章 37: Chapter 33: Hunted
"No. And I don't know. I wished I knew." Her eyes watered while she brushed her hand under her lip. "I have you guys. And that is what matters."
"Ok." The boy paused. "Wait, did you say music on his phone? Like an MpPlayer or a ringtone of some sort?"
Benita snorted with a chuckle.
"Why would we be performing a slow dance to the opening ringtone? That's just crazy." She laughed, followed by Will.
"Hey!" Max whispered into a shout, stopping the laughs of the two. "Eyes out, and lowered your voice!" He turned his eyes down the road of vegetation.
"What was I like?" Anthony whispered, staring through the broken window harboring an abandoned barbershop. "Like you said, I was familiar."
"Right." Benita shakes her head before grinning up at him. "You were the annoying kid in the school. And here you still are."
"What!"
"Hey! Don't look at me. Who's here trying to act like a father to Gwen and me? Hell, even Sunny."
"You made your point." The boy huffed.
"Don't tell me you're mad?" Benita smiled.
"Just tell me."
"Alright," she raised her hands. "You were in the newspaper club, hellbent on trying to unwrap the sightings of aliens among Bellwood. And mainly after my fights, you were always there asking away." She sighs. "He's as stubborn as you, but I like this version better."
"Don't try to butter me up. It won't get you nowhere." The boy gave a wavering smirk, not gazing Benita's way. "My sister, Jane or Jenny?"
"I don't know. We weren't close like that."
"Of course." He said under his breath, gazing at Max and Phil heading for the tree lines.
"Partner?" Phil walked past a tree, pressing his boot onto the green grass that reached his ankles. He looks at Max, eyes scanning blind spots, his hands clamped on his rifle. "Maxwell."
"What is it? What's the patch?" Max questioned, his eyes still roaming.
"We'll find him. I can count on it."
Max's baggy eyes land on his partner before he gazes into the darkness.
...
They paced and continued down the swarm of trees until they eyed a small clearing. In it, a Barn with peeling red paint stood out. An opened pickup trunk sat under the shelter the barn provided.
"Hold." Max held his hand out before the six took a knee. They remained behind the tree line.
"This the place." Phil eyed the device before staring at the barn. "Your Grandpa, the kid, and I will head inside. You all remained, so keep an eye out." He looks to Will. "Do you have a Xenomorph by chance?"
The boy only tilted his head with squinted eyes.
"It has a black exoskeleton, and its head is shaped like a Black eggplant." Max cut Phil off, who only sighed, shaking his head.
"Yeah." The boy answered half-heartedly.
He closed his eyes. His body grew thin and black. The boy's skin clamped on his ribs, while his toes only shrank before they made him perch from the ground.
Prowler remained on all fours while his tail curled above his head.
Through the eyes of Prowler, The environment was nearly lit.
"Good." Phil hummed. "You should see a little better now." He eyed Prowler, gazing about before turning back to Phil. "Survey the area. Along the tree line. And come back when it's done."
Prowler gave a low hiss, scurrying away.
'So. What you and Benita are now?' Edge questioned while Prowler rapidly scanned the environment, moving as fast as a dirt bike.
'I gotta think about it.' Prowler stood on his toes, staring at the sturdy branches above. 'I got to adjusted, ok?'
---
Gwen picked up a milk carton, spilling the rest on the vegetative cement.
She turned to Pearl and Garnet, who picked up the clothes and kitchen utensils a foot away.
"Gwen." Steven approached while she dumped the carton into a trash bag. "I hope you don't think it's right."
"Sorry?" Gwen raised a brow cocking her head.
"It's just." Steven clenched his fists. "Was it all ways like this? Like taking lives?"
"No. I tried Steven. I really did."
"We can help."
"Steven." Garnet approached the two. "Whatever you doing, don't."
"Garnet, I can't stand by and do nothing. They are good people who suffered like you and I."
"I know Steven, but they are in a dark place. It's up to them to leave and for us to guide them. And by that." She grasps a hand on his shoulder. "It's to standby."
