Chapter 4: The Ballad of Discord

Part 1 of 2: Striking Back

It was a day like no other. A day made simply to admire the absolute beauty of the world. And luckily on this day, the carnival once again returned to Bay View, Illinois, as it did every year. And it was AJ's favorite time of year, for it was the day that her father got off from work, and her mother could focus a little bit more of her attention on her. Of course, AJ knew quite well that someone in her family required far more attention than her. Even at the incredibly bright young age of five, (which she considered the perfect age for anyone to be) she understood that it was truly the infant that required the most intention. After all, her sister was barely a half-year in age. Now much later in the day as the four of them sat in the car, driving home from a long, luxurious day at the carnival. She had done all of the proper things that were a must whenever going to a carnival. She rode the Farris wheel, she ate some candy apples, she played lots of fun games, and she got to spend time with her parents, which she loved the most. Now, she was sitting in the backseat of the car, her father driving while her mother nesting the baby in her arms. Atop her head was a small present from her mother, something won at the carnival in order to make up for the lack of attention.

"Now honey," said the mother as they pulled into their driveway. "My mother is going to come for a visit this weekend." AJ's father groaned like a toad.

"Dang it, you know she hates me," AJ's father whined. They got out of the car, and made their way to the house. It was a simple house, not two stories tall, painted white, and located on the side of a large hill. It didn't seem like much, but AJ loved it ever so much. It held quite the charm to her, and she enjoyed its simplistic nature greatly. Her father ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair, before holding the door open for his wife.

"But she hasn't seen little Katie yet," the mother spoke, entering the house. "And AJ loves it whenever Granny visits. Isn't that right, AJ?"

"Oh yeah," AJ said happily. "I love it when Granny comes to play. Is she coming here soon?"

"Hopefully not," said AJ's father, locking the door. AJ giggled.

"Granny doesn't like your funny haircut," AJ laughed. Her father leaned down to her level, and gave a half-serious look.

"Now Anna-Jean, it's not nice to make fun of other people's hair," he scolded. However, his intentions were not mean, as he removed her hat and rubbed her hair, making AJ laugh more. "Besides, you're the one who has to wear this funny hat!"

"You're silly daddy!" AJ squealed in delight. She didn't always get to see her father, but he was always so sweet when she finally did. He picked her up, and placed her on his back, running around the house with her, as she pretended she was soaring across the sky like an eagle. But her mother was against having fun (at least it was what AJ believed,) and she opened the door to the backyard.

"Matthew, stop running around the house. You'll break a vase, or worse, your hip," AJ's mother scolded. "At least run around outside."

"Carol, I'm thirty-two," the father laughed. "Come on, AJ, we are needed outside!" With a heroic gesture, AJ was carried outside. As she passed by her mother, she made sure to make a face at her younger sister, which was greeted with many giggles from the infant. She wasn't sure how long she spent playing with her father, but every moment felt great. They played many games together, and AJ was continually having a blast. Her mother appeared at the backyard gate, as AJ and her father were lying on the ground, playing a lovely game of I Spy. She looked slightly worried, but her father looked over to her with no fear.

"Matthew, could you come here for a minute?" she asked. She had put the baby in the crib a few minutes prior. "I think something might be wrong with the oven." AJ's father sighed, before standing up.

"I'll be right back, AJ," he said with a smile, before jogging inside. AJ looked up above at all of the beautiful clouds flying overhead. She saw many fantastic shapes in the clouds. She saw a bunny rabbit. She saw a car. She even thought that she saw a pretty bird.

And then, her house exploded.

__________

October 18th, 2015

"Fucking wake up, already!" Dash shook AJ ferociously, forcing the girl to awaken from her dream. She heard the alarm bells sound around her, signaling her to wake up, but she was in such a deep sleep that she failed to notice. It wasn't often that she slept so heavily, but it was such a pleasant little dream. Of course, now, the exact nature of the dream was lost, but she was certain that she didn't want to wake up from it. But it was no matter now, as she and the rest of the girls headed off for the daily training.

"Ugh," AJ let out a moan as she stood up. "Man, I am tired."

"Just get up," Dash complained. "You're one of the few people can actually stand to speak to." AJ took the compliment half-heartedly, and she finished getting dressed with the others. As per standard, the girls spent till noon training and going over strategies and planning. AJ was used to the vigorous training schedule, and she was glad to see the others were adjusting accordingly. She saw Pinky at the shooting range, showing off a deep love of psychopathic range as she swapped between guns at lightning pace and firing off the rounds with expert precision. Rachel was enjoying herself in the large pool, (now wearing appropriate attire). She swam many laps back and forth, showing off much grace in her form. And meanwhile, Fiona and Tara were sparring, having their own conversation that AJ couldn't quite make out.

"You promise that you won't tell anyone?" Fiona said, dodging another jab.

"Fiona, I told you before, if you won't tell them, then I will respect that," Tara said while trying to stay light on her feet. "But you do know that you'll have to tell them eventually. You are living with these people, after all."

