Halifax opened his eyes slowly when he heard the door to his room shut. "Banshee?" Banshee Barron nodded curtly, "Hey Halifax. How are you holding up?" "You can't be seen with me!" Halifax said, looking around with worry. "If they find out about our group and who's in it--" "They know who's in it! Or they will soon enough." "What do you mean?" Halifax asked. "When Dragon Eyes came to your rescue, the Mods were watching. They knew she was working with you so they captured her...when Kritz found out about it, he decided to take matters into his own hands." "He's going to rescue her?" Halifax asked, sitting up. "We have to help him!" "It's suicide. We can't attack the Mods until we have a large enough following." "Well, we can't let them die!" "I wish that were all that would happen to them." Banshee said sadly. "The Mods will get as much information out of them as they can bfore they kill those two. If Dragon doesn't tell them about our group, Kritz will." Halifax looked at him carefully, "So, what are we going to do?" "Nothing...there's nothing we can do. We'll keep terrorizing the Mods and rallying the Flood, but there's nothing we can do for Dragon or Kritz." Halifax shook his head. "No. We have to help." "Halifax we--" "I'm not going to let them die!" Halifax shouted. "Dragon risked her life for me and I'd be a sorry friend if I didn't do the same!" "Risking your life is one thing, but throwing it away after she went through so much to save you is stupid. Don't let her death be in vain Halifax." Halifax laughed bitterly, "In vain? You said yourself that before she dies they'll have all our names. We have to get Kritz and Dragon out, for our sakes as much as theirs." Banshee shook his head with a sigh and said, "You can't. They're Mods. Not members, Mods." "They're still members Banshee. They can be blacklisted just as easily as we can." Banshee turned to the door and paused before opening it, "You're a fool you know." Halifax smiled, "In my opinion, fools make the best heroes." ------------------------ Banshee walked back into the clearing and looked at the rest of the group. "Well?" Fastmatt was reviewing the recording they had made of the conversation with a hidden camera. "They're too hot headed. We need to be calculating and discreet...these guys are liable to get us killed." Banshee nodded. "I was thinking the same thing." He looked around and frowned, "Where's Caspian?" "He must not have gotten the message." Fastmatt said nonchalantly. Banshee shrugged, "It can't be helped, we have to move forward without him." "So what do we do?" Pistol asked. "We have to stop the Mods from getting any information out of them." -------------------- Halifax froze when they heard the loud announcement blaring throughout the Flood. "All members rejoice; the groups are back! They have been fully restored and--" The rest was drowned out as loud cheers went up from the members. Halifax watched as several Mods shook hands with members, assuring them of a brighter future ahead. The groups were back. Halifax knew where they were holding Dragon now. He just hoped he could get there before Kritz got into trouble. ---------------------- Kritz walked toward the HFCS with his face set firmly. The minute the groups had been brought back, Kritz had recieved a call from Membership Denied, informing him of their return. He ignored it. All that mattered was getting Dragon back. The HFCS stood at the edge of a cliff, overlooking all of the Forums. The lights were on which was a good sign. Kritz hurried up the steep slope that led to the Mod's home group. He quickly snuck to the side of the house, peeking around the corner to get a clear view of the door. He had to wait for the right moment. ----------------------- Dragon stared up groggily at the three Mods who frowned down at her. She could hardly see with the blood running over her eyes. She had been beaten badly and knew they were going to kill her soon, but she felt some comfort in knowing that she hadn't revealed any information about the rebellion. "We know you're working with Halifax...are you willing to let him die for you?" Dragon laughed, "He means nothing. You can kill the man, but you can't destroy the idea." "What idea?" Yoozel asked leaning forward. "The idea that, maybe, this place would be better without you." With that, she spat in his face. Yoozel calmly wiped the bloody spit from his cheek and then picked up a rag. He gently dabbed it across her face, wiping away the blood that smeared across her forehead and chin. He continued cleaning her wounds, from the cuts on her arms and legs, to the whip marks across her back. Dragon winced as he touched her wounds, but she watched him with a quizzical expression. "Why are you doing this?" "Such a beautiful girl deserves to be treated with dignity and respect." "No." Dragon said, "Why are you doing this? Stifling our freedom?" Yoozel shook his head, "There are worse things in life than a controlled society. It's not a lack of freedom, just an increase in order." "The way Achronos is going about it, I think the two coincide." Yoozel stood up and turned away, "You can think what you want...but you will not leave her until you cooperate." He looked at Pezza and said, "Take these rags out to the trash and return immediately." "I won't leave here alive no matter what." Dragon said dryly. "You'd hate to blemish your good record with the members by letting them know you nearly beat to death one of the few girls in this Forum." "We'll see." Yoozel said with a smile. ------------------- Kritz watched as Pezza opened the door, carrying a handful of bloody rags. Kritz knew what those rags were for. He held his anger in check however and quickly rushed to the door before it closed. He grabbed it and swung it open, then quickly stepped inside, praying that Pezza didn't see him. He heard a loud scream and quickly headed down the stairs of the dark group, feeling his blood boil at the thought of what they were doing to Dragon. "Hello Kritz." A voice said and a hand suddenly grabbed him by the arm. Kritz struggled fiercely, but when two more hands grabbed him, he knew it was useless. ------------------- Dragon gasped when Nosferatu and Goweb dragged Kritz into the room. "What are you doing here?" She demanded. "I'm sorry." Kritz whispered as they pulled him in front of her and then tied his hands up, hanging him from the ceiling by the wrists. "You two know each other." Yoozel said with a smile. "You may not care what happens to Halifax, but what about Kritz?" ---------------------- Halifax shook his head as he watched Kritz enter the group. He looked at the building, knowing that there was no way he could get out of there safely. He needed to give them something bigger to worry about than him.