To Run Away...

Chapter 22

"So, you people are the Starfox commandos, right?" Ivan asked, trying to distant himself from the elephant in the room.

  To ease them, Maribelle nodded like a thumping rabbit's foot.

"Oh..." He began to look at their uniforms, which was nothing new. They looked like regular soldiers to begin with. The only thing that differentiated them from regular infantry was that they had lighter armor, black fedoras, and red capes. It looked out of place for a Spec-ops group; but in order to calm them down, Ivan had this to say. "...Well you all have nice uniforms by the-."

"Quiet." shouted one of them, "We should be the only ones talking right now."

"Then... W-why didn't you say that before?"

  The squad looked at each other, admitting that he was right. But the squad was smart enough to keep focus on their mission, "Look, we're here for the package. So hand it to us, and you won't meet the same fate as the resistance right here."

"Why?"

"No reason... Well, actually there is one, our dear leader demands that we acquire intelligence from your prized possession. So please, tell us, and you all won't be hurt."

  The four agreed on one thing, and Maribelle expressed it to their enemy. "No."

"Huh, and that's coming from a little brat." The commando chuckled. "Seriously, give us-"

"No sir, we're not going to give you the package." Maribelle continued as he hopped off Haystack's back. "Because that's not your package, it's a property of Ivan and Haystack, and owned by whatever organization they work for, so you don't have the right..."

  While the girl tore them down with her words, the other three conversed in secret.

"So, looks like there's a reason wh'ah they're after us." Haystack muttered to them. "And it has to do with the package."

"No turd Haystack, they just told us to give the..." Ivan stopped the moment he realized it. "Uh, oh."

"What?"

  The three quickly realized what RED, and now Doofania was after.

"Looks like we have to get going ." Pierre said.

"But how? They have us surrounded."

"Ah don't think we'll have to worry about that." Haystack smirked as he watched Maribelle talk with the commandos.

"... and so, I declare by the power invested in me that the state that you blindly work for, doesn't have the right to stop us from delivering that package!" She folded her hands together and gave them an innocent grin.

  Surprised at her verbal onslaught, the squadron shook their heads and stood their grounds.

"Alright girly..." yelled the commando in front of her. "You had your playtime, so now it's our turn!"

"Hmph, makes sense... Oh by the way, pony has a gun."

  The spontaneous message made him look up, "Son of a-."

WHACK!!

"And that gun is me!" Maribelle said, kicking the commando in the face.

"Nice." Haystack muttered.

"Ivan, here!" Maribelle called back as he tossed the man's SMG over to him like a tomahawk.

  The boy grabbed it like lightning, "Uh, thanks!"

  The bullets deflected off their bodies before they made their moves.

BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!!!

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

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!!

  But in that moment, the squad disappeared.

"The hay?" Haystack questioned.

BLAM!

  Maribelle returned with a pistol and more ammo. "Here, Ah'van, you're going to need this."

"Hmm, three mags?"

"Just be happy that it's ammo, you-"

"Whoa, I'm not complaining, I'm just asking why?"

"Oh, uh, It's because I'm a sixteen year old stuck in a four year old's body. Insert implications there."

  Ivan giggled a little, "Ha, makes sens-"

  Thwap!

  Ivan felt something punch him in the stomach, as if he was being punched by steel gloves. "Oomph!"

"By Celestia's mane!!" Haystack trotted in front of him and wielded his two pistols.

BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!

  Thanks to his outstanding marksmanship, the bullets were able to reach the sniper in a hurry. Even though they missed, it gave her good reason to run.

"Damn, Ah could've dropped her dead." Haystack muttered, disappointed at his failure.

"Ivan, are you okay?" Pierre asked, tending to Ivan's pain.

"Yeah *Ahem*" He let go of his stomach and stood upright. "I'm alright."

