PopCap-Topia: Neighborville has Moved!

Chapter Eight: Sunlight

He sees the world through unblinking eyes.

He sees a kingdom of wire and copper, hidden from the eyes of the gods. Corpses walking along paths, their eyes red and their footsteps in sync.

It's beautiful.

But at the same time… it's wrong.
           
Tick. Tick. Tick.
           
Suddenly, there's a loud screech. From the center of the underground kingdom. It's ugly. It's vile. Luckily, only those closest can hear it…
           
And those closest cup their heads in agony. They screech, their eyes flickering from red to dull grey. It's like it's going to kill them. Again.
           
Slowly, it spreads. The walking corpses fall, one by one. They spasm on the ground, their grip lost. The entire kingdom is incapacitated in seconds.
           
There's an explosion.

●●●

He's cold.

So cold.

He doesn't want to open his eyes. He's so… tired. He hasn't slept well in days. He's always plagued by those nightmares. At least this one didn't come with that… that voice.

Wait.

That voice!

He shoots awake, a revelation upon him. The voice in his dreams! It's the same voice that…

...Where is he?

He's laid on a cold operating table. Unstrapped, thankfully. Dried blood stains the white metal - this is clearly not a place of safe medical practice.

He stands, flicking a dried clot of blood off of his coat. “Eugh.” He sneers. “Learn to clean up around here, won't you?”

He looks around. The room is full of conventional ‘mad scientist’ props - chains on the wall (for torturing,) tables covered in beakers and flasks, large vats with blue liquid in the-

Wait. There's something else in that vat.

He approaches the tube, and presses his face against it. What is that?

Oh, Ew!

He takes a step back.

It's a fetus!

Or… something like a fetus. It's pale green, and it seems… dead. A failed experiment, maybe? The vat seems like it hasn't been touched in years.

It's… oddly… familiar.

Whatever this thing is, Zomboss doesn't want to look at it anymore. So he moves on. It's a big room - he's not sure which way to go. He tries to pick a direction on instinct.

He can hear whirring noises from the mechanics that keep this place running. He's suddenly reminded of why he was unconscious in the first place - that had to have left a mark. It was certainly painful enough.

There are shards of crystals scattered on the floor. Knowing what he read in the logs, he's careful not to step on them. Out of respect.

“OH. THERE YOU ARE.”

He nearly jumps out of his skin. There's the voice again! He turns to run, but something grabs him by his neck before he can.

It's a large, metallic claw. He chokes as he's lifted into the air, and through a hatch in the ceiling.

“I SUPPOSE YOU’RE MORE RESILIENT THAN I SURMISED.” The voice says. “I WAS AFRAID I HAD KILLED YOU TOO SOON.”

He wants to respond, but he can only gurgle. The force of the claw around his neck is almost too much.