Rude Awakenings [Rory]

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

The past 24 hours had been the most.... well, exciting wasn't the right word. Chaotic. That was it. The most chaotic Freya had ever experienced. And when you realized who this woman was, and what sort of life style she lead... Well, it really shouldn't be possible.

Heartbreak, several attempts on her life, setting a town on fire, monstrocities tried to eat her, and falling from a helicopter were just some of the thrilling adventures of the day. Thankfully, things had calmed down. Still, even if they weren't calm, Freya was out cold, so it wouldn't make much difference to her.

She was coming to, after being out.... Who knew how many hours, twelve or more. No one could blame her for 'sleeping' so long. Everything yesterday had been out to get her! She would have been killed more then a dozen times if Rory hadn't stepped into save her each time.

Anyway, back to Freya waking up.

They were still in the air, which was the first thing that registered. Huh.... So it hadn't crashed when she passed out? Rory had to have had pretty good timing to keep them up. Next? She could actually feel her power. Sure, she’d been using it a lot yesterday, but then it’d just been a candle, dim from exhaustion. Now, it was a blazing inferno in her chest. This was the power she was known for. That power feared. Before she was even truly awake, she was reaching down, unconsciously raising the temperature in the helicopter to her ‘favorite’ degree. Most people wouldn’t even notice the change, but Rory wasn’t most people…

Next, figure out where they were and what she’d missed. Slowly, Freya’s wild green eyes fluttered open. Yup, still in the helicopter. Metal flooring gave it away. Looking up, she took in her surroundings, making sure everything was the same. It was, except for one detail. Rory was flying the craft. When she’d passed out he’d been dead. Not that surprising, but she was happy he was back. Sometimes we could be ‘dead’ for hours. He knew how upset she got when he died, after all! Thank goodness she’d been out for some of the time he was gone.

”…. Where are we…?” Still a little out of it, she didn’t even realize that she’d spoken in French, something he was probably used to. It wasn’t often, but she’d sometimes mutter to herself in her native language if she woke up to early. All those other times though, she hadn’t spoken to Rory, or even considered he might respond. This just might be a first….

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Italy, Mexico, country after country cycled through the mind of Rory as he sat in the cockpit of the helicopter. There was an Agency base in almost every single one in the world. Not to mention there were probably thousands more that Rory didn't even know about. They were all part of Darksides plan, infiltrating every country and government in the world to cause a third World War that would destroy everything; and he was going to initiate soon.

The Agency was like a virus, first it would plant itself in the host (generally a country's government), set up of operations, then multiply from there. In a matter of about twenty years, Darkside had taken his army from only one base of operations, to over two hundred working bases across the world. Now the man, or monster perhaps, was likely going to unleash the final phase of his operations in days.

Thankfully, Rory knew a weakness in Darksides armies. Three main bases, in Ireland, America, and China, you take those three out and all the others would collapse. So shortly after gaining control of the helicopter, Rory had set the course; intending to take out the deadliest... or at least the most annoying, first.

Though, in all of this, one had to question the motives of someone like Darkside. Why would a man like that seek only to destroy the world rather than control it? Simple, the man that was Darkside had died long ago and succumbed to the corruption of his powers. He was a creature of chaos, he lived off of it, fed off of it, thrived in it and sought it out. Once Earth was consumed in fire and death, only then would Darkside find peace...

Suddenly, Rory's attention was snapped back to reality as he noticed something; the slightest change in temparture. Immediately he turned toward Freya, seeing her stir before she even opened her eyes. A small smirk hanging from his lips, it was good to see she was back to herself again. The soft and sweet sound of her voice caused the smile to spread even more, and the fact that she spoke in French instead of English made him stifle a laugh.

Perhaps out of habit, Rory acted as if he couldn't understand, "Good mornin' lazy bones." He said with a coy smile, "Ya missed the in fligh' breakfas' ya know... How d'ya feel?" He asked, turning back toward the open skies in front of him. It seemed apparent that her powers were back just from her "adjusting" the temperature. Freya herself would probably notice that Rory was no longer in his suit, in fact, the suit was no where to be seen in helicopter. After Rory being inside it for so long, it looked a little out of place to see him without the suit of black...

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

What had happened to Rory’s suit? And where did he actually get normal clothes…? If she recalled correctly, and she was pretty sure she was right, he couldn’t wear clothes under his suit, so…. Where the hell had they come from? Strange, Freya was baffled by the sudden appearance of normal clothes…

Rory’s responses made her smile a little, the woman wiggling slightly in her seat… and flinching. ”Like one giant bruise.” She felt a lot better from yesterday. But that didn’t mean she was great. Her whole body was sore from the beating it’d taken. Lucky her. Thankfully she could push past soreness. ”I don’t like in flight meals. You do owe me breakfast though, so I can always just make you make me some when we land.” She was smirking wickedly at Rory. At least she was awake enough now to remember to use English.

