Batman Begins/Dark Knight 1. Chapter 1: The Visitor

_"If I hold up 2 mirrors opposite one another and cast my weary eyes on my many reflections, who am i to say which is the real me?" _

Some drunk dude. 2014

**CHAPTER ONE - THE VISITOR**

Earth.

Not quite the Earth you know, but not that different either. It's mid-winter I.e. Cold, snowy and thick with fog. The kind of weather you'd expect on a night like this although this isn't quite the kind of night you'd expect.

A young girl, 18, climbs over a barbed wire fence and into what appears to be an abandoned scrap yard. Dressed inappropriately (for this kind of weather) in purple faded denim jeans, black t-shirt and all-too-thin green chequered cotton jacket.

Her name is Jessie, her face as pale as the snow beneath her feet, her lips as red as the rose she produces from her jacket pocket. And this is her world.

Not that she owns it or anything. But she definitely lives in it.

Casting off the rose petals one by one as sha walks, she begins to murmur to herself almost inaudibly "He loves me, he loves me not."

A sudden loud noise from behind her breaks her concentration. She turns but sees nothing. Then another noise, this time from a different direction. But again, she see's nothing.

Dismissing it as the wind she decides to continue walking but is suddenly confronted by a hooded figure standing before her, it's face shrouded In mystery, wearing a thick stench of alcohol like it was this seasons must-have cologne.

'Jack Daniels' if you must know.

The alcohol, not the man.

With a slur full of drunken swagger he begins to address her. "Well ain't that something? A rose holding a rose! Now that you don't see every day."

"Gee. Thanks. I'm flattered." She replies with as much sarcasm as she can muster.

"And so you should be." He continues "Now tell me, what's a girl like you doing all alone out here in a place like this?

"Original" She responds dryly "and evidently I'm _not_ alone, am I?"

"Evidently you are not!" comes a second voice behind her, as another figure emerges from a different location

"Evidently none of us are!" the first man concludes "Coincidence maybe?"

"Perhaps it's fate!" Announces a third voice emanating from yet a third shodowy location "how else could you explain the four of us wandering around at the same location at the exact same time?"

"Well, _'prudent planning'_ I suppose?" offers the second man

"Yes. Yes I suppose your right" concedes the first man "what say you dear child?"

"I say it's late and you girls probably have school in the morning." She quips "So if we're all done here...?"

The three men exchange a few puzzled glances, then burst out into raucous laughter.

"Oh your just eager to skip the ceremony and get straight to the honeymoon aren't ya, sweets?" a sinister tone creeps into his voice "And so you should be!"

He suddenly grabs her by the arm and whistles his two friends to assist him. One does so with alarming eagerness whilst the third remains standing, rooted to the spot.

"Hey, do you know who my father is?" She pipes up.

"No, do you?" He hisses back, laughing hysterically at his own joke."Yo sammy a little help here? The girls a struggler!" but the third man continues to remain still.

"Sammy get your greased butt over here pronto!" suddenly 'Sammy' falls to the ground, his face making an awkward 'thudding' sound as it collides with the cold icy floor, a long samurai sword protrudes from his back.

"What The? Jeez man, Sammy's been diced" screeches the second man "like he waz Japanese sushi or some'un. We need to cut our asses loose!"

"I ain't done with this one yet!" Snaps the first guy, in a mixture of fear, confusion and good old fashion dumbness.

"You crazy? Whoever did that to Sammy's still here, man" fires back the second guy, this time with an even more elevated level of panic.

"Shut up! Shut-up! Will you just shut up for two seconds, I need to think!" He's grip tightens around the young girls arm, who by now has ceased with her struggling, her eyes looking beyond him to something else. To _someone_ else.

"Thats funny. cause you've got about two seconds to let her go!" Her name is Diana Walker. And something about her exudes an effortless coolness. Heck, everything about her exudes and effortless coolness, including the way she strolls over to the fallen body and retrieves her extremely rare 16th century sword. Decked out in a blue-hued leather rain coat lined on the inside with Japanese embroiled red silk. Her auburn hair glistens in the yard spotlights like tightly coiled strips of copper.

This is _not_ her world.

Yet somehow she has found herself in it.

Again she addresses the two remaining men with steely assertion. "Now, I don't know how I got here, or even where here is? But I do know un-even odds when I see them. And three against one? Thats... well... pretty uneven."

The two men exchange an awkward glance as before, this time wisely choosing to omit any type of laughter. Pulling Jessie ever closer to himself until the stench of his breath begins seeping into her clothing, the first man finally replies "Well i reckon you done a good job'a evening them odds right out! Haven't ya darling?"

"Not really..." she answers "You're still short of 15-20 men!"

As the two men glance at each other for one final time, Diana's eyes flash a hint of ruby red before she inexplicably takes to the skies, jumping so high she can barely seen, her movement nothing more than a blur.

"D-did you see that?" screams the second guy, the pitch in his voice increasing an octave or two.

"Shut up!" Spits back the first man. By this time knowing he has bitten off far more than either of them can chew. "I... don't know what I saw! I need t-"

Before he can continue, Diana has descended, from nowhere, directly behind his colleague slicing his back as she lands. The first man, finally coming to his senses, releases Jessie and tries to make a run towards the fence but is swiftly brought down by a flying circular blade-like object, that somehow manages to return to its owners outstretched hand like a home-sick carrier pigeon.

Jessie, in a manor that can only be described as 'oblivious', picks up her fallen flower and proceeds to walk on, picking at the petals as before

"You're welcome!" Diana calls out To her

"I had it." Jessie mutters without breaking her stride.

"Yea, if i hadn't stepped in you _would_ have "had it!'" Diana's words now spoken with a heavy infliction of anger

"There are worse things out here tonight than crazy drunk thugs..." Jessie begins

A sudden gust of wind sweeps past her almost lifting her off the ground and nudging her gently to the side. As she looks up she sees Diana is now somehow standing before her.

"Yea... Like me!" Diana responds with a coldness that out-chills even the bleak weather

"Wait! What? How did you..? Seriously?" Asks Jessie, genuinely unnerved for the first time this night, but more through curiosity than fear.

"Two questions; where am I? How did I get here?" Asks Diana slowly approaching, the pupils of her eyes still coloured an unnaturally reddish shade

"No seriously, how did you do that?" Jessie's voice now instilled with fascination.

"Perhaps your lacking an incentive" Diana politely asks "Allow me." As she draws nearer to Jessie, she begins slowly un-sheathing her sword. Her eyes refusing to blink, her head tilted slightly downwards, her teeth beginning to slowly creep out of the corners of her mouth.

"Hey there..." Jessie pipes up, now reversing the direction of her walk "why so serious?"

But before an answer can be given, they are both near-blinded by the barrage of industrial spot lights now surrounding them as a small band of military personnel arrive in various mech-vehicles and hovering machines, each brandishing the letters W.A.T.C.H

A woman abseils down from one of the sky machines, dressed as a high ranking officer from the plethora of badges and symbols that adorn her unique cell-shaded uniform. Her name is Miss April, and its apparent from the RayBan Aviators/tooth pick in mouth combo, that she is a certified bad ass.

"Ladies, stand down!" She barks at them "we have you completely surrounded and will not hesitate to open fire unless you immediately relinquish your weapons!"

"Weapons as in plural?" Jessie thinks to her self, glancing over at the sword in Diana's hand and immediately dropping the rose "Well theres your 15-20 men, happy?"

"Not really." Diana replies, her mind pre-occupied, plotting multiple attack formations and escape routes.

"For the last time drop your weapons and surrender!" Miss April asserts "You are in direct violation of code 42-7699-G3"

"Is that serious?" Asks Jessie

"You asking me?"

"Sounds serious." Jessie continues, doing her best to play down the situation

Miss April taps a hidden com device on her right ear lobe and begins speaking. "April here sir. I've located the 6th and final source. But theres two of them!"

"Take them both down. Just to be sure." A voice replies authoritatively.

"Understood!" Miss April taps her ear again, ending her communication, raises a large futuristic looking rifle and aims it at our two bewildered strangers. The rest of her squad begin charging up their weapons in direct response.

As Jessie stands there, palms in the air, pondering wether this is in fact part of some weird dream, a strange growling noise can be heard. She turns to see Diana, now adopting a samurai-like posture, preparing herself to attack

"Ok, I'm not technically _with_ her?" Jessie fesses up

And with that Diana leaps in the air, sword in hand, towards her would-be attackers but is stopped short by two dozen taser wires. Falling to the ground in a large leathery heap, she wriggles into un-consciousness as Jessie looks on, knowing what's to come but helplessly unable to prevent it.

"Oh now this is just plain unfair" She mutters.

