Crystal Knights

Chapter 1

A bullet train was speeding across the deserted plains in the Midwest.  Grains of wheat flew past the window as two men were talking inside. “A train is traveling at 120 mph,-“ Then the man was cut off. “Why are you asking me so trivial questions?” The second man asked.  “Well you need to know this when the train comes to a complete stop.”  The second man looked up. “What?!” Then a loud screeching sound came from the front of the train and then an explosion followed by the second man flying from his seat and slamming his head against the bulkhead.  “That’s why” The first man said.  He walked calmly toward the limp body and checked his pulse.  Dead.  “Well one job finished’’ man thought.  He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket as he took a sample of the man’s blood. “Izzy bring down the copter, and I want to get out of here before the B.E. get here.  Then he heard a stopping at the door.  The man reached in his other pocked and produced a small grenade.  “Open up Matt!  We know you’re in there.” Matt slowly walked over the dead body and placed the grenade’s igniter under the door.  He then walked to the window, opened it and climbed to the roof. As he was half way to the roof when an explosion ripped through the cabin tossing him from the train. “Shit“ he murmured to himself.  He looked past his shoulder and saw the flaming car. ‘They were impatient.’  The grass blew in the wind.  The sound of steel wheels grinding on the railway track as the train fell off the track. Then gunfire erupted all around him and Matt took cover behind a rock.  Then he felt a sharp jab in his arm and he looked it the direction.  One of the marines had managed to exit off the train.  Matt pulled out a .45 and left a clean hole in his forehead.  Then the sound of helicopter blades was coming in the distance.  “Hurry Izzy Hurry.” Matt said under his breath.   The gunfire increased then he saw a cycle skimming toward him.  He stood up from behind the rock and pulled out his G-18 and sprayed a round at the exiting marines who fell to his shots.  The driver on the cycle came in firing range. Sweat pored down Matt’s brow. He breathed with deep breaths from the bullet wound on his shoulder.  The man on the cycle shot a grenade, but is strayed an slammed into one of the train cars.  The repercussion from the gun knocked the driver off the cycle, which slowed to a stop.  The sound of chopper blades came from over a ridge, which sent Matt sprinting toward the hill.  The few remaining marines piled out of the train wreck and aimed their guns at Matt.  Izzy at the controls fired out a tomahawk missile at the remaining marines, sending the marines flying.  Matt jumped and grabbed a rope ladder hanging from the copter, and looked behind him to see a marine fire a shot at the copter. The shot connected with the fuel tank on the helicopter and the copter blew up into flames.   Matt jumped from the rope he was holding onto and rolled into the grass.    The copter wings broke off and sliced through a marine.  “Damnit!” Matt yelled. He felt a bullet pierce shirt and go into his back.  A group of cycles came over the hill. Then something caught his eye.  He dashed toward the stranded cycle.  He flinched in pain as blood flowed down out his back and he hit the accelerator.  He rocketed out of the scene with the cycles shooting bullets at his direction.   Mission almost complete.  Then he heard a crackle in his earpiece. “Hey Matt ya going to leave me here?”  It was Izzy.  Matt swung the cycle around, skidding on the loose gravel, and gunned it toward the downed chopper.  Then three cycles plowed down the hill toward Matt.  The wind began to blow fiercely.  Matt grabbed Izzy’s hand as he skimmed by.  As he did so a grenade exploded right behind them.  “Fuck those damn cycles are on our tail.  As they passed a group of marines, Matt tossed a grenade into the group of marines.  As he did so one of the troops returned fire detonating the grenade before it hit its target.  The explosion ripped the frontal hull off the cycle sending a metal sheet flying off behind them.  The sheet, propelled from the wind, slammed into one of the cycles behind him.   The other two accelerated.  “Izzy take the shot!”  Matt yelled over the sound of the wind.  As Izzy aimed the gun at the cycles another came down the side of the hill.  Izzy fired a shot but it shot past the second cycle.  Then a grenade exploded passing the third cycle  “Izzy! I need you to shot them! Not miss!” Matt yelled.  Then Matt saw a canyon on the side of the valley and swung that way. The cycle lurched under the blast of another explosion.  Matt yanked at the controls and piloted the craft into the canyon.  The canyon walls were yellow and orange from rust o the limestone.  One of the cycles caught up with Matt’s. Izzy fired shot at the driver.  The shot took off the pilot’s head, but the shockwave knocked the gun out of Izzy’s hand.  Their cycle was badly damaged and was slowing down.  “Damnet.”  Matt muttered.  The other vultures were gaining on them.  Then they began to fire concussively at Matt and Izzy. All the shots were luckily hitting small rocks on the ground.   Then Izzy remembered something.  “Matt! The gun was set for missile launch!”  “What!?!” Matt yelled ducking under a branch. “The gun was set for missile launch!!.”  “Oh shit!” Then Izzy looked up into the sky there was a large missile breaking through the clouds.  Matt saw a canyon gap in front of them and ducked into it.  Then one stray grenade knocked off the side repulsion, causing the craft to become extremely unstable.  .  Thee bottom scraped the ground creating a large spray of sparks.   One of the cycle pilots fired a grenade but it detonated as it hit the wave of sparks.  “Hold on!” Matt spun sharply 180 degrees around.  He kicked off the front of the cycle scattering its insides all over the ground.  He and Izzy jumped from the craft as they saw the missile hit the ground.  They plunged into a chasm river as the nuke detonated. The explosion shook the ravine knocking off some of the walls.     Matt glanced up to see a massive fireball plow over the canyon. 