She was silent for a few moments as she stared out through the glass, trying to figure out just where they were. Sadly, she didn’t recognize anything. ”You didn’t answer my question. Where are we, exactly?” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, before turning back to the landscape. There was something familiar about it… Like she’d been here before….

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

"A lil' R and R will 'eal ya up jus' fine alainn. In fact, eh know a grea' place ta ge' some breakfas' before we ge' inta a figh'." Rory said with a slight grin and a wink, surprised that she even remembered his offer to make her breakfast. Though it was only about a day ago, it felt as if weeks seperated the two from that blissful night together. As Rory always said though, there was nothing like a good fight to bring people closer together.

Flipping a few switches on the console, he put the helicopter into auto-pilot, "Tha's because I prefer English lass, but ta answer yer question. We are in a helicopter." Rory said with a slight wink, unbuckling and moving back into the cabin, "More spefically, we're o'er Irelan' righ' now."

Stepping back into the cabin of the helicopter, he began to strap a few empty holsters onto his legs and sides. This helicopter was just as full of weapons as the previous one they had been in, "The Agency has three main bases. One in China, one in America, and one in Irelan'. The biggest threa' is Irelan', this is where they train the ghosts and soldiers. We take this an the other two ou' and we collapse Darksides army." Rory said as he began to slide weapons into each of the holsters. It was becoming obvious that he was getting ready for a fight as soon as they touched down.

After strapping on four pistols, two sub-machine guns, an M-16, a bandolier of throwing knives, and a katana, he moved back into the cockpit with Freya; leaning over her seat. "So tha's why we're here... Tha' an well... I love Irelan'." He said with a grin, looking down at Freya. As his eyes met hers, his smile faded slightly.

"Listen, alainn... I jus' wanted ta say, I din't mean a single word I said at tha' prison. I'm sorry an I love..." The word hung up in Rory's throat. Sure, Rory may have told Freya he loved her in the past, but he couldn't remember a time. So all things considered, this was very well the first time he ever told her he loved her (at least in his mind).

"I love... My home." Rory had glanced up at the windshield of the helicopter as the broke through the cloud cover. As far as the eye could see the green fields that were blackened, fires were spread out across the moors, and it was only then that Rory realized it had never been clouds that prevented him from seeing his homeland but smoke. It looked as though the ground they were about to land on had been ravaged by a brutal war that they had already missed.

Rory immediately sat back in the pilots seat and brought the helicopter to the ground as fast as possible, landing outside a very large mansion (really more of a castle). Though Rory could barely remember bringing her here, Freya no doubt remembered this as Rory's home. As soon as the helicopter touched down Rory jumped out of the pilots seat and pulled open the door in the cabin, jumping onto the burnt ground.

Smoke filled the air, making it almost impossible to breathe. The trees were nothing but black logs and few were standing, the moors around the Ashe castle were black and a few fires still dotted the land. The castle itself was demolished, and fires could be seen raging in the village behind the castle. Bodies littered the field, men, women, and children all dead. Rory managed to take three or four steps away from the helicopter before hitting his knees, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

As he stared at the carnage all around him, his jaw was dropped; not in shock, but... pain. The look on his face was more fitting on a person who was being stabbed in the gut repeatedly with a knife. Slowly Rory reached down and grabbed a handful of ash in his hand, letting it sift through his fingers; in his silence, a single tear rolled down his cheek. Despite the weapons covering his body, giving him the appearance of a walking armory, he no longer looked like the normal intimidating and threatening Rory. No, he looked like a man who just had his world shattered. To see any kind of emotion from Rory was rare, to see emotion from him on this level was completely unheard of.

"This was my home..." Rory's voice was distant, and showed the pain of man who had just lost one of the only things dear to him. As he stared at the bodies all around his head slowly bowed down, his eyes closing... This land had been his home for centuries, it was his first love before Freya and helder a deeper bond in his heart than anything else. He had shed his blood thousands of times defending it and was always successful but now?... Only one thought came to his mind... Darkside... Darkside... "Darkside." Though the word came from Rory's mouth, the voice was not his. There was a rage behind it, a cold blooded fury not of a man, but of a machine forged in war and hell bent for one purpose now... Death.

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

”Not get.” She had Rory fixed with the most stubborn look she could muster. ”Make. Freya was determined. He owed her for what happened, and when you owed the woman she made you pay it off in… well, slave labor. Even the guy she loved (actually, it was worse for Rory, because she expected him to do certain things for her already.).

His sarcasm though turned that stubborn stare into a scowl. ”You know what I mean.” Good for nothing sarcastic Irishman… It seemed fitting that she would have this thought when they were over Ireland. She just might have called him it aloud… if he hadn’t moved to start arming himself, quickly explaining as he went.