A short taser blast later and she unwillingly joins her companion on the floor beside her. Miss April powers down her rifle and motions to her men to move forward and apprehend her freshly captured prisoners.

"Aliens" She mumbles to herself "So predictable."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Chapter 2: The Green Room

"Friends can make you feel that the world is smaller and less sneaky than it really is, because you know people who have similar experiences."

― Lemony Snicket, 2000

CHAPTER TWO - THE GREEN ROOM

Pitch black. Voices can be heard. Several muffled voices. Several barely audible voices. Eventually those voices become clearer but the darkness still remains.

"Wasn't me!"

"Well i didn't do it!"

"Maybe it was one of the guards who brought those two in?"

"Its disgusting whoever it was!"

"See, your saying that but your looking in my direction"

"Actually i was looking past your direction towards..."

"Quite... one of them's waking up"

Gradually the darkness takes form, becoming shapes. Those shapes become faces, four in total. All girls just like Jessie, standing over her as she lies there staring up right back at them.

Each girl is dressed differently almost according to her personality, aggressive, adventurous, cerebral. The girl furthest towards the back appears to be examining the wall that surrounds them.

The wall, almost perfectly circular in its dimensions, every surface including ceiling and floor is coated in an unusually metallic green engraved with thousands of hexagon-shaped patterns. There are no windows, furniture or visible signs of an exit or entry.

"Great! Another puzzle to add to the growing list." Jessie thinks to herself as she musters the energy to speak, still dazed from her earlier run-in with the 'taser squad'. "Where... where am I?"

"Isn't it funny how that was the first question we all asked?" The first girl to speak is Annabel Croft. Care free and free spirited. Physically gifted with the type of musculature normally reserved for thoroughbred race horses. She's dressed in a military-green cropped t-shirt covered in a loose white cotton shirt with the tail-ends tied in a bow exposing an insanely toned mid riff. Her striking look is caped off with camouflage patterned karkee shorts, black hiking boots and John Lennon shades. Somehow she makes it all work.

"Isn't it funny how every time you open your mouth, 'funny' is the word that least springs to mind?" Next up is Ella Logan. Nicknamed 'Edgy' Logan by her peers. Silent, observant and very highly strung. All five of her senses seemingly operate at virtually superhuman levels. The loose leather jacket/faded jeans combo she's sporting projects a 'live free, die hard' persona. A 'rebel without a cause who very rarely stops to take a pause' if you like.

"How are you feeling, dear girl?" Irena Holmes. Brilliant strategist. Brilliant, period! Mild addiction to pain killers as a result of her over analytical mind constantly processing information, even whilst she sleeps. Her dressed code could best be described as quasi-victorian or steampunk couture.

"I'm a little shaken, actually..." Replies Jessie, half expecting the Mad Hatter to make an appearance at any given moment.

"Better shaken, than stirred, is what I say... sorry, private joke." ...Holly 'The Blonde' Bond. Resourceful, single minded, die hard [yea, in a Bruce Willis kinda way]. Fluent in most languages, fluent in all fighting styles. Weapons, tactics, the list runs indefinitely. She's decked out from the neck down in black. Boots, jeans, shirt... All serving to accentuate her long crispy golden locks.

"Your friend seems to have fared a lot worse" notes Irena

"My friend?" Replies Jessie before realising who Irena is referring to. Beyond her shoulders she spots Diana lying on the floor, still very much un-conscious from her own high-voltage attack with said 'Taser Squad'. "She's... not my friend." She clarifies

"Oh! Then who is she? Why were the two of you brought In together and not separately like the rest of us?"

"I... I Don't know. Sorry where am I again?" Jessie struggles to her feet, Irena gives her a helping hand.

"Look around Dorothy, this ain't Kansas..." Chimes Anna, rarely short of a one-liner or two.

"Jessie. My name's Jessie Napier. Maybe you heard of my dad, The Joker?" She pauses for a moment to let the name sink in. It's a game she's played numerous times before, normally eliciting petrified responses from the various underground low-lifes she's encountered before.

"Joker, huh? so what Is he, like, a comedian or something?" Enquires Anna, innocently trying to show interest.

"No, not 'a' joker,_ THE _Joker!" Fires back Jessie, a little more riled than before

"Ok I get it, so he's the top comedian! Where does he gig, Vegas, Broadway?"

"Actually, if you must know, he's a killer!" Jessie hisses, pulling out the verbal big guns

"As in tells a 'killer joke'?" Anna continues "I remember this art teacher of mine in school, Mr Bolland, rubbish at art but somehow always managed to make us-"

"You know what, forget it!" Jessie sits back down again in a huff. Meanwhile the others look on totally bemused.

Irena tries to rescue the conversation "O-kay, Anyway my name's Irena, Irena Holmes. This is Annabelle, Holly and Ella"

"Whatever" replies Jessie, clearly now in a strop.

"And to answer your earlier question..." Irena continues anyway "we don't know where we are. Kind of hoping you and your friend there could shed a little light on..."

"For the last time, she is not my friend!" Snaps Jessie

"Excuse me both of y'all" interrupts Ella "I've been cooped up in this giant metal ball for what seems like an eternity. I'm hungry, tired and in desperate need of a bathroom. So unless any of you have anything of interest to say that could somehow contribute to our getting out of here, i'd really much prefer you'd all shut your dumb inquisitive asses up and let me think!". She turns away and continues her examination of the walls surface

"Ignore her" affirms Anna

"Whats her problem?" Asks Jessie

"She was dropped on her head as a child. Probably." Answers Holly, glancing over at Ella for some kind of response but getting none.

Jessie starts to recall the events that took place until now "Those men, the ones who fired at us, they were wearing military uniforms"

"Soldiers... I'm guessing this is some sort of military base?"

"No military I'm familiar with, Irena" chips in Holly "and Ive worked with most"

Ella spins around to contribute "hey, Maybe their slave traders and this is all part of some huge export operation?" She looks over towards Jessie "How much you think a gal like you'd be worth, anyhow?"

"I... Slave... Traders?" Jessie gulps as her mind begins conjuring up all kinds of crazy scenarios

"Hey, 'Ells bells' play nice, huh?" Interrupts Anna, trying to defuse the increasingly dark mood

"Relax cajun, I'm only ribbing the new girl" Ella retorts

"Perhaps a swift kick or two in the ribs'll help you relax a little too?" Holly pipes in

"Could never be that brave or stupid, Blondie" she responds. Her eyes looked into an unflinching stare with Holly's.

Meanwhile Anna, oblivious to all thats going on, has begun prodding Diana's limp body with cat-like curiosity "is this chick even alive?".

"Took over two dozen tasers just to bring her down." Jessie explains "And even then it was barely enough"

"Two dozen, huh?" Ella ponders "I feel so... Inadequate!".

"You should!" Holly responds seizing the opening

"Ok, so there's gotta be a way outta here, right Irena?"

"Ah, that would probably be the same way we got in, dear Jess! If only any of us could work out where exactly that is?"

"Its hidden." Adds Ella "No seems, hinges, breaks in the surface" she continues running her fingers across the wall "this is high-grade stuff for sure. Like nothing Ive ever seen. And Ive seen a lot"

"Oh, I Bet you have" quips Holly with a knowing wink. Ella responds by feigning to scratch her eye with her middle finger

"Alright, so why not try and escape when they brought me and vamp-lady over there in?" Quizzes Jessie

"Err... 'Vamp-lady'?" Inquires Anna in a 'trying real hard not to appear alarmed' manor

"Paralysis. They released an astute chemical compound through a hidden ventilation system" Irena explains in as basic a way as she can. She fails.

"A whose who of what when?" Jessie asks completely befuddled

"Every time a new member of our 'Sorority Pack' signs up, the slime-balls gas us before dragging her unconscious ass in!" clarifies Ella bluntly

"One even _gassed_ us on his way out..." Anna adds, fanning her nose

"Belle', Really?" Holly reacts disapprovingly

"Released toxins" Jessie deliberates to herself as her eyes begin to scan the room for air holes

"Benzene!" Adds Irene "i recognise it from its sweet odour"

"Really? Could you tell us his age too?" Anna's joke elicits a chain of giggles amongst the group bar Irena whose notably less amused

"Actually I was referring to... forget it." Irena slumps down on the floor mumbling to herself. The second strop of the day

"Well this is just great!" Jessie surmises "So no way in, no way out, no reason why we're here, no idea where here even is? And how are we even breathing, anyway? There's no air holes, no-"

"You seem to be asking an awful lotta questions 'Daughter of The Comedian'" Ella quizzes suspiciously

"Its 'Joker'" Ella sighs "and I'm only trying to... Wait, what are you saying?" As she looks around the room she feels a slight un-ease as a wave of distrust begins to wash over the rest of the group

"she's saying what the rest of us have started thinking. Remind us where you're from again?" Asks Holly

"Leave her alone. She's just scared like the rest of us" snaps Irena in her defence, receiving a sharp glance from Ella for her troubles "okay fine, like most of us then"

Ella returns her attention to the wall "Well you girls can sit pretty and cry on each others shoulders till your old and grey! Im busting the heck outta this joint! Final."