                        Izzy opened his eyes.  “Next time, don’t drop the gun.” Matt was standing over him on a riverbank.   Izzy moaned and rolled over.  Matt began to walk toward the water. The world was once again calm. He waded into it and washed off his cuts.   After washing off his face he looked up the canyon wall. Most of it had been broken off, there was no canyon, just a large gaping hole. There was only a fast running stream he rubbed his hair and some fell out.  Then he felt his pocket and found his comphone.  He pulled it out.  He looked down the canyon  “Sora, we need an evac chopper immediately.   “Rodger.”  Matt flopped the comphone down.  Then he heard the noise of someone’s footsteps.  He looked around and Izzy was just sitting up.  He looked the other direction.  He saw footprints appear on the sand.   He began to walk backwards then sprinted forward and dove in the direction of the footprints.  He connected with something.   Whatever it was it had a gun.   The gun went off in the confusion launching a mortar canister off into the wall.  Matt yanked the gun from the invisible convict and stood up.  “Ok don’t move.” He said in a commanding voice.  He pointed the gun at the smashed sand.  He heard breathing.  Then a machine’s voice rang out.   “You’re better than I thought.”  Matt not moving held the gun at what looked like the assailant’s head.  Then the person kicked the gun out of Matt’s hands and then the figure ran away.   “Fuck” Matt mumbled. The noise of helicopter blades cane into hearing distance.  Matt looked around, checking for more footprints.  He noticed a piece of metal sitting in the water.   He walked over to it.  It was a sensor mine, not activated.  As he picked it up he cringed in pain, holding on to his shoulder. Izzy was walking out of a cave he had hidden in.   “What was that?” He questioned.  “I don’t know.”  Matt replied.  Then he noticed more footprints appear from around the corner. “Oh shit” Izzy muttered. Then the copter appeared over the canyon wall.  “Izzy come here.” Matt said quietly.  The footprints began to appear more rapidly.  Matt tossed the sensor mine at the group as he armed it.  Matt and Izzy stood still, the footprints didn’t move, the sensor mine dug into the ground. The air was perfectly still, a crow cawed in the distance.  Matt’s hair was blown suddenly by the copter coming over the hillcrest.  Then the copter dropped a rope.  Matt and Izzy jumped for the rope as the mine popped out of the ground.  “Fuck” was all that Matt heard before the mine detonated.  Several bodies flew in different directions as the copter took off.

Matt pulled himself into the cabin first and Izzy followed.   “I thought you guys were dead.”  Sora said.   “You only use hydrogen missiles as a last ditch measure.”  “No  I didn’t use it, geni-ass here dropped the gun.” Matt said sarcastically.    “Whatever” Sora said unmoved, “Did you get a sample of him?”  Matt stared out at the horizon from where they came from. “Yes, yes…” Matt rubbed his back as Izzy began to patch him up with the ample supplies that they had.  ‘Well at least this mission is over’ Matt thought to himself.  They flew off toward the city as the sun was setting on the nebular haven.   

