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Falkread

By the time my back-up came to help me, I was already spitting blood out of my mouth, but so was Deathbringer.

Once his buddies backed up away from him, they formed a circle around us and began to chanting his name over and over again like he was some sort of celebrity. Well, of course they already caused a scene, so more of the inmates around us helped thicken the circle to the point where they sounded like one of those Revolution-rip-off riots. The only difference between the two of them was the fact that they were chanting his name but only because they wanted to see me pounded to a pulp. They all looked like they wanted to see bloodshed, but I could only guess that it was I who was going to have to give them a show.

Deathbringer just snorted and gave me one of the scariest smiles I had ever seen in my life, and I had seen some pretty scary faces. The Doberman just snarled and flashed his sharp fangs right at me, as if to say that he was going to rip me apart limb by limp. His muscles bulged against his half jump-suit and white T-shirt, and I knew for a fact that those things were for much more than just show. His scarlet eyes never seemed to waver. I felt a chill rush up my spine once I saw him begin to circle me like I was a meal some feral lion would eat in Africa or something.

I easily got in step with him and followed him around the circle as he followed me. He never took his eyes off me. I never took my eyes off him. If I even dared to look away for even a split second, he would use that chance to get the advantage on me. Even though I was trying to keep my composure, the wall of inmates and slaves that cheered his name and called for blood just had me feeling on edge the entire time. Some I passed by pushed me forward, making stumble until I regained my balance. They called me weak, pathetic, and hopeless. I heard a lot of them mumble that I was going to get killed.

I knew one day I was going to die, but that day was not today.

Amazingly, there were no guards patrolling the grounds to keep the entire ruckus in check. Of course they had to go on break just before a fight broke out between me and the dog snarling at me. Out of the entire crowd of inmates, I could only see two of the soldiers that followed me inside. They pushed aside other slaves in order to get front row seats, stopping right at the rim of prisoners to see me circling with Deathbringer.

The otter who had followed me inside shook his head and cursed softly to himself as I passed by him while the pit bull I talked to earlier groaned and placed an imaginary gun under his chin and pulled the trigger.

Before I could even react, Deathbringer stormed forward.

In the span of a second, I dived forward towards him--time acting as if it was in slow motion--and rolled in-between his legs at the last moment right before he grabbed me. Years of combat experience paid off at this moment, just as I landed on my hands, I quickly balanced myself out and, taking one hand off the ground, spun myself around in an air-flair, side-swiping Deathbringer right from under him. He howled just as he hit the ground as I quickly flipped myself up.

I was going to have to thank Zoey for those extra strength/flexibility lessons if I got out of here.

The entire group of prisoners shut up at an instant. I looked around and saw that they just stared at me with open mouths without any type of sounds. Some were shaking their heads in confusion. Some looked like a deer in the headlights. Some were whispering at low voices to each other.

Nothing lasted long though. Deathbringer was up in only a few seconds with his back faced right at me. I wanted to move and at least try and escape from this wall of people and hopefully make it to my cell where I could hide for the time being. Knowing my terrible luck though, I was more than sure DB would be waiting for me when I got back to the courtyard.

All I could do now was just wait for my imminent death.

"All right," I heard a guard's voice boom over the loud chatter. "its time to get back into your cells."

Quickly, the crowd disbanded, scattering about towards the large tower in the center of the prison where our cells were located. I saw DB and his group walking away as his friends patted his back and muttered illegible things as I stood exactly where I was before. He stopped then looked back at me. I saw the evil glare in his eyes that told me only one thing: things between us weren't over just yet.

As if I needed to worry about him and his gang as well.

I waited until they were gone before heading inside as well. I rubbed the back of my neck and let out a sigh of relief, hearing the faint sound of thunder as gray clouds filled the sky once again. It was late in the afternoon, as far as I could since the clouds always seemed to block my view of the sky, and I was just ready to go back to my cell/room. At least there I could feel somewhat safe from the dangers that plagued this prison. Guards sneered at me while I walked by the prying eyes of the dozens of prisoners.

