Downtown could be summed up in one word. Chaos. That's exactly how it appeared when we pulled onto the scene. Police, ambulance, and fire trucks were everywhere. On the other side of the street, people were gathered, trying to see what was going on, or watching as the chaos unfolded. The ambulance was currently trying to tend to the wounded as police and firefighters alike tried to bring some order and secure the scene. The smoke was settling when we pulled to a stop and get off our bikes.

Taking my helmet off, I hung it on the handle of my bike, before searching out the police chief. Weaving our way among the crowd, Marisa was the first to locate the chief, tugging on my arm before pointing towards the gentleman with a megaphone in his hand. At first, I thought the megaphone was for yelling at fellow policemen, until we got closer and I followed his line of sight.

Over among the remains of the fallen lab, were two figures. One was kneeling down, presumably picking something up, while the other stood near by, occasionally glancing at his partner, before turning his attention in our direction again.

"Chief Phillips, care to clue us in?" Marisa said by way of greeting once we had approached him. As soon as Phillips heard Marisa's voice, he grimaced, before turning towards her. Marisa wasn't exactly the Chief's favorite person to see. Reason being was because, from what I've heard, before she came to work for Dare, Marisa was a bit of a wild child. Probably more so then I was, and she was always causing trouble around the city, but especially for the police force. Most of the members of the police force, the chief included, had yet to forgive or forget Marisa's wild streak.

"Phoenix, Nightshade. I wasn't aware that Project Shadow had been called into this." He said through tight lips.

Stepping forward, I decided to speak before Marisa said something to cause even more derision between the police force and Project Shadow, "We were called in because High Tides labs is one of our research sources, and there's a possibility that the culprit behind this attack could be linked to a man we've been after for six years now."

Chief Phillips was quiet for a moment as what I said sunk in before nodding, "Alright. The laboratory was reduced to rubble. People reported hearing a large explosion before the building went down. At least five people have been reported dead. The two figures in front of the lab remains, are suspected to being behind the explosion."

Turning back to the ruined remains, I took a closer look at the two figures, able to see them better now at the smoke had settled. They were both dressed in black, with the one standing, having a hood pulled low over his face to hide his features. The other man finally stood up and spoke to his partner. I could barely make out his features. All I could tell was that he was clean shaven and young, where as his partner seemed to be slightly older. I think.

Looking back at Chief Phillips, I asked, "Have you tried to talk to them?"

The police chief looked as if I just offended him, like my question was the absolute worse insult you could possibly think up, "Of course I've tried speaking with them. They've just ignored me and kept on doing as they please."

Looking back at the two figures who appeared to be talking amongst themselves, I asked "Well Phoenix, how should we handle this?"

Marisa didn't answer me however. She was quiet as she watched the two men, before taking the megaphone from the police chief and speaking through it, " Men in black! Whatever you're doing, drop it now and put you're hands in the air! We have a couple of questions for you!"

Her voice echoed through the air, drawing the attention of the two men, who stopped talking and looked in our direction. I felt like introducing my face with my hand at that moment. Did she really expect that work? I looked at her as if she was crazy or as if she just lost her mind, which she most likely had.

Catching my look, she shrugged, "What? It's worth a try, right?"

"If they just blew up a building, do you really think they're just going to surrender just like that?"

She just shrugged again, causing me to groan internally. Almost as soon as we finished speaking, a deputy, who had been walking towards us to talk to the chief, suddenly crumpled to the ground, a bullet wound drilled through the center of his forehead.

"We don't intend to simply stop what we're doing and answer your questions. Now stand down, or more innocents will die." The older of the two said.

My attention snapped away from the dead deputy and back to the two men in front of the ruined lab. My emotions went from shocked to confusion. His voice sounded familiar somehow. Like something from my memories, but I couldn't grasp it. It was just out of my reach.

Shaking my head, I shook off the confusion this man's voice was causing in me, and tried to focus on the situation at hand. I turned my eyes to the surrounding buildings, looking for possible snipers.

The two guys in front of us didn't have any weapons, as far as we could see.

Unable to see anything, I turned back to Marisa, "I can't see anything. How about you?"

Marisa always had better eyesight then me or most of the other agents in Project Shadow. She could see really far and that was without binoculars or a telescope. Combine this with her wild nature and you could see why her code name was Phoenix. She scanned the surrounding buildings, her hazel eyes narrowing in concentration, before replying, "They have three snipers. Amateurs by my guess, since they're not doing a very good job of hiding themselves. I can see the sun glinting off their guns."

Of course she'd label them as amateurs if they couldn't reach her level.

"Is there any way around this without losing any lives?"

Making a humming sound, Marisa slowly shook her head, "Amateur or not, if they could make that man fall without making a noise or using those laser pointers that everyone's so fond of, they'll probably cause us to drop dead before we even took two steps in any direction." Turning to look at me, she continued, "I don't think we really have any choice, Nightshade. We'll have to let them go."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and turned to look at the two men. Just thinking about this situation caused me to clench my hands into fists. They had backed us up into a corner before we even knew it! I hated that. I hated that they had all but turned the tables on us. Here it appeared like they were defenseless and surrounded by police and firefighters and other members of the city, and yet all this time, they had their guns trained on us, ready for use.

I hadn't even realized I was biting my lip until I tasted the coppery metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, slowly unclenching my hands. Holding out my hand, I waited till Marisa handed me the megaphone, before raising it to my lips and speaking, "Fine! We don't want anymore deaths. Leave!"

Even though I didn't say it out loud, I had one thought running through my mind. This isn't over. When I see you again, it'll be me who catches you off guard. Just like in a game of chess. This was their first move, but next time, it'll be mine.

The guys were quiet, but I could swear one of them smirked, before a black SUV pulled around the corner and came to a stop near the rubble. I watched as the two guys climbed inside the SUV and drove off, feeling frustrated. Handing the megaphone back to Chief Phillips, I turned and marched back to my motorcycle.

"Dammit" I muttered under my breath, having to voice my frustrations somehow.