Pulling Your Strings, justice is done
Seeking No Truth, winning is all
Find it so grim,
So true... So real
-Lyrics to '...And Justice For All' performed by Metallica

Crimson Ties Part 101

The only sounds coming from the beach and rocky cliffs surrounding the edges of the English isle was the crashing of the waves and the howl of the wind from the sea that had picked up. And that was with hundreds upon hundreds of Others hidden in the tall ridges that stood in anxious wait for their enemies.

Silvered eyes blinked and gazed around their surroundings, slow and sure in their shifting to take everything in. The moment the Vampires and their friends showed their faces, they would be leveled with a force the like of which they couldn't possibly survive if they were exposed. Even the ones that might be protected at first wouldn't be able to stay as such forever.

Hands gripped onto weapons tightly. The tingle of powers was just within reach of their wielders, ready to be snapped on a moment's notice. Breaths were held, staying trapped in lungs that did not need the air but for the familiarity of breathing. Internally, clocks ticked down the last peaceful seconds that would remain on that shore.

And then, a male voice hollered into the gusting breeze, "Here they come!"

Before the growing eyes of the soldiers standing by, the whole length of the beach began to shimmer in a multitude of colors. Instantly recognizing the sight as belonging to Teleporters, the Others' froze for just a slowed heartbeat in grasping just how large the opposing army was. For the miles that could be seen up and down the stretch, the shapes of the beings coming through appeared.

That blink of a pause saved thousands. But a good few were not as fortunate.

"Hit them before they can get their bearings!" Kristin shrieked when she came out of her shocked stupor. Desperate to make up for her slip up hours before in allowing not one, but two Vampires near her, she glared heatedly on the lines forming across from her and shot her gift forward to send a thick beam of light that raced across the long distance between to cut down the first Infected that had just materialized.

They were sheared from the face of the Earth so quickly that they felt no pain and so there was no cry from them... they were simply gone.

Such had been the same for other handfuls of Vampires and Companions alike when the remaining Others unleashed their own powers. Then came the screams from the beaches, both from those who were not so lucky as to die instantly as well as those that helplessly looked on in their coming back to the world.

One of the only Vampires to have kept his wits enough to have his protective bubble up, thus protecting a five-mile radius that stood around him, Wufei's eyes grew in terror along with his family at the onslaught that greeted them. "We need those other force fields!" he cried, watching a few dozen from their army fall lifelessly into the white sands that were sparkling under the light of the sun that was already fully in the skies of the English island.

Just a few yards ahead of him, a stricken Treize released the hands he had been holding to crane his head around. "Shields!" he shouted over the noise of blasts, pained wails and shouts. "Shields, up now!" Noin was just beside her cousin to send his frantic message to the minds of the whole army.

Those Vampires snapped back to the task at hand and pushed their barriers up to house those soldiers surrounding them. Each of the tall, rounded domes that were created touched at the edges to form a consistent barrier while those many Infected that were exposed took to the ocean as they had been ordered. Their plan was quickly picked up and beams of ice were being fired from the rock formations to take out the warriors in the sea.

All blows from flames to electricity to beams of light that were made against the barriers were bounced off easily to do little more than kick up sand and water from the open parts of the shore and ocean that they crashed into.

However, while a shield could not be penetrated, those within its safety could

Well aware of this, Khushrenada's eyes narrowed on the ice moving in. Folding the palms of his hands together with a loud smack, he took hold of his own command over the weather. High overhead, dark clouds forged together in the otherwise clear sky and rained lightning bolts down on the ridges where the attempts to kill the prone Infected had come from.

From that duel, countless others like it rose.

*   *   *   *   *   *

One particularly thunderous explosion of energy shook the ground for miles, resonating all the way through the oil refinery to almost knock Duo from his feet in the middle of his pacing his cell. Wide-eyed, he toppled enough that he needed to grip the closest wall with a hand before he ran headlong into it. Through the thick steel of the room, he could hear the horrific sounds of the struggle taking place far below.

