Rebellion

The Panther

The Panther

​"We'll kill them!"

​"No, don't!"

​"Don't go with them! Don't you dare!"

​"But...."
​
​"Don't do it."

​"You swear?"

​"Of course."

​"Fine. Just don't....."

​They'd killed them all anyway and then laughed as he screamed. They dragged him back to their cars and knocked him out and he woke up in some dark hideout in a jail cell. And that's where he was stuck until they grabbed him and pulled him out. He was pushed onto the ground in front of someone and a knife was held to his throat.

​"He'll be useful."

​"Drug or not?"

​"Mark hasn't sent a new batch for a while. No drug."

​And all of a sudden there was some problem at the government building. He heard news that Mark Wakefield had been killed and apparently the man who was running the show here had a son there. Who he wanted. And in a split second he'd been dressed up in bullet proof vests and had different guns shoved into his hand. He hadn't ever shot a gun before. He had no idea what he was doing. He remembered watching animals come lunging out of the government building as they shot at them. A tiger, a wolf, a leopard......others joined them. It hadn't been a fair fight from the start. They had no chance. It was when he'd been shoved forward by a few other men that he actually attempted to shoot. He took aim at one of the animals, a wolf by the looks of it. It was shaking and starting to transform. But before his bullet could even make contact with the guy, another man was stepping in front of him and letting the bullet hit him in the shoulder. He gasped as he saw blood start to flow from the wound but the guy turned towards him and shot off a few rounds from his pistols. They missed and he ducked back by the car. He watched as the guy he'd shot dragged the one he had tried to shoot behind rubble.

​But that was all in the past now. He'd never been a fighter and he wasn't ever going to be. He sat down in one of the rooms that he was given. They had them. All of them. All the....bad guys were here and they were torturing them. He had no idea who they were but he had nightmares of them. Their screams and cries.

​"Mike!"

​"Chester!"

​"Stop it! Don't touch them!"

​"Dad!?"

​"Saiah!!"

​"Chester!"

​"Scott!"

​"No!"

​He shook the voices from his head and looked up as the door opened. Ryan Shuck walked in. He had taken the lead after Charles Bennington had been killed.

​"I'm taking a few people out to make sure there aren't any uprisings starting around here. Keep watch will you?"

​"Yea."

​Ryan nodded before leaving the room and he got up and walked out into the hallway. He saw Ryan walk out the front door and then he took a deep breath. First, he headed down the hallway to the main room and looked through the confiscated things from the group they had captured. He grabbed one of the wrist bands and fit it around his arms. Nothing. He growled angrily and tried another one. None of them worked. What the hell? Well, he needed a detour before he could get in. He headed back down the halls towards one of the doors at the end of the hallway. He heard quiet voices talking and crying. He took a breath and opened it a bit.

​"We're going to get out and take over as soon as possible. Next time they come in to get us, we're going to break out."

​"I agree."

​He spoke up, "Or.....you won't have to wait around and you can come with me."

​The men inside all turned to look at him. They looked terrible. They were cut up and bleeding and most likely not able to walk much. But one of them stood up.

​"Who the hell are you?"

​"My name's Pierre. I don't think names are important if I can get you out."

​"Actually they are," the man said, "We've had shit like this before. It's never gone right."

​"I promise I can help you. I tried to bring the weapons to you but they're locked up in the armory and all your little wristbands are broken, so I had to come get you first."

​He saw a few of them exchange glances. And then the man he'd been talking to, went over to another man with darker hair who was holding another man to his chest and comforting him. He had bandages around his feet and Pierre swallowed. These were the ones they'd been torturing.

​"We have more people," the man who seemed to be in charge said, "Locked up in the prisons. Do you have a way into those as well?"

​"I'm sure I can do something."

​He nodded, "Name's Dave. This is Mike, Chester, Larry, and Scott. Let's go."

​Pierre nodded before pushing the door open and heading back into the hallway. He turned to the group who was following him.

​"There's a secret entrance to the prisons from here. We can come up from the bottom and take whoever you need without the guards ever knowing. But we do need weapons."

​Dave nodded, "We need our stuff."

​Pierre led them down to the main room where their discarded stuff. He watched as the guys all grabbed the metal bracelets and slid them onto their arms. Immediately, metal expanded and covered their hands. Dave leaned forward and clicked a piece of the gauntlet into the wall. The wall slid away and stairs led down. He grinned and nodded as they headed down to the basement. His eyes widened as he took in the expanse of weapons they had. He watched the men limp around and pick things up. The dark haired guy, Mike, was still helping his partner walk.

​"Over there," Pierre decided that he was Chester said pointing towards a rack. Mike led him over there and Chester grabbed one of the bottles off of the shelf. He uncapped it and downed the stuff in one gulp. He gagged at it but closed his eyes and then the pained expression on his face vanished. Mike stared at him in shock and Chester slowly unwrapped the bandages on his feet. There were no more burns.