"For how long?" Gwen questioned, getting their eyes. "How many lives will they take before it's too late?"
"There's no right or wrong answer," Garnet answered her question. "You will soon understand when you are at an age."
''And by that. Many will be lost." Steven argued. "Gem or not. I will not stand by! Their lives are more precious than credits or rep can buy!" Steven leaps, taking to the skies.
"Steven!" Garnet, Gwen, and Pearl shouted to the boy, falling a few distances away.
"I got this." Garnet leaps after the boy.
"Should we do something?!" Gwen looks at Pearl, who is biting her nails.
"Everything is fine." Pearl took a breath. "Garnet will bring him back," Pearl answered, looking at Gwen with a wavering grin.
Zed barked, gathering the two's attention.
The alien dog who awaited her master's return remained on all fours, flashing her fangs while barking nonstop at the sky to someone on the hoverboard.
It descends, revealing a masked broad figure within a grey jumpsuit with a lighter shade of blue curved around its shoulders. A mask without a face starred daggers at the three below.
"Where's the girl?" A voice of a mature male questioned.
Pearl summons a spear, guarding Gwen.
"I don't know what you mean." Pearl squinted her eyes.
"Of course you don't. Pearl." The board figured states, causing the gem's eyes to widen. "The galaxy is vast, but words are linear. Stupid, on your part, but perfect for mine." He pulled out a manufactured gun with a muzzle pointing at them at his hip. "I won't ask again."
"Right." Gwen's hands summon pink discs. "Why do you need her for? To fill your pockets?"
The merc remained quiet. He ascended once more, taking to the skies.
Pearl released a breath, keeping her palms on the spear.
---
Benita kept her eyes out at the barn and at their backs.
"Pss." Sunny bumps her arm, causing the girl to jump. "Hey, I'm not going to bite. Unless you want me to." She winked.
"What do you want?" Benita whispered.
"What was that all about? Between You and that idiot?" Benita raised a brow. "You two didn't make it hard notice."
"Don't worry about it. It's water under the bridge."
"Hey," Max whispered, getting the kid's attention. "Zip it." He squinted his eyes before staring back at the barn.
"AH!" Amethsy shouts, causing everyone to snap to her, their weapons drawn to Prowler, who has his hands up. "Don't do that." She pants as everyone lowers their guard.
"Great, give the enemy our position." Phil hissed, only for the gem to glare.
"What do you find?" Max questioned Will.
"We're good. It's the barn we should check. Is the creator still there?" The boy stared at Phil, gazing at his device.
"Yep." He stood to his feet. "Let's go. Keep your eyes sharp and turn back into the xenomorph, kid." Anthony did so, following Max and Phil with their firearms train at the barn.
They eyed the environment at a snail's pace before staring at the small red and white frame paint door.
Max and Phil took cover by the door.
Max performs a hand gesture, zipping his mouth, before moving his
fingers about like it's walking. Phil nods while Max looks at Prowler. He points his thumb to the barn's roof, only getting the xenomorph climbing the wall.
Phil stretched his hand to Max. Within was a pair of yellow-lens glasses. Max took it with a raised brow while Phil put on his pair before pressing the side of it, causing it to give a slight hue.
Max put on his glasses before he gripped the opened handle, nodding at Phil, who appeared lighter and more visible.
The retired veteran slowly opened the door, giving a cringe-worthy whine. Max trained his rifle and entered slowly. His steel-toe boots stomped on the straws on the ground, and he eyed the opened barn.
They stuck near the walls before the door swung closed. They look back to the figure appearing from thin air, training a space pistol like Max and Phils.
Two more appeared, training on the veterans.
"Come here. Where I can see you." A voice spoke within the dark barn. "And don't forget to drop your weapons."
They do so while the Mercs walk them to the center of the barn, where another stands on the second floor staring down at them.
Her brown scales ran along her arms, only for the rest of her body to be covered with a black suit strapped with battle equipment around her belt.
