To Run Away...

Chapter 3

   Quickly, they put their hands/hooves up in the air, with Ivan still holding onto the package,

  "And without us telling you two blokes to put your hands up!" An officer called out through his megaphone in sarcasm. "Wow, I'm impressed!"

   Even though the two could see where the officer was speaking from, the officer would present himself inside the barricade the squad cars, facing their target.

  "You know we've been watching your every move, right?' The officer revealed, only without his megaphone.

  "Uh, no?" Ivan responded, even though he was now certain that they were. "And shouldn't there be a buffet for us?"

  "If both of you weren't wearing that, and carrying that package, then we could've made one for you and your Equine friend." He replied politely.

  "I knew he would say that." Ivan mumbled, since he knew that it had something to do with who they were.

  "Whaddaya mean?" Haystack asked the officer.

  "I mean, your kind is not allowed here!"

  "What? Oh come on!" Haystack complained. "We-"

   "Enough Haystack, we don't meet their requirements." Ivan ordered.

  "And since that's the case..." Another officer stood next to him, pointing his M4 carbine as the officer got out his P90, both of them aiming at their heads. ".... I guess you'll both have to eat someplace else."

Cl-click!

   Haystack began to shake, for he knew that this was the end.

    However, Ivan rolled his eyes at the sight.

  "Duck." Ivan told him before leaning forwards and charging at the pair.

   Haystack just did so, placing his hooves over his head as he heard gunshots come from the two officers, making the civilians run and scream. He looked up to find Ivan in the middle of the air, the bullets whisking underneath his feet. Ivan would then have them lean forward, aiming at the officers' faces. They watched in horror, before they felt his feet punch them in their noses, kicking them back and knocking them out. Landing on the ground, he would duck while simultaneously getting out two frag grenades from his overcoat pockets. The officers weren't quick enough to aim at his body, by then, he was in the process of biting off the safety pins. That's when Haystack decided to help, by getting out two grenades as well.

  "Grenade!" An officer yelled as Ivan tossed them at two cars in front of him, while Haystack threw his at two others to his left and right.

Dakka dak! Dakka dak! Dakka dak! Dakka dak...

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM...

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

   They opened fire, regardless of the grenades, but Ivan would evade the shooting once again by performing a backflip before grabbing the knocked out officers' weapons with his hands once he landed.

  "Haystack, catch!" Ivan called out once he landed, tossing him the P90.

   The stallion quickly grabbed it with his hooves while Ivan grabbed the M4.

   BOOM!

   One by one, the grenades detonated, sending multiple officer from behind each vehicle flying into the air with metal fragments deep in their bodies

  "We have multiple wounded! I repeat, we have multiple wounded!" One of the officers cried.

  "Stop them! Stop them!" Another one yelled as Ivan ran to the police car's bumper from the left for cover.

  "Haystack!" Ivan called. "Cover me!"

   He replied with a nod before galloping towards the police car's bumper to his right. It wasn't long before the remaining officers in front of them were simply mowed down by the duo's bullets, letting them fly through their protection and into their vital organs/heads. Once that area was clear, they proceeded to the next cars, and received the same outcome, killed them with little resistance. After clearing the area, they returned to the unconscious bodies in the center and began to stock up on ammo.

  "Let's get the hell out of here before more cops arrive!" Ivan ordered while stuffing M4 magazines into his pockets while Haystack was doing the same with the P90 ones.

  "Pfft, obviously."

   Once they were finished, the two got up and ran to their left before vaulting over a hood of a squad car, with the exception that Haystack jumped over it like a hurdle in a racetrack. Landing on the other side, they resumed their run until they would see a convoy consisting of two Lenco Bearcats and two Humvees speed down the intersection and head their way, sirens wailing.

  "Aw crap!" Ivan shrieked before they slowed down and stopped.

   The two needed to elude them, fast. Fortunately, Haystack found a solution. He looked to right to find a double doorway that led inside the building next to them.

  "Let's hide in there." He suggested, pointing his hoof towards it.

  "Oh thank goodness." Ivan sighed in relief before following Haystack towards the entrance.

   They pulled the glass doors' handles, but it wouldn't budge.

  "Damn, it's locked!" Ivan stopped his foot on the concrete to express his frustration. "We're gonna have to find a lock pick."

  "What!" Haystack was in utter shock by his plan, "Ain't nobody got t'ahme for that!"

   He quickly turned around and bucked his hind hooves onto the glass.

  "Oh, heh, should've thought of that." Ivan now felt a little stupid about his decision.

   The two went inside to find themselves in a waiting room. Complete with multiple groups of chairs that covered the entire floor and three elevators to the right.