"Right. And your just gonna walk straight through that solid wall, huh?" Anna asks

"Sure, If aunt Kitty was here. But she isn't, so I'm thinking i can maybe hold my breath long enough to make a break for it next time these clowns show up"

"Aunt Kitty?" Anna bemuses "Did she really just say 'aunt Kitty'?"

"When you say; long, what are we talking?" Asks Jessie intriguingly "Minutes? Hours? What are you, special forces or something?"

"Lets just say I'm the best at what I do..." Responds Ella

""...And what You do isn't very nice!" Yea, you said this already." Interrupts Holly assisted by a faint yawn

"Maybe you'd like to see it instead?" Replies Ella, triggering off a game of verbal tennis

"Your funeral, Scab"

"Wouldn't be my first"

"Maybe it'll be your last"

"Just say the word, Blondie" dares Ella

"The word, Blondie" Holly quips back, without missing a beat

Ella smiles satisfactorily "Good enough for me." She begins walking towards holly, cracking her knuckles to produce a sound... Well... knuckles really shouldn't produce. Suddenly she stops. Her eyes darting intently around the room, then she begins sniffing curiously

"Ok. Seriously guys" confesses Holly "That wasn't me!"

"Shh. We got company" Ella explains

"I don't see or hear anything" quizzes Anna

Suddenly a whirring sound can be heard as all five girls spring to their feet. Defensively they stand back to back as they witness a secret panel on one of the walls slide open to reveal a larger room surrounding theirs with four distinct individuals standing by

The first is revealed to be a scientist of sorts, sporting the prerequisite long white lab coat, clip board, spectacles and inquisitive facial expression.

The second is nothing more than a foot-soldier dressed identical to those involved in Diana and Jessie's capture

The third is revealed to be Miss April, the female officer who led that initial capture, still looking ultra cool in her dark shades, tooth pick and garrison hat combo.

The last is the one clearly in charge. Dr Faydr, a tall black bald-headed male in his late forties. His right shoulder adorned with various militia badges and symbols, his face a virtual roadmap of battle scars collated over many many years of field service. It's he who address our group of startled girls

"Ladies..." He begins "i cant promise you all the answers to your questions. In fact some of my answers are likely to illicit even more questions... but what i can give you..."

Suddenly Diana, who up to this point had been lying virtually comatose on the floor, springs to her feet and makes a quick run towards the perspex panel that now separates the two rooms

"The one on the floor, she was faking it!" Screams the scientist as he motions towards the controls that initially activated the wall panel

"Don't worry sir," Miss April assures Dr Faydr, as she reaches for her side arm "that's six inches of solid-"

Before she can finish her sentence, Diana has already dived clean through it, taken down the foot-soldier mid-air with one hand and grabbed Dr Faydr by the throat with the other. Miss April lines up the escapee in her sights who is now using Dr Faydr as a human shield. The scientist, panic-stricken, retreats backwards to a nearby wall as rest of the group look on in a heady mix of anticipation, confusion and awe.

"What took you guys so long?" Diana quips "I was beginning to get a stiff neck!"

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3: A Circle of Friends

_"Adversities such as being homeless and going to prison has made many people stronger"_  
-Philip Emeagwali 1989

Chapter 3: A Circle of Friends

It's a stand off. Not quite Mexican but you get the point. Diana's claws are still clasped around Faydr's neck. Miss April still has Diana lined up in her sights ready to take the kill shot at the slightest given opportunity and the rest of the group still look on with unpalatable anticipation.

"How long d'ya think she's been awake?" Whispers Holly to Anna

"Hard to tell... but its creeping me out just thinking bout it. Hey, didn't a similar thing happen in that horror movie?"

"D'ya see her dive clean through the glass? How freaking cool was that?" Whispers Jessie

"I could take her" boasts Ella making_ every _effort to be heard

"This is so annoying! what was that movie called?"

As Anna continues to rack her brain for insignificant reasons, Faydr makes s valiant attempt at being his own hostage negotiator, with mixed results.

"Ok we all need to calm down. This situation doesn't need to get ugly"

"Its already ugly, cue ball" quips Diana, carefully keeping him between herself and Miss April's hair trigger sights

"Well it doesn't need to get uglier... Just tell us what you want?" His tone is unusually calm and stress-free but assuring

"You said you had answers... Let's start with who, where and why! Thats, who are you, where am I and why the heck am I here?"

"Okay... Im Dr Robert Glenn Faydr, I run this facility we call 'The Tower', an off-grid world surveillance unit funded by GlobalTech and part of a larger anti-terror organism called The W.A.T.C.H. Our function here is to monitor DPMT's or dense particle matter transferences"

Jessie tugs at Anna's arm "What does that mean in english?"

"Means he's a Trekkie" she whispers back

"It means we monitor atmospheric disturbances at molecular levels. I.e things popping up when and where they're not suppose to. The kind of disturbances caused when you and the other members of your little 'sorority pack' decided to drop in!"

"Why am I getting a sense there's more to what your implying than what your saying?"

"And that?" Jessie whispers again

"I have no idea!" Anna concedes

"We believe there is... a connection between you." Faydr elaborates "Each arrival happened simultaneously across the globe. Egypt, japan, Slovakia... there were 6 in total, each mirrored by a strange unexplained phenomenon."

"Stranger than us actually appearing in the first place?" asks Anna

"It varied from one instance to the next, ranging from an increased density in gravity in one location to its complete absence in another. We've managed to quarantine each area under the disguise of a DHS attack but questions are still being asked..."

"DHS?" Asks Irena

"They're a globalised terrorist cell who specialise in-"

"Thats all very interesting 'Dr Phil', but I still need one question answered; Where-the-heck _are_ we?" barks Diana tightening her grip like it was an exclamation mark

"What do you mean?" Asks Holly "he told us already!"

"No, she's right." Irena confirms "This is earth... But it certainly isn't my earth. Not that I 'owned' the earth I originally came from or anything. I didn't, I just lived on it... Just saying its not the one I Came-"

Ella steps in "Ok you, shut up!" turns to Faydr "You, start talking"

"We've been... running countless tests on the six of you since we brought you here. Nearly every result was conclusive, revealing slight... variations within each of your metabolic structures along with hyper-advancements in each of your basic genetic make-ups."

"What I wouldn't give for some subtitles right about now." notes Anna

"But each case study differed from the last. Best guess, each of you have come from a different place of origin."

"Multiple timelines...!" Deduces Irena

"No wonder!" Jessie tells herself with relief "wait, that doesn't make sense. does it?"

"It's bull" Snaps Ella

"Is it?" Irena steps forward "Is not life itself one big mystery? What's the last thing any of you remember?"

Diana tightens her grip even more as she remembers "Lying face down in dirt courtesy of half a couple million volts of electricity shoved up my-"

"Okay!" Irena interrupts "Maybe... take it back a bit further?"

"Dunno..." Diana continues "It's all fuzzy now... We were on a mission in Prague tracking down some stolen military tech. The mother of all MDFs they called it. By the time we located it it'd already been activated. Tried to disconnect it, shut it down... then there was this-"

"Bright flash?" Ella adds, reliving her own memories "Giving off an intense level of heat... I found a similar device too. I was in the Sahara tracking down an extremely dangerous individual. Wasn't long before I apprehended his ass... but not before he triggered what I thought was an explosive device... It wasn't. Cause when I opened my eyes-"

"You were somewhere else surrounded by the trigger-happy 'taser squad'. Yeah, I got that too." adds Holly "So what are we all saying, these devices are, what, connected somehow?

"What if the devices are not only connected by circumstance... but _actually _somehow connected _to _one another when each device was activated, like a... circle of friends holding hands...?"

"Irena you _really_ need to stop smoking whatever it is you snuck into here!" Assures Holly

"It's an interesting theory" notes Faydr "but still doesn't explain how... or more importantly, why?"

"please don't encourage her" adds Holly

"Man, this is all shades of weird!" Anna tells herself, suddenly noticing Jessie is preoccupied deep in thought. But before she can ask her what's wrong...

"Six!" she shouts inexplicably

"Err... what?" Quizzes Anna

"He said there were 'six' arrivals" she continues

"Point being?" asks Ella impatiently

"Point being there's only 5 of you!"

