Heroes

[steven]

"No need to apologize," William joked cheekily before he began waking down the corridor. As he walked, a thought crossed his mind. "Anyone else here thinking this escape is a little too easy. I mean we should be being shot at by mercenaries or someone. Yet it looks like we can simply roam freely through the corridors."

[Writer]

((Joint post with SM))

 

 

"Should be deep enough," Kevin affirmed. "Hell, even standing right here is almost enough." As an afterthought, he added, "But getting in would make it easier..."

 

"OK, as I said, we should be fine getting in," Jason restated. "Come on."

 

Jason and Kevin began to walk towards the main entrance and pass a small courtyard with a statue the shade of a strand of DNA with three helixes. The two men entered the main lobby area and, like Jason suspected, they went through the security checkpoints without any problems. Soon they were both in Jason's lab.

 

"Ok! Do your thing."

 

Kevin closed his eyes for a moment. Then, Jason's computer monitor began flashing with various screens, showing what Kevin was getting into.

 

"Admin passwords are a bore to crack," he told Jason, inputting three passwords before one of them worked. Once into the system on an administrative level, there wasn't a thing Kevin couldn't access. A faint smirk traced his lips.

 

"Ah, so our little Ms. Caldwell was telling the truth," he observed. "Got into deeper trouble than she expected. They offered her answers, and while they helped her get her powers under control, they also got her under their thumb. Hold on... what's this?"

 

"You enjoy being vague don't you?" Jason stated.

 

"Haven't you heard?" Kevin teased. "The minds behind technology keep things impossible for the average human being to understand by speaking vaguely."

 

He brought up a program on Jason's monitor. "They're using this to track her... by her cell phone. I'll bet they've got a mic on that thing somewhere... Oh! Yes they do!" He chuckled. "Amazing, the tech they've got in place to keep her in line..."

 

"Look we don't want to be here too long, find what we came for." The scientist began to grow impatient.

 

"Don't rush a technological mastermind in his element," Kevin chuckled. "That's like taking candy from a child... oh! That's rude... call your friends and tell them to chuck Lara's phone out the window, will you? They've just deleted all records of her US Citizenship and given the police her cell's GPS chip."

 

He grinned. "Now, we come down to it..." With an astonished shake of his head, he went on, "Now we're getting somewhere. Levels to the building that don't exist. Lower levels. Ooh, got a security alert down there too..."

 

"What do you mean security alert?" Jason asked grabbing phone from his pocket.

 

Kevin's eyes widened just a little. "They've been... no... yes! They've been keeping specials as captives, running tests on them... and it seems the specials have finally gotten tired of it." He laughed. "Escaping!"

 

"Any chance it's the four on my list?" Dr. Hawk asked.

 

"Let's see," Kevin murmured. "Malin, Jaydon, William, Peter... yup, that's them."

 

"Change of plan, we need to help them." Jason decided. "Any chance you can find us away down there?"

 

"Any chance I can't?" Kevin shot back, grinning ear to ear. "I can also set this up to... hold on... got it!" On the display in front of him, it indicated that the greater majority of power on the level of the escape had been shut off... including the security alarm.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

Down below, where the escapees were still trying to find their way out, the lights went very dim, and a speaker crackled to life.

 

"Ahoy, escapees!" a voice exclaimed. "Not to fear! Rescue has come... though it seems you've been doing quite an admirable job of escape on your own. My name is Kevin Waters, and with me is Dr. Jason Hawk. We're a great many levels above you, but we're making our way down to help you in any way we can. Until we meet up, I'll brighten the lights in the direction that's safest for you to travel."

 

There was a pause, and then, the lights in the corridor came up, leading away from their position.

 

"It has just occurred to me that you have no reason to trust me," Kevin's voice came back over the speaker, sounding rather deflated in comparison to his rousing introductory speech. "I... umm... ugh... Jason, what do I tell them?"

 

The speaker fell silent.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

"Jason, what do I tell them?" Kevin wondered up in the lab. But Jason was on his phone, warning Byron to get rid of Lara's phone...

[Corinthian]

The glass shuddered, a thin hairline crack running through it. Jacob stepped back and rubbed his shoulder. He'd been pounding on it for the past several minutes, and although he was making progress, it was slow.

 

"Attention, escapees!"

