The loud sound of the security alarm blasting above nineteen-year-old Benjamin which made his head pound painfully, still he couldn't think about his growing headache as he raced down the hallway his backpack banging against his back and his boots pounding against the tiled ground as he swung his arms with every step. Turning quickly he jumped the railing to a staircase and braced himself as he hit the ground and somersaulted forward. Breathing out heavily, Ben found the door that leads to where he needed to be.
"Damian! Hurry!" He begged as he pounded on the door. Standing there, he fidgeted where he stood constantly whipping his head back and forth to make sure nobody was around him. After about thirty seconds of waiting, Ben ran and pounded on the door once more. "DAMI-Oh." He breathed out once the door finally opened.
"I told you it'd take a minute." Damian hissed to Ben. His face rather angry as he dragged Ben inside the room and shut the door behind him. Damian quickly went to the keypad and looked at his phone briefly before punching in a section of numbers, the small red light blinked three times before turning green. Both of them stood there and breathed out heavily as they both had to catch their breaths. Ben became aware of the fact that the loud alarm once giving him a headache was not blaring loudly in this particular section. Leaning up against the door, Ben felt his heart rate slow down to a normal pace.
"We have thirty minutes before the knock-out gas wears off," Damian told him simply.
"Not my first time doing this." Ben simply responded.
"Master!" Twigleg yelled suddenly from Damian's shoulder which caused Ben and Damian to both jumped in freight.
"Jesus!...Twigleg...Don't call me that." Ben breathed out as he put a hand on his chest, outstretching his other arm he allowed Twigleg to crawl up on and up his arm and on his shoulder.
"Follow me..." Damian walked forward in front of Ben, together the two of them walked down the silent hallway, the only sound between them were their boots softly clicking against the floor. The farther down the hallway they went, the louder a weird mechanical sound got.
"Remember...Be on your toes...According to Info-guy, this dragon is definitely more dangerous than the other two we saved." Damian breathed out as they got closer and closer to the mechanical sound. Together they stopped in front of the door blocking the dragon. Damian grabbed his phone and let out a shaky breath as he looked at the code showing brightly on his phone. Shuddering, Damian, put the code into the pin pad, there was a couple second of silence before they heard a soft 'ding' gaining them access.
"Thank god, this dragon doesn't need a retina scanner to get to him or her." Damian joked as he opened the door. Ben didn't laugh, he just adjusted his backpack and walked through the doorway. Damian allowed the door to shut behind him and like before he locked it. Ben reached up and pulled at his slightly greasy ponytail. Feeling his heart beat in his chest at an alarming rate, Ben shuddered as they got closer and closer to the mechanical machine.
"Jesus..." Ben breathed out once he saw the machine more fully.
The machine was large, beyond large, it took up over half of the large room. On all sides of the machine, it looked like it was made of glass as you could see what was inside it. Trapped in said machine was a large black dragon, it's tail, middle, and head, and paws were all caught with large metal arms wrapped around the dragon keeping it in place. Ben looked away from the dragon and out the enormous windows just a little ways away from the dragon, the overcast sky making the room even darker than it should be. Almost as if it was a warning, a streak of lightening shot across the sky outside and Ben shuddered. Turning to the other side he saw a large office desk with papers strewn all over the top of the desk, and a couple of computer monitors and a desktop sitting on the bottom. Finally, Ben saw their exit, a one way down elevator.
"C'mon, we probably don't have long. The cameras are currently on loop, let's go." Damian breathed out as he rushed passed Ben.
Ben rushed along with him and Damian quickly spoke up,
"You talk to them and keep them calm, and I'll try and get them out."
Ben nodded and quickly rushed over to where the dragon could see him. The dragon was the opposite of Firedrake appearance wise, it was stout and small, it's head a flat oval shape and it had no horns. The dragon was fast asleep, unaware of the strangers.
"I've never seen a black dragon before..." Twigleg breathed out. Ben quickly got down to his knees and tapped on the glass rapidly. The dragon's eyes opened and Ben watched as it's pupils turned thin and almost cat-like.
"Easy...Easy, we're not gonna hurt you, we're here to save you. It's going to be alright." Ben started speaking slowly and clearly for the dragon. The dragon suddenly let out a threatening growl and started to wiggle around the metal arms clanging with each movement.