Shinigami whined in the back of his wielder's mind... scratching and clawing at his restraints in a desperate plea to be released. It was time. He was ready. He wanted out. Now.

Gripping onto his control over the beast inside of him, Maxwell bit his lip and thought of how Heero and the majority of his family were likely in the sands fighting to not only save him but to keep themselves alive. There would be hundreds of other beings doing the same. As horrific as those sounds coming from the fight were, it was unnerving to think of those sounds as possibly bringing the end of those brave creatures.

Hands balling into fists that shook at his sides, the braided Companion glared at the wall before him. The time for sitting back and waiting was over. The recruits had come to put an end to the war and it was time he did his part to help. Closing his violet-and-silver eyes, he set Duo Maxwell aside to become Shinigami. At the feel of the ropes around him slipping away, the monster reared back and released a snarling howl.

When his eyes snapped open, the irises glowed. Finally free, he shot forward in a blur of himself for the cell door. He turned his torso and hit the barrier with the side of his body with such speed and strength that the blow sent not only the door but parts of the wall around it flying forward to collapse on the first two pairs of guards that were standing directly in front of it.

Startled by the crash and sudden blast, the remaining Others spun with wide eyes to take in the panting monster that stood atop the remains of his cell.

At the sight of those burning, narrowed violet eyes that were anything but human, hunched shoulders and slowly spreading smirk that curled the hybrid's lips with a chilling humble of a chuckle, the soldiers froze in terror. "My God," was all that the young woman closest to the beast could manage before she was attacked, a hard spinning kick to the side of her head knocking her to the ground in a heap.

The next officers trembled, sharp whimpers escaping them as they frantically reached for their haltered weapons. Against Shinigami, they never had a chance. The first teenage boy was gripped by his thick neck and hurled into the metal wall behind him while seemingly at that same instant the older woman beside him had her legs kicked out from beneath her.

Finally, the last to be dealt with that managed to force their shaking hands still enough to grip their guns and blades, had only that much to be proud of before their hands were snapped with sickening cracks of bone and pained, screaming wails.

Shinigami wanted blood, but he also knew that his wielder would not have been happy over the loss of these lives. They were innocents... even if they would have gladly killed him and the ones that he loved. But he would content himself in keeping every one of these Others from accomplishing any of that. His intent would be felt and known through every broken bone and violent hit that rendered his challengers helpless.

Each blow and shot taken against the monster was avoided with ease, only to be repaid with a far more ferocious and successful blow in return. And just as quickly as the attack had begun, it ended.

Ryan, the head of the officers standing guard and the last opponent in Shinigami's way, was crying out at having both a foot against his back that pinned him to the ground and his arm bent up and behind him in the air by his captor's strong grip. Snarling, the braided creature kicked away the pistol that the Other had reached for and bent at the waist to growl lowly at the prone young man.

The young man tried to pull his face back only to be kept right where he was when the foot pinning him down put more weight on his back. "P-please don't kill me," the silver-eyed being begged in a sob as tears streamed down his face.

A startled sound, almost like a some wild cat's whimper, bubbled from the braided hybrid. Tilting his head, he blinked his growing eyes at his prey.

In the back of his mind, Shinigami made the connection that this was very likely how the guard had looked when he was attacked by Solo and his minion in his last minutes as a living... thinking that it was Vampires that had trapped and used him as a play thing for target practice. And it hurt him to think of such a painful thing.

Sighing, the monster raised a free hand and sent a quick punch across Ryan's face. Carefully lowering the unconscious soldier, Duo blinked in his return to control over his mind and body. His violet irises no longer glowing, he assessed the damage his other half had done and paled. Whistling through his teeth at the destroyed wall and strewn about bodies of sleeping Others, he muttered under his breath, "Damn."