"Ah!!" Pierre felt something hit him in the back. It felt light, but it was enough to push him two steps forward. Turning around he fired two rounds at the source. Unfortunately, the source was quick enough to make his escape.

"I think it's best that we get the hell out of here." Maribelle suggested.

"Agreed." The three felt the same way.

  They ran down the street, urgent to get the hell out of there. But at that moment, the sniper returned to finish her job.

BLAM!

  Maribelle's eyesight was quick enough to detect the direction the bullet was heading for... her. So, in order to prevent herself from getting her head blown off. She fell on both knees and slid forward before knocking her head back. The bullet flew over her like a hawk, and her eyes were keen enough to watch as it did so.

"What the hell?" The sniper muttered.

  The little girl stood on her two feet before he joined the others in taking her out.

  The bullets tore through her cape, and blew her fedora right off her head. "Damn it."

  She then contacted his comrades while she made her retreat. "Take 'em out!"

BOOM!

  An explosion of fire appeared to their left.

"What the-."

  A fireball flew towards them from the right. Screaming, the quartet ducked before the fireball could burn them.

"They have DICE also?" Ivan shouted.

"Uh, yeah, I forgot to mention that there are more Pyro dice!" Maribelle giggled, hiding the self pity she felt for not telling them this.

  He aimed to the right in search for the fire shooting soldier. Finding him, he opened fire.

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

  The man made a cartwheel and successfully dodged every shot.

... r-r-r-r-r-r-Cl-click!

"Damn it!" Ivan muttered before reloading.

  The commando then made his move.

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

  Two of the many bullets fired hit him in the hip. Ivan would then lose balance and nearly drop his new magazine.

Click! Click! Cl-click!

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

This time, Ivan was successful. The man attempted to jump into the air, but one of the bullets dropped him when it hit him in the ribcage.

"Huh, Bullseye." Ivan smiled in satisfaction.

  He tumbled to the ground before Ivan gave him the finishing blow with three bullets to the chest.

"Ah'van, you got 'em?"

"Yep, looks like it'll be based on luck then."

  They crossed the next intersection where the set of riot shields where lying around.

"Looks like they didn't use these."  Pierre mumbled.

  They picked up the riot shields and raised them up in the air.

"To the Humvee!" Ivan shouted.

  The four moved forward as they fired as many blind shots as they could.

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

Twang! Clink! Clink! Twang!

"Aah!" Haystack shouted once the HMG bullets tore through his shield. Shoving the pistol through one of the holes, he fired three shots at the soldier.

  The man groaned as the bullet him in the face.

"Sheesh, easy target."

  The four garrisoned into the Humvee and prepared to get themselves out of here.

"Pierre, the vehicle won't start!" Ivan yelled. "They must've used the kill switch!"

"Damn, just wipe out the squad!" Pierre ordered, "We can't move forward until they're wiped out!"

"Got it!" Ivan had an idea, so he decided to break away from the group.

"Ivan, what 'ze hell are you doing?!"

"Something I should've done!" He ran over to the wall of the building and ran upwards. Ascending upwards, he managed to impress the enemy as he did so. Reaching the rooftops, he confronted two commandos and fired his SMG. However, without even looking, the two jumped into somersaults and started to make their own move.

"Damn."

  The commando to Ivan's left fired another fireball. Swiftly, Ivan jumped off the building and held on to the roof's edges. He then used his arm as a slingshot and lunged upwards and towards one of them with guns blazing. The man dropped dead before he landed on the concrete and aimed his SMG at the other one.

D-r-r-r-r!

Whack!

  Ivan was punched in the stomach; it was strong enough to throw him towards a table that was near by.

CRASH! Crack! Crack!

  But in a flash, Ivan reached his arm into the air and grabbed onto a bottle of beer which coincidently happened to be there.

Glook, Glook, Glook, Glook, Glook!

"Uh, oh." The second commando shook.

"Well well." Ivan grinned after he spit out the bottle from his lips. "Lucky night."

