Crafted Origins

Chapter 32: Defeat

(Adam's POV)

I felt a pounding in my head.

Intruders! Invading the base. Taken out three of us!

I felt a sudden rush of excitement; I knew where three of the intruders were, I could take them into the cells, lock them in there for further testing-

“No!” I shouted out loud, making Ty jump and curl his hands into fists, Jason reaching for his gun.

“What?” Ty asked, the spikes on his gloves glinting. “What is it?”

Something was telling me to lock myself in a cell; I forced the voice to the back of my head and pulled the amulet away from my chest. “The squids. They know that we're here.”

Ty let his hands drop. “We need to find the main lab as quickly as we can. Take it down before- before something bad happens.” He started walking down the hallway at a much faster pace, Jason almost running to keep up.

I could take them now. They aren't looking. I could just grab them, open that cell door right there, force them in...

I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut. No. I wasn't going to let this happen. Not with so much at stake. I slowly opened my eyes and realized that my skin was pale. I shook it off and kept walking, following Ty, focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other.

It would be so easy.

But I wasn't going to do it.

I could do it and keep advancing forward without turning back. I could forget that I ever knew them. They'd just be more recruits for the army I was helping to raise.

No. No! I wasn't going to let this happen. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

It would be so simple. They'd never see it coming.

“Adam? Adam!” Ty said, snapping me out of it. He had stopped walking and was a long way ahead of me; apparently I had stopped. “Adam. What's wrong?”

“I-it's-can you do me a favor?” I asked, my head aching.

“What?” Ty asked. His eyebrows were pulled into a tight knot.

“Just- keep going without me, okay?” I said. My voice sounded shaky.

Jason walked over. “Are you sure? I mean... why?”

“Just go,” I said, sitting down. “I'll be fine once you-yeah. Don't come back for me. It'll be better for all of us.”

“Adam, you really shouldn't-”

“I'll be fine!” I shouted. “But you might not be! Just go!”

“I-” Ty's expression hardened, like he knew what was wrong. “Right. We'll destroy the power, and then you'll be fine. Let's go, Jason,” he said, now running down the halls.

Jason gave me one last look and followed.

I put my head in my hands and sat down, furious with myself.

I let them get away. How stupid am I?

“JUST STOP!” I screamed. “Get out of my head! I don't want to capture them and use them to help squids take over the world! Just STOP!”

Well well well, what do we have here? Another human?

I froze. That was the voice of a squid.

We'll just have to throw it in a cell, won't we?

Metallic arms gripped my wrists. The squid threw open the door and shoved me in, slamming it shut behind me. I pounded on the glass, but I didn't have the strength that Ty did.

Don't worry, we'll come and test it out on you soon.

(Ty's POV)

“Lab, power center, lab...” I muttered, running down the hall. We needed to find it or Adam might be driven completely insane.

“Ty!” Jason shouted. “Slow down!” I stopped and turned around to see that he was all the way at the end of the hall.

I bit my lip and shifted my weight, anxious to keep going. “We don't have a long time, what if they captured the others, what if Adam turns over and comes after us-”

“What if you get there and you're so exhausted from running that you can't dismantle it?” Jason interrupted.

“We need to find the lab,” I said, focusing on the task at hand. I turned the corner, expecting to see nothing but more empty cells-and let out a small gasp when I saw a metal door with a security pad attached to it. “Great, now we just have to crack it,” I said, running up to it. I punched in a few random numbers, but it just beeped and turned red.

“Let me,” Jason said, pushing me aside. “I'm not Seto, but technology has always been on my side.” He himself entered a few numbers, and nothing happened.

“Or we could always do this,” he muttered, taking out his handgun. He flicked a switch, aimed it the lock, and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang and a hole where the door had been.

“That works too,” I told him, stepping inside. Sure enough, right in the center there was a large machine with a monitor attached to it. Gold and purple stones were poking out from the base.

“We need to dismantle it,” I muttered. “Come on... come on... power button first...” I pounded randomly on the keyboard and machine, hoping for something to happen.

Jason cleared his throat. I turned to see that he was holding his gun. The visor on his helmet was down, and he was giving me a look that was basically saying I was an idiot. “You do the honors,” he told me, handing it handle-first.

I took it and shot Jason a grateful smile. “Thanks.” Without hesitating, I turned, aimed, and shot at the machine. I aimed again at the computer, and again at every individual spot of purple and gold. Within a matter of moments, the machine was obviously broken.

I lowered Jason's still smoking gun. I had done it. The squid's data was destroyed, gone, vanished from existence.

And it wasn't coming back.

Rawr, peeps, it's Cookieh, and I thought that I'd clear a little something up for you guys on what taking out that machine did:

The machine was the power supply of all the existing morhping rays and squid suits, so they won't be working again. Ever. And all the data and research on morphing was in that machine as well, so that squids can't build another one-they spent a really long time gathering all that data. The squids managed to escape and get back into every source of water there was, but they weren't focused on world domination and certainly couldn't start building suits again.

So Adam was let out, and he stopped hearing demonic mind controlling voices. Ty and Quentin couldn't go back to normal, but they adjusted fairly easily and soon the town had a mudkip for a mayor. Seto didn't go back to his life of crime-although sometimes items disappeared mysteriously from shops. Mitch and Jerome continued to attack the Hunger Games everymonth, and Ian enlisted Adam's help in the inn. Jason went back to his house and started up a livestock farm, with almost every animal in existence-squids not included, of course.

So there you have it, folks. Crafted Origins, finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.