Symbiote

Mitchell | Chrono City | Medical Ward | 11:20am

"General Elisabetta Fabian. Of course. Who hasn't heard of you?"

She frowned and began to seethe. "Of course. I have a private matter to discuss with you. Would you please...?" She motioned to a transport and I nodded, giving one last "Youngest Fusionist In The World" smile to the press.

The reporters all seemed to object, but the General was pulling--almost dragging--me towards the black Transport unit, and I was never one to object.

Once inside, her eyes narrowed.

In return, I leaned back in the seat facing her, crossing my right leg over my left. I glanced down to her feet and grazed her entire form, skin-tight article to skin-tight article. "May I ask as to why you decided to kidnap me?"

She caught my wandering glances and snapped. "I'm not playing a game, Pryce," she murmured, almost like giving a command. She seemed calm enough, though.

"No one plays games anymore. I'm not all that surprised." I shifted my eyes out the one-way window view, watching the clouds roll in over the residential ward of the city. When I heard her cough, I turned back to her hard-but-breaking gaze.

"I'd prefer to be completely blunt with you," she said. I looked down at my hands and frowned at a speck of dirt underneath a fingernail. As she spoke, I casually grazed it across one of my teeth, silently spitting out the debris. "There's been suspicion raised," she began, "about your medical procedures."

I lifted an eyebrow and, inside, Delta was just as surprised.

The military's been watching us?

Quiet. I'll handle it.

"Those suspicions..." She let out a long sigh, running a hand through her hair. She was stressed and on the verge of breaking. "...are that you are allowing rebel operatives to view your procedures and therefore reverse engineer the process on their own grounds."

I looked straight ahead, watching her eyes, almost seeing a mirrored image of me inside. "You must be joking."

She reached into her pocket and retrieved a cell disk, clicking a button on the side. Out popped a hologram of a file. My file.

"Fourteen apprehended suspects in the Rebellion's ranks, Pryce; all of them mentioned your name and yours alone."

I watched the list of names as their testimonies flashed in front of me.

She's not kidding, Mitchell.

I reached out, touching a finger to the hologram screen to enlarge it, focusing on their names and arrest times. "How have I been unaware of all of this?"

"My suspicions are that you haven't." Her eyebrows furrowed and she glared through the blue screen at me, through the line of text: -itchell Pryce, Lab A9. Procedure Date: Jan_29 40..

I opened my mouth to speak, but got cut off by the swooshing door beside me. The General stepped out of the car, taking her cell disk with her, and I followed her, suddenly nervous and very, very afraid. As we walked, I pleaded, probably more with my hands than my words:

"I swear to you, I had no idea--"

"I've been set-up, I'm sure..."

"I don't choose my patients; my patients choose me--"

"You know, there are plenty of rumors about you, too--..."

She cut me off right outside her office door with a pistol below my chin. "You are one implication away from being decommissioned from your position as a living being, Pryce."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and followed her in without a word.

Once inside, she sat at her desk, which was piled high with files and Law Books and maps of supercities in the far west.

"The problem is, Pryce," she looked up at me, her eyes a fading ray of hope, "I believe you."

She took out a new file, displaying it on the projector wall behind her, which showed a map of what was called New Earth, created after the continents had shifted into their permanent positions.

She pointed to the far west and then the far east.

"Similar accusations were made to fusionists of high regard in both Centurion City and Orion City." A sly grin came over her face. "I don't think it's a coincidence."

~Jim~

We walked into the building fairly inconspiciously. In fact, everyone seemed to be crowded around something. I craned my neck to see what was causing such a fuss, noting Sam and Tommy doing the same.

Oh, it was that surgeon that they were all excited about. The same on who's reputation we'd been working hard to undermine by... erm. I was pretty sure that there was some kind of plan, but the actual workings of it escaped me. It seemed to me like it would've been a better idea just to kidnap him, anyway.

I briefly toyed with this idea, but dismissed it after a moment due to the annoying amount of empire people around; probably any one of them could take us three down singlehandedly. Best to stick to recruiting at the moment. I sat down next to a bleak-looking girl, giving her a weak smile. "You up next?"

