Chapter 11: The Truth

Part 2 of 2: The Daughter of the Enemy

March 18th, 2016

Tara was thrown to the ground with a thud. She groaned as she rolled herself over, and stood on wobbly knees. Fiona kept her friend balanced.

"Are you alright?" Fiona asked, distressed. "I think I might have done that a little… hard."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Tara said. "That was a pretty good job you did. I'm just a little off today."

"Off? Why? Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm just sorta tired, I guess. And sore, really sore."

"Does this have something to do with whatever you were injected with in Vitrumia?" Fiona asked in fear.

"Are you still on that?" Tara groaned. "That was days ago. Besides, you heard the doctor. Whatever I was given was flushed out of my system. I'm fine."

"Hey, Spark!" Dash called out from the other side of the training room. "Is Fiona bothering you again?"

"Mind your own business!" Tara replied.

"I've been minding my own business for the past day and a half!" Dash shouted back. "Seriously, I think we should go out tonight! It's only eight! It'll be our last, big meal together as a group."

"Shouldn't that mean we should wait for AJ to get back?" Rachel interrupted.

"If AJ ever comes back…" Pinky sighed from the stands.

"Can you all be quiet for a minute?" Tara asked rather rudely. "We're not going out for a meal at a time like this. We have plenty of other things to do. Besides, P.O.N.Y. isn't getting shut down, so there isn't a reason to go out anyway. And, if we were leaving, we would certainly wait for AJ to come back, because she's our friend, and friends don't abandon each other."

"Can we at least eat something?" Pinky practically begged. "We've been working all day, and I'm staaaaaarving. We should at least break for the day."

Tara groaned. "Fine, go eat something. Everyone, go eat something. It's not like we've been constantly been facing off against threats that we have an inability to stop. It's not like we haven't been beaten senseless enough over the past few weeks. It's not like we don't have any information on who else The Unknown is working with, or who's helping him, or anything related to our cause. It's fine. Go eat something."

Four pairs of eyes looked at Tara with utter shock. No one dared to speak anything, out of fear that their leader would snap at them yet again. It was Fiona who was able to muster enough courage to speak.

"Tara," she said gently. "I think you should lie down. You seem—"

"I told you already," Tara growled. "I'm fine. Just go and have fun, or whatever."

"You're not fine," Fiona stated. "Ever since Vitrumia, you've been really frustrated, and it's not good for you."

"Yeah, Spark, it's like someone turned on your 'Bitch-Meter'," Dash agreed.

"I'm not acting bitchy!" Tara snapped. Fiona and Dash quickly backed away, as if terrified by the girl's wrath. Instantly, Tara's features softened, as she realized the intensity of her words. "I'm… I'm just stressed out, okay? I just… have a lot to deal with right now, and if I don't do my best, we all could be in a lot of trouble. And, for whatever reason, I seem to be the only one taking that seriously."

"Tara, you're just human," Rachel stated. "You can't expect to push yourself past these boundaries all you want without any repercussions. Even you need to rest sometimes."

"There isn't time for rest," Tara said yet again. "With everything being considered, each second we waste resting is time lost we could be training. We can't let up no matter what. Or else, what are we, if not a bunch of stupid quitters and… and failures? We need to work harder than ever before. I don't know why any of you don't can't seem to care about this, but I—"

"Tara!"

At once, silence filled the air. Perhaps with even more shock than before, four sets of eyes now rested upon Fiona, who, had built up so much courage just to shout, that she didn't feel any shame in the fact she was being stared at by her colleagues. Fiona took a deep breath, and stepped towards her friend.

"Look, Tara," she said calmly, trying to restrain her emotions. "I know how much this means to you, right now. This is your life, and I get that you really, really care about it."

Tara groaned. "That's not—"

"Don't lie to me!" Fiona shouted, forcing Tara to instantly silence herself. Quickly, Fiona realized that restraining her feelings was not possible, and so she ceased trying. "If I'm good at doing anything in this world, it's understanding people! You know, Dash was right about you, in a way. You get too attached to things, and you get so blinded by your will to succeed that you lose touch with everyone around you! You're obsessed with the concept of failure, and you get so mad about it sometimes that it makes you act crazy; it's like you're not even you anymore! And as your friends, it's so painful to watch you tear yourself up over something so trivial like that, that it tears us up inside knowing that we can't help you! This whole shutdown has been a toll on all of us, but you don't see any of us losing our minds over it! That's because we know that it's not the end of the world, but sometimes with you, it's like you think anything out of order at all sounds doom for your life! I know it might be how you were raised, but you're one of the most intelligent people I know, and I know that you can be stronger than this. No, you need to be stronger than this. Yesterday, you told me, and all of us, that everything was going to be okay, no matter what happened to P.O.N.Y! If you're going to be our leader, follow your own damn advice for once, and have some faith in yourself, like we have in you! Because you're the best of us, Tara! You know it, I know it, and every single freaking person in this room knows it, so start acting like it!"

Fiona panted heavily. She witnessed Tara grow from shocked, to still, to concerned, to depressed. Dash was staring at Fiona most surprised of all, never having heard a single outburst from the shy one. Rachel stared poignantly at the floor, while Pinky simply looked around in a state of confusion. After a few thought-provoking moments, Fiona was able to calm herself, and Tara sighed.

"Yeah… I know," Tara said softly. "It's just… I mean… ugh, there really is no excuse, is there?" Fiona walked to her best friend, and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"It's been a long day," she said, much more quietly. "Go lie down."

"No shit," Dash sighed, walking to the door. "I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll get some food tomorrow. Hell, it's not like anything else is gonna happen here."

At that particular moment, Celestia entered the room, a look of annoyance spread across her face. In her left hand was a cell phone, bright green in color. However, no one took notice of this, for the girls were too busy staring in shock at what was in the chairwoman's other hand: a bottle of beer.

"Girls. Meeting. Now." With those three words, Celestia turned and stomped back to the Briefing Room.

"Man, fuck me and my mouth," Dash muttered. Louder, she added, "Also, was I hallucinating, or was she drunk?"

"Celestia was drunk?" Rachel asked, very much in doubt.

"This probably can't be good," Tara sighed, motioning the others to join her. The five cautiously walked through the halls, trying to figure out exactly what was going on with their superior. As long as Tara had known her, Celestia didn't even seem to remotely like drinking. All Tara could assume was that the stress of the shutdown was finally getting to her, just like it was to everyone else. Still, Tara could see no reason why Celestia would choose to start getting drunk now; especially considering how badly it would reflect upon them. Unless, of course, a decision had been come to, and it was already too late for P.O.N.Y. But Tara preferred to think positively for once (which may or may not have been influenced with the fact that Fiona was staring at the back of her head).

Upon opening the door to the Briefing Room, the girls saw Celestia pacing furiously behind the desk, and taking a swig of her drink. Celestia groaned in frustration, and slammed her phone down onto the desk.

"Uh… is everything alright, ma'am?" Tara asked carefully.

"Not really," Celestia muttered. "I can't believe those bastards don't trust me enough to… urgh…

"You said you wanted us here," Rachel stated.

"Girls, I have some unfortunate news," Celestia moaned, not even trying to show how upset she was.

"Is it… you know…" Tara asked worriedly, not wanting to say the words aloud.

"Sort of, kind of," Celestia answered, once more pressing the bottle to her lips. "I suppose those assholes down in Washington can't make up such an important decision from just using my testimonies. I guess I'm not good enough for those bastards to use, despite all of the things I've done for them. No… they need to send inspectors, checking all over my work."

"We're getting inspected? Like toys?" Dash asked.

"Apparently, my word that you girls are doing well isn't good enough," the chairwoman sighed. "Tomorrow, around noon, three people are going to stop by, and spend several days watching over you, judging to see if you are worth the time and money. And, unfortunately, the people who are coming to visit you girls are the Rat Team."

"Are they… rat-people?" Pinky asked in astonishment. She quickly received many harsh glares, and rushed to defend herself. "What? After all of the crazy things we've gone up against, rat-people aren't too much of a stretch."

"They might as well be rats," Celestia stated, gulping down more beer. She sighed heavily. "We call them the Rat Team because they're the lowest scum of the earth that we know of. Not only are they extremely peculiar in their methods, but they are vicious critics… and assholes. Honestly, if they're coming here to inspect you, then we might as well just give up now."

Celestia plopped herself down in one of the chairs, and stared up at the ceiling. She said nothing for a moment, allowing the silence to fill her otherwise empty shell. Then she began to speak again, but quietly, less angry, as if she were saying something only meant for her own ears.

"They're the worst," she said. "All of them. Never once have they trusted me. That's why they wouldn't let me run an operation before, always placing me beneath someone else, doing someone's dirty work. I make one decision, one that anyone would have made in my place, and I'm thrown out like trash. And now, I finally get to lead my own little operation, and it gets shut down after a month. Pathetic."

"Um… Ms. Celestia?" Fiona spoke up nervously. "Maybe it's… not so bad. I mean, once AJ comes back, and we pass the inspection, everything will be fine. Besides, you're doing everything you can, and I'm sure that everyone knows it."

Celestia laughed. "I thank you for the blind optimism, but we're not going to pass the inspection. I don't care how accurate Pinky can shoot a gun, or how fast Rachel can recite calculus. It's the Rat Team, and they're… well… here, let me show you."

