It was a quaint little street with quaint little houses, the dim and flickering streetlight's revealing the peeling paint on their white picket fences. Most of the houses had fairly recently received a fresh coat of paint, the graffiti spelling out that the Thrashers were the gang of the neighborhood. No one was out on the street in the early evening, and no cars were parked in the driveways or roadside. A lone cab pulls to a stop in front of one of the houses. The passenger handed the driver a bill from the back seat.

She climbed out of the cab and it pulled off. She looked up and down the street, then walked to the third house up the street from where she got out. She calmly went up the broken cement path to the front door and went in.

Suddenly she is grabbed from behind, a large hand covering her mouth and an arm as thick as her leg pinning her arms to her side. She struggled briefly but fell quiet when a voice spoke from out of the shadows across the room.

The room she enters is dimly lit from the fading sunlight outside coming through the translucent curtains. There are windows on either side of the door, halfway between the door and the sides of the house. The room has no furniture in it, but there is a door front and right from her view. I see this scene watching her face as a hand covers the lower half of her face. I picture her eyes doing that Dawn-the-withered-whore look. Then a full body shot with signs of struggle and her finally relaxing.

"What have we here?" it said, rough, masculine. The speaker came into the faint light that sifted in from the windows. It was Solo. The hand over her mouth relaxed.

"I'm the fifth member of the party."

"How do I know that?"

"You're Solo, and I assume the human mountain holding me is Jackson. Gem and Tirade are not apparent, but they're in this too. Draz hired me and told me that this is where to meet you."

"You mean Nakota hired you."

"No, I mean Draz hired me. If you're working for Nakota, something's gone wrong." Solo nodded to Jackson and she was released.

After she relaxes, Solo speaks, and he comes out of the shadowy doorway ahead. Like Tayariel, he's wearing all black, and has a pistol holstered on each hip. He looks suspicious and cruel during this little interrogation, while she looks indignant and bored (exasperated). Flash back and forth from faces for a few lines, then show the scene from the side, Jackson with his back against the front door holding Tay, Solo facing them from across the room. Maybe Jackson looks annoyed for all of this, and startled when Solo nods to him.

She suddenly spun, lashing out at Jackson with her right hand at his face, as he blocked it casually with his left arm, she punched his raised right arm out of the way and kicked him in the stomach with her right foot. Jackson raised his right leg, but she hopped back, duck and swept his left leg out from under him. As he fell she moved right with him, slamming a punch towards his face but pulling it short right in front of his eyes. They sat there tensely for a few moments until Solo spoke again.

"Very nice."

"I'm convinced," Jackson said in a smooth, calm, and quiet voice. She smiled and helped him up. "What do you call yourself?"

"Tayariel."

Fairly clear right? I'd like the scene with her fist in his face to last awhile, so don't change anything but perspective for several frames, don't show Solo speaking. Then they get up. Jackson smiles ruefully at her, and nods in approval at her name.

"Cute," Solo said.

"Fitting," murmured Jackson.

"As soon as Tirade and Gem get here we can start planning this thing out," Solo continued.

"I'm already here," said Gem, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Solo whirled, whipping a pistol out and pointing it at Gem. He recognizes her and nods, putting the pistol away.

"Here comes Tirade," Tayariel says, looking out the window. Solo looked at her questioningly. "I've dealt with her before." He nodded.

Tirade strolled in and shut the door. She looked around, recoiling slightly when she saw Tayariel.

"Hiya, hon!" Tayariel smiled at her evilly. "Shall we?"

"I've got the blueprints on the kitchen table and some beers in the fridge. Hope no one minds too much, but I took the liberty of sketching out a plan," Solo said with a grin.

"You're Tactical," Jackson said.

"Thanks." Solo led them into the kitchen through the door Gem was still leaning against.

In the kitchen, they leaned against the table and looked at the blueprints Solo had laid out as he sketched in the plan.

"First off, I'm not putting myself in the team that will enter the building. We all know why- my idea of subtle is a shotgun instead of a howitzer. And subtlety is going to be an extreme need. I'm in the rear with the gear, a van parked three blocks down the road from the main gates to the complex. You four are in two teams, Tayariel and Jackson will cross over to the roof from the west while Gem and Tirade come in from the east. Tirade, once on the roof it's your show. The main fuse box is here," Solo said pointed at the blueprints, "and you're going to have three minutes to cause a thirty second power loss to this section of the building." He encircled the section. "While she's doing that, Tayariel and Jackson will remove the grate of this air vent. Gem reconnoiters the roof and quietly removes any unwanted guests. You'll have those three minutes, because you need to be with Tay and Jack at the air vent when the power cuts out. When it down, the fan will stop and you three move in. Tirade, make sure that failure is no longer than thirty seconds. Anything longer trips off alarms and kicks in backup generators that we can't disable and traps those three inside while security comes down tighter than an English virgin. Now, once inside..." The scene fades out.

