Cross' mouth was dry, his hands trembling and knees feeling weak. His eyes were strained and tired, having stayed up all night practicing. The Official Leaders had told everyone to get a good nights rest before the big day, but he'd been far too anxious.

Clenching his hands into fists and getting into stance, he looked at the thousands of people around him. They were all positioned the same, their eyes gleaming and fixated on their target.

Everyone's concentration was set in steel, shifting on their heels as the leader of their squadron raised a hand silently.

The land was quiet, no sound of wind, animals. Not even a single bird flew over past the faded blue sky. It was just them and their target.

The Leader inhaled sharply, their white teeth curving into a sharp grin. It was time.

"NARUTO RUNNERS, GO!"

All in one the thousands of people around him - monsters and humans alike - streamed towards the the rather feeble looking outer defence that America's most secretive and secure facility. All of them were leaned forwards, arms slicked back behind them for reasons Cross never actually found out. Maybe it made them more streamlined? Or maybe it just made them look cool. Probably the latter.

Risking a few glances around, Cross could make out the Kyles, Karens and Gamers at the base of the towering mountains, all of them watching as the lead squadron powered forwards.

The ground was hard and firm beneath his feet, small gorse bushes and tumbleweed being trampled underfoot. Tiny geckos, mice and critters scampered out of the way in a flood, screeching their heads off while trying to escape.

He tried to keep his eyes off of the surroundings and on the looming base of Area 51. Beads of sweat build up on his forehead and ran down his face, his spine starting to feel hot and clammy thanks to the scorching sun beating relentlessly down on them. It was unforgiving, no clouds drifting across it for shade. Nothing blocked them from the giant burning ball of gas in the sky.

Trying to ignore it as much as possible, he slowed a little. He fell a little further back in the group, sucking the air in quickly through his mouth. Maybe it was kind of selfish, but he didn't fancy being at the front of the ranks if the guards decided to open fire.

The loud pitch of a speaker rang out and a scratchy yet firm voice rang out, commanding. "Attention civilians, retreat immediately or we'll be forced to open fire."

A few of the Naruto Runners skidded to a stop, eyes wide and expressions scared. They'd clearly signed up for the whole thing for the hell of it. A joke instead of being serious. Cross himself fell back a little more, not too fond of the idea.

The majority stayed powering onwards, mouths twisted into frowns of determination. No one wanted to be deterred, everyone wanted to know what was in there. What secrets lay hidden beneath the ground.

The base was no more than twenty metres away, a few more seconds of sprinting being enough to take them the rest of the way. But then a static click rang out and Cross' eyes widened.

Before any of them could skid to a stop, the sound of gunfire thundered across the plain and sand was thrown up at their feet. A row of runners at the front fell with agonised screams, their bodies crumpling to the floor and writing. Blood pooled around their legs, the bullets all having struck their marks at the lower half of their being.

A few people yelled and stumbled to a stop, panicked screams mixing in with gunfire as they scrabbled backwards and tried to escape.

"KEEP GOING!" The Leader yelled, having managed to evade all the bullets so far. Maybe it was because of the Naruto Running.

People were falling to the left and the right of them, but the bullets couldn't reach everyone. Within seconds they'd reached the barrier, Cross ducking under it hastily and throwing himself against the nearest building. He flattened himself against it as much as possible, the guns not being able to reach - or hopefully see - him.

His soul was thundering in his chest, his head pounding and light. Adrenaline was pumping through his body and his knees felt weak. It was as if he was a baby, learning for the first time how to walk again.

Around him he could see other surviving Naruto Runners presses up against the building's walls, their faces either hard with steely confidence or shaking with terror. They stayed motionless as the sound of gunfire finally stopped, their eyes fixated on the mess of bodies that littered the plain, their blood decorating the sandy soil and splattered across scrubs.

On the wall above him Cross could see a security camera swivelling about, its black lens scanning across the inner courtyard of the forbidden military base. It fixated on a group of five opposite them, the mechanics just coherent to the small skeleton as he tried desperately to stop his breathing from imitating a beached whale.

Across the walls he could see multiple cameras fixating in different people, the sleek black metal shining in the hot Nevada sunlight. But none of them seemed to have spotted him. Yet.

He felt his fingertips press back against the cold metal surface of what he was leant against. It being so cold that the phalanges started going numb.

But then the thing behind him shifted and he stumbled, stifling a yelp as whatever he'd been hiding against swung open suddenly. He hadn't picked wall; he'd picked a door.

He found himself roughly thrown against the actual wall, his hand slapping over his mouth to stop the cry of pain that resulted from the metal door crunching into his shoulder.

He bit it tightly and froze, watching as seven armed guards, all holding guns marched out into the court and immediately opened fire on the viable remaining Naruto Runners.

Screams and yells erupted once more and Cross shook, willing himself to melt into a puddle on the floor and disappear. From the corner of his vision he saw The Leader, blood streaming down his face from his forehead and staining his left cheek. He indicated frantically at the boy, pointing at the slowly closing door that the guards had got out from. The message was clear.

