The Girl With Metal Claws

War : the beginning

ELLIOTT

Everything was set. As they stood prepared out on the street, the air howled like war cries. The sky had taken the shape of disaster, grey but no sign of rain. The wait was over, the preparations started feeling like they weren't enough.

No one knew how much they were up against but Elliott had seen it all. He struggled to compose himself. Even 4 days after Asami showed up at school, she was nowhere to be seen. Elliott stopped feeling like he was being watched. She disappeared just as she appeared into his life.

The only proof of her existence was the murders on the news every day. She was not going to let them go that easy. He couldn't trust her.

"If anything happens, retreat. By all means, retreat, okay?" Elliott said. His voice sounded more desperate than he felt. Everyone looked back at him like he was joking.

"We can't, everyone has been through so much not to give up," Jack said. He was confident but that only triggered Elliott's anxiousness.

"You don't know who she is," he muttered.

"Do you? If you knew about her, why didn't you tell us? Did you purposely do it?" Jack snapped back. He looked annoyed and it was rightful to do so, Elliott had kept it all a secret. Asami's dead body dumping ground, her home, her past. He had kept it all to himself.

"Elliott, we're all worried but let's not get our morals down," Fred slung his arm around Elliott's shoulders and he nodded back. Then he turned to look at the girls who had just arrived. Nish, Meraki and Isis joined them. All of them looked strangely determined, unlike Elliott who was concerned.

"You girls can do it, right?" Gabrielle asked with proud eyes.

"You've taught us well, Ms Gabrielle," Isis smiled. Her left eye was patched up properly and she seemed like she didn't feel discomfort because of it.

"Yes, let's go kick some demon *ss," Nish said, cheering everyone up.

That's when several jeeps entered the street and stopped in front of them. It was Vincent Turner and his troops. He got out of the head jeep and walked towards them with a huge grin.

"Everyone looks in high spirits, right Meraki?" His mocking smile faded when everyone glared at him with coldness. He backed off laughing awkwardly and pointed towards his empty jeep, "For you guys."

As Turner walked back to his jeep, George walked to the jeep and opened the door for Gabrielle. As she was about to get in, he held her hand back and smiled softly at her. She smiled back with confused eyes.

"Do your best. I got your back," George said. Elliott had rarely seen him smile that way but if it was for Gabrielle, it was justified. Their chemistry was visible in every step they take towards each other.

"I'm stronger than you," Gabrielle smirked lightly and tapped on his hand, "I... got your back."

They looked at each other's eyes with something a little more than love.

"Move it now, old man. Why are you blushing like a 14-year-old?" Jack sighed as he pushed him and Gabrielle lightly into the jeep and the others entered one after another. It didn't feel like war, confrontation or mission anymore.

It felt like they already won.

~

Bernsville locality was already evacuated when Elliott and the others reached. The people were given the excuse that a fire had started in the woods to make them vacate the area immediately and no one complained. Elliott and the others stepped into a barren locality that was going to turn into ruins if anything went bad.

Elliott tried not to be pessimistic even after everyone tried to convince him otherwise. He knew her and what she was capable of. It scared him.

At a distance, they saw Meredith Lin Taylor standing beside Turner. She had a small smile on her face as Gabrielle walked ahead and hugged her.

"It's been so long," Gabrielle said, smiling. They held each other's hands and exchanged informal greetings.

"True, you didn't age a day," Meredith chuckled.

"Ah, I missed you. I haven't had any such friends beside you," she said.

"Me too," Meredith replied in short phrases. She seemed very little like the person Elliott had met. She looked tamer and more composed. Maybe, she was just nervous.

"We still don't know of the plan," Jack added making everyone look back at him. Turner laughed while George patted his shoulders as a form of threat.

"It's a suicide mission," Turner chuckled.

"Shut up and prepare your men, Vincent," Fred said, shoving him away lightly. With that, he went away but he did his job to instigate the others by making them wonder if he was saying the truth.

"What's going on?" Isis frowned.

"Don't worry about it. We'll all be safe. You just have to follow all the instructions and we will do the work cooperating. Gabrielle and Meredith would take care of the main part," George explained.

"Yes, it'll be quick because we'll work together. We'll end Phoenix and succeed," Gabrielle grinned widely.

"But what if the plan doesn't work? What'll happen then?" Elliott asked, fretting over the whole situation but he could think of a hundred ways everything could go wrong. Finally, he surfaced the question that was constantly repeating over and over his mind. "What if we're taking this too lightly?"

"You pessimistic little-"

"Jack, don't. He's right to think that way," Gabrielle said, nodding her head.

"We also have plan B's and Plan C's, kid. Let the elders handle this," Meredith laughed in her hoarse voice slinging her arm around Gabrielle. Their smile gave him a moment of relief till the loud announcement sounded.

