Halifax knelt down beside Fiurha. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly. Fiurha nodded, "I think so." "What happened?" Halifax asked. "Why are you here? I thought you left!" Fiurha laughed, "I tried. It's a dangerous world outside of these Forums. I got caught at Ebaumsworld and barely escaped with my life." She looked at Halifax and said quietly, "There's a lot of bad people out there...it's nice to come back and see people who are still kind." Her hand brushed his cheek as she spoke. Dragon stood in the back of the room, staring at Fiurha with a look of pure hatred. "You really like him, don't you?" MCs Brother whispered beside her. Dragon glanced at him and then shook her head, "Of course not. I learned awhile ago that love only leads to pain. Nothing good ever lasts long." "You don't really believe that." MCs Brother stated matter-of-factly. "You care about him more than your willing to admit." "Well what difference does it make if I do?" She asked loudly, turning on him. "It's not like I have a chance anyway!" She froze and turned slowly to see Halifax and Fiurha staring at her. "What are you talking about?" Halifax asked. "Nothing." Dragon said bitterly. Suddenly, MCs Brother rushed to the window. He shoved the window open and looked down. "What is it?" Halifax asked in surprise. "A Bungie Jumper was floating outside the window." MCs Brother said and slammed the window shut. "What?" Halifax shouted, standing up. "That means they know we're here...and soon the Mods will too." He looked at the others and said, as Obbi came out of the bathroom, "We have to leave. It's not safe here." He lifted Fiurha in his arms and hurried out the door. "Don't bring anything you can't carry in your arms." -------------------- "You found him?" Yoozel demanded when the Bungie Jumper approached. "Yes, he's in an apartment near the plaza. But I don't think he'll stay there long...they saw me watching them...but not before I saw Halifax taking special care of a girl named Fiurha." Yoozel's eyes widened and then he nodded, "Alright. Thank you." He handed the man a stack of bills, "Find Butane and tell him I'll pay him double if he brings me Fiurha...alive." --------------------- Achronos glared at the man who sat across from him. "What are you doing here Lukems?" Lukems smiled, "I'm saving your precious Forum." Achronos grunted, "And what makes you think it needs saving." "A number of dead Mods and destroyed threads actually." Achronos sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, "Alright then, what do you think you can do?" Lukems smiled and gestured to the back of the dark room they were sitting in. "I believe Pezza was one of the earlier casualties you faced." Achronos glanced at the back of the room to see a dark figure standing there, "Yes, he died at the hands of Banshee and his men." "So you believed. He was shot, surely. But far from dead." Suddenly, the figure approached into the light and Achronos saw Pezza's face, disfigured as it was, but still Pezza. "He's alive?" "And more efficient than ever." "How so?" Lukems smiled, "Because he's half machine. He will stand and fight while others fall, listen while others question, and win while others lose." Achronos looked at Lukems closely, "And he will obey me?" Lukems nodded, "He will worship you if you ask him to. But I think you have much more important things for him to do." Achronos nodded. "I think I have just the thing to test his abilities." ------------------- Halifax quickly rushed down the stairs and out onto the street. He loaded Fiurha into Obbi's car and was looking around for any signs of danger when the others finally caught up with him. Halifax turned to Obbi and said curtly, "Quick, give me your keys!" "No thanks." Obbi responded with a smirk, "Something always seems to happen to my car when you drive it." He quickly hopped into the driver's seat and waited while MCs Brother and Dragon got in the back seat. "Where to?" He asked Halifax. Halifax shook his head, "Just drive. I want to be far away from this apartment. We'll take the furthest place we can find." MCs Brother and Dragon Eyes sat, uncomfortably squeezed in the back while Fiurha lay across the middle seats. She looked back apologetically at the others, "I'm sorry. It's painful for me to bend my legs right now." "Not a problem." MCs Brother said quietly. Dragon just glared at her. Fiurha looked at Dragon for a moment and then said quietly, "You didn't use to be so angry." "People change when they decide to fight. I guess you wouldn't know anything about that." MCs Brother's eyes widened while Fiurha's narrowed. "I don't know why you are mad at me, but don't you dare suggest that I am a coward." Halifax turned back and said loudly, "Hey you two--" He was cut off