"But Jess, theres 6 of 'us'!" Explains Anna

"No, you don't understand. I'm not with any of you"

"No" responds Anna flatly "you are clearly with the men in white coats! Maybe you should be standing over there with that guy" she Indicates towards the scientist who in turn panics dropping his clip board

"Ive located the final source... Theres 2 of them..." Jessie elaborates further "I heard the ice-lady say it on her radio" Miss April smirks to herself upon hearing Jessie's rather apt description of her. "I didn't 'arrive' here like the rest of you guys, so who's the sixth person?"

"Interesting" Irena notes to herself, stroking her chin as all attention in the room once more diverts towards Faydr. A swift tightening of Diana's grip around his throat cues him to start talking like an over-sized ventriloquist dummy

"Look" he says hesitantly "number 6 is unlike... that is, she's not from-"

A huge explosion suddenly erupts, violently shaking the foundations of the room causing everyone to fall to their knees. Anna, as ever, is the first react verbally

"Okay, either that was someone with an extreme case of wind, or..."

Faydr scrambles to his feet, immediately activating a hidden com-device behind his ear "Control, what in the city of San Marino is going on up there?"

"Perimeter breach sir!" replies a static-filled voice "Not sure at this point wether its an external threat or simply-"

A second explosion rings out, eclipsing the first in scale sending various apparatus and equipment in the room crashing to the ground in a hail of sparks and glass, as all the lights begin flickering violently

"Control? Control, respond!" but there's nothing on his radio but static silence. He glances over at Miss April who responds with a slight nod, then turns his attention to Diana, still looking like she's planing on doing him some serious harm

"ok 'wildcat', you and i can stay here and tango till the shoes on our feet develop blisters or-"

"Or I kill you, all of you, grab my stash and get my black ass outta Dodge!"

"Not quite what i had in mind... " concedes Faydr "But yeah, its your call!"

...

To be continued next Friday...


	4. Chapter 4: Trenches of Bone & Steel

4 "War does not determine who is right - only who is left."  
― Bertrand Russell

Chapter 4: Trenches of Bone & Steel

The Observation Room.

"Just spitballing here people" begins Jessie "but isn't the term 'off-grid' supposed to translate into hidden, secret or at the very least 'hard to find'?"

"This situation officially got uglier" concedes Faydr

The deafening alarm siren continues to scream as our disparate group of individuals gather around a large wall filled floor to ceiling with monitor screens. Each monitor displays floor by floor of live footage revealing a situation as bleak as it is horrific

A large army of soldiers have infiltrated the facility dressed in black mesh-like body armour branded with a red skull emblem on the chest and crimson-lensed gas masks. They have begun ruthlessly laying waste to anyone and everything in sight.

"They call themselves The DeathHead Society" explains Faydr "and they're the most feared terrorist cell to have emerged in the last 25 years. They believe in an existence free of any kind of law, judicial constraints or beliefs in any kind of higher power. A world where there is no consequence for doing wrong, only reward for doing as you please"

"Sounds like your typical bad guy" notes Holly

"Sounds like my ex-husband" quips Anna

"The W.A.T.C.H have made it a Level One primary objective to cut this cancer out at its root. Make no mistake we will succeed" Declares Faydr

"Looks like today isn't that day!" observes Ella

"This is primarily a research facility. It wasn't built for combat situations" states Miss April

"Well you better break out the improv skills cause you're in one now, sister!" Diana replies

Faydr turns to address his two colleges "ok people, I need eyes on every movement. Dr. Eisenberg can you restrict their access to the lower half of the facility?

"That's a negative. It appears they've released some kind of sub-data virus into the system. Its re-writing our primary codes from the inside" he frantically begins entering a series of commands via his keyboard "I can maybe try isolating the main transit lift from the core processing regulator."

"Okay seriously, did he just make all that stuff up?" asks Jessie

"Half the time I can never tell" replies Miss April operating a keyboard of her own "Sir, might I suggest 'Room Zero' as our next course of action?"

"You can suggest it, but I don't think we're quite there yet" he responds defiantly

"Level 9 breach sir" updates the scientist

"What's a 'Room Zero'?" Asks Irena with a keener than normal interest

"It's a... high tech panic box in the sub-level wing of the ground floor" answers the scientist more cryptic in fashion than explanatory

"Okay... And what exactly is in a 'Room Zero'?" Anna presses

"Room Zero stuff!" cuts in Faydr clearly aggravated by the persistent questioning "Eisenberg?"

"Level 7, sir. We haven't got long"

With a heavy sigh he finally concedes "Miss April, initiate Room Zero protocol alpha-bravo-5-7-9!" She responds by entering a series of commands into the control panel then begins barking orders into her com device. Faydr meanwhile turns to address the girls "Ok ladies listen up, We need to make it down to the-"

"Whoa!" cuts in Anna "anybody else pick up on the 'we' word?"

"I did." Replies Ella "See, 'we' thought 'we' were your prisoners!"

"'Were' being the operative word, ladies, past-tense." Faydr clarifies "Present tense? Safety in numbers, the best chance any of us have of getting out of this situation alive!"

"So all of a sudden, what, you trust us now?" Asks Jessie

"Lets just say I have a hunch." He responds

"What, like that guy from Notre Dame?" Quips Anna typically

"Are you ever serious?"

"Level 5, sir" updates the scientist

"Sir we're gonna need to move, now! 'I'll make-"

"Negative lieutenant, you'll be remaining here to secure this point. You know what to do!"

Silently she responds with a nod as Faydr makes his way towards the room's exit followed by all the girls except one

"Sorry, but I must have missed the part that explained why I should be risking my life for you?" asks Diana

"Do whatever it is you feel you need to do, Wildcat" responds Faydr "but I'm guessing whatever 'that' is you'll be needing those fancy silver blades of yours back to do it. How much you think one of those'll fetch now anyways?"

"I'll let you know when I put em on eBay. Of course, I'll be needing em back first to do that"

"Along with my twin titanium HKs" adds Anna

"And my modified Walther PPK" muses Holly

"Great! I've stumbled into a secret gun fetish club!" notes Jessie before catching something on the wall monitors "ahh... RGF? purely out of curiosity, what level are we actually on again?"

Faydr turns to the monitor to see a squad of terrorist making their way along a wide tubular corridor leading towards the very room they are all standing in, making short work of the several guards posted throughout. He begins locking and loading his weapon, Miss April does likewise.

"Never a dull moment" Jessie whispers to herself

They all turn back towards the circular door that marks the exit to the the room. Outside, the sound of erratic gunfire has ceased bringing an eerie silence in its aftermath

"Okay ladies, once this door opens there can only be one direction and no Anna I don't mean the boy band." Anna lets out a faint sigh "One of us needs to make it to the main transit lift at the end of the hall, make sure they don't dead-lock it from the inside"

"My round" volunteers Anna

"I'll provide cover" confirms Miss April

"Ditto" remarks Holly picking up the weapon previously held by the guard Diana knocked unconscious during her escape

"And the rest of us, what do we bring?" Enquires Irena

"Your A-game" remarks Faydr as he turns towards Miss April "Now!"

And with that Miss April flicks a switch and all manor of distractions kick off outside the room; emergency lights switch on bathing the expansive corridor in blood red as thick smoke begins to pour in through several hidden vents serving to decrease the soldiers visibility, just as the door to their room slides open.

Faydr tosses a cocktail of smoke and flash grenades into the long stretch of hallway as Anna sprints ahead, jumping, twisting and somersaulting off of every surface, making herself an impossible target for the enemies fire as each begin to fall one by one... a bullet between their eyes from Miss April's deadly hawk-eyed rifle shots.

"Not bad... Not bad at all" notes Holly before launching herself at her own attacker so hard the lens on his mask splinters into his face as it collides with the nearby wall. Then following a swift knee to his mid-section she retrieves his weapon just in time to take out two more men approaching with alarming speed and accuracy.

Meanwhile Diana puts her best foot [and fist] forward, taking down each attacker one move at a time whilst simultaneously manoeuvring Jessie out of harms way. But even she is caught momentarily off guard by the butt of a rifle slamming against the back of her head. Jessie spins around and reacts in kind with a swift penalty pick between the perpetrators legs which brings him down instantly. A bullet to the back of his skull courtesy of Faydr's firearm keeps him there.

"Thats one you owe me" he shouts across to the girls

"Diana springs to her feet, grabs a bracelet off of her wrist which instantly straightens becoming a deadly blade and hurls it with all her might towards Faydr. The blade sails straight pass him, missing him by millimetres only to sink between the eyes of an enemy soldier who'd crept up behind him.

"Now we're even!" she shouts back

"You are one grade 'A' bad ass!" Jessie chimes

"It ain't over till the black lady sings" replies Diana before pulling her forward as they continue to make their way towards the transit lift which Anna has almost reached with the soldier positioned inside it providing her her only obstacle.