  Knowing that he didn't have the power to fire flames at him, he made his retreat.

  But on the other hand, Ivan had plans for him. He shouted the magic word in his head and a ball of fire shot out of his hand.

  The commando continued to parkour his way from him, but the fire he casted was right on his tail. He then turned around... and it was as if he was turned to salt the moment he did so. However, his consequence was more of a fiery fate than a salty one. And as an added bonus, he took a trip off the building and towards a not so soft landing below.

  Ivan hissed in disgust as he watched the sight unfold. "Ooooo."

BLAM!

Twang!

  Another shot was fired. Hastily, he ducked for cover behind the wavy concrete barrier in front of him.

"Ugh, where the hell's that sniper." He looked down and found a tape recorder. Picking it up he used it to at least calm himself down from the fear of being hit again.  In the recording, the first thing he heard was the crowd

  Then the next thing that was heard, was the same high-pitched German accent from before.

"As a boy in 'ze German village of Gimmelshtump, my father had a dog named 'Only son'. 'Zat dog would go on to win several awards unt give honor to our family! So, 'vat does 'zat have to do with 'vat's happening here? ... 'Vell, let me tell you. 'Ze reason Only son got 'zose awards 'vas because he 'vas loyal! 'Vhen my father told him to sit, he sat. 'Vhen he told him to stay, he stayed, unt 'Ven he told him whom he'll breed with, he didn't argue... So, I'm telling you 'zat loyalty is 'ze only 'vay towards ze Utopia my brother desired... If you are loyal to our dear nation, 'zen you shall achieve a life of peace and prosperity!"

  The audience clapped at his statement before the recording stopped.

BLAM!

   The next bullet crashed through the barrier, creating a large hole that exposed Ivan's back.

  Eyes wide, Ivan chose to get up and run before the sniper could aim again.

  Meanwhile, on the ground, Haystack continued to shoot before running out of ammo.

"Oh Celestia, please no!" He mashed the HMG in desperation."Don't die on-."

Thwap! Thwap!

  Bullets hit him in the stomach, making him fall back into the Humvee for safety... and more ammo.

"Haystack, get your ass up there!" Maribelle screamed, before they rise up again.

"Damn it, where the hell is that guy?" Haystack muttered through his teeth as he got another magazine from the back of the vehicle.

  His comrade was still jumping over building after building, searching for that sniper. "Better call 'em."

BLAM!

Shwooom!

"Crap, she ain't giving up, isn't she?"

Static!

"Ah'van where the hell did ya go?!"

"Going to take out that sniper! Can't believe you didn't notice!"

"Well, excuse me for having to stay here and wipe out this whole squad!"

  A few moments later, the young merc spotted the woman. "Oh, gotta go Haystack, it's time to... uh, damn, I got nothing."

Static!

  Ivan then prepared to strike back. The only problem was that she was across the street. Thus, his plan was risky, but it wasn't impossible.

  Before she could fire, Ivan jumped off the building and climbed down the building.

BLAM!

  Another round hit above him, making Ivan mentally gasp and speed up his descent. Feet before the ground, Ivan jumped off the building and ran across the street.

"Umph!" A ball of fire hit him on the right. Facing that direction, he spotted three more commandos running towards his direction. "Aw crap."

  He jumped onto the building and ran up, with the other three commandos in pursuit.

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

Shwoom! Twang! Twang!

"Don't worry Ivan." He muttered. "Almost there."

  Ivan then fired at the sniper, making her pull back as he hopped off the edge upon arrival.

  Then , he turned around and shot one of the chasing commandos in the chest; before kicking the sniper in the face with the bottom of his boot. Ivan would go on to fire another ball of fire at one of the soaring enemies, igniting him and his comrade equally.

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

  Ivan then loaded his last magazine while those two dropped their lifeless bodies on the floor, "Huh, should've stocked myself with ammo a while ag-."

BLAM!