"I'll tell them," Fiona said shyly. "Eventually. When I find the best time." She caught a glimpse of Rachel swimming behind Tara, and quickly turned away. She danced around Tara, so that her back was now facing the pool. Tara was confused by the maneuver, until she noticed that Rachel happened to be swimming in a rather form-fitting one-piece swimsuit, which did not leave much to the imagination. She smirked.

"Is she really that attractive?" Tara questioned, throwing a kick at Fiona's head, which was easily dodged.

"Who?"

"You know who," Tara smirked again. Fiona blushed. "I mean, I never saw it, but is she really so pretty that you can't even look at her right now?"

Fiona didn't know how to answer the question. It wasn't like she had ever been asked that sort of question before, and she was really quite taken aback.

"Look Tara," Fiona said nervously, as she couldn't help but notice Tara's huge grin of delight from watching Fiona stammer about. "Just because I'm gay, doesn't mean that you can just ask me all of these questions and expect some kind of interesting response. I am a person, you know. I have my own kind of opinions about people, too." But after this, she looked away and sighed. "But yeah, she's really, really, really attractive. Probably one of the most beautiful people in the world."

"Oh," Tara said, with some small satisfaction. "Well, glad that's all out in the open."

"But I don't want to date her, or anything! Or anyone else, for that matter!" Fiona quickly stated, making sure she wasn't misinterpreted. Tara smirked again.

"Are you sure?" Tara asked. "Because I could totally call her over here right now, in her bathing suit, and all." Fiona blushed furiously. "Or maybe, she could give you a nice, big hug, since it'd be so nice for her to dry off on something. You know, since she is soaking wet right now."

By this point, Fiona couldn't take any more humiliating (and mostly effective) teasing. So, she began swinging at Tara again, breaking off her spew of mental images as she was forced to dodge punches. While the two were now fighting on one end of the training facility, along with the rest of the girls, the other end was only filled with one soul. Although Dash didn't mind being alone. She welcomed it. It gave her time to think, while also pushing her to do her hardest. She was currently beating on a sandbag, quickly striking it with a quick, unrivaled fury. Occasionally, she would look over and see the others, chatting away, laughing, and wasting their time getting to know each other. Dash couldn't believe it. She couldn't understand why everyone was so eager to become friends with everyone else. Sure, she had some form of friendship with Pinky, and she didn't mind talking to AJ on occasion, primarily because the former didn't mind the things Dash usually said, and AJ sometimes told stories of her past missions, which sparked the adventuring need inside of Dash's chest. But she didn't have any long term emotional attachments, because she knew that in doing what she did, there was a strong chance that someone was going to die. And she knew that when someone did finally get gunned down, she would be the only one staying calm enough to properly take charge of the situation. That was a problem she had with Tara's leadership.

In fact, it was one of many problems that Dash had with Tara's leadership. Although she had to admit that the raid on Discord's base was rather successful, she felt like Tara had made some of the worst decisions she had ever seen anyone do under the title of "leader". Some of it was nitpicking, like how Tara never bothered using a gun in battle. To Dash, it seemed like a surefire way to get killed. But so far, it had not interfered much. Besides, Fiona didn't even kill her opponents, and she was turning out to be one of the most capable fighters on the team. But, there were clear problems in Tara's decision making also. Like, for example, not taking the most experienced soldier of the group into the base of one of the most dangerous crime syndicates on the planet. Or, making her own soldiers walk around a town that they didn't know in the middle of the night, all while a psychopathic murderer was on the loose. All of it just bugged Dash, and after just two weeks, she felt like she was going to lose it. She felt like she need to enforce some change into the ranks, before Tara decided to start a suicide mission and choose Dash as the operative who has to trigger the bomb while everyone else escapes.

It was around eleven when Wilson called for the girls to be brought to the Briefing Room. By this time, Dash had pushed each piece of gym equipment to its limit, Pinky had thoroughly depleted about one third of the available ammunition, and, much to Fiona's relief, Rachel had stopped swimming, and was now wearing some decent clothing. When they arrived at the Briefing Room, they were greeted with a bright smile from Wilson, and a somewhat less cheery, yet equally delighted smile from Celestia.

"Wonderful news, ladies," The General proudly stated. "Due to your recent efforts, we have decided to let you have the rest of the day free from any new mission assignments." This news was met with incredibly positive reception, as the girls jumped for joy at their first true break from combat in two weeks. However, Tara wasn't happy, instead somewhat confused at Wilson's decision.

"Why are you doing that?" Tara asked. "I mean, shouldn't we be doing something? Anything at all?"

"There is nothing to do, Tara," Celestia said with certainty. "The Smiling Dragons haven't been seen in days. Their criminal activity is at a record low. And Philadelphia is experiencing one of the least violent weeks in seven years."

"But there's still so much we don't know," Tara reasoned. "What about The Beast? We still don't know anything about him. What if there are more people like him out there? And we still don't have any information on The Unknown. We don't even know if there is an Unknown. What if The Beast is working with him? What if-"

"Tara, please calm yourself," Wilson strongly stated. "We are putting all of our research staff into this Beast dilemma. Of course, we are considering a possible connection with Discord. But there is no information on him anywhere. We can't explain his bizarre condition, but if what he said is true, then he really won't be much of a problem. As for The Unknown," he paused. "There is nothing stating that this bit of information is true. We've been meaning to tell you; we have no information of this person or group. More than likely, it was just the insane ramblings of a madman."