A mask of an alien creature, with yellow scales and a lower jaw, conceals her face, but her mouth. Her red eyes look down at them.
"Call them off." The head merc voiced.
"I don't understand," Phil questioned while Max took in his environment.
"There are six of you, correct?" She tilts her head before hooking her thumbs on her belt. "One on the roof, who's currently under a scope. One word, and it goes splat."
"What do you want?"
"Answers. A beacon led us here, and resources say there's a creator of the Onmitrix here. I give a rat ass about that. I want the boy and the girl."
"Let me guess." Phil cracks a grin. "They fetch a fine price?"
"None of your concern. Now, call the squad off." Her red eyes locked on Max, who only looked back. "Your legendary Max Tennyson. You're built for weary. That only means understanding the depths you are in."
Max remained quiet before pressing his earbud.
"We have a situation. There are two galvans. I repeat two. They split into the east and west. You know what to do."
The head merc pressed her earbud before growing a smirk under her mask.
"Smart move."
"You're right." Max's voice.
He performs a quick draw with the plumber pistol on his hip.
Taking the head merc off her feet, he killed another on the second floor before turning on his heels, scoring a headshot at the one behind them.
Max leaps on his back, dodging another Merc onslaught of laser bolts.
Phil hurls a knife into the merc's knee.
"AAH!" he screamed before Phil rushed in and delivered a flying knee, knocking the merc off his feet. "Ack!" He growls, aiming his rifle so Phil can kick it out of his hands.
He spins on his feet, driving the tip of his boot into the mercenary's mask and cheek. The merc rolls across the ground and onto his back.
He reached for his rifle, only for Phil to stomp his hand.
"That's risky?" Phil questioned, his stern gaze remaining on the red, wide-eyed mercenary.
"They can handle themselves." Max approached with baggy eyes. "Give me a moment."
Max headed for the steps, his pistol still drawn.
"Take. Your time." Phil smirked down at the merc.
The steps' cries awaited the veteran before he reached the top of the second floor and headed to the Head mercenary body.
He ripped the mask off, revealing the wide-eyed mercenary.
The mercenary face was covered in scales, and her nose consisted of two small holes between her eyes and mouth.
Max pressed the side of her neck while looking at a hazing hole in her chest. He signed before his eyes landed on the flat device on her forearm.
He pulled her arm toward him before pressing a button.
A yellow hologram appeared before him.
*Rogue Gallery*
Benita Tennyson and Will Glover
Two million credits each.
DEAD OR ALIVE
Will and Benita's faces are their school photos.
Max rips the device from her arm.
"Wait! No!" The sound of a laser bolt filled the barn.
---
Benita and the Prowler race down the crowd of trees.
"Hey! What did the Galvan look like?" Benita looked at Prowler, who was changing back to Will.
"Old. As small as our shoes. Green eyes." Will voiced before slowing to a stop in a small graveyard. "Azmuth." The boy called, eyeing the metal fence protecting the cemetery.
"Azmuth!" Benita shouts. "Come out, little guy, we won't hurt you."
"It's not Azmuth, but I know a guy." Kaitlyn appeared from the tree line with her hands raised.
She wore a tight black suit running through her black cargo shorts to her black boots.
Anthony's white eye pulsed while Benita flashed her teeth, raising her hand over the dial.
"What are you doing here?!" Benita questioned. "Your looking for another ass whoopen be my guest!"
"I'm far from that, and I'm sorry I put you two and the others through so much trouble." Kaitlyn slowly approached the two.
"That's far enough." The boy states while Kait remains a foot from them. "Why did you come back?"
"There's a guy. He helped with my mutation. I couldn't stop thinking about you."
"Bullshit." Benita voiced, getting Kait's blank gaze. "You tried to kill me, kill my cousin and Grandpa, and harm so many people in the process! Why shouldn't I send you to hell where you came?"
"Because he can take that watch off." Benita squinted. "As long as you have that watch, more problems will occur." Kait looked at Anthony. "Let me make this up to you, both of you."
