Ah Horus stood there, he looked strong with his army of scarabs, though that dream came soon to an end. Some sort of robot things came threw those doors. Horus had nothing against robots really, his scarabs couldn't eat threw the armor, his skin decease was useless, an eclipse wouldn't do anything unless they worked on sun energy, but Horus doubted they did. His scarab friends came to an end when the robots started turning them to flames,

"Devils work creatures these" Horus took some steps back, he had never seen this sort of wizards tricks, and they weren't mutants with the flame ability. The yellow eye's of Horus became brighter, his fury raised up, he was as pissed of as a god could be. Now swirling around with his sword he hoped he could do some close ranged damage, but that wasn't going to happen.

Some sort of arrows or as he heard people around him say "tranquilizing darts" were flying around his ears. Horus could see some human reinforcement, "Maybe fun some after all" He lifted his hands while walking back wards and dogging the darts. You could see the police being in pain, their skin skin was burning, bumbs were forming, you could see there faces burn, in some seconds they were toast, dead stinking hot rotten flesh.

"Hahahahahahahaha" Horus his evil laugh could be heared threw out the hall, it was as evil as always. He could see something move in the shadows, but what was it? He hoped he could slash it to pieces. "Here come kitty little" His sword was now spinning around like a mad man, he was glad he finally had some excitement in Mandain his boring life.

Overcast took in the gist of the battle pretty quickly. She was apparently one of few who could break down these machines using only her power. She sent another barrage of empty bullets at an oncoming robot and didn't wait for it to fall before searching for another one she could shoot up. A whole nother wave of them was marching in through the door. She made to attack them, but something got in her way, some sort of shielding device. She could work through it, using her power to gnaw at it until it became nothingness and she could break through, but she feared that this would take too much time. Best to focus on the ones I can get then, for now. She retreated from the new wave and made for another one of the unshielded robots. But another one caught her off-guard from behind and she was slammed against the wall, a bloody gash following the length of her arm. For a moment she sat there, stunned. She had been out of battle for too long, it seemed, out of practice.

>This is isn't working!<

"No kiddin'? What was your first clue??" Amp slid and ducked under a table. A claw slammed through the glass, trying to pin her down. A blast bubbled out from her body, further shattering the glass and peppering the machine-creature with the shards. "Make yourself useful and come up with a better plan!"

>What do you think I'm doing?? Playing tag??<

In effect they were. The Twins were barely able to keep out of the two monsters' grasps. Any other time, the pair of them would have abandoned the fight at the first sign of difficulty. But some 'feeling' was keeping them fighting.

Vibe was wracking her brain for another solution, but most of the girls' usual attacks were useless. The machines simply played back their Shriek, rendering it ineffective. They were indoors, so it would take too long to find and call enough animals for a distraction, even with Echo's help. The Skull blasts had no effect, as the robot could not get sick. True, a strong enough vibration might be able to shake a few screws loose, so to speak, but neither redhead was keen to get close enough to try.

Something whizzed by, just missing Vibe's arm and impacting with the creature's 'skin', and bounced off. A few of the badge-wearing force had managed to get by Abyss and Mandain, and had taken up positions behind some of the upturned furniture, using the cover to fire tranqs at the fighting mutants.

>Amp! I've got an idea! Hurry and put up masking shields around Syn and the others!<

"What? Now?"

>Trust me! Aiiee!!< The longer-haired twin dodged another swipe, and rolled underneath the machine, just barely missing the tail as she came out behind.

Fortunately the girls had had eighteen years to practice their control. When Syn had chastised Amp earlier for attacking Sara, the pair had 'identified' the unique sounds of all of the mutants in the foyer, to avoid another unintended attack. Even while dodging in the confusion, Amp easily pegged down those 'sound signatures' from others around, and blocked them. To Syn, Abyss and his clones, Isabel, Horus and Sara it would be as if someone hit the 'mute' button on the TV remote.

"Now what??" Amp yelled. Vibe didn't answer, as she was.... kind of busy. While her sister was working, and running, Vibe was trying her best to recreate the tones she made with her tuning forks. It was difficult to concentrate enough in the confusion. But she had been practicing her hypnotic melody non-stop for nearly a week. Finally, it clicked.

