Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 30: How Broken He Is

Casey stares down the road, his mouth hanging open in shock and his eyes wide. Part of him doesn't want to believe that he just saw what he did, but he just can't deny it. Beast Mode got Zilla.

He stumbles forwards, instantly wincing again as his aching body screams at him to stop moving. He slumps against the nearest brick wall, little throbbing flares of heat scrambling all over his legs and torso. All of his friends told him to go home and stay put, especially the girls, but with this new revelation, he just can't. He can't make himself go home and rest knowing that his best friend has been taken by the enemy.

He doesn't know what makes her so scared of the Necromancer, but he doesn't need that information right now. He knows enough; she's scared, she's weakened, and Casey Jones is going to save her.

"Hold tight, Shadow. I'm coming," he whispers.

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Zilla gasps sharply as she snaps back to reality, her bright eyes staring upwards at a glassy ceiling. She rolls over and comes to rest on her stomach, instantly recognizing the place she's trapped in. She's in a glass sphere, every opening sealed and a shadowy aura surrounding it so as to hinder escape for the shadow mutant. She touches the glass, finding that her hand doesn't pass through it.

The Necromancer stands outside the cage, his pale green eyes turned away from his captive and instead focusing on his desk. Beast Mode lays curled up at his feet, her whiskers twitching as she watches her master.

"Don't worry, Nala," he murmurs, looking down at the lioness.

"I can't help it," Zilla hears in the cat's mind. "You said it yourself. If we don't get a dosage every now and then, we slowly lose ourselves until we're just mindless husks. Do you want that to happen?"

"I will make more of the mutagen now that we have the shadow girl," he continues, obviously not hearing his pet's thoughts. "Louisa is my first priority. I will give you your dosage once she's back."

A disgruntled huff sounds from Beast Mode. "And if it doesn't work? You'll just let me suffer?"

Wallace doesn't answer, reaching towards his desk and picking up a picture of a woman and a little girl. The woman is smiling, her blonde hair curled perfectly and her blue eyes shimmering. The little girl has almost the exact same smile, her green eyes holding the same sort of light as her mother's and her short blonde hair in little pigtails. His eyes flood with sorrow, his mouth twisting downwards as he sets the picture down and turns away.

"I stopped you before," Zilla calls, getting up and pressing her hands against the glass. "I'll do it again."

He laughs, the sound almost as cold as the winter air outside. "You thought you were so clever back then, hm? Destroying my mutagen supply, destroying the animals I had been saving for so many years...you thought that would stop me. Pathetic."

She clenches her hands into fists, cursing her cage silently. "You were and are insane. Someone had to stop you."

He strides closer to the cage, glaring at the girl. "Aw, so you became the reluctant hero? Nice try."

"I've seen people try to mutate a city before. It doesn't work," Zilla insists. "And I certainly don't see why you need me. Beast...uh...Nala told me that I'm a vital component to your plan now? I doubt it. I'm useless. You got what you needed from me before."