Celestia swung around in her chair, and flipped on the closest monitor. Her fingers skid smoothly across the keys, only occasionally faltering before correcting themselves yet again. In a flash, three images appeared on the screen, one atop of another. Celestia pointed at the top image. Tara saw a man, elderly yet still gruff, gray hair neatly trimmed. His face had once had great structure, but had sagged away over the years. His eyes were squinted, always judging whatever they saw.

"That man right there is Scotchingson Hue," Celestia stated. "Brutally efficient, mathematically brilliant, and stern. Back in the day, there were rumors that he actually had a heart. He's sold out pretty much all who were close to him, and managed to rise through the ranks thanks to him playing the entire United States banking system."

Underneath the image of Hue was another man. He was bloated in the face, cheeks puffed out and red like beets. His bald head glistened in the bright light, and his eyes stared wide at the camera. From just a single glance, Tara could sense the man's ever-growing anxiety.

"This man is V.A. Price Jr. He's Hue's most valuable assistant. He's brash, rude, a stickler for details, and a clean freak. Also, from what I've heard, he's quite racist, so take that as you will. He's a cowardly, womanizing rodent who likes to show his authority over people, and takes pleasures in their discomfort."

At the bottom of the screen was an image of a woman, who perhaps was the most frightening of all. Despite her rather normal brunette hair and smooth cheeks, her eyes were a bizarre shade of red

"And this is their secretary," Celestia sighed. "Veronica Starleston. Genius woman. She's probably the smartest out of all three of them. Supposedly, she was the one who guided them through the ranks of government, taking them from office workers to inside men to kings of the government. She's a pain in the ass to deal with."

"These are the people you take orders from?" Rachel asked in shock. "You actually have to obey these people?"

"Pretty much," Celestia sighed. "But they're usually right about things, unfortunately, so we keep following them."

"I hate to say it, but…" Rachel cleared her throat nervously. "Your government needs to work out some issues. I mean, I'm not an expert on the subject matter, but this might in fact be the worst way to control any major operation in all of history. No offense."

"I've been saying that for over a decade," Dash agreed. "I try telling everyone that freaky shit goes on the White House, and I'm instantly branded as a conspiracy theorist. I hate our country. Fucking bullshit."

"Dash, calm yourself," Tara ordered. She turned to her superior. "Look, it doesn't matter what those guys are like. If we need to prove ourselves to them, then we'll just have to do it."

"Right," Fiona hastily agreed. "I'm sure that deep down, they are reasonable people."

"I can't do anything but wish you girls luck," Celestia stated somberly. "The best advice I can give is to train your asses off, be on your best behavior, and pray to God that AJ gets back here by tomorrow. The probability of this actually working is ridiculously slim, but if you try hard enough, maybe you can at least—"

Celestia paused, and stared at the screen in front of her. A red light flashed on the monitor, containing text too small for Tara to read.

"That's weird," Celestia said.

"What's going on?" asked Tara, confused.

"It appears there's been an explosion at WMH Headquarters," said the chairwoman. "Police are rushing onto the scene now. Practically every cop and firefighter in the city is there."

"Aaaaaaaaaand… what's the problem?" Dash asked. Celestia typed something in the keyboard, and another window popped up in the computer.

"Well, here's the thing," she said worriedly. "After your little 'mishap' with McCarther, we made a secret deal with Brian Hammonick. We thought it would be both in our best interests to keep the data on his fuel safe and secure, so we balanced it out between two separate servers. One of the servers is at WMH, and the other is located in the Willington Tower downtown. That way, if one of the servers came under threat in any way, the other would receive all of its data, and keep it stored. We've done this plenty of times before. In fact, there has to be at least ten servers in Willington Tower containing top-secret information."

"Is that legal?"

"Maybe. Anyway, that explosion at WMH Headquarters should have been enough to trigger a data transfer. But, according to our monitoring system, nothing like that is taking place. Our server isn't recovering that necessary information. Now why the hell is it doing that..."

"Maybe it's just experiencing a glitch?" Rachel suggested hopefully.

"Or maybe…" Tara said suddenly, her eyes wide. "The server can't receive the data because something, or someone, broke into it already."

Celestia paused for a moment, considering this. Even though her judgment was starting to get clouded, she still tried her best to put two and two together. "But that would mean that both systems were shut down nearly simultaneously, as if someone meant to do it. But the only reason they would do that is to release the information out into the open, and no one would ever try to do that unless they knew what the servers—"

Celestia froze in panic. She clenched her fist tightly, and stared down at the floor.

"Get to Willington Tower. Now!" she screamed. "We're being robbed right under our noses!"

"Wait, go now!?" Tara responded. "We can't go out there! Get the police to help!"

"The police are out of the question!" Celestia stated angrily. "Besides, they won't be able to make it in time. Every second we waste, more valuable data is lost. You need to stop that thief as fast as you can!"

Every girl but Tara jolted to life, and took off towards the main entrance. However, their leader remained, still unsure what to do.

"We can't go on a mission now," she stated. "We're too tired out, and too unfocused. And on top of that, AJ's still missing, and we have an inspection looming over our heads that we need to prepare for! We're not supposed to go on any missions if we're shut down!"

"You're not fucking shut down yet!" Celestia said forcefully, pointing towards the door. "I'll think of some excuse for you. All you need to focus on right now is stopping that thief! I'm counting on you, Sullivan, so don't you dare fail me now!"

Tara remained still. She had come too far to back down, hadn't she? It wasn't in her nature to give up without putting up a fight. Right now, someone needed her help, and it was her duty to make sure that she did her job right. She couldn't fail now, not when the situation was most grim. It didn't matter that her best agent was missing, or that her friends were drastically unequipped, or that she would probably get severely punished for disobeying a direct federal order. Tara would not be a failure to her team.

Not anymore.

Tara, with a look of determination on her face, nodded in approval, and then dashed off down the corridors. She didn't even bother to stop by the training room to acquire weapons. She had such an adrenaline rush that such a thought had never even occurred to her. In less than a minute, she burst through the doors of the Chinese restaurant, and found her friends standing by their mode of transport: a shiny, fire-red, brand new, five-seat convertible. Fiona greeted her friend by thrusting her sword directly into Tara's arms.

"I picked this up for you on the way out," she stated. Tara thanked Fiona with a nod, and then turned to the rest of the group.

"Come on, girls. Get in the car," Tara ordered loudly. At once, her teammates began to pile into the vehicle.

"Whoo! It's time to kick some ass!" Dash declared, opening the back door of the car. However, Tara placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Dash," Tara said confidently. "Not today. You're driving."

"Seriously?" Dash asked in wonder. "You want me, a person who you know to be extremely reckless behind the wheel of a car, to drive everybody."

"Yes, I do," Tara said. "I have faith in you. Don't let me down."

Immediately, Dash jumped for joy, thrusting her fist into the air. A second later, she appeared inside of the car, clutching the wheel tightly. Tara joined her in the passenger seat, as the other three waited anxiously in the back, fearful for their lives.

"Oh, Dash, one more thing…" Tara said, smiling. "Drive fast."

"Oh, baby," Dash replied with a smirk. "Now you're speaking my language."

__________

Willington Tower was a location that not a single citizen of Philadelphia cared about. As far as the average person knew, Willington Tower was as office building built in the eighties that differed in no way from any other office building. Not a single person was ever known to have worked there, but given the daily lives of the average citizen, no one noticed this strange little fact. It may have towered above all else around it, but Willington Tower was simply someplace that was forever lost in the conscious of the people.

So, when a white van pulled up to the building late one March day, no one noticed. When several people started carrying canisters into the complex, no one noticed. When people began to break into the ventilation system, no one noticed. After all, in the mind of the average Philadelphia citizen, this must have been what people did at Willington Tower. And so the citizens of Philadelphia carried on with their daily lives, entirely unaware that one of the greatest heists in history was happening at Willington Tower.

__________

Tara was rather thankful for the fact that the car had a navigation system, for she was so disoriented that she couldn't keep a track of her whereabouts. Perhaps putting Dash in charge as the driver was a poor decision, as no matter how much more she was liked the rainbow-haired youth, none of it would matter if she were to crash into a building on the way to Willington Tower. As it was now, Tara was pushed as far back into her seat as possible as she was lead down the tight city streets at nearly sixty miles per hour. In the back, Rachel was bracing herself for a sudden impact, Fiona was silently praying to a god in whom she had doubted to exist for many years, and Pinky smiled normally as if she were waiting for a batch of cookies to come bursting out of the oven.

"Almost there, guys!" Dash shouted, taking a tight turn to her left. Tara's knuckles were turning white from gripping her sword too tightly, not wanting it to accidently maim one of her friends.

"For the last time, please slow down!" Tara begged.

"You wanted fast, Spark," Dash laughed. "Live a little!"

"Are we all going to die?" Rachel asked, genuinely concerned. "It feels like we're tumbling down a mountain."

"Keep calm and carry on, my foreign compatriot!" Dash replied. "Willington is right up ahead."

