Texas Ben rushed to his army shouting as loud as he could, "We have reinforcements!" He ran through the crowd as fast as he could, yelling at the top of his lungs, "KingCream has arrived!" Cheers rang out across the Plaza as King led his group in. Texas Ben continued with a loud voice, "But we cannot stand idle! The Mods are planning an attack, so I say we attack them first!" "But where?" Someone yelled out of the crowd. Ben smiled, "I saw them and their puny army not far from here. They can't go anywhere except back. We will drive them to the ground! --------- Shishka watched the fires rise from the plaza. He was perched on top of a tall sticky. When he saw the army of Spammers moving toward his army's location, he knew that his soldiers were doomed. They would never be able to defeat so many. He hung his head down in despair, but that only made it worse as he saw the hopeful people down below, milling about, preparing for battle. "You're worried Shishka?" Shishka whirled around with his fists raised. He dropped them immediately when he saw Halifax calmly leaning against the railing. "Of course I am." He responded. "And I should be, you know the odds." Halifax smiled, "And you know I can change them." Shishka looked at him inquisitively, "What do you plan on doing?" Halifax stood up straight and arced an eyebrow, "Right now? I plan on giving your men hope. When the Spammers come, I only hope that you will trust me." Shishka shrugged, "I wouldn't have made it this far without you. I suppose all I can do now is hope and trust." "Well then," Halifax said as he turned to the stairs, "I hope I don't disappoint you." Shishka nodded and turned away. He looked back when he heard Halifax's footsteps stop. Halifax looked at the walls, ran his hands across the stone, "This is a wonderful thread is it not?" Shishka laughed, "It should be. You created it." Halifax nodded with a smile, "Yes, indeed I did. The 'Nice Thread' as I fondly call it. It gave me a great deal of hope when Yoozel stickied this thread." Shishka walked over and put a hand on Halifax's shoulder, "Yes, it is one of the few threads left in the Flood that has any amount of decency." Halifax frowned and stared hard at Shishka, "I will do anything to keep this from being torn down. Anything. I promise you Shishka, no Spammer will take the Flood while I'm here." --------- Texas Ben led his army down one path and nodded when his scout informed him that KingCream was circling around. He turned back to his army, "Are you ready?" A loud cheer answered his question, "We will take the Flood! We will keep the Flood! And we will drive the Moderators and all who follow them out!" The roar was deafening, but the explosion that followed it was even louder. Ben ducked as rubble flew over his head. "It's a mine!" Someone shouted. More explosions followed, the screams of the injured or dying rang all around him. He heard similar explosions coming from King's army. "They're everywhere!" Another voice yelled. "Stay down, and hold still!" Ben shouted as loud as he could. But everything was chaos. His group ran as fast as they could. They didn't run backwards though. They pressed forward down the street. "No you fools!" More explosions. More bodies. Finally the explosions stopped. They had made it through. Ben sighed and gave a shrug. He had men to spare. -------- ChiChi smiled grimly when he heard the explosions. His mines had worked perfectly, and the fools kept running forward. The next traps however, would be more devastating than the mines. He just hoped Buffalo and Gnome had set them in time. -------- Ben's men crept slowly, cautiously up the street. They would not be caught unawares by anymore traps. Of that, Ben was certain. He heard another explosion, this one subdued, and smiled. No men screamed. The traps had gone off before they even got to them. His elation was cut short when the threads all around him began to fall. He looked closer and realised that they weren't falling in on themselves. They were felling forward, onto the street.. "Run to the middle of the street!" Ben shouted. But it was too late. The rubble fell and crushed his men. In a few short seconds, hundreds of his men had been crushed underneath the falling threads. Those explosions had only been created to take out the foundation of the threads. "What traps have they left for us?" One man shouted. "They will defeat us before we even reach the enemy!" Ben shook his head, "Relax. That was the last of their traps." "How can you be sure?" The man asked. "They could have more mines laid out!" Ben