To Run Away...

Chapter 21

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  *  -  *

Ivan woke up after only few seconds. However, he was alone this time, sitting underneath a tree. There, he felt a little shorter than usual... and younger. Was it a memory of his younger self? Of course it was; But it didn't matter anyways, because like all dreams, he's likely to forget it anyways. A few seconds passed by before a monarch butterfly came passing by him. The young self grew excited at this and got up from his leisure. This made the present day Ivan feel a bit warm as he watched his younger self chase after it with giggles of joy.

"Wh-why am I seeing this?" Ivan smiled, embracing that warm feeling that caressed his heart.

"Son?" A familiar voice called.

"Mom?" He asked himself.

"Son?" The voice faded while his sight did the same. "Son, come here."

"Ah'van! Get back here!" Haystack cried while injecting him with more of the healing liquid. The sound of breezes was now replaced with gunfire.

"Huh, what the-?" Once he regained consciousness, he shook his head to make sure it was gone entirely. "Damn. How long have I been knocked out?"

"For about half a minute!" He disclosed. "We've been pinned down since then!"

  The pony reached into his saddlebags and took out a bottle of beer with his teeth. "Drink this, and take out those douchebags!"

  He let go of the beer, causing it to land in Ivan's hand. "Alright!"

  After drinking the beer in record time, he jumped out of the cubed pillar they were hiding behind.

"Ignis!" The mental order shot a fireball at three enemies in front of them. They danced in agony before Ivan finished them off with his newly acquired M249. At that moment, he felt a tingly feeling behind his head. That feeling was giving him the urge to turn around. Following the order, he found out that another trio of enemies were about to shoot him from behind. So, he wasted no time in giving them a little lesson on the element of surprise.

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

  The three danced with every bullet that hit them.

... at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at!

"Damn, I love this gun." Ivan said, checking the weapon out.

BLAM!

  Another enemy on the other side was taken down by Haystack's sniper rifle.

BLAM!

  His comrade met the same fate.

BLAM!

  The last one was about to make a run for it... but the bullet made sure he didn't get away.

  On the rooftops, the enemy was given this order. "Cease fire! Cease fire!"

  All shooting stopped, and it left the entire outer museum silent.

Static!

"So, you took care of my entire outer defense. Didn't you?" Blythe said in anger.

"I don't want to do this, Blythe. Give us ze child!" Pierre said, annoyed.

"Ha, ha, ha! Don't be stupid, Pierre. If you want the child, then you have to take it up with my friends!" The sound of muffled screaming became audible. "He he, I don't want to play an unfair game you know... get inside. Time for a declaration of war."

Static!

"Damn it." Pierre faced the scared Haystack who was moping at the thought of losing his friend. "Don't worry Haystack. We'll get to her. *Sigh* Why ze hell did she choose to live in this hellhole?"

"How was she like before she came here?" Ivan asked.

  Another sigh escaped his mouth. "She was just like every pre-teen girl. Aspiring, happy, and energetic."

  The trio regrouped before standing in front of the dual-door entrance.

"Then?"

"She moved here along side with her boyfriend Josh, and everything changed." He pushed the door open, and the three went inside without wasting time.

  Inside was dark as only one light was used to illuminate one of the machine that greeted them. That machine was a model of the dictator, Heinz.Doofenshmirtz. When Haystack approached him, he spoke with the same compassion as Roger did. The only difference, or differences was that Heinz's voice had a higher pitch than Roger's; and he spoke with a thick German accent.

"Since ze dawn of our Paradise, our brave comrades have recorded ze greatest moments of our grand nation!" The machine called as it waved its arm in joy and pride. " 'Zis is ze place to find it! 'Zis is ze place to revel in our accomplishments and struggles to achieve ze vision 'zat my brother always wanted! 'Zis, is ze museum of our Utopia!"

  The lights in the lobby turned on, revealing the bloodied bodies of multiple guards and civilians.

"Oh Celestia, wh'ah!?" A chill was sent down Haystack's spine as the bloodshed scarred him.