Outside, the sounds of the struggle along the shore had only grown all the louder. Jolted back to his predicament of still being inside his brother's lair, the Companion made quick work of relieving his would-be-guards of some of their weapons. Hooking what guns, daggers and other tools he could to his person, he appraised himself and shrugged, "They're not my scythe, but these will have to do for now."

Eyes narrowing ahead as he stared down the long corridor of catwalks, Maxwell tossed his braid that had slipped over his shoulder to his back again.

"Alright, buddy," he said quietly to the beast that was listening intently inside of him, "If you can help it, try and go a little easier on the Others, okay?" A shiver running down his back at the picture of the last officer pleading for his life, he sighed, "We're not the monsters that Solo has been to them."

There was a slight hint of disappointment in Shinigami's grunt in response, but he was in sincere agreement. Smirking, Duo nodded firmly, "Good boy. Now get us the hell out of here so we can find Solo." There was another snarl, this one laced with excitement and readiness as the hybrid closed his eyes to release his hold on the beast once again.

And not a moment too soon as the sound of alarmed shouts and rushed footsteps approached from nearly every direction.

*   *   *   *   *   *

"Son of a bitch!" Manuel hissed as he threw a large ball of fire from his hands, regardless of how ineffective the attempt might be. "Those shields can stay up for hours now!" The opponents that they had managed to take out were so few that there was no shift in the odds whatsoever... they were still greatly outnumbered.

Not far from where he had ducked behind to avoid a strike, he heard a young woman's voice bellow, "We'll just have to keep this up for however long it takes, hold them for weeks if we have to! They can't get any closer to these rocks!" Deafening as the sounds of the battle were, there was a roar of agreement and excitement from their comrades.

The Hunters came into play by shooting their stun lasers provided by Catherine. It was a rare thing for a shot to make its mark, but Trent and a couple of the Companions that he had trained had been successful in removing the threat of the occasional Wild that were too crazed in their lust for destruction to stay hidden in their caves.

A pleased smile on his face in seeing his pupils react in elation over their efforts, Greyson encouraged them by ordering loudly, "Keep pouring it on! We have a hell of a lot more to go where they came from!" Nodding, the Companions took to their weapons once again with unwavering focus on the formation.

Lowering her hand after relieving several Others of their weapons through her telekinesis, Lady Une walked the line in front of her ranks as she yelled, "Runners! Get into position and move as soon as you have an opening to scale those cliffs! The sooner we can get over them the sooner we can end this!"

Heero bit his lip as he looked away from the shot he was about to take. Dropping his arms and setting his gun in its holster, he spun and pulled his sister into a fierce embrace. "I'll be watching over you the whole time," he vowed be her ear. Wrapping her own arms around his Gundanium armor, Anna nodded and they pulled back for a quick kiss.

"Be careful up there, brother," the redhead whispered.

Gently cupping the side of her face, the Original pressed their foreheads together and replied in kind, "You be safe as well, sister."

Unable to trust his voice any further than that, unwilling to say 'good bye' or even an 'I love you' that may have sounded like it might be their last, he raised his head just as everyone standing around cleared a wide circle around him so that his metallic wings could stretch out to their wide span with a sharp ring.

Pressing the small button in his Gundanium shielded palm, Yuy brought the boosters of his pack to life and in a bolt, he shot up through the dome and into the heavens.

Her ponytail flapping behind her from the wind that the jets caused, Anna shielded her eyes from the sun and flying sand with one hand as she cupped her mouth with the other. "You lead us in the charge, Heero!" she shouted up to the skies where he became a shimmering avenger on the air.

At the sheer thrill of his swift ascension, Yuy snickered and shut off the jets when he reached enough altitude to shift his wings once they caught the wind to glide easily.

Maneuvering the suit with practiced skill, he shot right for the cliffs. When he was only yards away, he turned once more to soar alongside the whole stretch as he removed what Catherine called the armor's Buster Rifle. Taking aim at the surprised Others and Wilds that had exposed themselves, he shot for the rocks above and below their sanctuaries to knock them from the strikes that they were about to make.