It was close to a miracle that I was still alive upon entering my room. I quickly shut the door behind me and let out a long, drawn out sigh of relief as I slid onto the metal floor. Still on his bed, David lay reading one of his dozen books while looking calm and relaxed despite the fact that he had to have been tired of this place by now. He told me the story behind his kidnapping and it wasn't pretty. It happened when he was around seven at his father's cabin, before the hare became one of the most powerful Task Masters on the planet, and they were just a regular family. His father had left to run a few errands as he left young David home. He told me that no one regularly visited their home, not unless it was someone close to Lucian.

He told how it had been a few hours since his father had left but he paid no attention and paid the price. It was around midday when he heard a knock on his front door. He explained how his father told him never to answer the door when he wasn't home, but it didn't matter in the end. As he stood up to go to his room instead, the front and back doors were kicked in and, from his description, saw a squadron of soldiers storm in and take him by force. He said that they used some sort of chemical to seduce him then bound him up and gagged him, quickly leaving the scene before Lucian arrived to stop them.

After he had been kidnapped, he said that he had jumped from place to place as an effort to elude his father. David told me he knew Lucian was still looking for him and was trying his best to aid his father even without telling him exactly where he was. The other Task Masters seemed to know this as well, thus moving David from place to place to thwart Lucian in his effort to find his son.

David was the only reason he was a Task Master anyway. Lucian had power, resources, and people to aid him. Without the authority of being one of them, Lucian would've had no chance of find David. David said that he had come close one time, but the other Task Masters moved him stealthily. After that one time, he hadn't felt his father growing close anymore but still hoped that one day he would find him and they would be reunited.

The story wasn't a happy one, and it reminded me of Arthur's constantly. Just hearing the stories of slave never made me feel good, considering I had a dark past of my own. Arthur was a normal guy who was taken into slavery and witnessed the death of his parents. David was literally kidnapped at a young age and is still forced to jump from place to place so that the Task Masters don't lose their asset in Lucian.

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. Despite all that those two have been through, they still showed unbelievable resilience. I couldn't let go of my past, but both Arthur and David could move on with their lives while still look back at the past for hope and strength. Even Zoey was strong despite her kind attitude towards both Arthur and I.

Was I really the weakest link on the team? Maybe the other soldiers were right. I was pretty pathetic. I was weaker than all of them, yet I was supposed to lead them through this mission that I had no clue how to get out of. I had to get David out as well or else the mission was an utter failure.

The only problem I seemed to have was that I couldn't just leave the rest of these prisoners here to rot. Many of them were slaves, others were people sold to others who had been sold by another. A few were actually convicts, but I'm willing to bet that they'd rather turn over a new leaf rather than end up in another prison like this--or worse--again. A good deal of them were already losing hope while I could still see a fire burning inside a great deal of them. If I could just bring them together just long enough to get out of this mess then allow them to do whatever they wanted with their lives, I'd be happy.

"But how?" I asked myself loud enough for David to hear.

He closed his book and sat up, looking right at me puzzlingly. "There is something that troubles you?"

I looked at him, rubbing my tired eyes. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I...I should be able to get out of this, but I just can't figure out how."

"In other words, you're questioning your ability to do things," he replied softly.

I nodded, knowing good and well he was right. I was questioning myself about everything I did. I felt completely useless right now. Any one person on my team could figure this out, but apparently I wasn't even in the frame of mind to figure this out.

David got up from his bed and sat down in front of me. "Falkread, listen to me, okay?" He placed a hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. "I know you're smarter than this. You've told me you've killed hundreds of men in the name of freedom and liberty. Am I correct?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"Am I also right in saying that you weren't alone when you fought against the Overlord and his armies? You never gave in to the pressure but instead gave it your absolute best even though you knew you were outmatched. Am I right?"

I nodded again. "Yeah, yeah."

He brought my eyes up until they met perfectly and smiled. "Then I don't see why you are giving up now. You're not alone. You've beaten all the odds before. You fight for the just and for what is right."

"But what if it isn't enough?" I asked, looking away from his gaze.