As they neared the slums of ht city they noticed that there was few cops patrolling the area.  “I guess they got spooked from the hydrogen blast and were sent to investigate.” Sora commented.  “Could be” Matt replied, looking at down from the chopper.  Izzy was fooling with his infrared goggles.  “Fixed them,” He said triumphantly.  “Good you’ll need them on your next assignment.” Sora said.  “What do you mean no vacation time?” Izzy whined.  “Nope no rest for the weary.”   Sora landed the chopper on top of a run down skyscraper.   Matt jumped off.  “I’ll only be a minute.” He said to Sora.  Matt kicked down the door leading into the building. He watched it tumble down the stairs, and break apart.  He walked down five flights of stairs, loaded his .45 and then stopped by a door.  Matt knocked three times and waited.  A voice came form within, “State nature of visit.” “Completion of job” Matt replied.  The door was opened by a large burly man.  He stepped aside and let Matt in.  Under a small hanging light stood a man, his name being Joe, a doctor and a scientist.  He was the man who created the first perfect clone, age, weight, and height.  “Do you have the inventory?” Joe questioned.  “Do you have the money?” Matt asked back.  “Yes” Joe said smiling.  Matt walked toward the table.  “Then I have the inventory.”  Matt slid up his ripped sleeve and pulled out a small box strapped to his arm.  He popped open the box and showed the contents. “One tube has a hair with skin sample, the other is cloth with blood on it.  “Was the subject terminated?”  Joe asked.  “Yes” “Proof?”  Matt looked at him.  “does a hydrogen bomb mean anything to you?” Matt said sarcastically.  “Very well, here’s the money.” The large man slid a briefcase with money toward matt.  One of the bodyguards twitched.  Matt opened the case, and put on his glasses.  “This money is fake, give me the real dough.” Matt said looking at Joe.  Joe’s face became red.  “Give me the money, Joe.”  Then the large man grabbed matt from behind. Matt struggled out of his grip and drew his .45 and fired shot.  The figure fell to the ground.  He swirled to meet Joe.  “Now give me the money.” Joe looked angry.  “All I have is half the price, that’s all I can give you.” Matt looked at him firmly.  “Give that to me then.”  Joe slid a small box across the table.  “There it is.”  Matt opened this box. Inside there was a small bomb.  “The case had real money below it, to bad you wont be able to use it.” Joe said, smirking.  Matt tossed the box at Joe. “You’ll regret this.”  Matt yelled.  Joe moved to toss the box back at Matt but he was too slow.  Matt shot him in the arm as Joe reached the box.  “Damn you!” Joe yelled as Matt yelled something into his radio.  Matt grabbed the fake money and jumped out the window as Joe tried to draw a gun.  As matt plunged through the window he shot through the shattering glass, attempting to kill Joe.  It missed but struck the box.  The whole room was engulfed in flames.  Matt landed inside of the helicopter which was hovering outside, waiting for him.  “I thought you said you wouldn’t be long.” Sora said.  Matt looked down at his watch.  “Only 10 minutes.”  Sora piloted the copter through the city and toward their base.

            Walking into the old tower Matt enjoyed the smell of metal that clung all around in the air. He stopped and looked around the room, a bad habit he had picked up.  He set the rest of his gear down next to the couch.  Then he as he bent over he felt a pain in his back and headed toward the washroom.  He looked like he had been though hell and back.  He had gashes across his face, his arm had a large cut in it and he had a bullet wound in his back.  He gently pulled off the bloody under shirt and stepped into the shower.   He let the hot water glide down his back, through his wounds, and drain out the bottom.  He stood with his hands stretched to the wall, holding himself up.  His mind began to think how he ever got into a profession like this. 

