Author's note: Thanks for adding it to your reading list and  also for motivating me to continue with this story!

James:

What would you do if your brother was chasing you to kill you?

I was desperate ok so I used my speed to get us out of that hallway.

After I had opened the doors to go outside and assumed we had gotten a safe distance away, Maria started pelting me with her backpack.

"Ow. Why are you doing that? That hurts.", I commented.

"I hope it does! What did your brother mean by that?", she asked.

"By what?" At that time, I mistakenly thought ignoring the problem would make it go away.

"He knew my name and everything! What if he knows..."

"And if he does know? That's not important right now, what's essential is we..."

"Oh, Rush wants to hear this.", Rush said as he casually leaned against a brick wall.

I swore, and Maria was too terrified to berate me against cussing, so my brother just clapped.

"Did you really think you were going to get away from Rush that easily...hmm, what did you call Rush, let Rush think...brother of mine?", he inquired.

"I thought you only spoke in third person, but I heard you clearly state to her in first pov.", I commented, trying to throw him off his game. Maybe if I distracted him, we could survive this ordeal.

"Rush sees what you're doing-let Rush remind you that he was trained in assassin school and will not let his prey get the best of him. A target is a target as they say.", my crazy brother told us.

"Why would you have access to my mother's files?"

Maria's curiosity got the better of her because that question flew out and we were so close to executing my backup plan.

"Wouldn't you like to know?", Rush answered.

"That is...You cannot just answer a question with a question. Tell me, please.", she pleaded.

"Maria, I don't think you should listen to him...", I started to say before she hit me with a glare that chilled me to the bone.

"I will tell you then. It's the same reason that James was at the warehouse with you and our grandmother died. Someone at AoE wanted it to be so. Your mother happened to be someone's target.", he revealed.

"You're lying!", she shouted.

"I'm afraid that out of the two of us, James has always been the liar.", he replied.

He added, "Apparently, your mother was shipped off to her stalker from high school in return for a chance of breaking your father-one of the most annoying gnats to mess with AoE."

"But my father only does military field operations, he's not..."

"Guess my brother isn't the only one good at lying. Even I've heard of the Chameleon, of the supers who have single-handedly dismantled a ton of AoE operations around the world."

"So my life's been just a game to them?"

Rush shrugged his shoulders back. "You're not the first or the last. I can relate; you think assassin school is what I would have chosen to go into as a kid? No way."

"Your brother seems sympathetic.", Maria whispered to me.

"Wait for it.", I responded.

"As my brother has been the direct/indirect cause of all my woes though, he shall pay for it with his life.", Rush declared.

"I see it now. He's lost his crackers, hasn't he?", she muttered under her breath.

Unfortunately for her, Rush can read lips. Don't ask me where he learned it from.

"Call me crazy all you like, but when James's gone, I'll be the heir to AoE and things will finally go my way. No one will be able to control me anymore or say that I'm a disappointment compared to my younger brother.", he spit out.

I swallowed and breathed in slowly simultaneously trying to come up with a new plan to save us from my demented brother.

"You know what? Let's play a game. As I feel Maria and I share similarities, I shall spare her if James, my brother", he coughed, "can answer three questions correctly. Hear that James? She doesn't have to die with you."

"Fine. Let's play.", I responded.

"First question: What's the motivation behind the main antagonist of Shakespeare's Tempest?"

"Oo. I know this!", Maria called out.

"I don't know.", I retorted.

"Wrong answer. The motivation for the main antagonist is to have revenge of his brother for taking the throne that is rightfully his...by birth.", he emphasized.

"Next question: What is the most famous saying wrongly attributed to Niccolò Machiavelli?"

"Please let me answer. He doesn't know.", Maria said.

"Failed again. It's the ends justify the means. Last question: What is the song that the Phantom of the Opera sings in the musical adaptation of the classic French novel when he declares his love for her and then kidnaps her before a crowd to take Christine to his lair?"

"James, if you don't get this...", she stopped before ending her sentence, scared of what would happen next.

"Can it be 3 out of 5?", I squeaked out.

"Point of no return!", my brother sang at the top of his lungs.

"Wow, if I did not know what your brother does on a regular basis, I would really be impressed.", Maria stated.

"Thanks. You're so kind. Now, to quote Iñigo Montoya, 'Prepare to die'.", he laughed and strutted towards us.

"James, remember Jack and Jill?", Maria cried.

"What?", I said back as I watched my brother get ever closer to our location.

"Jack and Jill? The nursery rhyme?", she yelled.

"Oh right.", I recalled what she meant and grabbed her by the waist only to dash down the hill we had just been on and drop her by a bush to hide in.

"You can't leave me here", she murmured quietly.

"It's me my brother wants. Face it-your father would have a fit if you got hurt because of me. Let me take care of him. I'll tell you when the coast is clear, alright?"

"You promise?"

"I swear that I'll be back.", I crossed my fingers behind my back because if I were to confess the truth at that moment, I would never leave.

My time was up.

Author's note: I'm back peeps! World Gone Mad's saga is almost at an end and I hope that the startling conclusion will leave you hyped to read more of GEAR Universe stories!