>Got it! Whooooaahhh! Help!!< Her triumphant cry was cut short. She had slowed her dodging, and the machine monster took advantage. It jumped, soaring overhead, and landed in front of her. She skidded, but couldn't stop in time, and was grabbed by the throat and hauled off the floor.

"STOP IT!!!"[/i] Amp screamed at the top of her lungs.

Two things happened at once. Motivated by fear for her sister, the shorter-haired twin launched a double-power concussion wave at the monster's arm. The shock ripped through the metal with enough vibrating force to literally vibrate the arm loose from the robot's body, dropping her sister to the ground. At the same moment, the hail of tranqs changed their course. Those humans that were within hearing distance that had not succumbed to Horus's spell, fell to Vibes. Vacant stares all turned, and a hail of tranquilizers slammed into the now-one-armed machine, driving it back into a wall.

Vibe sat up, rubbing her throat. Her heart was pounding, fear threatening to overwhelm even Syn's motivating powers. Her eyes widened.

>AMP!! LOOK OUT!!<

The warning came too late, and Amp only had enough time to put up a minimal shield as the second monster backhanded her, sending her crashing into the far wall of the foyer. Vibe scrambled to her feet and practically flew to her sister's side, somehow still remembering to keep up the hypnotic song. Without further suggestion, the human continued their onslaught of the one-armed machine.[/color]

((ooc: Continued from “Breakfast”.))

High above the scene and entirely unconcerned with the world at large, a red hawk was neatly tearing strips off of the pigeon who had, up until half an hour ago, been perched on this very ledge. The slightest hint of black showed through from under his neck feathers, in a subtle ring. Below him—six buildings away and seven stories down—absolute chaos was playing out. The hawk’s own eyes could easily pick out the golden glint of the Sanctuary’s doors. They had been busted in, though they were far more repairable than the stained glass skylight over the main foyer.

It had briefly occurred to Calley to warn the Sanctuary. He’d had rather advanced warning, after all—he’d known about both the Mansion raid and this strike through his NYPD connections long before Hunter had ordered him to observe both. Speaking of observations… he gave himself a shake. A stray white feather that was clearly not his own was jarred loose, returning his collar cam to its previous unobstructed viewing.

So about warning the Sanctuary. …Yeah, he’d decided not to do that. He really was more of an observer than an active participant, after all. Telling people things always meant explaining how he knew them, which might involve explaining things that were Hunter’s business. Calley had developed a deep-seated aversion to talking about Hunter’s business. This might have something to do with the unimaginable torture he'd been treated to that last time he'd talked about Hunter, to Abyss. Then again, maybe he was just feeling benevolent to his Scary Boss Man.

In any case, Issie and Abyss could more than handle themselves, the twins would probably be smart li’l red heads and run, and Syn… Ooo! He could try getting Syn’s hairbrush again, after this was over. Everyone else in the Sanctuary? Meh. He didn’t really care. Like that unconscious guy being hauled out the doors, right now—don’t know him, don’t care. He delicately tore another strip of pigeon off for his consuming pleasure, careful not to get blood on the camera. He trusted that Hunter would enjoy not having to watch this scene through a red haze. He also trusted that the video on this little Doc Jimmy-made contraption was seeing just as much as his own eyes. The audio was probably superior to his ears, now that he thought about it. He swallowed heartily, and swiveled his head back towards the swarm of activity below him.

Pigeons were better than popcorn.

((ooc: Continued, after the Raid completes, in "Curled up with a book for both".))