"Calm down, Haystack." Ivan said. "This should already be common for us."

"B-but-"

"Ugh, the civies didn't see it coming, nor did the autocratic guards, now let's move on!"

Static!

"Like what you see? My men did it themselves."

"Blythe, you crazy bitch!" The pony shouted, now enraged by their actions. "Don't you dare hurt Maribelle! If you lay a-"

"Blah, blah! You already went over that outside." She taunted. "Now, just proceed to the door at the end of the room, and your first challenge will be given to you. So, be a good sport and keep your mouth quiet."

Static!

"Grrrr!" He muttered, doing his best to control his anger.

"Calm down, Haystack." Pierre reminded him. "Let's just do what she says."

  They went past the exhibit where Ivan would find a tape recorder lying there. Knowing that there was still time, he decided to take a listen.

"Thomas Wesley..." A man said. "Ha, I feel bad for that poor guy. He's too busy juggling between getting it on with the 'Dear' leader and commanding the battalion he was assigned to. Vanessa keeps thinking that it's a secret... but don't count on it. By now, everyone in the army already knows that he's been..."

"Ah'van, let's go." Haystack insisted.

  He didn't say anything, but he did join them as they approached the door.

"... Ha ha... Now, when is my shift over?"

Crash!

"What the hell? Damn, looks like we're under attack! Better arm up."

Click!

"Okay then, how the hell are we going to get in without getting-"

  Pierre pulled out a small camera that was connected to a cable, visually telling Ivan that that's what they'll be using.

"Oh, that'll work."

  The spy inserted the wire in between the closed doors.

"Alright, Blythe's men have ze entrance well covered."

"With what?"

"Three sentries on top of ze bridge, fifteen men, and five hovering drones."

"Damn, so what's the plan?"

"Simple." He pulled the wire out, and put it away. "Haystack, put that sniper rifle to work."

"But ah already put it-"

"Then keep putting it work by going over there and covering us." He pointed at the robotic Heinze.

"Yes sir." He nodded. The sniping pony then trotted towards the exhibit, and used the concrete support as cover.

"Ivan, there's another pillar in front of us. We toss grenades into ze other side and charge towards ze cover. Understand?"

"Mmm Hmm." Ivan confirmed his agreement by getting a grenade out from his pocket.

"Tres Bien." He smirked. "Now, get ready. Three, two, one."

"Fire." Blythe ordered.

Rat-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at-at!

Shhhhhhssss!

BOOM!!

  The two were flung back after the blasts punched them like Super-sayans.

"Pierre! Ah'van!" Haystack cried, afraid to know if they were okay or not.

  To his relief, the two got up without a scratch.

"Ah, god bless technology." Ivan smiled with ecstasy as he mentally thanked the concoction.

"No time for celebrating!" warned Pierre. "Ze drones!"

B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-beeeeep!

D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r....

  Ivan was quick to react, he took out the flare gun that Pierre handed him a while back and loaded the last two hacking flares in his inventory.

"Fire them!" Pierre shouted.

  The bullets began to slap against Ivan's vest, but that didn't stop him from firing the flare at the source. The drone descended gently to the ground as bolts of electricity surged around it. Quickly, he aimed at another one, and successfully took it out without problems. As Haystack dealt with the other drones, Pierre and Ivan hacked into the disabled ones with ease. Under their control, they used them to deal with the three tuxedoed men that approached with revolvers in their hand.

D-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!

  The drones pounded onto their bullet proof vests before choosing to aim for the head.

  The three men dropped dead at the gunshots. This signaled for them to return to their original positions and prepare for their counteroffensive. But, this skirmish felt more like the trench warfare in World war one; especially when three bright red lasers were beaming through the broken entrance.

"Son of a bitch, they have wranglers!" Pierre shouted, as he picked up one of their revolvers and its ammo.

"What are those?"

"Remote controls that take complete control of a Sentry. Now, we need to continue with ze task."

