To Run Away...

Chapter 16== 20 MINUTES EARLIER ==

  A crimson coated chopper landed over the pad on the skyscraper, where ten men and women in their finest attires were waiting. Once the door was open, an old man in a red tuxedo came out.

"Ah, Mister Redmond, good to-"

"Shut up and head to the boardroom." He growled in a thick British accent.

== CURRENT TIME ==

"So, as you may have heard!" Redmond spoke, walking towards the window in the boardroom. "One of our precious dice was stolen... by the resistance."

"Uh, Mister Redmond, sir?" One of the members of the board raised his hand.

"Yeah?"

"The man... and pony responsible, aren't members of the resistance, they're just mercenaries."

"Yes, but mercenaries too young to be mercenaries." He got out a remote control from his pocket, and pressed one of the buttons. The projector on the screen would reveal surveillance footage of their target. "See this?"

  The members nodded.

"Good, now do you know why these people are a threat to not only the Union, but to our business?" He used his cane to point at what they were supposed to look at.

"Huh. Looks like a BLU spy is helping them." One of them said, not surprised by the sight.

"Of course. Miss Doofenshmirtz's 'Shoot first' policy has put a very valuable business asset on the brink of destruction."

"But sir, there's no use for him. He's an asset of BLU and the resistance now. All that we and the state can do and hunt him down."

  This made Redmond feel uneasy. "What do you mean, Alice?"

"Uh, I-I mean, we can't use 'em."

  He went into thought, but he knew that she needed to be specific. "How?"

"Th-the bag." He pointed at the screen.

"You mean the pony's?"

"No, the boy's. Th-there's a package inside that bag."

  Suspicious, Redmond asked. "Do you have proof?"

  Alice nodded hesitantly, and reached into her handbag and slid over a photo. "This is from a day ago."

  Redmond picked the photo up and noticed the package Ivan was holding onto as they entered the boardroom.

"Hmm, looks like we can't."

"Yes sir, the package might belong to the resist-"

"Alice?"

"Uh, yes?"

  He put his hand on his back and breathed heavily. With his cane, he walked over to the nervous woman. There, he pulled out a pistol. Its sight made the others feel the same way as her.

  All of a sudden, he dropped the pistol in front of her, before telling her in an unsettling tone. "Prove me, wrong."

  Scared, Alice said nothing else. She grabbed the pistol and ran out the door.

"Uh, Redmond? How will she find proof?"

Bam!

"Redmond!"

"Alice, I told you to find proof that they're with the-"

"Well, looks like I have proof, then. Look!" She pointed at the window, where the sound of rifles and the silhouette of two flying men greeted them.

"Huh, well, son of a bitch." He chuckled, "You did."

Blam!

  Ivan used his Air-grabber to swerve to the right, dodging the bullet in time.

"Haystack better take that sniper out." He then thought before firing a blast of ice at one of the soldiers below.

Thud!

  Upon reaching the rooftop, Ivan rolled over and slammed against the glacier. Pierre in the meantime, faded from sight, making the soldiers worry.

"Uh, g-get your s-self out of th-there ya jackass!!" One of them stuttered, quivering about the BLU spy's location."

BLAM!!

  A bullet burst through the ice, barley missing Ivan's hip.

"Yikes." Ivan muttered. "Damn it Haystack, fire already."

"Fire that rifle, and you'll be turned into Swiss cheese." One of the soldiers demanded.

  Haystack did nothing, ignoring what she said.

"I repeat, put that gun down, in the name of our leader!" The soldier's comrade demanded.

"Can the guy even hear you?" The soldier whispered.

"Of course! Just because we humans and they ponies write English differently, doesn't mean we can't communicate it." He then turned her attention to Haystack. "Stop acting like you can't understand us, put the Machina down!!"

  Again, the tan pony ignored them. He was too busy lining up his shot.

"Alright, he ain't listening. Approach the bastard."

  Slowly and cautiously, they tiptoed their way towards their target. The wind was the only thing that was allowed to make noise, and the squadron hoped that it would be that way. Haystack on the other hand, wasn't expecting that.

BLAM!

  The white line flew from building to building, killing the sniper on the other side.

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at...

  Haystack jumped into the air, performing a backflip over the group.