Go.

Cross shook his head rapidly, the Leader nodding in response and sending a panicked look at the guards that had now spotted him. He was their only chance. He couldn't. But he had to. If he didn't move now, all these deaths would have been a waste.

Mustering all the courage he possibly could, Cross held his breath and pushed off of the wall, skidding around the open door and grabbing onto the handle.

A shout signalled that he'd been spotted and he gasped, quickly lunging inside and slamming the door shut behind him just as the first volley of bullets were let loose. One hit him in the arm and he shrieked, dropping to the floor with the last chink of outside daylight was banished. Luckily enough the doors seemed to lock automatically, frantic and angered yells sounding from outside along with the slamming of fists against its surface.

Cross staggered to his feet and looked around him, a hand clutching his bleeding arm tightly. The hot blood soaked through his clothes and ran down his fingers, staining them with the red liquid and letting it drop down to the floor.

The corridor was dimly lit with red flashing lights, the colours dancing off of the walls and making his head spin more then it already was. Everything around him seemed to be made of metal except for the floor, which was stony and grey. The corridor looked as if it went on for several metres before dipping, the top of a handrail visibly attached to the right side of the wall. Stairs.

Still very conscious of the pounding outside the door, Cross started limping forwards. He wanted to make as much distance from himself and those guards as possible.

His feet dragged as he walked, toes scuffing against the floor and causing him to constantly stumble. He couldn't be bothered to look, but he was sure the dripping blood from his arm was leaving a trail, like a sickly version of Handsel and Gretel. Except it would lead the guards to him instead of guiding him out.

Upon reaching the stairs he took a moment to catch his breath, his soul still thundering so rapidly in his chest that he was sure his ribcage was bruised. He stood for thirty seconds before shakily lowering his foot onto the first step, the rest of his body soon following suit. Then he took the next one, inhaling shakily. This could take a while.

He eventually made it to the bottom of the steps after a few good minutes, his vision so blurry and weak from the blood loss in his arm that every step possessed the risk of stumbling and falling. And he feared if he fell, he wouldn't  be able to get back up.

Forcing himself onwards, he walked through countless winding corridors, constantly descending further and future until the walls, ceiling and stairs were all carved from stone. He felt like he was exploring an old mineshaft, the never ending branching paths reminding him of the school trip he'd went on - back when he was twelve - to his town's old abandoned coal mine that used to run way back in the day. They'd only got to explore half of it because it had collapsed all those years ago, over 60% of it being lost forever along with the lives of thousands of workers.

He remembered that his brother, Chara, had been dared to run into a no access blocked off area, and the idiot had actually done it, sending Cross into a panic and forcing him to go in after him. They both made out out dirty but fine, with a lot of reprimanding from their teachers and mine guides.

His shoulder brushed against the cold and uneven wall as he walked, his bones lightly scraping across its surface. Annoyingly the red lights were still flashing constantly above him, his brain aching horribly and making his movements sluggish. He was the last hope for the 'Area 51 Raid Resistance', and at this rate he wasn't even going to make it a mile in.

Padding down the empty hallways, his ears picked up the distant wail or alert sirens, the wavering wails only being another annoying thing to plague his overwhelmed brain. His movements felt sluggish and in calculated, his bloodied hand falling from the bullet wound and hanging limply by his side instead, the energy and adrenaline gone and replaced with numbing pain.

After twenty minutes of still no sign of guards, he came across the first crossroads with labelled signs bolted to the walls. Trudging over to them he stared, his eyes narrowed as they tried to read the fuzzy black lettering.

They read as followed:
Barracks
Armoury
ETH

Blinking softly he reached up and traced his finger under the three bold letters at the bottom, a frown forming on his face.

"ETH...?" His voice was raspy and soft, confused. What could that stand for? His alien phatic mind immediately assumed that ET stood for Extra Terrestrial, but he couldn't think of that the H could be. Homes? Housing? Horses? Hamburgers?

Despite not knowing fully, he still decided to take that route, not fancying the idea of stumbling into the barracks where lots of the soldiers were probably still waiting, or the armoury where only god knows what kind of horrible weapons could be waiting to incinerate him into dust and atoms.

He stumbled as quickly as possible down the ETH route, jitterish and nervous as he constantly glanced behind himself to check that no one had spotted him and was following. The feeling hadn't been so bad earlier. But now that he might actually be close to finding something, his anxiety had gone through the roof.

The base didn't seem to hold an ounce of sympathy for him though as he walked onwards, the corridor stretching out for another ten minutes with nothing but plain empty stone walls.

But then he reached a door. It branched off from the rest of the corridor and was solid steel, no windows or anything giving a clue of what was inside. A metal plaque was pinned to the wall beside it, a hazard sign standing out in bold yellow with the statement of "Dangerous inhabitants inside".