  SMACK!

  Ivan twirled in the air after feeling the bullet kick him in the backside of his hip.

"Oomph!" Ivan grunted as he hit the ground. In a millisecond, he was back on his feet, still heady from the blast. In front of him now, was the sniper. Her nose was bloodied and her rifle was still in hand.

"So..." She said virulently. "... Not going to back down, are ya?"

  Ivan was silent as he stood with his arms and legs in fighting stance.

"Huh, looks like the infiltrator isn't talking much, isn't he?" She put the rifle away and took out her combat knife. "Guess there's no point in saying, 'any last words' then."

  She then lunged at Ivan, only to have a ball of fire shoot towards her.

BOOM!

  The woman didn't burn though, because she managed to dodge the ball before it could even hit her face.

  Angry at his miss, Ivan stomped his foot again. "Oh come on."

  Suddenly, something pointy rammed against his hip and threw him off balance.

"Well...." She smirked. "Not the dangerous man I thought you were."

  Getting back on his feet, Ivan made his second attack. He charged with his hands folded, hoping to swing them towards her; But the woman was swift enough to evade that move and hit Ivan with a blow to the back. The kick threw him off the building and onto the next one. He held on for dear life while the sniper took out her SMG and looked through her crosshair.

"I pity you, kid." She mumbled. "You come to this country to deliver some sort of package, just to wipe away a debt. Now, you're here, on the verge of death... tee hee, that kinda rhymed."

  Ivan was shaking as he did his best to hold on. He already realized that the woman was preparing to shoot. Since he was defenseless, he knew that not even his bodily shield could help him in this situation.

  In the meantime, the lady was able to align the shot and shoot.

  The first rounds of bullets bounced off both his arms while two more would hit his back. Those mere moments made Ivan think about why he's here, the debt, the next bullet hit him in the left thigh. So that got him to lift himself up and onto the rooftop of that building.

"D'oh, curse my SMG shooting!" The sniper self-scolded.

  Ivan then jumped across and back to the woman's position. With a swipe, the SMG was out of her hands and into his.

"You bastard!" She spun around with another kick off the building. But falling, Ivan held onto the building and swung over to the other side like a gorilla on a vine. He then shot up into the air and punched the woman under the chin.

  The lady landed on her back as Ivan regained his footing.

"Hmm, make your next move, little boy." She said, standing on her two feet as well.

  Ivan just watched with the SMG pointed at her.

"What's wrong little bastard, you don't have the guts to hit a girl?'

  Again, he was silent.

"Huh, you pussy."

  But Ivan had enough, he fired his last blast of fire at her. As usual, the sniper was able to jump to the side...

D-r-r!

  ... Only to be shot in the head.

Ivan then approached the corpse. "Meh, that's what they'd call me."

  He picked up the sniper rifle from her back. That's when a sheet of paper slid out. "Oh?"

  Flipping it over, he found himself in front of the mug shot of Blythe, "Blythe Baxter, wanted for betraying the state."

  Then another paper appeared, he read that one as well. "The people Want: Blythe Baxter, for treason."

  Putting the papers in his satchel, he concluded. "Looks like we've finally know why Blythe was with RED."

  He put the sniper rifle behind him and ran back to his comrades' garrison. On the way, Ivan chose to contact Pierre.

Static!

"Pierre, this is Ivan!"

  Pierre in the meantime, managed to backstab another commando before shooting his friend in the face. "Bonjour?"

"Yeah, if you wanna know why Blythe was holding up the ghostly museum, then you're in luck."

  He walked outside of the empty store he took out those commandos in and united with the rest of the group. "Look, I'm not interested in 'ze matter. She's dead, and out of my life. Let's just keep moving, all 'ze commandos are dead by 'ze way."

"Oh really? ..."

  Pierre jolted in surprise. Turning around, he noticed that Ivan was right behind him.

"... because I've got some intel right here."

