The Last Animega

Blood on the Dancefloor

"Put your hands up!" One of the Troops ordered. I turned, keeping the bronze blade held firmly against the Troop's neck. Every gun was pointed at me.

"Or what? You'll kill me? I'd like to see you try." I sneered. The guy glared and held his rifle firm.

"Fire at will!" He shouted. Gunshots rang in the air. I pulled my captive in front of me and let him take the bullets. With every shot fired into the Troop's body, the more I was hoping that the bullet didn't rip through into me. Seconds later, they stopped shooting. Lying the mangled, hole filled body onto the ground, I closed the Troop's.

"Sorry." I whispered. That's all I could say to the corpse. Standing up, I raised my dagger in front of me.

"I will give you one chance!" My voice was full of authority. "Leave now and stop your hunt, and I will allow you to live."

Grease stepped forward, gun in hand. "You're going to pay!" He released the empty cases from the rifle and stuck new bullets inside.

"Stand down!" The lead-troop said. But the man didn't waver. "Jefferson, get back into formation."

The man with greasy hair, Jefferson, refused to put his gun down. "Not until this one is lying on the ground with a big pile of blood around her." 

I stood my ground, my eyes boring into him. I dared him to pull the trigger, I dared him to shoot. He didn't, the man didn't even move. We stared each other down, watching each other's every move. There was a kind of tense air around the crowd behind me. The whole world seemed to be holding it's breath. Amber looked back and forth between us, wondering who would move first. Dillon crouched beside her, holding a handful of napkins up to her wound. 

Tired of waiting for something to happen, I stepped forward. "What are you waiting for?" I demanded. "Shoot me! Send a bullet threw my brain! Or do you not have the guts, Jefferson?" He tensed up as I said his name. His hand was trembling; and a shaking hand leads to a trigger-happy finger. I was growing impatient. Running at full speed, I appeared behind him, knife at the small of his back. It was a very very stupid move to turn my back on the other Troops. But something told me that they were too cowardly to take action. 

"I'm sorry." I whispered in his ear. "But I can't have you hurting any more people. Especially ones that I care about. I gave you your chance, but you refused to heed my warnings. And I'm not sure I should give you another." I saw him reach towards his belt towards a small dagger. Stepping away, I moved back to the front. 

"Piece of garbage Animega." He spat. Ditching the gun, he lunged at me with the small knife. Calmly leaning to one side, I managed to barely dodge the blade. Other Troops moved forward to help, but Jefferson held up a hand. "Don't make another step." He growled. "This one is mine." 

Looking at him with sad eyes, I sighed. My legs spread out a bit, my knees bent slightly. The bronze dagger sat in my right hand, its blade protruding towards the outside of my body. My body turned slightly, making sure that my knife was facing my foe. I lifted the hand holding the weapon up to the middle of my torso, preparing to strike. "You have made your choice." The memory of Katie being held by this man flashed threw my mind. Him throwing her to his awaiting cronies, them tying her up. Then Amber was being held beck by said cronies. How many more people has he hurt, has he humiliated? By the small wave of fear that appeared in his eyes, the man realized what I was going to do. 

All of the hate and fear and sadness I have encountered these last few months overflowed inside me. "Sam," Alex begged. "Don't do this." 

"You know how many times I have given him a choice. I let him live and continue his terror. Why shouldn't I?" Jefferson rushed me again, this time with more precise movements. Moving to the side, I managed to avoid the blade but not his elbow. Pain blossomed on my jaw as the hard bone made contact. Twisting my entire body, I raised my leg and caught him in the stomach with my shin. Ducking, I evaded a blow meant to thrust his blade into my head. 

Pushing off the ground, I shot forward and rammed my shoulder into his stomach. He grabbed my hair and pulled me with him as he fell backwards. Wrestling on the ground, we both struggled to get the upper hand. He sat on my stomach and was trying to stick his dagger into my head. Straining to keep the blade away from my face, I held his arms in place with my own. If I could just plunge my own weapon into any part of his body, it would mean a big advantage to me. But that would require me weakening my guard for the split second it would take me to do so. My opponent was strong, and weighted almost double me. 

Trapping his feet in place with my ankles, I pushed my hips upward as fast and hard as I could. Flipping him onto his back, I managed to gain a small advantage. Jefferson was still stronger than me, but I had a larger range of motion. Raising my dagger above my head, I prepared to trust it into his chest. There was a gunshot and searing pain ripped through my shoulder. Dropping the weapon, I scrambled backwards, clutching the wound. Taking the advantage of my injury, Jefferson held me down and positioned the blade right above my heart. As much as I tried, I could only slow the progression of the blow by a little. My shoulder blazed with agony as I held his wrists away from my body. 

Then, he was gone. Holding the bloody area, I sat up and saw Dillon hold Jefferson's own rifle to his head. Pulling the trigger, Dillon ended the man whom I should have killed 2 years ago. Helping me stand, he dragged me out of the storage building with Amber and Serena close behind. By the time the Troops had come out of their shock, we were over a block away. We all crowded into a dark ally and watched them thunder by us. Running to our hotel room, we grabbed our stuff and dashed into the familiar cover of the forest. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Amber: Oh, WOW, Aridis! You just had to kill a few people and ruin the dance, didn't you?

Aridis: Maaaaaybe. 

Amber: I'm going to get you back for this! 

Aridis: Oh, and how are you going to do that? I have no weaknesses! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Dillon: I am surrounded by idiots. 

Amber: Hey!

Aridis: Take that back!

Dillon: No. 

Aridis: Wanna get him first?

Amber: Oooooh ya. 

Dillon: Forget what I said. You two aren't idiots. You're complete nutjobs.