"What? And get shot at-"

"Just go!"

"Alright!" Ivan screamed before loading a grenade into the launcher and darted out of the entrance.

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

"Umph! ah! Umph! ow! d'oh! Umph!"

Ka-thwop!

BOOM!

  The grenade blasted next to the middle sentry. The explosion injured the owner, and seriously damaged the Sentry gun itself.

Thwap!

"Ow!" Ivan felt another burn through his stomach. He tumbled to the ground and managed to use the concrete pillar as cover. The bullets pierced through the plants the pillar was holding as Ivan groaned in pain. Looking down, he witnessed his bloody wound that was in front of him.

Cl-cling, cling!

  The soft sound got his attention. He looked at the floor and found one of Haystack's syringes lying on the floor.

"Huh?" Ivan thought. He noticed that there was a note attached to it. After healing himself with the syringe, he read it.

Ivan,

                                                             Thought you might need this.

                                                         Just so I don't have to be helping you all the time.

                                                                                                    - Haystack

"Huh, that's very nice of him. He should've gave me them a long time ago!" Ivan then loaded his launcher with yet another grenade and went on to destroy one of the sentries.

"Sentry down!" One of them cried.

"Bingo." Ivan sighed.

  A couple of seconds later, Pierre joined in and sat right beside Ivan. "So, you took out one of ze sentries."

"Yep." He nodded. "So, would you kindly see if you can take out the other ones? I'm all out of grenade shells."

"My pleasure." He smirked. The spy then turned around and lined up the shot. "Think fast, Blythe."

BLAM!

  The first round hit  the Sentry manning enemy in the head. It made the man drop his wrangler and cease control of the turret. While it was down, Pierre proceeded to take advantage of that moment.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

  The bullets slammed onto the immobilized Sentry, damaging it with every shot.

BLAM! BLAM! Click!

"Dammit, I'm out!" Pierre shouted. "Take out that sentry while I reloa-"

"Say no more!" Ivan turned around and aimed for the recovering weapon, until...

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

"Crap!" Ivan ducked before any of the bullets could reach him.

BOOM!

  Smoke would then blind them after the missiles managed to explode right in front of them.

"*Ahem* *Ahem* *Ahem* Are we *Ahem* dead?" Ivan choked.

"Nope, we're doing just fine." Pierre aimed once more at the turret and shot two more rounds at it.

BOOM!

  The explosion signaled its demise, letting them focus on the last one... But the drones had them covered.

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

  The two flying contractions shot them as much as they could.

"What the-" Ivan and Pierre only watched as the drones went on to terminate the enemy's last source of defense.

"No time, let's move!" Pierre shouted.

  Wasting no time, they vaulted over the pillar and shot down the last two enemies in a small amount of time.

"Well then." wowed Ivan as he observed all of the bodies in the room. "That was quick."

  Haystack galloped to their position with a smile of relief.

"Damn Haystack. You truly are an excellent shot." Ivan grinned.

"Uh, thanks, it's in the family." The pony blushed, taking the complement well.

"Hmm, alright, let's keep moving," He began to walk, but something stopped him in his tracks, "Uh, Haystack?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you command the drones to take out the sentry?"

"Eeyup."

  Neither Ivan or Pierre could believe it. He's a pony from a country where Magic reigns over Technology. It was unlikely.

"Uh, how?" asked Pierre, eager as Ivan was to uncover the question.

"Ah used this small thing on the floor and pressed the button that was attached to it." He presented them the pen that is used to guide the drones before.

"And where did you find this pen?"

  The stallion used his teeth to give him the pen back. "You dropped it."

"Oh, heh heh." He took the pen, and took his answer into consideration. "Sorry about that."

"Sorry for what?"

"Oh, nothing."

Static!

  Underneath the bridge, they stopped dead in their tracks as Blythe came in with another message.

"Well, Sweet mother Teresa on a hood of a Mercedes Benz! You took out my entire squad!" She said with awe.

"Yeah, now are you convinced in giving us ze girl?"

