LOCATION THREE

A car drove toward a fence guarded by Scarlets, and a guard walked toward the car with an assault rifle. The window lowered and inside the car was Paul. He said, "Will Drake be attending this meeting?"

A guard said "The boss won't be in and hasn't arrived in the city yet, but he's heard of your failures. He will come in a few days to talk with you, but there's a rumor that someone will take all that you possessed."

A vein bulged on Paul's head, and his hand balled up. He said, "Very well."

As Paul's car drove toward the mansion, something rustled in the bushes near the gate. One of the guards moved forward while the others got behind cover and aimed their weapons. He pointed his assault rifle as the bushes moved, sliding his finger near the trigger but a raccoon leaped out and scurried, taking off into the tall grass. The guard wiped the sweat from his face and walked back toward the gate.

Paul entered a room with a large desk, and people sat around it, and only one man named Joe wore a suit.

Joe said, "It's nice of you to finally join us. Now sit, Paul."

Paul sat and crossed his arms as Joe spoke.

Joe pressed a button that caused a screen from the ceiling to lower.

Paul turned to the window, and two white spots glowed. He shivered, remembering an injured Scarlet mentioning seeing two glowing white spots in the dark before an attack, but as Paul turned, they were two lights coming from a computer, reflecting on the window.

He exhaled and paid attention to the screen which was images of the Trioscepter headquarters. The building was full of bullet holes and broken concrete. Shattered windows appeared, and embers peaked through some of the rubble. The headquarters' symbol of three scepters laid on the floor and was cracked into pieces. Joe changed the screen and bodies laid on the floor near the woods, but as Joe spoke about the pictures, Paul's eyes widen. In the woods, two glowing white spots appeared side by side.

The group spoke about the Necros and how they should handle the threat. They also talked about the attacks at Location Two, other similar places, and the recent attack when they tried to capture Donovan.

The Scarlets slammed their fist and argued, but Paul remained silent as he stared at the two white spots in the woods.

Joe calmed everyone down and said, "We must deal with this threat before we end up like the Trioscepters, but we must find out who they are."

Then two Scarlet men came in, telling everyone that they came from Donovan's home before the cops arrived. They said the house was as it was before Cassidy and Donovan left, but one room was completely empty. There were no documents of technology designs but a few tools that laid on the tables. The bookshelves still had all their books but were left open, revealing a hidden door. They said when they opened the secret door, they hoped of finding technology designs, but it was completely empty.

Outside the mansion, guards hung around the areas, stretching and checking their weapons. Security cameras were all over the place watching the entire area.

Scarlets sat in a security room and spoke to each other, but the computer screen glitched and grabbed their attention. It remained like this for a couple of minutes but returned back to normal. They continued talking, but again their attention was diverted to the screen. At the gate, the two guards were not at their post, and they turned on their earpieces trying to speak to the guards, but they didn't answer. Something cracked, and a static noise sounded in their earpieces. They pressed a button, sending for other guards to search the area near the gate.

At the gate, the guards searched the area with their assault rifles. Something buzzed, and they turned their heads in different directions but it stopped, and it was calm. They scratched their heads and searched, but they didn't find the other guards. They called back to the men in the security room, but no one answered. They tried several times, but there was no response.

They were frustrated and worried, causing them to call other guards around the mansion. Static interfered, and they took off their earpieces. The words on the earpiece devices read: No signal.

A guard grabbed his phone and dialed Paul's number, but something happened to the phone's screen. The screen rippled and distorted, and their hearts pounded against their chest as the buzzing returned, getting louder.

In the room with the big desk, Joe continued discussing plans of how to deal with the Necros, but Paul was still quiet. The screen turned off, and the lights flickered in the room. The lights stopped flickering, and Joe pressed the buttons on his remote, but it remained off.

A cold chill rose on Paul's back, and he put his hand close to his gun underneath the table.

The men in the room said, "Joe, what's going on?"