He spots her and begins opening fire but she somehow manages to continue side-stepping the path of each bullet until one clips her shoulder sending her spiralling to the floor as her attacker ejects his spent gun cartridge ready to slam in another. Seizing the opportunity, she makes one last attempt to get to the lift and launches herself towards it just as the doors begin to close.

We hear gunfire.

Then silence.

"Anna!" screams Holly, sprinting towards the lift door oblivious to the handful of soldiers being picked off all around her by Miss April, still holding good to her word. As she arrives at the lift the doors open to reveal an angry, bloody but very much alive Anna who immediately lifts a gun towards her

"Butt to the ground!" she screams, just in time to send a bullet into another soldier about to shoot Holly from behind

"butt to the ground? You couldn't just say 'duck'?" asks Holly

Ella meanwhile finds herself surrounded by the last of the troops but strangely remains calm. Something in her eyes clicks as a sinister smile cracks from one corner of her mouth to the other. Within a split second two 15 inch blades have sprouted from the elbows of her arms, distracting each of her attackers long enough for her to dispense with all of them in one swift pirouette-styled movement.

The blades retract as quickly as they appeared just as the smoke begins to clear keeping her amazing secret just that.

But one set of unbelieving eyes bare witness, Irena, but for now she's contempt with keeping her discovery quite. "Interesting" she notes to herself, stroking her chin

"What is?" Comes a voice from behind her. She turns to see Faydr retrieving weapons from the multitude of dead bodies that now litter the floor.

"From your tad dramatic description of these guys, I expected... well... more." she improvises

"my apologies..." he snaps back "I will endeavour to find an opponent worthy of your apparent skill!"

"Hey I don't need to fight! I'm actually more a thinker than a fighter..."

"Well so far you strike me as more a talker than a thinker, so why don't you stop talking and help me gather these weapons?"

Elsewhere Holly and Anna are doing likewise, stocking up with as much weaponry as they can carry

Anna observes one of the soldiers particularly 'conditioned' physical body and curiously lifts up his head, lifting off his mask off to reveal... an ordinary looking male, mid to late 30's, and not particularly good looking. "Hmm. Tad disappointing" she mummers to herself

"Beats running a treadmill every time though, right?" shouts Holly

"Yeah, sure is good to feel alive again!" she replies "No offence, buddy." she tells the same dead corpse before dropping his head, letting it 'thud' against the ground

"Thirty seconds ladies" calls out Faydr

"Bet he's said _that_ more than once" quips Holly

The handful of girls giggle between themselves, even Ella and Diana manage a modest smirk

"Okay, okay, lets not lose focus here." he responds defensively

"Relax Eight Ball, just soaking up a little downtime" replies Ella

"Okay, Is anyone else gonna be taking cheap shots at my scalp today?" Asks Faydr as he tosses a dead body out of the lift and all seven of them crowd in

"you know theres always Immunotherapy, Corticosteroids, Synthetic wigs...?" responds Irena as the doors close.

To be continued...


	5. Chapter 5: The Other Side of the Coin

"Time is the longest distance between two places"

- Tennessee Williams

**Chapter 5: The Other Side of the Coin**

The Helix Building. London. 4 hrs before the T.O.M.B siege

In a huge spacious minimalist office sits Director Myles Pennington III, CEO of Horizons Unlimited, the largest environmental health organisation in the world. Standing beside him his long suffering assistant Mr Kelly.

A considerably large television dominates one of the walls. On the screen an interview unfolds, conducted earlier that day between Myles and a young female reporter on the very steps of the building, the words casually firing back and forth between them like a finals match at wimbledon.

"Mr Pennington can you at least explain the half a dozen reports of young women, seemingly appearing out of no-where across the globe only to vanish moments later in a cloud of corporate smoke?"

"Dozens of women doing what? Well I'm sure my wife would have something to say about it if I did!"

The small crowd of people surrounding them snigger much to Miss Frost's chagrin

"Mr Pennington even you can't deny that this..."

"What I 'cannot deny' Miss Frost is that you're grasp on reality leaves a great deal to be desired!"

"is that your way of avoiding the question?"

"No, that was my way of avoiding you looking ridiculous-oops! I failed!"

the crowd react once more

"Now surely Miss Frost, apt name by the way, these questions would be better suited towards The C.I.D, C.I.A, F.B.I or any other intelligence agency abbreviated with 3 letters? Perhaps our friendly competitors at Global Tech would like to share a few thoughts?"

"They did. They said to come and ask you!"

"And so you have. Your work here is done!"

"So you deny the reports of your organisation funding experiments based on 'Atomic Deconstruction' which some claim may have lead to these freak occurrences and other similar unexplained phenomena sighted these last couple of years?"

"My organisation..." He pauses briefly, looking around at the many eyes now fixed on him "Horizons Unlimited was birthed by my great grandfather Howard Pennington senior. It was his sole dream and ambition to reach up to the stars and drag them down to earth, so that we may all obtain that small sense of wonder in achieving the unimaginable! For decades his work prevailed in feeding and clothing millions across the globe. Funded by the people we exist for the people and everything we do funnels back into the people, ensuring this world we inhabit continues to spin on for many decades to come!"

"Mr Pennington what would it..."

"Now as much as I have enjoyed this little 'catch up' of ours, time is as ever the rarest of commodities so until our next encounter "live long and prosper"!

The TV switches off.

"Kill her!"

"Would that be... wise sir, it barely happened hours ago?" Asks Mr Kelly

"Did I say 'kill her now'? Just make sure it happens at some point."

"Yes sir."

"Now, you said you have something to report?"

"It's Project Trojan, sir, she's activated her beacon. We've managed to triangulate her position, a thousand miles south of the Pacific with a confirmed possible point of origin"

"Well is it confirmed or is it possible?" he asks slightly agitated

"Confirmed. I believe. It is. Sir."

"So The W.A.T.C.H have swallowed the bait." he sits back in his chair triumphantly

"As she predicted they would, sir. Pure genius!" confirms Mr Kelly

"Like her father. And your sure they have no idea?"

"The dampening device she constructed, quite ingeniously I might add, seems to have worked perfectly. The signals feed back to us having piggy-backed off of random communication delta waves transmitted by them from their location, so as not to register on any of their instruments!"

There's an awkward silence between them until...

"So 'yes' is the answer to my question."

"I'm sorry sir?"

"Yes you are. Put a Kill Squad together. We move immediately."

"We" sir? Will you be participating in this afternoons extermination?"

"Don't be absurd!" He fires back "I'm a thinker not a fighter."

"Apologies sir"

And with that Mr Kelly tips his head and disappears out of one of two adjourning doors that lead out of the room. Myles pours himself a glass of vodka, walks over to the huge stain-glassed window and peers out of it over the river Thames below, raising his glass in a toasting gesture.

"Horizons Unlimited. Destroying the world one covert government facility at a time!"

He downs the rest of the glass in one go then enters another room, victorian in its architecture and furnishings, with almost every wall adorned with shelves of books of varying content; Scientific, fictional, physiological, detective, almost every genre is present and accounted for.

He strides purposely over to one of the books; 'A Scandal in Bohemia', and tilts it at a 45 degree angle.

Suddenly an entire section of the wall slides open to reveal a secret room resembling a hi-tech laboratory. The room is filled with various types of liquid filters, monitors, computers and situated in the very centre of the room, a large glass vat of liquid. Inside a young girl floats seemingly unconscious attached to a machine via an advanced breathing apparatus.

He walks over to the vat and presses his hand against the glass

"Shhh... It'll all be over soon, dear girl"

to be continued


	6. Chapter 6: The House of Cards

"Sticks and stones may break your bones, but Chinese throwing stars get you a dozen stitches."  
― Jim Butcher

**Chapter 6: The House of Cards**

The lift journey down is ominously silent as the adrenalin continues to pump through the veins of our 6 young individuals. Faydr, however, remains calm and composed, his mind preoccupied with hidden thoughts, until that is they are disturbed by...

"wait a minute!"

"what's wrong, Anna?" asks Holly, eyes darting around the lift for signs of danger

"Something's not right, listen..."

"What is it? I don't hear anything" notes Faydr, hands firmly clasped around his sidearm

"Precisely!" confirms Anna "No elevator music! Like, really? All this fancy high-tech gadgetry and you couldn't even... " as her voice trails off into an inaudible mumble, Faydr shakes his head, Holly sighs and Jessie has a fit of giggles as we hear the familiar 'ping' that signals the lifts arrival at the ground floor.

"We're here" says Faydr disgruntledly before inserting a strange looking perspex key into the wall panel of the elevator, turning it anticlockwise until a loud mechanical "clunk" is heard.

