Zero to Hero

Chapter 2

Scarlet made her way through the dark streets, all alone, she felt like she was in a music video. This new life she had grew accustomed to was not her cup of tea. She never knew her parents, they were out there somewhere while their poor daughter went through adoption after adoption during her childhood, things never worked out. However, the last person she had lived with, the name of which she couldn't remember, had always taught her not to let others bring her down even when things got tough. And most importantly: everybody can do great things. It was hard for Scarlet to feel destined for greatness when she kept screwing things up.

She heard a noise behind her and froze to the spot. She could handle herself, right? Of course she'd get herself in some sort of bother again, this really wasn't her week. A figure appeared behind her and wrapped their arms around her waist, pulling her backwards. She screamed and tried to fight them off but they were too strong. Before she could scream again, a blunt object hit her on the back of her head, her vision blurred and then...well she couldn't remember, it all went dark.

The next thing she knew, she was laid on a bed, the sheets white, even the walls around her were white. She struggled to open her eyes, the bright white was too much for her. After recovering she sat up quickly. "Ouch!" She yelled, banging her head on the bed above, it hurt more than it should have, since she'd been hit in the head in the exact same place a few hours previous. Standing up, she noticed a body on the bed above her. Another girl thank God. She had long brown hair, with a pink highlight going through it and she was wearing some odd looking clothes. "Excuse me?" Scarlet whispered, tapping the girl on her shoulder. She turned over and smiled at her. "Yeah so...excuse me. Erm, there's been a big mistake. I'm not a child, I shouldn't be in a foster home."

"This ain't no foster home hun." The girl replied. "This place makes your nightmares seem like a happy place. I mean, during the day its okay, they feed us well at least. But at night...that's when the freaky stuff happens!"

Why was she smiling about that? "Wait, what kind of freaky stuff?" Scarlet asked, clearly disturbed by this girl's odd behavior.

"All I'm saying is when the guy comes and takes you away...RUN!" The girl laughed manically. Just Scarlet's luck, locked up with a psychopath! "Don't look so scared! I'm not the mad one here, its the guy...he thinks he's a brainiac, animals don't work so he does 'experiments' on people instead!" She continued, as if Scarlet wasn't scared enough.

Scarlet scoffed, she was talking rubbish. Sleep. That's what she needed, she'd wake up in the morning, and this whole nightmare would be over! Napping before plotting, come on, every girl needs her beauty sleep. She laid back down on the bed and concentrated on her breathing. Putting a pillow over her face, she quietly sobbed into it, she couldn't let the other girl see her cry. 'Just don't let her get to you.' She thought. She closed her eyes, she nearly drifted off until...click! A key turned in the lock. The girl was right, a man entered the room and grabbed her wrist. He was wearing a white coat, obviously he thought he was some sort of mad scientist.

"You'll do." The man said as he pulled her through the door, locking it behind him. Scarlet was escorted to a huge lab, in it there were shelves with beakers on them and they contained different coloured liquids. Some of them were labelled 'DNA'. 'Okay, this is new...' Scarlet thought. She was forced to lie down on a cold, metal table, while another man stood beside her. The way they were looking over her made her feel quite uncomfortable. The second man walked away, and when he returned he was holding a giant needle. Scarlet's eyes widened.

"Don't worry, pretty lady, it will only hurt... A LOT." He snickered, making Scarlet gulp.
"Okay!" The first man yelled, clapping his hands loudly. "Let's do it."
The second man then began to move the needle towards Scarlet's arm. 'Oh no you don't.' Scarlet thought as she attempted to sit up. Then she remembered what that girl had told her: RUN! She did a forward roll of the table (her police training came in handy) and tried to escape, but the walls were all glass and she couldn't locate the door. The men tried to grab her, causing her to panic and bang into one of the shelves. The only escape was up! She attempted to climb up them but with all the panic all logic flew out the window and before she knew they fell over and all the beakers of weird looking fluids poured in her.

"NO!" The second man yelled. "My research..." he squeaked.

Scarlet sat up on the floor and shook her wet hair. After a few more seconds an odd feeling came over her. It was as though she was being electrocuted, purple coloured electricity wracked her whole body as though in a slow motion sequence. "The serum!" The second man gasped.

Like a stroke of good luck, Scarlet noticed an automatic door that was slowly closing. She was thin enough to fit through there, she was certain. She began running towards it and time was of the essence as one of the men noticed what she was doing and pushed a button on the wall, causing the door to close faster.

The door was now fully closed, it was official: Scarlet was screwed. For some reason she kept running, shutting her eyes as she waited for the glass to smack her in the face, but it never came. Unexpectedly, her body shot through the door, shattering the glass, leaving the men staring in in awe. 'What?' Scarlet thought, shocked that she really was that strong.

"IT WORKS!" She heard one of the men gasp behind her...