”You make it sound so easy. How exactly are we supposed to find, let alone destroy all three? I wouldn’t last five minutes if they knocked out my power.” Sad, but true. ”And you can’t take them all by yourself.” She didn’t mean to be a bearer of bad news, but they had to come up with a plan of some sort, otherwise this would never work. It was strange though, this sort of behavior was uncharacteristic of her. Usually Freya was the charge in head first and ask questions later type of person… A plan? Bah, never crossed her mind until after her usual methods failed, and even then it was only a ‘I really should have thought that through’ reaction, and not actual scheming.

Of course he loved Ireland. Sometimes, she thought he loved the country more than her, even, considering he would willingly admit his adoration for his home but never for her… Which he proved as the two met each other’s gaze, him apologizing for what he’d said, and, almost getting out the words ‘I love you’. He just couldn’t though. The man couldn’t say it aloud, even before he’d lost his memories he’d been reserved about saying it. But this…. This just irritated her. Sure, she forgave him (sort of), accepting his apology, but she didn’t forgive him for making it feel like she was having to compete against a country for his affections. ”Mmhmm…” She irritation was clear as day, the woman not trying to hide it in the least. No, she wanted him to know he’d said the wrong thing right there.

Sadly, she probably wouldn’t get the right words out of him, not after seeing…. That…

Freya hadn’t felt it before then, but as the helicopter descended even more, she suddenly sat straight. She could feel it…. The residue of raging fires…. Actually, she could see it as well! Her senses had just alerted her a split second before Rory saw the scene. ”My god…” Her voice was so quiet, you couldn’t even call it a whisper. She reached out with her powers, trying to find at least one place that hadn’t been touched by her out of control element.

It took a lot to shock Freya, especially when her element was the cause. She didn’t bat an eye to wildfires that destroyed hundreds of miles of land. She didn’t care when volcanoes erupted and buried cities (Well, cared more than anyone else), and she didn’t interfere when lightning storms threatened. But this…. She didn’t know how to react. She was frozen in horror.

She was slow in following Rory, the woman not wanting to face the reality of this massacre. Finally though… She couldn’t stand it. Slowly, cautiously, she followed, but didn’t even making it out of the helicopter before her stomach churned, sickened by the sight.

Freya dare not ask the dreaded question, ‘what happened?’. It was obvious… That didn’t change the reality of it all. To think human beings were capable of such destruction and ruthlessness… If she, who had only been to the country once could feel such remorse for the place she couldn’t even imagine how Rory was feeling…

Shit. Speaking of Rory… She could only stare as her lover collapsed to his knees. She’d…. never seen him like this. Ever. He’d been through hell and back many times before, he’d conquered everything that was thrown his way…. This time though…. Things were different. She’d never seen him in this much pain before….. Seeing him like this broke her heart.

Freya used the side of the helicopter for support, leaning against it as she fought back her own tears. ”I’m…. I’m so sorry Rory….” What else was she supposed to say..? No words could express the way she was feeling right now….

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

A calling card, that's all that this was. The butchered people, the burnt lands, sure all of it was the Agency's style; but they went overboard here. There was no doubt about it, Darkside knew how much Rory cared Ireland. The man knew how it was the only thing Rory held on to and let himself get close to all those years; the only thing that kept whatever was human inside of him... well... human. No, Darkside did this on purpose, he knew Rory was coming for him so he did this just to let Rory know what he thought of that... It was a calling card.

Ever since Rory had set foot on the burnt soil of his home land, a constant humming filled his ears. The sound drowned everything else out, all the sounds of the distant gunfire, all the sounds of the still burning fires, and even Freya's voice was simply static. The only thing Rory could hear, was the rage growing inside of him. It was like sound of a drum, beating quietly and slowly at first. Then, as the realization of everything sunk in, it grew louder and louder, begging Rory to kill... Everyone, and everything.

Everything grew silent once more as Freya spoke, making Rory's eyes snap open. Though his mind was back on earth, the brutal desires were screaming inside of him to avenge his homeland. "There's nothin' ta be sorry for." Rory's voice was unnaturally cold as he spoke. As much as he tried to hide it, his carnal thirst for blood came through in his voice, giving it a chilling tone.

Rory slowly placed both hands on the burnt soil, pausing for a moment before calmly pushing himself to his feet. As he stood to his full height, something was obviously different. Rory always had an intimidating stance, but now, as he turned to face Freya, it was... Dark and unnaturally serious for a man who thought of killing and war in the same way a child thought of Chuck E. Cheese.

"Ya wan' ta see who Darkside is?" Rory asked, calmly walked toward her and toward the helicopter. He only gave her a slight glance as he stepped into the helicopter, making his way into the cockpit of the helicopter he began flipping a few switches. Suddenly, sound crackled through speakers throughout the helicopter. Rory was checking on something, but he already knew what he would find...

"This is Robert Jones with CNN in Italy, behind me you can hear the gunfire of the strange soldiers who suddenly invaded the country..." Rory looked back at Freya, switching the station.