"What the hell is that!?" more than one voice had come to yell when the Original sped past them in the air. Similar cries of 'Get him!' and such orders also rose up, but every shot taken was dodged or was completely useless when a wing curved to protect its pilot. Those couple of hits that did make contact with the metal wouldn't make so much as a dent.

Back down on the beach, the first handful of Runners were digging holes in the sand that would become their push-off starting points. Cheers and shouts came from the Infected and livings around to encourage the brave team. All around, one could hear things like 'Good luck, all of you!' and 'Give 'em hell!'

Once they were satisfied that their feet would settle comfortable in the trenches to press their heels back against the standing 'block', the Runners took their marks as any professional runner would at the start of a race. Hands propped up on the soft ground and upper bodies supported upward, they watched the long stretch of open shore that they had to cover before they were even at the rock formation.

Trying to find a rhythm to the cross firing powers being unleashed, those foot soldiers waited for the first opportunity to move. Amara saw one of those openings. For as far as she could see, there was a straight shot right for the cliffs. Smirking to herself, she muttered, "There it is." Pressing the bottoms of her feet back against the sand, she hiked her hips upward and sprang forward in a blur of herself. A second and third Runner further down the line bolted forth.

From where she watched, Anna's eyes widened with a sharp gasp. Wufei lowered his glowing hand that he had been aiming at a nook in the rocks where he had seen a couple Others hiding to spin and watch his wife pale.

"Nonononono," the Irish Infected whispered as she gripped the top of her head. "Too slow. They didn't push off fast enough." Those protected beneath the Shields slowly began to cut off their powers when they all caught on to the same realization.

To any untrained eye, they would never have seen anything more than a trio of Vampires that were little more than streaks, but those Infected looking on behind could tell that there had been a slight stall in their charge.

And they still had a half-mile to go.

Chang's whole body stiffened as he breathed, "My God. They're not going to make it." To the horror of all the observers, their challengers in the caves above saw what was coming and sent a fury of energy down upon the three lines running for them.

Throwing her arms down at her sides, Anna shrieked, "Pick your feet up!"

But those words were lost in the crashes and explosions that filled the air surrounding the Runners. When the sand right before her disappeared in the wave of a wall of fire that wrapped in a thick ring around her, Amara slid to a halt.

Frantic, the lovely Greecian brunette spotted every inch around her covered by the burning tongues that were closing in on her. "Oh God, no," she whimpered. Her wide golden eyes peering up, she gasped at the blades, beams and a dozen other dangers falling upon her.

Inside the dome where she had been watching, Kristy's eyes filled with tears as she cried, "Amara!" It was too late. The rain of weapons descended into the fire that had trapped her. "NO!" the Companion screamed, feeling the bond with her Infected fade away. Collapsing onto her knees in a heap as she sobbed, her gold band fell away into the sand with her.

Their own eyes spilling over with tears, Jacob and Sharon rushed to her side.

What had become of their teammate was caught by the corners of the eyes of the two Infected that were running along either side of her. And the blink of a pause that they gave in response was their end as well.

One was tripped up by what appeared like an incredibly long whip to tie him up by his feet. The second tripped up in the thick dirt and sand mix when she tried to swerve around an attack. In a blink, they were both hit by thousands of thin beams that riddled their prone bodies until they fell apart in bloody pieces.

Anna snapped her whole body away from the sight, covering her mouth with her hands as she fended off the shimmer in her eyes. "Goddamn it," was all that she could manage brokenly. To her right, Wufei's shoulders slumped and he bowed his head while closing his slack jaw and wide eyes. Already the wails of loss from the Companions of those three brave souls were rising as loud as the continuous fight.

From the air, Heero was just able to catch the deaths seconds before he was close enough to intervene. Even if he was able to hold off a few of the Others, there were far too many of them to be able to stop them all from taking out Amara and her team. Biting his lip, he glared at the rock formations and fired a long beam into the sides just to make his ire known to those hiding there.