With a jolt, the car came to a sudden stop. The momentum carried the girls forward, slamming several heads into the backs of seats. They had arrived at the parking lot of Willington Tower, which showed surprising activity for an abandoned location. Tara clutched her chest, breathing heavily and feeling very thankful that she was still alive.

"That wasn't cool," she scolded. However, Dash paid no mind to her, exiting the car and walking to the trunk. Tara regained her composure, and then followed her outside. "Hey, are you listening to me? Just because I said fast doesn't mean you can drive that recklessly. You could have… are those the guns you managed to grab from Camelot?"

Dash smirked as she pulled out a light machine gun from the trunk. "Hey, you never know when some asshole is gonna fire back at you. It's good to be prepared."

"I'm not debating that," Tara said, startled. "I just… didn't think you would bring so many. You and Pinky are still the only ones who care going to use them."

"It's good to be fucking prepared," Dash restated. She tossed two pistols to Pinky just as she was getting out of the car, which the blonde caught with some difficulty. After everyone had gotten themselves situated, Tara began running over the plan.

"Dash, Pinky, you two will be our frontal assault unit. Clear out each room you come across, and don't take any chances. Keep moving upwards. Use the stairs; last thing we need is for something to take out the power and get you two stuck. Fiona, you and Rachel are going to scrounge around back, look for any other way into the building. In case you run into trouble, retreat back into the main hall, and find the others. I'll be checking around the parking lot here, maybe try to find the getaway vehicle. Everyone keep their cellphones on conference, and be careful. Whoever came in here was using explosives. Good luck."

Tara walked to the parking lot with one hand on her sword. She scanned her surroundings closely. Five cars were present, but seemed to strike out from the rest. Not only was it noticeably larger and less cleanly, it was also clearly missing a front license plate. Tara walked towards the vehicle with caution.

"Fuck, the door's locked," Dash sighed over the phone. "Spark, should I shoot it open?"

"No way," Tara answered. "Last thing we need is to get detected."

"Don't worry. I got it," Pinky said. Tara could hear a clicking noise in the background, and continued on her way. She came to the van, and examined it thoroughly. The paint was old and chipped, revealing the rusted metal beneath. The tires were covered with a light coating of mud, and the back door had been left ajar, possibly because of a broken lock. Naturally, Tara walked to the open door, and took out her sword, prepping for the worst.

"Girls, I'm about to check something out here," she said. "If I don't say anything, or you hear me struggling, come to my location."

"Can do," Fiona responded.

"Hey, guys, there are corpses in here," Pinky muttered. "Three of them. They look… fresh."

Tara pulled open the door, and instinctively shoved the blade into the back of the van. However, as she had hoped, the van itself was empty.

"Clear," she said with a sigh of relief.

"Weird… these bodies don't have any wounds," Pinky said.

"They're dead," said Dash. "They have to be damaged somehow."

"Be careful," Tara warned, climbing into the van. She looked around hoping to find any sort of clue, but located nothing.

"Man, I'm getting a headache," Dash moaned. "Search faster, curls."

"I swear, these dudes are completely untouched! Look at 'em yourself!"

"Tara, we're around the other side," Fiona whispered, not wanting to raise her voice. "No back entrances. There is an open window on the fifth floor, though."

"Anything else?"

"Uh… no. Not that I can see."

"Hey, Tara, quick question," Rachel spoke. "Why did you send the blind girl to search for alternate entrances to the building? You do know I have other talents that would be much more useful in this situation."

"Ugh… stop complaining, bitch," Dash moaned. "Jesus Christ, my head is on fire."

"What did you call me?"

"A… a… shit, my head. What the fuck is going on?"

"Dash, are you okay?" Tara asked. She received no response. "Pinky, does she look okay to you?"

"Uh, I can't tell," Pinky answered. "Everything's kinda blurry."

"Hey, Tara," Fiona interrupted. "I found something back here: A big vent and a bunch of silver canisters."

Tara hopped out of the vehicle, and began walking towards the building.

"Do the canisters say anything?"

"No," Fiona said. "But they're all tied together. Like they're all pumping into one hose. And the hose looks like it goes through—"

"Shit!" Rachel shouted, suddenly realizing something terrible. "Tara, get them out of that building now!"

The loud increase in volume shocked Tara to life. She sprinted towards the main entrance, and peered through the glass doors. In horror, she discovered Dash lying on the floor, and Pinky leaning against the wall, slowly succumbing to slumber. Tara, thinking quickly on her feet, flung open the door, and stuck out her palms. Her veins resonated a deep violet color, and in an instant, Dash and Pinky sailed towards her. They dropped to the ground right in front of her feet, and Tara forcibly dragged them outside into the parking lot. Fiona and Rachel came running back to the entrance in a fright. Pinky coughed violently, while Tara bent over to check Dash's pulse.

"What the hell is going on?" Tara asked, clearly panicked.

"They must have flushed out the whole bottom floor with carbon monoxide," Rachel stated. "That hall must be festering with it after so long. Given the large amount of canisters, I'd say nearly ten thousand parts per million of CO in that room. Five minutes in there, and you die instantly."

"Is she okay?" Fiona asked.

"Shit, she's not breathing," Tara cursed, bending down to hear Dash's heartbeat. "Rachel, what do we do? She's dying."

"Getting her outside was good," Rachel stated. "Right now, she needs a lot of oxygen. It could take a few minutes to get her enough, not unless we—"

However, Rachel couldn't finish her words, as Tara shoved her aside, positioned herself over Dash's form, and began to breathe into her. Tara was by no means an expert at rescue breathing, but she had read quite a bit about the technique, and was certain that she could at least help. It never struck her mind that this was the second time she had "kissed" another woman, or that her method was technically outdated, or that Dash would probably be fine regardless. At that moment, all that mattered to her was saving her friend's life.

Much to Tara's relief, Dash came back to life beneath her within the next minute, allowing her to back away from the incident. Dash gasped heavily for breath, before rolling over to her side, and coughing wildly. She moaned painfully, and flipped herself onto her back once more.

"Oh man, I feel terrible," Dash muttered, staring at the ceiling.

"Thank God, you're alive," Tara said happily. "You were unconscious for a while there."

"What happened?"

"Acute carbon monoxide poisoning," Rachel stated calmly, acting very professionally. "You were out in under two minutes. Pinky nearly was, as well."

"I'm fine, by the way," Pinky groaned in frustration. Dash sighed, and then licked her lips. Something was slightly off about their taste. It took her a moment to come up with a proper response.

"Did one of you kiss me?" she asked, curiously. Tara blushed at once.

"Look, you weren't breathing," Tara said in defense. "It was rescue breathing. They teach you it in middle school. It helped save your life. Besides, I would have done it for any of you." Tara paused a moment, blushing further. "That might have come out wrong."

Dash laid on the ground, considering this information carefully. Then, as if entirely alright, she hopped to her feet, and stretched out her arms.

"Well, we're not getting in the front," she said. "Unless you can turn off the gas."

"It doesn't matter now," Rachel sighed. "With that much CO in there, it would take an hour just to clear it all out."

"Can't we just wait down here for the thief to come down?"

"They might not be planning to leave this way," Tara suggested. "Who knows; if they're really going after valuable government information, they might have a helicopter waiting for them, especially since they have all this carnage down here to deal with."

"So, how do we get up there?" Pinky asked. "Ooh, I can run through the halls really, really fast, and get away from all of the bad poison and stuff."

"Actually, I have an idea," Tara stated. "Fiona, show me that open window at the back."

"Sure," Fiona shrugged, leading the group towards the opposite side of the building. However, Tara stopped short as someone lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Spark, one last thing…"

Smack

A bare palm unceremoniously collided with the side of Tara's skull, causing the brunette to clutch her head in pain.

"Don't you ever fucking kiss me again," Dash said harshly. "If I'm going to have a bi-curious experience, I'm at least going to have it with someone attractive." Dash walked by, not caring about any pain she caused. Behind her, Tara angrily muttered under her breath:

"You're welcome."

Aside from the canisters of poisonous gas, nothing else was interesting about the back of the tower. Tara gazed up at the open window, a fourth of the way up the building. It wasn't open by much, just a sliver of empty space where one might barely squeeze through. She had no idea what lay on the other side of it, but hoped that it led to a place without any more deadly gas.

"Fiona, do you think you can check out that window?" Tara asked.

"I can try," Fiona stated, removing her green jacket and tossing it to the ground. Her wings burst forth from her back as if on springs. Fiona winced in pain, remembering that her back was still cut badly. She took a deep breath, and then took off towards the sky, coming to a stop just beneath the window. Carefully, she fluttered up to the opening, and peered inside. She returned to the ground as quietly as she could.

"No one's inside," she claimed. "It's just a straight path leading to an elevator and a few doors."

"Perfect," Tara said. "Do you still think you could carry us up there?"

"I think so," Fiona said, holding out her hand. Tara took it gladly, and before she knew it, she was flying through the air. Fiona's grip seemed sturdy enough, as she was now holding on with both hands. However, Tara, at some point during the flight, came to the realization that she had a fear of heights. It was a deep-seeded, completely irrational fear that stemmed from an unfortunate ladder incident when she was six, which she preferred not to think about. She never talked about it for she was ashamed of having such a pathetic handicap. But as Fiona continued to rise higher in the sky, something in Tara's mind gave way, causing her to clutch Fiona with all of her strength.