"EVERYONE, MOVE TO THE DESIGNATED POSITIONS. IT'S... SHOWTIME," Vincent's over-the-top voice sounded in his exaggerated excitement. He was the kind of general in wars who was always one step ahead to fight.

Maybe... Just maybe, it was a good thing.

~

The formations starting to take place after everyone was handed a walkie-talkie. The only ones bestowing orders were Turner and George. There were two channels for each of Turner's men and George's group in the walkie-talkie for individual orders.

The positions were being recited and the moment someone was getting assigned, they ran to the destination.

Meraki, Isis, Nish and Garry were stationed together in the right wing to be near the safe houses and basements. They were the last resort and the emergency backups. But they also worked to keep things regulated.

Fred, Jack and three main men of Turner were near the entrance of the locality as they were the strongest of the bunch. It was a small locality so, they were close. All the other men patrolled the streets while Gabrielle and Meredith prepared for chanting inside one of the safe houses.

No one knew the location of George and Turner but their voice sounded through the walkie-talkie just right. But Elliott was yet to get a command.

"Elliott, retreat," George's voice said.

"What?"

"Retreat to the safe house," he ordered. Elliott stood shocked with the walkie-talkie in his hand.

"Why?"

"Because.. don't be angry but there's no one to protect you. We won't be able to look out for each other today," George said, explaining why he should be restrained in one of the safe houses and count the minutes till they complete the mission.

"Do you think I'm that weak?" Elliott asked, disappointed.

"No, it's just if something happens to you, we won't be able to forgive ourselves for not protecting you," George said. Elliott knew he wasn't the strongest out there physically but he hated how he was being underestimated. He was here, and he couldn't change that fact.

"If something happens to any of you because I was sitting in safety, I won't be able to forgive myself," he switched off the walkie-talkie and shoved it in his pocket. Elliott did think about if he should do as George instructed but then he shook his head.

"You'll be safe," the words of Asami came to his head. He shut his eyes and buried his head in his palm.

"Can I trust you just this once, Asami?" He whispered to himself.

After a minute, he looked up. He wasn't sitting back down. He was safe, he felt it. Even if he was out on the streets, he'd still be safe, he decided.

~

After 30 minutes of keeping in the shadows, Elliott heard beeps sounding from his walkie-talkie. He took it out to see the screen blaring red signals. His heart thumped in his chest, she was here. Just as Meredith predicted, she had arrived. Elliott turned up the volume to hear Turner shouting orders with a trembling voice.

"3rd Street, advance! 3rd Street, emergency!" He yelled out. Elliott's feet started taking him there even if he didn't want to see what was going on. He just hoped the mission wasn't being dragged. "Back-up needed, I repeat, back-up needed."

Before entering the third Street which was overcome with bullet shots, footsteps and rattling of guns, Elliott changed his pace and entered the building nearest. He climbed up the stairs, two at a time, and stopped only when he spotted a window facing the third street. He ran up to it and ducked immediately at the sound of a loud thud from below.

Once he raised his eyes to look outside, through the dark night illuminated with blinking streetlights, he saw the dark hooded figure moving calmly. For a moment it looked like Phoenix was limping. Feeling like he'll be fine, Elliott raised himself and stood straight looking down at Phoenix.

He saw Phoenix's head rise to meet his. Phoenix was looking at Elliott even if her face couldn't be seen. She didn't do anything, not even try to charge up at Elliott. This continued until a loud blaring noise along with flashlights attached to the guns wiped away the darkness around Phoenix. The backup was here.

Elliott took a step back at what he saw. As the lights fell on the ground, numerous bodies of slain men lied on the floor. They were all part of Turner's troop. Most of them were murdered brutally.

The backup troop didn't waste time to spread out and start shooting directly at her. Elliott stood, knowing that bullets would not affect her but that was the part of the first plan.

But nothing happened quite as Elliott had expected. As the sound of bullets erupted, Phoenix got on her feet and charged at the troops. She ran up to the nearest gunman and turned him around making him a shield. All the bullets aimed at her pierced the man's chest.

Then Phoenix tossed him away and leapt onto the other people, stabbing and slaying them as she continued moving. Nothing was affecting her, she was slipping out of everyone's grasp.

More people were dying and Turner was running out of men.

Elliott looked down to the holster in his waistband and noticed the spare gun lying unused. He took it out, glaring at the back of Phoenix as she continued sending people on death row.

Not hesitating, Elliott pointed the gun at her and took a deep breath. It was no time to think through.

He pulled the trigger and the bullet passed through her chest.

She froze, her body stopping to function abruptly. The horror rose up when Elliott saw Phoenix tumbling to the ground as motionless as dead.