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The Mercenary _is the first arc of The Underground series

Chapter 13 of 32_

Mea Culpa

Alias moved like a shadow in the night. It was times like this, like earlier when he had been set up, when he kicked into an automated mode where he didn't even seem to think his actions. He simply performed them as an machine would; quick, concise, and perfect.

Gripping the edge of the sliding door of the van, Alias launched himself up on the side of the it, then turned and reached down to Jenna, who took his paw, hoisting her up. The duo jumped down from the van, when Alias's feet hit the concrete of the warehouse there came a shoot pain in his neck. As he jogged to his car, he could only guess he must be suffering from some kind of whiplash. It wasn't surprising that his car sustained far less damage than the van. It was a vintage model, made of a much more durable alloy, where the van was designed to collapse. However, even so the back of Alias's car was severely damaged. The trunk was slightly popped out of place, and crunched slightly inward. However, it was still serviceable.

Alias again slid into the driver's seat of his car, and turned the key. The engine turned over, but didn't engage. Jenna closed the door after her and looked over at Alias for an explanation to the car.

"Come on you bastard..."Alias growled. Again, and again he turned the key, hearing the large engine turn over. "Damn safety shut-off valve." He cursed.

Then it roared to life once more.

Not taking a chance on letting it die, Alias's foot released the clutch while his other pushed down on the gas. The car finally lurched forward, almost as if trying to make up for taking so long to get going. The tungsten colored car burst out of the doors of the warehouse, and went into a drift. Alias carefully worked the emergency break until the car was speeding in the right direction. He quickly moved into the top gear, and tore down the street. Alias wasn't sure how close the back up units would be, but he was sure they wouldn't get out of Rico's Roof before he ran into them.

When they were about a block from the warehouse, Alias slammed on the breaks pulling the car to the curb. He then killed the lights, but left the engine running.

"What's wrong?" Jenna asked.

Alias swallowed. "I already told you I have nothing to offer you to trust me." His dark tone reverberated throughout the car. "All I can do is let you make your decision."

"What decision?" Jenna asked.

Alias looked over to her. "Where you go from here." Alias checked his mirrors, and saw the headlights of an SUV pull out of a street a few blocks away. It was them. "After what I've done tonight, you'll be a footnote on Hets's desk. This is your best chance to get away and all my sins won't be able to haunt you as well. You can just walk away."

Jenna sat for a minute. Alias could see that she was considering leaving the car, not that he could blame her.

"Why?" Jenna asked in a monotone voice.

Alias ran his hand through his hair, pushing it away from his eyes. "Hets set me up. He thought I'd rat him out, so he had me set up to be killed. Needless to say, it didn't work too well. I needed to make him an offer better than my death."

"Me for you." Jenna said, nodding.

Alias felt the stabbing guilt in his gut, but he couldn't lie to her any longer. "That's right."

The vixen then turned her head to him, her brow furrowed. "Then why did you just do what you did?"

That was the one question Alias was hoping she wouldn't ask. "That's really beside the point right now, what matters is that SUV is looking for the two of us right now. You can get out now and you'll never see me again."

She returned her gaze out the windshield, looking down the darkened street at nothing. "They found me at Club Xero." Jenna stated, calmly. "How long until they find me again?"

Alias checked the approaching SUV, it was only about two blocks away. "I don't know." He replied honestly. "But you've got to decide." He told her. "If you stay with me, I can guarantee your safety, but this will be your last chance to walk away from everything."

The SUV was only a half a block away.

"Last chance, Jenna."

Jenna then reached around behind her and grabbed the seat belt, and fastened it. Before Alias's very eyes, he saw the vixen change. Her jaw was set, and blue eyes were ablaze. She no longer resembled the cheetah from the nights before, but rather she held a quality that he only saw when he looked in the mirror.

"I'll take the risk." She replied.

Alias nodded. The SUV was getting extremely close now.

Alias held the clutch in, and pressed down on the accelerator.

It was a large black SUV, moving closer to them it slowed as it approached.

The engine was straining as Alias shifted into first gear, still not releasing the clutch.

The SUV pulled right next to them.

Alias popped the clutch.

The car and SUV collided with enough force to shunt the front of the SUV sideways as Alias's car sideswiped the it. The sound of metal scraping against each other broke the silence of the night, the car mirror ripping off.

Then the car broke free of the SUV and took off into the night. But Alias heard the squealing tires of the SUV spin up attempting to catch up with them. Now that they had been spotted every backup unit would know their location and were already on the move to intercept.

But as far as he was concerned if it was a race they wanted through the slums of Palamont, then that's what they'd get. The car jerked as the pursuing SUV slammed into the already damaged end of the car. Alias checked his speedometer, they were doing close to ninety on the tiny streets of Rico's Roof, which were about the size of most alleyways, and clearly the SUV had a serious engine to catch up to them so quickly.

Jenna held onto the arms of the vintage muscle car as Alias navigated the streets. Alias checked his review mirror; someone was leaning out the passenger side of the SUV and they were holding what looked like a-

"Get your head down!" Alias yelled at Jenna. Grabbing her neck, he pushed her down closer to the glove compartment.

A shotgun blast ripped though the alloy of the chassis. Then a second shot. Shards of glass rained down Alias as his windshield bowed outward, and the slug burst through the glass. Alias directed his face away from the sharp projectiles, but he could feel them falling into other areas of his body, namely his right shoulder.

Biting down on his lip, Alias grabbed the emergency break and pulled it up savagely while cutting the steering wheel. The car drifted down the alley, both foxes were forced into their seats as it slid from the back alley onto a main road. Working the car Alias then released the break and pressed the accelerator down again, picking up speed.

