Project Songbird

Chapter 43

There's a soft blitz sound behind me and I jerk around to the portal that Mark had ripped open. I take a step and feel something grab my wrist, "Ethan wait!" It's Hailey.
"Let go! They'll kill him!" I urge.
"They could kill you!"
"Let go!!!" I jerk my wrist. My heart quickens and my head spins. I hunch over and nearly vomit.
"Ethan please! We have to think this through!" She begs.
Every second wasted here is a second he is closer to death.
"FUCKING LET GO!!!" The bile builds in the back of my throat. I can't catch my breath.
"Ethan, you are already injured! Jumping into battle is going to get you killed!" Hailey wraps her other arm around my waist, tugging me away from Mark's portal. My leg gives out and I drop to the floor, "TYLER!!!"
He will die.
I jerk my elbow back into her stomach, "LET GO OF ME!!!!"
She winces but refuses to let go of me. I jerk my elbow back again, "LET GO!"
My voice cracks. My heart skips a beat and I cough as my stomach churns. I push against the floor, struggling to drag Hailey to the portal. Rose rushes over to me and pushes back against my shoulders, "We can help him but we can't dive in without being shot down!"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!"
They were stronger than me. My heart quickens again and my body begins to shake under the stress. I try to gulp down air but I feel like my throat was closed off. I feel like someone had covered me in gasoline and set me ablaze. A searing pain rockets through my skull. I bare my teeth and then sink them into Rose's shoulder.
"Ah-!" He jerks back and rolls away from me. I snap my head back and my skull collides with Hailey's face. She shrieks and releases me. I thrust myself forward and roll through the open portal.

FUCK, I CAN'T FLY!
I flail my arms uselessly. Mark's portal had been ripped open in the sky, between a couple of skyscrapers.
I swing myself around wildly, trying to reach out for anything to slow myself.
I'M GOING TO DIE!
Suddenly I crash into something and then skid down until I hit the ground.
I gasp out. What th-? The towering stone makes me feel a slight glimmer of hope. Tyler managed to break my fall.
Tyler! I jump up and race off to the crowd. I climbed up several overturned cars until I reached the top of the smoking pile. I spot Tyler immediately in the midst of the humans. His stone skin is covering half his body. Blood is pooling underneath him. We need to clear the area! The transformation swiftly overtakes my body and I leap up into the air before crashing down nearby. My fists hit the ground, shockwaves violently quiver the earth beneath me.
I straightened my stance.
The cops all jerk up and point their guns at me.
"FIRE!"
Bullets begin to ripple past me, shredding through everything! My leg throbs and I grip my shoulder as it starts to bleed. These people are going to kill me. I hiss and then bring my hands together in a massive clap.
The remaining bullets drop to the ground! How is that possible!
Fight now, talk later!
Right! I duck down and grab the closest pieces of debris. I chunk them at the closest officers, "Fuck off!!"
One man drops to the ground and the others jolt forward to grab him and pull him away from my assault. I hurry forward and make my way to Tyler's side, "Ty!"
"Ethan, what are you doing?"
"What am I-? What the hell are you doing!"
"Get out of here!" He grumbles.
I bent down and pulled him up, his body was heavy; almost dead weight.
"Look out!" I try to shield him from the wave of bullets. I tense as the bullets ricochet all around us. I feel a couple of stinging bites across my body. I jerk my head back at the crowd before I lean over Tyler. His face is extremely pale. His skin is sweaty to the touch. He's losing too much blood. I need to get rid of these fuckers! I carefully lay Tyler back down on the street, "Hang on, just a second." I rest my forehead against his, "Just hold on, my love," I stand up. His hand weakly grasps mine but he doesn't have the strength to stop me.
"Ethan," He takes in a short breath.
"No, no, don't speak. Save your strength." I pat his hand and then place it back down next to him. What happens if I give you full control?
Please do.
There's a strong bubbling in my chest of excitement. I feel a smug grin etch itself across my face. Do whatever you wish, we must keep him safe.
I feel my consciousness slip back and something more powerful steps into place. My heart jumps erratically in my chest. We turn around and face the crowd as they start to reload their weapons. I need to clear this space.
A chuckle escapes our mouth before we leap forward with speed I didn't know my body was capable of.
Striking the first man in the face and he flies backwards! We bring up our arm to block the second man's attack. His dagger slices through the tar protection layer and it draws a hiss from us. "I have sharp weapons too." Our free hand slashes across his chest. The dagger claws shred through his body armor. His face morphs into pain and he struggles to hold his dagger up. He stumbles slightly and we swing around, kicking him straight into the chest! His body flies several feet away! There's a soft click behind us and I briefly take control to drop us to the ground as a wave of bullets fly over us.