The whole mood inside the protective domes changed for the Vampire army, either dampening considerable or boiling over into an intense anger over what had become of the first wave of Runners.

Stricken by the loss of her agents, Lady Une whimpered and buried her dampened face in her hands as she cried for them and their Chosen. A few feet ahead, Treize's reaction was much different from hers in that his rage took over. He glared heatedly where the strikes had come from and so drove pummeling ice, wind and more lightning into the caves there. After that brutal killing, he had forgotten all kindness that he meant to show the Others in that moment.

Noin violently fought with her urge to convince those silver-eyed creatures in her sight give them the idea to walk off the ledges so that they could fall to their deaths. She was just about to give into her urge when she saw her cousin's change in tactic to take out everyone that he could. Through his vengeance-crazed mind, she hollered, 'Treize, stop! They couldn't have survived that! We're not trying to destroy them, remember?!'

His body trembling when he finally lowered his hand, Khushrenada's face was drenched with tears. Panting from his efforts, he saw the large, smoldering crater where there had been ridges and caves in the side of the cliffs that spanned for a quarter mile in circumference. Just as Lucrezia had said, no one stationed there could have possibly survived that. A sharp sob broke from his chest and before his legs gave out, Zechs suddenly appeared to help keep him upright.

Shaking where she stood staring forward, Anna's eyes thinned in concentration. Finding the gap that Amara thought she had seen, the flaw in her charge was seen. A straight shot was not going to work. No matter how fast a Vampire could run, there was just too much open ground to cross. It might slow a Runner down to continuously zig and zag, possibly even tripping them up if they went too fast, but that was the only way.

Already sensing his wife's train of thought as she stared ahead at what would have been the center or the rock formation, Wufei trained himself to play the commanding officer role from the days when they first met.

Gently turning the Irish Infected so that they were facing, he waited for their golden eyes to lock, he told her in a stern quip, "The second you're off, do not pay any attention to what's beside or behind you. Do not so much as flinch by whatever you hear because whatever is causing it will be away from you."

Reaching back, the Chinese Vampire carefully tucked the ponytail of long, red curls down the back of Anna's purple hoodie so that they wouldn't snag on anything. In a display of loving reverence, he pulled the sweater's hood over the top of her head and tied it secured so that it would keep her focused in her charge. "The only thing that matters to you is what's ahead of you. Nothing else. Forward is all you should concentrate on," Chang continued as he worked, zippering the front of his Chosen's sweater up to her neck.

A blast sounded over their heads, but neither so much as glanced to see what had happened with their full focus on each other.

With a deep breath, the warrior rested his hands on the redhead's shoulders and pressed their foreheads together. "You've got this. I know you do," he declared, a bit of softness in his voice that vanished when he concluded his instructions. "Failure is not an option in this situation, soldier. If we can't get over those cliffs, this whole attack will be for nothing."

Nodding firmly, Anna's face was blank in her set determination. "Got it," she replied coolly. A little bit of her nerves began to kick in and she swallowed roughly before asking, "Any other advice you can offer, Wu-"

Her question was cut short when her husband leaned in for a deep kiss that had her toes curling and mind scrambling for a second before she was able to get her bearings enough to return the gesture while gripping onto him and closing her widened eyes.

Slowly pulling away, Wufei smiled and ran the tips of his scaly fingertips along her cool cheek. "Just don't forget that I love you, my Celtic Rose," he answered in a thick whisper, a dampness in his eyes that he was clearly trying to fight off. Blinking at that, his wife glowed and pressed their lips back together for a softer brush.

"And don't forget that you won't be alone out there," a familiar voice added. Spinning around, the couple took in Trowa. With a rifle strapped over his shoulder, their cousin was joined by Trent and Rosshe. Smirking, the Original gestured to his recruits and announced, "These two were all too anxious to come make sure that you made it to the cliffs without any trouble."

