Story [Issue 15] The Taken

[Meliora 1,652]

 

The Taken

 

A flushed-looking Isida-Wasp hurried into the room. “There’s been another disappearance,” she panted. At once every head shot towards her.

“We haven’t seen him since morning,” she continued, “and we’ve asked all around Edin – ”

“Enough with the back-story!” snapped Commander Xavier Leitch. “Who is it? Who’s been taken?”

“Commander, I am sad to inform you of this, but the one who’s been taken – ” the Isida paused for dramatic effect, “ – is your son, Ivan T. Leitch.”

Scott Leitch jolted. “Dad – DAD… They’ve taken my brother.” he stammered, then a determined look spread across his face – stern, but determined. “I’m going to find him. They’ve taken Natasha, and now Ivan – I have to go.”

Commander Leitch scowled at his son. “And if you are taken?” he demanded.

“Then I will escape.” Scott wanted to hear his father’s voice no more, and left the room. Once he’d reached the open, he noticed an old man coming towards him. Equipped with Viking and Railgun M2, Scott presumed he’d be quite safe.

“You oughta be inside, you oughta,” the man croaked. Scott scowled and tried to move away, but the man was surprisingly quick and blocked his path. “You oughta be inside. They’ll be coming for you next, you is seeming to be the last kid standing.”

“If I’m the last, I’ll be hardest to find, won’t I?” Scott said abruptly, before attempting to leave – but yet again, he found his path blocked. “Stop it you, you randomer. Leave me alone, and just allow me to pass!”

“You is planning to find Them, isn’t you? Well then, we don’ know exactly where They is taking you kids, or what They is doing, but it’s bound to be ‘orrible. The only thing we do know, is that They go through the Forbidden Forest. Every other exit around ‘ere is watched by guards.”

Scott didn’t want to seem grateful. “My father is Commander Leitch, and when I tell him about our little encounter, he’ll come right over and smash – ”

“And when you tell the Commander about me ‘elping you, he’ll come right over and smash his glass against mine as we laugh over some beer.” The man could not help smiling at Scott’s helpless expression. “And also, if you’re going towards the forest, right now you’re going in the complete opposite direction.”

 

The Forbidden Forest had its name for a reason. Tanks and their owners share a special bond, which is only broken when the owner passes away. After this, some tanks develop a mind of their own, becoming a danger to others, so they all find themselves in the forest – eventually.

“I hope you never en d up here,” Scott whispered to his vehicle. He kept his eyes wide open, as it was not unknown for the tanks to launch random attacks on any passers-by. Scott looked as far down as he could into the forest, looking for any signs of his brother.

But the minute he took his attention off the rabid inhabitants of the forest, everything went dark. The last thing Scott saw was a flash of red, and a scream coming from behind him.

 

The next thing Scott knew, he was in the middle of a heated battle. He found himself against two Firebird-Hornet M1s, who began to shoot immediately. Circling the pair, Scott was surprised to see they did not turn their turrets. He fired just as the two tanks were aligned – killing one and scaring away the other. No sooner had the first two enemies disappeared, another assaulted. This time, it was a Thunder-Hornet M2.

Before either of them had any time to plan their attack, a Freeze appeared out of nowhere, spraying them both. Scott backed away, but the Thunder, unable to turn his turret, was destroyed. Scott quickly looked around. Everyone had either been destroyed or had run off, apart from a Smoky-Hunter M2 heading his way, but he’d have to deal with that later. The Freeze turned to Scott, who fired, spinning the Freeze around 180 degrees. Scott felt two knocks to his tank – the Smoky. He glanced at the Freeze, who was struggling to regain himself. Should he finish off the Freeze or destroy the Smoky first? He went for the Smoky, and analysed his own health bar – 2/3.

The Smoky fired again, and Scott was beginning to panic. Just when he thought it couldn’t be worse, feeling a chill from behind him, he remembered the Freeze. “Damn, damn, DAMN…” he spat. He stared helplessly at the Smoky, who fired once more. This time, blue sparks of electricity erupted from Scott’s tank.

“NO!” he shouted, as his tank rusted and performed a somersault in the air. He had failed already. But as he landed, his tank became normal again with full health. He shot the Smoky and the Freeze, skewering and destroying them both.

“Wow,” breathed Scott, “this place is awesome.” He carried on through the forest, praying that was the first and last attack.

As he travelled, a shadow began to loom behind the tank, unbeknownst to Scott.

Suddenly, he was violently thrown against his tank, and a gloved hand covered his mouth.

 

“He’s still unconscious.” A gruff voice awoke Scott from his trance. Hearing this, he kept his eyes shut and restricted what little movements he made. “He’s the last of them in Edinburgh. When he awakes,” the voice continued, “tell him your name is Brad I. Neight. It’s an anagram.”

“Yes, Marshal Raknison,” another younger voice piped up. “I know the rest of my routine. But a question, sir. An anagram of what?”