It all started 20 years ago when WWIII erupted.  This through the world into mass chaos and all the governments soon became an anarchy.  There was the launching of nuclear missiles at all the large remnants of governments.  But after five years of bloodshed there was one faction that the entire world agreed to be led by.  The blood eagles.  The blood eagles were run by a man known as Tai his ruthlessness got his faction through the war.  His General, Davis piloted his armies to victory every time by using biological weapons and mass large vehicles known as mechs.  But he also had a side that not everyone knows about.  He also has an agent that had assassinated many world leaders.  The man with the alias known as T.K. was a master assassin.  He has initiated WWIII when he was caught after killing the British prime minister.  Then there was his tech specialist.  The crafty and evil Yolei.  She armed Davis’s army with nuclear spores that when breathed put the army into a coma which will hold the victim in it for a year as its internal organs slowly decay. She had also killed Sora’s father.  He was also an agent but for another faction.  He planted mines in all of the technical production rooms in hope to destroy the research that was there.  When he was leaving a bullet pierced his armor.  He turned to see Yoeli standing with the gun.  The bullet was coated in Nuclear Spores.  The last transmission he sent was that he had destroyed three of the four labs, and that he loved Sora.  Sora now only wanted to be the one to place a knife in Yolei’s back. 

Matt suddenly opened his eyes, snapped back to reality by the freezing cold water.  He jumped back as he heard the door closing. He looked out from the curtain but the person was gone.  He turned the shower off and dried himself.  Slipping into a pair of pants he stuck in Project 86 and laid on the couch, and fell asleep.

 The group known as Shadow Knights was formed after their meetings.  Izzy, Sora and Matt made up the pirate group.  They were more mercenaries that a group.  Izzy was the technical flyer but he still had some battlefield capabilities.  He primarily drives a Mech into battle if he is needed, but he is mostly pickup.  Then there was Sora, A master of the hand combat weapons.  If she entered close combat with any person on the earth, she would win.  She was the assassin of the group.  Quick, silent, deadly, She has an arsenal of swords, daggers, claws and staves, her favorite.  Then he came into the group.  He found them talking behind a run down building.  He was running from the BE and they helped conceal him as they passed.  In return Matt joined the group.  He was the infiltrator, the master of destruction. Once he was determined to commit to an assignment, there was no turning back for him until it was completed.  Then something came across his mind.  Who ran the renegade group of cloaked machines. He knew of a techno wizard, Ken, that created many weapons of destruction but he wouldn’t go after the SK’s specifically. Then there was Joe, the scientist, who Matt had finished a job for. Yet Joe has nothing do with agents or government politics, all he wants is money. 

Sitting up he heard the sound of a hover car shutting down below their building.  Sora walked into the room.  Her hair was a tangled, he guessed that she had been training her martial arts skills.  “What was that?” she said looking at him. Izzy ran into the room. “We got company, and lots of it.”  As he said that a mortar ripped through the window and exploded in the bathroom.  “Shit” Matt yelled.  “Grab the money and gear!” Sora yelled jumping over the couch.  Izzy darted into his room to grab the computers that had all of his bounty data. Matt looked at his stereo system.  “Forget it!” Sora yelled. She had already grabbed all her hand crafted weapons and was slipping on her trench coat. Another mortar exploded against the window pane knocking Sora and Matt on the ground.  He scrambled to his feet and dashed into his room. Inside he grabbed his .45s and slipped on a vest.  “Izzy we got to go!” Matt yelled. Izzy was busy pulling the wires out from his computer. “Almost ready!” he yelled back Sora was already climbing up the ladder leading to the roof.  Izzy was running in front of matt as the door was knocked down. Gunfire ripped through the couch as Matt scrambled up the ladder. He stopped on the last rung and fired a shot at the lead advancing man. He turned and ran toward the copter not caring if he hit him.  The blades were powering up on the copter as matt jumped in. One of the men that had managed to climb up the ladder and was looking out when another mortar detonated along the side of the building. “Go Go Go!” Izzy yelled.   A bullet ripped past the door in the copter making narrowly missing Matt. But Matt grabbed his back in pain and felt blood. He had ripped open his previous wound.  As the building was leaving sight matt turned and fired another shot and smiled to see a man fall to his bullet.  Sora piloted the copter out of the city.  “I got everything.” Izzy said, holding the box with all the money in it.  Matt looked out over the city; the sunset cast a strange shadow over the buildings.  “Good.” He replied.  “Ill make a trip into town tomorrow for food and munitions.” Matt knew that they were chased out by the BE. They usually don’t care about bounty hunters unless Gorchov had something to do with B.E. Then it hit him.  He remembered marines running out of the train.  Marines only are used for diplomatic visitors to the B.E. high council.  Joe only told him that Gorchov was going into the city for business, not to meet with the B.E. Which means that Joe had something in mind when he wanted him dead.  “Izzy when we get there I want you to see if you could break into the B.E. and see what Gorchov was doing going to the City.” Izzy looked over at him and smiled, “Matt he was going to work with Yolei on another Biological weapon.  He had the virus with him on the train.  I thought that’s why Joe wanted you to kill him and get the Virus canister.” Matt looked confused as he swiped hair off his face.  ‘Someday…someday’