Beaming at that, Anna threw her arms around her fellow Infected while Wufei physically eased a bit at having the reinforcements with a deep sigh and a pleased grin on his scaly face. The Egyptian Infected chuckled as he returned her embrace, murmuring by her ear in his native tongue, "You protected me. Now it's time I returned the favor, Brave One."

Greyson shrugged, chuckling, "Yea, whatever my brother just said 'cause it sounded cooler than anything that I could have come up with."

As the lot around laughed, he was enveloped in a firm hug that he gladly returned in kind. "You do what you have to do out there," he said, "We'll take care of the rest, friend." The profound depth of the sincerity in that word 'friend' from the former Hunter was not lost to the redhead and she pulled back to nod in gratitude.

Draping a long arm around his cousin's shoulder, Trowa's cool lips brushed against her ear as he whispered his earlier vow to her, "No one will get close to touching you." He pressed and held a kiss against her temple and pecked her mouth when she turned her smiling face towards him.

No longer feeling the fear that had threatened to consume her, Anna rolled her shoulders back and straightened herself as she took in her guards. Settling on her husband, she mouthed an 'I love you.' Rewarded with a proud and loving smile back, she turned and hurried to the place where Amara had dug her push off marks before she lost her nerve to the wonder of those eyes that were watching amidst their siege on the ridges.

Kicking the sand around to bury the two foot trenches that had been too deep, thus causing the slow start of the lost Vampire, the Irish immortal fell to her knees and buried her hands into the soft earth to make fresh holes. Looking over her shoulder, she took in a shaken Perry and the remainder of her fellow Runners. Their eyes large and filled with horror, they had fallen back into the safety of the army.

"Come on!" Anna shouted back at them over the roar of the attacks raging on. "If you lose your nerve now, you'll never make it across!" Suddenly coming to life at her cry, the English Infected narrowed his eyes and sprang forward to fall to his own knees a few yards across from her to start digging.

One-by-one, the remainder of the running teams secured under every dome was unearthing their push-off steps. Rejuvenated by their vigor and preparations to risk their lives to the fight, those fighters close enough to watch them raised their voices in cheers and encouragements once more as they fought even harder to contain the attacks that were coming down from the cliffs.

Satisfied with the size of the holes that she'd made, the Siren shifted to prop her upper body on her hands and took a moment to feel how the bottoms of her feet settled against the shallow 'walls' in the sand. Testing a few springs forward by bouncing her legs back and forth beneath her, she released a deep breath in being happy with the results.

'We need everyone making sure as hell that this next sting of Runners gets through!' Noin's voice yelled to the Infected, Companions and Hunters alike that she could reach through her gift. 'Give those cliffs everything you have!'

Brushing her cold hands clean of the fine dusting from her practice runs in place, Anna set her gold-and-blue eyes ahead of her and took her position for the last time. Fingers digging firmly into the sand once more, she hiked her hips upward and froze in wait as she watched the intense display of power that relentlessly pummeled the beach.

Before long, the rhythm was felt. A pattern was clear.

'Forward,' the redhead recalled Wufei's instructions to her. 'The only thing that matters to you is what's ahead of you. Nothing else. Forward is all you should concentrate on.'

Perry and the other Runners were taking their own marks, waiting not only for a clearing of what they would be throwing themselves into, but for the cue from the Irish Infected that had helped galvanize them.

Not at all aware of their eyes on her, the Irish Vampire kept her thinned eyes trained on what was directly ahead of her, just as her husband had told her to do. Forcing her ears to block out all sounds from her surroundings, she repeated the voice of her lover and the father of her growing baby in her head until even that faded away.

Only her destination high in those ridges mattered. It was the only thing that she cared about.

And then she saw her opening.

Lowering her shoulders towards the quaking ground beneath her, Anna whispered to herself, "Alright. Here we go."

TBC...

 

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