Dark Corridor.



Saturday December 14th, 2069.
It is 1:00 am in the Canns Landing Corridor, Samantha Bliss and the other members of team Alpha have in the past ten hours,recovered all three bodies of the missing Threshold agents, and after close inspection they had reached the conclusion that they had all three met with the same fate as Cuji and his soldiers. Just before dusk they had acquired the trail of the so called Wrath Riders from hell, that neither Priss nor Thed seemed to know anything about, Nor do either of them recognize the name “Forge.” they have been following the bloody path of the Wrath for five hours, but what disturbs Samantha Bliss even more, is the fact that for the last three hours, she has seen Threshold surveillance crafts flying for the first time in four years over the Canns Landing Corridor, suggesting to her that Threshold is presently aware of a greater problem than the reds themselves. She has asked that Lifeguard keep with an medium to long range thermo scans in front of Alpha and behind to safeguard against any sudden attacks. They are moving east along Sullivan avenue, the moon is full and clearly illuminates everything in their path, something has caught the eye of Ethan John Klinger and he slowly and cautiously moves in for a closer look. He sees in the distance what appears to be a four legged animal, closely resembling a horse, a very large Horse, it has sleek black hair with the ribs partially exposed, the hooves are shiny, almost as though metallic like steel, on its back there sits a odd shaped saddle, that has spikes on both ends and appears to be made from a material like black leather. It smells of rotting flesh, but what bothers him more than the animal itself is the fact that there is no rider sitting on it. and Klinger knows, there is a Wrath rider in his presence, and before he can move it strikes him. The first blow sends him flying twenty five feet backwards, and as he lands he feels all of the air leave his body, the rider stands in front of him, all adorned, in a hooded cloak, in what looks like black leather armor, a yellowish colored hand slowly pulls the broad sword from its sheath and begins to walk towards him.

First Encounter.



The Wrath Rider slowly walks towards a stunned Klinger with its weapon drawn, it is the most disturbing thing he has ever seen, but before it can draw near behind it, Klinger sees something moving through the darkness towards it, it is then that little Thed throws his entire body into the knees of the unsuspecting Wrath Rider knocking it off of its feet, he yells for help from the other members of team Alpha and soon Twitch, Thump and Cowboy all come running, though the rider loses its sword in the process, it quickly regains its composure and throws Thed into the brick wall hard, Cowboy fires a round into it , but it closes on him without even slowing down, Twitch and Thump draw fire on it as well with little or no effect and it closes on them quickly battering all three men into unconsciousness. It then turns once again in the direction of a still dazed Klinger, and slowly lumbers towards him, it reaches down and takes hold of his shirt, that is when a very angry Priss shows up and buries the Riders own sword into its back.
“Let go of my man you ugly Prick!!” she yells.
Soon Samantha Bliss and Milo Tripper come running as well, and they arrive just in time to see it fall to the ground, its own sword still in its back. It doesn’t move, Priss is tending to Klinger while Samantha and Milo check the condition of Twitch, Thump, Thed and Cowboy, they are all battered and bruised but without serious injury. She slowly approaches the downed Wrath Rider with her own weapon drawn. She looks at Priss quizzically .
“So.. What do you suppose happens when you take the sword out?” Samantha asks.
Priss studies the fallen Wrath Rider.
“I don’t know Samantha, lets find out, if it moves we can always put the sword back in ay?”
She walks over to the Wrath and removes the sword, startled they all jump back when it rears its head and lets out a slow hissing gurgling sound, its yellow flesh slowly sinks into its bones and it lay still on the ground. Klinger Slowly walks up behind Priss, and silently studies the fallen Rider.
“We fired six rounds into this bastard and we didn’t even slow it down, she nails it with its own sword and Poof!… dust.”
he pauses momentarily before posing a question to Samantha Bliss.
“Boss lady?”
“Yes Mr. Klinger?.”
“Do you think I could Talk to miss Priss in private for a coupla minutes?”
She Smiles.
“Well Kling.. She DID save your hide.. I think that you owe her THAT much.”
They walk together to the far end of the alley, and once he is comfortable that they are out of ear shot he turns to face her.
“Priss.. Look here. Little Miss. I know what you really are.. And I also know what other people THINK that you are. You showed me a lot lady. Lots that a lot of other people couldn’t or wouldn’t. you are more human that most people I know I shouldn’t be thinking-”
Down the alley Samantha watches them embrace, and turns away pretending not to see. There are bigger more dangerous problems to consider. Where there is one there could be many.. The Wrath Riders aren’t far from them. She can feel it.

Scratch.. ABT Copyright © 2007.