Shadow Taking Over

19- U.C.A

Good news was that Senka knew exactly where they were going to get to Ace. The bad news was that Ace was amongst the crowd of guarded civilians. So, Senka dropped Eve off a couple of blocks away in an alley between two sets of stores. She promptly hid behind a dumpster. Then, Senka zipped away to fetch Ace. They slithered onto his ankle and abruptly bit down hard with translucent fangs. Ace jolted upright, searching for the source of the sudden infliction. The shadow on the concrete at his feet morphed into an arrow and then the shape of a female. He nodded at the ground in understanding.

He carefully slipped through the cracks of the crowd until he reached the outer rim. The only thing that stood between him and Eve was a tightly knit wall of men with guns and shields. Ace peeked over their shoulders and saw Senka rise up in question as to why he had stopped. The shadow regarded the men with a theatric head droop. Two tiny black blobs of shadow crawled into Ace's ears. They solidified to completely mute the outside world. He hurried to the edge of the crowd and held his ground against a shop wall.

With a mimicked inhale, Senka released a banshee-esque wail. All heads whipped in the direction of the sound, followed by slapping hands over ears. The crowd spotted the dark creature. In a flurry of fear, they fled the scene. Their screams were deafened by the wailing shadow. Ace clung to the wall to avoid getting trampled by the stampede. The riot shield wall became permeable as several of the men abandoned their post to flee. Remaining cops went for their side arms. Senka momentarily silenced. They blinked hard, floating forward a few paces. Then, the wail continued at an even higher pitch. Glass shattered nearby. The blast of sound shook their bodies. Shakily, the officers dropped their weapons.

Meanwhile, Ace witnessed this whole display in silence. He slapped the look of awe from his face and made his way speedily to where he assumed Eve to be. He passed a number blocks until a hand reached out and snatched his arm. He was dragged sideways into the alley. It was Eve. She immediately released him and scurried back out of the street sight. Ace followed.

"You left me out there," Eve bit out bitterly.

He checked over his shoulder. "The police rushed in soon after we entered the plaza. I don't know how you missed it. You were right there."

"I blacked out," she admitted reluctantly.

Ace continued on. He stared with a distant look as he spoke his thoughts aloud. "The police were already in the vicinity. They were waiting for us, mostly you, to arrive. Now, what I'm wondering is how they knew that you would be here. I imagined we could blend into the crowds to avoid detection."

Eve huffed, "Considering my face is making news, I'm not surprised."

"No," Ace paused, dragging his hand down his jaw. The answer hit him hard. "Someone tipped them off."

Senka made a sudden appearance by sliding sideways into the alley. They skidded on makeshift claws, for they had taken the shape of a cat. Once in the clear, Senka darted through Ace's legs and retreated onto the skin of Eve's wrist. Eve cupped her hand over the spot gently. Her lips came together into a small smile. Ace cleared his throat. He raised a crumbled note to her. Ink scribbled an address across it.

"This is where we need to go. It's along the street from here, four shops down. We should hurry before the streets fill again."

Their next destination was a mall, half outdoor with the entrance wall-less. There were two noticeable floors with escalators leading to other boutiques. Eve followed Ace behind the escalator where there was an employee service door. It was sealed shut and only accessible by a key card swipe. Thankfully for them, Ace was given the key card needed. He swiped the card. After two electronic beeps, the door gave way. Motion sensitive lights flickered to reveal a small corridor leading to an elevator that also required the key card. Once inside, Ace pressed the button labeled by a negative seven. The elevator was very compact. It left little wiggle room.

The air was musty which made it even harder to breathe. Eve felt her heat turn up several notches as she backed up. Her hands gripped the waist high bar along the wall. Ace, who was leaning on the same bar, jolted upright as the metal  . He eyed Eve in alarm. He approached her swiftly and took her sleeve covered arms into his grasp to gently shake her out of this freaked out state.

"Hey, hey. Cool down. What's going on?"

Eve inhaled a tiny, sharp breath. "I don't like small spaces."

That sounded odd to him. To hear that someone as frightening as her feared something as common as constricted environments was almost laughable. Her expression was not. Ace frowned in sympathy and held her arm tighter.
"Just take a breath. We are almost there."

She swallowed the knot in her throat and nodded.

Finally, the elevator doors opened to their floor. But they weren't alone. There were two fully armored individuals with assault rifles sighted at the elevator as soon as it opened. Their uniforms were heavy duty, all black with no skin revealed and the letters U.C.A scribed across the chest. It was similar in style to the SWAT uniform. They barked unidentified trespassers, 'Hands in the air!' Eve and Ace complied wordlessly, Eve more frightened than Ace. Her hand was slick with metallic liquid. She glanced to the dripping substance worriedly.

A less covered man, only sporting a lab coat and causal business attire, was situated beside the armored guards. He read off of a clipboard while muttering quietly to himself.

"Identify yourselves," a feminine voice spoke from the first personnel.

"My name is Ace. I was sent here by Lance to evaluate the progress of this establishment. Routine check," he spoke coolly into the iron sight. His slight glare dared the officer to shoot him. "And I think you should put down your weapons. Now."

The other armored individual waited for confirmation from the scientist. He nodded to assure them that Ace was cleared. They shifted their sights onto Eve.

"And who is this?" the second officer asked.

Just as Eve was about to answer, Ace cut her off, "This is my counterpart. You will be filling her in on the current projects' status while I do my own assessment."

The female guard shook her head. "Negative. You must have an escort with you at all times."

Ace chuckled lightly, "I can handle myself, but thanks for the offer."

The male guard spoke next, "That wasn't an offer. You have not been given full clearance."

"Well then, why don't I take your partner along with me while you and the lab coat give my assistant a tour around your facility?"

All three workers exchanged looks before agreeing. They breached their defensive wall to allow Ace and Eve passage into the hall. Ace took the lead with Eve close behind. Before the others could follow, he asked for a moment alone with Eve. Reluctantly, they agreed and backed off to give them some space.

"Ace, what are we doing here?" she whispered while eyeing the guards.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and pretended to laugh pleasantly. This confused Eve at first, but she realized that the Lab Coat was eavesdropping. She nodded and mimicked his laughter.

"Lance wants me to check up on some things," more quietly, he added. "But he doesn't know what I will be looking into. I'll explain my findings later after I ditch the Armor. I need you to keep up an act and find out everything you can on what this place is. Can you do that?"

Eve smiled with her fangs. She spoke up so the others could hear. "You've got it, Sir. I'll see what I can find."