She looked up, pausing deliberately. "No." she replied after a moment or so. I frowned. She already had an alien?

"You've already got one?" I asked, lowering my voice considerably. "How's that working out for you?"

[The girl mentioned is Ashton, Scarlettfire's character]

General Elisabetta Fabian - Chronos City Military Base, 11.45 AM

"Similar accusations were made to fusionists of high regard in both Centurion City and Orion City. I don't think it's a coincidence."

Those rebels were up to something, and Pryce was collateral damage. Elisabetta was almost tempted to simply let Pryce suffer a ruined reputation, but Dad had high hopes for him. Besides, she ought to help Pryce simply because he was an integral part of the country, whether or not she admitted it.

But he's not the most exemplary citizen, Becka. You can have him jailed for disrespect. Did you see the way he looked at you?

Shush, Ares. This is no time for me to be petty.

Point taken.

Dr. Pryce cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one foot to another. "So what do you think they're up to?"

Elisabetta almost slapped him. What kind of idiotic question was that?

I thought he was a prodigy. Ah well. We can't all be Elisabettas.

Elisabetta smiled at the compliment but she answered Dr. Pryce anyway. At least, she would have answered if the screen in front of her didn't switch out to an extremely sweaty General Talbot, who was bleeding in several places. Her personal communicator, which she kept with her at all times, blipped to life as well, showing the exact same thing.

General Talbot overrode everything else on the military computers and communicators. An emergency.

Stay calm, Elisabetta. This is no failure of ours. I'm confident of it. Stay calm. Understand?

But could she help her racing heart?

"What's going on?" Dr. Pryce whispered.

"Bombing...Marshal, I'm sorry...failed to protect..." rasped General Talbot.

Elisabetta slammed her hands onto the desk in front of her. "Where did the bombing happen, General? How could you let this happen?!"

"Fabian...the rebels...your father's office," General Talbot collapsed into a coughing fit and a resounding gunshot echoed throughout the office.

Your...father? Mr. Fabian? No. This can't be - Becka? Are you all right? Becka? Are you even listening to me?

The world spun, round and round and round. Dad's office was bombed? And there were still rebels there?

"General Fabian? You look pale." Dr. Pryce moved to touch her.

"Don't touch her."

Ares...? Have you...?

I'll handle this, Becka.

I trust you to.

I know. We'll fix this.

---
Note: I will say "he" here, but keep in mind it's Elisabetta's body so it's technically a she to everyone who isn't Ares.

Ares, acting as General Fabian - Chronos City Military Base, 11.55 AM

Dr. Pryce was taken aback when Ares snatched his hand away from Dr. Pryce's touch. Did Dr. Pryce think Elisabetta would be one of his fangirls? One of his many lovers? Even if Becka wanted to, Ares would never allow it. Attachments to other human beings would only hurt his host.

"You will not touch Becka, and you will stop staring at her. Do you understand?" The gun was back under Dr. Pryce's chin.

Dr. Pryce gulped. Ares snorted. Weakling. He strode back towards the transport and entered it, but he didn't expect Pryce to dive inside with a yelp just as the door closed.

Ares gave Dr. Pryce an icy glare. "What are you doing here?" But there was no time to stop. They had to keep going, or else - or else Ares didn't even want to think about what would happen.

Failure. No. They wouldn't fail. This was all Talbot's fault. That fool. And, in a sense, it was Marshal Gregory's as well, because he allowed Talbot to remain in control of the politicians' security when Becka was so much more qualified.

They were going to arrive in a few minutes. Ares's hand wandered to the gun again.

Don't. No mistakes, remember?

Right. No mistakes.

Dr. Mitchell Pryce | Military Air Space | 11:55am

I dove through the door right as the sliding steel clamped shut. Betta looked down at me furiously, though I was almost certain it wasn't her anymore; moreso her partner.

They don't call him Dr. Warhead for nothing.

"Where the hell are we going?" I tried to keep calm, watching the General tap into her CD and on the control panel to the transport unit. As I finally stumbled to my feet, the transport halted mid-air, sending me to my face with a bloody, busted nose. "Dammit..."

The General pressed her hands against the window, pistol still in-hand. We were just...hovering. I looked up at the windows, but jerked my head around as an alarm sounded.