"What the-"

WHACK!!

  The soldier fell off the edge, screaming in horror.

  Haystack then proceeded to kick another one off, before switching to his Air-grabber and jumping off into the sky.

Tw-wch!

  Zzzzzzzzzzz!

"GRRR, KILL 'EM!!" She yelled in rage. "Kill 'em, Kill 'em Kill 'em!!"

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at....

"Oi, this is Elmer one, cease fire."

Rat-at-at-at!

  Cling-cl-cl-cl-cl-cl-cling!

"Oh come on, sir!" The soldier complained. "The douchebag just took out my-"

"Redmond suggested that you should let him go."

"B-but, Why?"

"Hmm, because it's time that we do a little observing."

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at...

  The bullets pound onto the ice, pinning Ivan down so that he couldn't go anywhere... or could he?

  He cloaked himself from sight and crawled his way over to the door.

"Close in on the bastard!!" The troops took a couple of steps forward.

BLAM!!

  A bullet hit one of them in the back of the head, causing half of them to turn around and bring the responsible one down. However, doing so, was all for nothing. The responsible one was already gone.

  While that was happening, Ivan was forced to hide against the door as more troops were being deployed. Unfortunately, the waiting would affect him badly.

  A heard the sound of a spark coming from his body, signaling him that his cloaking time is up.

"Damn it." Ivan mumbled before entering into the room.

BOOM!

  A quartet of soldiers screamed in agony as the explosion threw them off the ground.

  Haystack would land on the ground after making that shot and use the ice glacier's remnants as cover. After sitting against it, he blind fired a couple shots; and he was able to shoot down five more troops by doing so.

BLAM!

"Someone take care of that goddamn spy!!" The soldier demanded after his comrade was shot in the back. "This is Stone two-seven, We're in need of reinforcements here!!"

"This is Rico five, and that's a negative!" said a soldier down below replied.

"What? Why?"

"The leader's orders, that's all I can say."

"Well, that bitch better change-" At that moment, he was shot in the stomach by one of Haystack's bullets.

  Vanessa looked outside the window of her room, looking at the direction where the gunfire was at.

"Are you sure about this?" Vanessa contacted through her cellphone.

"Sure Madame." replied Redmond. "We'll give you the analysis once they complete their 'mission'."

"Er, alright; But that doesn't mean that the remaining forces aren't gonna try and kill 'em."

"Yes Madame." And so, he hung up.

  After that, Vanessa went on to make another call. "Comrade Dalia."

"Yeah?"

"Get everyone into the senate. We're going to have a talk with our allies."

"You mean RED?"

"Duh. See ya there." She hung up and headed towards her bed, where her apprentice was sleeping tight. The expression on Wesley's face made her heart melt, and her mind worry. "Why?"

  She then grabbed her clothing and went to go change.

"Go! Go! Go!" Pierre yelled after shooting the last soldier on the rooftop.

  Haystack then galloped over the glacier; only to fall into the hole that the grenade created.

"AAAAAAHHH- Umph!"

"Well, It's about damn time." said Ivan, who was coincidentally sitting next to him with an odd shaped flare gun in his hand.

"Hey, you could've at least dealt with the troops that were headin' for the rooftop."

"I couldn't!" He defended, "I was invisible. If I uncloaked, I would've been dead!"

"Oh... so, what are we dealin' with?"

"Well, we're dealing with soldiers using the desks as cover, three mounted turrets on the ceiling-"

"Huh, should've dealt with those while 'ah was fallin' through the hole."

"Wonder how you did that?" Ivan questioned rhetorically, "Anyways-"

B-b-b-b-b-b-beep!

"Son of a gun!" Ivan muttered, before firing at the hovering drone with the flare gun. The flare would cling on to the machine's frontal armor like a spider. Once that happened, electrical surges overwhelmed the bot, slowly lowering it to the ground. Ivan then lunged at it, and opened the flap which led to its interior compartment. In there, was a security keypad, "Let's see if I can remember what the pass- Ah, what the hell I know already."

  He then put in the code, "One... three, three, seven."

The small green screen would read, "ACCESS GRANTED."

"Huzzah!" He cheered, "Haystack, take those turrets out!"

"Geez, what a change of emotion, there." He used his sniper rifle to shoot at the turret to his left.