"Ow. You're nails are digging into my skin," Fiona said. Tara snapped out of her fear-induced trance at the sound of her friend's voice, and loosened her grip.

"Sorry," she said hastily.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm good, just… hurry up, will you?"

"We're here." Tara stopped looking down at the ground, and finally rotated her head upwards to see that she was even with the open window. Inside, she saw a hallway which looked like it belonged in an office building rather than a secret government hideout. Tara looked at Fiona nervously.

"Okay," she said. "I'm going to reach out, and pull that thing off. Don't you dare drop me."

"I'll be extra careful," Fiona reassured. Tara took a deep breath, and, trying not to look down, reached out towards the window several feet away. Using her powers, she carefully wiggled the glass structure free from its containment, and then gently lowered it to the ground. Then, as silent as a mouse, Tara motioned Fiona forward, and used the opportunity to grab onto the ledge, pulling herself inside.

"The coast is clear. Bring them up," Tara instructed. Fiona nodded, and then, one-by-one, brought the other P.O.N.Y's into the building. Rachel was last, with Fiona directly carrying her inside.

"Well, this place doesn't smell poisonous," Dash commented.

"We should be fine," said Rachel. "Even if the gas was being pumped into the entire building, we're getting plenty of oxygen from that open window. Besides, I doubt that they had enough cans of carbon monoxide to fill this whole building up anyway."

"What's the plan now?" asked Dash.

"Same as it was before," Tara stated. "We just have a different starting point. We keep moving as always. Although, we'll probably need to find a directory in order to locate the servers—"

"Got one!" Pinky shouted, before thrusting a thick sheet of paper in front of Tara's face. Tara eyed the map with much confusion.

"How did you—"

"It was lying on the security desk, so I just shoved it into my pocket," Pinky admitted. "That's not stealing, is it? 'Cuz no one else was gonna use it."

"Not important," Tara stated, studying the map closely. "Hmm… it seems like we're in the right wing on the fifth floor. There's a marking here that says the servers are located on the top three floors. The only way to get to them is using an executive elevator on floor fifteen."

"Oh great. Stairs," Rachel groaned. "I'm guessing we still can't use the lift, right?"

Tara remained silent.

"Fine," the Brit groaned. "Climbing it is. My favorite."

__________

"Can't believe that mothafucka took away our weed for this," Anwar complained.

"Shut your mouth, nigga," Jerome said angrily. "Seriously, we're on super top-secret shit right now. This ain't the time to get high."

The fifteenth floor lobby was too nice for a building that was so underused. Not only was it incredibly large, with enough space to fit well over two hundred people, but the floor was made of marble, and the walls remained glossy and polished no matter how much grime was spread. The lobby broke off into two wide paths on opposite sides. In the center of the room was a black executive elevator, which ascended high into the ceiling. Near the back of this room was a set of couches used for a waiting area, and this was where Jerome and Anwar had seated themselves.

"Shit, I miss Jordan," Anwar said.

"Jordan? What the fuck you mean 'Jordan'? Jordan was a punk-ass little bitch. That racist motherfucker was bad business, man."

"But he packed the best stuff. You remember that shit he used to cook up? 'Hercules Strength'? That was the best thing I've had in decades, man."

"You know what? I made up my mind. After we finish doin' this shit, I'm givin' up weed. Shit's bad for your health."

"You're goin' straight? Wow, I never thought I'd see the day that this nigga went clean."

"An' you know what else? I'm cleaning up my act, too. I'm going back to college, get a math degree, or some shit. I used to be pretty damn good at trigonometry."

"I fucking bet you were."

"I was. An' that ain't all. Pretty soon, I—" Jerome paused. He held up his hand, asking for complete silence. Something seemed off to him. He didn't know why, but something was different about the lobby. Suddenly, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching from the right wing. A shadow danced across the wall. He already knew that his boss was upstairs, so that could only mean one thing.

"Cops!" Jerome yelled in panic, firing his pistol towards the right wing in a frenzy. He grabbed Anwar and pulled him down behind the couch as fast as he could.

"Son of a bitch!" Anwar cried.

"Shoot back, you idiot!" Jerome cried, blind-firing over the couch. Whatever was coming from the right wing stopped to take cover, and didn't appear to be firing back.

"We got to hold them off," Anwar said, peering over the couch. He saw nothing, which worried him ever so.

"Stay down, fool," Jerome whispered loudly. The firing ceased; neither side dared to move. "Look sometime soon, one of these mothafuckas are gonna come out firing. When they do, I'll burst out'a cover and cap 'em. But, you have to provide some covering fire, or my ass is dead."

"Nigga, do you even realize who you're talking to?" Anwar asked with a smirk. "I always got your back, man. I never fuck up."

"Thanks, my nigga," Jerome smiled. He waited patiently. He thought he could hear whispering from far away. It wouldn't be long now. Any moment, someone would try to move to the elevator, taking shots along the way. But he knew how to handle such a situation, and had done so many times in the past. Suddenly, he heard the rapid movement of footsteps racing to the elevator. Now was the moment to shine. Jerome jumped out of cover, and aimed his pistol down the lobby.

In an instant, Jerome froze, as he locked eyes with a very familiar rainbow-haired teenager.

"Oh, fuck this shit!" Jerome screamed in terror, dropping his gun to the floor. He immediately tried to turn and run, but did not get very far. Dash suddenly appeared next to him, and brutally slammed his head into the ground. Anwar had little time to react before Dash kneed him in the face, knocking him unconscious. Jerome rolled around in agony, holding his broken nose, as Dash stood over him triumphantly.

"Well, this is a surprise," Dash said, honestly amused. "I never thought I'd see you guys again. What happened to that other guy you were with?"

"Fuck you, you crazy bitch!" Jerome screamed.

"Dash, do you know these people?" Tara asked, coming out of cover.

"Sort of," Dash replied. "We've had a few run-ins before. It seems like you lose more and more friends each time we run into each other."

"You have whole army of psychos now!?" Jerome shouted in fear. "Look, lady, I'll do whatever you want. I just don't want to ever see you again!"

"Tempting offer," Das stated, picking up Jerome by the head, before brutally slamming it back down onto the cold floor.

"Leave him alone," Fiona interjected. "He's not a threat anymore."

"Don't act all uptight on me, Fiona," Dash sneered. "I'm actually starting to like you now, so don't fuck it all up."

"Release him. Now," Tara ordered. Dash sighed, and dropped Jerome to the floor. He spat out his own blood on the marble, whimpering in pain.

"So… who are you working for?" Dash asked calmly.

"This guy, alright?" Jerome said without any hesitation. "Weird fucking guy; promised a lot of money."

"Let me guess… he didn't have a face?" Dash asked in annoyance.

"How… how did you know?"

"Shit," she swore under her breath. The group was equally frustrated. No matter how hard they tried, they seemed to keep getting involved with the last person they wanted to be involved in.

"Well, now what?" Rachel asked. "The Unknown is here. We know we can't beat him, and we can't call in for backup."

"We go after him regardless," Tara stated, earning some confused glances. "Look, if we're going to be shut down by tomorrow night, I don't want to spend my last day as a failure. I say, we go after him. He's never faced all of us at once before; if we can figure out a way to beat him, we might even save the operation. I'm sure we can do it. I…" Tara quickly glanced at Fiona. "…have faith in our abilities."

"Well, we can't really go back anyhow," Dash groaned. "Thanks for the help, you lower-class stoner. You always seem to arrive just when we fucking need you."

"You gonna leave me alone, now?" Jerome asked, hoping to garner pity. Dash looked up to Tara, searching for an answer. Tara herself was not in the mood for deciding upon such a petty thing. She had far more important matters to attend to, after all.

"Let 'em go," Tara said with a shrug. "I don't think they'll be much of a threat."

"Damn straight," Jerome said. "I don't want anything to do with you people."

Dash sighed, and with a final kick to the ribs, left Jerome alone. The girls walked towards the executive elevator, gaping at its enormity.

"They're going to sense us coming from a mile away," Fiona said fearfully. They have to know that this is the only way up."

"Spark, you got something?" Dash asked.

"Uh… possibly," Tara replied. "I think I might have an idea on how to get up there. But… it might kill me."

"Kill you? Please, don't do something really dangerous," Fiona begged.

"Well, I could be totally fine. I've never tried something like this before. Hold on for a second."

Tara took a deep breath, and then shot out her arms towards the ceiling. She closed her eyes, concentrating on a single image of the elevator descending to the ground. A loud grinding noise became apparent, slowly filling up the room. Tara tried her best not to let that elevate her spirit. She refused to focus on anything else except for moving the several-ton elevator. Her ears began to ring, and a throbbing began to take place in her mind.

"Spark, could you speed it up at all? It's moving, like, two fucking inches."

"Shut up, Dash," Tara scolded. "You can try manipulating the magnetic field around a four thousand pound elevator."

The grinding grew ever louder, but she couldn't tell how much progress she was making. She thought she felt someone's hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it away. It wasn't until she heard a loud slam that she allowed herself to open her eyes, and collapse to her knees. At once, Fiona was by her side.

"Are you—"

"Yes, I'm fine," Tara said quickly. "Is it down?"