Chapter 2

            Matt leaned on the cave’s outside lip.  His bright ice eyes pierced through the sand blown desert landscape.  He brought his drink up to his lips and slowly took a sip.  He tried to remember the last twenty-four hours.  He closed his eyes as the cool liquid slid down his throat.  He felt his body loosen up.  His mind began to drift.  Slowly memories of  long ago  began to fill his mind… He saw a young boy, tall for his age, sitting on top of an old, abandon water tower. There was someone else with the boy.  A girl.  Matt tried to think of her name but he couldn’t put his finger on her name.  They were holding hands.  Then Matt saw a waterfall, at a resort, somewhere in the Caribbean.  The girl was with him there too, yet they were older.  Both the boy and the girl were smiling, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, a feeling Matt had not felt in so long.    The image suddenly disappeared.  Matt opened his eyes.  He cursed under his breath.  That was all he could remember. That was all from his past.  Matt finished the bottle and tossed it out into the dunes.  He watched it roll down the sand dune, leaving a trail where it fell.  He looked up at the stars and saw a shooting star. 

            Izzy was fiddling with his computer, attempting to find a power source in this old, ramshackle bunker.  That’s all it was.  An old reserve bunker used during the war.  He stopped to think how they came across it, but the question quickly slipped from his mind.  “Damn dust” he muttered. Yet another power hole was jammed full of sand and dust.  “Hey got one over here!” Sora hollered out.  Izzy swung his flashlight in her direction.  She was standing down the hall in the bedroom.  “Be there in a sec.” He replied.  He wrapped the power cord around his computer and pulled it to his side, grabbing his flashlight with his free hand.  He ducked under a part of the collapsed roof.  Sora took his flashlight from him and shined it on the power outlet.  He set his computer on the floor, stirring up some dust.  “Achoo”, Sora sneezed.  Izzy plugged in the computer and hit the power button.  The screen popped up and Izzy typed in the encrypted passcode to gain access to the files.  “About how much did we make from the last mission?” Izzy yelled down the hall.  “50,000” Came the reply.  Izzy turned back to the computer screen.  ‘That’s the highest payout yet.’ As he typed away he remembered when the C.K. were a poor mercenary/bounty hunter group amongst thousands.  The pay was cheep and it was hard to find jobs.  Now most of the rookie hunters and mercenaries were killed off, leaving only the most efficient and lethal to survive.  He knew there would always be a feud between the hunters and mercenaries for jobs.  Heck even some mercenaries are being hired as body guards to protect against hunters.  ‘Well, our total comes to-‘ He looked at the screen. “Holy shit” Matt had been keeping tabs and inserting the money into the cyber account recently.  Izzy never knew that they had accumulated this much money.  ~56,694,349~

            Sora was quietly putting her gear away.  Everything she did, she did quietly.  She had already lived through enough noise.  She sat her katana down on a rock shelf.  The sword brought back memories of a time long ago.  She closed her eyes as she sat down.  She saw two girls.  The both were inside a large room.  Suddenly they bowed to each other, slowly rose, and looked each other in the eye.  Their hands as in unison grabbed for the katana at their waists, and drew the elegant sword.  They lunged at each other and one girl swung.  The blow was parried by the other girl.  They continued to fight until both girl’s swung at the same time.  A katana exploded. Out through the other side came the second katana.  The match was won but the pain began.  The shards flew into one of the girls-  Sora’s eyes bolted open as she stared strait ahead.  Her hand found its way slowly to a part in her chest that felt cold.  She breathed deeply.  The katana was still in her.  She closed her eyes, and slept. 