Click!

  A spark burst out of the muzzle.

"What the-."

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! ...

"Aah!" He yelped, ducking just in time before the turret's semi-automatic rate of fire could hit him. "What the hay, man? Dang, humans! Since when did they have those?"

"I've been asking that too!"

BLAM!

  BOOM!

"'Ze turret's down!" said Pierre, after dive-rolling towards their side.

"Much obliged!' Ivan shouted. "But you forgot about the other ones!"

"Don't worry, I got a plan. Distract it with that drone!"

"Oh come on, I-"

"Do it!"

"Alright, alright." Ivan uttered, timidly. He took out a pen (Which was attached to the flare gun.) and pressed the clicker. When it was pressed, a laser shot out of the barrel, as he pointed it at the closest turret he could find. The drone's twin propellers began to spin, making it fly. While it was in the air, it fired relentlessly at the turret; while dodging every bullet the turret fired.

  Surprised by this, Pierre decided to focus on the turret at the far end of the floor.

BLAM!

  BOOM!

"Turret's down!" Pierre announced.

BOOM!

"The other turret's down!" Ivan yelled. "Now Move!"

  They vaulted over the walls that divided the offices and pushed onward; while their new pal provided support. However, they were only able to move to the center due to a major counter-attack by the enemy.

  Hiding against a desk, Ivan began to look for something that could recharge his dice. The good news was, he was able to find one.

"Gee, someone would actually bring a small bottle of vodka to work." Ivan muttered. "Looks like it's common for these people to drink while working."

  He drank the entire bottle, recharging Pyro's fantasy. "Huh, why don't I feel drunk?"

"'Ze first line of defense is down! Go! Go! Go!" Pierre shouted.

  The trio then vaulted over their cover and laid down suppressing fire.

"Ignis!" Ivan thought before shooting a ball of fire at one of the soldiers who was barely getting out of cover. The blast alone was enough to engulf the bodies of three in flames (Five others received minor ignitions in their arms and legs.).

  That one blast was also enough for the three to be able to clear the room in ten seconds flat.

"Clear!" Pierre announced.

"Good, to the elevator!" Ivan ordered once he saw their gateway towards the objective. They then went inside, causing him to ask. "Down one floor right?"

"Of course."

  He pressed the down button once everyone was inside, including the now heavily damaged drone. After the door closed, the elevator went down.

"Pierre, are you humming to the music?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason."

Ding!

  The door slid open.

"Duck." Ivan whispered.

  The three went prone and crawled out of the shaft and onto the balcony.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM...

  Haystack groaned after one of the turret's bullets shot him in the back.

"Get back, get back!" Yelled Pierre, causing the three to retreat back into the elevator.

BLAM!

  BOOM!

  The turret that shot Haystack would meet its fate.

"Take out those turrets!" Ivan yelled, as he pointed at one of the remaining two with his

B-b-b-b-b-beep!

  While it was distracted, Pierre blew the second turret before focusing its sight on the third one.

"Huh?" The last turret was now covered with electrical surges. It would clear in a couple of seconds; and in that moment, the turret would turn against its human partners.

"Uh, Go. Go! Go!"

"We can't, Haystack's-"

"No. Errch! Go on!" He interrupted, holding onto his back. "Ah'm, Ah'm fah'ne."

"But-"

"Go!"

  The two glanced at each other, but said nothing, and did as he demanded.

BOOM!

  The turret was able to take out five men before being destroyed. In the meantime, Ivan and Pierre vaulted over the railing and used the nearest desks as cover.

  Haystack would now reach into his pocket and get out a plastic bag filled with seeds the size of that of oranges. Right now, he couldn't bare the pain in his back, so he had to be quick. He then reached into his other pocket and got out an empty syringe (One of ten). After getting out a bottle of water he hid from them, and pouring it (And dropping the seed) into the barrel, the two would mix and create the piss colored liquid that they were now familiar with. But before injecting himself with it, he remembered something. Something her mother did when he broke his front leg.

  Instead of injecting the entire dosage, he chose to inject a quarter of it instead.

  The drone wasn't able to take any more bullets. When the last one hit, it fell to the floor.

Beep!

BOOM!

  "Arrgh!" The soldier screamed, being flown through one of the windows.

