Drake smiled in triumph. He had won! In almost slow motion, Yoda twisted through the air, still screaming as he collided with a table twenty feet below. Drake's blood was pounding in his ears, but he knew he had succeeded. Smirking, he drew his lightsaber to deal the final blow when his senses prickled a warning. With a snarl he turned and blocked a blue lightsaber. The flash blinded him for a second, but it was all Stephen needed. With a kick he sent Drake falling towards the ground too. However the Sith Lord quickly regained his composure and pulled himself into a backflip before landing into a crouch. He gazed up with a surprised grin. "I was beginning to wonder if you showed up. Predators don't just turn off by themselves..." Stephen didn't smile, just gaze at his younger brother sadly. "What are you doing Drake? Big Daddy is your friend! Have you forgotten that?!"
Drake laughed. "You do not get to lecture me anymore brother. You lost that when you turned your back on this family." With a roar he leaped up towards Stephen.
"Damn this is intense!" Mouse yelled at Alamo as he returned fire from behind a china cabinet . While the EMP grenades had destroyed hundreds of Predators, it seemed like Drake had thousands more that were turned off in case of any EMP burst.
And now they were on.
Mouse scowled as a laser grazed his cheek, and crouched down behind cover as more laser riddled his poorly chosen piece of cover and smoke began to fill the air with its suffocating stench. Alamo's shotgun barely rung out of the battle however, but he spoke into his earpiece. "Drizzle, BU( Back up) on Floor 5." Mouse however had other ideas. With a toss of his gun, he tapped his earpiece. "Shuriken detonation." The gun exploded with the force of ten pounds of TNT, sending the Predator flying backwards as its arms and legs flew all over. Mouse peaked to see what his gun had caused. "Haha. That's some severe reality for you. Cancel last Drizzle, Alamo and I got this floor."
"No prob, proceeding to Floor 6, 200 meters to stairwell."
The thunk of a falling body made Mouse turn around and squeal as a Predator fell on him. Both fell to the ground, with Mouse swearing the whole time as Alamo watched, amused. With a shove, Mouse moved out from under the Predator, and saw it had a bullet in its head. A voice taunted in his ear, "Yeah watch yourself out there Mr. Reality." Mouse chuckled and quickly drew his Soldia Pistol before Alamo and himself advanced. "Nah, that's why I have you Aresole."
Drizzle checked the stairs, and motioned with her hand towards Rhino Squadron of the United States Marines. "Rhino, check Floor Six. Bambi, with me. We'll sweep this floor one last time." The thud of boots up the stairs reassuring her, she pushed forward. Every doorway Drizzle paused, Thermal optic scanning through walls for heat signatures. So when a Predator dove through a wall and killed two Marines that were right behind her, she was more than surprised. "Kill the bastard!" she ordered as she opened fire. Flashes lit up the dark hallway, and she barely ducked as a blade of red light flashed through the air. The unmistakable smell of burning hair and blood made Drizzle nauseous, but she kept down the bile that swam in her gut. A Marine didn't even get the chance to yell as he was struck down, both body parts burning. Between the Predator that was bullet- proof, invisible to Thermal Detection, and Crislin, Drizzle knew it was pointless to fight. It pained her to run, but why die a useless death? With a torn heart, she fled, making it a couple yards. Crislin was suddenly in front of her. He held up his blade.
"Hmm. What are we going to do about you?" He licked his teeth. Drizzle ignored the cold pit that replaced the vomit so quickly, and feigned resignation. "I suppose I'll just kill you."
Crislin through back his head and howled with laughter. "Oh you're good. I'm going to almost feel sorry for ."
"Again, die." Rushing Crislin, Drizzle slid underneath the Sith's legs as he swung, and with a yell brought her steel-toed boot up into Crislin's groin. The Sith Apprentice stood very still all of a sudden, and then dropped to his knees. Drawing a Combat Knife, Drizzle prepared to drive it into his neck, but the Predator had other ideas. With a swipe it knocked her into a wall. Dazed and burning with pain, Drizzle groaned, pulling herself across the sea of debris, burning wood, and dead bodies. When a clawed foot stomped on her hand, Drizzle yelled. The Predator laughed as its hand trans morphed into a rotating barrel.
"Does it hurt human?" It aimed, and shots rang out. Drizzle couldn't watch, her tongue hurt too much from biting on it. But when she eventually did open her eyes, she saw Rhino Squad rushing to her assistance. The leader, RockClimber, bent down to help her up. "Commander Drizzle, are you hurt?" He saw her hand and instantly called for AMA( Advanced Medical Assistance) while he began to remedially bandage her up. Once patched up, RockClimber stabbed the hand with a syringe one of his men brought. The wound and broken bones healed instantly, while the holes in her tongue mended themselves. Drizzle walked over to Crislin after a quick thanks, grabbed RockClimber's pistol from its holster, aimed, and fired.