"Yeah. But you shouldn't do things like that. You'll hurt yourself."

"Also," said Dash. "How are we supposed to get back up?"

"Well, I was planning to get on the elevator and lift it back up to the top," Tara admitted. "But I really don't feel well now."

"Don't worry," Fiona said. "I got it covered." Fiona led Tara into the elevator, which Dash and Pinky peeled open. Much to Tara's displeasure, she was soon floating in mid-air again, flying faster and faster towards the ceiling. She gulped, hoping to swallow her fears. This time, the flight was much quicker, as Tara guessed that Fiona was aware of her intense phobia. Tara looked out at the closed elevator doors of floor eighteen. They did not appear to be as heavy as the elevator itself, and, despite her horrid migraine, she believed it wouldn't be too difficult to open the doors.

"A bit closer," Tara stated with a sense of urgency.

"Don't hurt yourself," Fiona responded, carefully moving into place. It only took a minute for the doors to be pried open, and Tara would have pushed Fiona inside if she could, if only to get back on solid ground faster. Upon stabilizing her legs, Tara looked around at the interior of the room. Everything was surprisingly circular. The center of the room was completely open, with a simple star painted in the center. The servers were all lined up against the walls in perfect order, forming dark shadows against the maple-wood floor. The only relief from the darkness was the moonlight shining through a pain glass window on the back wall.

"Watch the chest," Tara heard Dash say snidely from behind. Before Dash could say anything else, however, Fiona was gliding back down the elevator shaft to pick up another teammate. "Man, that probably won't ever get comfortable."

"You said it."

"Jeez, you look shaky. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Tara said, taking deep breaths. "I'm cool now."

"Whoopee!" Pinky shouted in joy as she rose to the server room. Upon landing on her feet, her mood quickly diminished. "Huh? What kind of server room is this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, look at this place! I've never seen something so strangely organized in my life! It's… it's ridiculous!"

"You might be overreacting to this a little," Dash suggested.

"Overreacting?" Pinky said, quite offended. "I know my computers! No one would ever organize something like this unless they wanted someone to rob them. I mean, would you ever—"

"Both of you. Quiet," Tara ordered. The two friends instantly shut their mouths. "Look around for clues or something. Pinky, find out if these machines have been broken into. Dash, do the same on the other side of the room."

Pinky grumbled something unintelligible, and walked away. Dash simply expressed her feelings with a shrug. Fiona and Rachel rose up the elevator shaft shortly.

"This place looks pretty clean," said Fiona, walking over to Pinky.

"It doesn't look like anything's been tampered with," Pinky stated.

"I want to be sure," said Tara. "If that data is on this floor, then they would have needed to come down here."

"Spark, I'm pretty sure that we would notice if stuff had been completely blown up," Dash sighed. I mean, that was what Celestia said, right? The Unknown was blowing shit up?"

"Wait, if The Unknown was trying to destroy all of the servers," said Rachel, her hand placed on her chin. "Then why wouldn't this floor be damaged? Wouldn't any logical person start with the bottom, and move towards the top?"

"I don't know," Tara admitted. "Honestly, we don't know anything about this guy's methods other than the fact he likes insane people to do his work for him. The circumstances surrounding this attack aren't are concern. We just need to keep our guard up, and—"

Suddenly, Tara became silent. Something seemed different about the room. While the other four girls were looking at the large machines, something had changed. It felt as if a ghost had just floated by, casting a sense of dread over her head. What more, it felt like she was being watched from behind, a shadow glaring at her over her shoulder. At once, Tara realized that there was something standing there.

In a flash, Tara whipped out her sword from the sheathe on her back, and spun around, swing the katana towards the shadow. However, she was barely able to stop herself, as she instantly met a very familiar-looking hat.

"AJ!" Tara shouted, incredibly startled. "Dear god, you scared the life out of me." The other P.O.N.Y's turned at the sudden loud noise, and quickly noticed the extra presence in the room. AJ stood only a yard away from her field leader, standing absolutely still. Her eyes were hidden underneath her Stetson, and she wore an expressionless face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dash asked, confused. AJ did not respond.

"Thank goodness, you showed up when you did," Tara said, completely ignoring Dash. "Look, The Unknown's somewhere in the building. Now that you're here, we can—"

"Hold on a second," Dash interrupted. "How the hell did you get here? You go missing for two days, and now you just show up exactly where you are? That's… strange."

Tara looked at Dash accusingly. Why did her tone have to be so hateful? Was she unaware who she was talking to?

"Dash, you're being ridiculous," she stated. However, much to her surprise, AJ spoke up in a dull voice.

"Don't be upset," said the agent. "She's right. It's amazing how fast people can turn on you, even after you've trusted them your entire life."

Tara stared at AJ in wide-eyed confusion. Something seemed off about her dear friend. It wasn't just her posture, which was not at all confident and almost saddened in a way, but her clothes were peculiar as well. She was dressed entirely in black, specifically, and Tara was unsure if her friend had ever worn the color at all.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked, becoming slightly nervous.

"I'm fine now," AJ said simply. She momentarily looked around the room at the other girls staring her down. "Tara, I think you girls should leave this place. It's pretty dangerous."

"What? Why would we do that?" asked the leader. "The Unknown is here. Now that you're here, we can end this."

"It would be in your best interest to get out of here," AJ said once more. Rachel, in the back of the room, was starting to feel the adrenaline coarse through her veins. Fiona was becoming increasingly concerned with AJ's bizarre manner of speaking. Pinky began to walk around to the other side of the room, staring her friend down with watchful eyes.

"We're not leaving," Tara insisted. "This is the most important operation of our life. P.O.N.Y. will be shut down if we don't get this done."

"That doesn't matter," said AJ. "Just leave. Now. Before something bad happens."

Tara opened her mouth to say something, but was immediately shoved out of the way by Dash.

"What are you doing here?" Dash asked again. "Why did you show up here, after two days of being completely missing?"

"I'm here to help."

"Who are you helping?" Dash asked accusingly. "Us, or him?"

"Dash, what are you—"

"Shut it, Spark!"

"I'm here to help everyone," AJ said honestly.

"Bullshit," Dash practically screamed. "You're trying to keep us away from here for a reason."

"Dash, stop this," Tara begged. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Think about it, all of you," Dash said loudly. "She goes off the grid for two days. Two fucking days. And, when she comes back, she just happens to come back exactly where The Unknown is. Who knows what could have happened to her during that time? For all we know, she could be brainwashed or something."

"Brainwashed?" AJ asked dully. "I'm not brainwashed. Not anymore."

"And then," Dash said, pointing at AJ. "She starts saying weird shit like that! Listen to me. I think she's—"

Suddenly, without any warning, AJ grabbed onto Dash's hand, wrapped around her arm, and threw the rebellious youth across the room. Instinctively, Tara drew up her sword in defense. The girls took fighting stances, with the exceptions of Dash, who was clutching her damaged arm, and AJ, who continued to stand perfectly still, noticing that she was surrounded by her friends. Everything was still.

"AJ?" Tara asked softly, unable to believe her eyes. "Wha… why are you…"

"I'm sorry, Tara," AJ spoke, almost upset. "But this is something that needs to be done. After all the years of bein' lied to, bein' forced to waste my life for these people… this needs to end. Now, I'll ask you one more time… leave, before I have to do something I'm going to regret."

Tara could barely understand what was happening. Surely, she had to be missing some important detail. AJ was one of her closest friends, after all, so there could be no way that she would want to fight. And there was certainly no way that Tara wanted to fight someone that she cared about. From the looks of it, neither did her friends, who all seemed incredibly confused. Aside from Dash, who was simply glaring at AJ, no one else seemed intent on fighting (although Pinky did keep her hand nervously hovering over her gun).

"AJ, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but you need to stop messing around," Tara begged. "If this is our idea of… of a joke or something, then just stop, because it's starting to really freak me out."

"I ain't jokin," AJ said, her voice sour. "It's not somethin' you'd understand. We were both fed lies by these monsters. I'm just the one who decided to do something about it."

"AJ, please stop acting like this," Tara said, becoming more and more distraught with each word.

"Spark, step back," Dash ordered, bringing up her arms in preparation. "There's no telling what she's going to do."

"Put your arms down," AJ said. "You don't want to fight me."

"Maybe I do."

"Everyone, calm down!" Fiona shouted. However, no one paid her any mind, as words were thrown about faster than ever.

"Look, I'm trying to save your lives."

"So you can fucking blow us all up in the future working for that son of a bitch?"

"You don't understand anything."

"He's been trying to kill us for months, and you betray us? I understand plenty."

"Both of you, stop fighting!"

"Shut it, Spark! Don't show this traitorous bitch any mercy."

"She's our friend!"

"Is she? Is she really? She's threatening us!"

"I just want you to get out of here before you get hurt."

"We're not leaving, AJ. We can't afford to just turn around. Especially not without you."

"Spark—"

"No, Dash! Be quiet for just one goddamn moment!"

Once more, everything was silent. Dash had not seen when Tara had begun to shed tears, and took only a basic assumption to assume why. AJ seemed like she would have been saddened under different circumstances, but as she was, she only stared at Tara with untrusting eyes.

