…Black site
Jadeite awoke in a daze. "Mars…?" he groaned. Where was she? His last vague memory was regaining his memory in that cave below the fortress, then all went blank. The last thing he'd seen was her eyes, gazing back at him.
"He's waking up!" a synthesized voice crackled into the air.
"Good!" said another digitally altered voice. Jadeite blinked as he realized he was strapped to a chair in a large prison cell. Light from the window of a room shone down on him from just outside the cell. He had trouble moving his head, then realized his head was strapped in a metal clamp of some kind.
"Where am I? Where's Mars?" he demanded frantically.
"Mars?" one of the voices asked. "Is that where you're from?"
"Who are you?" he demanded, ignoring the question. "Where is Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite?"
"WE ARE THE ONES ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE!" The other voice blared. "But your friends are alive, for now. But that can be subject to change. We know who you are, Jadeite. You've been unconscious for about a month now. We also know from our inquisitive research that you were in league with a foreign despot, one Queen Beryl! And that for her you've committed countless murders, attempted murders, and kidnappings. We also know you and your cohorts were key players in the attempted destruction of this planet. We could just wait a little longer for our hackers to get more out of the moon's network, or you could make this easier for us and yourself. Where is your Queen now?"
Jadeite scowled in disgust. He owed no loyalty to that witch for what she did, for what she almost made him do to the woman he loved. But he would not be interrogated. "GO TO HELL!" Jadeite cringed and hissed in agony as electric shocks burned into his head.
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" the voice bellowed. "WHERE IS QUEEN BERYL?
"SHE'S NOT MY QUEEN!" Jadeite roared before hissing again as the electricity singed his brain.
"DON'T BULLSHIT ME, JADE! WE KNOW YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS WERE HER LITTLE PRINCES! NOW TELL US WHERE SHE IS!"
"She's dead!" Jadeite gasped. "Metallia killed her!" he answered sharply, though he wasn't entirely sure how he knew that.
"Who is Metallia? You better not be bullshitting me again!" the voice softened but was still sharp.
"The energy wave that was unleashed on the earth! It was sentient! Beryl was trying to betray her so she absorbed her inside herself, like she did to me and my friends!" It was all starting to come back to Jadeite. Metallia had absorbed him and his fellow knights into her when they'd broken the mind control spell. They'd remained conscious inside Metallia and had been able to communicate with the guardians and Prince Endymion. When the princess cast her healing spell over the planet and dispelled Metallia, somehow he and his comrades were able to eject themselves from Metallia before being lost forever.
"Interesting," the voice said. "We already knew the energy mass was somehow sentient, but now we have a name… Metallia, sounds like a band!" the voice said with a brief chuckle. "You're certain your queen is dead?"
"Yes. And she's not my queen! She used me! She used the power of metallia to control my mind! The things she made me do!" Jadeite paused to take in what he'd done while under Metallia's control. He hung his head in shame as he remembered he'd nearly killed Mars.
"I want to believe you, Jade," the man's voice softened. "But you're going to have to give me a lot more than just that. I don't want to hurt you again, but I need you to give me answers from now on."
Jadeite swallowed hard. Brainwashed or not, he couldn't escape the fact that he'd done terrible things. He couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He was so relieved that Mars wasn't there. He had seen the relief in her beautiful eyes when they broke free of the spell, then heard her cry when they were taken. What a fool he had been! He was ashamed of himself for allowing that witch to twist his mind to her own ends. He'd been nothing more than a pathetic puppet on strings. He didn't deserve Mars' love, he didn't even deserve to serve as a knight to his prince.
He also knew the destruction caused by Metallia and the lives lost. He owed it to the Earth, to Endymion, to Mars, and himself to fix what he'd done. And cooperating with whoever these people were would help set things right.
"What do you want to know?"
…
It had been like that for a week straight. The men in the room with the digitally altered voices asked him questions and he gave them answers. He told them everything. Everything he knew about Beryl and Metallia, and about his past life and what happened between the Earth and the Moon. He was careful not to let slip the Earth names of the Guardians, especially Mars. They were the royal guards of Princess Serenity, that was all he said, nothing about their strengths or weaknesses or any hints about their past relationships, where they lived or went to school. He also kept his mouth shut about Endymion's identity.