"...Strange suited men have surrounded the borders of Germany and have opened fire on every military base and town in the coun..." Again Rory switched it.

"...An unknown army is pouring out of the state of Colorado, earliest reports indicate they are butcherin..." Rory didn't stop, switching it again, still watching Freya.

"...THEY'RE KILLING EVERYBODY! I SAW THEM CRUCIFYING PEOPLE IN THE STREETS, WHO DOES THAT KIND OF S..."

"This will likely be our last broadcast... Paris, has been completely overrun by these.. Monsters. We may very likely be the last ones alive... This is Dominique, signing off... May God have merc-" The last radio station had been entirely in French and ominously cut to static before the French woman could finish. After that, Rory turned it off.

Silence filled the air for several long minutes, Rory simply watching Freya, unblinking, "Tha' was all Darkside... He knows we're comin' fer him... This is his way o' sayin' 'come ge' me'." Rory said bluntly.

"This is no' a man ta underestimate... He's barely gettin' started 'ere." Rory paused for a moment, letting the words sink in, "I 'ave a plan, if I push this button 'ere ih activates a tracking system in the helicopter. In minutes every agent on this island will be comin' fer us and in turn lead us ta their base." Rory said, tapping a small white button on the dashboard of the helicopter.

Though he paused once more, as he turned to tap the button he caught sight of the burnt fields and black skies outside of the helicopter window. It was as if hell was on earth, the smell of burnt ground and burnt flesh only added to the feeling. Rory let out a soft sigh, slowly turning back to Freya and leaned against the cockpit of the helicopter.

"Or... Ye still 'ave the chance ta leave now, and it'll be yer last one. If ye go now, there may be a chance tha' ye can save yer family... Or at leas' be with them in the end." Rory's voice was still cold as he spoke, "If ye come with me, and finish wha' yer mother started... Ye'll likely face a fate worse than darkest nightmares. There be no salvation on the road I'm takin'." Rory remained silent after that, glancing at the small white button on the dashboard. If she left before he pushed it, she may just be able to do everything he said.

As he left the option up to her, it was finally made very clear that if she fought by Rory's side now; she'd most likely die by his side as well. Though, deep down, as much as Rory wanted her to leave and go to safety... There wasn't a person on the earth he wanted to be with more right now, and there wasn't a person on the earth that he'd rather die fighting alongside...

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Rory was angry. No, scratch that. He was flat out blood thirsty. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he exacted his revenge in the most painful and gruesome way possible. The men who did this would suffer the worst fate imaginable. Still, it was rare for him to use any angry tone towards her when he was angry at someone else, (Since he was rarely angry at her… Or angry enough to let her know) he usually tried to calm down when he spoke towards her.

Freya was silent as stood, that ‘evil aura’ of his getting worse. It actually seemed like he was trying to intimidate her, which that stance, and, if this hadn’t happened, she would have called him out on it. As it was, she let it slide just this once and slowly followed him back into the helicopter.

With each change of the station, Freya’s heart sunk deeper and deeper. She collapsed in the other chair as the third station came on, and then started to pale as the fourth began…. The fifth though. That was the last straw. She wouldn’t tolerate these men attacking the whole world but just like him, as soon as they hit her home… It became personal. Her whole body started to shake from pure rage.

It didn’t help that Rory was going on, reminding her who had done this, and even telling her exactly how to ‘summon’ the agents. Smart move. Tell the woman who charged head first with out any thought how to get some revenge. She didn’t care if it would kill her. These guys would pay dearly for what they had done.

What happened next just might surprise Rory. Not because the behavior was odd (it wasn’t, he just might expect her to do it), but rather how quickly she moved. She’d crossed the cockpit and slammed her fist into the button before most people would even realize what happened. Thankfully, she managed to knock his hand aside when pressing the button, otherwise she just might have broken at least one of his fingers (if that said just how much damn force was behind it.).

Slowly, she looked at him. ”You said there’s no salvation where we’re going. I don’t care as long as we take all of them with us. Especially the one pulling all the strings.” If she was going to hell, she wasn’t going alone….

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

It seemed Freya knew Rory just a little too well. Yes, he was beyond bloodthirsty right now. To put it simply, Rory wanted them all to die and not just to die; he wanted to be the man who ushered in their final days in this life. For the grunts, he would eviscerate them. As for the commanders, the men in charge of all of this. Well, Rory had something special planned for those few individuals, they didn't deserve death, it was too easy and far too honorable for them. Yes, Freya really did know Rory...

As Rory switched between each of the stations, it was more than obvious how it was affecting Freya. Though Rory never blinked or offered comforting words to her, there was nothing that could be said to comfort a situation like this. Darkside just intiated World War Three, and there was no silver lining behind the cloud; it was just as grim, ugly, and dire as it appeared. Though, while it was obvious that Freya knew Rory all too well, it became even more obvious to him how much she still surprised him.