The security cameras in the room spun, stopped, and pointed toward the men at the desk. The screen turned on, but it was blue. It distorted, and the security room appeared on the screen. The guards were not there, and the screen moved in the room from left to right three times.

It returned to the middle, and a figure stood. It was dark and not much light made the figure visible. It looked like a sleek, black robot and on its chest, was a small black coin with a red light glowing in the middle. It spoke in a deep voice and said, "Hello, I've come to collect. Tonight, you'll sleep in the puddle of your own blood."

Paul took his gun and shot at the screen. "That's their leader. Kill him or destruction will fall on us." They all grabbed their weapons as terror gripped their hearts.

The screen shut off and something appeared in the hallway. It was a person standing in the middle, and they fired until the person fell to the ground. Four Scarlets stepped in the hallway with their fingers near the trigger, coming closer to the body as their hearts raced. Their black shoes stepped next to it, and it was a dummy robot dressed in clothing. They looked to one another trembling, and their attention turned to the wall. Metal cylinders stuck to the wall and a red light shined from it. Laser sliced through them and they dropped with burn wounds.

Not too far away, gunshots fired and men yelled as loud buzzing noises echoed down the hallway. A deep voice spoke through the intercoms and said, "Wherever you try to hide, it does not matter to me. You're only choosing your grave spot."

Paul and the others hands trembled as they held their weapons. Large black spherical drones with red lights rushed straight into the hallway, and they were called the predator drones.

Paul said, "Impossible. It's him. But how?"

These drones were the size of a large grapefruit, and the Scarlet fired as the drones flew. The drones then shot loads of bullets at the Scarlets.

Paul ground his teeth and fired at the drones, missing every shot.

The drones fired and the Scarlets dropped like flies. Guards showed up and joined the battle, but died before they could shoot their guns.

Fear consumed Paul as the drones shred the flesh of the Scarlets and even Joe. The windows shattered and more drones entered the room. Bullets flew everywhere, and blood flowed on the floor. Paul and some survivors ran out the room toward the garage, entering cars.

The robot said, "You won't escape. I'll hunt you down." Its metal hand touched a button and all the mansion's doors shut and locked. Inside the mansion, the predator drones blinked red and were getting ready to explode.

In the cars, Paul and the others sped, but the garage doors began to lower. They stepped on the pedal as the garage doors moved closer, dashing and rushing from it. Three cars made it out, but the other slammed against the metal and were trapped.

The engines roared as the cars sped away together, but something flew from the roof of the building. It was the black robot, and it was in the dark sky, flying toward the cars with a few drones beside it. Rain fell from the sky, and the storm's water hid the robot and drones. An enormous explosion destroyed Location Three, and it glowed. Paul and the others grabbed their machine guns and loaded it. Lightning flashed in the sky, and the silhouette of the figure appeared.

The lightning flashed again, and the three drones appeared on the side of the only car that was not bullet proof. The drones fired, and the bullets tore through doors as glass shattered and blood splattered. The car burst into flames, and it exploded, taking two drones with it and leaving the last one badly damaged.

Paul and the others lowered their windows, sticking their machine guns out as their fingers held the trigger. The bullets rebounded against the robot, scratching the metal of the robotic suit. Sparks flew from it, and it tried to dodge the bullets, but it couldn't get away. It flew upwards and pointed its hand at the first car ahead. A small missile popped under its wrist and soared into the first car.

The car burst into flames and shrapnel hit Paul's car. The shockwave flipped it, rolling it over several times until its tires faced the sky. At the same time, lightning struck the robot, and the suit malfunctioned. The robot dropped from the sky, fumbling to press a button on its chest. As he finally pressed the button, a small jet pack deployed and the robot nearly crashed into the ground. However, the jetpack malfunctioned, and the robot hit the ground as mud covered the scratched suit.

Paul crawled onto the muddy ground from the car and blood dripped from his face with cuts covering his arms. His clothing ripped, and he stood with his machine gun. All the Scarlets were dead in the car.