The SUV was right behind them.

The shotgun sounded off again, sending the rearview mirror into oblivion.

Ok, Alias thought_, now I'm pissed!_

His foot slammed down on the break, causing the SUV to rear-end them at a speed close to sixty miles an hour.

The figure who had been shooting at them had enough inertia that when the SUV drastically slowed, he was still moving too fast. His body flew forward, past Alias's car an a few feet farther down the street. Alias then slammed on the accelerator keeping the shooter in his headlights.

Alias kept accelerating until he felt a rather large bump and heard a disgusting crunch from under his floorboards. Alias was sure whoever it was, was now dead, especially when the SUV did the same thing.

However, their assailants were far from done. The black SUV accelerated in speed and whipped around to the left side of Alias. Reaching for his sniper rifle to target the driver of the SUV, Alias didn't see the second SUV. The car lurched to the left as a second SUV slammed into Alias's car, sandwiching Alias between the two.

Alias had no control over his vehicle. He couldn't steer, he couldn't accelerate and try to outrun them. Finally, he reached down to his emergency break in a last ditched effort. Both he and Jenna hit the dashboard as his car locked up.

Metal scraped across metal as the night was illuminated with sparks. Alias's paws gripped the wheel as he was tossed around. Suddenly, there was a loud bang. Alias recognized it not as a gunshot, but rather the sound of a tire blowing. The steering wheel jerked with such a force that even Alias could not control it. He felt the car go into a dead spin in the middle of the road. Their surroundings whipped around them in a blur.

Alias felt his shoulder slam into the side of the car to a stop. Gathering his senses, he looked around. Jenna looked fine, but seemed to be in a state of shock. Alias's car was a wreck. He guessed that the engine was totaled as it had slammed into the cement guardrail of the overpass they were crossing.

"Stay here, keep your head down!" Alias ordered to the bewildered vixen.

Leaning back into his seat, Alias used his feet to kick out what was left of his shattered windshield. Crawling out onto the hood, Alias saw that his friends weren't ready to say goodbye. Both the SUV's had turned around, and were headed right for him. Grabbing his rifle, he flipped open a compartment on the stock revealing a small button. It gave off a shrill beep as he pushed it, and continued to do so in regular intervals.

Pulling out a pistol, Alias slowly walked to the middle of the street. The SUV was already accelerating towards him. Alias, keeping calm stayed where he was. The shrill beeping increased in pace. The SUV was on a collision course to him. Alias gripped his pistol tighter. The headlights illuminated the dark fox. The beeping had become even faster. Just as the SUV was about to crush him, Alias leapt into the air, did a back flip in midair, and dodged the oncoming SUV.

With a dull thud, Alias landed on the roof. Leaning over the side, he smashed in the passenger side window and flung his rifle, now almost a steady thrill beep, inside. Looking behind him, he saw the second SUV following. Pushing himself onto his feet, Alias ran toward the back of the car and jumped toward the second SUV. As his feet left the roof of the car, the glass blew outward in a fiery explosion, the force of which blew the fox forward and onto the second car. His body slammed against the hood and into the windshield.

Still gripping his pistol, Alias unloaded his clip into the driver. The SUV swayed violently across the street, as Alias rolled himself off the hood and onto the harsh pavement. The out of control SUV flipped over on its side and rolled down the street into the blazing remains of the exploded one. Alias simply rolled to a stop on the asphalt.

The fox lay there in immense pain for several minutes before he could even begin to think about moving. Presently, he heard footsteps coming toward him; however, he couldn't move to save his life.

"Oh my God..." He heard a female voice say. He felt paws grip at his back and roll him over so he was face up. "Alias?" Jenna spoke to him with concern. "Jesus, please answer me... Alias?"

Alias felt his head being lifted up into her lap, as Jenna looked down at him. He let his head rest in her soft lap, taking in the comfort. The fox then let out a loud groan as he tried to sit up.

"Oh, that hurt." He let out quietly.

Jenna's face went from that of concern to that of being pissed off.

"I'd say it probably did, you stupid son of a bitch! You're lucky to be alive!" She yelled at him, pushing his head off her lap.

"Yeah, I'm fine, by the way. Just in case you're wondering..." Alias replied, slowly climbing to his feet. Looking around, He saw both the SUVs destroyed, along with everyone in them.

"How'd you do that?" Jenna asked him, her pissed expression now replaced with one of awe.

Rubbing his bruised shoulder, which absorbed most of the shock from the tumble off the SUV, Alias pointed to the fiery mess of metal. "The gun I use has a self-destruct button. I'm no fire starter."

But Jenna shook her head. "No... I mean how you did a back flip over, and landed on a car going nearly seventy miles an hour, then roll off another one and still be talking."

Oh... that. Alias thought to himself.

Alias ran his fingers through his hair, thinking of how to explain what had just transpired. "I'm not... normal. In case you haven't noticed."

"Not normal?" Jenna asked. "Is that what you call what just happened, not normal?"

"Look," Alias replied, trying to take the attention off his performance, "that's really neither here nor there. But I'm sure it won't be long before they send someone to find out what happened to two units. We need to move."

Alias began walking toward his car, but then caught sight of the twisted mess. With the hood smashed in completely, he knew his car wasn't going anywhere.

"You have a plan?" Jenna asked, catching up with Alias.

"I always have a plan." Alias replied, his dark tone seeping back into his voice.

Jenna nodded. "Where to from here?"

Alias continued to rub his shoulder. He was defenseless if they came back here. He had lost all his weapons in the crash. Sighing in desperation, Alias knew where they had to go. They would have to go into his would of darkness.

"The Underground."