"AJ, I… I really don't know why this is happening," Tara said softly. "But… I mean… you're still our friend, right? After everything we've been through together— you've saved all of our lives a bunch of times, and… well, we can't just leave now. Everything is riding on this mission. If we don't stop him, who knows how many people would be in danger? I know you care about people, and… and I know that you want to do the right thing, so… I mean… please, AJ. Start acting like yourself again, and help us."

AJ stood completely still, thinking over each word that Tara had said. Her friend's eyes were red and puffy, which, deep down, hurt quite a bit. She didn't bother looking around at the others' reactions; it wasn't something she wished to bear. After a few more moments of careful consideration, AJ bowed her head down, and let out a heavy sigh.

"I really did not want it to come to this," she said softly, beginning to unzip her black jacket. "I guess I can't make ya leave then. I tried my best, Tara. I hope you appreciate that."

AJ removed her jacket, and tossed it away, revealing her green top underneath. However, much more important than that, was that she also revealed the presence of two machetes strapped to the back of her waist.

"I just hope this doesn't hurt too much."

Tara felt heartbroken. This couldn't be happening to her. She wasn't about to fight her best friend to the death. She had to be experiencing some sort of terrible nightmare, for in no reality would something as twisted and cruel come to be. Yet, as AJ reached behind her back, and carefully gripped the handles of the twin swords, Tara finally came to terms with what she was about to do. Tara mournfully gripped her katana tighter in her hand, and prepared to attack.

Of course, this would have happened, if Pinky had not instantly grabbed onto her gun, and shot out her arm towards her former friend, her finger placed on the trigger.

However, AJ was ready. Faster than any of the girls thought possible, AJ yanked out one of the swords, spun around on a dime, and threw the blade at Pinky's hand. In one sharp motion, the blade pierced through the blonde's hand, forcing her to drop her weapon, and pinned her to the wall. Pinky let out a scream of pain, as AJ yanked out the other blade from its latch. The girls' expressions shifted at once from sorrow to extreme shock, as they saw the blood ooze out of Pinky's right hand.

Dash barely wasted a moment, however. With a great boost of speed, she launched herself forward, propelling her fist square into AJ's jaw. The attack caught her off-guard, and AJ was knocked off her feet instantly. Yet she did not lie on her back for a single second, as she used her momentum to spring herself back to her feet. Dash attacked yet again, the only one of her friends to show no true hesitation. The sole thought if betrayal willed her every punch, forced her every kick, motivated her not to stop until the traitor had been brought down. Her movements seemed too fast to keep up with, but AJ was quite capable. A series of flashes were all that could be detected by the others. Dash threw a punch, AJ blocked with an elbow. AJ thrust the hilt of her blade, Dash stepped away. A back and forth struggle that lasted for an eternity distracted all other thoughts in the room.

Soon, it became clear that the fight would end. Dash needed her tremendous speed to stand a chance against the vastly more-skilled AJ, but her stamina was draining quickly. The power behind each strike diminished, and she became less and less capable of fighting back. At one point, Dash caught a nasty punch to the chin, causing her to recoil briefly. She spat blood out of her mouth, but forced herself to continue fighting. However, AJ had closed the distance between them, and wrapped her hands around Dash's head. She forcefully brought up a knee into her former friend's gut, and pushed her away.

However, a moment like this was what Rachel had been waiting for. As she watched the colors dancing about before her, she studied their movements closely, anticipating one of them to weaken. At once, she recognized that Fiona and Tara were still too fearful to jump into the fray, and Pinky was desperately trying to remove the blade from her hand, which had broken through the bone with ease. She would have to be the one to end it, she realized. With AJ grappling Dash, Rachel ducked to the ground, and sprinted as fast as she could to the other side of the room. The plan was simple: with her back turned, a swift, well-placed kick to the back of the knee would be crippling. At the very least, it would be able to disable her long enough for them to bring her back to Camelot, and figure out what was wrong with her.

Unfortunately, as Rachel slid into AJ's legs, the soldier had the foresight to jump. The attempt at a surprise attack was so obvious that AJ was amazed it had not happened sooner. Rachel saw a burst of violet flash before her eyes, and was just able to retract her leg before a boot crashed into the floor. She rolled to her feet, watching as a string of blue flew across her shoulder. She leaned back to dodge the incoming blade, feeling the air shift above her head.

AJ began attacking more violently. She swapped back and forth between her two opponents after every hit, keeping them both in guard. Rachel could never gain the offensive, as Dash would constantly retreat to catch her breath, and then jump back after an opportunity had passed by. AJ, growing frustrated, grabbed onto Dash's arm, and sharply bent it around, using kicks to fend off the Brit from attacking. In one motion, she swung Dash at her former friend. Rachel, sensing the attack, caught Dash as she passed by, and used her momentum to cast her away. Unfortunately, this distracted her just long enough for AJ to deliver a swift kick to the jaw. This allowed the more experienced warrior to easily grab Rachel's head with one hand, her leg with another, and promptly crush her already-damaged back to the ground.

AJ pressed Rachel's head into the ground for several seconds. However, she felt a presence behind her. Spinning around, she held up her lone blade, connecting with Tara's sword. The two became locked, pushing against one another with equal force.

"How could you do this!?" Tara shouted, still crushed by disbelief. "We're a team!"

"We still are!"

"Are we? Are we! Then why did you betray us! What about Mac, huh? What would he think about this!?"

"Don't talk about those people like they deserve respect!" AJ spat, groaning as she fought back.

"Wha—"

"Do you really know anything about those people? Honestly, can you say one thing they never lied to us about?"

"They haven't lied to us!"

"Why don't you ask them!? Ask them about the MACER Device! Ask them about how it was really made! Ask them about what really happened to my family!"

"You're family!?" Tara shouted, entirely confused. "What are you—"

AJ had enough. With a scream, she kneed Tara in the stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs. AJ struck Tara's spine with her elbow. Tara fell to her knees, her arms shaking. AJ drew back her leg, preparing to kick her downed foe, but was quite violently tackled to the ground. Her machete clanged as it slid against the ground. As she recovered, she noticed that two knees had pinned her arms to the ground, and someone was hovering over her.

AJ could honestly say that she had never seen a more terrifying sight. Fiona's face was expressionless, absolutely calm, but her eyes told another story. Behind Fiona's green eyes was an unspeakable rage that struck something fearful in AJ's mind. She might have suspected that behind that Fiona had some ferocity looming deep within, given what she knew. However, what she did not expect was that ferocity's ability to hit as hard as she did.

"Don't."

Fiona landed another hit on AJ's jaw.

"Ever."

AJ attempted to roll herself over, but found that she couldn't free her arms.

"Touch."

AJ's head started to spin. She tasted blood in her mouth.

"Her."

AJ reached for her weapon, but it was several yards away. She was entirely defenseless.

"Again!"

Fiona began to mercilessly beat on her opponent. Her eyes had become cold, uncaring. Any restrictions she had were long gone. All she saw before her eyes was someone who hurt the person she cared about. That person was betrayed everyone she knew about. That person did not deserve mercy, or compassion. That person was the enemy. That person deserved to suffer. That person deserved something so unspeakable that she felt personally ashamed that she would not be able to perform it. For some reason, she felt like she shouldn't be enjoying feeling that person's flesh soften underneath her fist. There was an estranged thought that suggested maybe, just maybe, she was supposed to be displaying kindness, and she did not normally act like this. But that thought seemed insane, because feeling her fists moist with someone else's blood felt so good.

"Fiona, let go of her!"

Before Fiona knew what was happening, she felt someone drag her away from the chaos. Fiona attempted to fight back, before she realized that Tara was the one holding on to her.

"What is wrong with you?" Tara asked, practically horrified.

"I… she…" Fiona found it suddenly near impossible to explain her actions. How was she supposed to transcribe how she felt mere moments before? How would Tara react to something like that? Better yet, why had she even felt like that in the first place? Seeing AJ lying stunned on the ground, her face covered with blood, suddenly made her realize what she had just done.

Did I just do that? Fiona couldn't help but think.

"It's over, Fiona," Tara begged. "Just… calm down, alright?"

"R-right," Fiona stuttered out, barely able to contain her fear. Suddenly, Pinky screamed, as she finally tore the blade out of her hand. She held it closely to her chest, sniffling back her tears.

"Jeez, AJ," she muttered underneath her breath. Slowly, she picked up her gun, and somberly, pointed it at AJ. Rachel held her hip as she shakily rose off of the floor. Dash spit out blood.

"That… that sucked," she moaned. "AJ, you may have turned into a psychotic bitch, but you can throw a fucking punch."

"I feel like my spine is shattered," said Rachel. "And that knock to my head screwed up this extra sense. Everything just looks white."

"We'll figure that out later," Tara stated. She couldn't take her eyes off of AJ's bloody form. AJ stared right back, her face a mixture of hate and pity. "Right now, The Unknown is still up there, and we need to take him down."

"So what do we do with her?" Pinky asked. "Should I keep watch on her?"

"Uh… sure, fine," Tara said, brushing her bangs out of her face. "I just need a minute."

"Okay," Pinky muttered. "I'll keep a close eye. Just try to let me know if you—"

SLAM

Pinky never expected to be grabbed from behind, and have the back of her head slammed into the server viciously. Her gun clattered to the floor once again, as The Unknown zoomed past, and ran straight in Tara's direction. She had no time to react before she was punched thrice in the stomach, and aggressively thrown to the elevator.