 

He jumped, then turned around and glared at the speakers mounted on the ceiling. The voice went on to talk about helping them out, and then went silent, mumbling about trust issues. He rolled his eyes. Jacob wasn't in any position to complain about people springing him, trustworthy or no. Still, it might be a while. He stepped back a few feet and went into another charge, smashing into the glass shoulder-first, the thin hairline expanding into a small spiderweb.

 

A few more hits should do it...

[Master_Archon]

((Sorry Corinthian, decided to give your character's shoulder a rest, that glass can be a killer after all. . If you'd have rather done it on your own, then just say the word and a quick edit and a friendly smile will do the trick. ))

 

As Jaydon was looking around, he suddenly froze in place as the lights dimmed.

 

'Crud!' He thought, lifting his carapace-like arm up in a defensive posture. But instead, he was greeted by a voice on the speakers.

 

"Ahoy, escapees!" a voice exclaimed. "Not to fear! Rescue has come... though it seems you've been doing quite an admirable job of escape on your own. My name is Kevin Waters, and with me is Dr. Jason Hawk. We're a great many levels above you, but we're making our way down to help you in any way we can. Until we meet up, I'll brighten the lights in the direction that's safest for you to travel."

 

Jaydon snorted in laughter, and turned to look at Malin and William with a crooked smile.

 

Suddenly the lights in the hall came up, leading away from their position, in the opposite direction that Malin had indicated with the Exit sign.

 

"It has just occurred to me that you have no reason to trust me," the person's voice came back over the speaker, sounding rather deflated in comparison to his rousing introductory speech. "I... umm... ugh... Jason, what do I tell them?"

 

"Anything that gets me out of here, and back to food, and my sis is welcome," Jaydon said aloud. Not waiting for his companions, Jaydon started following the light display, but as he passed the opening in the wall where they had come from, Jaydon noticed something that hadn't been there before, with his lazy, yet perceptive eyes.

 

"You see that?" He asked the two, pointing to what appeared to be a portion of the wall, that was cracked, or more precisely, cracking. Not only that, it was bulging slightly (one sided glass is plexiglass - [or a similar type] - after all, partially plastic, and not easy to break. Not saying it's impossible though. ), as if it were collapsing from the inside.

 

Jaydon entered the testing room once more, though, rather reluctantly. He approached the wall, only to have a sudden thud come from behind it, the wall itself bulging a tiny bit more, and the wall cracking in an almost spiderweb fashion, like a slat of glass.

 

"Is that...? 'Cop Glass?'" As Jaydon called it, looking at the wall, and then shrugging, he raised his bone covered arm, the sharp bone blade at the forefront; with a simple pivoting kind of motion, Jaydon plunged, not only the blade, but almost half of his arm into the wall. Pulling back, Jaydon peeked into the room on the other side, catching sight of a man, he pulled his head back and began hacking at the semi-plastic glass, until he had a reasonably sized hole.

 

Jaydon gave the man a comical smile, and said with false cheer, "Well Hi there! Have you come to try and kill us like the others, or are you looking for the bathroom?"

[Corinthian]

(Thank you, MA. Memory based powers aren't very speedy on the breaking out area.)

 

Jacob was rearing back for another bash when a massive, off-white blade tore through. In retrospect, he should have seen it coming, but between the spiderweb of cracks disturbing the image and his focus on cracking through the wall, he was a little distracted.

 

"Holy...!"

 

He took a step back as the bone blade carved a hole through the glass.

 

"Well, Hi there! Have you come to try and kill us like the others, or are you looking for the bathroom?"

 

Jacob smirked. "Well, I was looking for the bathroom, but then I got injected and gassed and found myself down here. I don't suppose you could make me a path towards the next one."

[Rogue Nine]

"I'll put in a call to the precinct and let him know you're safe," Cass said to Elisa. "In the meantime, you two stay here. I've got to pick someone up and check on Professor Hawk again to make sure he's all right." He looked directly at Milly. "Don't let anyone into the apartment. That includes ordering out for pizza or whatever. We've got plenty of food in the fridge, so you girls make yourselves at home for now."

 

Cass grabbed his keys off the table and made his way for the door.

[JasraLantill]

"What?" Milly protested. "You're just going to leave us here alone? What if someone like those guys show up here looking for Elisa again? Officer Tommy What's-His-Name is bound to have been asking around at the coffee shop for her by now. And the regulars know who I am, and they saw her sitting with me, and they know you're a cop, and they know approximately where I live. If someone was looking for her, it wouldn't take them too long to figure out where to start. And this place would be pretty much on the top of their list."