Jadeite had no way of telling the time. But he'd guessed it had been a week when the voice thanked him. "You've been very helpful, Jade. Thank you." Just then his cell door slide open and man in a military uniform and a gas mask stepped in. He drew a pistol as he approached him and sprayed a smoky mist into his face. Jadeite coughed momentarily then faded to darkness.
The dream was beautiful. As beautiful as the girl who smiled down on him in the summer sky. He knew her eyes and her dark hair in an instant. "What's this? A royal knight sleeping on duty? Who will watch your prince?" She asked mockingly.
"Zoisite and Mercury are watching them today, you know that." Jadeite yawned on the grass. The prince's royal garden was beautiful, as it always was during the summer.
Mars smiled. "The others are relaxing at the palace you know?"
"What do we need them for?" Jadeite asked with a menacing smile. Mars blushed but giggled at the same time.
"Come on you honor-less knight!" she chided him with a smile. "Let's go and join them," she said reaching down to help him up. Jadeite obligingly reached and took her hand.
"I have a better idea," he smiled wickedly as his grip tightened. Before she could react Jadeite dragged her down into the grass beside him and rolled over on top of her. They both laughed. "Why don't you come and join me?" Jadeite finished before kissing her passionately. He felt her return his passion as she kissed him back.
Jadeite was surprised to find himself rolled over underneath Mars. They both always managed to catch each other off guard. "This is scarcely courtly behavior for a knight!" Mars gasped, still giggling. Jadeite smiled and nodded.
"Mmhm," he hummed in agreement before rolling her over again and planting another kiss triumphantly on her lips.
"Why are men so impulsive?" she complained.
"Impulsive? As I recall, you started this competition when you drew your sword first," he playfully accused her. Mars blushed brighter than ever. They both remembered the day they met. Both having followed their regents to their secret meeting place in the very garden they now laid in together. Mars, as always the hot head, charged at Prince Endymion the moment he came into sight, certain he intended to attack the princess. Jadeite was the first knight to react, charging out and locking blades with her. Both had been shocked when their regents shouted at them to stand down.
Initially the two had been suspicious of each other, tolerating each other more than liking. But as time went by the warmed up to each other and soon realized they had fallen in love. But the feeling of competition between them didn't go away, though it became playful and often romantic.
Mars sighed in defeat, seeming to submit to him. "It's awfully hot here isn't it?" she asked.
"Why should that bother you?" he laughed. "Your uniform is light and breaths well, I'm the one stuck in this sweltering uniform all day," he huffed in indignation. "But I suppose there's something I could do," he finished. With the flick of a wrist, the two of them were laying in cool shade. Jadeite had summoned a shelter of ice around them. Mars gasped in wonder but quickly lit a fire in the center of their enclosed shelter. Jadeite nodded and instantly made a hole in the roof for smoke to escape through.
Then the two of them were alone in their shaded retreat and once again Jadeite leaned down and kissed his love. They embraced longingly and held each other close. Then it occurred to Jadeite that this was more than just a dream, it was a memory. One of the happiest he had of her. His heart ached for his love. If only this could be more than a dream.
A loud clanging sound ripped him out of his precious memory. A violent tapping against metal. "WAKEY WAKEY, BAD BOYS!" A man's voice called out mockingly. "WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BACY! Well actually no eggs or bacon, but you know how it is!" he finished with a laugh.
Jadeite sat up and was surprised to find himself unrestrained on a cot and there in the cell with him were Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite. They all gasped in surprise then greeted each other happily. None of them had any idea how they'd survived the destruction of Metallia, but none of them cared. The past week had been much the same for all of them. They'd each been held in separate cells, strapped to chairs and interrogated in the same way by the man with the synthesized voice. Now here they stood in orange jumps suits in a slightly bigger prison
"Pardon me for breaking of the happy reunion boys, but it's time to get down to business!" They all turned to see the source of the voice. A prison guard in a military uniform smiled through the bars at them, tapping his night stick against the palm of his hand. "The name is Morty, I'm your handler for the remainder of your stay in this here penal institution. But don't worry, you might not be staying here much longer so you might not need to worry about my beautiful voice interrupting your beauty sleep. Or in your case, dirty sleep," he winked at Jadeite, who lurched back in confusion. He felt his face burn in embarrassment.