Okay. Ouch. Getting kicked in the chest by a big metal reptile was not something Isabel would recommend to anyone. Even though the dense armor beneath her skin would have protected her from much worse damage, she could just imagine the blacks and blues that would be blossoming on her skin very soon, if they weren't already beginning to appear. Those things hit hard. She grunted unhappily as she tumbled ass over tea kettle three or four times before skidding to a stop, her elbows and knees stinging from a kind of rug burn, the nicely polished granite having rubbed off a thin layer or two of skin, not enough to make her bleed, but enough to make the joints ache dully. Still grumbling and taking shallow, ragged breaths after that last blow, she stuck the tip of one sword into a crack in the floor and groaned as she hoisted herself up, still watching the mechanical monstrosities warily. It almost felt as if she'd pulled something when her arm had been shoved out of the way by the Stalker and so she rolled her shoulder a few times and twisted her arm his way and that, trying to loosen the muscles back up. There was no way in hell she'd let this hunk of hardware get the best of her just yet. At least Isabel was a resilient little thing, she'd just keep coming back until she was somehow prevented from doing so any longer.

She glared at those humans that flooded in the door, paying them little mind, not really worried about their tranquilizers. Their darts wouldn't sink very far into her skin anyways, and even if she was hit, a knob of bone could simply push the tip out before any serious damage was done. But despite their weaknesses, Isabel still wished she was fighting the wonderfully delicate humans rather than the troublesome bucket of bolts she was currently facing off against. One advantage that she figured upon was the she was smaller than the Stalker, and therefore could most likely move around quicker and easier than it could. She'd do her best to use whatever advantages she could. She barely had any time to get her breath back as the Stalker charged again. She quickly ducked down and to the right as the thing slashed at her with tis claws, feeling a slight tug on her ribbon as one of the loops was sliced in one spot, much to her irritation. That bow had managed to somehow escape a playful Kitten, and now some over sized toaster was shredding it up! Irritated, she made a jab at the thing again, trying to catch some kind of joint that connected the head to the neck, wanting nothing more than the decapitate the damn thing, watching the tail cautiously as well as the thing's other arm.

And then all of a sudden there was no sound. Nothing, just silence. She didn't like that one single bit, and she knew exactly who to blame for it, too. The Twins. She sent a mild glare in their direction, though only briefly, afraid to take her eyes off the Stalker for any extended period of time. Not being able to hear anything would be a bit of an impairment, as she'd have to rely more on sight to figure out where everything was, and that sense was focused mainly on the robitic reptile. She wasn't willing to give up her attention to the humans, who she saw as very little threat, and so she'd stay focused upon the Stalker and hope that her hearing would return soon. Wanting to get every advanage she could, and attempting to think a bit more carefully, she had her second sword flattened out once more, crawling up her lower arm in the back for a more solid grip, forming another shield-like structure, big enough to be useful, but small enough not to impair her movement, which she hoped would prevent her from getting too many more cuts and bruises and perhaps stop her from tumbling so far next time she was struck.

The Sanctuary battle was being reviewed by both the watch that Vibe had and Calley’s collar camera. Dr Ingram happened to be passing the booth where the battle was being monitored to see a curious sight. All four analysts were sitting there, staring straight ahead, not moving. They looked for all the world like they’d been hypnotised. Curious he tapped on the glass.

None of them moved. Hitting the glass harder there was still no response. “You,” he said to a passing orderly, “phone that room, now.” Rather than question the doctor the orderly picked up a phone off the wall and rang it. Ingram watched as the men didn’t move to answer the phone. After a minute the phone switched to speaker phone and the orderly was about to say something to the men when he got the blank stare and dropped the phone.

Ingram quickly hung up the phone, not wanting to risk exposing himself to whatever caused this. He looked and the man and walked around him slowly. There was one place he had seen this before. At college there was a guy who knew hypnosis techniques, and Ingram had seen him make sensible people do very stupid things. He wondered…

“Take off your shift.” The man did as commanded, reaching up and unbuttoning his shirt. Dropping the article of clothing he stood motionless awaiting another order. Pleased with his deduction he waited to see how long it would be before the man regained his senses. It wasn’t long. Having determined what was going on he realised that he needed to counter this, especially if the people from whom the sound originated came here.

Heading to his lab he reviewed the security footage to see when the men went motionless. When they did he took a copy of the recording and analysed it for new sounds (without playing the sounds). Once he had located what new sound originated there and continued he quickly made a reveres, so that when played it would cancel out the sound.

