ordered.
The team headed forward and started firing at the assassins, not wanting them to get away and call in reinforcements.
Several of Joey's team took out grenades and took out the pins to throw them forward.
Many of the assassins were killed.
Joey and the team continued to fire at the assassins.
It wasn't long before all of the assassins were dead.
Joey cautiously walked forward and found that one assassin was still alive.
"It doesn't matter that you beat us." the man said, coughing up blood. "Falcon will kill you all." the man said.
"Well, I wouldn't count on it, and you won't be around to see if you're right." Joey said before he fired and killed the assassin.
"Mutt, there's only six of us left." one said.
Joey turned to and saw that many of his allies were dead. "When we all entered this world and became assassins, we knew the dangers that came along with it, and we knew that there was a chance that we could lose our lives. It is something we all have to expect. We keep going. As long as we kill our target, their deaths will not be in vain." Joey told them.
The remaining members of Joey's team nodded in understanding, knowing that it was a risk they took.
Joey turned around and started to walk on into the forest with the rest of his team behind him as they made their way toward Pegasus's castle.
Malik and his team made their way through the forest. 'Damn it! Why did Pegasus have to have a forest surrounding his castle?' Malik thought.
The group had already come across a few small groups of assassins that worked for Pegasus and were able to use the forest as cover as they made their way toward the castle.
'Than again, the trees do make excellent cover. I guess that is one reason to be thankful for it.' Malik thought.
"Tiger." a member of the team said.
"What?" Malik asked.
"Look." the member said pointing.
There was smoke, meaning that there was a fire somewhere.
"It looks like a controlled fire, which means that someone set that fire." Malik said.
"Should we check it out?" another member of the team asked.
"Yes." Malik replied.
Malik led the team forward to where the smoke was coming from.
When the team arrived, they found that there was a group of assassins around a fire. The assassins were fixing themselves some lunch.
"You know, I really hate this job. If it wasn't for the fact that Falcon pays us so well, I wouldn't even do this." one of them said.
"I know what you mean. He's a paranoid bastard. He is so scared that someone is going to come here and try to kill him." another said.
"It doesn't matter. We get paid well." a different one said.
"Do you think that we should be out looking for those people that aren't supposed to be on this island?" another asked.
"Are you kidding? There is no one here. Falcon is just being his usual paranoid self." the first one said.
Malik smirked. 'I think that they should know that their employer is not paranoid.' Malik thought. He readied his gun and motioned for the rest of his team to do the same.
The team readied their guns and waited for the signal to fire.
Malik waited a few moments to survey the area and make sure that there was nowhere that they could run to hide.
Malik looked at his team and said in a low voice, "Shot to kill. No one gets away."
The team nodded.
Malik gave the signal to fire.
The entire team started to fire at the assassins.
The assassins went into a panic as they were fired upon and several were killed.
The remaining assassins went for their weapons and turned to fire at where Malik and his team was.
Malik and his team continued to fire at the assassins were stumbling to hide in the trees.
Malik took out one of his grenades and took out the pin before he threw it so that it would land behind the retreating assassins.
When the explosion hit, the assassins were thrown back so that they were back within firing range.
Malik and his team continued to fire upon the assassins until the last one was down.
Once Malik saw that none of them got up, he started down to where they were, making sure that they were all dead. He found a few that were still alive and shot them to end their suffering and for his own personal amusement.
"Tiger." one of Malik's teammates said.
Malik turned. "What?" Malik asked.
"We're all that's left." the man said.
Malik saw that there were seven left including him.
"Looks like those assassins had better aim than we thought that they did." another said.
"It's the price of what we do. We all knew that there was a chance that this could happen." Malik said.
"What now?" another asked.
"We keep going. We have a mission to finish, and we are not leaving until it is done." Malik said.
The rest of the team nodded their understanding, knowing that their allies would have wanted it.
Malik led them on into the forest.
Atemu led his friends on through the forest. They had only come across a few of Pegasus's men and quickly killed them all.
"I would have thought that Pegasus would have more men around here than this." Akefia said.
"Don't get too comfortable. There is not telling where Pegasus's men may be." Seth reminded him.
The group continued on forward and found themselves at a river.
"What now?" Mariku asked.
"The river isn't deep. We could easily wade through it." Seto said.
"Yeah, but we would also be open targets." Yami pointed out.
"We'll be fine. We can defend ourselves." Bakura said offhandedly.
"Bakura, having weapons won't make a lot of difference if someone gets the jump on us." Seth said.
"We're going to have to figure something out." Atemu said.
"Any idea why a lake is on an island?" Marik asked, confused by that.
"That's a good question." Seto agreed.
"We're going to try and go around it. It'll be safer is we're not out in the open." Atemu said.
The sound of guns cocking behind them was heard.
The group only to find themselves face-to-face with the barrels of guns.
"Well, what do we have here?" one of them asked.
"Drop the weapons." another said.
The group knew that they were in over their heads this time.
'Maybe we should have stayed back at that base like they told us.' Yami thought.
Having no other choice, all eight of them dropped their weapons.
Eight of the men grabbed them.
"I think we caught the intruders on the island." another said.
"Should we kill them?" a third asked.
"No. They aren't assassins. They can't be. I think we should take them to Falcon." the first one who had spoken, said.