The robot squeaked as it rose and wires stuck from the body.

Paul pointed his machine gun, and the light of the lightning reflected off the damaged machine. He pressed the trigger, but it clicked.

The robot turned and charged at the Paul, tackling him to the ground. It punched Paul, but he kicked the robot. The robot rolled in the mud as the rain fell.

Paul grabbed a metal piece of the car and swung it at the robot, lunging the metal into the torso. The robot dropped to its knees, and Paul slammed the metal on its back multiple times. The robot laid on its stomach and Paul said, "What's wrong? I thought you were going to kill me." He slammed the metal into its back. "Stay in the mud and take the beating you deserve." The veins on Paul's arms bulged as the metal slammed into its back again.

The robot dropped to the floor, and the mud splattered. The mask of the robot flew off.

Paul stepped toward the robot, rolling him over with his boot and the lightning flashed its light on Donovan's face. Paul laughed for a moment but realized that he took many lives of the Scarlets. He frowned and beat Donovan with the metal. Pieces of the suit cracked and the edge of the metal pierced through the armor, scratching the surface of Donovan's flesh.

Donovan threw a punch, but Paul slammed the metal on his armored arm. The metal cut through the armor and stabbed his flesh. The metal swung into Donovan's torso, and he flew back, slamming into a tree and sitting against it. Dents covered his suit as blood leaked through the cracks.

Paul threw the metal on the floor and searched through the corpses for a gun. He said, "You know, Donovan. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew it was you all along. I'm going to leave you for the vultures in the sky."

As Paul searched, Donovan kept pressing a button on his wrist but sparks shot out and wires slung from it. The button didn't work.

Paul grabbed a machine gun from a dead body and walked toward him. He squatted in front of Donovan who was laying against the tree and said, "What happen killer robot? Have you lost your touch in genocide?" He slapped Donovan with the machine gun and pressed the barrel against his chin. Paul said, "I don't care anymore about your inventions. Ever since you interfered, everything that I worked for burned to the ground because of you!" He slapped him with the machine gun again and stood up as the rain fell. "It's all your fault, Donovan. I'm surprised though. You've killed more in six months than I've had in my life. You're the reason why many people died." He laughed at Donovan and said, "Oh, let's not forget the other one. You killed your wife."

Donovan yelled, and the black coin with the red light on his chest flickered. A distorted buzz echoed, and the sound vibrated against their bodies.

Paul scratched his head and could not understand why his hands and legs were trembling. His heart raced, and a cold chill rose for some strange reason.

As confusion fell on Paul, Donovan rushed and tackled him. The machine gun fired, but it shot in the air. Donovan held Paul's arm as he struggled to aim the gun at Donovan.

The distorted buzz got louder, and Paul kicked Donovan.

Donovan rolled over and growled.


Paul aimed his machine gun and said, "Die you fool!"

Donovan said, "No, you die!" He pressed his wrist button.

Donovan's badly damaged drone slammed its blade right into the back of Paul. His eyes enlarged as he squeezed the trigger, but the bullets missed Donovan. His gun dropped, and the drone fell, yanking its blade from his back. It was drizzling, and the drone fell into the mud as its light blinked red.

Donovan walked as Paul laughed and blood dripped from Paul's mouth.


Donovan punched him, and he dropped to the ground.

Paul sat up and stared into Donovan's eyes. He laughed and said, "Was the genocide supposed to make her magically appear into your arms again." He wiped the blood from his mouth, and his hand shook. "I'm going to die, but at least I won't rot alive." He laughed and fell into the mud. His hands stopped shaking, and his body got cold.

Tears streamed from Donovan's face as his hands clenched. The rain stopped, and puddles filled the area. He stood, leaning over a puddle and it was the reflection of his scratched robotic suit. As he put his hand over the coin shape device, a drop of water fell and disturbed the puddle, causing it to change into a different image. A gray jacket was on his body, and a hood was above his head.