            The wind began to blow hard outside the bunker.  Matt still stayed at the entrance.  The bottle’s trail was long gone in the moving dunes of the desert.  He knew that Sora had fallen asleep and that Izzy was typing away on his computer.  Matt turned and walked out the entrance.  He looked at the cliff top above.  It was at least 20-30 feet.  His golden hair blew with the wind and sand.  With his eyes closed he bent his knees and took a jump.  He opened them when he landed.  Same spot that he had jumped from before.  Sighing he looked away.  ‘What the hell are you thinking, that was a long time ago. The powers have been stripped from you moron.’  He was quick to anger and he punched the rock face.  As he pulled his hand back to his side blood began to flow from his bashed fist.  “Damn Forshudo” he muttered.  He walked back inside.  Izzy was watching him the whole time from a dark corner.  “You never told us what you did before leaving the prison?”  Izzy questioned.  Matt turned to look at him.  “None of your business.”  He replied.  Matt continued to walk.  “You were a Tohe, weren’t you?”  Matt stopped.  “I said none of your business.” 

            It made sense now. It finally hit him.  All the time he had been wondering why Matt could take so much intense pain and not die.  He had been trained in the old ways of the Tohe.  The Tohe were a breed of Indians long before the coming of the Pilgrims.  They lived in the canyons of the south and came out only during night.  But that’s why they were strange.  The Tohe were able to enhance their souls to connect with their bodies, to become Tavhe, one with your soul.  When they were able to do this they could perform impossible feats that normal men couldn’t.  They could heal faster from a fatal wound. They could leap higher, run faster, and also their body moved like water, quick and strong.  Many other tribes fell in battle to the Tohe, in which only a few Tohe were lost.  Izzy looked down the darkened hall.  Then he heard something. He spun to find his face looking into the barrel of a gun.

Chapter 3

                        Chapter 3: Losses and Gains

            Izzy’s heart was beating a thousand beats a minute.  ‘tha-thud, tha-thud’  Sweat was dripping from his brow.  ‘Fuck!  How could I let my guard down?’ Izzy thought  “Good-bye Izzy.” Came a calm voice. He felt the coolness of the barrel against the side of his head. All he heard was a shot. Then black.

            Sora bolted awake at the sound of a gun firing.  She slowly stood up and grabbed a knife lying on the table next to her.  She crept toward the door holding her breath.  Peeking out the doorway she say two figures lying on the ground.   ‘what?’ she thought.  Then hearing a crunch of gravel spun quickly thrusting the knife in the direction of the noise.  A figure quickly dodged it and grabbed on to her wrist.  She looked at his face.  She knew it.  It was Matt.  “Be quiet, I think there are some more.” He whispered.  “What happened?” she asked.  “Tell you later.”  Matt led the way holding a .45.  back to the wall he edged toward the main chamber.  Swing the gun in front of him he scanned the room.  As Sora ran toward the fallen Izzy Matt dashed to the entrance.   He looked out.  Under the moonlit night he saw a repulsor bike.  Looking through his messed up hair he saw no one.  He walked back to the bodies.  One had a bullet wound through the head, clearly visible.  Sora was bent over Izzy she turned his head sideways and saw only a tender cut.  “He was knocked out.” Sora said.  “When I shot the assailant the force must have smashed the gun into his head, knocking him out.” Matt said.  They carried Izzy to a ledge as Sora wrapped his head up.  Matt walked back to the body.  “Moron.” He muttered.  Dragging the corpse outside he stopped at the bike and checked its identification.

~Mork Sibble~

            Matt recognized his name as a bounty hunter.  ‘Well, well, well. Looks like the Blood Eagles have bounty hunters after us.’  Matt smirked.  ‘Lazy asses’ Matt pulled the bike into the bunker before he hit the sack.  It had been a long 48 hours. 

