5am

Part 12.

Roman's POV

We turned our attention back to the tunnel and I created a torch to help us find our way. And then..........no one moved. "So.....who's going in first?" "Well, the most logical answer would be for you to go first, Roman. As you said, you do the fieldwork." "Oh very funny Logan, using my own words against me. You're just saying that because you're scared." I said as I turned to face him. "Oh please, scared? Scared of what, the dark? I thought you knew me better, fear of the dark is illogical and therefore is not something I have." I was about to say something back when Patton stepped in between us. "Well since neither of you wants to go first, I'll go, and then we can save Virgil." And with that, he was off. Only to come running back out a few seconds later and to hide behind Logan. "What is it? What happened?" I asked, looking warily at the tunnel. He mumbled something under his breath, eyes wide and filled with fear. "What?" "Creepy-crawly death dealers!" He squeaked out. I quickly made a huge sword and confidently stated, "Have no fear, for I shall vanquish the spiders!" And charged in, sword in one hand and a torch in the other. I swung the sword around frantically, clearing a path for Logan and Patton who followed close behind.

The tunnel was long and winding. It was about 5 minutes before we even saw the end of it. When we finally did reach the end of the tunnel, whatever we were expecting was not what we saw. We were standing at the very top of the secret base, in one of what looked like four entrances. The room was set up similar to a coliseum. Our level seemed to have all the entrances and exits while the levels underneath had rooms, labs, and all that junk. In the center, there was an arena. It had walls to either climb or hide behind, training dummies, and targets. There were a couple of what looked like soldiers down there doing target practice. There were soldiers on practically every level and anyone who wasn't looked either important or like some type of scientist. "We need some way to travel around undetected, we can't get caught," Logan stated, looking around. "Really? I thought we were going to just waltz right in and just ask for Virgil back." Pat chuckled at my comment but Logan turned to me with a surprised look. "Oh, so you're telling me that you weren't going to do that? Shocking." I gasped and placed a hand on my chest, clearly offended. "How dare you?! I am not that stupid." "Hey guys, what if we go through the vents?"

~Time Skip brought to you by me not caring that they actually couldn't fit in the vents~

We had gone through practically the entire facility and, still, no Virgil. We had seen the med bay, labs, training facilities, even the restrooms, but no Virgil. We were currently on the second level passing by the meeting rooms. As we crawled by the second to last one, Patton, who was in front, suddenly stopped. "Why did you stop?" I whispered but was quickly shushed and told to listen. I tried to listen closely and then I heard it. Voices, but most importantly, Snake Face's voice. "Oh no, everything is going terribly. We shouldn't be out of here in a day." He drawled out. Then a voice that sounded familiar spoke up. "Good, and where is my Anxiety?" 'His Anxiety? Virgil?' "He's doing terribly, and he's not in the de-stress room." "Excellent, and the others?" "We won't find them, you should be worried." It was hard to follow, seeing as Deceit always spoke in lies, but I got the gist of it. "We need to find the de-stress room," I whispered up to Patton, who nodded and continued crawling through the vents. We reached the part where the vent slopes down to the first level. Patton slid down first, I followed, and then had to use a rope to pull Logan down because he wasn't shutting up about how dangerous it was. Then we continued crawling around. We saw cells, rooms, more labs, and some more training rooms. I had almost given up hope when we heard the sound of dogs barking. Of course, Patton immediately crawled towards the sound with Logan and I trailing behind. When we finally reached the room, I looked through the grate. It was a stone room with lilac walls and ceiling, soft chairs, and dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. There were huskies, corgis, golden retrievers, beagles, German shepherds, bulldogs, Pomeranians, chow chows, and Shiba Inus. They were running, playing, sleeping, or just sitting there. Patton let out an excited noise that was luckily lost in all the barking. He tried to open the grate but Logan put his hand on his arm and then pointed to the center of the room. I followed his gaze and saw what he was pointing to. Virgil. He was sitting in the middle of the room, emitting a soft purple glow that the dogs seemed to absorb but they looked unaffected. I recognized the purple glow as his powers but it was weird to be so close to them while active and be unaffected. "He's right there, let's grab him and go!" I whispered to Patton who nodded and went to grab the grate again. Just as his hand touched it, though, the door opened and he pulled back. Two guards walked in with Deceit. "Hello Virgil, awful to see you doing better. It isn't time for training, do just stay there." Virgil stood up and began to follow them out of the room. We began to back away from the grate but it creaked under us. Virgil's head whipped around and he looked directly into my eyes. We held eye contact for what felt like forever before his eyes widened and he turned away. I stayed frozen to the spot. It wasn't anger or alarm in his eyes, it was recognition. He saw me, he knew I was there, and he turned away.