The Hare chuckled lightly. "I've seen many men come through these walls with a fire equal only to the fires that once blazed the braziers of Old Greece, but in time the storms of Poseidon eventually put them to rest and they gave up. You, though, have a fire that never stops burning. You have friends--your family--to fight for. You have an entire world counting on what you do now, and your friends are counting on you at this moment."

He then placed a finger on my lips as I tried to rebuke him, instead finishing with "I'm counting on you."

Our room was silent as he went back to his bed and went to sleep. I stayed on the floor with my back against the door thinking about what he was trying to tell me. I looked at my hands then closed my eyes. In the pitch black darkness, Arthur and Zoey came into view, smiling at me and then fading away to make way for others. I saw Damien, then Lucian, our fleet, and the people cheering for us.

When I opened my eyes again, reality slammed into me like a brick wall. I was back in my cell with David still in a sticky situation that could cost us our lives at any moment. He breathed slowly and softly, leaving me practically alone in the room as I tried to figure out how to get through this situation. I sat exactly where I was for the next couple of hours just trying to hatch a new plan of escape. Every item I thought I hid well had been taken away from me, so I was pretty much going to have to wing it weapon-wise. My soldiers were dangerously close to losing their faith in me, so I needed to gain their trust back somehow. The leader of their little group, the tiger who I shared the ride with, was going to need a wake-up call, and I had a good idea how to smack some sense into him.

All that left was our means of escape and the rest of the prisoners. Surely, if I manage to prove my worth to the leader of my small group, a lot more prisoners should have a bit more respect for me rather than distaste. However, in order to gain everyone's allegiance, I was going to have to go right to the source of their strength and courage.

Unfortunately, that meant facing Deathbringer once more.

David woke me up as I fell asleep thinking, telling me it was time for dinner. I couldn't say I was glad to go to dinner since what they served tore up my stomach after each day. I don't know how David stomached that stuff. He said he had grown accustomed to the taste. I say that it destroyed his taste buds.

We were the last ones in the line. Great, that meant we were going to get the left-overs of the stuff they called food. I sighed softly and followed David to grab a tray of food and head to the nearest empty table. There always seemed to be one table where no one sat, and we were the ones who usually sat alone for every eye to see and sneer at behind our backs.

As we sat down, I could hear the grunting and murmuring of prisoners behind me. Their talking drew me away from the smell of my food--and don't even get me started on the way it looked--as I listened closely while looking at the open area on my table.

"Ain't that the guy who tripped DB?"

"Yeah. I heard DB is going to slaughter the guy tomorrow."

"Shit, just what we needed: more fresh meat for him to pummel. I'll tell you one thing, I ain't cleaning up the mess afterwards."

Well, I guess that Deathbringer wasn't through with me just yet. I should've figured though. I doubt anyone would something like what I did to him go. I could only hope that I could get my business done with my small group before I get to meeting him or else things might get hairy.

What surprised me most was the fact that there were no guards in the mess hall. Ever. They always seemed to take their own lunch breaks in a separate hall just to prove that even they didn't have the balls to eat with a bunch of prisoners that may or may not have done something wrong. From what I could gather, more than half of these men were actually slaves and were sent to certain camps to reevaluate their mind in order to make them think like a slave should, and the camps taught them how to not think for themselves but only to follow orders without any say.

I could barely stomach my food because it was just that bad, but training someone to think as if they didn't have any other purpose but to serve without any regard for themselves, even if it meant death, seemed just unimaginably cruel and unjust. No one deserved to die as a puppet to some sort of puppeteer. I wasn't going to die that way. David wasn't going to die that way. The Revolution wasn't going to die that way.

Looking over at the table that seated my undercover soldiers, I let out a long sigh and thought about my plan. As I debated on whether or not I should put it into play, David turned to look at me.

"What're you thinking?" he asked, giving me a puzzled expression.

I looked at the group and sighed. "If we have any chance of getting out of here, I need to gain the respect of my crew and the prisoners in here or else I won't make headway." I tapped my fingers against the stone table out of anxiety.

David looked at the group just like me. "And how do you expect to do that exactly?"

Without looking at him, I stood up and gulped. "Like this."