Fuck, that was close.
Staying close to the ground, we crawl back a few feet and grab a car door to bring up as a makeshift shield.
This isn't the best cover, we need to figure out a way to get behind them and take them out. One wrong shot and we die. Their weapons are quite loud. What are they?
It's called a gun. It comes in many different forms. They sling out flying hot metal that will kill you if they hit on any vital points.
Gun. Hm, interesting. We shift back and then jump behind some concrete as a safeguard. We glance out of a hole to get a peek at our enemies. A couple were attending to the two that we sent flying. Three were reloading. And two more were making their way over to Tyler, who was passed out on the street. Tyler!
Don't worry, I have a plan. We stand and then shake our hands for a second then leap up to the top of the concrete block. We crouch. I can feel my muscles ripple beneath my skin. My tail swings out to the side slowly. Keep in the back of your mind about the three reloading. Right. We shift forward slightly to peek out. The two checking on Tyler aren't paying attention to us, that's what the three in the back are for. We glance up at the area around us. Nothing that could give us enough cover. Fuck. We don't need it. We leap off of the block and tackle the first guy that bent down to check to see if Tyler was still alive. He let out a startled yelp, which caused the second guy to jerk around. He swings at us! We sway to the side to avoid his attack before standing on the first guy. The second guy charges and hands grab roughly at our shoulders. He jerks to pull us off balance. Our leg starts to shake and then we have to step down roughly to regain our balance. We jerk the second guy forward and crash our skulls together. A hiss makes its way out of our mouth, "I'm going to kill you!" Claws deep through his armor. He yells out but refuses to let go of us, "You need to go back to hell where you belong!" Spit flings from his mouth. Something makes contact with our left leg and it gives out. A screech leaves our mouth as we tumble sideways and then collide with the street. Our ears ring and vision blurs. Fuck fuck! Get up! We tumble roll out of the way of an attack and then crab crawl backwards. The splitting pain shoots up through our leg each time it's bent and another screech reverberates throughout our chest. We stand shakily, leaning heavily on the right leg. This isn't good. Without a stable leg, it has slowed us down immensely. Wiping the spit from our mouth and gasping out. The three in the back jerk forward to join the fight. Shit, we are outnumbered!
Let me focus on the fight, you focus on stabling our leg.
What do you mean?
We duck to avoid another dagger strike.
If you focus on keeping the pain down, I can properly focus.
We jolt forward and our fist collides with the man's face. His head is thrust to the side and I hear a sickening snap. His body immediately drops to the ground. Right right. I'll do what I can. I focused my attention on the leg injury that was slowing us down. I wasn't sure how to actually do this. Our psyche hasn't merged together. Our pain receptors might be different.
A gun in our face jerks me out of my individual thoughts and I bare my teeth at the man as he cocks the gun. His boot was resting on my chest and he leans his weight down on top of me.
What happened!
E-earth, is draining me. I can't keep this up.
"Get off of me you slimy pig!" I spit, I dig my claws into his leg. He doesn't even flinch. He leans down and I cough at the weight on my chest.
"I'm going to send you back to hell." There was a look in his eyes. He was serious. My death wouldn't bother him one bit. I squeeze my eyes shut.
This is it!
There's a gurgling sound and then the weight is lifted off my chest. I peek open an eye, "Felix!"
He holds out his hand to me, "Quit gawking and get up!"
I grab his hand and he hoists me back to my feet. His wings are different.
He spreads them and then swings them forwards. Something flings past my head and I hear more people drop behind me.
"You need to focus." Felix crosses his arms over his chest.
"I'm doing the best I can." My leg quivers as I stand.
"We can talk later." He turns his head to watch as more people race towards us. His eyes sharpen in his normal glare.
"Ethan!"
I jerk my head to see everyone pouring out of another portal that opened nearby. Wade races forward, immediately sending smaller rocks flying at inhumane speeds towards the people racing towards us.
"We need to get Tyler out of here!" Bob waves me over. I hobble as fast as my legs would carry me.
"It's about time you arrived!"
"Look, it wasn't easy. London's agents made it hard for us to get out after you jumped through." Bob explains swiftly. He grabs Tyler by his upper body, trying to pull him up so he can drag him out of the fight. I grab his legs and then have to set them back down.