Grabbing hold of the handle, Cross tried to open it. Locked. Grumbling under his breath softly he turned and continued down the corridor until he got to the next door with a similar sign but with different numbers and codes beneath the warnings. He tried tried this door as well to no success, it also having been locked. Of course. I mean, they weren't just going to leave possible Alien stuff unlocked for anyone that waltzed in to look at. Not that you really could just waltz into Area 51.

He tried about seven more doors, each time his tugging on the handles getting a little more desperate and impatient. The image of being shot down by guards was engraved into his vision, his mind constantly playing over and over how painful and terrifying the situation would be. He hadn't really thought of it much until now, but, he really didn't want to die. He wanted to grow old and go through boring jobs, find a partner for life and have kids with them. Not die in a meaningless failure.

Slowing to a stop at the second to last door, he internally gave a quick prayer and curled his aching fingers around the handle, paying no attention to the many, many hazard warnings plastered all over the wall with words such as "aggressive", "dangerous" and "rouge". Because  why would he see important things like this?

He was already preparing to turn to the next door when he heard a click, his whole body going tense and rigid. His pupils slowly slid to the curved metal handle, watching as it slowly turned all the way and jolted, the door opening a crack.

It was unlocked. Cross stared in disbelief, his eyes wide and in shock. It was open, unlocked, unguarded. He could see no visible defences, and stupidly enough, no security cameras.

Hands shaking like a leaf, he pressed them against the door and pushed it open, stepping inside slowly. His soul felt like it was going into cardiac arrest, mind momentarily clearing and going sharp as he slid the door shut behind him.

The room was large, about 15 by 20 metres and a tall ceiling. In one corner white and blue tables lined the walls, half open cabinets stuffed full of all sorts of medical looking equipment he'd never seen before. Syringes, vials, bottles and surgical instruments stacked up on tables, bottles of disinfectants and wipes everywhere.

His pupils flickered over to the other side where an array of computers and complicated technology was fixated to walls, all the screens blaring red with the words "FACILITY BREACHED" displayed across every screen in flashing letters. Nests of wires trailed across the floor everywhere, held down crudely by yellow duct tape. Despite being one of the most advanced facilities in the world, they still couldn't think of a better way to cover their wires other than duct tape? Surely that was a trip hazard.

He slowly took a few steps forwards, feeling the crunch of glass beneath his worn shoes. Looking down he realised he'd stepped on a test tube, some sort of black goopy liquid spreading across the floor slowly and shining softly under the red lights.

Making sure his shoes didn't touch the liquid he skirted around it, his eyes fixated on all the different colourful vials of liquid stacked up on glass covered shelves. He would have loved to store some of those in his small backpack he carried, but they were locked, the key nowhere in sight. And he didn't exactly feel like breaking them open. They were locked for a reason, after all.

Fingers pressed against the glass he stared, particularly fascinated by the shining black one that looked similar to the one he'd shattered earlier. It had dark blue sheen to it, purple tints also making their way through. The label however must have been in some sort of code, because he couldn't decipher a word of what it said. It was no language he knew, that was for sure.

He glanced around a bit, momentarily forgetting where he even was. That was until of course, he heard something move behind him.

Whipping around he yelped, stumbling back into the wall and looking with frightened eyes at the section of the room he hadn't checked yet.

It was blocked off with thick glass, the panes looking at least ten times thicker than his triple glazing at home. It was reinforced with metal edges, a large iron door at one side with a fortified lock, key code and hand scanner present. Oh yes, whatever was in there was dangerous.

Biting his lip tightly, Cross pushed himself up on his toes and tried to see what was through it. Yet he was too far away to get a good enough look, so much to his own protest, he took a few tentative steps closer.

His soul was back to drumming in his skull, the sirens and flashing lights momentarily forgotten as he stepped until he was no more than two metres away from the glass.

Once again a sound came from inside, a flash of movement catching his eyes. He shivered deeply and swallowed, feeling like a lump of sandpaper was clogging it up.

Another step brought him closer and he nervously dug his nails into the palms of his hand, a twisting knot forming in his stomach.

And then something threw itself against the glass with a bang, it's body pressed up firmly against it and making the glass shudder.

Cross screamed, stumbling back and tripping over wires and trolleys, his weak knees giving in and sending him crashing to the ground. He panted and gasped, his pupils narrowed to terrified slits as he stared at the thing in front of him.

This. This was what they were hiding from us.

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So the raid didn't happen lmao I was so excited for that and now it's just a big disappointment

aND BECAUSE OF THAT--

I thought I'd write my own one uwu

Part two soon I guarantee lmao :D

This was longer than I thought it would be skudisjs as usual :'D
3,152 words let's g o g a m e r s

Oh well maybe there'll be another raid soon. And this time I'll go and make sure it'll happen! >:D

Oof whatever merry Christmas, happy Halloween, Spiffing Spring.

And proof reading? What even is that?

-Jess-