"You should have heard this horny little boy moaning a moment ago," the guard giggled at the other three prisoners. "'Mars… Mars…,'" he mockingly aped Jadeite's voice. "Doing a planet… kinky!..." he chuckled.
Jadeite's embarrassment turned to rage. "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" he roared as he charged bars and glared in the guard's face.
"Take it easy there, Romeo," Morty giggled. "I'm just busting your chops, pulling your leg, just trying to RISE out of you!" he said, swiftly striking Jadeite in the groin with his club between the bars. Jadeite fell to his knees in pain. "For kicks and giggles," Morty finished.
His brother knights were at Jadeite's side in an instant, they all fixed Morty with deathly glares. "Take it easy boys, touching the bars is not allowed. Only doing my job, and maybe just enjoying my little temporary position of power of you guys. What are you nervous? If we were going to kill you you'd be dead by now."
The four knights were not fooled for an instant by his shark-smile but they reluctantly cooled their tempers. "So tell me, "Morty began once passions cooled and Jadeite stood up. "How are you boys with your bible reading?" They all looked at each other in confusion. "How about the forbidden books, like Enoch?" he asked only to be answered by silence and puzzled looks. They all knew what the bible was but no it's significance here.
Morty picked up a computer tablet floor and fiddled with the touch screen for a moment. "Behold the Metatron, the voice of God," he said before turning screen to them. The knights blinked in astonishment at the sight of a man in a suit.
"Good morning Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite," the man greeted them. His voice seemed somehow familiar. "Nice to finally meet you in person. How did you like my batman voice?" Jadeite felt himself and the others glare. This was him, their captor and interrogator. "My name is Agent Lynch, and I appreciate your cooperation with United States government so far. But I'm afraid more is needed. You've all done well in telling us what we needed to know, but the fact is a lot people around the world are dead or permanently scarred by what you boys did. And while you've told us enough to not only start on defenses from this sort of thing in the future, but to start developing weapons that for years have only existed in movies and video games, talk is cheap, as you all well know."
Jadeite blinked, he knew exactly where this was going. "What the federal government wants from you boys is a gesture. Service is the gesture the government wants from you, to convince them that we're all playing on the same team."
"We all died breaking free from a prison built into our own minds, for the protection of this planet!" Kunzite hissed. "And now we need to convince your government by being their puppets, like we were to Beryl!"
"Not at all!" Lynch replied. "I'll handle the government, I've got plenty of friends up on Capitol Hill anyway. Your job is to convince ME. Not by being puppets, no! Puppets are a dime a dozen. I want knights; warriors, soldiers with abilities unlike any soldier in all civilization. And you boys are it!"
None of this had appeased their anger, but they all understood it didn't matter how they felt. They weren't being given a choice. And the suit with the smug grin held their lives in his hands. Jadeite had already guessed it was something he'd done to them that kept them from using their powers.
"Oh and by now you realize you can't use your magic, no doubt." Lynch said, as if on cue. "With the latest developments in medical science, we have developed a way to restrain your use of magic, or whatever the hell it is you use. You get your magic back, when I'm confident you won't use it against me and the good people of the United States. And then only as much as I'm willing to let you use. Trust is a process, kids, and you're just going to have to earn it."
"Are we enslaved to your government for life?" Nephrite asked.
"Like I said, trust is a process," Lynch replied. "But if you cooperate, and don't die, you just might be able to win a full pardon. But this has dragged on long enough. Let's get down to your training, which consequently is also your first assignment; a little on the job training if you will."
"We are listening," Zoisite said. None of the others said different.
"Good!" Lynch smiled. "The prison you are currently confined in is what we call a black site. A place that is off the grid, reserved only for the world's most awesome scum; the worst of the worst. And no you're not in Club Gitmo Cuba, that place is just for tourists. It was only natural for us to pen you boys up in here, completely off the grid, the books, and the chain. You might say we threw you in a hole and then threw away the hole," Lynch went on, the man clearly loved the sound of his own voice.