Now to test it. Hooking it up to the intercom he began to play it. Like the original it wasn’t detectable by human ears. Brining up the present security footage he saw the men snap back to reality. After looking at each other in confusion for a moment they went back to work. Dr Ingram sent Hunter a memo about the latest defence to the lab, left it running and went back to his work.

As Horus was tracking down the thing he saw moving around in the shadows, the chaos was a bit lowered, he saw a clone running out of bullets, blood everywhere, the twins doing their thing: loving the chaos, and saw another new face. He quickly turned back to the thing he thought he saw, spinning his sword around he was having fun. Some more cops came threw the golden doors, at the same time Horus was just walking by still spinning his sword next to his body, lets just say body parts were chopped off and it wasn't a pleasant thing to see.

Only one problem occurred, in his fascinating way of killing he stood now between the golden doors, police swat en everybody else outside had a clear shot at him, "Well now, Hahahahahaha" he laughed so evil that you could almost see the cops raising an eyebrow thinking he was a lunatic. They aimed, Horus hoped the shot wouldn't come or that he would be moved out of this death situation, he wasn't planning on being registered.

Overcast gave her head an abrupt shake, trying to bring her mind back into her situation. She was bleeding, rather heavily, and she was in the middle of a battle, what should she do? Survival skills swirled around her head. Seeing little other opportunity for herself at the moment, she thanked fate that she was doing the double-tank look today and took off one of the two tank tops she was wearing, wrapping it tightly around her arm and securing it as best she could, hoping it would stay the bleeding, at least for now. But it won't last long, she thought. This battle better end quick.
That taken care of, she pushed the thought out of her mind, returning to the battle and retaking the fight. She was sure to send a good-sized one of her bullets through the backwiring of the robot who'd just gotten her. She felt a bit of delight as she watched its head fizzle and fall off, dangling at an awkward angle, it's main circuitry down. She finished it off with a wave of her bullets. It was becoming obvious, however, that the battle was going to take longer than she wanted it to. She retreated back into the foyer more, trying to take more of a defensive position, not trusting herself with a total offense in her wounded state. Whatever you do, don't black out.

(OOC: OK time to wrap this up so we can get the main plot moving and get those who are captured to the registration and the escapees to Mondragon Labs with Hunter's help)

The entrance and foyer to Sanctuary looked like a world war was going on. Bodies, broken sections of walls, and fighting everywhere. Normally the sight would be a welcome one and bring a smile of pleasure to Syn, but that was not the case. They were in serious trouble as the humans had the support of some kind of advanced robots that were amazingly fast and could adapt to some of the powers used against them.

Syn turned to her companions but since everything was oddly silent the girl did her best to convey that they needed to get out of there. She took a brief moment to see how the others were doing. Most were holding their own while others were struggling to stay one step ahead or their attacker. I know some of us will be caught but we'll find a way to recover whoever that might be she thought.

She then turned to her brother and gestured to him. "We need a door."

(OOC: CyberDoc and I have this bit planned between the Stalkers and Twins, so we'll just split off on our own. Hope it doesn't confuse. Thank ye kindly.

Vibe rushed to sister, fearing the worst, but nearly choked in relief as Amp sat up, clutching her side.

>Amp! I thought.... Oh man, I’m glad you’re okay.< She looked around at the havoc around them. Chaos was what the pair lived for, thrived on. But this.... this was.... a disaster....

A need to get out of there flooded both girls, emphasized by the charging Stalker. Amp clenched her fists.

”Forget this!” She leaned forward and slammed her fist on the ground. A concussion blast rocked the once-beautiful, now-demolished foyer, slamming into the machine and knocking it backward. Another swing in the opposite direction and a hole was blown in the wall behind them. A cold wind blasted in from the outdoors. ”We’re out of here!”

Amp dropped her sound shield, Vibe ceased her 'singing', and the petite pair abandoned the fight, rather gracelessly and guiltlessly, through the rubble. They ran as hard as they could down the street, trying to get as far away from the raid as possible. They’d lived on the streets for nearly a year, and knew most of the ins and outs of the area. They dodged dumpsters, climbed fences and cleared other obstacles in their efforts to escape.