  The question bothered her, "You didn't hear my sarcasm, didn't you? ... I told you, NO! ... The girl is mine for the feast; and since you bastards decided to join her... Ugh, I got nothing."

Static!

"So, about Blythe..."

"Ze girl was full of herself when she moved here. Ditched school and her friends in hopes of achieving a better life here in this 'paradise'."

  The two walked past the bridge and into another part of the floor where more exhibits were waiting for them.

"She would still write to me though, and-"

"So, you guys were pen pals?"

  Reluctantly, Pierre nodded. "Despite our age difference, we were good friends... Anyways, she would still write to me about how life was in this place... until 'ze last letter she wrote to me on 'ze fifteenth of May, Twenty-Eleven."

"What happened there?"

"According to-"

  The loud roar of dictation got them to stop. The source was another robot of Heinz standing proudly over a pedestal. Looking down, they noticed that it was Haystack who activated the machine by pressing the button.

"Three years of suffering, and 've had enough! In may of Twenty-eleven, 've told our oppressors to get out! It was 'ze 'von thing that I regret, for I had to dethrone my own brother from power; But, it had to be done! For 'ze people, for our utopia!"

  The lights on the exhibit turned off as so did the robot.

"Yeah, that."

"Huh, that explains it."

"When ze revolution took place, I assumed many things from censorship, to death." He looked up at the dark ceiling and said fearlessly. "But now I think it's because she's lost her way."

"Excellent Analysis on the bitch, Pierre." Haystack intervened with an impatient demeanor. "Now can we get to Maribelle?"

"Uh, sure." Pierre said, suspicious on his attitude, " 'Ze stairs to 'ze second floor are that way."

"Got it." Haystack trotted over to the pearl colored stairs while the others followed.

"Or, she hasn't gotten over the fact that her boyfriend died."

"Hmm?" Surprised by the revelation, Pierre took a better listen.

"Well, when we were running away from troops yesterday morning, we found a recording that had her running away before the guy. 'Josh' died."

" 'Ze boy, died?"

"I guess so. Those 'Body Builders' are really having a toll on them."

  Pierre felt a bit of sadness from that statement. "Yeah... Boy, Governments sure love to lie to us, don't they."

"Yeah, I guess so."

  Haystack heard Pierre's statement, and in his mind, he said this. "Princess Celestia never lies to us."

  They were now on the second floor, all was quiet as they now stood in front of four monuments of Heinz and Roger surrounding the entrance to the stairs.

"Well, a nice way to present yourselves in front of tourists." said Pierre.

  Haystack went prone and looked through the scope of his sniper rifle. The first thing he saw past the monuments was the head of one of Blythe's goons peaking out of a turned over table.

"Yeah, and the bitch's buffoons have a nice way of presenting themselves to our bullets!"

BLAM!

  The head flew out into the air and melted right before their eyes.

"What the hay?" Haystack mumbled, surprised at what he actually shot.

Static!

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Blythe laughed, beaming down a light towards them. "Did you really think that that was one of my men."

"Grrr, I hate that laugh."

"Blythe, we... d-don't have to... d-do this!" Ivan stuttered, wondering how to talk to this lady. "Just... g-give us the... g-girl!"

"Are you really that afraid Ivan?"

"I'm not! I just ran out of-"

"What a bunch of wooses! Anyways, since you three are here, I've decided to give you three a little challenge."

"What challenge?" Haystack gritted his teeth, still looking through his scope.

"A simple challenge.. See those doors at the end of the floor?"

  The looked around the statues and found the doors. In unison. they answered. "Yeah?"

"Now, look at that bridge."

  Knowing where the second floor bridge was, they didn't look.

"I... said... Look!!"

  Surprised at her sudden outburst, they obeyed.

"Now, what if I blew that bridge up?"

BOOM!

  In seconds, the bridge was blown into smithereens, and dropped to the first floor below.

"Uh, nothing."

  The three were questioning the sheer stupidity of this 'Challenge'.