Rory had just turned off the radio and explained everything when Freya suddenly lunged forward and pushed the button. A small red light began blinking hypnotically on the dashboard, still though, a smile didn't crack on Rory's face. The shock of everything that had happened to his home land made him for too serious to see the humor in things right now.

"Fine... We..." Rory said with a slight nod, looking down at her hand which was still on the button. Slowly he reached out and placed his hand on hers, "If ih's war Darkside wants, then he'll ge' ih... Freya... I love yo-" Before Rory could finish the entire helicopter lit up with gunfire, many of the bullets piercing through the metal of the hull. Like a boxer who just heard the ring of a round beginning, Rory leapt to his feet and out into the scorched field amid the gunfire.

The entire helicopter was surrounded by soldiers, there were at least a good twenty of them, maybe even thirty. That didn't stop Rory though, like a pissed off bear he grabbed a sub-machine gun in each hand and charged toward the group off the left side of the helicopter; both guns blazing in either hand. The rest of the soldiers continued firing on the helicopter, hoping to kill Freya before she could get out. Rory hadn't been joking. If Darkside wanted a war, Rory would give him a damn war...

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya hadn’t moved, just stood there, staring down at her own hand and the button it still pressed. She was furious, even more furious then the day before, and it was only through sheer will that kept her from, quite literally, exploding. Why? She wanted to wait until those bastards showed up, and…. Blowing up the helicopter when Rory was still in it was a bad idea. That reason alone kept the out of control rage inside her at bay. At least until he was far enough away.

Her furious trembling stopped when Rory put his hand on her own. He hadn’t cooled her temper, not in the least. Just…. Subdued it for a fraction of a second. And, if he’d managed to get ‘I love you’ all the way out, it probably would have broke her from this angry daze for a moment. Either way, before he could finally say the one line she’d been trying desperately to get out of him since he returned, the helicopter was being turned into Swiss cheese.

While Rory charged about before any rounds could hit him, Freya just stood there, smirking. None of the rounds reached her, each one melting once it got closer than two feet. Slowly she stalked out, pausing only for a moment to see which side Rory had gone off on. Obviously she got off on the other, the helicopter being the only thing between them.

Rory would feel the sudden change in temperature. Actually, probably everyone alive within a mile radius would feel it. It was like an oven, only hotter… The helicopter behind her was actually threatening to melt, and every weapon in the soldier’s hands (on her side at least, Rory’s side was just ridiculously hot, even if he had been in that suit of his he would have felt it) turned red, melting right there in their hands… Along with anything else on them that wasn’t flammable. She’d never met someone who could survive having everything metal on them melt, these soldiers might be the first though…. So… As a ‘precaution’, she raised the temperature around them even more….

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

A wall of soldiers were pooring out of the burnt forests that had surrounded Rory's castle only hours ago. On the other side of the field, another wall of soldiers had come from who knows where. Rory was charging into the trees (which ironically enough was also a common saying for someone who was fought first and thought later), where a normal man would go the opposite direction, Rory saw it as the only way to go. Miraculously, in his charge toward the tree's, running serptine as he went, many of the soldiers couldn't keep a bead on him. Even without his suit, Rory's movement was almost superhuman.

Rory himself was firing both sub-machine guns from either hand, the bullets from his guns filled the air like a heavy rain. Bullets ricocheted off of rocks, pierced into trees, and mowed down most of the soldiers coming out of the forest. When he was only about ten feet from the start of the forest, both guns gave the familiar 'click' of an empty magazine.

Without a single second of hesitation, Rory tossed the guns aside and reached for the handle of the katana on his back. One of the soldiers, dressed entirely in a black suit, stepped out from behind a tree to fire out Rory. Rory didn't stop running, as he came toward the soldier he drew the katana out of its sheath on his back and slash horizontally. Though Rory didn't watch where his strike hit, he didn't have to. He could feel the blade of the sword smoothly cutting through cloth, armor, muscle, and bone. Instead, Rory's sights were focused on a soldier standing just behind the man he just killed.

Rory lowered his shoulder and slammed it into the gut of the man, much like a linebacker, and lifted the man off the ground. Continuing his charge forward, and pushing the soldier back in the process, not stopping until it felt as though Rory slammed into a wall. Taking a slight step back and shaking his head, he the soldier he had tackled in front of him, with the sharpened limb of a burnt tree sticking through his chest. It seems Ireland itself was wanting a little payback from these men.

A bullet hit the tree, just above Rory's head, the gunshot coming from behind him. Out of instict, Rory slid a throwing knife out of the bandolier on his chest, pivoted on his foot, and threw it in the direction of the gunfire behind him. The small blade gracefully flew through the air until the tip of the blade pierced through the mask of a soldier, and lodged itself in his skull. The man was tossed back from the force of the blade hitting him, revealing five more soldiers coming behind him.