"should slow em down, buy us some more time." he says half-believing his own words "let's move."

He leads them down a long spacious corridor that seems to funnel into one point where a large circular steel door waits patiently.

Towards the back of the group Ella approaches Diana, speaking to her in a hushed tone.

"Hey 'Red', you really trust this guy?"

"No."

"Good, me neither. So I'm guessing you have a plan?"

"Of course."

"Good."

An awkward silence follows

"Okay... so wanna share it?"

"Nope"

"Why not?"

"Cause then it wouldn't be 'my' plan, would it?" and with that Diana walks casually on leaving Ella to mutter to herself in frustration

"And I thought I was a pain in the ass!"

"Welcome to my world..." adds Ella with a wink, just happening to pass by at that exact moment, she catches up to Holly and gently tugs her arm

"Yo Holly, you buying this whole 'other world/timeline' theory of his?"

"The only thing I'm buying right now is time! Need to get to a master computer or something... do some digging around myself... get my own answers"

"Give me a shout when you do. I could do with the walk."

"Providing we actually get outta here alive" concedes Holly as they all arrive at the large steel door.

Faydr punches in a 12 digit code, leaving his finger pressed on the last number. A scanner reads his print as the door slides open with alarming abruptness and they all enter into the darkness. Lights flicker on to reveal a large clinically white circular room. No instruments, screens or equipment of any kind just a large black rectangular object standing upright at centre of the floor. A faint humming sound can be heard emanating from it

"Okay... So far, so 2001..." quips Anna

"The years 2014! Isn't it?" responds Ella half-glancing to Faydr for confirmation

"I was referencing a movie, troll-ass"

"Your life's a movie, walnut-brain" fires back Ella

"Today it feels more like a video game" notes Anna

"The device is called a Spine Matrix. It's the central mainframe to the entire facility" explains Faydr as he motions his hand over a side panel by the door then watched for a reaction from the door itself, but nothing. He then approaches the large slab-like device and presses his hand against its velvet-like surface

"ID confirmed. Welcome Dr 7410A, would you like to begin?" asks a rather sultry digitised female voice as the others look on bemused

"Secure entrance to room and prep Room Zero Initiation Alpha" commands Faydr

"Unable to comply" responds the voice "room integrity compromised"

"Damn it! Termites are in deeper than I thought! ...Gonna need a moment"

"I thought we didn't have a moment?" asks Anna in a slightly nervous tone

"Ok lets look sharp people" orders Holly "2-2 formation covering the doorway, the rest of us need to-"

"Oh I'm sorry" interrupts Ella "and you were elected leader by...?"

"My experience?" Responds Holly assuredly

"...experience in?"

"Leadership" comes the reply matter-of-factly

"Oh come on guys, are we gonna do this again, like, now?" asks a very anxious Jessie fully aware that time is short

"Look..." interjects Diana "once we've achieved our objective the two of you can smack the seven shades of foundation off of each other..."

"Heck, ill even bring the beers!" adds Anna

"till then it's best you be cool, save the energy for the real bad guys"

"Touché" adds Faydr before turning his attention once again to the device "Computer, authorise manual override code entry; Alpha Bravo Bravo Zero Seven". A digitised keyboard appears on the surface and he proceeds to enter in a series of codes

"Okay Doc, so you wanna point us towards our weapons or...?" but Holly's question is only met with silence

"Okaaay... delayed shell-shock maybe?" surmises Anna "I remember one time when I was-"

"No, I get it!" interrupts Irena "This was never about fighting our way out of here, was it?"

"What are you... what's she talking about?" asks a puzzled Holly

"you wannna tell them or should I?" offers Irena

"Tell us what?" demands Anna

"Okay" announces Jessie "for those of us not gifted with the ability of telepathy, can someone please-"

"He's gonna blow the entire facility, bring the whole joint crashing down." States Ella "Bad guys get dead, secrets stay secret... Life goes on, well, obviously not for us"

"What? But thats crazy!" says Jessie

"In case you haven't seen todays menu, 'Crazy' appears to be 'dish of the day'," offers Diana

"But he cant kill us?" continues Jessie

"Heck, ain't like anyone's gonna miss us!" offers Ella "We were never here in the first place, right slick?"

"Okay, as amusing as this has been, we all need to calm down." suggest Faydr

"How about you explain to me-"

"Us" interjects Ella

"...what the heck is going on and maybe we will" asks Diana

"How about you all learn to trust me!" suggests Faydr turning back to the device

"How 'bout you step away from the big black box and I don't put a bullet in you?" offers Ella pointing her gun squarely at him

"Whoa! How about we all kill the 'how about' questions for a moment and think! There has to be another way out of this" suggests Jessie

"Like... I said... Y'all need to trust me..." repeats Faydr, arms in the air

Suddenly two shots are fired directly into his shoulder and chest. The rest of the girls, shocked, turn to Ella who, surprised herself, looks at her own weapon

"Okay... that... wasn't me...!"

"Death-Headers!" Screams Jessie pointing towards the open door. And sure enough they all spin around to see the soldiers have finally made there way to their level and have begun approaching them in four-by-four formations, peppering the room with a shower of bullets

"Fan out and find cover!" screams Holly barely heard over all the noise

"Gee, could really do with this door being closed about now!" Shouts Anna as Diana drags Faydrs wounded body behind the Spine Matrix

"Hows the Doctor?" shouts Holly

"Badly In need of one!" replies Diana

"Oh, The irony." comments Irena to herself

"Now would be a really good time to give us our weapons, Doc!" Screams Anna over the continuous gunfire

"Wish I could!" responds Faydr opening his top to reveal he is wearing a bullet proof vest

"Sorry, can you say that again?" shouts Anna "Sounded like you said; 'You wish you could'!"

"There not here!" replies Faydr pointing upwards towards the ceiling "They're back on the fourth floor!"

Theres a moment of realisation before "You son of a-!"

The sound of a pair of smoke grenades going off in the room drowns out the rest of Anna's rather colourful sentence.

"Keep calm and low! There trying to stir up confusion!" Screams Holly

"Honey, they ain't 'trying' anything!" replies Diana glancing over at Irena curled up in a ball on the floor

"Alternate cover fire! We need to preserve ammo!" Screams Ella

"Agreed!" replies Holly

Then each of them begin taking turns firing blindly through the smoky doorway that leads out of the room as the smoke continues to swirl in an almost organic nature.

Jessie then glances over to see Irena looking hesitantly at the floor by the doorway before inexplicably throwing herself down on it as bullets continue to whizz past her, one just grazing her shoulder. Without hesitation Jessie throws herself towards her, pushing her safely to the other side of the room but leaving herself exposed in the process much to Diana's disbelief

"Jessie!" Then In a blurred instant, Diana moves spinning from one side of the doorway to the other, sweeping up a rather bewildered and extremely dizzy Jessie along with her

"Whoa! Thanks D... " she stutters "now excuse me a minute... whilst I..."

As Jessie proceeds to regurgitate the contents of her stomach out onto the crispy white floor, Diana looks on half bemused-half annoyed "I wasn't put on God's green earth to keep saving your pale dumb ass! Next time I'll be the one putting a bullet through you myself!"

Meanwhile outside the soldiers have slowly begun advancing towards the room superseded by yet more continuos gunfire. Meanwhile inside the room the inevitable finally happens

"Im out" screams Ella holding her last empty clip in her hand as parts of the wall splinter around her

"Me two!" adds Holly

"Me three!" continues Anna "Maybe now's a good time to trust the Doc with his master plan?"

"I'd sooner trust a love bite from a rattle snake!" quips Ella

"You really need to get out more!" replies Anna leaving Holly to state a more sombre case

"Okay seriously, we are desert-dry on both options and ammunition and about 30 seconds away from the last seconds of our lives... so unless you have-"

"Alright fine, I get it! Do what you need to do, but Doc if I die, know this... i will kill you!"

"Right. Sure." nods a slightly confused Faydr "now I need to finish the override sequence before initiation can begin"

"I'll buy you your time," offers Diana "just make sure it counts!" And with that she disappears through the doorway. Outside a multitude of screams and gunfire can be heard

"Just... what is she...?" asks a slightly unnerved Anna

"Different." comes Jessie's simple reply as she helps Faydr onto his feet. As he keys in the last sequence activating the secondary blast doors to the room, the doors begin to slowly close

"Diana! Time to start singing!" shouts Jessie out of the doorway, the doors now less than 12 inches apart.

Another explosion from outside sends ripples through the room causing everyone again to stumble to the floor. Jessie scrambles back onto her feet only to see the blast doors slam shut.