Tara looked to Celestia to support, but the woman was simply staring at the ground, letting Wilson speak. Tara knew that Celestia had her own beliefs about the terrorist threat that faced them; she had heard them herself. But it appeared that Celestia was unwilling to speak. Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind her.

"Spark, their giving us a fucking vacation," she heard Dash say. "Just stop PMSing for once and have some fun, will you?" Tara groaned, trying not to let Dash's comment bug her.

"Alright," Tara finally said. "I guess we'll have to find something to occupy ourselves for rest of the day."

"Actually, Tara," Rachel spoke up with a happy smile. "I believe I know where we can start, at the very least."

"Excellent," Wilson stated. "You are dismissed." The girls left the room peacefully, but Tara noticed how distracted Celestia seemed to be. Although she did not say anything, Tara was quite certain that Celestia had objected to Wilson's idea of a break for the same reason Tara did. It gave Tara some comfort knowing that Celestia supported her, but it still did not help that they were taking a break when they both knew that there was so much work to be done. But perhaps it was something to worry about later, as they now were stepping outside, and Rachel led them onwards.

__________

"So why did you drag us here?" Dash asked in her boredom. The six of them were currently seated in a diner not far from Camelot, which Rachel was very happy for remembering the name of. "And why did you order for us?"

"Because you would have picked the wrong thing," Rachel stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But you ordered us all burgers," Fiona mentioned. "And I'm a vegetarian. So, what will I eat?"

"Eat the fries," AJ told her. "They were pretty damn good."

"Wait," Dash said in questioning. "You're a vegetarian? Why? It's not like the fucking cows won't be killed anyway."

"I don't feel comfortable about it," Fiona simply said. Rachel felt sorry for her friend.

"Well, you're going to regret that life choice in about fifteen minutes," Rachel said smugly. Tara interjected.

"Rachel, a few things," Tara started to say. "First of all, when did you ever get to actually try the burger from this place, anyway?" Rachel blushed at the comment, remembering that she had never actually told Tara that she had eaten part of her friend's meal.

"Um… funny story about that bit, actually…"

Tara sighed.

"I thought so. Second question: What if it's not as good as you remember? What if you were just so hungry that anything would have tasted good to you?" Rachel gasped, as if Tara was saying something entirely sacrilegious.

"It better not be," Rachel said in defense. "That was the kind of food that made me wish I moved to America about ten years ago. And last I remember, I didn't make mistakes when it came to good taste. I'm me. So as far as you should be concerned, this is the best bloody cheeseburger in the entire goddamn world. You're lucky I even took you to this place. I could have kept this little treasure trove to myself."

"Jeez, you didn't have to come off as such a bitch about it," Dash muttered under her breath. But Rachel picked up on the comment, and she quickly turned to the rainbow-haired girl.

"And you don't always have to insult people about every little fuck up they do," Rachel spat back. Soon, the conversation turned rather aggressive, and Tara noticed that the girls were starting to attract attention from other people in the restaurant, which unfortunately was quite full.

"Girls, can you quiet down?" Tara asked. "You're kind of disturbing the peace." Rachel and Dash managed to restrain themselves, and they tried their best to remain quiet until the food came. The next few minutes were filled with small conversations, as the girls spoke of modest subjects. That was until Pinky decided to actively join the conversation, which then took off to become a series of long, mostly imaginary stories that Pinky experienced in her childhood. She was just finishing her story about the time that she thought she saw a Sasquatch, when the food finally arrived. Six cheeseburgers, maxed out with toppings and condiments, were slid in front of the girls for their eating pleasure. While Fiona subtly pushed her food away from herself, trying her best to ignore the intoxicating smell of the beef patty, the other girls cautiously picked up the burger, and took a bite. And immediately, they were greeted with an astounding taste that made them moan in delight.

"Okay," Tara said in defeat. "That is really good."

"Yeah," Dash managed to say through a mouthful of food. "I hate to admit it, but you're actually right about something."

"Normally, I'd be offended by something like that," Rachel said. "But honestly, I really don't care right now. Oh God, that's good!"

"This…" said Pinky, staring at her food, unable to formulate words to describe what lay before her. "This is the greatest thing I have ever eaten in my whole life."

"Um, Pinky…"

"I must sing songs of praise to it. It must be shown the most cordial respect in the universe," Pinky said, as if in a trance. "Is this what it feels like to be in love?"

"Pinky, it's a sandwich," AJ said calmly, taking her leisurely time eating the burger. Pinky was stunned by the comment.

"No! It is the sandwich!" Pinky said, holding the burger close to her heart. Fiona handed her cheeseburger over to Pinky.

"Take mine then," Fiona offered. "I don't really have much of a use for it anyway."

"You can show it compassion!" Pinky shouted towards the shy girl. She took the other burger, and was now holding to separate sandwiches and caring for them as if they were her own children. She whispered lovingly to the patties. "There, there. The big meany Fiona can't hurt your feelings any more. You're safe with me." Pinky was so caught up in her deep love for grilled meat, that she completely ignored the stares she was receiving from her friends.

