The LAB

Chapter 39

The slight whistle of wind rustling across the ground was the first thing she awoke to, the next was the heavy snore from beside her. Jaslo's eyes shot open, picking her front up off the ground to look around frantically. She was still out in the torched land, and much to her surprise, Cougar was lying against her with a tire on her roof. If it wasn't for the ache in her frame, she would have completely forgotten about the night before. It took some effort, but she soon shoved his tire off and got up, shaking herself off from the dirt and yawning loudly. Her noise was joined by the equally loud yawn from the Humvee as he slowly stood up and stretched. He smacked his lips slightly and licked over a fang as he stood next to her with a chuff. They said no words, but understood each other's noises all too well, and the two quickly took off towards the cavern they knew their friend resided in. Only odd clicking noises came from either being, as their blind friend rumbled back to them through the tunnels in the mountain. They took no time in darting back out and heading for the city. Something had tipped them all off, and it wasn't like any of them to speak back in their animalist ways.

Screams filled the air as Hounds marched into the city. Cars were either crushed under the weight of these beasts, or pinned between their jaws and torn apart as a snack for the invading force. Behind the line of Hounds walked Mago himself, his body slithering across the ground and cracking the road under him. His hissing screech chilled vehicle into freezing up in fear, and the hounds lunged for anyone that didn't move from their leader's path. The sound of chaos was soon enhanced once Mago opened his jaws and gave a blast of light that beamed forward, tearing through a building and melting everything it hit. His jaws steamed as the light faded and the building slowly toppled in on itself, his smirk wide as vehicles screamed and scrambled to try and save their lives. Most shots fired from officers were barely bothering the Hounds as they marched forward, and soon the dynamic duo of beasts arrived on scene. Vehicles cheered as the roads were dwarfed in the shadow of Jaslo flying in and landing in the road with a loud roar, soon joined by Cougar who skid to her side and joined in her battle cry. Cameras locked in on the scene as vehicles continued to run. This was it, this was the battle they were dreading.

"Leave this place, Mago! Leave with the Hounds and tell your Master this is no place for him or his mind-washed minions!" Jaslo demanded, spreading her wings out as Cougar snarled at the few Hounds that didn't stop their march. Mago chuckled, hearing the laugh of his Master in his head as they both smirked down at the Blazer.

"You think you can stop this?" Mago's voice mingled with Devans, Making both Jaslo and Cougar look up in a bit of shock.

"You can't do this! These vehicles have no quarrel with you!" Jaslo pleaded more, trying to find some point in either beast to reason with. Mago just threw his head back in laughter, slamming his tail into a building and letting the blade on his tail slice through the support.

"You are a weapon! Embrace it and finally come home where you belong! If not, then die here and now!" The building toppled behind the snake beast and Jaslo let out the loudest roar she could manage as an answer.

"Too bad. You had so much hope. Guess this is where your story ends!" It was only by the grace of a few particles of dirt that she managed to dodge the blast from Mago. His particle beam tore into the ground, quickly melting and burning the road as she was thrown into the air by the heat under her wings. Cougar had dodged by simply leaning away, but was burned by the ground and took the pain out on the few hounds that were close enough. Hounds quickly piled onto the Humvee, who thankfully got the backup of some local officers and their guns. It wasn't much, but it was enough for them to team up and one by one take down the line. Mago, however, took off after the flying car on his clawed arms, tearing through the larger of roads and firing blast after blast into the air. Jaslo kept her eyes locked onto him and kept banking hard to get around each blast, but used the heat from each one to propel her forward more and more. As the city limits grew in her sight, she spun around and let out a stream of fire at him before diving down and taking off into the wilderness. Mago snarled and took after her with extreme rage to having his nose burned.

"Get her! And don't hold back in removing the weakling!" Devan screamed in Mago's head, and the beast complied eagerly. Another particle blast launched into the sky, and another, each one getting closer to the Blazer as she beat her wings more and more. She was gauging his attacks based on her own, and soon pushed off the ground as she took off right into the sky. Mago slid to a stop, looking up and opening his jaws to fire, only stopping from the sun blinding him. The complex had no light that was as bright as that, and he had forgotten how painful it was to look at. Jaslo spun around, letting herself fall through the air as she tried her best to channel her energy into her own attack.

The scent of blood, the cries of pain and fear, the darkness and the dampened stale air; the LAB itself came flooding back into her mind. The feeling of kill or be killed, and even the desire to kill soon surged through her, a feel she wished she could forget. If there was one thing that was true, it was that she was indeed a weapon. Her eyes opened up, amber iris shining bright against her dark paint as her jaws popped open and her wings splayed out. A brilliant flash of blue and white shot forth, the heat from it keeping her in the air as the beam of light went straight down to the blinded serpent. He quickly countered with his own blast, and the two stayed at a frightening standstill as the ground around both went up in flames. The heat rose, ground cracked apart as trees vanished to dust, and soon the only noise was the ring in everyone's hearing of complete noise. Mago screamed out, his blast fading as he was met with the chilling power of the winged beast above him.

Silence.

Hounds froze in place, looking to where their master had been, paying no mind to the vehicles that held guns to them, or even the Humvee that snarled up at them. The light in the distance stopped suddenly, and each hound whimpered before lowering their heads. The city was in silence as the slow figure of the Blazer glided to the top of a building, landing lightly on the rooftop as her tail swayed along the side. Holding her wings proudly out beside her, she let out a roar, steam still billowing from her jaws as the cry rattled windows and made vehicles stop and cringe. Despite this, each hound obeyed an unspoken command, and each lowered their faces to the ground before flopping over onto their sides, exposing their stomachs and necks like any good canine. Jaslo let out another roar, soon joined by Cougar's roar and the cheer of every vehicle still around. The smoldering crater just outside the city gained the attention of the firetrucks, but nothing was left in that blackened hole in the ground. Vehicles honked and cheered as the Blazer took off once more, watching her slowly fly over the city as emergency crews quickly went to work.

"Holy shit!" John screeched, being startled by the sudden sight of Jaslo landing in front of him with a snarl. She looked down at him, and before he could manage another word, she let out a deafening roar into his face. All he could do was look back at her with eyes wide, and a pool of oil slowly growing under him as she huffed and took off back into the air.

Devan watched his camera feed of the Blazer flying off and dive down to attack one of his Alpha Hounds. He slammed a tire on his desk and snarled before picking up the entire computer and tossing it through the glass window of his office. His shout could be heard throughout the entire complex, and his anger was felt in the darkest corners of it as well.

"I want her back. I need her back!"