The LAB

Chapter 13

            The wind rushed as wings beat steadily. Flight was so great, felt so right and free! The Blazer may have been confined to a small battle arena, but she still flew. Only the workers noted her speed and various stats as she flew. They'd fire a few rounds at her but nothing too great, just enough to test her stopping and turning power. Which was still incredible for something only flying a few weeks. Her wings beat harder, her speed increasing, anyone watching her fly was getting dizzy from the quick circles she flew near the roof of the arena. Curious, Jaslo lowered her tires to the walls, letting them roll before turning her engine over. It worked! Her wings acted as just enough drag force to keep her to the wall while her raw power kept her going. Switching out from engine power and almost galloping on her tires, something only a skeletal bodied vehicle with extending joints was capable of doing, and still keeping a high rate of speed along the walls. Her broad tail behind her and smaller wings at the base of her main wings held flat out. A shot was fired, the tail arched up, the smaller wings stood straight upwards, and with a push off the wall her wings beat just in time to dodge the bullet. The mix of a Chevy flapped her large wings, keeping herself hovering in the middle of the room, panting slightly from such a workout. Workers hurried themselves with note taking, some even sketching what this beast was doing. Now the hard part was getting her back down and under control.

"I've got a better idea." Everyone froze in the work room, looking to the door to find Devan's right hand truck.

"Place the jet with her in there. If she wants to fly, let her try with the alpha of the skies." They all paused, looking to each other. With a few nods and the final ok from the shift leader, it was put into motion. After all, what better way to tire out a flying beast than with a bigger and faster flying beast? They hit various buttons to open a side door, one which the Blazer was interested in and flew lower to investigate. The pathway was huge, big enough for the blazer to glide through it calmly. The cooler air coming to her was amazing, her wings caught the gust and allowed her to land softly as she drove up the ramp. Doors slammed shut behind her before the hall opened up to a very large room. Vents on the ceiling pumped air straight from outside, and it was even cooler than the other arenas. It was amazing, and instantly she took off, thrown off balance by the air currents but soon was flying.

A screeching roar sounded and the Blazer's wing was clipped by something heavier, and much faster. She came to a hover and saw what beast ruled this room. A jet turned beast flew tight circles around her in a standard jet fashion before landing on the flat wall surface, its claws digging into the wall and holding it there. More reptile like, almost dragon in the looks, its head craned over to look at her. Scars across the legs, tail, wings, and head caught her eyes with a bit of fear. This was a small jet, but still way bigger than her, and by the looks of it, way more experienced in life. The jet beast's turbines mounted on its hips whirred to life, its heels lifted to show what's left of the landing gear, and tail stretched out to show the still functioning flaps. For a dragon, it was still a full functioning jet, even the wings were still the old jet shape and had moving flaps, they just bent in the middle oddly.

"Get outta my air space!" Jaslo yelped at the roar, now knowing not only could it speak, but it was indeed a very aggressive male. Being a youngster, she made a fatal error in flying away instead of landing. The jet roared out and took after her, out maneuvering the SUV easily and corralling her to the center of the room. Faster and tighter the circles he flew until the current spun the smaller beast, flipping her wings and causing her to fall from the air. The workers could only watch as the jet took off after her. Either way, they'd only be able to check in after an hour or so, they figured she'd be on the ground exhausted by that time and left the viewing areas. They all filed out as the Blazer screamed out, falling to the ground backwards and seeing the larger jet diving right at her. This can't be happening! She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, waiting for either her to hit the ground of the jet to slam into her.

"Oh lighten up will ya?" The Blazer froze, looking around. The jet had caught her in his front claws and was slowly landing using his turbines.

"Geez, you kids are always so clueless. I was just putting on a show until those workers left. You're fine." His voice was soothing, but anything from soft. With great care, he flipped the car back to her tires and made sure her wings folded up properly.

"The name's Dan, though I'm often called DHL here." Before the Blazer could question such a nickname, he turned his body to show off the old 'DHL' logo still painted onto his sides. The red logo and stripes was a high contrast to his white paint, silver scars, and vibrant blue eyes.

"Soo?" Dan questioned, motioning a claw to the SUV.

Jaslo paused, looking up to the viewing platform that was empty and the large area, then to the jet before finally speaking.

"Sorry, just a little new to all this still. Guess you can call me Jaslo." She gave an uneasy smile to which the jet nudged her wings with his pointed snout.

"Do ya not know how to flip back over in flight?" Her wings snapped tight to her body, smaller wings folding as well while her tail stayed fanned out.

"Not entirely.. I've only be flying for a few nights really." The jet beast raised his head with a smirk, "Then let's fix that, shall we?" With a nod from the smaller beast, both outstretched their wings and took to the air. He taught her different maneuvers and various tricks, and within the hour they were both flying in a tight circle, and as expected, the Blazer was tiring out fast. It might have been too much to take in, but neither knew when another chance would come to see someone they didn't have to kill, or even if that's what was supposed to happen here, it couldn't with the curiosity the jet had towards a flying car. It's not that common, even in the maze of mixed machines, to find another flying beast. The workers watched as slowly the Blazer ran out of steam and ended up almost crash-landing on the floor below. With a mighty roar, the jet clung to the walls before being snared and dragged into a containment cell above the ground, yet he barely fought. Jaslo could only watch how passive the beast was, even in all this, still just willing to go no matter what they had planned. Chains rattled and clung to their places as her wings and tail were retracted into her body once more, and with that she was led away.

Devan read over each page of notes on the stats of 312. He was impressed by such a quick learner in terms of flight. If only he could get the flight strain to work on others. He already had plans on mixing an SUV with a jet to see if that would allow some form of flight, but this one was still in a class all its own. Scrolling through a digital log of who had come to work, a low growl escaped his throat.

"That bitch!" was all that raced in his mind. That one Audi still had not appeared after that day, and he was getting angry at this. He wanted to make an example of her to the others, or better yet, just feed her to the snake hidden in the deep corner of the lab. Problem is, she wasn't at her home and no other way of reaching her was working. The Accord was one step away from releasing the assassin he created for a test run, but his own fear of being found out before his plan was ready stopped him. The world wasn't ready for it, not yet.

A small Nissan stood on a hill top, looking down to the otherwise deserted building which was the top level of the LAB. His anger burning inside of him, just waiting for the right moment to get his revenge. Giving a heavy sigh, his purple eyes scanned over each guard outside, noting their positions just like every other day. It was difficult to even swallow with what little uneasiness he had, then again, it's hard to do much without a tongue to begin with. Just another reminder on why this place had to burn, why it had to be taken down. Sadly, nobody took him seriously in the city. He needed solid proof, he needed something to bring all public eyes to what was happening, but he couldn't stoop down to their level. Pulling out a small tablet, he set a timer, placing notes as to who was where for the least amount of casualties he could manage. The charges were set, system was armed, and only one last step was needed. Hitting enter and starting the countdown was the last step, and with that he drove away into the darkening landscape. He was going to fix it somehow, for all of them, for himself, for everyone.

"Hang in there one more day, I know you can."