  He showed him the papers that he found.

"That's great in all, ..." Maribelle butted in. "... but let's discuss this while we're getting the hell out of here! So, where're we going?"

  Pierre turned around, and told her where. "An apartment building several blocks from here."

"Oh, you mean Lillian's place?"

"Huh?' The three gasped.

"Oh good, so how she's doing?"

  Not asking how, they proceeded with their order to get moving.

  A block later, Ivan was finished discussing the intel.

"So, she went rogue, right?"

"On both fronts."

"She probably did it to get more Gabe." Maribelle said politely.

"Huh?" asked Haystack.

"Pierre, how long has she been here?"

"Hmm, Twenty-Eight years."

"Well, looks like the body builders she was using was starting to pay off in the end."

"Whaddaya mean?" questioned Ivan.

"I'm saying that a whole time without using them were starting to affect her."

  They stood against a building to see if any more troops were heading their way.

"Judging by her appearance, I can say that the ones she used were for sex, work, and well, appearance... if you stop using them for a long while, then it'll slowly kill you. Unlike when you use it often." They ran across the street. "Since I'm in a little girl's, she knew that I bare hordes of Gabe inside of me."

"Then why didn't she extract it from you right away?" asked Pierre.

"Redmond's orders... they capture you guys, get the package, and thus, they extract me via Haystack. If he didn't, then you guys would be dead." She frowned as she looked past the back of Haystack's head. "... All we're doing in this world is surviving... there's no such thing as living."

  The others looked onward as they took Maribelle's quote into consideration.

  After about thirty five minutes of nothing but moving stealthily across the city, they were able to reach the apartment building safe and sound. Maribelle would greet Lillian kindly and vice versa; before they whipped up a conversation.

  Lillian was the first to say. "So, how did it go?"

  Pierre sighed. "Not so good... and all just to rescue this little one."

  The little girl rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't believe what they went through, Lily."

  Lillian didn't laugh, but she had her opinions, and was willing to express it. "I see... that's where you've been. Maribelle."

  She frowned again. "Ugh, yep. My id is always in control until the moonlight comes out. Can't believe I wound up there."

"Mmm Hmm." The woman nodded. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Huh?"

"Troy will be calling at any time; and since you're now in your older girl phase, I think it's time tor you to choo-."

"I'm staying." She said, "Ivan, get ready to tell her that."

  The news made Haystack's heart soar, and he didn't know why.

"Mmm Hmm." Ivan replied.

  After that conversation, everything was quiet... until the telephone rang.

RRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!

"Ivan, get 'ze phone."

"Yes sir." Ivan walked over and answered it. "Uh, hello?"

"Got the girl?" Troy said.

  He looked back at Haystack and Maribelle to see if they were okay with him telling Troy that they have her. But the two gave him and assuring nod, green lighting her location.

"Yes, Troy. We have her."

"Good, now Lotus told me that the little girl simply wanted to see Haystack... Huh, should've read a little further. Anyways, that doesn't excuse the fact that she is a valuable subject to the state."

"Ugh, I should've guessed that she's a special item." Ivan said. "And if you're wondering why I wasn't surprised by that, then that's why."

"Huh, so what do you think we should do with her?"

"Well, we can't give the girl away to anyone, that's for sure. She'll only escape and go on another rampage just to get to Haystack."

"And we can't kill her because the state will only be nothing but Butthurt after this."

Knowing that Haystack will hear, Ivan lowered his voice. "Why is killing her an option?"

  Troy sighed, "It  isn't, it's that we did something similar two years ago in a town east from here."

  Ivan guessed the obvious. "Jepsen town?"

"No, a small town named Frey." Troy began to mope at the mistake he made there. "Subject J10 was almost like Maribelle.... only stronger. We knew that if we killed him, the whole army would react to it and we would have them right where we wanted them. But when we did so, it was a whole different story. The friggin' military came out of nowhere and started to burn the whole town to the ground."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that." Ivan said with empathy in his voice.