Scott twitched accidentally, but pretended to fall asleep again. “He will awake soon. The anagram is not necessary for you to know. If he gives you too much trouble, kill him – the boy, not the tank. Farewell,” the Marshal said. Scott heard him leave, then opened his eyes. He was past the forest, but that was all he knew.

Before him, he saw a smiling Firebird-Dictator M2. “Hello,” the Firebird said, “I’m Brad I. Neight. Up until now, I believed I was the only one They hadn’t taken in Edinburgh – but look! Here you are! I tried to run away, I did, but it wasn’t easy.”

Scott scowled hostilely. “So who smothered me? How did I get here? Where are we?”

Brad hesitated briefly. “I don’t know who smothered you, but I rescued you from whoever it was, and… brought you here.” Scott gave him a sarcastic “Oh really?” look. “I don’t rightly know where we are either. So, Scott, are we going to save our friends or not?”

“And how do you know my name, exactly?” Scott frowned. “But let’s travel together – I take it you know where They take ‘em?”

“Yeah, past the cliffs… I’m guessing they’ll be near the open field. Or something.”

 

So they passed side by side – Scott being ever-wary of the Firebird’s movements, and Brad trying to be as friendly as possible. As they travelled, Scott tried to unscramble Brad’s name – so far, he had no luck.

“So, Brad, how do you know where they all disappear to? Did Marshal Raknison tell you this? And who is he, by the way?” Scott tested. He decided he no longer trusted anything.

“He’s just – wait, how do – er, who’s he?” Brad coughed. He knew he’d made a fundamental error. He turned to face Scott, but saw nothing.

“Time to destroy this joker,” Scott whispered from behind a bush. He fired mercilessly at the Dictator, knocking him away. “Hey! What are you doing?” squealed Brad. Nevertheless, he found Scott behind that bush, and fired. As he did so, he said, “Listen to me, Scott. Marshal Raknison thinks he has control of me, but he doesn’t. He just wants to bring death – I want to help you.” He stopped shooting just as Scott’s health was around ½. “Trust me.”

For the second time, Scott prepared to fire. But this time, he swivelled his turret away from Brad. He was torn. Should he believe Brad or what he had heard while pretending to be unconscious? “OK,” he sighed, “I believe you. But if you are lying, I will crack your head open.”

Brad breathed out slowly. That was far too close – he’d have to do something, and fast.

 

Half an hour later, the pair found themselves near the cliffs. Brad excitedly drove right up to the edge. “Isn’t this view just beautiful? Come and see,” he urged, stepping out of his tank. Scott eyed him suspiciously, but drove up anyway.

“Yep, it’s nice, but hadn’t we better get going?”

“There’s always time to admire nature,” Brad laughed.

Scott grew impatient, and got out of his tank to walk towards Brad. “Listen, Brad, or whatever your name is, we are leaving this instant whether you – ”

Scott gasped. Brad had ever-so-quickly pulled both of Scott’s hands behind him, and was now dangling him over the cliff’s edge. “Listen, kid,” Brad repeated intimidatingly, “you have two options. Work for me and Marshal Raknison, or you can be the first to discover how many feet this cliff is. Your choice.”

Scott breathed slowly. “I will never work for the man who is taking the life away from Edinburgh. But it won’t be me seeing the bottom of this cliff.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

And Brad let go of Scott’s hands.

 

To be continued...

Edited July 31, 2017 by Hexed

[hogree 4,179]

Looking forward to the next part of this one, good work Sel. :)

[r_The-Player20 313]

newspaper stories are short

[icerugby 1,886]

The Forbidden Forest  :lol: Where have i seen that before? Ahh... Harry Potter.

Anyway nice story :) keep it up

[Lankbouv 6,347]

I found the beginning a bit sluggish, the way that scott left his father to search was unrealistic.

 

The rest was ok...v

[Destrod 2,634]

nice work selena! as usual  :)

[q456wert 18]

ok story

[AngeIs.And.Demons 1,988]

:O

[ben171270 132]

whens part 2 comin out? :(

Like the story :)

Edited September 3, 2013 by ben171270

[Meliora 1,652]

Part 2 comes out in early October. Thanks for the feedback though - and Harry Potter wasn't on my mind when I wrote the Forbidden Forest.

[donut70 97]

my theory, they wanted his tank, so as long as he was inside the tank they didn't want to kill him but once he got out he had no protection.

[Beerme 106]

This sucks we cant read the sequel :(

You will be sorely missed :(

[aojsd 144]

Well done, its a sad fact though, that the community won't be able to read the sequel due to you speaking up about your opinion. :(

[VectorSierra 199]

Sad to hear about that :( At least someone is brave enough to speak for their own....

[Scribo 167]

*mumbles under breath* Run of the mill; nothing new here.

[aojsd 144]

Someone's a hater/critic.

[Imgoingtowreckyou 4]

He's not a hater, he just wishes people around here had some competency in writing. But a critic? Most definitely.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Imgoingtowreckyou

[Mithrandir1 17]

A literal "cliffhanger!" Good witing.