"What is his name?" The boy questioned, getting Kaitlyn's gaze.
"Welp." Four more figures exited the tree line. A four-arm kid standing taller than Ben and Will cracked his knuckles. "We did it your way."
A pyronite boy, an XLR8 girl, and A kid with quills poking out his caramel skin stood behind Kaitlyn, followed by the four-arms boy with a glare staring into Will's soul.
The children shared Kaitlyn's attire.
'Kill them, ' a wisped voice said to Anthony, who repeatedly opened and closed his hand with a teeth-biting glare.
"Bring it!" The boy roared.
The Quill kid whipped his forearms, releasing quills their way.
Will flinched only to turn Grid, taking Ben out of harm's way. The blue line stops at the other end of the treeline.
"Ben!"
"Yeah. Yeah." Benita hops off Grid's arms. "Sorry." Benita slams her watch, revealing Spider-monkey.
"Argh!" The four-arms kid charged with a battle cry.
Edge gave a screech, racing at the kid.
The symbiote dodges a left hook and a right hook before corkscrewing from an uppercut. Edge ink-sling between the four arms kid's legs before sliding between them, appearing behind him.
Edge spun, only for a blue line to knock him onto his shoulder.
"Shit!" Edge cursed before rolling from two red fists, driving into the ground and causing dirt to fly.
The symbiote leans back, dodging another set of quilts. He shoots ink at the boy only for a blue line to take it.
"Ben! How are you doing?" Edge voiced, watching the XLR8 girl struggling to get the ink off her scissor's hands.
"Peachy." Spidermonkey leaps over Kaitlyn, coated in steel from head to toe. Spidermonkey gave a three-hit combo before kicking her on her chest, knocking her back a few feet. "Say, do you wanna watch the Super Buddies after all this is over?" She flips away from a fire beam that hits a bark.
"Ben. You know how I am about kid shows!" Edge throws a right hook across the four-arms kid's jaw before performing an uppercut, knocking him off his feet; he crashes against the metal fence, causing it to bend against the grass.
"You called Blood and Snow, not one?! E ah!" Spidermonkey rushes the pyronite, throwing beams.
"Take us seriously!" The Pyronite flames reached new heights while Spidermonkey leaps with her fist drawn back.
"Alan!" A blue line knocks Spidermonkey into a tree. "Get it off!"
Alan eyed the ink slowly spread along the XLR8 girl's arm. The girl punches Alan on the nose.
"Ah! What the hell?!" He held his nose.
"I'm sorry! I didn't do that!" The XLR8 girl held her shaky arm
---
"Steven!" Garnet shouts, following after running Steven. "Steven!"
Steven and Garnet raced along the streets of Helicon Bay before stopping in front of Crash Zone, a small bowling center. A rusted bus sat near the center's entrance, while three picnic benches sat at the edge of the parking lot.
"Where do you think you're going?" Garnet asked Steven, looking around at the lonely streets and the bowling center.
"I don't know. But I'll try if I can prevent more bloodshed," Steven said firmly, looking up at his family.
"We must get back. To Pearl and the others. We don't know what'll happen."
"Are you even listening? We can't just leave them out there!"
"Steven, why are you so interested in joining them? Is there something you are not telling me?"
"No, Garnet." Steven sighed, scratching his afro. "Just help me find them, ok?"
The ground shook, causing Steven and Garnet to remain firm.
"What's happening?!" Steven shouted, only for a drill to spill out from the road.
Scythe-like legs clamped onto the street before a gold-bronze armor emerged from the ground, a pincer for a left arm separated from the suit of armor, followed by a head resembling a crab.
"Fancy, meet you two here. I was beginning to wonder if this was the wrong place." The Krab voice with a filter towering over the Gems who ready themselves. "Say, have you seen a kid with a watch by chance?"
"Are you willing to help by chance?" Steven questioned.
"Help. Of course. Help thy neighbor. They say." He paces toward them, his leg clattering on the concrete.