Atemu, Yami, and the others knew that they were in trouble as they were lead away.
Pegasus nervously was pacing his office. 'I can't get off this island, and those assassins are here. If they get to me, I ma dead.' Pegasus thought.
There was a knock on the door.
"What?!" Pegasus demanded.
Croquet opened the door and walked into the room. "Sir, some of the men captured a few people on the island." Croquet said.
"I don't care. Kill them." Pegasus said.
"Mr. Pegasus, I think that these people you will want to see." Croquet said.
Pegasus knew that Croquet wouldn't say this without reason so he followed Croquet to the foyer where he received quite the surprise.
Atemu, Yami, Seto, Seth, Marik, Mariku, Bakura, and Akefia were all being held by his men.
"Well, well. This is a pleasant surprise. I didn't think that I would ever get the chance to see you." Pegasus said as he approached.
"Can it, Pegasus!" Seth growled.
"You should watch your temper. I hold your lives in my hands." Pegasus said.
"Our lives don't mean anything to you. All you want is us dead." Atemu said.
"True. You may have escaped me several times, but this one is different." Pegasus said.
"I doesn't matter. You're dead anyway." Bakura snapped.
"Ah! You must mean the assassins on this island. Once they see that I have their protectorates, they will have no choice except to surrender." Pegasus said.
None of them had even thought that they would be used against their lovers like this.
"Tie them up. I have a great deal of use for them before I kill them." Pegasus ordered.
The men tied the eight up and then forced them to sit in chairs.
'This is excellent. It doesn't matter that those assassins are on this island. I have a bargaining chip now. It doesn't really matter though. I will kill the assassins and then I will kill my captives. All of this works out for me in the end.' Pegasus thought with a smirk.
Heba, Ryou, Malik, and Joey all made it the castle. When they saw each other, they all met up.
"Where are your teams?" Heba asked.
"Dead." Malik said.
The other two nodded in agreement.
"Seems that we're down to the four of us." Heba said.
"So you think that we can still do this?" Ryou asked.
"I know we can. We have to. We can't let the loss of their lives be for nothing." Heba said.
The others nodded.
The group headed for the castle doors and found that there was a time lock on it.
"What now?" Joey asked.
"Malik, you're the expert in dynamite." Heba said.
Malik took out several things that he attached to the lock. After getting everything ready, the group stood back and Malik set off the charge.
The sound wasn't loud.
Malik took the lock off.
"Be ready. There's no telling what we're up against." Heba said.
All four had their guns ready as they approached the doors. They opened the doors and walked in.
Heba headed down one hall with the others following.
Peering into what was the computer room, Heba motioned the others around.
Once in position, all four fired, killing the four men in the room.
"How many do you think are in the castle?" Joey asked.
"No way of knowing. I would say not many since Pegasus's goal was to keep people put of the castle. Most were probably out in the forest." Heba said.
"Meaning that most are dead." Malik said.
"Let's go. The sooner we find Pegasus, the faster we get out of here." Heba said.
The group continued on.
There were two men that came out of a room that were surprised to see them.
Heba fired at each one before they could react to the fact that they were there.
"None of them have even considered the thought that we might be in the castle." Joey said.
"They were probably confidant that we would be killed before we could get into the castle. We need to use that to our advantage." Heba said.
"Something wrong?" Ryou asked, noticing Heba's worried expression.
"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right about this." Heba said.
"Meaning?" Malik prodded.
"Meaning I think that something is about to go bad wrong." Heba said.
"What tells you that?" Joey asked.
"My gut." Heba replied.
"Uh-oh. Your gut feeling has never led us astray." Ryou said.
"I know. We're in for it." Heba said.
"We don't know that. We have to keep going. The sooner that we get Pegasus, the better off we'll be." Joey said.
"Yeah. We can have lives again." Malik agreed.
"We need to focus on the mission, not what you'll do afterwards." Heba said sternly.
"Right." Ryou agreed.
The group continued on.
The more they walked, the worse the feeling Heba was having got.
'What is wrong? Pegasus doesn't have Atemu, Yami, or any of the others, so why do I get the feeling that Pegasus has something over us that makes him have such low security in his castle.' Heba thought.
The group came to the large doors that led into the foyer.
"Okay. Be ready. There's no way to know what we're up against here." Heba said.
The group opened the doors and walked inside.
The room appeared to be empty, but they held their guns ready.
"Welcome."
All four turned to find Pegasus standing on a raised platform with his arms behind his back.
"Maxamillion Pegasus, I presume." Heba said.
"Yes. I must congratulate you on making it all the way here. I didn't think that it could be done." Pegasus said.
"You must have a death wish." Joey said, getting ready to shoot.
"I don't, and you won't shoot me." Pegasus said.
"And why won't we?" Ryou asked.
"Simple. If you kill me, they die." Pegasus said, motioning to the side.
The four looked and were shocked to see their lovers tied up with guns pointed at them.
"You can kill me, but they die if you do." Pegasus said.
Heba, Ryou, Malik, and Joey all looked in disbelief as they saw that their lovers were in great danger.
They had to make a choice.
Kill Pegasus and end their lovers' lives, or drop their weapons and they all die.
Hope you liked it.
Next: More action.
The poll has ended. Most wanted both stories, so I'll start them when I'm done with at least one of my two on-going stories.
R&R.