"So…why do we hang out with Pinky again?" Dash asked. As the stares around Pinky diminished, Rachel began to tell her plan for how the rest of the day should be spent.

"Next, we go to the nearest fashion store and shop our hearts out," she said enthusiastically. "Then, of course, there are the spa treatments, the late night gatherings, the boys we could meet here."

"Look, Germain," Dash spoke, unimpressed. She took another large bite of her burger. "I don't know what you used to do in that fucking island of yours, but count me out of it. There isn't a chance in Hell that I would be involved in that shit. I'd rather die than be a part of it."

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Shouted a voice from the entrance of the restaurant. The girls looked over, and saw a very familiar man standing at the door. His black suit was pinstriped with white, and his black fedora was crooked on his head. But his face paint was exactly the same as Tara had remembered, yellow and black twisted into a sadistic grin. Two men were standing next to him, each holding assault rifles. And in horrible memory, Tara froze.

"THIS IS A FUCKING HOSTAGE SITUATION!"

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

The two men did not fire into the crowd of people, but instead opened fire in the air, causing the innocents to hide under the table in fear. Discord proudly walked around the restaurant, as two more men came in, carrying two large sacks.

"Now, nobody be alarmed," Discord said. "There is nothing to fear from us. Everyone, just remain calm. We have a little bit of business to attend to. We are quite the hospitable folk, you see. Now, my buddy Franco here is going to come around to each of your tables and collect your cell phones and/or mobile devices." As Discord spoke, one of the men ran about the restaurant, as people placed their cell phones into the empty sack. Immediately after this, a second man walked up to the people, reached into the bag, and pulled out two one-hundred dollar bills to place on the tables.

"As compensation for this inconvenience, we members from the Smiling Dragons are going to pay for your meals today," Discord said proudly. "Please, continue eating! I have some business to attend to…" Discord looked around the diner, before spotting the table at which the girls were sitting. He slowly walked towards them, grinning what looked like a smile of comfort. "There they are! There! They! Are!"

He began slowly clapping, as he reached their table. He looked around him, as if asking for the other diners to join in his deranged applause.

"Do you know how long I've been tracking you guys down?" Discord asked the girls. They didn't move, unsure of how to react to the psychopath's bizarre behavior. He pulled up an empty chair, and sat down at the table. "My men have been hunting you down for an eternity. I'm ever so glad to see you again. Please, don't let me interrupt your dining. Eat." Discord spoke with an utmost pleasantness that shook Tara to her core. It was the way he spoke, the way he looked at them with such negligence, as if he were a god, and they were simply little children. He acted like he was invincible, which, as Tara soon realized, he practically was. Even if she wasn't frozen in fear, and she tried to do something, she couldn't. She was surrounded by armed goons, who didn't look like they would be so easily scared off as the others. As the girls silently contemplated their next actions, Pinky took another bite of her burger, receiving glares from her teammates.

"What?" Pinky asked through a mouthful of beef. "He said eat. Besides, it's a good burger."

"Good, I like you," Discord said to Pinky, winking. "Now, on to business. The last time I saw you girls was, well, when you blew up my drug operation. Literally. Do you know how much money you cost me? How many hired idiots you blew away? Granted, they were nothin' more than ass-wiping, cock-jerking pricks, but still, I wasted good money on them. Not to mention, I smuggled enough meth to put Walter White to shame. I had a good thing going. And then, you attacked me. That is not very nice."

"So, what are you going to do? Kill us?" AJ asked fearfully. She always had a gun on her, and she was fairly certain that Dash had one as well, but she didn't have the time to take a shot. She noticed Discord was starting to let some of his anger out, his smile starting to fade.

"Normally, I would," Discord said, honestly. "Trust me, I love nothing more than taking extreme pleasure in the deaths of innocent people. And typically, I would make you fuckers play Russian Roulette with each other until you blow each other's heads off. But see, you destroyed my base of operations. You cost me roughly thirty million dollars. So I brought in the cavalry."

He stood up from the table, and looked out the window closest to the group. "See, I got this specialized unit of troops scattered throughout the city. I call them Hound Dogs. See, I don't just want to kill you. I want you to be fucking scared shitless. I want to see you run and beg for your lives before someone puts a bullet through your brain. And I don't think I can properly encompass that feeling by sitting here, and slowly executing you." Discord motioned for the girls to stand up. They cautiously did, not wishing to anger the man who was holding them at gunpoint. They walked to the entrance of the restaurant, and Discord motioned for them to stand outside.

"So, here's what's going to happen," Discord said proudly. "I'm going to give you sixty seconds. After that, I am going to order my men to try to kill and/or capture and torture you. Either or. So, I best recommend that you run as far away from here as possible. Got it? Good."

"What is he doing?" Rachel whispered to Tara, noticing that her friend was deathly afraid.

"I… I think he's going to hunt us," Tara whispered fearfully. "Like wild animals."

"Sixty seconds starts now!" Discord shouted, interrupting Tara's words. She paused for a moment, thinking of what to do. She knew that she would be shot dead before any of them could try to shoot Discord. That much was clear. She regretted not having her sword with her. She couldn't do much with it, but she would have felt much safer knowing that she had a weapon.