"Ben! Keep him calm!" Damian yelled as he started to punch in codes hoping they'd work.
"Hey...We're not here to hurt you. It's ok." Ben tried once more, this time with a slightly more aggressive tone. It obviously didn't calm the dragon as it's thrashing got more and more wild. Ben could see some sort of green smoke seeping out of the dragon's closed mouth.
"Twigleg get on the ground." Ben demanded as he allowed his friend off of his shoulder, "I'm no expert, but that's not a good sign."
The green gas became more and more apparent and Ben stood up his eyes wide once he realized if the dragon was going to shoot fire it was going to go straight for Damian. Of course, the moment this realization hit, there was a soft 'ding' and the door slid open and the dragon's bonds were released. Ben watched horrified as the dragon opened its mouth...
"Damian! MOVE!" Ben screamed as he suddenly ran forward and pushed Damian out of the way, before he could move there was a loud noise and he suddenly felt a blazing hot sensation hit his arm and lower back. That was when the world went black for Ben.
Damian groaned out and rubbed his now sore head, Ben had shoved him head first into the desk. There was a loud crash causing him to turn his head, he watched as the dragon, now free, had busted through the massive window and was now trying, and failing, to fly away. It was safe for now. Turning a bit he saw the wall, now black from the fire that the dragon just spit out.
"Jesus, Ben. Thanks for the push, I would have been a crisp." Damian smiled as he stood up with a groan. He then frowned, "Ben?"
Looking past the blackened wall, he felt his eyes go wide at Ben's crumpled body on the ground. His friend laying on his right side, back turned, clearly unconscious.
"BEN!?"
"BEN!?" Twigleg screamed out as both him and Damian ran to Ben's side.
"Christchristchrist!" Damian yelled in a fast pace, grabbing Ben's arm he turned his friend over onto his back, he let out a startled gasp, he heard Twigleg let out a sudden gasp as well as a sob as they both stood there horrified at the site of Ben's injuries.
The dragon fire, much unlike the stories of Firedrake's that Damian had heard, had completely burned Ben's right arm and went all the way down to his back. His clothes on that sight, what was left that is, were completely demolished in the flame. Damian gently picked up Ben's arm and examined it to the best of his abilities, he shuddered at the charred waxy almost leathery apprentice of Ben's arm and side. Looking at the pink and white melted skin, Damian only turned away, trying his hardest not to be sick.
"...Third-degree burns, of course..." He muttered.
"What do we do?!" Twigleg asked as he looked up at Damian with worried and sad eyes.
"...We have to leave. He's unconscious...I can hoist him up on my back, but we have to fast, the knock-out gas should be wearing out by now..." Grunting out, Damian leaned down and grabbed Ben's good arm forcing his friend up just enough for Damian to get Ben on his shoulder. Grunting under the weight, Damian had to move Ben down his shoulder till his had a grip around Ben's knees while Ben dangled behind him.
"Christ, he hasn't eaten in days and he's somehow heavy..." Damian wheezed out. "Ok, Twiggy, get into my pocket and let's get out of here before anyone wakes."
"Because the best thing to do when a person is as injured as he is, is to put him on your shoulders and shake him as much as humanly possible?" Twigleg questioned Damian he quickly growled at Twigleg,
"No! The best thing to do is to get him out of here! If they wake up they'll kill him. If we call the cops? We broke in! We knocked them out with chloroform! We'd go to jail, prison, FBI interrogation! Take your pick! Now get in my pocket!"
Twigleg scrambled up Damian's leg and once safely in his pocket, Damian jogged to the elevator and pressed the button, instantly the doors opened up and he got in.
"Hopefully the info-guy was right and this SHOULD go straight outside and I just gun it from there," Damian spoke aloud, mostly as a warning to Twigleg who was going to have a rather bumpy ride. The doors slide shut and slowly the elevator started to go down. Once it was past the floor they were just on, the alarm became loud and clear once again. Damian shut his eyes and slowly started to count down,
"Floor five...Four...Three...Two..." He paused suddenly and clutched his fist so tightly that he was pretty sure his knuckles were white. Ben felt unbelievably heavy as he unconsciously laid on top of Damian. The elevator came to a slow down and paused completely.