"That's far enough." Garnet stood before Steven.
"Why so scared? My appearance scared you?" Krab voiced, looking down on them, causing a shadow among the two.
"A little. Honestly." Steven chuckled, rolling his arm with a projection of a pink shield and the rose in the center. "I will ask you to leave so kindly. Please. We can leave knowing what we accomplish today."
"And what is that?" Krab tilts his head. "Is it me leaving my job and taking you two as a source of batteries for my ship. I mean." He chuckled. "It took days getting here. Why not kill two gems and one prey?"
He opened his claw, firing a white laser beam.
Steven bubbled both him and Garnet, taking the hit. They rolled to the end of the lot before crashing into the battered picnic table that flew in every direction.
More beams flew as the pink bubble rolled to cover behind the park bus.
"Steven, you must go back!" Garnet declared, only to fall on deaf ears. "Steven!"
The bus shook on its hydraulics, revealing Krab on the roof.
"Sorry to burst your bubble." Krab rotates his torso, punting the bubble with his pincer into the bowling center.
The bubble crashed, letting out a cannon discharged. Brinks and debris poured into the abandoned establishment.
The bubble disburses, leaving Steven and Garnet sliding to a halt on the lanes.
"You can't get hit, Steven." Garnet voiced, taking a stance. "Blocking it with your bubble or shield will drain you, but you won't notice." Krab entered through the hole in the wall. "Use it wisely! Ah!!" Garnet charges, followed by Steven.
An onslaught of white beams rolled their way. Garnet ran past the few.
"Hey! Mr.Krab." Steven slides underneath a beam. "Why are we fighting? Why not turn from this?" The boy deflects a beam that heads Krab's way.
Krab side-stepped Steven's attempt. Before backstepping, Garnet attempts to break his legs. He fired a beam down her way, only for the gem to backflip and fire her gauntlets, taking him across the room.
Before driving him along the polished yet dirty wood boards, he crashed into the front of the bowling center front desk.
"We don't want to hurt you, but you're forcing our hands. We can still stop this." Steven voiced, eyeing the dust and debris that dug into the dirt towards the front desk where Krab stood to his feet.
"Don't you ever shut up?" Krab fired more beams.
---
"Hey?" Phil spoke into the brace device as the head Merc. "Is someone there?" Silence spoke back while he looked to Max, who only listened in. "Do I have to count to three?"
"Yes?" a gruff male voice replied, causing the veterans to raise their shoulders.
"They got nothing on the two targets. Retreat and prepare for unity. We are going to cover the grounds a bit more."
"How many survive?"
"Does that matter?!" Phil raised his voice. "Do what I tell you!"
"My brother is within the barn. Can I hear his voice?"
Max cleared his throat.
"I'm fine." He did a poor job of personating. "I'll meet up with you, ok?"
Phil only shakes his head.
"Oh, uh, ok. Wait. Something here." He grew silent, causing Max and Phil to look around the empty barn. "Ack!" The call grew quiet.
"Hey!" Phil shouts. "Hey!" He begins coughing up a storm, getting a pat on the back from his partner.
"I'm surprised you still got it." Max voiced.
"I have been using it for other reasons." Phil held up a finger before beating his chest. "I'm fine."
"I'm going to check it out." With his rifle in hand, Max's voice headed into one of the stalls.
He pushed the shader open, giving it a little crack. The opened pickup truck remained under the barn's roof. Max's green eyes looked at a dark grass yard before staring at the tree line.
A small figure rushed past the veteran's vision and made him step back, closing the shader.
"Something is here." Max voiced, only getting Phil to aim at the environment around them. "I didn't get a good look at it."
"So were, sitting ducks." Phil grunts. "Great."
"Who says we are?" Max voiced, unhooking a cylinder piece of metal. "I have to get to Ben and Anothoy. They're not answering my calls."
"So, you're saying we're taking a stand?" Max presses a button on the top, which causes the light to blink red. "Oh, I sure do miss this."