"So, Spark," Dash asked Tara. "What's your master plan for getting out of this one?"

There was no reply. She looked behind her, and saw that Tara, leading the rest of the group, had bolted off in the opposite direction, accidentally leaving Dash standing alone in front of Discord.

Motherfucker, thought Dash angrily, before she took off after her teammates.

Discord sighed at his good work, happy that the girls were already panicking before even ten seconds had passed. He calmly walked back into the restaurant, and looked around at ll of the nervous occupants. One of his men walked up to him for orders.

"Okay, Billy," Discord said with a grin. "Make sure to tell the Dogs that the bitches have scattered, and now it's time to go ape-shit on 'em." He paused for a moment, before adding, "Oh, and waste these fuckers, will ya?"

The man nodded, and within three seconds, gunfire rang throughout the diner, as people collapsed to the ground in pools of blood. Happy with his work, Discord walked to the table where the girls were previously sitting. Surrounded by the chaos and screams of innocent civilians dying, he picked up the remains of one of the burgers that used to belong to Pinky, and took a bite.

Oh, Discord thought as he heard women and children beg for their lives. That is good.

__________

As Tara rounded another corner, Dash finally managed to tackle her to the ground. The other girls managed to stop in their tracks, as Tara rose in anger and confusion.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Tara shouted. She brushed herself off as Dash replied in equal frustration.

"What is wrong with you?!" Dash yelled. "A maniac tells us we have sixty seconds to live, and you just fucking run away?! Did you even notice you left me behind?! What are you thinking?!" Tara felt rather paranoid at this time, mostly ignoring Dash's rage and constantly looking around her for signs of trouble. Meanwhile, Dash had started to complain to the other girls, saying how she couldn't believe that everyone had simply followed along with Tara's outrageous behavior.

"Look, we've learned it's better to trust Tara's ideas than not to," Rachel said. "Honestly, I think she has a good plan she's waiting to tell us right now."

However, AJ was not as convinced. While at first, she thought Tara did have some form of strategy ready, now that she saw the terrified look in her friend's eyes, she believed that Tara was not using rational thought, but rather pure instinct to guide her. In fact, she wasn't even responding to Fiona's current attempt to ask for information, instead, she was sifting her weight uncomfortably to stay light on her feet.

"Um, Tara, you do have a plan," AJ tried to confirm. "Right?"

"Um…" Tara tried to think. She had to focus; it was the only way to survive. So then why was it so hard for her to concentrate? Surely when she was in a life threatening situation, she would be the most rational. But she couldn't stop thinking about the shooting at Ymerton, the feeling of dread that told her she was being hunted at every turn. A sense of terror was taking control over her, and she felt nothing but irrational fear. "We… we have to..."

"Okay, fuck that bullshit," Dash said. "I got an idea: Why don't we run back to Camelot, get some fucking guns, and take these bastards head on?"

"No, that… that won't work," Tara said, starting to calm down. "If we are being hunted, the last thing we want to do is make Discord learn the location of our base. Besides, we'd never make it."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Pinky asked frantically. It seemed like Tara's panicked behavior was rubbing off onto her, and the last thing Tara needed was more panic in the ranks.

"I… I don't know," Tara said honestly. "Give me a minute to think."

"We don't have a minute to think!" Pinky yelled out in a crazed state. "Everyone is freaking out, and I can't take it anymore! All I wanted to do with my life is take care of my nice little burger children, and move to Japan, and fight Godzilla like my great ancestors did! But now it's ruined! It's all ruined!"

"Pinky, calm down!" Rachel shouted at her friend, who was acting more off-the-wall than usual. "We don't have time for you t-… wait, you're Japanese?!"

Suddenly, AJ heard a rustling coming from about twenty feet back. It wasn't much, just a small little amount of movement of someone realigning themselves. With quick realization, she did the first thing that came to her mind. Her training kicking in, she pulled out her gun, turned around, and fired three shots.

And the civilian who made the rustling jumped back as the bullets nearly struck him in the legs.

"What the fuck, lady!" he shouted in anger, before walking away. AJ felt an incredible sense of embarrassment rush over her, as her gunshots ended the conversation they were having, and stared at AJ, who was fuming.

"Jesus, AJ, show some fucking self-restraint," Dash said. Unfortunately for AJ, she had attracted all of the attention towards herself, which meant that no one noticed that a man in full body armor was kneeling down at the other end of the street. A sniper rifle in his hand, he lined up his sights with AJ's head, steadied himself, and slowly pulled the trigger.

But alas, another bystander happened to be jogging down the street at this time, late for an important meeting. In his haste, he lost his footing, and collapsed onto the criminal, causing him to lose his accuracy, and shoot past AJ's head. The girls became alerted to the man's presence, and bolted off into a nearby alleyway. The criminal recovered, and in his anger, he attempted to shoot the man who had hit him. But he had already recovered and was running away, and the Hound Dogs had much more important task at hand. He pressed his hand to his ear, triggering his earpiece, and he alerted the rest of his unit to the girls' location.