"Yeah, that's why it's best that the girl stays with you guys."

"Hmph, that's what I've been thinking... Maybe the girl needs to be accompanied by a better person, or in this case a pony."

"Well, if you're willing to risk being hunted by the state."

"Yeah, speaking of that, looks like the state isn't the only one who's after us."

"Let me guess, RED's after you too, aren't they?"

"Ugh, yep. And they're after the same thing as well... and looks like they've managed to get their hands on some intel."

  Troy was in a state of shock. "Uh, whaddaya mean?"

"We were captured by RED agents, and they got their hands on the package. Looks like they're bound to find him as well."

"Damn it! I'm gonna have to tell him to evacuate from his current location.

"Oh come on, really?!"

"Yes really, but it doesn't matter now. You complete with our tasks, and his location will be given, got it?"

  Ivan took a deep breath before breathing out, "Got it."

"Now, starting tomorrow you'll have another mission to-"

BEEEEEEEEEPP!

  Ivan put the phone back in his place. "Crap, phone line's down."

"So, what did he say?" Haystack said Worryingly.

  Ivan turned around and told him the news. "Maribelle's staying with us. And he says that it's best that she does."

  Maribelle had only one word to say. "Good."

  All that Haystack did was smile as he looked at the carpet below. And that made her feel a bit warm inside just to see that.

"*YAWN*, Madame may I be excused? I'm really tired."

"Sure Ivan." She nodded. "Let me show-"

"I-it's fine, good night." He walked out of the living room and headed to be bedroom.

  Once he was gone, Pierre asked. "Uh, shouldn't we actually show him to -"

"I think he'll be okay." Lillian interrupted, knowing that all Ivan wants to do is get some rest.

  In reality, Ivan was looking out of the window of the other bedroom. Feeling relieved that this whole ordeal was finally over. Now, he could get some rest so he could prepare for the next mission. He planned to look at the empty sky now, and go to sleep in about fifteen minutes.

  A couple minutes later, Haystack and Maribelle declared their tiredness and were showed to the room they'll be staying for the night. Which was exact same room Haystack was in while he was knocked out.

"So, how have I been doing during the day?" Maribelle asked.

"Well, you've been around lately." Haystack then tucked her in.

  With that, she reminded him. "You know, I can do that on my own, right?"

"Yeah, well, just to give you a helpin' hand."

"Aw, thanks."

  After that was done, he sat on his haunches, and it was all quiet.

"Anyways, thanks for what you did back there."

  The pony cheeks reddened. "Uh, y'er welcome."

"Huh, why were you crying anyways."

"What?"

"You were crying over me... why?"

"Ah... ah don't know." He felt like crying again, but he withdrew it. "Ah just didn't want to see you d'ah... that's all."

  Not going by saying "D'aw" because of what he said, she simply replied with a smile. "Huh, you're the first person to ever tell me that... thanks."

  The pony sat quietly as she took in what she said. Shyly, he asked. "Maribelle?"

"Yeah?"

"C-can 'ah... sing you a lullab'ah?"

  She knew that she was mature enough for those kind of things, but something about that made her accept, "Uh, alright, I was looking forward to sleeping anyways."

  The pony grinned, happy to hear that she wanted to listen.

"So, take it away."

  He looked up and in a moments notice, he began to sing a certain song he knew from back when he was a kid. It was a sweet and gentle one about a certain pony's new day. With every lyric he sung, it got her to slowly close her eyes and prepare for the dreams ahead. Haystack would then pet her on the head while he watched her sleep like a little angel. The blonde hair felt nice on his hoof, and the sight of her made his heart melt. It even came with the feeling of being a father, even though he was fathering a little human girl.

  When he finished singing, all he could say in his head was. "Ah'm just glad ye're safe."

  He then lied on the floor and went to sleep as well.