Alright, so decapitating the big metal behemoth hadn't exactly worked. Isabel could tell the attempt had failed because the thing's head was still attached to its body, nothing to show for the attack except perhaps for a small dent, and in realizing this and retaliating with a frustrated glare, she'd taken her eyes off the thing's tail long enough for it to whip around without her noticing immediately. She was able to get her makeshift shield up fast enough to at least catch the metal appendage with the edge of the bone, a small chunk of her protection shipping off and clattering to the floor as she was sent back off balance, though she managed to somehow stay on her feet. The next thing she knew was that she was being yanked back in the opposite direction, making her feel like some sort of rag doll as her balance was further impeded. Apparently after the first blow, the Stalker had followed up by wrapping one of its clawed metal hands around her sword and giving her a rough tug, leaving her with nothing but a shield at the moment to hit it with. Quickly she worked to convert her shield back into a sword, but the big hunk of junk struck before she'd finished, striking her with a backhand and sending her tumbling again, a large gash now leaking blood from just above her ear, her ribbon sliced again in the attack, though this time the fabric had been cut through and the partially bloodied accessory fell to the floor while she scrambled to get back on her feet. She decided then that she definitely hated being on the losing end of her little games. And she definitely never wanted to fight against these metal monstrosities again.

She stood her ground as she Stalker rushed forward again, hissing at her she she raised the matching pair of swords up in a defensive position as well as having more spines rise up out of her skin to attempt to better protect herself from the thing's attacks. She was starting to realize just how much of a bad idea it had been to stick around. Humans were no problem at all, but these creatures... They were something else entirely. She'd already worked out that it was ridiculous to think she could beat even one of these things on her own. Even if she managed to deal some sort of damage to it, the damn thing just kept coming back, while she on the other hand could get tossed around and wouldn't be able to recover anywhere near as quickly as this thing did. Even Abyss and the Twins were having difficulties, and they both had at least one other person to give them a hand. The best Isabel could hope to do was keep this thing occupied while she tried to remain in one piece. She had already spotted the mutant-made escape that had been created. It was such a tempting route to take, but with some mental effort on her part she decided to ignore it. She doubted the Stalker would let her get through it anyways, and so she'd stay and keep it focused on her. At least that way there's be one less reptilian robot following after whoever else took off.

She ducked again and moved off to the left as the thing made another swipe at her, a few spines that ran down the length of her back dislodging themselves as they were flung at the robot, a new set of bones appearing to replace those that had been lost. Man this thing was fast! She could barely get any decent enough hit in with it moving around, never mind trying to dodge any of the attacks coming her way without having to move again immediately right after. As she was attempting to dodge another swipe she was suddenly forced downward, able to feel more than hear the crack of bone as the Stalker's tail connected with her spine and forced her toward the floor. She gave an inaudible little "Oof!" as the tips of the bones protruding from her front side struck the floor and retracted once more at an even rate of speed until she was nearly flat on the ground, again trying to scramble back to her feet the minute she was able. But once again the damn robot sent her to the floor as her feet were swept out from under her, her knees and elbows striking painfully against the floor. Goddammit! How the hell was she supposed to even put up any kind of fight if the stupid robot wouldn't even let her back up again? This was getting ridiculous and Isabel was getting sick and tired of it. She wasn't having any fun at all and so she just wanted to be done with it.

And then suddenly she wasn't on the ground any more, but was instead being hefted back up into the air by her upper arm, the Stalker's claws cutting into her skin, even more spines surfacing under the thing's hand, trying to force its grip open. She made a clumsy strike with her free hand but once again the sword was caught and this time was forcefully snapped off at the base by her hand, different shards cutting into her skin as what was left of the stump was retracted back in through her hand, her fingers clenching tightly against her stinging palm. Quickly the pressure on her upper right arm was released and replaced by the same kind of pressure on her left arm as she was passed from one of the Stalker's hands to the other, her second sword broken in much the same way, leaving her other palm also cut up and hurting, the discarded bone clattering to the floor. She was wriggling around as best she could while her feet were unable to touch the ground and both of her arms was restrained, the stupid reptile's claws cutting into her skin once again, refusing to let her go even as she continued to struggle to loosen its grip. And then she was being removed from the building and heading toward some big armored truck. Isabel did not want to be put inside that truck. She squirmed and yelled and cussed at the Stalker and the remaining humans like their was no tomorrow, not letting anyone touch her if it was at all possible, anyone foolish enough to try getting a nice gaping bone-induced hole in their hands.