As they ran through the alley ways, AJ kept her gun at the ready on the likely chance that more soldiers would show up. Dash handed her own weapon to Pinky, in hopes that she would maintain higher accuracy, despite the fact that rage was building up inside of her, and Dash wanted desperately to shoot someone in the face. Tara was struggling to come up with any viable options of escape.

She reevaluated her situation. She was being hunted throughout the entire city by madmen. Discord had said that they would not stop until the P.O.N.Y's were either dead or captured, and neither option suited well for her. Right now, the only thing that she could think of was to keep running, and hope that the Hound Dogs lost track of her. But if Discord was to be believed, then there was no where she would be safe, not even back at Camelot. She wished she had a map of the area, just so she could know where she was headed.

The girls exited the alley, and came to a crowded street area. Many people were bustling about this place, meaning that the Hound Dogs could be located anywhere. Rachel pulled out her phone, and quickly pulled up a map of the area.

"Okay, we are…" Rachel said, triggering her GPS system. According to this, we are about roughly three miles from the nearest gun store. If my knowledge of the American measuring system is correct, that's not very far. I recommend we head there for safety."

"We might not last three miles," Tara quickly said. Her words began flowing much faster and more panicked. "Anything else nearby?"

"You mean a place where we can hide? Dozens," Rachel said. "But we have limited firepower, and if they find us-"

"We die, I know," Tara finished. "But is there anywhere that contains something we can use as weapons. Lumber stores, car dealerships, even any buildings with high security?"

"Not that I can see," Rachel said, scrolling through her phone. Suddenly, more gunshots rang out, sending panic through the streets. The girls ducked and ran for cover, finding their help in the form of a parked bus. They hid behind it as the Hound Dogs started to swarm in on their position. Tara thought of a way out of her predicament. She leaned out of cover to survey the environment. She was able to see five men, each with rifles and customized body armor, painted with dog imprints to show their capability as elite fighters. However, she had to quickly duck back into cover to avoid the bullets whizzing past her skull.

"We need to get out of here!" Tara exclaimed. Fiona, who had been following Tara till this point, decided to take some initiative. She stood up, and ran to the door of the bus. The vehicle was deserted at this time, meaning that no one could open the locked bus. But Fiona started kicking the door, trying to break in the door. After several frustrated kicks simply bounced off of the glass, she decided to snatch the gun out of Pinky's hand, and shot through the glass, breaking the door apart. The kickback sent her wrist cracking back. She screamed, and clutched her wounded wrist as she dropped the gun to the floor. AJ picked up the second gun, grabbed onto Fiona, and guided the both of them through the shattered door, making sure to avoid cutting themselves. The rest of the girls filed into the vehicle.

They quickly sat down, as Dash took Rachel's phone and went to the driver's seat, and started to hotwire the bus. As crucial seconds ticked away, AJ started to take a look at Fiona's hand. It seemed like she might have broken the wrist from the kickback, or at least something bad enough to nearly bring Fiona to tears (which AJ considered might be easier than not). Dash finally managed to start the bus, and slammed on the gas. The bus lurched forward as bullets bounced off of its side. AJ tossed her spare gun back to Pinky, who now leaned out the window and started shooting back at the Hound Dogs. Most shots bounced off of their armor, yet one bullet managed to penetrate through a weak point on the neck, passing straight through the man's jugular.

It was rather unfortunate that Dash didn't know how to drive the bus. She constantly crashed into things, and while attempting to make a sharp turn, she nearly flipped the vehicle over on its side. She had once heard that a special license was needed to drive a large truck or bus. She supposed that this meant she was committing a crime, but she didn't really care. After all, it wasn't her first time breaking the law, and she had far more pressing matters at hand. She tried her best to navigate the narrow streets, making sure she didn't hit any cars traveling past her. Pinky kept a watchful eye behind her, making sure she didn't see any cars tailing them. Whenever she did see someone start to follow the bus, she immediately shot out the tires, or if they were on foot, took a quick shot to their head or legs. It wasn't a very steady ride for the girls, however. They were constantly were thrown around in their seats due to Dash's driving, and they slammed into each other and the seats themselves. Pinky was rammed into the windows at such frequency that she nearly dropped her gun several times in her attempt to stay balanced. Finally, after what seemed like hours of maneuvering, Dash finally reached the gun store.

Placed on the corner of a busy intersection, Johnny's Rifle Shop was a modest weapons dealer, selling fancy guns for rather cheap prices. Dash managed to park the car next to the shop (although she nearly crashed into three cars and a fire hydrant). The girls quickly exited the bus, and made their way into the store. The store was rather small, its only key features being a counter, a large rack of weaponry, and a small side exit, used for emergencies. The store was relatively empty, save for the man behind the counter. He dressed modestly, in a green button-up shirt and cargo pants. He had a rather chubby midsection, and big arms, covered in hair. He seemed rather chipper and acted in a rather friendly manner when six teenage girls entered his store in a frenzy, shutting the door quickly behind them.

"Hello, welcome to Johnny's Gun Shop," he spoke. "What can I get you today?" AJ walked up to him, and pulled out a card of identification she kept in her back pocket. She showed it to the man, and his face went white.