  "Quick, to the elevator!" Ivan ordered with a shout, pointing at them like a statue.

  "Really? You sound like some sort of superhero." Haystack criticized while coming up with a conclusion to Ivan's plan.

  "I don't even know why I did that." He admitted. "Let's move!"

   They ran towards an open elevator in the middle. Upon reaching there, Ivan found something rare on the black carpet underneath. It was an imprint of a red cartoon bomb and written over it was the word "Red" in bold.

  "Yep. Things have changed in this 'Paradise'." Ivan mumbled.

  "Ah'van!" Haystack called in panic.

  "Stop! Police!" An officer yelled as he and his comrades stormed inside the building.

   He joined Haystack in the elevator and pressed the button that would take them to the top floor. The door then slid closed before the elevator made its ascension.

  "So, it looks l'ahke we're on the run then." Haystack concluded as they began to reload their weapons.

  "Yep. The mission wasn't going to be easy anyways. And 'Silver fox's' unknown location was the first sign."

   They stood there quietly after that, facing the window with half bored expressions. All they could hear was the tacky elevator music as they felt the it move through their feet/haunches.

  "Does this song sound familiar ta ya?" asked Haystack in order to kill the silence between them.

  "Nope, must be exclusive to Danville."

  "Oh."

   The door slid open after the ding. Unfortunately, the police seemed to be one step ahead.

  "Freeze!" One of the officers yelled as she and her squadron stood firm with their rifles and SMGs pointed at them either by looking through their iron sights or aiming from the hip.

  "Well that was quick." Ivan noted.

  "Whaddaya mean 'quick'? We've already been here." A male officer revealed to them.

   Ivan felt dumbfounded. "Uh..."

Ding!

Ding!

   They heard boots stomp on the floor, making them imply that reinforcements have arrived.

  "So why be up here?" Ivan asked, disregarding the reinforcements.

  "So that dumb ass mercenaries like you two don't get away from jumping out the window."

  "Great, plan spoiled."

  "Yep. So by order of the great successor, as told by the guy below, we have to kill you."

   Ivan raised an eyebrow. "So, Hienz isn't the ruler?"

  "What?" The officer was surprised by his response.

  "I mean, I saw a poster with his face on it. Don't tell me that Hienz is Roger's so-"

  "Ugh, you know what I mean. So let's get this over with."

   Still skeptical on her actions, he asked. "But... Can't you just kick us out of the country?"

   Haystack grew nervous, he knew that the conversation can go south real fast.

  "Ugh, the officer you just knocked out already told you, so No!" The officer was growing irritated, as well as his comrades.

  "But I think it's much better if you do that."

  "No! We have to shoot you dead and that's final."

  "Ugh, fine."

  "What?" Haystack was shocked at his decision.

  "Oh, and after executing us, can you do us a favor and burn this package for us?" Ivan asked as he presented them the package. "I mean since we're going to die and all."

  "Ok then." The officer smirked, agreeing to the deal.

   Haystack in the meantime, shook in fear, realizing that this was the end.

  "Here you go." Ivan tossed him the package, which made the officers glance at it as it soared in the air.

  "Suckers." He mumbled before grabbing one of the distracted officers to his right and placing him in front of him like a shield.

   In reaction to this, Haystack quickly hid inside the elevator as Ivan sprayed multiple rounds at the enemy while they were trying to do the same to him without harming their comrade. However, he didn't leave Ivan hanging. He provided him cover by blind firing in the opposite direction from where Ivan was shooting.

   After a couple of seconds, the remaining officers dropped dead.

  "Clear." Ivan proclaimed once the hallway was silent. "I should've told you that I got this covered, but it was better that I didn't."

   Haystack peeked around the elevator to find this statement true, even though he was still quivering in fear.

  "Now stop shaking, we need to move."

   Ivan grabbed the package from the officer's body, to his amazement, it was completely unharmed during the crossfire. "Nice."

  "F'ahne." Haystack did as he was told.

  "Alright then."

   Haystack followed Ivan across the hall and past a wooden double doorway, which led to a board room with no one inside. Ivan would close the door behind him and used a dead officer's M16 to lock the doors together. He then looked to his left to find the same logo he saw earlier; only it was enlarged, printed on the wall, and revealed to have an acronym.

  "Reliable Excavation Demolition." Ivan read, turning to face it while doing so.

  "Who are they?" asked Haystack.

  "They're a company that have been dominating the markets lately. Never knew they would reach here."

  "Huh." Haystack looked behind him to find an electronic News ticker displaying the date, so he began to read it. "April fifth, twerty thirty three. Wow, this thing can tell what t'day is?"