"No. Wait! You've got to re-open it!" she screams at Faydr

"It's too late! Lock down is irreversible" he replies as Jessie grabs him by the scruff of his clothing "Open that door or I swear I'll-"

"Relax 'cornbread', we're all accounted for here." comes a voice from the corner of the room. They all turn to see a bloody and injured Diana lying on the floor, her leg severely bruised from her having just made it through the closing doors in time. Jessie runs over to attend to her followed my a relatively impressed Anna

"You really need to teach me that sometime" Jessie tells her.

Meanwhile Faydr, back on his feet, activates the com device behind his ear "Miss April?"

"Sir! Good to hear your voice! Eight of the twelve pods have been secured, the other four..."

"Understood. A breach this scale... Had to be from somebody on the inside. And when I locate said individual... I will unleash a world of pain on their ass!"

"Roger that, sir. All teams are prepped and ready to go"

"Computer, Initiate Room Zero!"

to be continued...


	7. Chapter 7: One Of These Girls

"Many things are not as they seem: The worst things in life never are."

― Jim Butcher

**Chapter 7: One Of These Girls Is Not Like The Other**

The Ocean

Calm. Peaceful. Tranquil. Undisturbed

That is until a sudden 30 foot geyser pierces its surface from within, its reach stretching further and further towards the heavens before abandoning its climb altogether and crashing down into the surrounding surface area

Then it appears.

A large spherical metal object from beneath the rippled waters, huge in its circumference. As it gradually settles on the oceans surface, a loud mechanical 'whirr' can be heard as it splits open from the centre like a gigantic oyster shell to reveal...

"Water!" exclaims a rather befuddled Jessie "We were under water the entire time? I really... hate... water."

"Man up, will you?" comes Ella's rather blunt reply "Be glad you made it outta there with your skinny little butt intact!."

"Did she just say; 'Man up'?" deliberates Jessie, going off into a murmuring tangent

"Okay doc, I admit you had us for a second there." concedes a fairly impressed not to mention very relieved Anna

"Yeah, Who'd have guessed each of those rooms doubled for a snazzy high-tech sub?" adds Holly attending to Anna's shoulder wound

"Pretty sure the bad guys figured it out eventually..." offers Ella "That was them we heard going splat against the outside wall?"

"Gross." comes Jessie's queasy reply as she sits on the floor grasping her knees. She, glances over towards Diana, still lying unconsciousness due to heavy loss of blood

"Who builds a lab underwater and names it 'The Tower' anyway?" offers Irena almost aggravated by the idea of it

"We do. Or rather 'did'. And its official operational name was; SeaWatch! But that kinda would have given the game away." replies Faydr, marching over to the side of the pod to peer over the edge. He radios April just as the eight additional pods begin to surface one by one

"April, what's your status?"

"We're alive sir. Tech boys are following a possible early lead on the security breach"

"Good, keep me informed. Is package Number 6 secure?

"Yes sir, she's secured and still in stasis, sleeping like a baby!"

"Alright, call in Air Support, we need a mass extraction-!"

"Already on their way sir!"

"And tell em to prep a Medic Chamber... got an injured member of the team here"

"Understood. April out."

"So we're a team now, huh?" the voice comes from behind him. He turns to see Ella standing there. He's startled at the fact he never even heard her approach; Is she really that good or is he just getting old?

"Thats what I said didn't I? And by the way its rude to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations" he snaps back

"You mean like y'all were doing to us back in the Green Room?"

"Is there a particular reason why you came over here...?" his tone slightly elevated to one of annoyance

"Just wanted to find out what our next move was?" she asks

"Well for me... its back to Central Operations for an extensive debrief and possible court marshal, either that or I need to come up with one heck of an air-tight reason why I authorised the first Zero-Lockdown in 24 years!"

"Not like you had much of a choice" she offers "I'm no stranger to making difficult calls in battle myself!"

"There's always a choice." he counters "At least thats what I used to tell the cadets back in training"

"well we all know theory and practical ain't got squat in common when the chips are really down" she states with a sincerity thinly masked in aggression

"Maybe..." he responds simply "maybe." A look exchanged between them concludes their conversation before he walks over to address the main group, with Ella following closely behind him

"Alright! Hang tight ladies! Air support will be here in five. After which we will rendezvous with base camp where your medical needs will be fully attended to"

"Hmm... _just _medical?" ponders Anna

"maybe we can squeeze in a cold shower or two for you as well!" he wittily replies with a smirk

"And maybe Something for my stomach too?" Adds Jessie still curled up on the floor.

"If your thinking of 'bringing anything else up'" suggests Faydr "try leaning over the side of the pod. It'll be a long while before the maid finally gets here!"

As he wanders off to his original post, Ella chuckles to herself just loud enough to be heard, prompting Irena to step in

"Making fun of the afflicted isn't very nice!" she remarks

"No but it's fun!" Ella replies before disappearing into her own quite spot

Irena crouches down beside Jessie and checks the temperature on her forehead "Take no notice of them Jess. How are you feeling?"

"How do I look?" comes Jessie's groggy reply

"Well to be honest... you kind of... well, like like crap!"

"Thanks. I feel worse!" Jessie sinks her head between her knees again

"Well... anyway... look, I just wanted to say thanks!" offers Irena

"For what?" asks a puzzled Jessie

"Well for saving my skin earlier on? I don't know what came over me back there... I panicked! I thought I saw a weapon on the floor and went for it, i didnt think..."

"Hey, its okay. Really! It was nothing." Jessie replies modestly

"Are you kidding me?" Irena asks

"Actually, yes I am! It was probably the dumbest thing Ive done in my life! My dad would have gone crazy... if he wasn't already! And when I say dumb things, we're talking _real_ dumb! Like on a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest, ten being the-"

"okay yes, I get the message! Well anyway I wanted to give you this as a token of my... _appreciation"_ Irena removes a silver bracelet from her wrist and hands it over to Jessie, who takes it from her in a slightly awkward manor

"Gee. Thanks. it's very... shiny" she says with as much enthusiasm as she can muster.

As she holds the object carefully in her hand, examining its fine intricately detailed engravings, she cant help but mutter to herself;

"One bracelet to rule them all!" then she clicks it into place around her wrist.

"Belonged to my father." Irena explains proudly

"Oh, is he a jeweller?" Jessie asks

"He's dead." comes Irena's response

"Right. Of course. I mean... see there I go again. another one for the 'dumb' list."

"Its ok. It was a long time ago. Actually according to this timeline, a really really long time ago" irena's words seem to drift off into the distance along with her thoughts. Jessie, assuming she's now occupied by her fathers memories, decides to leave her to it and check in on Diana who now is slowly showing signs of stirring. Holly and Anna look on.

"Must be pretty tuff on those two!" notes Anna

"What the 'Julie Andrews' wannabe and the daughter of a stand-up comic?" Holly replies "nah you know what they say; what doesn't kill you..."

"Kelly Clarkson!" says Anna excitedly

"Who?" asks a puzzled Holly

As the two of them sit in awkward silence, Jessie meanwhile is trying to advise Diana to not attempt sitting up

"Hey, helps on the way and you need to take it easy and rest" she assures her

"Plenty of time to rest... when I'm dead" comes Diana's reply, as she continues to struggle to sit up with very little success. Eventually she concedes, adding 'wounded pride' to her list of afflictions.

"Somethings wrong, I don't feel... right."

"Oh, that'd be the multiple lacerations, bullet wounds, you know, standard post-war stuff!" Jessie quips

"No. Im usually... 'better' by now."

"And Im usually in bed by 7! Guess we're all stepping into the unknown today!" Jessie replies trying to remain upbeat

"Where are we?" Diana asks as her eyes scout around the rest of the pod

"In the middle of an ocean..." replies Jessie "I think. But don't ask me which! Geography was never my strong suit. To be honest I never had one!"

"And the rest of the group? Are they...?"

"Alive? Yeah. But I dunno... for a group of girls coming to terms with the fact none of them may ever get back to their own original time of existence and see their beloved ones again... they seem to be handling this all remarkably too well!"

"Its all smoke." offers Diana "One half exist in a state of denial, the other... well it just hasn't hit em yet."

"And which half are you?" quizzes Jessie with more than a hint of bravery

"Neither." comes Diana's assured response "I am the line that separates the two."

"Gee Diana, do you always have a smart answer for everything?"

"Yes."

"Funny."

"Our ride is here!" announces Faydr to the group

A loud thunderous roar can be heard demanding the entire groups attention, as they look up and witness the awe-inspiring site of nine monstrous mech-sized helicopters known as 'DarkHawks' flying towards them. Huge chains are then released down towards them, magnetically connecting to the sides of each of the nine pods before hoisting them one by one into the air as they all disappear into the clouds.

