The Difficult Task of Raising a Weapon

Shadow: Escaping, but Where To?

Ugh... What's...going on...? I sway as the liquid supporting me disappears, trying to keep my body over top of my feet. I start as my hand reaches out automatically to press against the tube and steady me; my own body feels very unfamiliar. Leaning in against my arm, I breath in deeply, and then out, trying to dispel my dizzying headache. In only a few seconds, I feel my head clear as the room comes into focus. 

Vrummmm... I stumble a bit as a humming noise vibrates the chamber. Gasping, I realize what is happening. The tube that holds me is moving! Upwards, towards...the surface? Where am I?

A sense of dread hits me as I remember exactly where I was locked away. The room of scientists, the man who shied away from me, the falling wire sliver, the numbing liquid that thrust me into unconsciousness. Anyone could be up there... But why are they releasing me? Glancing downwards, I see that I am still wearing my rings and shoes, and I neither see, nor feel restraints on my limbs or body. Do I still have my powers? Am I now powerless? Do I have any hope of escape? Did I...die? Shaking my head, I try to focus. No, I'm alive, so I must have survived being shot... But why did that gun effect me when none of the others did? It must have had something stronger than bullets. Shaking myself again, I mentally snap at myself to figure out the details later.

I need to escape from here before they realize I've woken up... I crouch down as I see a door open above me, and fire up my shoes, the ones Gerald gave to me on the ARK. As the pod ascends through the opening, I glance around and see no one in the room. The pod withdraws, leaving me on a raised platform in the middle of the space. Hovering several inches above it, I jump off and land on the floor.

I hope I can cut through this... I think as I observe the wall. Jumping forward, I spindash into it and--as I hoped--slice through the metal with my sharp spines. I shoot out into a large hallway, and zoom off towards my right. Hopefully this will lead me out of here...

I continue along it, keeping a sharp eye out for any people, but no one is around. Hearing the sounds of a fight somewhere behind and above me, I assume that everyone is there. I slow down as I approach a stairwell, and cautiously open the door leading to it. Listening, I decide no one is in it, and start to run up.

Yeep! I mentally yelp as my legs move in a blur. I had no idea I could run this fast! I reach the top in no time, despite having passed many levels. Leaping out of the door at the end of the stairs, I find a window in no time. Woah.

I stand far above the land below, and realize that I am at the top of the building I was trapped in. Taking a deep breath, I step back and leap forward. Using my spindash for the second time, I smash through the heavy glass and careen out the window. Biting back a scream, I drop all the way to the ground. I brace myself for impact, expecting pain, but my legs absorb the crash like it was nothing. Not stopping to question how I am completely unscathed, I shoot off towards my right; there appears to be a large amount of cover there.

This is madness! I think as I run through the jungle-like foliage. I don't even know what's going on, but there are troops of people and giant machines everywhere! I flinch as yet another machine zooms over me, and I pick up the pace. I start to see pinpricks of light through the trees in front of me, and wonder what they're reflecting off of. Guess I'm going to find out, I decide, and grit my teeth as another loud mechanical...thing flies over my head. I am seconds away from the tree line, and build up as much speed as I can so that it will be harder to hit me.

"Whoa!" I jump off the last few feet of the shore, hoping with everything in me that I can skate on water. "Yeeks!" The surprised cry tears out of me as the water becomes a surface under my feet, and I almost lose my balance. I would have been embarrassed if I had made such a blunder in front of Gerald, but I realize with sadness that I have no idea what happened to him. Why did I have to think of the past now? I'm trying to live through the present! An approaching roar yanks my head to the left as I try to see the object making it. If I knew curse words, I think I'd use them about now...