All of the soldiers in the forest were circling around Rory, and while the firing had stopped, the presence of war could still be felt. Rory knew what was going on, they had intentionally lured him into the forest to block the view of Freya. It was a death trap, baited with the lives of the soldiers Rory had just killed. Holding his katana firmly in both hands he slowly turned on the spot, watching the wall of black close in around him. A stoic look was on his face as he watched the soldiers move in and then... a smile.

Rory could feel the heat skyrocketing, so could all of the soldiers as they looked around wildly for the source. Freya was still alive and kicking apparently. After another moment, a volley of screams could be heard coming from behind Rory, apparently he couldn't say the same about the soldiers...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the heat rose, the wall of soldiers began to back up from the woman approaching them. They weren't retreating, but the fear could be seen as the temperature continued to rise. Then suddenly, all of the firing stopped. Across the line of soldiers, every gun began to melt, dripping onto the ground in pools of metal. Then, screams, as their metal armor began to burn through them. Scattered explosions filled their ranks as grenades detonated in their holders from the heat. In a matter of seconds, the wall of soldiers was on the ground.

A wise man once said that it is only when you remove the field of weeds, you can see the snakes. As line after line of soldiers fell in the heat, dark figures could be seen still stand through the heat waves. The dark figures continued to walk calmly toward Freya, as if they were in no hurry at all. The closer they got, the easier it was to see that their armor was drastically different than the stuff the dead soldiers around them were wearing... Ghosts.

There were roughly ten of them approaching Freya, each carrying a unique weapon, and none of them were guns. Unlike most of the soldiers, Ghosts learned from their opponents, this wasn't going to be a ranged fight... It was going to be in her face. Among the calmly walked suited men, were about four men who really stood out; as none of the four men had shirts on.

Instead, each of the four men had a set of black armored pants on, and a black harness that strapped over their shoulders. Upon closer inspection, one could see that their hair was pasty white, and a layer of frost glistened on their bodies. Perhaps more disturbing, were large spikes of ice sticking out of their bodies. Not just sticking to their skin, but actually sticking out of it., blood could be seen dripping off of these spikes.

While Freaks were failed attempts at creating mutants through gene splicing and biogenetics, Freya was about to meet the successful attempts at it; elementalists. All ten of the men stopped about fourty feet from Freya. There was a moment of silence as they stared at her, distant gunshots and screams could be heard coming from the direction of Rory, echoing across the empty fields.

One of the ghosts, whose armor was a shiny blood red, slowly looked at the dead soldiers all around him. Then turned his helmeted head up toward Freya... Strangely, the watery lines of heat all around the field began to disappear and the temperature began to drop rapidly; all four of the elementalists had their hands raised, ice dripping off their hands like water. Without warning, the ghosts charged Freya, closing the distance between she and them in seconds. Several jumped into the air, raising their weapons to strike down at her, the rest continued charging toward her; weapons raised and ready to strike. If Darkside knew that Freya and Rory were at Ireland... Surely they realized he wasn't going to make it that easy on them...

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

The soldiers went down with absolutely no fight, withering under her power. She hadn’t even done anything that bad! She’d expected…. Well, at least them to put up at least a somewhat decent f-

Freya scowled as the Soldiers dropped, finally revealing the ‘real’ enemy. Of course. No way they’d send just soldiers after these two, especially considering how quickly they fell under her power. There were six Ghosts, just her luck. She’d never succeeded in killing any on her own before now, every Ghost she’d killed had been distracted in some way by Rory…. Actually, Rory wouldn’t consider any of them ‘her’ kills since he had to help…

Well, if she lived, she’d have six to her name. And four….. What the hell were those…?

She’d been so focused on the Ghosts that she’d overlooked the four ‘freaks’ for a moment. They weren’t like any freaks she’d seen. The freaks had been more…. Creature. These probably would have looked human if it weren’t for the icicles hanging off them. What were these things? She was instantly wary of them, but not because of their grotesque figures. But because she could feel the chilling bit they were giving off. No one had ever been able to rival her control when it came to temperature, other than her sister, before now. And the fact that these four were capable of dragging it down this much in such a short time? It just made her even more mad.

For half a second, she focused on them alone, the temperature fluctuating insanely. One minute it was boiling hot, the next it was plummeting back towards the freezing point, back up, back down…. It was pretty bad, even Rory, who was otherwise occupied (she could hear the screams) would feel the battle. It was almost like Freya and Tari when they got in a fight, the only difference being Freya managed to control the temperature much longer then she would if Tari was her opponent.

Sadly, the Ghosts wouldn’t let this mental battle go in her favor, and it would if they didn’t interfere. All six ghosts were charging towards her, breaking her concentration. Shit. The temperature plummeted as Freya desperately tried to get away from the ghosts.