"Look, Blythe..." Pierre reasoned. "Stop trying to Stymie us from getting 'ze girl. Can we just come to an-"

"No!! I need Maribelle here with me, and if you don't want to stop, then I'll make sure that that happens! Welcome to my first challenge!"

"Ugh, she is as stubborn as a mule!" Haystack stomped his hoof, angry at her determination.

  Happy to commence, Blythe started to announce her challenge as if she were a host of her own game show, "If you like Terminator, then you'll love to experience for the first time! Thanks to Grey Mann's... Generous contribution to both companies. I have managed to acquire some of their robots. Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you, the scoutbots!"

  The doors at the end of the floor opened. Going in, was a flock of thin, fast moving androids. They were armed with semi-automatic shotguns and bats. This alarmed them, and they were quick to respond.

"Fire!" The trio fired relentlessly at the machines, but it wasn't enough to stop them from cutting them down.

BLAM!

  One of the robots' heads were decapitated, but the robot still kept on going.

Click!

"Celestia help us!!" Haystack cried before pulling his M16 out.

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

Click!

"Damn!" Haystack muttered before the bots pounced on him like football players, "HHEEELLLL-MPHHHH!!!"

  Ivan fired all of his dice energy, both Snowdrop's fury, and Pyro's fantasy. But it was still futile since the robots only pushed through them like Hunnish battering rams.

"Crap!!"

BLAM! BLAM! Click!

"Merde!" The bots gave him the same fate. "Damn!!"

"God dammit!!" The bots would do the same to Ivan as well, and just like they, he was sedated into unconsciousness via syringe.

*  -  *

  *  -  *

"Ivan... you didn't have to do this." A voice called out to the young mercenary.

"Huh?" He groaned.

"You didn't... have to... do... this..."

"Wake up sleepy head." A girly voice said, cutting Ivan off from his dream state. "Wake up."

"Ugh." He moaned. "The hell?"

  He began to open his eyes, his regaining consciousness helping him out. Then. with one single push, they were wide open. The first thing that greeted his returning sight, was a woman with a licentious smile, twitching eyes, burnt skin, and long disheveled brown hair.

"Yikes!" Ivan jumped back, only to have the rope tying his hands restrain him. "Damn lady, what the hell was that-"

"Shhh Shhh Shhhhh!!' Pierre silenced him. He was in the same state as Ivan.

"Huh, looks like we've been caught." said Ivan. He looked to his left to notice that Haystack wasn't there. He then leaned forward and looked to his right, "Uh, Pierre, what happened to Haystack?"

"He's right here with me." Blythe answered, keeping her psychotic smile in the process. Stepping aside, she revealed a standing Haystack with his mouth covered with a bloodied towel. The pony was silent as he held his head down with a face of exasperation. "And if he moves, my Scoutbots will make him look like Swiss cheese."

"Ugh." Ivan rolled his eyes. "Should've known... Anyways, where the hell's the little girl?"

"Oh, you mean her?" She pointed to her right, where another light beamed down on a trembling, red-faced Maribelle. She had dried tears that stuck to her eyes like paste, but he had a glare that would make any adult question her mentality.

   The ever so happy Blythe frolicked up to her and removed the cloth that silenced her. With that out of the way, Maribelle got her chance to speak. "Oh hello, you slutty pansy, fancy you haven't gotten a job at a strip club yet."

  Angry at her remark, Blythe curled her right hand and punched the little girl in the face.

  Pierre and Ivan's mouths gaped in horror, but Haystack was the most terrified.

"Mmuurrublllee!!" He cried through her muffled mouth.

  Once the little girl regained her ground, blood began to seep from her mouth.

Puh!!

  A trio of teeth shot out of her mouth, "Huh, I was expecting an insult or something, but that's okay."

"Shut up, you little bitch!" She talked over with an angry look.

"Okay, you could've done better than that." The little girl retorted with rolling eyes.

"I said, shut up!!"

"Oh, now you're scraping the bottom of the barrel."

