[url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=10766678]Chapter 6[/url] Halifax hadn't left the Forums in a long time and he felt strange out in the world. The entire land was gray, with dark rocks, low clouds, dead trees. Halifax found it to be even more dreary than the Flood. "This place gives me the creeps." Dragon said. "I thought this was where all the blacklisted people went." "It is." Kritz replied, pulling her close to comfort her, or himself. Halifax couldn't decide. "Then where is everyone?" "The only people sent out here are those who are allowed to come back." Halifax said quietly. "They usually stay in hiding. Those who are permanently banned...well, the Mods say they're sent out here, but there's a reason you never hear anything about them again." "What do you mean?" Dragon asked. Halifax sighed, "When I was sent here, I stumbled across a huge pit filled with bodies. I saw Twitch, Davester, Crapper...and countless more." "Oh..." Dragon shuddered and moved even closer to Kritz. "Where is Obbi?" Halifax shrugged, "I don't know. He's out here somewhere." "Why does he stay out here?" "Why go back?" Came a fourth voice. They all turned to see Obbi leaning against a tree, gun in hand. "To save the Flood." Obbi laughed, "And why should I care what happens to the Flood? They don't remember me, and I have no love for them. This place," he gestured his arms out to the barren wasteland, "Is my home now. In this place, you survive on wits and strength alone." "And you die alone." Halifax said coldly. "You can hide from the Flood all you want Obbi, but don't do it under the pretense of strength." "What?" Obbi's eyes narrowed. "You're as cowardly as the rest of the Flood. This is the only place you feel safe from the Mods so you choose to stay here instead of going back and doing something to change the Flood!" Obbi raised his gun, "Don't you dare call me a coward. You don't know what it's like out here." "And you don't know what it's like in there!" Halifax said, pointing back in the direction of the Flood. He glanced disdainfully at the gun, "What, are you going to shoot me? Is that how you show off your strength, by killing defenseless members?" Obbi glared at him, "I know you Halifax, you always have an ulterior motive. I've never trusted you." "And I don't expect you ever will." Halifax said nonchalantly. "And I don't care. We need your help in stopping Achronos and the Mods." Obbi stared at him for a moment and then lowered his gun, "I'm not going to shoot you. But I didn't say I would help either." "You have to." "Why?" Obbi demanded. "What do you need me for?" "If there's one person the people will rally behind, it's you." Obbi shook his head, "I told you, they don't care about me anymore. They have forgotten who I am." "Then make them remember!" Halifax said fiercely. --------------------- The murmurs on the streets were clear and audible to the Mods as they walked forlornly through the Flood. "The entire buliding came down." "These are the only surivors." "Where is the Overlord?" Finally, Yoozel looked up with a glare. He jumped on top of a bench and shouted, "Listen to me! You can question and ponder the reason behind the fall of HFCS all you want, but remember this, the Mods are still here. We are not beaten. The rules still apply, but I am adding one more to the list. Anyone who comes in contact with Halifax, Kritz, or Dragon Eyes must turn them over to me or one of the other Mods immediately." "What Mods are left?" A voice shouted from the crowd. Yoozel ignored him, "Anyone who can return any of these people to me will be made Mod immediately." The crowd was silent for a moment and then suddenly began shouting and scrambling about, as if they thought one of the three mentioned would be hiding in the immediate vicinity. Pezza stood next to Yoozel and watched as the Flood went into a frenzy searching for Halifax. "What if someone finds him?" Yoozel sighed, "Then they are dead. At least he'll be kept busy." "But what if someone actually captures him? Will you make them a Mod?" Yoozel nodded, "We have to fill our ranks somehow." "But--" "Pezza." Yoozel cut in sharply. "Just help me. I don't care who knows about our plan right now, the only one who's doing anything to try and stop us is Halifax. I want him now, dead or alive." ----------------- "Did you hear that?" Banshee asked Caspian with a smile. "Whoever captures Halifax, Kritz, or Dragon will be made a Mod." Caspian smiled back, "And Fatmatt is following him now isn't he?" Banshee nodded, his smile growing wider. "Once one of us is a Mod, we'll be able to destroy the entire infrastructure of Bungie before they even know what's going on." -------------------- The Flood searched for several hours, but to no avail. Halifax and his group were waiting outside the Flood, watching as Obbi approached the outskirts of the city. Kritz was tending the fire they had built while Dragon and Halifax stood at the edge of the hill their camp was based on, watching with grim expressions. "Halifax," Dragon said after a moment, "I need to know something." Halifax turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "What?" "Oh it's nothing to do with us." She reassured him quickly. Halifax's face quirked up into a smile, "I thought there never was 'us'." "Well...there isn't, I mean--stop changing the subject!" She said, slapping him on the arm. Halifax laughed, "Alright, what do you need to ask me?" "Well," she toed the ground with her shoe, "How far are you willing to go with this?" "What do you mean?" "You blew up the Mod's group...but I believe you only did that because there was no other choice. You didn't really want to kill those Mods, did you?" "I don't know." Halifax said honestly. "I saw what they did to you and Kritz and I was just...so angry. When I shot those Mods, I didn't let them live out of mercy. I was angry and I wanted them to feel pain." Dragon nodded slowly, "So...you'd be willing to do anything for the Flood?" Halifax looked at her intently, "I'm willing to do anything to stop the people who did that to you. Before you guys were captured, I was fully prepared to give up. I'd killed two Mods and I was sick of it. I knew they'd done some bad things...but nothing worth killing them over. Then I saw you and Kritz, and everything changed." He glanced back at the fire and frowned, "Speaking of which, where is Kritz?" They walked back to the fire, shouting Kritz's name. Suddenly, a helicopter flew up over the hillside. Fastmatt was inside waving, as Texas Ben flew past Halifax and Dragon. Fastmatt lifted up the body to give them a clear view of what they already knew was Kritz. "No!" Dragon shouted and started running after them. Halifax grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. "Stop! We can't do anything right now. We have no weapons and no mode of transportation." Dragon turned back to him with tearstained cheeks, "They killed him. They killed Kritz." Halifax smiled, "You weren't looking very closely were you?" "What are you talking about?" Dragon asked wiping the tears from her eyes. "Kritz had a dart in his neck. He's paralyzed, not dead. They want him alive for some reason." That quieted Dragon down a bit and she finally asked, "What do we do now?" "Stick with the plan. But if we see Banshee or the other two..." Dragon nodded. He didn't need to finish that sentence. They would do what they had to in order to make sure Banshee paid for betraying them. ----------------- Obbi walked out of the costume and make-up store with a smile on his face. He'd worn this outfit many times before and it had worked wonders then. He new it would do the same now, especially since none of these members had seen his outfit before. The people of the Flood turned as he walked by, stopping to stare with wide eyes and open mouths. Obbi stopped in front of one member and stroked his cheek gently. "What's your name?" He asked in a soft, cooing voice. The member gulped and stammered, "Uh, R-Red Phoenix." "Ooh, Red. My favorite color." Obbi walked off, shaking his hips suggestively. He'd mastered this costume. No one would be able to tell, with his long-haired wig, water-baloon breasts with mold causing them to look like his skin, lip-stick and painted fingernails, that he was anything but a girl. [Edited on 05.13.2007 8:23 PM PDT]