The ones in the air were her first priority, they’d be the easiest to hit, and if she succeeded, at least it’d mean they’d be out of the fray for a few, vital seconds. Sweeping one of her hands through the air, lightning streaked out of her finger tips in a crescent shape, striking the three airborne straight in the chest. They went flying away, and, if they hadn’t been in those suits, wouldn’t be getting back up. As it was, she probably only had a few seconds before they were back.

The remaining three had gotten a little to close in her attempt to stop the other half of their group. Stumbling back, her mind reeled, trying to come up with a plan. They wouldn’t fall for the same trick as their comrades, Ghosts were too smart for that… But that didn’t mean she didn’t have a few more tricks up her sleeves. Lightning once more leaped from her fingertips, only this time hitting the ground with an earsplitting CRACK, tearing chunks of earth into their path. It wouldn’t stop them, but they wouldn’t see what she did next. Not waiting, a blast of fire, so hot that it melted the rock (insta-lava!) on contact, and, hopefully, swept over the Ghosts. Those suits could withstand most attacks, but lava? She’d found out some time ago that if it didn’t kill the Ghosts, it’d at least do some pretty heavy damage.

If only she’d remembered about those nosey Elementalists on the sidelines right then…

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

The battle was on for Darksides army as they charged Freya. Though every single one of them wanted nothing more than to spill her blood, they had orders to take her alive. The commander of the Ghosts personally thought that was a very unwise decision, in his battle trained mind, leaving such a powerful mutant alive and in pursuit of your life was a bad decision. Darkside should just kill her now and be rid of any threat, sure, he could use her alive but he'd be safe if she was dead. Unfortunately, orders were orders... Didn't mean they couldn't beat the hell out of her first though.

Almost as soon as the three of the Ghosts leapt into the air, weapons pointed at Freya, there was a deafening crack of thunder and all three were blown to the side roughly fifty yards. Immediately, all six of the ghosts knew not to go airborne while she was watching again, and immediately six strategies changed with Freya's first move. The other three continued to charge her, only about twenty feet away now.

Suddenly there was another deafening crack and the ground exploded in front of the ghosts, tossing dirt and ash everywhere, blinding their vision. Still though, they didn't stop, rushing through the dust and jumping smoothly over all the cracks in the ground the woman made; oblivious to the wall of lava coming for them.

Fortunately for them, the elementalists felt the rush of heat from the lava almost immediately. All four elementalists began moving forward in unison toward the fight, and raised all of their hands at the same time as the lava rushed toward their allies. Immediately the glowing red rock began to turn black and in seconds hardened, most of it falling to the ground as harmless rocks and the wave simply hardened and freezing in its tracks. After a few more seconds, a layer of frost covered the black rock that had been lava, obviously showing what had happened. It was a good move by Freya, but not good enough...

The ghosts never slowed down, hidden from view behind the wall of black rock. Suddenly all three leapt over the rock and back into view of Freya as if nothing had ever slowed them down. The first ghost threw his spear at Freya, sliding another one out of a sheathe on his back while the other two ghosts flanked Freya on either side.

The elementalists themselves were also closing ground on Freya, still walking in unison. It was interesting, the ground around Freya was glowing red from the heat her body was giving off, while every step that the elementalists took left a long path of ice. It was truly a battle of elements, with the random element of flesh and blood (the ghosts) thrown in to tip the scale in the armies favor. Suddenly, the elementalist at either end of the line broke off and began to walk around Freya's flank on either side. Soon, each elementalist stood about thirty feet away from Freya, forming a perfect square around her. As they did so, the temperature within the square plummeted rapidly, quickly overpower Freya's control over the air temperature. In moments, the other three ghosts could be seen running toward Freya, in moments she would likely be overwhelmed... Perhaps she wasn't as much of a threat as they thought?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the forest, the temperature was fluctuating so rapidly it was making all of the soldiers heads spin. In one second, sweat would be running down their bodies, in the next a layer of frost would cover their bodies from the frozen sweat. Though the soldiers and Rory were locked in an epic battle, wanting nothing more than to kill one another, one thing could be agreed on by all... Elementalists, mutant or no, sucked...

A pile of bodies was beginning to pile up around Rory as the soldiers charged in and he killed them. In fact, so many had died by his blade that the katana was beginning to get dull and they had only been fighting for about thirty minutes. As Rory cleaved the head off of another soldier, causing him to slowly fall to the ground, his head hitting the ground before his knees. Rory was breathing heavily and immediately raised his blade to defend himself but... The soldiers were gone...

There were at least thirty, maybe forty bodies on the ground but there was no way that was all. As Rory spun around wildly looking for enemies though, he saw none. He was breathing heavily, actually winded from the fight (which meant A LOT coming from Rory), and blood was spattered across his face and clothing; with a few cuts and nicks here and there across his body. Funny enough though, he seemed to have killed them all.