"I said I would kill you." Drizzle seethed, and picked up his lightsaber. Experimentally, she touched the button and brought the red blade to the life. RockClimber joked, "You can keep my pistol if you want. I'll gladly take that."
Drizzle smirked at him, and then back towards the marvel she be held. "No thanks, I'm good."
Stephen, while distinguished, was no where near the skill level Drake fought. It was not a duel so much as a constant retreat and defense on Stephen's part. The blond hair that sat upon his head waggled furiously as its owner bucked, weaved, ducked, and jumped. Drake himself was laughing at his brother's misery as he simply slashed and stabbed. He could feel Stephen losing energy, it was just a matter of time. Finally, Stephen bumped up against a wall, and Drake stabbed his blade right into Stephen's shoulder. Unlike Yoda, Stephen did not scream, just grit his teeth like doors of steel. Drake twisted his blade into the wound and breathed through his teeth as his brother closed his eyes. "Does it hurt Stephen?" He seethed, half laughing, half roaring. A maniacal chuckle escaped him. Suddenly, Stephen's eyes opened, and in an exercise of sheer will, pulled himself into Drake's blade, grabbing his brother's other arm. "Do it now!" He yelled. Suddenly, Drake felt heat radiating through his chest, followed by emptiness. He felt pain like he had long ago, when a simple contraption nearly ended his existence. With a small gasp, he turned and gazed right at Yoda, he had jumped off his back and had his blade clutched weakfully in his right hand while his left hand gripped his pants leg. Drake stared at his work and then fell,his last breath leaving his lips. Stephen, too weak to stand, collapsed too. Painfully, Yoda hobbled over, and dropped to one knee besides his savior.
He didn't bother with consolations, he could feel Stephen's energy draining away. Instead, he held the man's hand. "Thank you." he said, tears threatening to overflow. He felt such profound regret coming off the dying man, and then came the memories.
It was a bright lit day when the bag was ripped off of Stephen's head. He squinted crudely, not quite use to using his face muscles since it was so raw from the beating he had suffered. But nothing was worse than being force to see his friends, his brothers, see a fake corpse of himself, to see Drake cry, before it began.
Then came the darkness again, long hours of it as the words played over and over, daring him to defy them, and risk another electric shock. "Drake is not my brother anymore. They are not my brothers. I will serve no one but you." Big Daddy then realized, Stephen was feeling hatred. Hatred towards Crislin Dunnovoocha.
After Drake jumped, Stephen powered the Hunter 9-s down with the snap of his fingers, feeling a tinge of annoyance. Every time he attacked, he had given his brother reprieve. When their blades clashed, it was in the form of Morse Code. They had even discussed the tactic if they were ever trading fire with each other and had to make it seem real. So why had Drake ignored it? Suddenly he hated it all, the assassinations, the betrayal, he hated Crislin. With a fury, he decapitated the Hunter-9s, cut them until they could not even hold a lightsaber. Then, he jumped after his brother. He would make him understand…
He'd seen it all. Drake killing Dunnovoocha, impossibly bringing him back to life, everything. But he also knew that he would never be able to fight him straight up, not anymore. He had to find Big Daddy. So Stephen ran, across mountains, through valleys, but always keeping near Drake and his movements.
Months, he wondered if DragonDen, the top fighting team in the world, was gone. Surely they would've fought back by now. And then, at last he saw them, ready to rage war against Drake. Only...they weren't fighting. No, it was a scrawny green creature...and monks? Curious, Stephen infiltrated the building, still keeping his Hunter-9 power switch handy. And stupid Dunnovoocha, forgetting his agent of Death had the keys to his harbingers. Deactivating a few as a test was easy, they collapsed like humans who had stayed awake to their limit. And finally, the battle began, shaking the whole building. Finding Drake and the imp, who he then assumed was Big Daddy was easy, but following them as they swung and clashed was a hassle. Still Stephen watched, knowing Drake was plotting something. Big Daddy was attacking too brashly, like a storm trying to batter down an impregnable house. Still, the library made Stephen think BD had it under control. And then came his fall, literally. At first, Stephen felt numb, then he felt purpose. He attacked.
Yoda's eyes flashed open, and fell upon Stephen's, which were closed. Wordlessly, he pressed the power switch, and felt the internal workings of all the Predators fail. He spared another look at Drake, who did not stir, and then fell too, letting the force take him.
Disaster was averted...