"Your mission is simple; kill everyone in the prison and stay alive," the four young men stared wide-eyed at their captor in silence. "No boys, your ears did not deceive you. You see, as I mentioned we want you to be our soldiers. So primarily we'll be having you kill very bad people who mean to do our country harm, and where better to start than with a prison full of bad guys that the legal system is too good for? Frankly, the government just didn't want to risk some smooth talking lawyer making his name by finding just the right loop hole in the system to stop a conviction, or for some of these mass murdering maniacs to walk free just because one of the cops who arrested them once called a completely different person an ethnic slur. You get the idea."
"Oh and one more thing. Not only do the hundreds of stone-cold killers in the nearby cell blocks know you boys are there, but our friend Morty here promised a billion dollars apiece for your heads. And also they'd walk free. They've all been shown photographs of your faces and they know which block you're in, so you might want to limber up and maybe get a game plane together because some of them might have lost friends or family in the Event. Good luck!"
The screen went black, only Morty's toothy grin looked back at them now. "Well this is not a really good day to be you!" he chuckled sadistically. "Don't worry fellas, the riot won't start till I unlock all the gates. Now's your chance to impress the boss, boys. Don't let him down, for your own sakes," he finished with a wink before sauntering off down the empty cell block, like he hadn't a care in the world.
The exit to the cell block locked behind Morty and the cell doors all slide open. Soon they heard shouts, taunts, and cheers, from the nearby blocks. The inmates knew what was about to go down, they'd been waiting for this. For all Jadeite knew some of them were looking to avenge loved ones. His fists became hard as stones as he glanced at his comrades. They all steeled their faces and nodded back at him. They all knew the score. This was the only way to repent for their crimes. Maybe once their service was over they could hold their heads high again. Maybe once he'd settled things with the Americans, Jadeite could face Mars again.
The cell doors and block gates all opened in unison. The ringing of the metal was drowned out by the roar of the mob. The hunt was on and the fallen knights were in for the fight of their lives.
…
"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Lynch asked Agent Hex, who looked back at him from his computer screen with her usual grin; bot warm and menacing.
"Come on Lynch, don't go all soft on them," She said. "They may be victims in their own right, but they were a part of the nightmare that shook this planet to the core. Besides which, you saw their medical reports. Their cells heal and regenerate at an accelerated rate, all they need is metal claws coming out of their hands and you could squeeze them into yellow spandex! Plus a lifetime of combat experience from a highly advanced civilization. If they can't handle the scum we're throwing at them, we have no use for them."
Lynch nodded, as bad as their inmates were, alien entities like Metallia are far more dangerous. What's more, there might be more ancient threats from the stars out there. "You sure you don't want me to let them use their magic?" Lynch asked. Hex shook her head.
"You were in the service, Lynch. You know perfectly well the weapon doesn't make the soldier." He smiled and nodded.
"Not the weapon, but the heart behind it," Lynch thought to himself. But if the boys couldn't handle this mob, some of them might try for an extra billion by ripping out their hearts and asking for a bonus. Not that the inmates would ever see a single penny if they actually brought him their heads. Delta boys were standing by to kick in the doors and put down the riot.
Lynch watched the camera feed as the young knights exited their cell and stood in the narrow corridor of the block. Smart move! The Hot Gate principle, in a narrow corridor overwhelming numbers amount to nothing.
Jadeite, or Jade as Lynch called him, moved to the head of the pack and swung the first punch into the mass of blood-thirsty humanity swarming them. A big ape covered from head to toe in swastikas and confederate flag tattoos went flying backwards, knocking over inmates like bowling pins, probably crushing a few beneath his weight. Sun Tzu once said something about dispatching multiple enemies by dispatching one. Guess the man knew what he was talking about.
The mob of inmates shrank back in fear for a brief moment, then resumed their attack with fury. Nephrite and Kunzite stepped forward and met the mob with round house kicks, sending two waves of inmates slamming into the cell bars on both sides with loud clangs.
Lynch laughed hard, stopping only to palm microwave popcorn into his mouth. Who needs Hollywood anyhow?