Tara clutched her head. The room was spinning around her. In a blur, she could make out her friends being attacked. They tried as hard as they could to fight back, but one-by-one, they were sent to the floor. She saw Dash charge head on, only to be met with a boot to the face. She saw Rachel struggle to find out just where the enemy was, only to be easily brushed aside. She saw Fiona try to keep her distance, only to become distracted by the growing body count, and be forced to the ground.

Every single part of her mind willed Tara to get up, but her body simply refused. She knew that she needed to help, but it just wasn't possible anymore. She thought about using her powers, but the splitting headache persuaded her otherwise. Still, she tried to push herself to her feet, collapsing back to the floor each and every time. She clumsily reached around for something, anything to help her ascend.

Suddenly, she found something: a gun. The Unknown was standing only a few yards away, walking over to AJ. None of her friends were nearby. This was her chance. All it would take is a single shot to end everything. She felt like she could aim steady enough to get the job done. One shot to end a lifetime of misery. Carefully, Tar raised the gun, and aimed it at The Unknown's back. She heard a click as she cocked the weapon, focusing all of her efforts on keeping her aim true. Very slowly, Tara reached for the trigger.

And then, Tara froze. Images began to race through her mind. Bodies lying on the floor in pools of blood. Teenagers begging for their lives. Armed men standing all around her, killing everyone in sight. She envisioned them everywhere, staring her down from every angle, judging, waiting, hating. Her breaths became more rapid. Her temples throbbed. Her heart pounded against her ears. She couldn't believe it. After all she had experienced, it still frightened her. It had been festering in her mind all these months, buried deep in her subconscious. The truth hit her hard, and made her feel weak in her stomach.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't pull the trigger.

Horrified at her own inaction, Tara lowered the gun, and watched as AJ was helped to her feet.

"Are you alright?" asked The Unknown.

"Yeah… I'm fine," AJ said, almost ashamed. She wiped the blood from her chin, and stared at the floor.

"You did well," he responded, as if reading her mind.

"What are we gonna do with 'em? We can't kill 'em."

"Why not? Have you forgotten? The nuclear missiles from Vitrumia, the oil facilities… most everyone in the world will end up dead. Why not them?"

"Please, don't kill them," AJ begged. "They're my friends… or at least they used to be." The Unknown considered this for a moment.

"Hmm. I think I can fix that. Dealing with disobedience is my specialty. On your left."

AJ immediately ducked, dodging Dash's elbow, causing the rebellious youth to groan in frustration.

"Just die already, you piece of shit!" she yelled, clasping her fists together over her head. In a flash, The Unknown grabbed onto her hands, and punched her three times in the shoulder, chest, and abdomen. Dash halted in her tracks, and was easily tossed aside. She landed near Tara with a thud, and remained on her stomach.

"What are you talking about?" AJ asked without missing a beat. The Unknown let out a small chuckle, and removed one of his black gloves.

"Let me show you," he said, beginning to walk towards Pinky. "You see, after I was expelled from the MACER Program, I decided to test the effects of the Device on myself. I wanted to see if I could continue my medical research without the government's help. What I found was I gained the power of mental suggestion."

"What does that mean?"

"Here, let me show you…"

The Unknown bent down to the near-unconscious Pinky, who looked at him in a daze. Showing no caution, he placed his hand directly on top of her forehead. She began to scream; images of beatings, torture, and pain all raced through her mind, burning their way into her thoughts. She tried to struggle, but could barely move. An orange glow began to emanate from beneath his palm.

"I learned that, given direct physical contact," he continued. "I can… influence the actions of others. I'd call it mind control, but I realized the individual has far too much freedom for that term. I simply direct their opinions. I cannot create them. As well, I did discover and unfortunate side effect…"

Slowly, Pinky stopped struggling, and began to moan. After ten more seconds, she was rendered entirely unconscious.

"I realized that the more someone struggled to resist the process, the more damaged they ended up becoming. If someone was too… resilient, they received terrible brain damage. Perhaps I shouldn't have used it on all of those who worked for me. Maybe, we never would have had a Smiling Dragons in the first place."

"So she's… gonna be okay?" AJ asked hopefully.

"Once she recovers, yes."

AJ let out a sigh of relief. Tara tensed up. Mind control? They were going to mess with her mind? Make her see nothing but lies, have her turn against everything that she had worked for for her whole life? It was a terrifying notion, but there was nothing she could do. Even if she could fight back, she wouldn't stand a chance. Apparently, it would only make her even more psychologically damaged.

"If you assholes think…" Rachel suddenly shouted from the opposite side of the room. "…that you can fuck up my mind, then you're bloody lunatics. I don't care who you are, but my mind is everything to me. You bastards aren't getting it."

"She's not immune to it, is she?" AJ asked offhandedly.

"I've only met one person who hasn't been affected by it," he replied. "And we impaled him several days ago."

AJ smirked. "Then I'll take care of this."

AJ burst into a mad sprint towards her target. Rachel couldn't see anything. All she could do was rely on the sound of footsteps to judge what was about to happen. The first attack she did well to duck. The second caused her to stumble backwards. The third strike took her to the floor. Once she was on the ground, AJ pinned her arms and legs, as The Unknown casually walked over. Rachel couldn't move, no matter how much she wanted to.

As she fearfully awaited for something to press against her skull, on the other side of the room, Fiona began to speak.

"Girls… can either of you move?" she called out in a loud whisper. Dash moaned.

"Sorta, but not well enough to fight. Spark?"

"I'm… I'm not sure." Fiona looked at the ground worriedly.

"Do you think you can drive?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dash asked, honestly confused. Fiona briefly looked at Tara, and then back at the floor. For the brief moment they made eye contact, Tara saw desperation in her friend's eyes.

"I'm saying… if you can get out of the building, can you drive to Camelot?"

Dash considered this for a moment. She nodded.

"I guess. But they'd never let us out."

"Yeah, I know," Fiona said somberly. Rachel let out a series of swears from the other side of the room, as she was forcibly grabbed and held down. Fiona couldn't bear to look. Instead, she took a deep breath.

"Fiona, don't you dare say what I think you're about to say," Tara stated angrily.

"Dash," Fiona said calmly. "I… I need you to take Tara, and get out of here."

"Wait, what? What about you? How will you get out?"

Fiona looked at the floor remorsefully. "I… I'll hold them off for you."

"No. no you're not," Tara said, trying to sound like a leader. "We're not leaving you behind."

"You two need to get back to Celestia, and tell her what happened. If I hold them off for just a minute, you can make it to safety."

"Look, you pink-haired psychopath," Dash said. "If anyone's staying behind, it should be me. I'm the strongest out of all of you."

"And that's exactly why you need to get out of here," Fiona said more forcefully. "You're the only person I would trust in keeping Tara safe. You two can't afford to be separated. Now, hurry up, and get going."

Dash opened her mouth to say something, but knew there was nothing left to say. Fiona was perhaps even more stubborn than she was (which she recognized as quite the accomplishment). It might have been because she appreciated being called strong, or it might have been because she knew it would be best for Tara, but Dash forced herself to rise, and then picked up Tara to lean on her shoulder. Fiona gazed longingly at her best friend for several seconds, before taking another deep breath, and standing up. Rachel became still, her struggles proving futile in saving her thoughts. The Unknown and AJ turned to the others.

"Please, Fiona," Tara begged. "You don't need to do this. Get in the elevator, and come with us. Being a hero isn't going to accomplish anything."

"I'm not doing this to be a hero," Fiona said sternly. Tara was amazed to see that the intensity had returned to her eyes, cast on the two enemies before her. "I'm doing this because I—" Fiona gazed at the ground. "It's not important. Just go. Be safe."

"Oh, no you don't!" AJ shouted, instantly realizing what was about to happen. She started a mad dash towards the elevator, which just began to close its doors. However, as soon as she got close, Fiona ran up to her, grabbed onto her shoulders, and threw her far away. She managed to receive one final glance from Tara in the elevator, giving her one final boost of confidence, before the elevator began its descent.

AJ groaned in frustration. Without any hesitation, she charged at Fiona, intent on taking her down as quickly as possible. However, Fiona knew that she could not allow that to happen, or at the very least, not yet. AJ threw a swarm of punches towards Fiona's head, each of them hitting only air. Fiona backed away carefully, keeping a close eye on The Unknown as well as studying her opponent. She quickly noticed how AJ had a tendency to swing just off to the left of her target, most likely due to her recent head injury. And so, Fiona dodged to the right every time. Even though it caused every one of her muscles to cry out in agony as she moved, Fiona was able to stay away rather efficiently. In fact, she was even able to land in a satisfactory punch of her own, successfully sending AJ stumbling away several feet.

Unfortunately, that was all of the luck Fiona received. The sight of his daughter injured sent The Unknown into a rage, and he dashed over to Fiona's position. She waited for him to make the first move, noticing how he kept weaving back and forth. However, because of this, she failed to notice that AJ had recovered, allowing the agent to deliver a swift chop to the back of Fiona's head. Fiona let out a yelp of agony, clutching her head, until she was suddenly silenced a strong kick to the side of the head. She collapsed to the ground entirely helpless, as two figures loomed over her.