​"Give one to everyone," Chester managed as he coughed again, "It tastes disgusting."

​Mike began handing out the bottles. Pierre looked down at the rack next to him. The little metal bracelets were hanging on little hooks with little pictures of animals next to them. He frowned and shuffled through them. He tried a few different ones on but they once again didn't work. Why didn't they work for him? It bothered him a lot. He grabbed the last one on the rack and slid it on. He jumped back, letting out a startled yelp as it expanded instantly and closed around his hand. The others gave him a strange look before going back to arming themselves. He stared down at the metal on his hand. This one had worked. He bent down to examine the picture. It looked like a panther. So he would be able to....? Wow.

​"Hey, P! You ready?"

​He turned to see the others standing there. They all looked extremely ready to kill. He almost felt like he was in danger himself. He nodded and then led them back up the stairs. He headed over to the other side of the room as Dave locked up the armory and then he opened the door on the far side.

​"It's through here."

​"Lead the way."

​He started inside and hoped to god it still worked. If the passage wasn't the one he was thinking of, they'd shoot him on the spot. He really didn't want to die. Thankfully, they arrived on the last level of the underground prison. It was disgusting down there but he hurried to the steps and they started up as fast as they could.

​"Were you first level?"

​"We should be," Dave replied. They ran up to the last door and Pierre opened it. They crept through the hallway and then Dave was pushing ahead. He watched him kneel in front of a few different cells.

​"How are you going to break them out?" Mike asked giving him a glare.

​"I have the keys," Pierre responded before pulling the ring out of his pocket, "Really, do you think I'm stupid?"

​"Considering the fact that you have no idea how to use that gun in your hand, yes," Mike said coldly.

​"Let the man be, Mike. He's saving our asses," the tall guy in the back. Scott. Maybe? Dave had returned.

​"Keys please."

​Pierre handed over the ring of keys and Dave began unlocking the cells. A boy no older than ten or eleven came out first and hugged Chester tightly. Two women, they had been prisoners at his place for a bit. Other men. They were all hugging. And then he watched as the men he'd rescued handed over weapons to their friends.

​"Alright. Brad, take Keith, Shaun, Conner, and Larry out the front. Kill the guards and anyone that tries to come out the front. I'll take everyone else through the tunnel back inside. We'll kill them all," Dave growled.

​"Uh.....," Pierre started but they were already moving, "Uh, excuse me?"

​"What?"

​"Where do I go?"

​"Nowhere. You stay here until we're done and then we'll talk," Dave replied. Pierre stared at the guy in shock.

​"What? I rescued all of you!"

​Dave nodded at him before turning and heading back towards the steps. They must not trust him. He'd fight for them. He would. Or at least he would try to. But now he was left alone in this prison and there was gunfire echoing outside. So what if he didn't know how to shoot? He had another weapon now. He hurried to the outside of the prison and saw his previous allies attacking the people he'd rescued. He clicked the button on the gauntlet and gasped as his body flung forward to land on four legs. Why did he suck at everything? But all his senses were heightened and he felt extremely powerful. He dashed forward and pounced on the first man he saw that hadn't been a prisoner. He was shocked to see a huge tiger dash by him followed by a wolf. They were taking down two or three soldiers at a time. As soon as they finished killing them, they'd brush against each other or hit the other playfully with a paw. It was almost like they were playing with each other. It was somewhat cute. A fox slunk past him and sunk its teeth straight into the legs of the soldiers who didn't even notice it. They were amazing.
​And then the trucks pulled up. Ryan Shuck jumped out of one of them and opened fire. One of them went down. Pierre wasn't familiar with them so it wasn't one of the guys who he had rescued personally. It was a blood bath. Blood splattered the ground and the walls. Civilians were screaming. He lunged at another soldier and he heard Ryan yelling.

​"God fucking dammit, Pierre!"