stepped forward, the blood rushing to his face and his fists clenched, "Do you doubt me? I have led you safely this far! If you had listened to me when the other traps had gone off then maybe we wouldn't have lost so many! You all take it into your heads that you should be leader. Listen to me. Obey me. If you do, I promise you we will end victorious." The crowd murmured their agreement, and more importantly in Ben's mind, their apologies. He needed respect if he was going to control the Flood. "Good. Then follow me." ------- Halifax walked out of the tower with Shishka following behind. The crowd looked at him and pointed. "Who is that?" "Where did he come from?" Steel looked at him and smiled, "That is Halifax." The audible gasp from the crowd made Halifax smile. "He's a guy?" "Impossible, I sent him flowers yesterday!" Grindstone looked around nervously, "Well, I didn't know!" Halifax laughed, "Don't worry Grindstone. I forwarded them to someone else. I'm sure she will appreciate them." Grindstone paled visibly, "Who?" Halifax smiled, "You'll find out fairly shortly. And afterwards, I think you two will hit it off just great." Grindstone sighed, "After? After this battle, we'll all be dead. You saw the Spammers. We're doomed." Halifax frowned, "Did you not hear the explosions?" Grindstone hesitated, then nodded, "And did you not see the dust and debris rise from the fallen buildings?" Grindstone shrugged, "What does it mean?" "Hope." Halifax said without hesitation, "Hope and good fortune. I hope that you receive hope. I know that you have gained a great fortune. A turn of events that could end the war in our favor." He looked out across the crowd, "But if you really want to win. If you plan on beating back the Spammers, the one thing you cannot give up is hope. Give up your lives before you let go of that." He continued walking toward the street the Spammers were coming from. "Where are you going?" Ares asked. Halifax smiled, "Texas Ben has bit off more than he can chew. It's time for me to bite back." ------- The group waited in the sewers. They were staring expectantly above, waiting for the sound of footsteps. If they had been looking around instead of up, they may have noticed a small dark man, with a particularly ugly hand, pass by. The footsteps thundered overhead and the men tensed. Douglas Adams could think of plenty of places he would rather be than here. He rose his hand then flicked it forward, signaling his men to go forward. They all grimaced, but none hesitated. ------- Texas Ben yelled exhuberantly when he saw the enemy. "They are even less than we thought! Charge men!" His army rushed forward. Ben heard shouts and took them for victory cries. When he looked back, he saw a rift opening up in the middle of his army. The sound of swords and guns shots filled the air. "Turn back!" Ben shouted. "Turn back! They are attacking from the sewers!" Shishka saw Douglas' group and nodded to the other Mods. They all charged forward, leading the Flood United to fight against the Spammers. -------- KingCream heard the shouts, he saw the explosions but he kept his men going at the same pace. They would win, but he had always known they would suffer heavy losses. So long as they won, that was all that mattered. He stopped his men when he saw a lone girl standing in the street. "Fiurha?" He asked curiously, "What are you doing out here? And so alone." Fiurha smiled, "My friends call me Fifi. And lucky for me, most of them are here." Suddenly, shadows rose from the tops of threads all around the Spammers. Women dressed in black raised their rifles and fired into the Spammers. "Return fire!" King shouted. "They are few! We can beat them!" Fiurha shook her head and tsked, "Shame on you King. Haven't you ever heard of the Cayote Cavegirls? You underestimate us greatly." --------- MCs Brother listened to the sound of battle above. "Soon men." He said quietly, "Soon it will all be over. We will rise victorious. The Flood will fall to our might and you will all be given Moderator status for helping me achieve my goals." "You know," Hitokiri said from the shadows, "Cockiness is not a trait that most find very favorable." MCs Brother spun around, searching in vain for the unseen foe, "Where are you? Find him!" Hitokiri continued as if MCs Brother hadn't said anything, "In fact. Quite a few flame wars have been started from that very fault which you display so easily. So much confidence." He lit a match and dropped it, "So much fire." The room burst into flames. -------- [b]Continued[/b] [Edited on 1/25/2006]