"One."
The doors opened and Damian sighed out with relief, it did lead outside, Damian was never happier to see a cold overcast day in his life. He then ran into the cold as fast as his legs could. It probably didn't help Ben's injuries any as Ben was bouncing against Damian's back repeatedly with each step. Running away from the building and cars, Damian carefully rushed towards the wooded area just east of the building. Avoiding low branches and roots sticking up, Damian found it, his car.
Thankfully the doors were already unlocked, opening the back doors first, he gently laid Ben down on the backseat and allowed Twigleg to lay with him. Looking at Ben's face Damian grimaced, Ben was paler than before and he looked rather clammy. Touching Ben's head with the back of his head, Damian huffed out, he was cold and that wasn't good. For a second he felt fear grip him, had Ben died while Damian was running?
Thankfully, Ben let out a sudden intake of breath, making Damian sigh out with relief. Shutting the door, he rushed over to the driver side and got in. Putting his key in the ignition his car revved to life and he quickly got out of the forest. Getting onto to the main road, Damian flicked his eyes about making sure they weren't being followed. Twigleg spoke from the back seat suddenly,
"You know, with that security alarm in that building I'm surprised no cops showed-oh..."
Hearing the sound of sirens, Damian watched as at least ten or more cop cars went speeding past them, the cars going the opposite way of them.
"...So, we're going to the hospital now, right?" Twigleg asked softly.
"Out of the question. We'd get caught in a heart beat...No...We need to go somewhere safe. I've treated burns that bad before, I can do it again..." Damian shakily breathed out.
"But where!? Where is a good safe place for him!? Motels?! You get so startled we normally have to leave after two hours of sleep!" Twigleg demanded and Damian just looked slowly pulled off the side of the road they were on. Turning around to Twigleg, he looked over at Ben and licked his lips nervously.
"...I know a place...And you know this place as well..."
Barnabas Greenbloom chuckled as he watched his three-year-old son, Jackson, eating his cereal sloppily with his spoon. The little tyke had his bright red hair and blue eyes. Still, looking into Jackson's eyes reminded Barnabas of Ben sometimes. in fact, a lot of things reminded all of the Greenblooms of their missing family member. Waking up to the voicemail was the most devastating thing they all heard. Of course, Atticus practically kicked their door down the next day with Oliver in tow.
Oliver Pearson, Ben's biological father, the poor man looked beyond guilty. The two of them explained what had happened, why Atticus went missing for a few days and why Oliver had to leave Ben alone for a few hours. It was all a set up for someone to take Ben and run, and this time, Ben wasn't taken against his will, Ben willingly went with whoever this mastermind was.
That was three years ago. No calls from Ben, except for the one, nothing. Still, they continued to move on,
Guinevere moved on to college, thankfully the one in town close to them so she didn't need to live in a dorm. Barnabas and Vita both retired from their jobs and were now raising Jackson, the youngest Greenbloom. Atticus searched for a while, but eventually went back to Ireland to be with his family, he'll call from time to time. They dropped contact with Oliver, last they heard about him was that he was rehiring his old Private investigator to see if he could see who sent the two goons to his loft.
Today was an average slow day, Guinevere was sitting at the breakfast table reading her academic books while eating some breakfast, Vita and Barnabas were both reading the newspaper and Jackson was still eating his cereal. Jackson was making some random noises as he ate, aside from that it was a quiet morning.
That quietness didn't last as the sound of someone banging as hard as they could on their door.
"What the hell." Guinevere jumped as she shut her book. Barnabas stood from his seat and walked over to the door, Guinevere right behind him, most likely just curious. Barnabas grasped the handle and opened his door. His eyes suddenly widened at the sight before him.
There was a teenager at his door, the teen had faded blue hair tied back into a ponytail. That's not what caused his reaction, it was Ben slumped over the guy's shoulder, his right arm and back burned horribly as he was clearly unconscious. Both Barnabas and Guinevere stood there, so stunned they couldn't say anything. The teenager was the first one to break the silence,
"Well...Are you going to let us in, or are you going to let Ben slowly die?"