The Legacy Theory | #OnceUponNow

Five

 Quinn was a sucker for goodbyes and couldn't really help but look at Minotaur X one last time before they packed their bags and escaped. Perhaps that was what caused their entire plan to come crashing down, but it looks like that remains a mystery. He really did regret not being able to convince Brooklyn to not inject that serum. With the human genes in its genetic makeup, the minotaur stood at an intimidating six feet and probably was able to crash through several walls if it really wanted to.

"Well, looks like this is goodbye," he told the cow through the glass, looking it straight in the eye as a symbol of respect — little did he know doing so could have provoked it. "You were a great test subject until you became... this."

The young man soon turned his back on what used to be his pride and joy — he honestly could no longer look at it without thinking how gullible he had been to get wrapped up in such an organization. Brooklyn secretly felt the same, although he felt more guilt on his part. "Let's get going."

"I suppose we should go," Brooklyn replied evenly, hoisting his backpack over his shoulder, gesturing to the other to do the same. Their faces were smeared with charcoal and their clothing was dark and baggy — suspicious, but it would aid in their escape in the dark.

There was no one in the area as far as they knew, and besides, it was a Saturday night and surely the majority of the staff was either out or already sleeping. The clock in the corner ticked, causing the two to look up. Ten-thirty. They would have time.

Their plan was simple (Brooklyn always preached how incredibly important simplicity was), so simple that they should have been able to pull it off without any problems. However, everything that could have gone wrong seemed to go wrong that night, though they did their best to convince themselves that everything was going along smoothly. They would cause panic by hacking into the security system and turning off the electricity, then crawl their way through the vents in their rooms until they reached another series of tunnels that would take them to the sewers. It was agonizing work to crawl around, but it would have to do — besides, it was the best that they could do when they only had three days to set it all up.

"There go the lights," the younger said cheerfully as he got rid of the electricity. The only light available was the weak light their phones gave off, and they knew all too well that they would have to be off sooner or later.

"Ladies first," Quinn told Brooklyn, gesturing to the vent, which looked all too scary given the time of day — or perhaps a better word would be the night.

He snorted, shaking his head in disdain. "I could say the same about you. But sure, I guess I'll go first since wittle Quinn is so scared."

And with that, he heaved his bag into the vent, then climbing in himself as quietly as he could manage. It was a tight squeeze, so tight that anyone with the smallest bit of claustrophobia would have been completely at lost. He was on his knees and elbows, pausing every so often to recall the map that they had branded into their minds, then looking behind to see if Quinn had followed. The metal was cold, almost biting into his skin — it also made a rather loud ringing noise whenever one of them moved their foot or hand too hastily.

Quinn was a good five feet or so behind Brooklyn's heel, and he was more skittish when it came to any little noise that was made. He stopped about five times by the time they had reached the manhole that lead to the sewers — just a little bit more and they'd be out of the building's vicinity. Here, they were out in the open, and they could be caught whenever. Being underground merited more invisibility and it would be more difficult to track them.

"Hurry up, I think the lights should go back on soon, and that's the last thing we want," Brooklyn told the other bossily, heaving up the metal disc that would lead to their freedom. His brows scrunched together in concentration, his arms shaking from the sheer force that he held up.

Quinn grasped the ladder so tightly that his knuckles turned a pearly white, shooting a thumbs up above after he had done a scan of the area — it was safe as of then. "It's clear," he hissed, his voice traveling up the little manhole.

He nodded in reply, pulling the cover down as he too made his way down the slick ladders that had long since became rusted. Brooklyn brushed off the dirt that had gotten on his jacket, though he wouldn't have needed to — the dirt would disguise him more, but he always was a neat freak. "If we wade through this, we should be home free if we keep up a good pace," he decided with a confident, almost arrogant nod.

"We should have brought boots," Quinn muttered to himself, wringing his hands together before carefully placing a foot in the murky water. After a second, he shuddered and was half ready to "This is disgusting."

"It gets shallow sometimes," he offered to the elder, who seemed to be incredibly revolted at the thought of walking in who knows what — Brooklyn himself hated the idea himself, but it was beneath him to admit it. "You can try scaling the walls if it takes your fancy."

His sarcasm was not unmissed by Quinn, who snorted loudly and did a spot-on imitation of Spiderman and his web powers. "Would you like me to start fighting evil while I'm at it?"

Brooklyn was about to reply before splashes behind them caused them to scramble back, eyes flashing. Both of them would have given anything to be dreaming because their minds simply could not comprehend what was happening before them. His breathing grew shallow, the other's face void of anything but utter fear. It couldn't be happening, he figured — they would be alright and the Legacy Theory would play out as Brooklyn had originally planned from the very beginning. How they had been snuck up upon, they couldn't even begin to process, as all they could think of at the moment was one thing:

They had been found.