​He wanted to laugh at the fact that Ryan had no idea he was out here with them. He just thought he'd fucked up really bad. No, this was exactly what he wanted. More gunshots echoed. Ryan had brought all the best fighters with him so now they were actually fighting hard. He felt himself changing back to a regular person and he ducked quickly into a covered area and then took in a breath. He pulled the gun from its spot around his shoulder and took aim. He shot at one of the soldiers by the truck. He missed but it caused enough of a distraction that the tiger could maul him.
​The attack continued but Ryan's men were starting to circle in. There were more of them than the rebelling prisoners. Dave turned and shot down four soldiers before getting hit himself. Everything seemed to slow down in around the rebels. Actually, it all slowed down. He heard screams and shouts echoing around the courtyard and he watched their leader collapse. The dark haired guy, Mike...his scream was the loudest. Rage surged through the rebels and they forced forwards again. It was driven by uncontrollable pain. Ryan was having a field day. Bullets ripped through soldiers and rebels alike. Pierre aimed again, aiming for Ryan but not being able to hit him. Instead, he nailed one of the gas tanks of the trucks and blew it up. He watched as the tiger lunged forward at Ryan, transforming into a man. The tiger was Chester? He didn't think that was right. Halfway through the transformation, Chester had drawn daggers from his belt and was going to kill Ryan. Except he never got the chance. Everyone saw the bullet rip through his body. Blood flew everywhere. A pained howl echoed through the ruined square. Pierre saw a wolf shaking, transforming and leaving a broken man in its place. Mike. A blonde guy knelt next to him, defending him from any soldiers that approached him. And then a final gunshot caused everyone to stop. Pierre stared in shock as Ryan Shuck collapsed, blood running down his head. Behind him, a blonde kid stood, holding a pistol. The remaining soldiers looked around in a panic but they had no chance. The remaining rebels killed them instantly and then the silence of death passed over them.
​Pierre slowly got up and walked towards the square. Mike was kneeling over Chester's body, a different blonde guy knelt next to him with some kind of medicine kit. But Pierre had a feeling it was going to be hopeless. Another man had slid down next to them and was shaking Chester, begging him to wake up. They were whispering softly and then Mike was hugging this other man. The rest of them were surrounding Dave who was groaning and holding the right side of his chest. Blood flowed through his fingers. He seemed to be okay. He was getting bandaged up. A woman was sitting next to him. A couple of the guys that they'd rescued from the prison were dead. They'd been sent out with Brad. He didn't know who they were. Dave looked up at him as he knelt down by them.

​"I told you not to be out here."

​"You guys needed help, admit it."

​"Whatever. Is everyone alright?"

​The woman shook her head, "Shaun and Keith are dead. Larry's wounded. Chester might be dead."

​Dave's eyes widened and he struggled to get up but a different guy held him down gently.

​"Jeremy's with him. There's nothing you can do."

​Pierre looked around at the destroyed square. It was a mess, but then again, he'd never seen it actually cleaned up. He decided to leave the rebels to themselves right now. He walked over to one of the trucks and climbed up on the top of it. He positioned himself to watch the entrance to the square. They'd need someone to look out for them. Maybe he could do that. Slowly, they started moving inside. Chester was laid on a stretcher and covered before being carried into the Capitol with Mike, Scott, and the blonde boy following them. Dave was walking alright but he had a big group around him too. He watched a few others move around the destroyed concrete before going inside. He sighed and looked out at the darkening sky. He wondered if it was possible that he would ever not get anyone killed. He seemed to end up having that happen a lot. He tossed the gun aside and tugged at the offending band on his wrist. He was fucking it all up! He didn't even know these people yet he'd freed them and led some of them to their deaths. He was tearing apart families by trying to be good.

​"Get the fuck off me!" he snarled as he tried to pull the metal band off. It wouldn't budge, "Look I don't fucking want you! Get off! I'm not......I'm not a hero or anything like that. Those people in there, they are! That's why they have these. They don't end up getting people killed. Fucking hell....."

​Tears ran down his face. He'd just met these people yet he felt for them. He'd felt the pain in Mike's cries after he'd seen two of his friends get shot down. He'd seen the panic when Dave had been informed Chester might be dead. The tears from Scott as he leaned over Chester's body. All of this was too much. He hadn't wanted to get attached to these people. Sure, he'd wanted a spot in their group but maybe freeing them wasn't the way to do it. Maybe there could've been some other way. But of course he'd picked the way to get the most of them killed.

​"Are you done throwing a fit?"

​He jumped, almost fell off the truck, and turned to see who was talking to him. He was surprised to see the blonde guy who had been bandaging Chester earlier.

​"What?"

​"I asked if you were done throwing a fit."

​"I guess," Pierre sighed as he let go of the band on his arm, "It won't come off."

​"Because you're not a bad guy, Pierre. Come on inside yea?"

​He climbed off the truck and ran a hand through his hair, "I wasn't throwing a fit."

​"You throwing a bigger temper tantrum than a five-year old," the guy said with a smirk, "Now come on. We'll get you some food and maybe some shooting lessons huh?"

​Pierre couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face, "Yea....maybe that would be helpful."

​"Don't take that band off. It's part of who you are."

​He didn't read until later that the panther was a shadow. Unsuspected until it was able to save its friends right under the nose of others. He didn't read until later that the panther had hidden power that didn't show until he realized what he could do. He didn't realize until later that maybe he did have a place with these people.

A/N: Pierre is the lead singer from Simple Plan. Good band, check them out!!!