"Shut the hell up!"

"Nah, you shut up." She smirked.

"Grrrr!!" Blythe prepared to give her another blow.

"Enough, Blythe!" A man yelled over a microphone.

  The remaining lights in the vast room turned on, revealing more scoutbots and armed men.

  Surprised at their location, Ivan asked. "Where the hell are we?"

"The top floor of the museum buddy." The man said with excitement. "Like the vacancy... aside from Blythe's goons."

"Hello Redmond, nice to see you after all these years."

"Ah, Pierre, it's been awhile since you defected to BLU... I pity the fact that you're back with me... only with your hands tied up."

"Wait, you were with RED?" Ivan asked, surprised with the revelation.

"Yes, Mister Bentley. You're partnered with an old friend of mine. He was loyal to my company, and to my cause... *Sigh* Why Pierre, it could've wor-"

"Personal reasons, Redmond! Now shut up!"

"So, you were with RED before! Why didn't you tell us this?" Ivan continued to ask.

  Quickly, he responded. "I forgot."

"Yeah, like you didn't know that troops were garrisoning the bridge last night."

"I swear, I-"

"You know, what else do you have to hide? That you knocked some guys mother who was affiliated with BLU?"

"Shut up, Ivan." Pierre tried to contain his anger as tears streamed down his eyes.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Redmond cackled. "Nice to see that you made Pierre cry Mister Bentley."

"Huh?" He looked to the right, and confirmed his claim. "Uh, Pierre, I'm... I'm sorry if-"

"Ha ha, it's funny 'cause all you said there was true."

  Ivan looked down, feeling ashamed for his actions. "I-I'm... I'm sorry."

"Meh, you will be... Blythe, clear the pony of his silence."

  The lady nodded with glee before running over to Haystack and untying the towel.

*Ahem!* *Ahem!*

"Maribelle, you alright?"

"Oh she will be." Blythe chirped before cartwheeling back to Maribelle with her syringe.

  The three were astounded by the sight.

"Uh, where did you..."

"While you were both knocked out of course." She smiled. "Now, I want you to extract all of the Gabe out of the girl for me."

  Haystack gasped, afraid of this revelation.

"Mainly because when I did it, I kept getting electrocuted, watch." She demonstrated by placing the needle over the little girls arm. Suddenly, electric shocks started to race through Blythe's body, making her tremble in pain. She was once again lucky enough to detach the needle from the girl, "See?"

"Now, Haystack." announced Redmond before reiterating Blythe's command, "Here's the thing, I want you to extract all the Gabe from the little girl."

  The scoutbots poked him in the flanks, egging him to move forward.

"But, wh'ah." Haystack whimpered.

"Because then we'll give you your package." He said greedily. "Show 'em Vinnie."

  One of the men walked towards them and uncovered the package which was hiding under blue cloth.

"Huh, I knew it." Ivan mumbled.

"If you choose not to extract, then..."

"Then what?" said Haystack.

"The package goes, and so do your comrades."

"Wait what?!" The robots' shotguns pressed through the two's mouths. "Shhn urrff urr Brrtch!"

"You have a choice Haystack. She dies, you all, and the mission lives. She lives, you live, but they and the mission dies!"

"C'mon Haystack." Blythe placed the syringe in front of his hooves. "We haven't got all night."

  She slapped him on the flank. "Go!"

  Taking two steps forward, he was now in front of Maribelle. He didn't know this, but the little girl already knew that he didn't want to do this.

"C'mon, ya douche! Get going!" Blythe yelled before lighting a cigarette and smoking it.

"Haystack, just do it." Maribelle whispered to him.

"What? No!" Haystack choked as tears streamed down his eyes. "Ah-Ah can't-"

"Do it, Haystack! What matters more is that you get safely home and not have to deal with the fact you'll be alone in this hellhole."

"No! Ah'm not going to let you die!"

"Damn it, Haystack!" Maribelle screamed, "I'm not as important as your blessed family!"

