City Of Shadows

Chapter Five: Arch's Story

Silence covered the air like a thick blanket. My head was pounding and racing with questions. Where were we? What was going to happen? Would we ever see Mobius again? Were we going to…die?

     I could see vaguely through the clear jelly-like liquid which kept me suspended in animation. Oh no. We were back in Anti-G.U.N.'s laboratory. I felt my heart pounding, feeling as if it were going to end up in my throat. My breathing was heavy. It was a nightmare unfolding before my dark brown eyes.

    I hated this place. They used us like lab rats and injected chemicals into us Mobians, often turning us into monsters. Some chemicals were even deadly. They would slowly inject the chemical into our skin, the needle causing blood to bead up from where it was pierced into us. My skin still stung from where I was injected with a chemical that turned me from human and into a hedgehog Mobian. This place was unjust….cruel and unfair to us. It was just like a game played in the scientist's favor. We could never ever win here.

    I studied the room around me. Twi was across from me, her eyes closed. Alexis was to her left and Starlight to her right. Cameron was on my left while Bse was on my right. The room's only light was the control panel east of me. It had switches which controlled the capsules release, jell-level, oxygen capacity, and opening. If I could just break the glass…..I could access the panel and set them all free…..we could escape and return home. I pressed my hands against the glass, being slowed down by having to fight against the jelly-fluid. I used my hands and feet to push the glass door off. Sure as I am alive, the door fell off after a while. I caught myself with my hands, the jelly-fluid spilling across the floor. I rushed to the control panel, typing in the pass code from last time and pulled the release lever.

    However, It only released the boy's side. Bse gagged, some of the jelly-fluid in his mouth. Cameron wiped the jelly-fluid off his face, flicking it off onto the floor. “Gross. That stuff is just gross,” he growled. Bse stood up, pressing his hands against Starlight's capsule glass. Cameron walked over to my side, studying the panel. “No release on the girls?” he asked. “Nope. Think there is a different passcode for them,” I sighed.

    Bse growled, punching the glass, trying to break it. “Let her go, d*--it!” he shouted. I merely watched with Cameron as he attempted to bust the glass screen. He hissed, not able to break the glass. “I swear if you don't let her go-,” he hissed, hitting the tube with a round kick. The side cracked, but not enough for her to slip through. However, it allowed for some of the liquid to leak through. He smirked, kicking the crack again. It busted the side out, Starlight falling out with her eyes still closed. He caught her. Starlight's body was limp, showing she was still unconscious. He bit his lip, worried she was wounded. “Star…? You okay….?” he questioned. Silence was his reply. He checked her wrist for a pulse, knowing, unlike his body, her heart would send a pulse through her. He sighed in relief. “She's okay,” he stated. I cracked the glass on the tube where Twi remained suspended in animation and freed her. She hugged me tight, the jelly-fluid making a splat sound as it squished between our bodies. “Where are we..?” she questioned. “Anti-G.U.N. 's lab again….” I sighed. She lowered her ears. “We got captured….” She sighed.

    Our words were cut to a halt as heavy footsteps came closer. I jumped. “We gotta hide!!” I shouted. Twi pressed her hands against the glass where Alexis remained captive, but couldn't bust the glass. “Come on!! Please break!!” she exclaimed, fear taking over her mind and actions. I clutched her wrist, trying to pull her away from there. “Leave her there….we can't save her now!!” I whispered franticly. Twi shook her head. “I am not leaving her. No way. No how,” she answered. Cameron patted his sides, hoping he could find his rifle in his pocket. “It's gone...they took my rifle…I can't shoot the glass and break it….” He sighed. Twi kicked the glass, her frantic attempts to break the glass just wasting her energy.

    I sighed, using some shattered glass on the floor to cut a hole in the side of the tube. Alexis fell out onto her hands and knees, gagging and gasping. Blood dripped from her right arm, where she had been cut by the broken glass. Twi pulled her friend up and ran over to behind the control panel. The rest of us followed.

    Alexis used her glove to blot the blood from her arm, smiling to try and hide the pain which leaked from her eyes. Twi pressed Alexis against her side, stroking her best friend's blonde hair. “We're going to find some bandages to conceal your wound….I already know it hurts you,” she whispered. Alexis was silent, looking up at her and flashed a smile. I sighed, glancing to my left at Bse and Starlight. Bse held Starlight in a bridal-style manner, close to his body. His eyes showed fear, but his body language revealed bravery. Cameron rested against my side, curling his legs in. My heart pounded heavy, tension and fear building up in my chest. I just wanted to scream to let it all out, but I had to remain silent.

                   The loud voices of the men shrouded the air behind us.

“They escaped?!”

“No way!!”

“We gotta tell the boss!!”

“No, we can't let him know the subjects got away!!”

“What are we gonna do?!”

“Search the whole place. We gotta find them!”

“Alright, troops, head out!”

    They spread out all over the building. Escaping was going to be no walk in the park.  Cam pushed the metal bar off of the test tube and heaved it up like a bat. Alexis pulled out her sword. “We can break down the wall to get out of here,” they whispered. “Okay. Okay. Just don't draw attention to us. We don't wanna get caught,” I answered, voice low.

    We all knew what kinds of horror we would face if we were caught. They would strap us down to tables and inject mysterious chemicals into our skin. They would always find a way to torment us Mobians. Can you believe they have been illegally getting away with this for years?!

    Alexis slammed her sword blade into the wall, cutting it upward. Cameron pushed the bar into the gap left by her blade and widened the crack into a pathway. I took Twi's hand and ducked into the passage way. Bse carried Starlight at our heels with Alexis and Cam following him. We fell out onto the cold concrete on the other end of the passage way. “Oof! Nnnnngggg….Twi?” I groaned, lifting my head up. To my horror, a guard stood right in front of us. “Oh no,” I stated. Was this the end?!