when an explosion blasted the road apart directly in front of them. Obbi jerked the car to the left and swerved around the crater that had formed in the road. "What was that?" Halifax shouted. "I don't know." Obbi replied, something just blew up right--" Another explosion hit struck right next to them, sending the car flying on it's side. Halifax groaned as the car slid to a halt. "Are you alright?" He asked Obbi in a low voice. Obbi nodded and the two of them looked back to see the other three all lying still. Halifax quickly took off his seat belt and crawled back to the middle seat. Fiurha had managed to reach her hands out and stop her head from slamming against the side of the car for the initial blast, but the explosion had still knocked her unconscious. He crawled into the back and said quietly, "Dragon? MCs Brother?" Suddenly, the door flew open. Several hands reached in and pulled Fiurha's limp body out. "No!" Halifax shouted and reached for her, but he was too late. He quickly pulled himself out of the car, followed closely by Obbi. Several men were flying away with Fiurha in hand. They were too far for Halifax to even try shooting at them without the risk of hitting Fiurha. He slowly lowered himself back down into the car and leaned against the side--which was now the roof--of the car. Obbi sat down next to him and tried to put on a reassuring face, "She's alive." "For now." Halifax muttered dejectedly. Obbi sighed and then said quietly, "We'll get her back." Halifax laughed bitterly, "She told me that she came back to this place becasue these people were so kind. I wonder what she thinks now." Before Obbi could answer, they heard something hit the ground outside and both of them froze. Suddenly, a metal hand shot straight through the roof of the car and grabbed Halifax by the hair. Halifax yelled in surprise but quickly brought his gun up and pressed it against the metallic wrist and fired. His head was released immediately, but to his surprise, there was no blood coming from the hole he had just made in the wrist. With an ear-splitting screech, the roof of the car was suddenly ripped off. Pezza stood there and nonchalantly tossed the roof aside. Halifax stared at him, "You're dead." Pezza smiled, "No. But you'll never live to tell anyone I'm alive." He reached in and grabbed Halifax by the shirt, yanking him out and tossing him across the road. Obbi raised his gun but Pezza had snapped his arm back into the car faster than Obbi could follow and he found himself lying on the ground a short distance from Halifax, gun in Pezza's hand. Halifax pulled himself slowly to his feet and looked at Obbi, "We can't win without weapons." Obbi nodded and the two backed away, trying to keep distance between them and Pezza. Pezza laughed, "Please, do you think I'm going to try and pummel you to death when it's so much easier to just shoot you?" His hand rested on the trigger, "I haven't forgotten what you did to HFCS, Halifax." "I had always thought you were against what the Mods were doing." Halifax said defiantly. "You thought wrong." Pezza replied coldly. A gun shot went off and Pezza froze. A hole appeared in his chest. He turned slowly to see Dragon standing there, gun raised. "Leave them alone." Dragon muttered. She fired again, hitting his gun hand and sending the weapon flying. Pezza glared at her, "You've had so many second chances, but this is your last one. Run away. Now." Dragon smiled and then fired again, making a hole in Pezza's face. "There's something alive in there, and I'm going to find it." "No you won't." Pezza replied and charged forward with blazing speed. He slammed her against the side of the car, knocking the vehicle back on four wheels. Pezza swung her back and threw her against the nearby light post. He heard a resounding crack and smiled as Dragon fell in a crumpled heap. "No!" Halifax shouted as did MCs Brother who had just come back to consciousness. They rushed in from both sides, MCs Brother aiming for the back of Pezza's knees and Halifax slamming against his chest. Despite his superior strength, Pezza--caught off guard---fell backwards and struck the ground hard. He just laughed, however, and tossed Halifax into the air. He slowly pulled MCs Brother up and then wrapped one hand around the man's throat. "I've been wanting to squeeze the life out of you for a long time." He said quietly. "You were never this cold." MCs Brother responded just as quietly. "And you are not Pezza." Pezza smiled, "You brought this upon yourself." "No." MCs Brother replied, "You did." Another shot rocketed into the side of Pezza's head. Pezza turned to see Un Gato standing there with a sniper in hand. He stood for a long moment and then a spark went off in his head and he dropped to the ground.