  When the sound of the glass shattering faded, all that was left was the sound of paper falling to the floor. And that would fade as well.

"Uh, clear." said Ivan, feeling uneasy at the quick battle they faced.

"Yes, 'ze battle was pretty quick."

  The two took a few steps forward, letting the silence sink in.

"You bastards won't-"

BLAM!

  The soldier's surprise attack would be foiled by a bullet to the head.

"That wasn't me." Ivan said, holding onto his rifle.

"Nor me." said Pierre.

"Looks l'ahke we had a little help."

  They ducked down and crawled towards the desk where the soldier was shot.

"Hey, come out with your hands up!" Ivan demanded.

"Really, Ivan? That's all?"

  Haystack was back on his feet now, relieved to remember what his mother said. He slowly exited out the elevator and looked down below.

"Uh... Maribelle?"

  The little girl looked up and smiled at the sight. "Hays-stack!"

  She dropped her weapon and ran over to the stairs, filled with joy as she ascended them. When on top, she leaped into his arms and hugged him tight.

  Haystack wasn't happy, however, just worried. He let his embrace go, looked her in the eye, and said, "Maribelle. What are you doing here? It's dangerous out in the city, you could've been killed."

  Maribelle said nothing. All she needed to do in order to explain, was hug him again.

  Uncomfortable, Haystack looked down at the two; who were looking back in worry.

"How the hell did she get over here?" Ivan whispered.

"Don't know." Pierre looked down, and noticed an AA-12 shotgun lying on the floor. "But a better question is how 'ze hell was she able to use such a weapon?"

"Doesn't that lie in the ranks of my question."

"Touché." He picked up the weapon.

"Haystack, Maribelle, get yourselves over here." Ivan commanded, reminded of the mission at hand.

"Um, ok." the girl submitted. She let go of Haystack and hopped over the railing.

  In alarm, Haystack shouted. "Maribelle, No-"

  The girl landed onto the floor and somersaulted to safety.

  Surprised, Haystack's jaw dropped. He was now busy trying to comprehend what was going on with her. None of them could. How the hell was the little girl able to do that? It wasn't evening, so the moon wasn't out. Then how?

  Shaking the questioning off his head, Ivan proceeded with the mission, "You know what to do Pierre. Get to the News desk and hack the computers. It's the only way to get more intel on the package."

"Yes sir." He ran over to the desk and proceeded to Hack the computer.

"You two, guard the entrances!" He ordered, no longer asking why Maribelle was able to get here. "We won't want anymore of them to break in!"

  They nodded and headed for the only two doors in the floor.

  Maribelle on the other hand, delayed her submission by heading over to Pierre first. She pointed at the AA-12 in his hand and then gestured him to hand it over to her.

"Alright, not arguing." Pierre complied, giving her the weapon and resuming to type.

  Ivan looked around for other ways to defend the perimeter.

"Ivan, you have to look at this." The spy suggested.

  He ran over there, but not before grabbing a tape recorder he found on one of the desks.

"What?"

"'Ze person you're delivering 'ze package to's name is 'Silver fox' right?"

"Yeah?"

"Good, because looks like we found something on him."

"What is it?"

"He used to work for RED, but now works as a spy for both BLU and ze resistance."

"Oh, good. What else?"

"That's it."

  Ivan was disappointed. "So... we just fought through all these men, tested new tech, and got a girl to kill in order to reach us, just for that?"

  He nodded.

"Great, I'm going to have a talk with Troy once communications are back up and running." He reached into his satchel and took out C4 charges and set them on the desk. "Come on you guys!"

"Did ya fah'nd anything?" asked Haystack.

"Not much."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I'll tell you later, let's go!"

  The four jumped through the glassless windows and fired their new gadget into the air. While flying, he was able to detonate the C4's, sending smoke to fly off the windows. While that was going on, Ivan noticed that Haystack wasn't screaming anymore. Better yet, he wasn't as afraid as he was before. He and Maribelle seemed to enjoy the spectacle. This made Ivan feel relieved at this sighting. Now he too can soar in peace.

"Redmond." said Alice.

"Yes?"

"Here's a search history from the News station's computer."

  Redmond looked at the sheet. "Hmm, 'Silver Fox'."