"I'm with the Federal Government," AJ stated with authority. "I'm going to need you to get out of this store. Now." The man, not wanting to mess with someone from who could possibly shut down his entire business, shuffled out of behind the counter, and moved out of the store.

"And get as far away from here as possible," she yelled, shutting the door behind him. With haste, the girls got to work, taking guns off of the shelf, and examining the place for anything they could use to make a stand. Plenty of shotguns and machine guns were available, as well as several powerful grenades, which AJ knew were illegal to sell.

"No wonder this guy wanted to comply," AJ muttered to herself as she stocked up on ammo. Unfortunately, there was not much she could do to help Tara and Fiona, who would refuse to use the firearms. Rachel was vastly improving with her aim, but she was still ill-adept at hitting a moving target. Dash and Pinky were much more helpful in this case, but still, there was the immediate problem of not knowing how many people the Hound Dog unit consisted of.

"Okay, here's the plan," Tara said. "We'll have layers of defense. Rachel, Dash, get outside by the bus, and take out what you can. AJ, Pinky, stay behind this door, while Fiona and I will get behind the counter. If you're getting overwhelmed, fall back. If all goes well, we should be able to take them down before we get outmatched.

"And if they push us back too far?" Fiona nervously asked.

"Then we make use the grenades and blow this place. We get out through the side entrance, make a run for it," Tara explained. "That's the best I got right now."

It was with mutual understanding that the girls took their positions. Dash and AJ got outside, and knelt down behind the bus. Rachel peered around the corner. She saw roughly a dozen men approaching from one hundred meters away. The people scattered as they sprinted through the streets heading towards the bus. At the doorway, AJ and Pinky took their positions as well, resting against the door frame with machine guns at the ready. The bus was parked just to the left of the doorway, allowing for a nearly perfect line of sight from the girls to the Hound Dogs. Tara was waiting for the perfect moment to order the attack, letting the targets get just close enough to maintain high accuracy. They just had to run a few more meters, and then the stars would align, and they would be easy pickings. But then Dash decided to take initiative. There was no real good reason to do it, but she believed that she saw an opportunity, and being the instinctive person that she was, she took a chance.

Following her namesake, she dashed out from the cover of the bus, shooting at the Hound Dogs while she sprinted to the cover of a nearby car. It was much smaller than the bus, and was not as sturdy, but she figured that it would support her rather nicely. Some of the shots she fired managed to find a target, wounding two of the men, and barely killing one. But this alerted the men to their position, and they immediately opened fire on the vehicles. The element of surprise gone, AJ, Pinky, and Rachel started to fire also, much to the ire of Tara. Fiona covered her ears as best as she could with one hand, cringing from the sound of so much gunfire.

"Were they supposed to do that?!" she asked over the gunfire. Tara groaned.

"No, I don't know what's happening!" Tara yelled back. Meanwhile, Dash had managed to attract most of the attention away from the others, allowing Pinky and AJ to fire some easy shots upon the soldiers. Rachel helped as well, though not as she intentioned. She was given a shotgun to protect herself, as AJ knew that she could not shoot well from a long range, so she was given something to accommodate for that disadvantage. And since the soldiers had now become aware of this fact, they made sue to keep their range, not wanting to avoid being shot by an "expert" at close range. This stopped their advances rater efficiently, giving the girls more time to fire. Dash began firing again, now causing damage on two fronts. More troops fell, and soon, the incoming troops had dissipated by half. Though it was not according to plan, the girls were standing their ground rather well, and AJ actually started to believe in their odds.

And then, reinforcements showed up.

A large bus pulled up about fifty yards away, and roughly twenty more soldiers poured out of it. Without a second thought, they charged at the gun shop, firing their rifles with little care for what they were hitting. AJ tried firing at them, but despite how many men she took down, their charge never weakened, and they became even more aggressive. And it wasn't just AJ who noticed this. Dash now realized what a strategic disadvantage she had. She was all by herself, far away from her point of retreat, facing an incoming horde of better equipped soldiers. It was actually quite the predicament. She was faced with a brief, yet important choice: run or fight. If she fought, her pride would be saved. But if she ran, her life would be saved. Most likely. There was still the chance that she would be shot running back into the store, as there was no cover between her and her target, not to mention, the Hound Dogs grew closer with every second. But she liked her chances of going toe-to-toe with fifty men even less. Hoping that she really was the fastest woman alive, she took a chance and sprinted towards the entrance to the shop. Bullets flew by her, and she barely managed to dive through the doors to the store without getting hit. So, as it turned out, her pride would be saved after all. Rachel followed her behavior, and quickly ran to the safety of the shop. AJ slammed the door shut, and promptly locked it, hoping to buy the girls some extra time.

"Okay, that was a failure," Rachel said unenthusiastically. Tara stood up from behind the counter which she was hiding behind, her face red with rage.

"What the hell was that?" Tara demanded.

"I saw an opportunity, and I took it," Dash explained, showing no real sense of regret.

"You could have killed us all!" Tara screamed at her.

"Ladies, we aint gonna live anyway if don't think of a way out of here!" AJ interrupted.