 

She stood up a bit straighter. "Cass, I think we should come with you," she stated definitively. "Let Tommy know that we're with you, and tell him that you'll drop off Elisa at her house when you're finished your shift." She cast a quick glance at her friend. "I promise, we'll stay out of your way. It's not a problem."

[Master_Archon]

"Well, I was looking for the bathroom, but then I got injected and gassed and found myself down here. I don't suppose you could make me a path towards the next one."

 

Jaydon stared blankly at the man for a while, but upon noticing he was honest, and hadn't tryed to kill him within the last couple minutes, he decided to trust him.

 

"Well, not sure where the bathroom is at the moment, but I do know a way out of this place. That good enough for you?" Jaydon asked, but didn't wait for an answer as he hacked at the glass some more, making the hole big enough for the guy to fit through. After he was finished, Jaydon turned and started walking out of the testing room again.

 

"Follow the lights. Oh, and for a quick introduction, this is Malin, and that's William, don't call him Will; I'm Jaydon," he said over his shoulder to the guy as he stepped through the hole in the wall back into the hallway where his fellow test subjects still waited for him.

[Corinthian]

Peter grabbed either sides of the hole and brought his legs up, sliding through. "Yeah, thanks, getting out will do. I'm Peter Walker." He glanced around, trying to avoid the question pounding through his mind - What the hell?

 

He had never really read comic books as a kid, but he hadn't been born in a cave in South America, either. And this was something straight out of a particularly bad episode of one of the various Animated Series. Bone-Man, Skin-Woman, and Lightning-Lad. And then him.

 

"I, uh, don't suppose any of you have a gun on hand. I'm not half bad with my fists, but I can't exactly do, uh, what you do." He wasn't that uncomfortable with them - they were friendly enough and had beaten the hell out of the Juggernaut and his freaky friend back there, but being around people capable of making giant bone swords and turning their skin into metal was a little odd.

[Rogue Nine]

Cass grimaced. Milly's logic was hard to refute. He didn't particularly relish the idea of dragging his sister and her friend along on police business, but he also didn't particularly relish the idea of leaving the both of them to whoever had tried to kill Elisa earlier. "All right, all right, let's get moving," he conceded. "I'll radio into the precinct and let Officer Tommy know what's going on."

 

*****

 

Shifting the SUV into park, Cass glanced over at Milly in the passenger seat, then towards the back seat where Elisa sat. "I don't suppose you gals will want to stay in the car, huh?" At their identical looks, he chuckled mirthlessly. "I didn't think so. Stay close to me and let me do the talking."

 

They exited the car and proceeded towards the apartment building. Cass had gotten the address of this 'Alexander Stanfield' from Esmé and had driven out to it. It was out of the way, but he'd managed to find it without much fuss. The question was if this person that Dr. Hawk had sent him to would come with him. They ascended the stairs and stopped outside the apartment number indicated by Esmé. Making sure both his female charges were behind him, he rapped on the door smartly. "Mr. Stanfield?" he called out. "This is Detective Cheveyo of the Seattle Police."

[Jason Skywalker]

"Mr. Stanfield?" he called out. "This is Detective Cheveyo of the Seattle Police."

 

Uh, what? Alex was suddenly woken up by a knock on the door, followed by a voice.

 

"Um, just a minute please!" He told them, putting on some decent clothes and quickly cleaning. He then went to the door and opened it.

 

"Good afternoon, Detective Cheveyo," He said politely, then spying the two girls behind him, "ladies. Please come on in."

 

He then stepped out of their front, "Would you like something to drink?"

[Quist]

"I don't have a gun..." Malin started, reaching through the hole she had made, "...but can you make do with this?" She pulled her hand back, a shard of titanium clutched in her grip. It was pointed at one end and could probably be used as a crude sort of knife and she remarked as much to Peter. "It'll be better than nothing at this point," she reasoned with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

 

Peering down the lit hallway, she took a few tentative steps forward. "We'd better get moving, guys," she said to her companions. "I don't think our captors are going to let us just waltz out of here, so we better follow what this 'Kevin' person is telling us."