It was now night that same day, and Tayariel and Jackson moved silently across a nearby roof, headed towards the complex. They reached the edge and Jackson unslung a rope that he wore around his shoulder, crossing over his chest. He attached Tayariel's grappling hook to it and made a smooth underhand cast to the waiting roof. It caught neatly and he pulled it tight, tying the other end off in a curious knot. He nodded to Tayariel who ran across the rope like a tightrope walker and crouched defensively upon reaching the other roof, a dagger gleaming in her hand. Jackson ran across the rope just as well, to Tayariel's surprise. When he came down, he picked up the rope and gave it a peculiar tug. The other end came loose and he hauled it in quickly, coiling it and replacing it across his chest. They ran to the air duct and began removing the screws. When they had the last one out, Gem joined them, waving her hand out flat- the all clear sign. Jackson pulled the heavy steel grate off as the fan blades that could cut them in half groaned to a halt. Tirade was right on time. Setting the grate aside, the three moved in and began crawling through the air ducts.

The storage room was dimly light by a small fluorescent light, and the room was full of boxes and barrels bearing the Nakota Inc. symbol. The vent on the ceiling suddenly disappeared upwards and Tayariel came snaking down. She landed silently, stirring up a cloud of dust. Jackson followed her and then Gem. As they came out, Tayariel had her ear pressed to the door. The three gathered in the center of the room.

"All clear," Tayariel said very quietly. "I'll take point, Jackson, you have rear guard. Radio Tirade that we're beginning phase two."

Jackson pressed a finger to his ear, where a small hearing aid like device was. "Phase two is go," said quietly, then nodded as he got a confirmation. Tayariel moved to the door and opened it slowly. The party moved out into the hall, spacing themselves with five feet between each of them. The halls are sterile. The floor is tiled white, the walls are white, the doors that randomly appear on either side are white. They move swiftly yet silently through the halls, turning first right, then taking the second left and stopping at the third door on the right. Tayariel began inspecting the door while Gem moved pass her to watch one end of the hallway as Jackson watched the one they just came through. Tayariel pulled out her lock picks and opened the door in short order.

The room, like it's surrounds, was white. There was a short hallway from the door, a closet on the left, a mirror and sink on the right. A bed sat against the wall maybe twenty feet away, with the young man she stole the file from laying on it. He looked up as she entered the room, a question in his eyes. Tayariel held a finger to her lips. He nodded. She held out a sign. It reads:

"I am part of a team sent by Draz to rescue you. They want you back, no hard feelings. Pack very quickly. Wear dark clothes. Do not be alarmed when the sirens go off- it's part of the plan. Nod if you agree to this."

He nodded.

As Tayariel and the mark came out of the room, sirens began to go off, again Tirade was right on time. There was now a fire in the chemicals lab, and the confusion would help to cover their escape. They moved off towards Gem's end of the hall, Gem in the lead with Jackson still bringing up the rear. They turned left at the end of that hall and kept going. Jackson suddenly tapped Tayariel on the shoulder, having closed the distance silently.

"We have a problem- they've found Tirade. She's holed up in a storage shed on the east side of the building. Solo's going to try to break through to her in two minutes. She can't hold out longer than that. Whatever we do, security's alert now, and when Solo goes in they better not be able to find us." Tayariel nodded, scowling. She ran ahead to Gem, just a team of four security guards came rushing around the left turn in front of them. Gem ran right into them, punching one in the face as another turned towards her. Tayariel's knives flashed as she threw one at the guard on the far left, and as she stabbed the one on the inner left she heard a gun go off right next to her. She pulled her dagger free and grabbed the guard who had just shot Gem by the head and slit his throat. Jackson in the meanwhile had followed up on the one Gem punched by snapping his neck. Gem lay slumped against the wall in a pool of blood, half her head missing. The mark started to vomit, but Tayariel grabbed him and pulled him along.

"We don't have time for that," she snapped, the need for silence gone by the gunshot. "Jackson, tell Solo to get Tirade, we're going out a window."

"Right," Jackson acknowledged. "Solo, we've lost Gem, mission FUBAR, get Tirade, pull out. We'll meet you at the safe house." He paused for a minute. "all right, Solo's moving in. Let's be gone before he gets here."

Three figures were climbing down a rope from the third story of the building. In the street in the background, a blue van squealed around a corner and began tearing towards the gates. A closer look at the van shows Solo driving it, holding a LAW (Light Anti-Tank weapon- ie missile launcher) out the window. The missile launcher goes off, leaving a trail of smoke as the gates vanish in a ball of fire. Smashing through the rubble, he turned away from the side of the building where the three fugitives were making their escape.

He disappears around the building as the three reach the ground. Jackson takes hold of the rope but Tayariel shakes her head.

"We don't have the time," she said. Jackson nods.

"On the contrary. You're not going anywhere," said a voice from the bushes. "Lights!"