Max hurls the metal ball, only for it to cry into an explosion. Smoke scatters, revealing a hole as big as the truck in the barn's entrance.
Max and Phil stood back to back, waiting in silence. Max eyed the hole containing darkness, grass, and the treelines across the field.
A sound of muffled steps approached the hole, getting a glance from Phil.
Creatures, the height and shape of a dog, smooth black skin, and four green eyes gloss within their yellow night glasses. They rushed the two with barks and yelps.
Max releases four well-placed shots, killing them. One rolled into a stop a foot from them, presenting their four arms.
"Kha'en? Around these parks?" Phil questioned before more piles of Kha'en's into the hole after them. "Let's go auto!"
Max and Phil open fire, releasing yellow beams into the horde of Kha'en entering the barn. Barking, yelping, and the smell of corpses filled their nostrils.
The shaders of stalls open, pouring more into the barn after the two prey.
"Four o'clock and eight o'clock!" Phil shouts while he crouches, firing at the main entrance.
Max fired at the Kha'en's at his four o'clock, climbing on and under the door of the horse stall. Phil crouched, aiming at his eight o'clock, caring for the opportunitists Kha'en's.
"Mag out!" Max said, while Phil grabbed his mag and drove it into Max's rifle. Max cocked it before burning it into the fast-approaching Kha'en's.
"Throwing Vortex grenade!" Phil flings it at the main entrance.
The grenade erupts, causing the environment in its radius to blur and consume the bodies. Kha'en's unlucky to run into it.
Max snapped to the second floor, eyeing the flying Kha'en that had pinned the veteran to the ground. Max clenched his teeth, holding back the Kha'en, which snapped its black gums and teeth shape like a fencing sword.
A yellow beam entered Kha'en's torso, giving a high yelp before dropping dead beside Max. Purple blood leaks from its mouth.
"Come on! Don't die on me yet!" Phil shouts, eyeing the small vortex disappearing from the barn's main entrance. "Team Formation: Vortex!"
Max's left eye and Phil's eyes shimmered into a blue cog. Time slowed, and the sea of Kha'en entered from all sides.
Back to Back, they fired at the horde, moving on their feet, firing over and under one another. Their arms snapped at each target like turrets. Bodies dropped while purple blood painted the dirt below their feet.
"Mag out!" Phil shouts, ejecting his while Max drops his into Phil's hand.
"Throwing Lure grenade!" Max hurls it outside the barn.
The grenade shaped of soda can rolled along the grass, pouring light rain erupting into a bright light of waves, releasing a high-pitched whistle.
Kha'en, shaped like dogs, halt their attack before rushing toward the radius of the lure.
"And goodbye!" Phil hurls another grenade, causing an explosion.
Blood and body parts spilled onto the dirt from the radius.
Light rain knocked on the barn's hull, so Max and Phil returned to scan the area. Holes on the ceiling and walls littered the barn while bodies and the smoke of burnt flesh filled their nostrils.
"How much you got?" Phil questioned, slowly approaching the entrance.
"Two mags." Max followed right after.
They eyed the yard before Max pressed his earbud.
"Benita? Will?"
"Sorry! We can't find the Galvan; Kaitlyn and her doom squad came to try us." Bentia answered.
"Alright. Head back to the RV. And keep your eyes out."
"Yo! Max." Sunny voiced within his ear. "There are wild mutts about, but we managed to handle it. Be careful."
"I second. That." Max answered back, eyeing Phil and keeping a lookout. "Head back to the Rv. I'm afraid they know our position; going to need each other to dispatch the tangos."
"Roger that, captain."
"Max. On me." Phil called, slowly approaching the direction of a tree line. They came to a stop at the corpse of another masked merc on the ground with a rifle shaped like a space sniper rifle. Phil took a knee, eyeing a vast hole and small ones on the crown of it. "Judging by the holes, a trident could've caused this precision and impact."
"That it seems." Max squinted his baggy eyes.
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