…
Nephrite's unsuspecting prey was hard at work roasting a rabbit on a spit. The woman had hunted and killed the long-eared fur ball herself, now she stood watchful over the meal while it cooked. So intent on preparing it perfectly that she didn't realize she'd become the prey of another hunter.
She was tall and strong built, but shapely and fair. Her hair was a tinge of orange, this and her natural beauty made her look as sweet and nourishing as a tropical fruit. Nephrite closed in from behind her without a sound. Like a slinking cat he hunched slightly before he struck.
Jupiter gasped loudly as a pair of strong arms grappled her from behind. "Is lunch ready yet, my love?" The red haired knight asked smoothly. He chuckled loudly as his love struggled free of his embrace and spun around to pound his chest with her fists.
"NEPHRITE YOU JERK!" she hissed as her punches thudded stiffly against his chest in vain. Nephrite couldn't help but smirk at her futile attempt at causing him pain. Jupiter was the strongest and tallest of all the guardians, yet even he towered over her. Eventually she grew tired and panted for breathe, like she'd just finished a difficult fight. She shrieked in horror when she remembered their lunch cooking over the fire. She rushed to check on it, then sighed that it wasn't burnt.
Prince Endymion preferred his garden for meeting the princess Serenity. But now the royal lovers were meeting in the city, guarded by Jadeite and Mars. Nephrite and Jupiter chose the royal garden for a place they could relax together and have lunch. Jupiter had boasted she was good cook and promised to prepare lunch herself. Nephrite was slow about going to their meeting place, wanting to surprise her.
"It's almost ready," said Jupiter. "I might have burned though! You shouldn't have distracted me!" she complained. Nephrite sighed, he could tell it hurt her pride to be snuck up on. Knowing her like he did, he knew he needed to set things right fast. He was going to save his gift for after lunch, but the time was now.
"Jupiter," he beaconed her softly. She turned to him with daggers in her eyes, the daggers blunted when she saw his gentle smile and came up to gently clasp her cheek. "Hold still, now," he said as he carefully planted a red rose between her ear and hair. "There now, Jupiter is not complete without its' great red eye."
Jupiter blushed crimson, her eyes glistened. Nephrite knew she had always been an outcast among the girls on the moon. Her height and strength had put off boys and girls throughout her childhood. Nephrite both scoffed and laughed at the thought of it. Being afraid of such a beautiful girl because she was tall! To him there was no more beautiful woman in all the galaxy than her.
"The storm seems to have spread across the planet," Nephrite playfully mocked her blushing. She lowered bowed her head in embarrassment.
"I should get back to the meat," Jupiter said. But Nephrite strengthened his grip on her and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "It's going to burn," she objected when he paused.
"Let it," he huffed as he scooped her up in his arms. She was light as a feather in his grip.
"But that's our lunch!" she gasped.
"All I need is you," he soothed as he laid her down in a bed of soft grass.
"But I…" Nephrite cut her off with a long kiss. "Nephrite!" she moaned. He kissed her again and again, moving from her lips to her cheek to her neck. "Nephrite… NEPHRITE… NEPHRITE!"
"NEPHRITE!" Jadeite's bellowing voice tore him away from his blissful memory. He felt blood trick down his forehead as he lay on the concrete floor of the prison. Jadeite was looking down on him with concern. He spotted the large brute that managed to punch him in the swarm of malcontents in orange jumpsuits, the coward was scampering away with the rest of the inmates.
"Is he alright?" Nephrite heard Kunzite ask.
"I'm fine!" Nephrite insisted as he force himself to his feet. "The wretched fool managed a lucky swing, that's all. There were too many to block all the blows." His brother knights gathered around and looked at him in concern for a moment, but soon were satisfied that he'd be alright.
"Well, we've driven them off!" Jadeite sighed. "But they'll be back."
"They're no match for us," Nephrite scoffed. "And good luck rarely strikes twice for a rabble like them!" he grunted, patting the cut on his forehead.
The deafening screech of feedback echoed throughout the prison. "AND ROUND ONE GOES TO THE, SO CALLED, FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS!" Morty's voice chimed gleefully through the intercom system. "That was a real doozy there wasn't it boys? But don't worry, you'll will get another chance, and real soon! Because soon and very soon we will be dropping randomly selected weapons all throughout the prison! Knives, guns, baseball bats, grenades, maybe even a frying pan or two. And you might want to get a move on, because some of the weapons might fall to your heavenly friends! COME ON PEOPLE! SHOW THEM ALIEN INVADERS WHO'S THE BOSS! GIVE E.T. A GOOD PROBING!