The three were blinded as four lights suddenly shone in their faces. They could barely make out the figures holding the lights. The lights moved down to their feet and vision returned slowly, along with the neat purple spots that go with being light blinded. The man in charge looked like a Rent-a-Cop, tall, powerful build, 5 o'clock shadow. His uniform was also like a Cops'. Blue-black pants, button up shit with pockets. On the left pocket was the Nakota Inc. logo instead of a badge, but he did have the belt with the club, gun, and walkie-talkie. He also had four men with him, all holding their Maglites like clubs and the guns pointed at the prisoners.

"Move. I really want you to give me a reason to kill you," the head guard said. The party stayed still. "But I guess I can come up with something," he continued. "Kill them."

As the guards raised their guns the aim, a humongous explosion rocked the building and a plume of smoke and fire rose from the far side of the building. As the guards stared in horror and tried recovering from the shock wave, Jackson leaped at them.

"Get out of here!" he yelled at Tayariel.

"No!" she said, drawing a dagger. By this point, Jackson had felled a guard, but the others were with it now and using their flashlights to club him.

"GO!" he thundered, "We'll meet again!" She ran, dragging the mark behind her. And then she did something very uncharacteristic for her. She looked back.

The lights were swinging about wildly as the butt end of the flashlights were used to club Jackson. He held one guard by the throat in his right hand, holding the guard of the ground, and was kicking the leader in the face. She clearly saw Jackson's eyes, watching her, calmly. Then she had to turn back around to watch where she was going. As she and the mark cleared the burning remains of the gate she heard a gunshot followed by a dreadful silence.

Tayariel and the mark were sitting in a dumpster only three blocks from the Nakota R&D complex. The dumpster was only half full and not too much of it was rotting food or worse, so she was fairly comfortable. He wasn't, however.

"How long are we going to stay here?" he asked nervously.

"Until things calm down out there."

"What if that takes days?"

"It won't. It'll be a few hours maybe. Relax, and be quiet."

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Can it wait?"

"No."

"So go."

"I have to take shit. It'll smell really bad in here, and we don't have anything to wipe with."

"Yes, it'll smell bad, but it beats being captured. And wipe with your socks. You'll still have your shoes."

"But that's..."

"Hello in there!" called a voice from outside. The lid opened and Mr. Nakota himself looked in. "Why, Mrs. Krane! You do get around, don't you?"

Tayariel's face sank into her hands. She shook her head and climbed out, helping the mark out after her. There was another man with Nakota, also oriental and wearing a business suit. There was something about him that Tayariel didn't like.

"I have found your employee, Nakota. I will take the woman," the other man said. His voice was commanding and his gaze rested on Tayariel in a way she didn't like.

"Surely you will let me question her first, Akana-san," Nakota whined. Akana pulled out a gun and shot the mark. Tayariel groaned. All of that for nothing. Nakota gasped in shock and whirled to Akana. The rage drained from his face when his spin brought his forehead to the barrel of the gun. Nakota grew very pale and began to sweat.

"Nakota, you are a dog. You may own the company, but never forget that you dance to my master's tune. And never question anything one of us says- or does. Now drag this carcass out of the alley and give the press a sad ending."

"Y-yes A-a-akana-san," Nakota stammered and left the alley, dragging the mark behind him.

Tayariel stood there, shaking her head as Nakota left. When he was gone, Akana faced her and put his gun away.

"You are a dangerous woman, Tayariel," he said.

"More than you'll ever know," she said, a dagger flashing into her hand. Akana held his hand out and there was a flash of light. When the spots cleared Tayariel's hands were chained together. "What the-?!" she began.

"Akana! She will not be yours!" screamed a new person from the entrance to the alley. This person was American, also in a business suit and his eyes were glowing red. Akana's eyes began to glow green and he pointed his fist at the new comer and a beam of green light shot out. The American raised his hand and a glowing red disk surrounded his forearm, stopping the green blast. Tayariel bolted for the other end of the alley As she ran, the chains on her wrists puffed into smoke. Another man in a business suit appeared at Akana's end of the alley, his eyes glowing blue. She cursed and bolted up the fire escape she was nearly at. The newcomer ignored her and blasted Akana in the back with a blue bolt of light. Akana fell screaming, and the American and the newcomer began trading bolts. A hand from above reached down to help Tayariel up. She grabbed it and was pulled to the roof. A man in a business suit with blonde hair and glowing blue eyes grinned at her, then leapt down to the alley.

As Tayariel ran across the roof, flashes of blue, red, and green flew up from the alley, as she ran, and ran, and ran...

End Page:

In a cave time itself has forgotten, in a land where magic never died, a prisoner dances...

(Text): "Every culture, every religion has it's myth about the end of the world...

"The Apocalypse...

"Ragnarok...

"Judgment Day...

"Thousands flock to the call of Doomsday prophets, and the prophets fear the turn of the Millennia...

"Which makes this time- our time- the Prelude to Armageddon..."