[Rogue Nine]

"No time for pleasantries, Mr. Stanfield," Cass responded as he pocketed his badge. "I'll need you to come with me for the time being. At Alexander's confused look, he amended, "Don't worry, you're not under arrest or anything, it's just that I need to take you down to the precinct to ask you some questions."

[Corinthian]

"Uh...yeah." He grabbed the crude knife gingerly. On a thought, he tore a chunk out of his shirt and wrapped it around the 'grip' of it.

 

"I don't suppose any of you know where we are, although I suppose at least you can figure out some degree of why." He gestured at the wall. "I'm not used to getting attacked by burly men who apparently don't die when they're shot. Anyway, you've got point."

[Jason Skywalker]

"No time for pleasantries, Mr. Stanfield, i'll need you to come with me for the time being."

 

'Why does he need me to come with him? I haven't done anything wrong...,'Alex thought. Suddenly, he was getting scared.

 

"Don't worry, you're not under arrest or anything, it's just that I need to take you down to the precinct to ask you some questions."

 

Were one to look inside Alex, an inner version of him on his mind could be seen breathing a relieved breath, "Alright then, sounds fair i guess. Mind telling me what's so important we need to discuss it at the station?"

[Rogue Nine]

Cass arched an eyebrow at Alex. "Yes, I do mind," he responded. "Which is why we need to discuss it at the station, so hurry up, please." He turned to Elisa and Milly and gestured towards the door. "We will wait for you outside the door, Mr. Stanfield, so please be prompt."

 

*****

 

A few minutes later, the four of them were in the SUV, Cass driving with Alex sitting next to him in the passenger seat, the two girls in the back. Pulling out his cell phone, he hit Esmé's speed dial. "Yeah Es, we're coming back to the station. I have all four of them. Keep trying to track down Dr. Hawk. Thanks, bye."

 

As he pocketed his phone, he noticed the young man staring back at Elisa and Milly every so often. Cass sighed quietly and pressed the pedal further to the ground, accelerating the SUV even faster. The day was getting weirder and weirder by the second and he just hoped that Jason Hawk had some concrete answers waiting for him at the station.

[stingerhs]

As Elisa was riding in the back of the SUV, she suddenly felt her cellphone vibrating in her pocket. Struggling to pull it out of her fairly tight jeans, she managed to get it out, and she answered it, "Hello?"

 

"Elisa? Are you alright? The police just told me that something happened earlier. What happened?" her father answered.

 

"I'm fine pappy. I'm with a police detective right now. I'll be home soon," Elisa replied as she sighed slightly in relief. "We on our way to the precinct. I'll meet Tommy there and get a ride home."

 

"Alright baby. Next time give me a call as soon as possible, ok?" he replied. "Will you be home in a couple of hours?"

 

"Probably. Is momma making something for us?"

 

"She was planning on it; I'm sure she'll get to it in quickly. I love you baby. I'll see you when you get here."

 

"I love you, too. Bye," Elisa replied as she hung up the phone. Looking over at Milly, Elisa caught a small reassuring smile from her. Looking forward, she noticed that they were getting close.

[Master_Archon]

"We'd better get moving, guys," Malin suddenly spoke up. "I don't think our captors are going to let us just waltz out of here, so we better follow what this 'Kevin' person is telling us."

 

"I agree," Jaydon said looking down the hallway, the lights glowing like an eerie, mysterious pathway.

 

"I don't suppose any of you know where we are, although I suppose at least you can figure out some degree of why." Peter gestured at the wall. "I'm not used to getting attacked by burly men who apparently don't die when they're shot. Anyway, you've got point."

 

"I have no clue where we are, but I have a general idea why. One, is because we're genetically different than most people, which creates many big reasons for us being taken: Super Soldiers, Perfect Assassins, Serums that could be made and sold to the highest bidder to give them 'Super Powers,' there's a lot of different things. From what I could gather they were studying us, like lab rats. They certainly treated us like them," Jaydon said in response to Peter's question.

 

Jaydon moved forward, politely pushig past Malin. "I'll take point, you should stay in the center, you look beat," Jaydon said to her as he passed her. "William! You should cover the rear since you seem to have distance abilities, and are probably the least drained out of all of us," Jaydon called back to William.

 

"Now we should follow the lights I guess," Jaydon said with a shrug, at his companions, moving forward down the hallway.

 

'I hope this Kevin is on our side, or at the least, leading us in the right direction,' Jaydon thought to himself with a worried frown.