  "Not only that, but it can announce other stuff as well. Alerts, Current events..." He briefly glanced to his left. "... and Oh boy, soda!"

  "Ah beg yer pard'n?"

  "Thank goodness, because I'm thirsty!" He clearly ignored the question due to relief.

   He found the bottle of aqua blue soda on the maple colored round table. He placed the package on the table and Picked it up, feeling the coldness on his hand as he turned it around to look at the brand's logo. What appeared was a picture of a smiling Pegasus filly with a baby blue coat and eyes of almost the same color. Her mane had the color of white with streaks of turquoise. Ivan thought that filly looked cute even as she stood in the background of snowflakes, but the words underneath it contradicted that, the text read, "SNOWDROP's FURY!".

   It surprised him a little, but he put that aside and read the small text underneath, which read, "A product of Reliable Excavation Demolitions"

  "Huh, didn't know that they wanted to conquer the soft drink industry... Hell, I'm taking this sample." But he quickly remembered about his four legged comrade, "Want some, Haystack?"

  "Nah, None of us Equestrians trust foreign imports."

  "Oh will you be quiet, your country doesn't trust anyone. Funny how you're even here."

   Haystack wanted to rebut that claim, opening his mouth to do so. However, he closed it, because he was right. He looked down in defeat.

   By then, Ivan had already twisted the bottle cap, letting it release air before opening it. He could smell the aroma of ice cold raspberry that the fizzy drink was releasing. It was as if the company was reading his mind. So without hesitation, he mounted the bottle onto his lips and poured the sweet liquid down his mouth. The chill, fizz, and sweetness made him satisfied. In fact, he was more than satisfied, he wanted more of it. So he tilted his head back, letting the soda pour right in like a waterfall.

Glook! Glook! Glook! Glook...

   Haystack was quite impressed at how much he liked that drink. Even though he was still thinking about how little faith the ponies have in humans.

   Meanwhile, Ivan had already emptied the bottle, gasping for air once the last droplets of soda was swallowed.

  "Damn, that's one heck of a drink." Ivan breathed.

   Suddenly, he felt a little queasy, and grew dizzy as well.

  "Aw Christ!" Ivan grunted as he felt extreme pain in his stomach, making him clench onto it like an eagle's claw on a branch, "I shouldn't have drank that."

   Haystack was in just much panic as Ivan was. "Oh my, D-don't worry Ah'van!"

   He placed his hoof on his left shoulder for reassurance. "Ah'll go f'ahnd a first aid kit."

   He then galloped around the room to find one.

   Ivan nodded as he felt a burning sensation on his arms and legs. As the pain expanded and worsened, he looked at his arms to find grave levels of frostbite, turning the skin into a black purplish color. On his hands, Icicles were growing over the frostbite with crackling sounds accompanying it. Then suddenly, his vision started to see things. Strong gusts of wind started to circle around and they were all shaped like wolves, howling with every move. But amidst the wind, he saw something else. A silhouette of a Pegasus filly heading his way. And he knew quickly, that it's the filly from the bottle. And his prediction was correct once the silhouette faded, replacing it with the colors of baby blue, white, and turquoise. Her body was resistant to the wind while her mane wasn't.

   He breathed heavily as she looked at him with a blank stare and held a snowflake on her right hoof before telling him in a soft gentle voice. "Control my power, control my ability, control my fury."

   Then he tossed the snowflake across the divide and towards Ivan's left eye. And the chilly spark would make his eye sting before making the pain in general grow even worse. Worse enough for him to scream in terror. More gusts of wind would fly in between them, making the filly disappear before a loud crack went off. Then in a flash, everything was gone. The icicles, the frostbite, the pain, the filly, it was all gone. And the first thing he saw after the occurrence was a distraught Haystack looking at him with distraught eyes.

  "I-It's okay... H-Haystack." Ivan breathed. "I-I'm alright... Uh... s-sorry for what I said a few moments ago"

   The shocked pony shook his head to fathom what he just saw before picking up the First aid kit from the floor.

  "Um... I-I's alr'ght... D-Do ya still need this." He asked amidst the gritting of his teeth.

  "Nah, I'm good."

  Haystack then looked at the bottle on the floor. "Is that Snowdrop?"

  "Wait, you know the pony on the bottle? As in other than the brand name?"

  "Yeah," He picked up the bottle and looked at the logo. "She's the Pegasus filly who showed us that winner was givin' us somethin' wonderful."

  "Huh, so she's like a folk hero to you ponies, isn't she?" Ivan asked, even though he wondered how she be a hero for something anyone can understand.

