Pandemonium

Hayden, Dames, and Steve  formed a protective ring around their friends, taking the brunt of the guards swarming them, and tasing whoever they could. With their superior strength as their biggest advantage, they stood their ground and flanked the guards at their respective sides. Sometimes they switched to grabbing at any that tried to sneak up on their friends, tossing them into the walls of nearby cargo containers.

Sloane hung back with Nadia, clutching Dipper as she looked for some means of escape. “They’re coming in from all sides!” Sloane exclaimed. “There has to be something we can do!”

There was a grunt nearby as Alana tossed a guard into a  pile of boxes. She stood in front of them, knocking down any who got too close. “Yeah,” She panted, maintaining her defensive posture. “Any chance you can convert your friend’s arm into a sonic cannon or something?”

“No, Matches aren’t designed for that!”

“Well we need one!”

A large foghorn sounded from a distance. Sloane looked in the direction it came from and felt her heart sink.

A moderately sized boat was approaching the docks. Not too far behind was a larger ship, floating further out. “Oh no,” she said. “The ship’s here.” That got everyone else’s attention and they began to falter. Was this it for them?

Noticing their deflated expressions, the guards slowly stopped their assault and looked in the same direction. A smirk appeared on the face of one of the more aggressive guards. “Perfect timing. Surround them, now!” At his command, the guards began to group up, closing in on them.

Sloane and Nadia were holding each other’s hands, shrinking back behind Steve as they tried to quell the fear rising in them. Steve grabbed a pallet and lashed out, knocking a few of the guards away. “Back off!” He snarled. “I won’t let you hurt them!”

Suddenly, Dames doubled over, a pained gasp escaping him.

Hayden caught him before he could fall. “Dames?! What happened?” He watched in alarm as Dames clutched at his chest, groaning as his eyes glossed over.

“No, Dames! Not now, please not now!” Nadia shook him roughly despite his taller build. “We need- hey, get off me!” She recoiled from a guard reaching to grip her arm. Steve lunged at the guard manhandling his girlfriend, but several tasers were already pointed at him before he could get close. Hayden tried to balance between supporting Dames and swinging at anyone coming near him, but it was futile.

Sloane rushed to help, only to be stopped by a pair of arms grabbing hers and locking them behind. She looked around, panicked, as the crowd parted for Cecile.

Cecile strode towards the struggling group. “You’ve got guts, Sloane. I’ll give you that.” The sarcasm was evident in her tone. “But you’ve lost. You’re outnumbered. Now give up, before I consider adding to the list of charges I have against you. It already looks like a novel as is.” She took another two steps forward, sneering. “If it’s any consolation, there’s someone I plan for you to meet. You’re in for quite the reunion.”

Sloane knew exactly who she was referring to and a sense of deja vu overcame her – a terrible memory that was stirring an unusual anger within her – all it took was that condescending tone and now in lieu of fear, she was seeing red.

Four years she’d worked under her, went along with policies that defied everything she believed in – a fact that was more apparent with everything new she’d been discovering about Eros lately – all because she’d been too scared to stand up for what she believed in.

Clenching her fists, Sloane glared fiercely at Cecile. “So charge me,” she hissed.

Cecile smug expression froze for a second. “Excuse me?”

“You’re a terrible boss and a terrible person, Cecile! At this point, jail is better than ever working with you again!”

“Hmph. You’re really not the same person I recruited four years ago.” She cocked her head to the side, smiling thoughtfully. “Rowan wasn’t kidding when he praised Match #109’s success.” Then she nodded to the guards. “Cuff them and get them to the boat. I bet Harley’s rounding up the others right now.”

Everyone braced themselves for the inevitable . . . a pin drop silence followed.

When nothing happened, she whirled around to face the head guard. “Do I need to repeat myself? Get them!”

And then to everyone’s shock, he twitched in place and slumped to the floor.

BANG! And another guard went down.

Cecile nearly dropped her tablet as she looked around wildly. “What the hell?!” The guards manning the docks were gone. One of them was being tossed overboard by a young blonde woman.

The woman turned in their direction, locking eyes with Cecile, then with Hayden. “Now!” She yelled, without missing a beat.

And just like that, the docks erupted into pandemonium. Out of nowhere, several other people jumped out from behind the surrounding cargo containers and charged towards Cecile’s battalion.

The group watched, flabbergasted, as guards were picked up and tossed aside with impressive strength. Any blows coming their way were blocked and countered with ease while also protecting their comrades in an obviously coordinated effort.

