Chapter 6 - Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Courtney and Gavin watch all of this go down, as they quickly make their move as they watch the army of soldiers heading in all directions in the city to find them. The couple quickly run through different streets and alleys to find a place to hide, as soldiers are already breaking into buildings and houses, ravaging them just to find them. Families and people that stayed in their homes are terrorized, threatened and checked as the soldiers ravage through their homes.

The couple soon find themselves in a secluded little warehouse near the city canal/river, as they hide. The sounds of screaming and open fire can be heard from afar. The couple calms down as they think of what to do with the time they have,

"Damn, what the hell! How'd they get here so fast?"

Gavin complains as he has a small tantrum, panicking as to what they'll do next, meanwhile Courtney sits down and begins to panic again, her previous thoughts come back as she hyperventilates. Gavin immediately calms down as he realizes this, he quickly goes over to Courtney and hugs her tightly, trying to calm her down,

"Shh, Courtney, just relax, we'll be okay..."

Gavin reassures her in a soft tone, trying to calm her down, as the sounds of panic, screams and more gunfire can be heard getting closer and closer to them,. Courtney's heart beats faster and faster, her breathing does the same as well. Gavin begins panicking as well, thinking about a way to escape while also comforting his girlfriend,

"Okay, so, we can't just fly out of here, it'll be too flashy and obvious... Getting out right now would be too risky, but might be the only way to even escape this whole thing... And waiting things out is even more risky, since we might definitely get caught, and even if we fight back, it'll signal the others."

Gavin thinks to himself as he devises plan a way to escape, as the sounds of the soldiers ravaging the city can be heard getting closer and closer,

"Ahh, fuck it!"

He says, as he takes Courtney's by the arm, snapping her out of her thoughts once again,

"Courtney, listen... We need to focus on getting out right now, okay? We can talk about what you're feeling later, alright, babe?"

Gavin says to her, staring into her eyes as he looks at her with a serious face. Courtney stands there, stuck still thinking and attacked by her memories, but eventually, she finally shakes it all off, as she takes a deep breath and sighs,

"A-alright... I got it, now, let's go!"

Courtney replies with a firm tone, as the couple then got out of there and started running, as the soldiers can already be seen from a distance.

"So, what's the plan?"

Courtney asks Gavin as they run,

"Well, we can't fly, since we'll be easily seen out in the open like this, and there isn't a crowd to be used as obstacles or for hiding... So our best chances right now is to just keep running, and to only fly when we're far enough and can't be seen."

Gavin explains to Courtney as they run, as she then nods, understanding the plan,

"Alright, got it!"

She replies as they continue running as fast as they can, quickly heading to the opposite side of the city as the military seems to be catching up pretty quickly.

Meanwhile, the lava general walks through the seemingly empty streets of the city, manipulating his aura to instead be used as some sort of observation tool, as he looks through every building, street, and inch of the city just by his aura alone. As he searches the city, he has continuous thoughts of anger and sadism as he thinks about the Phoenix, Courtney, and how they would finally capture her and punish her in all ways. He then smiles in a sadistic way as he thinks of that. Suddenly a soldier runs to him, causing him to be agitated and almost attack the man, as the soldier screamed in fear.

The lava general stop right before he can actually attack,

"What!?"

He yells angrily at the soldier for disturbing him,

"G-general! We've spotted a suspicious pair of people near the river, they seem to be running to the other side! Some of the other soldiers already seem to be chasing after-"

The soldier explains, but before he could finish, the general is already moving, jumping from building to building.

The lava general's mind is once again filled with angry, sadistic thoughts at Courtney,

"Magni... Finally, you're mine!"

He thinks to himself as he smiles, excited to finally capture her and arrest her.

As for the couple, they're currently now on a highway bridge, running past cars as they continue going as fast as they can,

"C'mon, Gavin!"

Courtney says to Gavin, who seems to be getting exhausted after running for a while,

"I know... I'm trying."

Gavin replies with a strained, tired voice, trying his best to keep going. As Gavin then stumbles and falls.

Courtney stops as she watches the sight of Gavin falling, when suddenly, gunfire passes by them, as they both look back and realize that they've been found, and there are now soldiers chasing after them. Courtney is now panicking, as she quickly thinks of what to do, she then decides to stop and run back to Gavin, as she picks him up and they continue running.

"Courtney, switch into your phoenix form, quick!"

Gavin yells to Courtney while she holds him in her arms as they run, but Courtney seems to be unable to listen to him, she can't think, she's lost in her thoughts as she continues mindlessly running with Gavin in her arms.

Suddenly, time stops for Courtney when she feels something, a severe pain in her thigh, as she realizes she got shot. The couple falls down as Courtney collapses, Gavin quickly gets up goes over to Courtney to check on her,

"Courtney!",

He calls for her as he runs towards her, but he quickly gets down as more gunfire is headed his way.

He crawls over to Courtney, as she lays on the floor, struggling in pain,

"Courtney..."

Gavin says in a scared, worried tone as he looks at the injured, Courtney, as he quickly drags her to the side, behind a parked car.

Gavin quickly checks on her gun wound as they sit there,

"G-Gavin..."

Courtney says in a strained voice to Gavin,

"Yes, Courtney, what is it?"

He replies worriedly as he continues checking on the wound,

"Y-you should go, now... I can deal with this..."

Courtney says to Gavin, as Gavin's face switches to a very concerned look, Courtney then quickly uses her Phoenix powers, as she uses her flames to quickly heal her wound,

"W-what? Why the hell would I do that!?"

Gavin complains to Courtney as she sits up,

"Gavin, I can defend myself, you can't, now go."

She demands him as she gets up, quickly transforming her arms into her Phoenix wings,

"Courtney!"

Gavin yells to her as she runs off to fight the soldiers,

"Just go!"

Courtney yells back to him, as she then flies over to the soldiers that caught up to them, swatting them away and blasting flames at them to keep them away as she begins to fight back.

Gavin now stands there in a dilemma, as he thinks, whether to listen to Courtney and run, or to stay by her side and help, as an army of soldiers now marches towards them with guns out...