            Izzy woke to the sound of grease sizzling on a stove.  He moved his head and moaned.  Gently he touched his wound.  Then it finally hit him.  ‘I am not dead.’ He blinked.  Suddenly Matt’s face appeared over his.  “Morning.” Matt said. As he continued walking to the kitchen area.  Izzy sat up, swinging his feet over the rock bed he had slept on, and walked into the kitchen.  Sora was sliding some sausage onto a plate next to pancakes.  “Well I’m gonna go head out soon before the security markers are active.” Matt said.  Sora looked up, “don’t get you’re self killed.”  “I won’t”  Izzy grabbed a plate and sat down.  Matt looked at Izzy and said, “And you just get better” Matt grabbed his belt, slipped his .45 in and walked toward the bike. 

            Cruising over the dunes of the desert he began to wonder how important Gorchov was, and if he was so important why didn’t the B.E. already have T.K. after them.  It made no sense to him. The thought left his mind as he mentally wrote down what he needed to get while in town.  As the skyscrapers came into view he slowed to ‘legal’ speeds.  As he was waiting to get through the checkpoint letting you into the city he pulled a cloak over himself.  As he pulled up to the toll station he tossed his money in, not looking up, and drove away. 

            Inside the city he looked up at the old and dilapidated skyscrapers.  ‘This is where I used to live.’ He thought.  He slowed the bike when he reached the slums of the city.  Glancing around he saw fires in the street with people surrounding it, garbage rolling down the street, and just a slum.  There it was, a small black building, burnt down but rebuilt.  He parked his bike and left it outside as he entered.  The smoke filled room had only three inhabitants.  Two standing in front of the bar and one behind it.  They looked at him as he entered.  His footsteps thudded on the concrete slab.  “Whadda you want?” the bartender asked.  Matt looked at him and said, “Munitions.”  The bartender leaned forward.  “Password?”  “Quartz”  The bartender stood up and walked into a back room.  Matt followed.  In the back behind a stack of barrels of rum was a staircase leading down.  The bartender grabbed a light and walked down them with Matt following.  Once at the bottom Matt looked around.  Piles and piles of guns and ammo.  “So whadda you want?” the Bartender said with a smirk.  Matt walked over inspecting the piles.  He pulled out a M-16, loaded a clip, and slipped it over his shoulder.  “See that bag?” Matt said pointing to the one in the corner, “fill it with .45, M-16, G-18 and shotgun rounds.”  The bartender looked at him.  “You’re not a local criminal.”   Matt smiled.  “No.”  After pacing the basement Matt followed the bartender back up the stairs.  Matt looked at the rest of the inhabitants of the bar. Rough drunks who had nothing better to do.  But then again that’s what most of the inhabitants of the city were.  So paying the bartender he slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out.  As he was walking toward his speeder he saw a head pop up from below the steering wheel and drive off with his speeder.  ‘Son of a bitch!’  Matt ran after him.  “Stop fucker!!” he yelled after him.  Grabbing his .45 he shot off a couple bullets but missed.  “Damnet”

Chapter 4

Matt dropped the clip that he had just pulled out of his gun.  He fumbled around inside his pocket but found nothing. ‘damn, last clip.’  Right as he was about to start to walk to the police station a B.E. car pulled up next to him.  He pulled his trench coat up against his face to hide it from view.  The officer approached him.  ‘fat bastard’ Matt thought.  “Sir I believe that you are under arrest for shooting off a fire arm in a pedestrian zone.”  He pulled out handcuffs out of his back pocket.  “What the hell man!” Matt yelled at him, “A guy drove off with my vehicle!”  He looked unimpressed.  “Well then you should’ve came and gotten me, I would’ve stopped him.”  Matt smirked.  “Yeah right you mean eat him?”  With that comment the officer became enraged.  “Listen punk come with me and be Quiet!!”  Matt took a step back.  “I don’t think so buddy.”  Matt grabbed the officer’s arm and flipped him on the ground.  The officer frantically grabbed for his gun but found that it was missing.  Unlucky for the officer, Matt had the gun and it was pointing at his head.  “Give me your car keys” Matt said in a stern voice.  The officer reached for his radio that was laying on the ground next to him.  As he reached for it a shot sounded and the radio was a smoldering heap of metal and wires.  By this time a group of pedestrians were watching the confrontation.   “You’ll have to kill me first before I give you the keys!”  the officer yelled at Matt.  “So be it.”  The crowd screamed  as the bullet ripped through the officers forehead.  In all the panic Matt bent down and pulled the key’s out of the officer’s pocket, twirled them around his fingers, and walked toward the car.  ‘Now to get my speeder back.’