Before he could question what I was about to do, I slowly made my way to the table. The soldiers seemed to be in deep conversation with each other without even noticing me upon them. The tiger was my priority first. Leaving my mark on him should at least let me gain a foothold on them again or else my plan might backfire on my instead and leave me looking even more weak and pathetic than I was before.

Their entire conversation was just a blur to me as I walked right up to them. Everyone facing me seemed to stop looking at the table and looked right at me instead. Following suit were the rest of the soldiers as their conversation quickly died off until the tiger sitting in front of me stopped talking and turned around, facing me and my cold stare.

"Oh, its you," he mocked, turning around to take a sip of his drink before pushing his tray away. He looked calm and uninterested in me. It was almost like he was insulting me just by being uninterested with my presence.

"What do you want?" he asked bluntly. "We're kinda trying to figure out how to get out of this hell-hole. So please, kid, go away before I have to throw you back to your table."

"Good idea," I replied with a smirk.

He was about to question my smirk but I quickly grabbed him by the shoulders and, with all my strength, threw him as far as I could onto the nearest table. The tiger flailed for a few moments before landing on his back against the stone surface of one just a few feet away from us. He groaned softly as I saw him clutch his shoulder in pain, turning my back on the group of soldiers who stood up in shock with their mouths agape.

From afar, I could see David hissing just from the landing. He then turned his gaze towards me and raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, as if to say This is your big plan?

All I could do was nod in response to whatever it was he was trying to say and just go with my plan. There was literally no turning back from this now since I threw him onto the table and I had a decently sized group behind me who had witnessed it. Not only them, there was also a large group of prisoners who had witnessed it as well, gawking with puzzled expressions similar to David's. Some looked even more shocked than other while the latter just tried to return to their meal, still sneaking sideways glances at the group and the tiger lying, groaning in pain on the tabletop.

Moments passed by at the speed of slow. It took a few seconds for the tiger to regain himself just so he could sit back up and look at me. From the side, I could see a small drip of blood come from the side of his muzzle. That automatically told me that he wasn't going to let this one slide.

He touched his shoulder then proceeded to pop it back into place, groaning and hissing as I heard the bone pop into place. We shuddered and watched as he popped his neck while he was at it.

"You got bigger balls than I thought, kid," he said flatly. "But you're going to need a new pair once I'm done smashing them!"

With unbelievable speed, he rounded on me, jumping from the top of the table towards me with his fists balled. I quickly sidestepped, only to be another part of his ruse in which he regained his balance on the other table and kicked me forward behind my back, sending me stumbling forward towards an open area where there were no tables.

As I tried to regain my surroundings, he had already ran from the table and marched towards me with his fists balled once more. He stopped a few feet in front of me and took a fighting stance. Taking note of this, I copied him and sized him up as best I could. He was lean for man in his late twenties, had sculpted muscles that fit his lean body perfectly, and was just my height but not my age. From all I could gather on him, he graduated top of his class in self-defense and even taught rookies back at the fleet how to fight back properly and defend _properly._He was also very quick on his feet, that much I had already figured out, and had the guts to back it up tenfold.

Now, was there anything I could use against him? Speed was a good thing in all categories as far as I could see, but he wasn't as strong as me. A few days ago, I had proven to be the stronger one by lifting twenty more pounds than him in a contest to prove the strongest out of our group. They still didn't respect me after that though, and I kicked myself in the ass later that day thinking that a simple weight-lifting challenge would work.

If I could subdue him, they would either respect me or see me as a complete psychopath and dislike me even more. Even as we circled each other as an attempt to size up one another, a large group of prisoners--including my group of soldiers and David--had formed a wall around our little corner. Many of them were chanting for us to fight just like when I was forced to fight DB not that long ago. The only good thing about my situation was the fact that we were both on somewhat equal terms. He had speed and agility on his side while I had strength and cunning on my side.

Maybe I could use my smarts to outsmart him...but how?

I didn't even have time to think as he charged towards me and swung, missing me as I jumped to the side and used my leg to trip him. My tactic didn't seem to work very long, for he quickly picked himself back up and turned around, turning this into a face to face fight.

