"Well well" Guill chuckled. "This is the quietest Sweet Sunday I'v ever seen.
Guille looked to his left and right seeing a barren an empty town square where he had swore he had heard laughter and merriment earlier.
As they walked into the square, the jingle from the spurs on Gille's boots echoed throughout the town.
They slowly walked in the to be heading towards the direction of the steel mill. As they approached the square Gille stopped abruptly raising his hand. "As usual, I'll do the talking, boys" he said smiling with his lime green teeth. He turned to the on looking bystanders with his wide grin as he walked up to the porch of the steel factory.
"C'mon inside" yelled a voice opening the door. Nathan appeared at the top of the steps smiling.
Tipping his hat, Guille smiled and then headed up the steps of Albert's steel mill.
"As much as I'd like to catch up on old times" Gill said in a cold damp voice, "let's cut to the chase? Where's Albert?"
"About that, he can have the engine you want as soon as next week. I promise you."
"Nathan, Darius is more impatient than autumn's cold fingers, and I'm afraid summers warm embrace is long gone."
"I mean I don't think you can speed him up any more than he he's working now."
"Oh believe me" Guille said with a dark tone as he cracked his knuckles. "I have my ways".
"Well I think we can comes to terms civilly, He's working on it now You guys can come inside and Ill retrieve him immediately". Nathan said
"Great", Gille said smiling vibrantly as he clapped his hands together, "Immediately sounds great to me"
Nathan led them down the hall into a room with Lars and the others.
"So that's him" Lars thought. "THat's the agent that melted off someones face."
As Guille came into the room he eyed the children very closely.
"Hmm, what's a bunch of kids doing in here?" Guille asked. "By the way they are dressed, they look like escapees! From where are they from?"
"Theyre from..." Albert said mumbling
"Hands off" Seymour said striding into the room. "Those kids are mine"
"Oh? A family man, how about I take those brats off your hands?"
"Sure I'd be willing to do it" He said "For the right price"
"Sounds like a deal, after I get what this here old fart owes me we can work something out... Now!" Guille said slamming his hand on the table
As he slammed his fist down, a green ooze started to drip out from his palms touching the table and slowly melting it.
"Yo this guy is insane yo!" Reggie whispered to Lars.
"Where is that generator!" He screamed
"We haven't harvested enough raw materials yet" Albert said.
"It's been over a month! Don't get cocky! Just because you aren't under my thumb anymore doesn't mean I can't start hurting people!"
"Your not being reasonable!" Albert said. "We need more time!"
"Not being reasonable ey?" Guille said standing up. "Listen here you old coot! If you don't start mending things Im gonna start melting things! Starting with your face!" Guille said letting acid slide down his hands.
"Do that and I'll never fix that generator!" Albert declared.
"Tsk! Miserable old coot" Guille said. "But your right... I'll just have to settle for a leg! Harry Larry getem!"
Harry and Larry grabbed Albert and pinned him against the wall.
"No-"
Lars tried to spring into action but Seymour stopped him.
As Lars locked eyes with him, he remembered O'Brian's briefing in the helicopter.
(A few hours ago)
"Once we have landed you cannot display your rank to anyone, espically not anyone at the mine" Obrian said.
"THis is for two reasons!" Obrian said.
"THe first is obvious to protect our missoin from failing! But the second... Is to protect the other children!"
"How does us breaking cover endanger children?" Lars asked.
"Once they know agents are dressing up as kids to come in, what kindof methods do you think they will use to find the rest?"
"They woulnd't... there just"
"One Shifter, a Shifter named Sahara Sherief is said to use a deadly drug to interrogate anyone he is suspicious of. In fact there is an agent here who as a child went through the torment first hand at the age of 10!" Seymour said
"Doing that to a ten year old they are monsters!" B exclaimed.
"That is why you must remain in disguise the risks of failure or too high"
"Then why bother sending us inexperienced Cadets on this missoin!" Lairs said.
"Because if they get their hands on this Pandora..." Obrian said. "Things may be worse than even that for the children of the badlands. This is grasping at straws but its the best I can make."
(Back to present)
"Nathan stay back!" Albert ordered. "I will take this pain! For the sake of Sheridan!" He cried.
Hesitating, Nathan turned away as guile closed in on Albert.
"Here's what we're going to do. We're going to take a single piece of you, till you give us what we want. We'll leave both hands and eyes intact of course.
"This might hurt a bit" Guile said grabbing Alberts leg.
BOOM!
Guille was head-butted from behind into the furniture behind Albert.
"Leave the old geezer alone!" Zrilla cried.
She had transformed. Her hands had turned into hooves and two giant antlers poked out of her head that she had used on Guille.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" chuckled Gille. "Rudolph the red snot nosed brat reindeer."
"Please," said Albert, "she didn't do anything wrong." Albert said stepping in front of her.
"Oh?" Gill pondered. "Boys I think we found the piece of Albert we're looking for."
"No!" Albert cried
"PTU PTU" Guille shot a round of Acid blobs at Alberts eyes. As he dodged them, Harry grabbed Zrilla and took her from him.
"Zrilla!!!" Nathan cried. As he soared through the air, his head expanded into the shape of a trapezoid becoming flatter. His skin turned dark grey, and slowly emerging from the center of his head was a huge horn that resembled a Rhino.
"Hardhead!" he screamed as he drove his head into the trio.
"Boys, if you will" whispered Gill. The duo immediately stepped in front of him anticipating the blow. Larry the first twin caught the horn in mid attack suspending Nathan in midair by his neck.
"NOOOO!" cried Albert. The twin then did the unthinkable; He used his bear head to head-butt the Nathan directly into his rhino horn. Upon impact, he shattered Nathans horn like glass into fragments across the ground.
"HEHEH! I guess my head is 'harder'" he laughed tossing Nathan aside. The next twin, Harry who was still holding Zrilla, caught Nathan still in air, and landed a devastating kick to the abdomen of Nathan easily shattering 6 of Nathans ribs.
"How can I just stand here!" Lars thought as he watched the good people get slaughtered.
Brushing Seymours hand aside, Lars ran into the Frey ready to take Guile head on.
"That's enough!" Lars screamed.
"Stay out of this!" Albert yelled placing a hand in front of Lars. "This is my family! I will defend them!"
"You? You can barely go to the bathroom by yourself? How exactly are you going to beat me?
"Your forgetting Guile! Do you remember what kind of wreck this town was when you left it? Who do you think rebuilt it!"
Albert took off his jacket and flexed as his old veins expanded all across his body. He gave a death glare at Guille as he became saturated in ire.
"Who do you think sent your men back in bandages when they tried to take us over! Whose steel is it that holds this very Mill together!"
Steel began to levitate in midair shaking the atmosphere and whirling the air around the 5 men. Albert stood in the center of the whirling steel beams.
"Well now", Gille said smiling, "This just might get interesting". He pressed down on his hat to prevent it from flying into the air as his trench coat swayed from the turbulence.
"Grandpa!" His granddaughter cried.
"Don't worry!" Albert boomed. "Grandpa is going to save you!"