            ‘I can’t believe I did this, I can’t believe I did this’ kept repeating in the mind of Ken.  He was racing through the outskirts of the city in a stolen speeder loaded with ammunition and guns.  ‘I did need the money, that’s why I stole the speeder, but now, what for the ammunition…’  He pulled up side of an old warehouse and jumped out.  As he was running inside a hand grabbed him on the shoulder.  “Are you Ken?”  The man asked.  Ken’s brow began to sweat. ‘oh shit, it’s the Joe’s hit man’  “Yes” He said quietly.  Before the man could respond a car came to a screeching halt outside the building. The man turned and saw a figure in a black coat step out from the car.  “Who the hell are you?”  The first man asked.  “Why the hell do you care?”  “You have no business here.”  The man in the coat stepped forward, toward the parked speeder.  “Yes I do.”  Ken eyed both men and darted off into the warehouse.  The first man turned toward Ken and pulled out a .45, leveled it, and a bullet ripped through his head. 

            Matt ran pass the fallen body after the boy who stole his speeder.  ‘What is it with today, all I wanted is to get some ammo.  He ran pass crated and boxes marked with a weird looking symbol.  He slowed and looked at one carefully.  It was the symbol of Dr. Joe’s pharmaceutical company.  “Don’t move!”  Matt turned around. A bullet ripped through the box next to him. Matt dove for cover behind some barrels.  Another shot flew past his leg.  Matt peeked over the barrels at the area where the shots had been fired.  Another shot ricocheted past his head.  It was that stupid teen that stole his speeder.  ‘Say goodbye little boy’ Matt thought as he stood up.  Two shots fired simultaneously.  One missed.  The other knocked a gun from the hands of an armature. 

            ‘Fuck!’ Ken thought. 

            “Don’t move or I will kill you.”  Matt said to the fool standing on a crate of boxes.  The teen didn’t move.  Matt stepped out from behind the barrels.  “Who are you?”  “Ken”  The boy replied, shaking in fear.  “Why did you steal my speeder?” “I needed it to sell for money.”  Matt kept the gun leveled at his head.  “Why did that man-” He was cut off by someone yelling at the entrance to the warehouse.  Matt motioned for the kid to come down from his hiding spot.  “Get behind the barrels.” Matt instructed.  The kid hid hind the barrels, rubbing his hand.  Matt looked from behind the barrels.  “Listen I don’t know who you are but you’re coming with me, just be ready when I come back.”  The kid tried to protest but Matt glared at him. 

            Matt ran off toward the entrance of the warehouse, slowing when he got closer.  He pressed his body against the boxes as he saw a shadow appear from behind the crates. Reloading his .45 he aimed it in that direction.  The shadow stopped luckily and Matt inched forward.  He held his breath in long strings.  Peeking around the corner he saw three men standing around the body of the fallen man.  Matt saw a speeder parked right next to two of the men.  ‘Bye-bye’ Matt swung his arm around the corner and shot at the bike.  The first shot missed but the second hit the gas tank.  The two men standing near the bike went flying, while the third was knocked down from the blast.  Matt dashed past the fallen men and jumped on his speeder.  Kicking it into gear he spun around just as the third man was beginning to stand.  As Matt passed him by, the man pulled his gun out and fired at Matt.  Two bullets missed but the third hit Matt’s mirror.  “Bastard.”

“Great now I’m going to be captive of a crazed murder.” Ken muttered to himself.  His luck slowly became worse and worse.  First getting tangled up with this Joe guy and now this. He just didn’t know what this world was coming to.  He heard an explosion and stood up to see what it was.  He saw three men laying on the floor and the second man dash toward the speeder he stole.  Ken ducked back down behind the barrels as he saw the one of the fallen men get up.  Just as he did a shot flew past his head and hit the boxes behind him.  He looked over at the opposite isle and saw his gun.  ‘I’m out of here’ Ken got up and scurried across the isle way.  He picked up his gun.  It had a big dent in the side, and didn’t look operational any more.  Just then the second man pulled up beside the barrels.  “Where the hell did he go?!” The man exclaimed.  Ken got up and ran the opposite way.