"Okay," said Tara trying to calm down. "We go with Plan B. We are going to need to trigger as many explosives as possible. We leave through the side exit, and hope it takes us to somewhere safe, and that the grenades keep them from chasing us."

"Wait," said AJ, thinking deeply. "What if it doesn't work?"

"It has to work," Rachel reasoned. AJ shook her head. The plan just didn't sound right to her. Not only was it likely that the exit wouldn't take them any further than the next street over, but it was also quite possible the explosions could hurt themselves. Or, there was the chance that they could easily be followed. It didn't feel like the right thing to do.

"If this fails, which is likely," AJ said. "Then they will just gun us down on the spot. But if one of stays behind and covers the others, then it is more likely you could have a chance to escape."

Tara processed this for a moment, before she understood what AJ was recommending. Her eyes went wide.

"No way," Tara said. "There is no way you are getting left behind."

"Tara, I can hold them off," AJ reasoned.

"They'll kill you!"

"Tara, I'd probably die anyway," AJ spoke back with fierce determination. "You can get away while I take the head on. I've faced much worse threats by myself before."

"But…" Tara tried to argue with her.

"Tara, if we blow this place up, we'll probably die in the explosion. And if not, then they'll probably capture and torture y'all for information. If all goes well for me, I can buy you ladies enough time to get back to Camelot, and I can eliminate part of the threat. If they know what I'm worth, then they'll take me alive, or at least attempt it." Tara heard loud banging on the door, and knew that her time was short. She considered her options very carefully, and then nodded towards AJ.

"Good luck," Tara simply said. She moved towards the side exit, and opened it. An alley way was revealed to her, leading to the next street over. She instructed the girls to follow her, which was met with much shock.

"Tara, you can't seriously be leaving her behind," Rachel questioned.

"She'll be alright," Tara told her, trying to show some confidence. Begrudgingly, the girls followed Tara outside into the alley.

__________

The troops had banged on the door five times, and were starting to feel it budge. By this point, they had put away their guns and pulled out long machetes, a specialty of being part of the Hound Dogs. They knew that the girls were trapped inside the building, and could do nothing to get away from them. Just as they felt they were going to barge in the ladies, they heard the door unlock. It actually startled them a bit. They quickly backed away from the door, and formed a variation of a phalanx, their long blades at the ready. The door then slowly started to open, and made a small crack between the shop and the doorframe. One of the soldiers broke formation, and slowly approached the door. He cautiously pushed it open, seeing if anyone was inside. But he saw no one, just an empty gun shop. He took another step forward, and then a shotgun blast blew his head off.

AJ rolled out of her cover, and made an attack on the phalanx. The Hound Dogs tried to recover their formation, but it was already too late. AJ had rolled into the group, sweeping the legs of two enemies, sending them to the ground. She stood up, as other members back away from her. She pulled up her shotgun again, shooting two men simultaneously, and while the armor saved one man, the other was struck in the neck, and the force of the blast knocked them over as well. One man tried to charge AJ with his machete, but she dodged, successfully grabbing his wrist and disarming him of his weapon. She impaled the man with his own sword, as three new men came to take his place. They surrounded her in a triangle pattern, and they all moved at once. One man took a high swing, but AJ ducked, causing him to cut off the head of one of the other Hound Dogs. While crouched, AJ strongly kicked the third man in the knee, breaking his leg. As he fell to the ground, AJ rose up, grabbing onto his body and using him as a human shield. The first soldier took another swing at her, but his sword became lodged in his ally's neck, as AJ brought him down with another shotgun blast. She threw both men to the ground, and shot another soldier who was running at her. A line of four men approached her, but instead of running, AJ sprinted at them. She ducked the first man's swing, punching him in the gut. She pushed him back into the second man, before slicing both of their heads off at once. For the third man, AJ hit him in the side of her head with her shotgun, before hitting him again in his leg. She moved past his body, and started dodging the swings by the fourth man. She dropped her gun and sword, and grabbed onto the man's arm. She moved behind his back, kneeing his elbow in the process, breaking it. She quickly placed both of her hands on the sides of his head, and snapped his neck. As the wounded man tried to crawl away, she picked up her machete again, and delivered a fatal stab through his chest. As she looked around her, she saw the other soldiers starting to regroup, and she started to rise to her feet to counterattack. But then she felt a gun being pressed to the back of her head.

"You're gonna want to put that sword down now," she heard Discord speak behind her. She let go of her sword in defeat, and raised her hands in the air. She saw a man run up to Discord, looking very defeated himself.

"Sir, we lost the other agents," he spoke drearily. Discord smirked at him, however.

"Don't worry," he said with a grin. "We got one of 'em. And I think we are going to have to treat this one very specially in order to compensate for our loss." The soldier seemed to understand what Discord was saying.

"Oh, of course," he said, somewhat happier. He then spoke to AJ, "You're going to have a fun night, kid."

Two soldiers picked AJ up, and dragged her to the bus, all while Discord kept his revolver pointed at her head. They put AJ onto their bus, as the rest of the remaining Hound Dogs filed in, before the bus drove off to Discord's new hideout.

To Be Continued…