I collapse to the ground.
My limbs fell heavy, like they had turned to lead. My body shakes, "I'm so exhausted."
"Ethan, you have to get up." Bob urges.
"I don't think I can..." I push myself up.
What is happening? Why am I suddenly so weak??
It takes a lot of energy to switch places. I'm sure it can be done with proper training but your body is not equipped for it.
We can't stop now. Not in the middle of a battle!
"Ethan, come on!" Hailey grabs my arm. She jerks me up to my feet and I sway.
Hailey steadies me.
"FIRE!!"
"GET DOWN!"
I jerk Hailey to the ground, just as a figure soars over us. "Hurry! Get out of the open!" It's Rose. He stands between us and the soldiers racing towards us. He grabs a wire that was sticking out of the split asphalt beneath his feet and then his body grows larger, turning into nothing but electricity!
Hailey jumps up and grabs my arm, dragging me back to get some more cover before racing out to help Bob drag over Tyler. They struggle with his dead weight before wedging him between me and the concrete.
"What's the plan?" Hailey glances at Bob.
"Join the fight." He grabs a piece of broken steel that was sticking out of the concrete, "This is war, we can't just sit back. Ethan, you stay put." He backs up and then runs out to join the battle. Hailey looks at me. She looks so frightened. She's shaking.
"Hailey, take a breath."
Her eyes land on me. I can see where the back of my skull had injured her face. Her eyes then slip to Tyler. She touches his face, "He's so pale."
"He's bleeding out."
"I'll get a medic!" She glances around, "Where would I even find one??"
I shrug my shoulders, "Out here? I'm not sure. The soldiers might have a medic. They wear a sort of first aid symbol."
"I'll bring one back!" She sounds a little bit more determined, "Guardian has done so much for me! I can't allow him to die!" She peeks over the concrete, "I think I see a medic, I'll have to sneak around the backside."
"Be careful, the medics are trained to kill as well." I warn her as she disappears in the opposite direction that Bob went.
I glance at Tyler. He looked so sickly pale. My heart wrenches. I lean over to him, placing my hand upon his cheek, "What were you doing out here? Alone?" I lean over so my head rests against his chest. His heartbeat is slow and weak.
"Please," I feel the tears welling up, "Please, hold on, my love. Without you, I fear I am nothing."
A clicking sound makes me jerk up. There in front of us is a soldier.
His weapon is primed.
"Don't even think about calling for help."
I bite my tongue, "Please just leave us alone."
He scoffs, "Leave you alone? You're the ones that came to our city and destroyed it!"
"We were being controlled!"
"Lies!"
"I'm not lying!"
"And why would I believe something like you?" He takes a step forward, "Anyone would lie to save their own skin."
My eyes widen, my heart hurts, "Please sir, find mercy."
"Mercy? Like the mercy you showed those children!"
"I swear we had no control over our actions!"
"You better start praying to whatever God you believe in."
I raise my hands "Please..." The tears roll down my face. My chest constricts.
I can see his finger twitch and then he squeezes the trigger!
I slam my eyes shut!
There's a horrid scream!
I peek open an eye once I don't feel any pain. Am I dead?
There's an arm blocking my view. I hear labored breathing in my ear and I jerk my head to see Tyler! "But-?"
He leans heavily against my back, he is glaring at something I can't see, "I could hear your heart beating erratically. It makes my ears ring." He shifts his face into the crook of my neck, taking in a deep, solid breath. He shoves himself up and stands. There's that unfamiliar glint in his dull eyes.
"Tyler-?"
He jerks violently towards the battlefield.
I grip his leg, "Wait! You can't be serious!"
His eyes meet mine. He doesn't speak but something compelled me to let go of him. He takes massive steps forward. I dragged myself forward to get a clear view of what he was planning on doing. How is he possibly moving around?? No one with any amount of blood loss, should stand. He couldn't even do so once we left the auction!
He spreads his arm out so it's horizontal. The ground begins to shake violently before it splits open! Similar to the hospital escape, ginormous stalagmite stones shoot up! They shred through everything in their path.
Buildings, debris, soldiers. Nothing stood a chance against them. The ground shakes again splitting open wider.
"EARTHQUAKE!!"
"IT'S GOING TO SWALLOW THE BUILDING!!!"
"GET AWAY!!"
Everyone scatters like ants running from a flood. And in a blink of an eye the government's command center was swallowed by the Earth herself.
Helicopters swarm in and agents hit the ground. Just barely do I recognize the NWO logo.