Suddenly, it felt as though a wall hit Rory and he was thrown backwards, slamming into a tree and slumping onto the ground. The tree itself cracked loudly and fell over, weak from being burned. Rory groaned slightly from the hit and pulled himself to his feet. "Damn..." Was all Rory said at the sight that met his eyes. All of the trees in a hundred yard radius had been blown away and standing in the center of the explosion were four men.

Two of the men were dressed in black suits, obvious Ghosts, the other two were the cause of Rory's dismay. They were both small, but covered with metal harnesses and armored pants. While their bodies were bare other than the metal harnesses, their hands up to their biceps looked like some sort of metal gloves... Ground pounders as they were known, the telekinetic of Darksides army. This was going to be a long, loooong, day...

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Dammit. How could she have forgotten about those four..? If they hadn’t frozen her attack… Freya put even more distance between herself and them, scheming once more. She had to deal with the Elementalists first, otherwise they’d stop every attack she threw. Actually, scratch that. There was no way she’d win this fight if she didn’t stop them. Great timing, when she’s the angriest, and most determined to stop them, she came across an enemy that threatened to destroy her.

What was she supposed to do though? The Ghosts had her jumping at everything! She had to keep her attention on them, otherwise she’d be turned into mincemeat! Focus on the Elementalists, she was dead. Focus on the Ghosts, she was dead. Either way…. She was doomed. She muttered French curses under her breath as she tried to think up some way to get rid of the Elementalists without getting herself killed.

Sidestepping by pure chance, she barely managed to avoid the spear. Actually, she hadn’t seen it until she heard it sink into the ground and glanced down, seeing just how close it’d come to sinking into her leg… Freya actually shuddered at the idea, before she returned to reality. In that fraction of a second when she was focused on the gruesome idea of something sticking out of her leg, they’d managed to surround her.

The Elementalists were in even more control of the temperature now, overwhelming her own, to the point where her body temperature was starting to drop. Dammit… Instantly she started fighting back, dragging it back up…. And stopping when three of the ghosts charged her yet again….

And Rory thought he was in for a long day…

[/justify]

[Rory Ashe]

The fight was quickly falling into the Ghosts favor. The elementalists continued to think that this was all a waste of time and honestly couldn't believe that Darkside was worried about someone so harmless. All that Darkside had to do was send a few of them out and they could kill her, no wonder he gave the simple order of "bring her in alive". As for the ghosts, not a single one of them would so easily give in to such arrogant thoughts. While the woman had barely put up a fight so far, that didn't mean they would ever underestimate her. Until she was capture and safely delivered to Darkside, they would fight her like with extreme prejudice.

While Freya managed to dodge the spear, it was unnlikely she would be able to dodge EVERYTHING else that was about to hit her; so they weren't worried about it. The ghost with the long spear lunged forward at Freya, lunging the tip of the spear toward her stomach. Without waiting to see if he struck, he pulled the spear back and spun rapidly on his heel, whipping the tip of the spear toward her head and then her feet rapidly, as if he were a spinning top. The ghosts that were flanking her on either side also rushed into the fight.

As for the elementalists, they could feel the control they were gaining over the temperature. Everytime she tried to push the temperature back up, it got a little weaker, they were gaining control. Immediately, all four raised their hands higher and out of the sky, a cieling of large icicles appeared to be hanging in midair above the fight. Suddenly, all of them began to fall to the ground like bullets, shattered when their sharp tips hit the ground. As soon as one icicle would shatter, another would appear in the sky above it. Talk about death from above...

[Freya Elensar Ashe]

Freya knew what it would take to stop them now. What she had to do if she planned on escaping this alive. But really, that was only as a last resort. It was dangerous, after all. But really… What choice did she have? Her current level just wasn’t enough. And if she didn’t step it up now, she was dead. Or worse.

Again, she managed to avoid the attack that would do the most damage, the spear to the stomach to be exact. If only she was as lucky with the others. One end slammed into her head, momentarily dazing her, before her feet were swept right out from under her, the woman slamming onto her back, gasping as the breath was knocked out of her. Okay… That hurt.

At the same time, perhaps those attacks were what saved her life. Because, lying flat on her back, she saw the icicles forming over head. Curse it all. No choice what so ever.

She slowly sat him, her skin turning red. Literally. Maybe these Ghosts and Elementalists would be smart enough to realize she’d only been using about fifty percent of her power up till this moment. Now? Now she was done playing games with them. A split second passed, before…. Well, she caught on fire (Thankfully she’d figured out a way to avoid burning most of her clothes since last time. All she did was singe them a little).The icicles that came crashing down melted long before they even hit the ground, the temperature figuratively ‘ripped’ out of the elementalists’ control, up at the melting point once again. Nothing they did would get it back, and, Freya would be finding out in a matter of seconds if they were actually made of ice. Either way, human, metal, or ice, nothing would survive this close to her. Even those precious suits of the ghosts would protect them only a few moments. Freya rose to her feet, the temperature raising even more.

[/justify]