He swung more and more after landing a few blows on me. His strikes were swift and quick, some making it through my blocks and hitting me in key places. His foot soon made contact with my stomach, sending ripples of pain through my body, then proceeded to hammer the crap out of my face as I did my best to regain focus. He, however, didn't seem to have any sort of remorse for me, tripping me off my feet much like I did to him.

I looked up and watched as he brought his foot up then brought it down atop of me. Quickly, I rolled to the side and avoided the kick, grabbing one of his legs and throwing him onto the hard metal floor with a loud thud. Before he could grab me, I stood back up as he crawled back onto his knees. While he worked his way back up, I swiftly kicked him square in the ribs a few times, knocking him towards one of the tables close by. The crowd dispatched to make way for him, yet he showed great resilience by standing back up, only rubbing his pained ribs from the onslaught of kicks I gave him. He hissed then spat on the floor, glaring back at me with his death-stare.

The tiger then charged towards me again. I took my fighting stance and waited until he was close enough to make my move. Once he was only a few feet away from me, he swung forward and gave me the perfect moment. I grabbed his forearm and spun him around until I threw him square against the wall, slamming his face right into the surface. I then walked over to the groaning tiger, only to be greeted with a strong back-kick to my jaw. The taste of blood soon filled my mouth as I spat out a good sum of it onto the floor, finding that I had a new hole on my tongue from that one kick.

It didn't take long for either of us to return from our daze. I looked right at him only to see him hissing and groaning in pain, watching as drops of blood dripped from his nose, painting the floor like a bloody canvas that was being marked forever. His breathing was sharp and quick, almost telling me that I might've caused him some major injuries with a few of those kicks to his ribs. I tried to move my jaw, only to be greeted with the godforsaken pain that erupted out of my entire being all the sudden. I suppressed the urge to curse aloud, knowing that those words would only satisfy his hate against me.

The crowd grew restless and called for more blood, as if we cared about what they thought. I needed a way to prove myself to my group of soldiers while the tiger was just out for spite towards me. I saw David watch as we both stood back up, fighting through the pain coursing through our bodies constantly. He looked shocked and fearful of me and the tiger, almost like the sight of seeing another was making him sick to his stomach. Even with all this time here, if I was him, I would've at least grown used to fights around here.

Our fight continued as we landed blow after blow against each other. He parried many of my blows, I blocked many of his. However, we both landed numerous amounts of punches, head-butts, and kicks against one another. I quickly swung at him while he swung at me. Our fists connected with each other as the force threw both of us aback as we landed on our backs, sore and throbbing with the furious pain that surged throughout our bodies. I wanted to just think the pain wasn't there and it was just all in my head but that soon became difficult as I found myself breathing just as sharply as he was. I fought the urge to tap out now and give him the satisfaction of being the one in charge here. I was not going to give up at this point now that I was on the verge of beating him.

"You just...don't quit...do you?" the tiger groaned, clutching his side out of pure pain and agony. I saw the glint of pain in his eyes, knowing all too good and well that it was impossible to keep away from me.

Hissing, I spat out more blood and coughed. "If you think I'm giving up now...you're gonna have a rude...awakening." I found it hard to just speak just because my jaw was in so much pain. That kick from earlier was really starting to settle in now.

I took this time of "reprieve" to gather my strength once more. During that time though, the tiger found newfound strength and crawled over to me. I swung at his face a few times, only to be blocked. He then sat atop me and slug me across the face a few times, panting and breathing sharply like a dog in the middle of a desert without water.

He eventually stopped the punches, seeing the amount of blood cover my muzzle and face. With the blurry vision I had, I saw him smirk. "And this is why you're no leader...'cause you're weak. You can't even...beat me, you pathetic piece of shit."

I saw as he placed his hands around my neck and squeezed, nearly choking me. "Any last words...before I sent you into the darkest coma you've...ever had?"