"Should I go after them?" AJ asked.

"I'd rather you didn't," The Unknown admitted. "I have faith in your abilities, but I'd prefer that you didn't fight against fifty heavily armed guards, especially in your current condition."

AJ sighed. "Fine. Let's just get this over with…"

Suddenly, Fiona's eyes shot open. Two wings sprouted from her back, and flew into the air, soaring to the other side of the room. She was now fighting purely on instinct, her other senses long gone. She barely knew why she continued to do what she did. All she knew was that the life of one very special girl was counting on her, and she couldn't possibly let her down. She saw two forms running after her, but she wouldn't let them stop her. She burst through the air, delivering any attack she could manage as she flew past. She landed again; all she could hear was her beating heart. She took off towards the ceiling, hoping to keep up her act as long as possible.

But then, it all ended. AJ reached up and snagged Fiona's left leg, slamming her back to the ground. By the time she was back to her feet, AJ had already wrapped her hand around her neck, holding her down. Fiona clawed desperately at her captor's face, her limbs flailing about wildly. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand press against her head, which only drove her further off of the edge. She screamed as loudly as she could, furiously punching and kicking at absolutely nothing. So many disturbing images entered her mind; death, blood, rage, despair, and hate consumed her thoughts. But she refused to surrender, lashing out like a wild animal whenever she could.

Finally, after three and a half agonizing minutes, she finally began to feel faint. Her attacks lost their purpose, her calls quieted, and she began to moan quietly. Her eyes were shut tightly, trying in vain to keep the images out of her mind. She refused to give up. Tara was counting on her. She simply could not fail.

And then, everything turned black.

__________

Celestia tapped on her desk with her finger. The effects of the alcohol were starting to wear off, and the stress was starting to return. Of course, she still had hopes that the P.O.N.Y's would somehow be able to get the job done, but the ever looming threat of investigation consumed her thoughts. She considered getting another drink, when suddenly, she heard rapid footsteps down the hall. She rose from her chair, but Dash had already burst into the room, Tara leaning against her shoulder.

"Girls, what the hell is going on?" she asked in a panic. Dash laid Tara down on the empty desk.

"I could ask you the same fucking question," she muttered.

"Where are the others? What are they doing?"

"AJ…" Dash paused. The words were sour on her lips. "AJ fucking turned. She jumped us at the tower. The others got captured."

Celestia could hardly believe what she was hearing. If she hadn't known better, she would certainly say that Dash was intoxicated, or else such a story could never enter her mind. However, judging by her and Tara's grim expressions, something had clearly gone wrong.

"AJ… turned?" she asked in disbelief. "That's… that's insanity. She's been with us for thirteen years."

"Well, I guess she fucking got sick of it, cuz now she's busy torturing our friends with a fucking terrorist. Also, she says that you're a lying bitch, just so you know."

"A liar? I've never lied to her about anything. How would she even get to that assumption?"

"Well, The unknown must have told her something to make her hate you. So, you have any idea what that was?"

"I…" Celestia stuttered. Tara, even in her injured state, saw that the chairwoman was visibly uncomfortable. In fact, she looked exactly like she did when she first revealed the existence of the MACER Device, after Wilson had finished lying about the past. Quickly, Celestia changed topics. "Look, you two need to get to the med bay. You both look like shit. Why don't you just take a rest, and we can sort out everyth—"

"Just stop with the bullshit already!" Tara suddenly snapped. Everyone in the room went silent. "AJ said something about the real truth behind the MACER Device, as if we haven't been told everything. Not only that, but she talked about her family, as if you know something about them. So, either AJ's gone completely nuts over the past forty eight hours, or you're not letting us in on everything we need to know. And honestly, I'm really, really tired of being fed lies day after day. So spit it out already."

Celestia stared at Tara in shock. However, the shock and anger quickly morphed into shame, and Celestia let out a sigh.

"Look, it's been a rough day," she stated. "You girls deserve to know the truth. That much is true. Just… not now. I promise, the first thing tomorrow morning, I'll tell you anything you want to know. I just… I just need some time to think. And, by the looks of it, you need some rest."

Tara looked away. She could not put into words how fed up she was at everything. It was slowly turning out to be the worst day of her life. But, she figured, at least she would be able to understand everything by tomorrow. She supposed she would have to live with that. Dash muttered something under her breath, which actually gave Tara some comfort for once, knowing she was not alone. The two girls leaned on each other, and slowly, frustratingly, walked out of the room.

Celestia sighed, and sat back down behind her desk. She slammed her head into the table. She knew she would have to tell them everything, and it scared her deep inside. If AJ knew about her parents, and if she knew about the MACER Device, then she knew about everything. This was, if she was lucky, the end of her career. If she wasn't, she would probably spend the rest of her life in federal prison.

"Looks like nothing is going your way."

Celestia froze. She hated that voice. She thought he wasn't supposed to show up yet. She thought she had more time. But, as she soon discovered, she was graced by the early arrival of Scotchingson Hue. He stood in the doorframe, his face plastered with disappointment.

"You know, it seems like your incredibly talented at disappointing people," he stated dryly. "I thought you might have learned by now."

"Where are the others?" Celestia asked accusingly. "I know you never travel alone."

"Price is observing your training room," said Hue. "Starleston is doing… things. I never quite know with her, but she tends to be wise."

"If you really want to shut us down, do it already. We've already blown your funding."

"You shouldn't take assumptions, Bridgette Celestia. We haven't come to an agreement yet. Price is quite fond of the idea of teen secret agents. It reminds him of when he was younger, and not so putrid. Veronica's undecided, per usual. I could be persuaded either way, although…" Hue eyed Celestia closely. "You seem a bit drunk. Drinking on the job will subtract heavily from your score."

"You think this is a fucking game, don't you?"

"Of course, I do," he replied honestly, turning back to the hallway. "And if you wish to win, I suggest you use better language with your superior. The inspection starts now, Bridgette Celestia. Good luck."

__________

Rachel awoke groggily on a table. She had no idea where she was, or what was going on. Somehow, everything seemed different to her, but she could not quite put her finger on it.

"Um, hello?" she called out into the darkness. "Is anyone there?" She received no response. Instinctively, she hopped off of the table, and began to wander around the room. She quickly found her way to a door (after banging her foot into the side of another table), and hugged the wall as she explored. After being in relative silence for a few minutes, she picked up faint voices from many meters away. She quickened her pace, and before, long, found herself in another large room, where she heard a rather familiar voice.

"Rachel, ya finally got up."

"Oh, AJ, thank God I found you," Rachel sighed with a smile. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"How are ya feeling?" AJ asked.

"Well, aside from a stiff pain in my back, pretty normal," she replied honestly.

"What do you remember?"

"Well, I can't quite really recall. I do remember a lot of bullshit and irregular behavior."

"Well, duh, of course you remember that," chimed Pinky, who Rachel realized must have also been in the room the entire time. "That's cause we spent all that time doing totally nasty and mean stuff, when we really should have—"

"Thank you, Miss Patrikson," said another voice in the room. "I think she remembers."

"Thank you, Dr. Balle," Rachel replied honestly. "How is everything coming along?"

"Beautifully," he answered. "We should be ready to launch by Saturday night, if not sooner. I just need to finish a few more—"

"No!"

All heads turned towards the corner of the room. Rachel had been so confused on her whereabouts that she completely forgot about the other person who had come in with her.

"Fiona, are you alright?" Rachel asked. Unbeknownst to her, Fiona was sitting in the corner of the room, her head pressed against the wall.

"Don't you dare activate that until I get what I deserve!" Fiona shouted, completely ignoring everything else around her.

"Um… is she okay?" Rachel asked.

"She's been like that since she woke up," AJ whispered.

"We can't postpone this indefinitely waiting for those people to show up!" Balle claimed.

"They will show up!" Fiona screamed. "They have to!"

"And what if they don't show up?"

"They will!" Fiona stated angrily. She began muttering to herself. "You will show up. I need to stop this. You can stop this. Just show up. I know you will. You have to. I'll just wait, and wait, and wait for you. That's all I can do. I'll wait as long as I need to, you stupid, little—"

"Fiona, what in God's name are you talking about?" Rachel asked, walking towards her friend.

"I'm waiting for her," Fiona said harshly. "She'll come. I know she will. She always does. And once she comes, I'll show her. I'll show her everything. We just need to wait."

Rachel stared at Fiona inquisitively. Even though she couldn't see, she felt like something was incredibly off about one of her closest friends. Whatever sense of kindness and compassion that used be present now seemed to be entirely buried beneath a new, hardened shell. Rachel was only curious on why, although she hesitated to ask such a question.

"Fiona, I'm just wondering…" she said softly. "Who exactly are you waiting for? And what do you plan to do once they arrive?"

Suddenly, Fiona began to snicker. The laugh seemed full of disgust and hatred, and most certainly did not sound like it belonged in the mouth of Fiona Samswell. Fiona turned towards Rachel, and although she could not see it, Fiona wore a small, comforting grin.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fiona asked coyly. She had never experienced more hate in her life, and she let it consume every single word she spoke. "I'm going to kill Tara Sullivan."

End of Chapter 11