  She took a deep breath and spoke to him like a reasonable lady. "Look... just do it. I don't want not only you, but they to suffer as well... Think about what you're doing if you let me live."

  He trembled as he imagined her friend leaving his side. Despite not knowing why, he still felt like she was a good companion. Every time he was around her, he felt a bit safe. He wished that she could stay with him, but if he did that, then the fate of his future would go on the line. However, he wondered about home, he was already out casted as a sinner, so staying here would be nice. He could start life anew and be Maribelle's surrogate brother. Unfortunately, he would be marked as a selfish pony being, because the lives of Ivan and Pierre were at stake. They had families of their own, just like he. And their families were the reason why they came to this wretched city in the first place. Plus, the plan of staying here in Danville for a new life could backfire at any time. The choice was simple, let her die, and they live; or let her live and they all die. More tears burst out of his eyes as his decision.

"I-I'm sorry." He whispered to her, placing the needle over her left arm, "Ah guess this is the only way."

"It's okay, Haystack." She smiled warmly. "Fight on."

  With that, Haystack hugged her in shame at what he was about to do next. But she thought that it was best that they got it over with.

"Haystack, I recommend that you start now."

"Oh, ok." He nodded.

  With that, the operation commenced. The needle would pierce through her skin, making her yelp like a mouse. She could only feel remorse, for she felt the same way as he did.

"Ha, looks like it did work on you." Blythe grinned tossing the cigarette on the floor.

  As the needle penetrated into the deeper layers of her skin, Haystack began to think about something. What if it wasn't the only way? What if he could save Maribelle, the package, and the other two. He remembered their formations, where Blythe was, the two scoutbots, and the agents. He had all the plans ready to counterattack. It was risky, but he knew with confidence that it would work. He released the needle from her skin, droplets of blood sticking onto it.

  Taken aback at his sudden change in plans, Blythe shouted. "Hey what the hell are you-"

Thwap!

  Both scoutbots would collapse once the syringe pierced through them like an actual bullet.

"Whoa!" Maribelle's mouth opened in surprise. "Didn't know that it could do that!"

"Huh, for machines made of metal they truly can't take a syringe to the heart." Haystack mentally noticed.

  Their semi automatic shotguns dropped to floor, but Ivan and Pierre were quick enough to use their feet to grab them.

BLAM!

  With a single blast, Blythe fell to the floor.

BLAM!

  Ivan was clever enough to aim for the agents head, to prevent any of the shells from damaging the package. After shooting, he dropped the shotgun and sighed in relief. "Thank god his head didn't explode."

  And little did anyone know that Haystack was hiding a little secret of his own. He un zipped his vest to reveal to gun holsters mounted against his chest. With his hooves, he pulled them out and shot all remaining agents in their heads like a cowboy. Once all of them were on the floor, Haystack pulled out a knife and proceeded to cut the restraints of his comrades.

"Uh, Haystack, since when did you-" Ivan's question was interrupted once he turned to face Maribelle once more.

  The two smiled at each other with Maribelle being the first to say something. "Uh, thanks... I didn't know that you'd something like that."

  The pony's cheeks ignited, appreciative that they were able to save everyone in the room.

"Ah, what the hell. Come here, you." She ran over to Haystack and give him a tight hug.

  In the meantime, Pierre ran over to Blythe with a shotgun in hand. Surprised that she survived the blast, Pierre aimed it at her throat.

"Alright, you selfish little brat!' Pierre shouted at the top of his lung. "Now tell me why you are affiliated with RED!?"

  The lady only cackled at his question, "Ha, I don't know what I find funny. The fact that we knew each other, the fact that you're going to kill me once I give you the information, or the fact that you were once a RED agent yourself... Until Delilah and her son showed up."

  "Grrr!" Pierre then lowered the shotgun towards her legs.

BLAM!!

"Oh god!" Ivan (As well as Haystack and Maribelle.) felt the feeling of nausea once he saw what the shotgun shell did to her.