(OOC: Sorry for the quick posting. Just looking to get our part done quickly.)

As the girls turned into an alley, surrounded on both sides by six- and seven-story buildings, a shadow zoomed overhead. The metallic menace landed hard, and the cement crumbled beneath it. This new machine was built slightly different. The twins put on the brakes and turned back the other way, only to have it blocked as well by their one-armed foe from before. They were effectively trapped. They stood in the center of the alley, Amp protectively in front. The first monster hissed at them.

“Sorry bot breath, we don't speak Monster.” Amp thrust both hands down. Twin sonic shockwaves rippled through the ground, tearing the cement and asphalt apart and throwing it and anything else laying on the ground toward the Stalkers. The hissing, one-armed creature was knocked back a bit before it dug into the nearby wall, to keep from being blown away. The roaring metallic menace merely planted its feet solidly into the ground to hold its ground. From the looks of how things were, or rather weren’t, hitting it, the girls guessed this new bot had some sort of shield protecting it as well. It unhooked one claw from the ground and reached forward to grab the girls.

”Not in this lifetime Freakenstein!” Amp gathered as much of her sister’s vibrations as possible, building them up within and amplifying them over and over again. An unnerving sound, like that of millions of crickets chirruping off-key, could be heard. Eventually it became deafening, and the ground began trembling. Amp’s hair rose slightly off of her shoulders, and her eyes glowed with green fire.

“Let’s see you block this one”

With that Amp released all of the sound energy stored up within her in one massive blast. The resulting sound wave was as devastating as any bomb. It pelted into the walls above them, and the ground below, taking anything not bolted down with it. Brick cracked, then crumbled, and metal groaned and shrieked. With an almost unearthly howl, the alley collapsed in on itself. The metallic monstrosities shrieked as both structures came crashing down around the bots and mutants, burying them in rubble. Smoke billowed upward, bathing the scene in dismal gloom.

For a moment there was silence, not a sound. Suddenly, the center of the debris pile exploded upward and out. The red-headed pair emerged from the destruction, coughing hard, and obviously disheveled. Vibe reached the top first, and pulled her sister up. Amp paused at the top of the pile, her breathing heavy and labored. Though she didn't realized it yet, one of the earlier attacks had cracked ribs, slowing her down painfully.

(Ooc: If one of you would like to play the robot at the end of my story, it would make me a bit more happy )

Horus was still standing in the position at the door opening, officers and other humans foolish enough to have entered the raid were only a couple of meters away and stood firmly with their guns drawn and pointed at Horus. Lucky for Horus one of Abyss his clones came standing next to him, anyone stupid to shoot now would have a serious problem. The officers looked at their captain, they had their orders, shoot mutant Resistance, but the officers refused and layed down their weapons and left, some stayed bit didn't fire, they let the remaining robots do their job. A lot of mutants from the raid had now left into an opening in one of the walls. Horus looked around, now that the clone had left the scene he stood there by himself. He was glad they won, but some mutants had fallen, even if Horus didn't knew them, he felt sorrow for them, it was if they were almost family.

He wandered around the hallway looking for something to put his sword in, he hoped for a half dead guy but none seemed to even be slightly alive. As he looked at the whole in the wall again he didn't wanna go with them, there was something else that had to be done first, he didn't knew what he was suppose to do, but there was something. Behind him something made a noise, turning around with his sword ready he couldn't see anything that would have made that noise. It wasn't human, it was a robot, one of those bots he heard some of his fellow mutants talk about. "Let's fun have thing, I'm slash gonna you till left nothing" His evil smile appeared and he started tapping on the floor, making some of his friends awake.

(I apologies for not posting till now. I’ve had limited free time the last few days.)