"Danger: Bombing Raid underway in Military Zones A, T, W, and X.

Oh God.

This may be the apocalypse!

No... It can't be the apocalypse.

Why not?

Because I swore I'd never die with another man inside me.

Smartass.

I looked up to Becka as she drew her pistol in front of her, firing out four point-blank shots into the window, bursting it into infinitesimal dust. She stowed her pistol and drew out a grappling hook, firing it down and tying the grounded end to the hovercraft.

"Where are you--"

And she dove out the window, screening down the tightrope like an acrobat.

I gulped, affirming my natural "No way" instinct. But a red flash lit up the eastern side of the city, given another bomb. And the alarm woman came back.

"Danger: Military Sectors B, C, D, K, N, and P have been attacked. All civilians are commanded to seek protective shelter immediately."

I backed up away from the flash of heat and smoke and covered my eyes, refusing to give into the tremors of fear washing over me. When I opened my eyes, the Transport was shaking, and there were gunshots nearby. I ran to the hole in the window and looked down towards a nearby Transport that had burst into flames. But how?? Delta was freaking out more than I was.

I narrowed my eyes against the heat and watched as a slender figure dressed in all black armor hopped from the burning hovercraft, and leaped onto the next, setting it ablaze with the screams of a few soldiers that I was sure Becka knew. Looking up at the tightrope and then at the burning hovercrafts, I had a choice to make. I swallowed the lump in my throat and grabbed onto the wire, letting my weight carry me down a few yards before something jerked me back suddenly into the Transport.

"Doctor Mitchell Pryce?" The amorphous voice behind the black mask was modulated too much for me to tell if it was a male or female. But then he/she held out a blaster and I backed into the wall.

"Y-Ye-Yes..!"

The armor-laden soldier pressed a button on his or her wrist and spoke into a microphone. "I have captured a fusionist."

The voice on the other side of the sub-comm replied in the soldier's ear: "Nab him and make it seem like he died."

Without hesitation, the soldier grabbed me, tossing a grenade under one of the Transport seats and hopped out the window, releasing its weight onto a jetpack that forced the two of us on towards wherever their base was. I looked over his shoulder, not daring to fight in fear of falling, and saw the vehicle explode along with the rest in the air space.

"Jesus Chri-..."

There was a sharp stabbing pain in my neck where the needle went, but then everything grew eerily cold and black.

Ashton Mills:

"You've already got one?" The guy asked, lowering his voice considerably. "How's that working out for you?"

I glared at him as Tau relinquished control.

"It would be going fine if people stopped asking me," I snapped and then blinked, suddenly realising something. Was he a rebel?

Ashton, he does not appear to have a Symbiote.

"Figures," I muttered and Tau chuckled. "Rebe-" I began but he cut me off.

"So you do have one," he commented and then glanced around. "Would you like it removed?"

I hesitated and Tau sighed. Could he even be removed?

I would leave, if you wished me to...but I cannot, he said and then he fell silent. No more help from him then.

"Honestly?" I asked and he nodded. "No. It's not that I don't want him gone or not, it's that he can't leave. He offers but..." I trailed off, looking around slowly.

The guy stared at me. "Are you willing to come with us then?"

Tau didn't protest as I nodded and stood up.

Tommy

I watched as Jim sat down next to this girl. I could just barely make out their words.

"Are you willing to come with us then?" I head Jim ask.

Oh crud. I thought. This is when it gets ugly. I braced myself for what might happen next.

To my surprise, though, the girl nodded and stood up! A smile stretched across my face. We had another member! If we kept this up, people might start realizing that getting a symbiote wasn't the best idea after all.

Jim led the girl over to us.

"Hey." I said as she came.

She smiled at me. "Hey."

After a minute or two of introductions, we continued to see if we could persuade anyone else. That was when the tables started to turn.

"Hey you!" one of the surgeons shouted at us.

"Uh-oh!" I said. We had been spotted, and it didn't look like the people were very happy to see us.

General Fabian - Ruins of Donovan Fabian's Office - 12.15 PM

She sat still as a statue, a mug of steaming coffee in one hand and a stress ball in the other. Her "seat" was a giant chunk of debris, a chunk of debris that could have taken Dad's life.