"AAAAAIII!!" Blythe let out a blood-curdling cry as pain overwhelmed her.

"So, are you going to tell me?"

"Not after you apologize for what ya just did right now!" She grunted. "Better yet, apologize for bailing on me as a teen!"

"Ugh, fine I'm sorry, now tell me!"

  Blythe looked at him with resentment in her eyes. "You don't mean it, don't you?"

  Quickly, she grabbed one of the pistols from the floor and aimed it towards her head.

BLAM!

  The three were left to leave their mouths open due to her latest move.

  Frustrated, Pierre dropped the shotgun on the floor. "Damn!"

"So, what a terrible way to go out, Blythe." Redmond called. "Oh, by the way, remember me?"

"Yeah, like we would forget." Ivan responded.

"Yep... looks like my operation was a complete failure, due to the fact that I withdrew most my men hours ago... only to be killed by the resistance, damn."

"Uh, what operation?"

"Can't tell you, it's a RED secret. Bye!"

  The speakers shut off completely.

"Well." Ivan picked up the package, and began to search for the satchel, "Looks like we may never know why they did this to us."

"Oh, we'll find out." said Pierre.

"Ready to go home Maribelle?" Ivan said as the little girl climbed onto her back.

"Yep!" She smiled while picking her syringe off the floor. "Uh, what home?"

  They would find the exit a few moments later and leave once the satchel was found, and the package was placed inside.

  Redmond looked at the surveillance cameras as he watched them leave the room with all that they needed.

"Mister Redmond, sir." said one of his chairmen.

"Don't worry sir." Redmond replied with a smirk. "If Blythe and my goons couldn't kill them, then Vanessa's men will... Besides, at least we already know what this delivery is all about."

"Huh, never knew that this museum was very." Ivan breathed in and then out. "Very empty."

"It's because 'ze state never reopened 'ze museum after 'ze revolution. They planned on reopening it, but it never came."

"So, why were there people here?"

"I.... don't... know." Pierre was as confused as Ivan on that subject, and so were the others.

"Hmm." shrugged Ivan.

  They stood quiet as they continued to walk towards the end of the empty floor.

"By the way Pierre, I'm sorry about what I said-"

"No offense was taken Ivan, because it was all true."

"I was an affiliate to RED before a woman named Delilah came in with his son, Preston... and you should know ze rest."

"Well, I see." Ivan said, making a firm implications from that sentence as they went down the stairs.

"When I joined BLU. Blythe was devastated, and to show me that life was fine without me, she came here with her Boyfriend, Josh."

"Huh, that name sounds like something out of a High school themed movie. Tell me, was Josh in some sort of Rock band?"

"Oui."

"Ugh." He sighed. "Just like in a High school themed movie... so, was it because of that that she became full of herself?"

  The spy walked in silence. "I don't want to talk about it any further."

"Oh, ok." Ivan accepted. Because of this, he thought. "Looks like we all have one thing in common."

  They would be relieved that those flight of stairs led to the first floor, and would soon proceed to the main entrance. Upon exiting, they noticed a very peculiar sight... everything was completely quiet.

"What the hell just happened?" Ivan asked as he watched over the bodies of multiple factions on the floor.

  They walked down the stairs and towards the streets below to realize that more bodies, as well as debris was everywhere. The wind howled as the silence continued to send more chills up their spines.

  Afraid, Haystack looked up into the now clear sky, where the moon was hovering above them. This always made him feel relaxed, even during these times.

"Jeff?" Pierre called, making Haystack look in their direction. They found a trembling resistance fighter, walking alone in the streets as he was brandishing his rifle in multiple directions.

"Pierre, all of you." He cried in panic. "Get the hell out of her! Get the-AAH!!"

  A bullet shot through his heart, signaling something bad. Then all of a sudden, at least two dozen troops surrounded them like ninjas, pointing their weapons at their faces. The four gasped in surprise before those troops moved closer and closer to them.

"Damn it." Pierre face palmed. "It was about time that we faced them."