When ZAC returns home from the surface, he has found that Twitch's sentience experiment that day may not be a failure! Instead of dying like all the others, according to Twitch, this rat lived and escaped with his skin glowing a slight green, but th...
I gather the materials. It's almost done. Just mix it and mix it and keep mixing. Once the potion's completed, I'll get them back. I'll get all of my subjects back. A speck of dust. Some human shimmer. Yes.. yes.. Maybe some shiny green rocks too! If I can find them, but there's no time! The sewers are big. They can run away quickly to some random place. Must not let them leave. Must not let them..
I stood over the cauldron looking over the liquid as it begin to bubble, showcasing the familiar green and yellow glow that has become so familiar to me now. There was only silence except the bubbles that came out. I sniffed it.. it did smell obedient potion-y. Just need one more ingredient. If it can make Scratch, then it can make him obey me! If Twitch can create sentience, what is it to say he can't create obedience!
I ran into the sewers, away from my the cauldron below where the green lantern hangs and stepping over the bones of the many sacrifices, and begin retracing my steps from the day Scratch was made. I bring out my map and looked at the routes carefully as I followed them, marking potential sites where I found the blessed ingredient in my turf. Every time I looked, the brain plays tricks, seeds of doubt of where and what it was. It's crucial to find the right ingredients.. Was it there? Was it there!? Brain do not fail me!
(Creak)
I swung my crossbow behind me. "It's mine!" I shout frantically, but no one's there. I look around the darkness, but I couldn't see much of anything in the shadows. Only memories could light the way outside of my humble lair, even as the sewer king. "I'm watching.." I warned as I continued on my path.
I appear close to the surface as dim light seep into the cracks in the concrete ceiling above me. My poor sensitive eyes squint at the exposure and I growl as my ears catch the footsteps of the many surface dwellers and the creaking of machines..
"You know. They're not all bad. Heh. I bet they'll be scared when they see you," a familiar voice says behind me.
"What are you blabbering Goopy One? They're all bad!"
"I mean.. they can be nice and friendly. That and not necessarily controlli-"
"Oh shut up ZAC! You know that I need to do this.. This.. This is different from yours! It's the sewer king's duty to keep my subjects in line! To keep them safe!" I shout, without turning to look. "You know what's up there.."
"Hey.. just look over there in the water." I follow his commands, grumbling as I did so. It isn't every day to see the sewer king take commands. I found my reflection in the water. "Now.. look at you, is that the king you want to be pal? Forcing these things in people. making us drink.. whatever that is? We're not robots.. We're not weapons."
"You're not weapons! You're my subj-"
Suddenly, in the water, I catch a green glimmer. Could it be? I dive in, making a loud splash that could easily reveal the plague rat to the populace, but I didn't care. I swam and swam until I could finally touch the blessed rock. Its soft yet hard texture. The heat that surrounds it underwater. It even slightly burns as I touch it like last time. I swam up and up victoriously until yet another splash echoes into the tunnels of the sewers.
"I found it!" I kept shouting. "I found it! I found it! I found it! Thank you ZA-" I look back behind me to where the voice was, and he wasn't there. I look back at the green glowing rock in my hand. All is silent in the tunnels to me as I hold it, the final piece to the solution. I don't have much time before my first plague rat to leave.
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It was a long trip.
I knew it would be. I had to make sure that Twitch wouldn't attempt to find us. That and I needed to get some more food at the cultivairs and the commercias for good ol' Scratch. He lays on my back, arms sprawled out and hands clutching into my substance. His eyes were closed and his brown fur shaking less. I smile, knowing the feeling of being in good hands. Reminded me when I was saved.
I walk closer and closer to the surface and the light sounds of people begin to wake Scratch up. He looks up at the light. he touches my shoulder and points upward.
"Hey little fella," I said warmly. I look up with him. "Yeah. We're going up there. They're just people. You wanna be careful around them. They can be pretty hostile," I look towards him as he just blankly stares at me. I bite my lip. "Uh.. just stay with me pal. It's a dangerous world up there," I reassure as I pushed him closer to my skin with my hand. He continued to look up and so did I. "But I'll promise you this, you'll learn to like them. I'll tell you everything. Just.. point if you wanna know anything, ok? Like this," I point to his nose.
As we go on, Scratch begin to point to everything in his path. To different people's voices. To various machines that made him falter. To construction equipment.. It became hard to make up reasons. At that point, I could only make up various stories from what could be one whisper and tone, but the warm feeling behind me was all worth it, but then it starts to wane as all of the sounds of people and construction starts became less apparent until everything's silent and cold. Scratch's grasp on my skin grew firmer and I felt his hands shaking.
"We're fine!" I tell him repeatedly. "This is the safest place. Trust me," We finally reach the ladder. I climb up and remove the manhole very carefully. I go out to see a ghost town full of abandoned houses all cracked to the point where one would question how they could still stand. They ache as the wind blew into their wounds. I breathed heavily before looking at my old home again. "Welcome home pal," I said as Scratch looks around, jerking his head back and forth to see the entire neighborhood.
"Hey.. There's no people here. We'll go see them later, but for right now we need a rest. Just stay with me." I open the door to my old home, the place where it all started, the wood creaking heavily as I did so. Everything's vacated, but I could just imagine seeing all of the photos and everything that was there before the event happened, and now I'm starting it again. Scratch tapped my shoulder and pointed to a basement door on the floor blown open to smithereens. My body trembled at that site. The gun that blew it open..
"That's... That's where you're gonna sleep pal."
I walk him downstairs to the basement and set a makeshift bed with trash bags and any blankets I could find. I set him down on his bed and he looks at me innocently, wondering what to do next.
I gave him some of my substance and begin to point at the wall. "Well.. let's.. tell you a story. It's my favorite! Atomic Man!" I begin to draw a stick figure with a large cape in a superhero pose. Scratch stares at the wall where the drawings took place. That same wonder in his eyes as I tell the same story..