  "Yeah, A-ah guess. She enl'ahghtened us with something beautiful, and we should respect her f'er that."

  "Huh, I guess you're right." Still, he agreed with the statement, not the filly's heroism.

  "Yep." Haystack looked at the table to find something else other than the package. "Hey what's that?"

   He pointed his hoof at the object. Ivan looked in that direction, and once he saw what he was pointing at, his face lit up with glee. "Aw sweet, a Playstation Vita!"

  "A what now?"

  "A Playstation Vita!" He grabbed the device and marveled at it. "Now I can bring something home as a souvenir!"

  "Pfft, you humans and your technology. Hey, and what about that?" Haystack pointed at a sticky note sitting on the table.

   Ivan looked at it and noticed that it was written on, so he picked it up and read it out loud.

If you were dumb enough to drink our

                                                                    prototype, "Snowdrop's Fury",

                                                               then turn the Vita on for information.

                                                                                                -Redmond

  "Alright then." Ivan dropped the note before pressing the "on" button on the Vita.

   The screen would light up, revealing a grey background with a black and white version of the "Snowdrop's Fury" logo. Underneath that, it simply read "by Redmond" in bold.

   Vivaldi's "Spring" played in the background before a feminine voice (Which sounded suitable for business.) said, "Congratulations, you just drank, 'Snowdrop's fury'. Here are your instructions to wield her secret might..."

  "Secret might?" Haystack wondered, for he knew that that was just absurd.

   On the Vita screen, the slide changed to a cartoonish one featuring a World war two US soldier trembling in fear as a man in a black overcoat and red bandana charged at him with rage and a rifle.

  "... Say 'Frigidus' in your mind while simultaneously thrusting either hand forward to unleash a powerful blast of liquid Nitrogen that is guaranteed to freeze your enemies..."

  "So I got superpowers, huh?"

   The next slide featured the soldier doing just that, the enemy would appear suspended in the air with his mouth gaped open in horror thanks to the ice; which turned him into a glacier. All while it read, "Try this." above them.

  "... And if you want to watch your enemies slip on ice like buffoons, then say, 'Stagnum' in your hand onto any surface..."

   The next slide showed the soldier doing the same. The enemy slipping on the frozen pond. The soldier gave a thumbs up and a smile to display his satisfaction.

  "... Have fun, comrade!" The voice said as the next slide read,

Thank youRED Industries!

   Then the song ended before the screen went into electricity free darkness.

  "Huh?" Ivan wondered before pressing the "on" button again. However, nothing appeared on the screen. He then pressed it a couple of times more, but the same result kept spawning.

  "Great!' Ivan shouted in frustration before slamming the vita onto the table like a folder. "There goes my entertainment!"

   He then looked at the center of the table to find an empty satchel. "Well at least I found something I can take. Come on, let's go."

   He grabbed the satchel before placing it around his shoulder. Haystack would slide the package towards him before Ivan would stuff it inside.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

   The elevator bells made their hearts race before Ivan would exclaim. "Sweet mother!"

SLAM!

   They ran towards the window and used their rifle and SMG butts to break the glass open.

   Then an officer yelled in a raspy voice. "Stop, In the name of our Eden!"

SLAM!

  "Yikes! Quick!" Ivan got out a spear gun with a hook sticking out of the muzzle. "Fire these onto the building across the street!"

SLAM!

   Haystack let out another nod.

  "Good." Ivan decided to use this time to use his new power. It seemed pretty simple, but he had his doubts about if it would work or not."

   Meanwhile, Haystack was already aiming for the top floor, which was three-fourths the height of the RED building..

   SLAM!

  "Hurry up!" Ivan hastened him, forgetting about wanting to use 'Snowdrop's Fury' on the officers.

  "Alr'aght, sheesh!"

   Haystack pulled the trigger, letting the hook fly towards the other side like fishing line. Despite it's large distance between the two buildings, they were able to cling on with ease.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

   They could hear a buzz saw coming from the door, thus making them even more nervous.

  "Go! Go! Go!" Ivan yelled before holding onto Haystack from the waist. He held on tight as Haystack began to gallop out the window, spear gun in teeth. They felt the air breeze past them as they swung towards the other building, making them feel relaxed even when they're being chased by police. But suddenly, they heard the rope snap and they couldn't feel it's pull, and they began to fall in the wrong direction, heading towards the streets below, screaming in horror.

  "I should've seen this coming as well!" Ivan yelled as they flailed their arms and legs in utter panic.

("Team Fortress 2" belongs to Gabe Newell and the Valve Corporation.)

("Snowdrop" belongs to SillyFillyStudios.)