"I really... hate... flying." comes Ella's rather unexpected response

"Oh man up, will you?" snaps Jessie, much to Holly and Anna's delight

Faydr opens communications to the helicopter designated to his specific pod "DarkHawk 7, ready for wounded extraction!"

A stretcher is then lowered down from the airship into his pod and he along with a couple of the girls carefully lift Diana onto the stretcher and begin strapping her in. Diana notices a bullet wound in Jessie's arm and is curious as to how oblivious she appears to be of it

"Sir! April here!" comes the message via Faydrs com device "We have an update on the breach, sir. Your gonna want to hear this!"

"I'm sure you ladies got this?" he says to Jessie and Anna before turning away and walking off to a more private part of the pod

"Hows the arm?" asks Diana to Jessie

"what arm?" she replies

"The one with the hole in it?" Diana indicates with her eyes

Jessie lifts her arm to realise she has in fact a bullet hole in it, made earlier during her moment of heroism saving Irena's life

"They call that a 'through and through'. You'll live, but should still get it looked at..." advises Anna

"I AM looking at it!" exclaims Jessie

"weird though that you never even noticed?" notes Anna

"yea about that. I kinda... have a problem with pain." Jessie explains

"What kind of problem?" asks Holly

"I... can't actually feel it?" confesses Jessie

"Cool problem" remarks Diana

"Not really. I think they call it congenital analgesia. Its genetic, in my case anyway. Effects everything from my sense of touch to my brains rather warped perception of fear. Every other day I bite my own tongue and don't even know it till I'm spitting blood! It sucks. Speaking... of... what's your story D?" she asks

"Its... Complicated." Diana replies

"Yea, bet it is!" interjects Anna in typical fashion "You order a pizza, 5 minutes later it gets delivered; "oh man, I specifically said 'no garlic'!"

Jessie lets out a small giggle

"And arnt you supposed to have, like, an allergy to light or something?"

"look, what your thinking... I'm not..." but before Diana can explain further Faydr abruptly walks over and begins immediately motioning to his men to begin lifting her up into the flying vessel

"Take her up!" he shouts

As they all watch Diana's stretcher disappear into the main hull of the airship, Jessie notes a considerable mood shift in Faydrs countenance that seems uncharacteristic even for him.

"Hey Doc what's up?" she asks

"We are." comes the monotone response

"Ha! Thats... very... funny..." she comments feeling increasingly awkward by the minute, as she watches Faydr take out a snazzy pair of ruby red sunglasses before slipping them on.

"Hey, nice shades!" she notes

"Thanks. Nice bracelet!" he replies

"Yea, I got it from..."

But before she can finish her sentence, Faydr has already pulled out his gun and sent two bullets clean through her chest, the force sending her backwards over the edge of the pod and down to her certain death below. It takes a brief moment for the rest of the girls to register what they have just seen before either of them can react. Fadyr, maintaining a defensive position, keeps his weapon poised on them the entire time.

"You... you shot her?" Anna states in total disbelief

"Yea... Guess I kinda did." he replies

To be continued...?

...

ok guys that was the last chapter of Season One of The Se7en! Hope you've enjoyed it... Let me know what you think! Season Two will kick off soon if you want it, in addition to some short spin-off stories that'll hopefully help flesh things out. Remember to check out the official PinIntrest page for inspired visual character & story references! Coolio ;)

PininterestTHESE7ENvisuals/


	8. Chapter 8: The Cross Faydr

"It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens."

~ Woody Allen

**Chapter 8: The Cross Faydr**

Somewhere in the air, thousands of miles above the pacific, our estranged group of disparate individuals have found themselves in a situation thats gone south so badly, they might as well all still be sitting at the bottom of the ocean.

Faydr stands his ground, weapon in hand, as the remaining 4 girls look on, poised to attack him given a moments opportunity, whilst trying to come to terms with the sudden abrupt loss of their teammate

"Have you _completely_ lost your mind?" barks Holly

"So what we're expendable now there's no further use for us?" asks Ella

"That's not how it is!" Faydr tries to assure them

"Sure is how it _looks_!" Counters Ella

"Yeah, try telling that to **Jessie**!" adds Anna

"He will, just as soon as we throw his sorry ass off the edge to join her!" confirms an increasingly aggressive Ella inching slowly towards Faydr. He responds by adjusting his aim solely at her. She stops momentarily

"For the last time ladies, stand down! ...Miss April?"

"Signal's flatlined, sir. We're in the clear." comes the voice on his com device

"Understood. Faydr out."

"Your gonna pay Doc..." re-iterates Ella "Be damn sure your gonna burn for this one way or another..."

"Probably... one day..." Concedes Faydr "but not by your hand. Now there's more to this situation than you may think..."

"Yeah, well why don't you enlighten us?" asks Holly

"I just lost 182 of my men down there!" states Faydr

"and it sucks, i get that..." agrees Ella "But it's still no reason to..."

"Thats not all!" Faydr continues "Our tech boys uncovered a low frequency dolly signal transmitted from within the complex alerting those maggots to our location. That signal was transmitted from an undisclosed device."

"What kind of device?" asks a slightly intrigued Irena

"And whats that got to do with you putting a bullet in the brat?" Asks Ella

"At first we were unsure, signal died at some point during the Tomb skirmish and we were unable to get a firm lock..."

"Okay... so far, so confusing..." quips Anna

"A few moments ago that signal went live again and we were able to triangulate its source to give us an exact point of origin. A person... concealing a device... something small... say, a bracelet? These shades are fitted with a biometric thermo-scanner and whilst they wont win me any fashion awards anytime soon... they provide that other key function incredibly well"

"sorry, lost me at; _'A few moments ago...!'"_ concedes Anna

"Wait, your saying you think the little runt was... a spy?" puzzles Ella "Are you out of your...?"

"he's right" Offers Irena much to the rest of the girls dismay

"The heck he is!" counters Anna

"It makes perfect sense, think about it!" continues Irena "She said herself she wasn't one of us... wasn't _like_ us. She's _always_ been here! How long have any of us _really_ known her for? Hours? A day at most? Which of us can say we _truly_ knew her? When it hit the fan down there, she didn't exactly get her hands dirty did she?"

"I dunno 'Florence Nightingale', yours look pretty clean to me!" offers Anna

"Im a thinker not a fighter!" Declares Irena "What was _her_ excuse?"

"Well got to admit, the little runt wouldn't shut up!" Concedes Ella "she was asking, like, a million questions..."

"we've all been asking millions of questions!" admits Anna

"Well she asked a million dumb questions!" clarifies Ella

"And thats reason enough to execute her in cold blood?"

"No, that would be the death of 182 of my men!" confirms Faydr "Look this is not up for debate, I made a call and stand by it. Now i need to know if we are _cool_?"

Silence falls as a look of helpless confusion sweeps over the girls. All but one, Holly. In her mind she carefully plots her attack strategy. How, in a split second, she will disarm him, take his life and... well... nothing. They're thousands of feet in the air after all and if push came to shove... literally... she'd never make the fall. So She decides to lay low. For now.

Irina meanwhile decides to step forward almost representative of the group and speak on their behalf

"Well i think I can speak for all of us when I say; Just get us off this crazy world so we can get on with our normal lives!"

"wouldn't exactly say normal" quips Anna

"Unless of course we already _are_ in our own world?" offers Holly

"You can speak for yourself on that one" Offers Irena

"I just did, Florence" counters Holly bluntly

"Global techs finest are already working around the clock to do just that." assures Faydr as he finally holsters his weapon

"Thats a tad overly generous of you..." notes Ella

"Not at all, every second you 'Visitors' remain in this timeline potentially puts more and more innocent lives at risk! Screw around with nature, just a matter of time before she decides to screw you over back!"

"Gee, just when you were beginning to make sense!" remarks Anna

"Miss April...?" barks Faydr down his com device "Code green."

"Irena sees faydrs eyes glance down at her chest. At first she feels slightly awkward, that is until she notices a red dot hovering skilfully over where her heart lies. An easy shot for Miss April even from the vast distance she now stares at her from through her rifle scope. Then almost as mysteriously the red dot vanishes."

"Oh." says a bewildered Irena

"Like I tried to say earlier, I cant offer you all the answers to all your questions... but the more we find out the more you will. For the time being you'll all be given level 3 access to our central data base. You'll find at least some of those answers there."

A slight motion of his head tells the girls to turn around, when they do they are confronted with a sight that dwarfs the arrival of the mecha-choppers earlier by scaled comparison, an enormously vast floating facility the size of a miniature city hovers before them like something out of a Star Wars movie

"Whoever said; 'size doesn't matter'?" quotes a dumbfounded Anna

"Welcome to SkyWatch, ladies!" announces Faydr

To be continued...


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Batman Begins/Dark Knight