The sky was so blue today. As if nothing bad happened, as if everything was normal. And the world continued to turn as if Dad didn't get hurt.

Her glove was still slippery from her attempts to keep her father alive while he was bleeding heavily. She managed to, but could the hospital save him?

"Your troops are needed in this operation, General. I understand your father's in danger, but he's in a hospital. We can't do anything for him now. We have to get the rebels before they leave." The marshal grunted when she continued to stare blankly into space. "This will count against you, you understand?"

Still she said nothing. Didn't even twitch.

"Sir!" A soldier saluted Marshal Gregory and Elisabetta. Marshal Gregory immediately returned the salute, but the soldier had to hold his salute simply because Elisabetta wasn't responding.

"General!" Gregory barked.

Becka, snap out of it. He's itching to tell us something. It might be important.

Elisabetta blinked. Ares was right. She straightened herself and returned the soldier's salute.

"Sir, Dr. Pryce has been found dead, sir."

"WHAT?!" Gregory blurted out at the same time Elisabetta barked, "That's not possible!"

They wouldn't kill him. They need him.

I know. We need to get him back. They're probably still in the city.

Becka! Remember when the temperature in the viewing room dropped by .38 degrees celsius? Remember how everyone except two people shivered?

Rebels. Probably still recruiting. We can -

-catch them and use them as hostages.

"Soldier, lock down the Fusion center. I want everyone in there scanned for symbiotes. Detain those who don't have any," Elisabetta said, stalking away from the stunned Marshal Gregory.

"Fabian?"

"I don't care if they say they haven't had their operations yet. DETAIN THEM. Understand? I will be there as soon as I can."

--

General Fabian - Fusion Center - 12.23 PM

She clenched her teeth. She knew they would be here. Two rebels, two boys. One introduced himself as Tommy, and the other as Jim.

The operation room was quiet, but Elisabetta knew the other generals were watching her from the viewing room. She walked towards the two boys, her boots' heels clacking, echoing throughout the room.

They said they were seventeen but had failed to produce any form of identification. They claimed they left it at home.

No one leaves identification at home anymore. Rebels are such pathetic creatures.

They also said they didn't know anything. Whether they were telling the truth or not remained to be seen.

"Where is Dr. Pryce?"

"We don't know, honest to God -!"

She backhanded Tommy - or was it Jim? Did it matter? He already lost a tooth and his nose was bleeding. His companion growled and she turned to him.

"If you don't want your friend to get hurt, you're going to spit out the truth. Understand me?" Elisabetta leaned in close to him, her face a mere inch from the boy's. "Where is Dr. Pryce, boy?" She whispered as she pressed a knife to his neck.

Rachel Livingstone - Fusion Lab - 12:25 PM

Rachel followed her father, Sergeant Livingstone through the fusion lab. Apparently two rebels were being interrogated about the whereabouts of Dr. Pryce. Torg, the robot that had just been fixed up by Rachel, followed behind, a large gun held in both of his hands. "This way," Sergeant Livingstone growled, leading Rachel through a set of doors and into the viewing room. All the generals in there turned, eyes wide, and saluted before going back to watching at Rachel's father's command.

There they were, two rebels, one having been slapped by General Fabian already, although both were pretty beat up already. "Taking it hard on them, is she?" Sergeant Livingstone smirked, finding this funny. One of the generals nodded. "Good." Rachel gaped at her father, but turned away before he saw her. Good?! He thought it was good that there were people, human beings, being killed over something as small as a kidnapping.

Well, Dr. Pryce is very important in the whole fusion process Rachel, don't forget that. Rasia sighed, causing Rachel to sigh as she watched the conversation before Fabian and the rebels. They seemed so young, the rebels that is. One looked to be Rachel's age, the other only a few years older. She gaped down at the scene before her, unable to comprehend how humans could be treated so inhumanely by their own kind.

One of them even looked her age, the other one maybe a few years older. She gaped at the scene below her, disbelieving how humans could treat their own kind so inhumanely.

It's been a while since anyone's posted, so I'm just doing this randomly to see if people will post again!!!