Nephrite felt himself and his comrades sigh in disgust. They weren't even aliens! Just reincarnated humans of an ancient but technologically advanced era. But then their enhanced abilities and strength probably seemed otherworldly. And Metallia was certainly not from Earth.
"Let's move!" Jadeite took charge and led them down the cell block to the exit. They passed by several dead and dying inmates as they ran. Nephrite didn't waste any sympathy on the murderous tramps as they passed.
They came to a cross section in the corridor, multiple directions led to the other cell blocks. But which one should they take? A shadow caught Nephrite's eye in a fraction of a second and he lurched aside to narrowly avoid a crowbar falling from above. A baseball bat and a pool cue both landed soon after. Jadeite barely missed a frying pan flung down at his head.
"HEADS UP BOYS!" Morty laughed from above. The knights glared up in unison at their jailer. "JUST TRYING TO KEEP YOU BOYS ON YOUR TOES!" Nephrite had not time to shout a curse at the man before he and his comrades were abruptly cut off from each other by rows of bars. Each of them were now trapped in separate corridors leading to different cell blocks.
"DIVIDE AND CONQUER!" Morty's voice blared into the intercom. "The wisdom of Sun Tzu! It really works! Don't believe me? Then check this out, the heavenly kings just made a horror movie mistake, they split up! Each is heading to a different cell block, be advised they are heavily armed with blunt objects and colorful language. COME AND GET EM PEOPLE! THEY'RE ALL YOURS!"
Wild cheers went up. The dogs of war were let slip. "Don't worry boys," Morty called down to them. "The cell blocks converge in the cow hall. You can meet up there!" he said with a dark laugh. Nephrite knelt to grab the pool cue at his feet. If he survived this, he intended to mount Morty's head on the stick!
"Be careful, all of you!" Zoisite called out as he picked up the crowbar. "We'll meet in the mess hall like he said. Try to use the narrow corridor to our advantage again. Good luck, everyone!" The others acknowledged as they headed down their respective hallways with weapons in hand.
Nephrite proceeded with caution. He heard the inmates coming, for all he knew they had fire arms. He might end up with a few more wounds before this battle was over. He'd just have to cope for now.
Knights of Earth were trained to make due on the battlefield. Ready-made weapons and equipment weren't always available in the field. And even though knights were known for their great swords, many knights only used them for ceremonies, in both the distant past and the middle ages of the current civilization. Many knights preferred maces, hammers, or axes. Nephrite was also pretty good with a spear, he smirked down at the thin wooden cue in his hands.
"THERE HE IS!" the mob roared as they rounded the corner ahead of him. In the dim lighting, Nephrite could make out the glint of knives and hammers. He thought he even saw a few pairs of scissors clutched in the fists of savage criminals as the trampled toward him like a pack of rabid dogs.
"I HAVE A GUN!" He barely heard one of them shout from the middle of the horde. "OUT OF THE WAY, I'VE GOT HIM!" the same voice called out. Nephrite dove to his belly a split second before the pistol fired.
Blood sprayed, bodies fell, and cries of rage changed instantly to cries of anguish. Three more pistol shot rang out and more bodies fell. Nephrite might have laughed if he weren't disgusted by the entire exercise. The blithering idiot had fired through his fellow inmates! The bullets had torn through the backs of several prisoners, most of whom were shot either in the head or upper body. The fool probably thought he could fire over them into his target.
More shots rang out as the mob turned their wrath on their blundering comrade. They grappled him, punching, stabbing, and choking. They wrestled for control of the gun. It went off into the heads of two more men before the biggest, meanest looking of the bunch ripped it from the dead fool's limp fingers. He held it up over his head and cheered his triumph over the others. Now was his chance!
Nephrite sprang to his feet and readied the cue like a spear as he charged the cheering inmate from behind. The tip of the cue tore through his back and protruded out his belly like a knife through butter. The already submitted mob recoiled in shock and horror as their self-appointed leader stood skewered before them.