The atmosphere had gone silent for Sara. Like being in a movie from 50 years ago. Although there was color. Just no music or crashes or explosions that she knew was going on.

The twins. Her experience at the door had already taught her they could do nearly anything with sound.

After firing her gun she seemed to have hit something as the machine now turned un evenly. Like one sides’ wires were no longer properly connected and were shorting every now and then. Still the thing was dangerous.

Sara took a split second log of her injuries. The slash across her shoulder had healed already. Only leaving a light smear of blood under the top layer of guard hairs. The new slash across her leg was deeper. That fact paired with the fact she didn’t hear what was going on behind her was a big problem and Sara only realized it when it was too late.

A dart hit her in the arm. Jumping she moved to pull it out. Her eyes crossing slightly as she looked at the tip. Her head gave a sharp jag trying to clear the fuzzy feeling that was creep. She could feel her healing ability that was fighting what ever was in the needle. But it didn’t work fast enough. Her eyes refocused on the distance, seeing as if in slow motion, a number of more darts headed her way. Her mind screamed for her to move but she couldn’t. At least not fast enough. She managed a couple of steps towards Abyss’s exit. when had that been made and how had she noticed it? The darts had over powered her though and the feline ended up tripping on her own feet. Landing harshly on her stomach and chest.

Instantly four more darts sank into her skin. Her lips pulled back slightly in her surprise, the darts instantly tugged out and dropped, but her face soon seemed to melt into the floor. The seen around her fading as she lost the ability to stay awake.

Her limp body was scooped up by the robot she had lost to and carried off to join Isabel.

>Amp! Get up! We have to get out of here!< Vibe’s mental voice was on the verge of panic. Amp shoved her forward, and struggled to her feet.

“Go! I’m right behind you! Go!”

Vibe nodded and made her way over the rubble as fast as she could. Amp took a deep breath, her face pale, then pushed herself after her sister.

Vibe was nearly to the street, when the pile of crumbled brick and metal heaved. She gasped, struggling to keep her balance. Further up, Amp tripped and fell to her hands and knees.

>Amp!<

“Keep going!” Amp screamed back. But her voice was drowned out as the rubble again exploded, throwing her sideways. One of the Stalkers emerged from the destruction, completely unscathed. One clawed arm reached out and made a grab for Vibe, who was nearest. The redhead froze in fear.

“Keep your filthy claws off of her!!” Growling, Amp put all of her effort into another attack on the Stalker. Because of the unsteadiness of the turf, the robot was pushed back a few feet, but didn’t fall over. Amp began a barrage of attacks, using the sound shocks to throw bricks into the air, then propel them forward at the Stalker as hard as she could. “Vibe, run!!”

>I’m not leaving without you!< Vibe began frantically searching for a weapon, anything she could use.

“I said run!! Don’t worry about me!!”

Without warning another explosion sounded, and the second, one-armed Stalker emerged from the destruction. It propelled itself into the air, and came crashing down behind Amp. Since she was the one doing the attacking, both bots focused on her first. Vibe grabbed a twisted pipe, and charged forward.

“Viola, NOOO!!” A rush of air blasted Vibe backward, sending her rolling off the rubble and onto the sidewalk. She recovered quickly and stared at her sister with wide eyes. Amp stood in the center of the two Stalkers, keeping up her violent barrage and dodging the various swipes of the robots grasping claws. But she was breathing heavily and her face was white as a sheet.

>Amanda....<

Amp spared a split-second glance at her sister, tears streaming from her eyes. Vibe shook her head, as if in refusal.

Then she turned and ran. She ran as hard and as fast as she could. Her footsteps pounded in her ears, echoing off of the world around her, enabling her to keep her footing though her eyes were shut tight. Her ears felt cold as the air chilled the tears streaming by them. She didn’t open her eyes nor stop her headlong rush, even when she plunged down the stairs of an abandoned subway tunnel.

Suddenly a shudder wracked her body, and she stumbled forward, landed in a heap on the ground. She curled into a ball, shaking and sobbing silently, as a part of her mind and heart suddenly fell silent.

>Amanda.... I’m sorry....<