Rebel: A Monstercat Fanfic

021 - Contact (022)

Song of the Chapter: Barracuda - Noisestorm (Breaks)

(Phantom's POV)

"We are going to die," Braken whimpers.

"We need to run. I don't care if we draw attention. We need to get out of here." Rogue grabs my arm as well and pushes forward, right through another group of people. Braken trips over himself and brings all three of us down, and I've never been more grateful for Rogue leaving his helmet and sword at the hotel. I would have been impaled.

Nitro clicks off his phone and pulls Braken to his feet. "He's almost here. Come on."

I glance back as I scramble back up, and sure enough, the man is almost to our curb. He meets my gaze, even through the glasses, and says something into his radio.

"We're dead," Braken mutters.

"We're not dead yet." Rogue finally rips him off of me so I can actually run, and the four of us take off, plowing through groups and ducking around people.

"Yet," I hear Braken say under his breath.

"This way." Rogue leads us around the corner. "Keep up, Nitro."

I pull ahead just a bit and slam into a thick, tall man, bouncing back off and stumbling backwards. Before I can register what I hit, the man grabs my jacket collar to keep me from running away and mutters something into his hand radio - WAIT. He's got one, too. He's wearing the same glasses but is dressed more casual. This man is the enemy.

Rogue reacts faster than I do, throwing his entire body into this new guy. The three of us stagger and I'm released. I scramble away as he flails to grab me again, but I'm just out of reach. Instead, the man throws Rogue off of him and my friend tumbles into the busy street. Braken screams his name and he just barely rolls out of the way of a speeding car, and my heart nearly stops as he's almost hit. Nitro yanks me away as the man takes another swipe and then grabs Braken to get him moving, too. Rogue is already on his feet, but the man is in his way.

"I know who you are," the enemy says darkly.

"Oh yeah?" Rogue is breathing hard and leaning heavily on his left leg, though he's trying to hide it.

"Take Braken and run," I murmur to Nitro, careful to keep my voice down.

"I'm not leaving you," he answers.

"You're the Rogue, aren't you? Joel Hunt." The man grins, ever watching Rogue's reaction. The artist's eyes flicker over to us and the man takes the opportunity to lunge at him, a pair of handcuffs seeming to appear out of thin air into his hand.

Braken pulls out of Nitro's grip and jumps on the man, bringing him down from behind. Rogue leaps over the two on the ground and whirls around to stand with us. Before I can protest, Nitro throws himself on top of both of them, somehow getting the handcuffs in his possession. Braken tumbles off and Nitro snaps one of the cuffs around the man's wrist, the other one clinking onto a sewer grate, trapping him in place. That was lucky, I think to myself.

"Come on, guys!" Nitro yells, taking off once more down the street. The other man, the first one in the suit, has finally rounded the corner and is still coming toward us at that casual and freaky pace.

Rogue follows Nitro without hesitation, and I grab Braken's arm to pull him up. The two of us have only taken maybe three steps before Braken suddenly jolts to a stop with a strangled yelp. He grabs at the scarf tied around his neck, trying to loosen it. I turn around and see the man Nitro trapped holding onto the green fabric with one hand, grinning morbidly. I take the other end and pull, but the man is strong and unwilling to let go. Braken turns, too, and the two of us barley make progress against this one man.

"Take it off," I hiss, but Braken frantically shakes his head.

The man yanks and we both stumble.

"Leave it, Braken."

"I can't," he gasps out.

I know that arguing with him isn't going to help, so I make a split second decision and lunge at the man, taking him by surprise as I slam into him. He releases the scarf and Braken scrambles away, clutching it with both hands. I kick out of the enemy's grip and run, tripping as he grabs my leg, but still making it away without any other trouble.

"Come on," I growl, grabbing Braken and yanking him along with me. I glance back to see the free man break into a run, but he can't go fast enough in his suit to catch us. Since I had my eyes on the man behind me, I fail to see Rogue in front of me and we crash, nearly falling again. "Are you okay?" I ask quickly, letting him hold onto me to stay upright.

"Twisted my ankle, but I'm fine," he says, hissing in pain.

"Where are we going to go?" Braken brings up a good point.

"Doesn't matter. We'll run until they give up," I say.

"Hate to break it to you," Nitro says in between gasping breaths, "but not all of us are runners."

We're pulling ahead of the man in the suit, who's stopped to release his partner from the handcuffs and the sewer grate. I think we can make it, if we keep up this pace, but Nitro's right. He's struggling to keep up and Rogue's limp is steadily getting worse.

"What about Aero's tactic?" Rogue suggests.

My heart drops to my stomach. "You mean the rooftops?"

He nods, wincing as he steps awkwardly. "If we can get up there without them seeing us, we can escape."

As much as I'd like to refuse, it isn't a bad idea. "Alright. Where did he get up? I don't remember."

"I think it was down this street, but I'm not sure."

Somehow, we manage to turn and duck into an alleyway, just in time to avoid an MI car speeding down the street, sirens wailing. Sure enough, there's a ladder here, leading up.

"You go ahead," I say.

Nitro and Braken don't hesitate to scramble up, but Rogue is a little slower. "You can't run off on your own," he protests.

"I wasn't - "

"Yes, you were." He meets my gaze, but I drop my eyes to the ground.

"Yeah, well - "

"Face your fears, Phantom. Better to do it now than when the stakes are higher."

"I never said ... "

Rogue smirks. "I can tell. Come on." Without waiting for a response, he pulls himself up, keeping off his right leg as much as possible.

I stare after him for just a moment before taking a deep breath and following. Once I reach the top, I'm suddenly aware of the winds tugging at my clothes and the sudden drop only a step away. I stagger back, the world spinning, my pulse racing. I can't see clearly and my mind is telling me to run, to get out, but there's nowhere to go.

Braken frowns, coming toward me, and suddenly the world flips and everything goes black. Nitro's loud swearing is the last thing I remember before passing out.