He pulled me close to his face so that I could meet his eyes as I grunted in intense pain. He looked almost psychopathic to me because he looked like he was out for blood against me, but I knew that I couldn't let him have the satisfaction of beating the crap out of me and getting away with it. I was the leader of this group and I was going to prove my worth to this entire Revolution, not just my friends but to everyone that was counting on me to succeed in getting this mission done right. Damien was counting on me to bring David home safely, and I was not going to disappoint the most someone as important as him. This tiger was not going to lead this group because he felt like it. This was my responsibility, and I was going to make sure we got out of here.

It wasn't about who was left in charge--this was about staying honorable.

I looked right into his stone cold eyes and furrowed my brow, frowning as I grabbed his wrist as tightly as I could, making him wince in pain. "Yeah, beg for mercy."

All it took was that one second before I used my free hand and slugged him as hard as I could possibly muster, sending him writhing in pain while he skidded a few feet away from me. He placed a hand on his jaw and groaned, cursing at me with every word that belonged on a sailor's tongue. Ignoring all those words and instead focusing on showing him who was in charge, I crawled over to him and pinned his arms to the ground and sat atop him, taking my hands away only to sock it across his face more times than I could count. Many of my punches landed on his face while I aimed for his chest multiple times just to add to his anguish.

It took the prying of two men from my group of soldiers to get me away from the guy, not even realizing that my knuckles were covered with his blood. Two others from my group picked up the tiger only to find that he was barely conscious and hung his head sluggishly while he muttered a blur of words that didn't even make right sentences.

All around me was just an array of chattering. Men were patting me on the back while others playfully smacked my shoulder, complimenting how bloodthirsty I was towards the guy. Others just laughed and cheered for me as I looked at my palms, only finding a larger amount of blood covering my hands, matting into my fur like a paint that required more than water than erase. It didn't even occur to me that my hands and some parts of my arms and my chest had blood stains on them. Even as the cold liquid began to harden, its foul scent seeped into my nostrils. The smell made me sick to my stomach but up until this day, I had never even cared about it before since I was used to seeing it and smelling it before.

Now though, just looking at the blood that covered my hands and sunk the smell that sunk into my nose just made me utterly sick to my stomach. The men who had shed their blood were mainly from the opposing side of the war and went against the Revolution, so I had much of their blood spilled all over me in the past few years. This was one of our own though. I looked from my hands to the tiger as the undercover soldiers helped him on top of one of the tables. He slowly regained consciousness despite the beating I lashed him with and seemed to form correct sentences to an extent again. He was still groaning in pain but showed physical signs that he was still okay...to an extent.

He was one of us. A Revolutioner. A soldier who was trying to fight for the rights and freedoms of the people worldwide against the suppression of the Overlord and his armies. He was a man dedicated to fighting for the good instead of for the bad, even if he was a dick about it. He was a brother in arms. In the Revolution, we look out for one another and no one gets left behind.

I had just beaten up a brother in arms just because I needed authority over the entire group. They all looked at me and took steps back. Even the stronger and beefier ones than I stepped back and bowed their head as I stood in the middle of the orange sea. I looked for David, only to find that he stood near the large crowd of prisoners while looking at me with fear-struck eyes. He was scared of me. My group was scared of me. Everyone that had witnessed the entire ordeal was afraid to even take a step towards me.

I had become a monster.

My breathing intensified tenfold as I felt the heat all around me take form like I was standing in the middle of a desert in the middle of the day. I clutched my chest and pushed my soldiers and prisoners aside just to get through. I wasn't feeling good at all. Winning didn't feel like winning. I felt like I had just lost a battle just by winning.

As I broke through the crowd of inmates, a hand firmly grasped my wrist and held me there. It was the tiger I had beaten up. He coughed a few times before turning his pained face towards me. One of his eyes looked swollen, blood streaked down both sides of his muzzle, and he clutched his chest much like me.

He smiled.

"You got bigger balls...than I thought, kid," he coughed up more blood. "Now...its time to put them to the test."

He pulled me closer as I found no will to even fight against his grip. He continued to smile while he coughed up a little more blood. "You're the leader of this group...now don't fuck it up."

I broke away from his grip, running away as he closed his eyes.