The impaled inmate gaped down at the stick driven through his abdomen in shock. Like his mind could scarcely comprehend what had happened to him. Nephrite wasted no time in wrenching the gun from the man's softened grip and firing into the crowd.
The inmates scampered back in vain as bullets ripped through them and into others behind them. Nephrite squeezed the trigger several more times until the pistol clicked empty. He'd never fired a gun before, but the close quarters and narrow walkway made it child's play. Even his shots that missed ricocheted off the cell bars and into the retreating mob. The floor was soon littered with bloodied bodies, dead and dying.
"IT'S EMPTY!" One of the prisoners shouted when the gun clicked dry. He sprang toward Nephrite, urging his comrades on. Nephrite instantly threw the spent pistol at the inmate's head with full force. He heard metal crushing bone as the pistol flew into the man's face, downing him instantly. The rest of the mob rushed past him, their confidence restored.
The impaled brute moaned in pain but still hadn't fallen. Nephrite decided to fix that. As the mob closed in, he gripped his pool cue and kicked large prisoner with all his strength. The massive man flew forward into the charging mass. A dozen men toppled over, some of them crushed beneath the heavy mans' weight. Others flailed frantically in vain as Nephrite brought his cue down on them, spearing the downed enemies. The tip soon broke, sacrificing the weapon's reach for a sharper, thicker tip, this suited Nephrite fine.
Nephrite advanced further into the mob. They swung wildly, many only with fists, but Nephrite was calm and calculating. He struck swiftly but purposefully, stabbing and swinging for weak spots. He remembered his years of training in the distant past like yesterday. Every so often an inmate would land a blow to his gut, arms or shoulders. He was careful to prioritize blocking strikes from weapons over fists.
More gunshots rang out from the other cell blocks. Nephrite did his best to ignore them. There was nothing he could do for his comrades, for now he could only focus on his own survival. But he was confident in his brother knights, he trusted them.
Soon the dwindling mob of prisoners saw the futility in their constant strikes. Most of them looked winded. So was Nephrite, though he was careful not to let them see it. The remnants of the mob began to stumble away in fear as Nephrite ripped his broken cue from another man's chest. Moments later they were running away from him as fast as they could. Nephrite smirked and knelt to grab a dropped hammer from the ground.
"ALIEN BASTARD!" a hoarse voice bellowed from behind as crippling pain dug into Nephrite's shoulder blade. A skinny inmate rushed past him down the corridor, leaving his knife half-buried in Nephrite's back.
Nephrite staggered to his feet, fighting the pain with all his might. He had to keep going. He had to regroup with the others. He had to stay alive until Lynch was finished with him. He had to get back to Jupiter!
On he staggered, reaching back painfully several times trying to get a grip on the knife in his back. As he reached the end of the cell block, he managed to grab the handle and ripped out the knife. He nearly collapsed as he felt blood flow freely from the opened wound. It occurred to him that maybe he should have left it there until there was time to properly treat the wound.
Nephrite staggered like a drunkard into the empty mess hall, a hammer in one hand and the knife in the other. He heard more screaming and gunshots from the other cell blocks but felt his strength failing him, he knew he couldn't go to their aid. In a moment it would be a matter of whether or not they could come for him.
Another mob burst from a nearby doorway. Nephrite was certain he recognized some of the faces from before. But now they were newly armed with machetes, axes, and several of them had samurai swords. They bellowed like warriors with newfound confidence and surrounded him, closing in for the kill.
"HEY REDHEAD!" Nephrite heard a familiar voice from above. "I'VE GOT A LITTLE SNACK FOR YOU, PINEAPPLE ON ME!"
Nephrite never would have noticed the fallen object if he hadn't heard it clang on the concrete floor at his feet. In his fading consciousness he recognized the unmistakable green pineapple shape of a hand grenade. In an instant act of frantic survival, he grappled the biggest of the inmates and spun him around between him and the grenade.
He felt a sudden burst of force and the unnatural sensation of his feet leaving the ground. Then all went dark. Amid the darkness he thought he saw the shimmer of sunlight on orange hair, the soft deep red of a rose between the strands of hair.