Hayden looked between the newcomers and Cecile as he tried to remember if he’d seen them before. The young woman who’d ordered the attack came into view and he felt a peculiar twitching sensation in his head.

“Is it just me or do some of them look familiar?” Sloane piped in.

Hayden watched the woman closely, more curious now. “I don’t know, where could-” Suddenly, the woman appeared in front of him.

“Hayden Young?”

He perked up at that. She mentioned my name first, not my serial number. “Um . . . yes?”

“My name is Hailey.” She said, “We’re here to help you.”

He felt Nadia move beside him, but then held out his arm, stopping her as he watched the woman hesitantly. From the way they’d first targeted the docks and were now making their way through the quagmire of guards, it was clear that this planned attack was against Eros.

What wasn’t clear was the who or why of this scenario.

Or whether this was all another trick.

“Prove it.”

The woman reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. Hayden noticed a haze of white in the corner of his vision and before he knew it, an image of a control room flashed before his eyes.

The light blue computer lights gave the area a futuristic glow. In the middle was a flat table with metal straps hanging down the sides; human figures lined the walls of the room. Their closed eyes then opened one by one.

“Intruder . . . Intruder.”

There was another flash of white and then-

“Go, Maya! Take the others and run! We’ll hold them off! Once you’re clear, we’ll head to the generators and give Eros your regards.”

Hayden blinked rapidly as his vision cleared. When he looked back up, the blonde woman was still standing there, smiling at him.

“Remember me, now?”

“Wait, what?!” Hayden blinked in surprise. The woman hadn’t moved her mouth but he’d heard her voice nonetheless. “What- how are you doing that?”

“Sloane linked our minds so we’d stop doing Eros’ bidding remember?” The woman actually spoke out loud this time.

“Oh . . . I see. We did something similar with Dames. So you can see everything I see.”

“Kind of. But more of that, later. We have to get moving.”

Just hearing that felt like a huge weight was being lifted off his chest. Then he turned to his friends who were still watching, confused.

“They’re the Matches we freed from the Arctic!” Hayden exclaimed. “The army Eros tried to turn on us.”

Nadia let out a cry of relief. “Well what are we waiting for?! Haul ass everyone! We have to find Damien and Maya!“

At that, Dames tugged at Hayden’s shirt, having managed to recover from his episode. “I’ll go, I know where they are.” He said, still clutching at his chest. “The rest of you go with Hailey. You’ll be safe with her people.”

“By yourself?” Hayden looked to his friends, then back at Dames again and shook his head. “No, I’m coming with you. If Harley tries to pull another fast one, you’ll need backup.”

“Whatever you do, make it quick.” Hailey said curtly. She pointed in the direction of several other Matches that passed by, carrying heavy crates. “We can’t stick around here for long.”

Hayden glanced at the crates and had a slight idea of what they were planning to do. “Got it. Just focus on getting everyone else out of here.”

Not needing to be told twice, Alana rushed ahead with Steve, Nadia and Sloane following closely behind her. Hailey led them along, quickly dispatching anyone who tried to flank them. Soon enough, they got closer to the edge where a small lifeboat was waiting for them . . . as was a very furious Cecile.

She had barely recovered from her shock and was looking wildly between her guards and these newcomers; her hair and clothes now frazzled from being caught up in the chaos around her. She began typing frantically into her tablet, simultaneously yelling orders and demanding to know what was going on. It was honestly comical to see someone who was usually so put-together falling completely apart.

At least it would be more-so if Sloane wasn’t equally angry at her for everything that had happened.

Cecile noticed them approaching and rounded on them. “You!” she pointed aggressively, shoulders quaking in rage. “You just wait, I’m gonna ruin your pathetic-”

Without a word, Sloane yanked the tablet from her hands and swung it back around, smacking it square across Cecile’s face.

Everyone watched, astonished, as Cecile lost her balance and tipped over the edge of the docks, landing unceremoniously in the murky waters below where she was soon entangled by the vines and algae.

“Jesus, Sloane . . .” Nadia gaped at Sloane, who shared her expression.

A slight smirk spread on Alana’s face. “You really are full of surprises, Glasses.”

“I . . . don’t know where that came from.” Sloane said shakily. “But it felt good.”

Hailey looked like she was about to say something else, but then just smiled and gestured to the boat. “After you . . .”

We’re going on and we’ll never stop

We’re going on till the worlds collide

It’s dangerous, dangerous, so dangerous