Daniel awoke to the strong smell of disinfectant and something overwhelmingly strong. The odors were making her head spin and the lights blinked in and out of her vision like a traffic light behind her shut eyelids. After a couple of shallow breaths later, she finally got in control of herself and opened her eyes. Dim yellow lights displayed above her, casting spotlights onto the white tiled floors and ceiling. She could tell she was standing against something, for a cold wall was pressing uncomfortably against her back.

She tried to take a step forward, but was stopped to an abrupt halt. Her forearms were trapped, pinned tightly to cuffs attached to the wall.

"Oh crap…" she whispered, desperately trying to free her arms.

But Daniel heard a noise. It was coming from the opposite side of the room, a scraping sound, and was definitely coming closer. There was a moment of silence, and all Daniel could hear was the pounding of her heart.

Then three men burst into the room. Two of them were in identical clothes; all black with red bandannas tied just below their hairline and covered from head to toe. Both were pushing a fairly large table with an enclosed case on top. The last man was much more intimidating. He wore spiked armor on his shoulders, arms, matching his head gear. Its three pronged helmet gleamed from the lights above, along with the satisfactory in his rotten eye.

Without missing a beat, he strode over to Daniel, his cape fluttering ever so slightly.

"So," he said; his voice like gravel. "This is the turtle's little pet."

Daniel swallowed hard. She knew only faintly of this "terror" that the boys had mentioned a while back, but this had taken her fear to a whole new level.

The man studied her for a minute, and then turned briskly to his two companions.

Then he gave them a motion with his hand and the two men wheeled the table over to him. He deliberately opened the case and pulled something out.

Daniel's stomach did a gigantic lurch as he faced her again. In his hand was a syringe with glowing green contents.

"You see this? This is what made your turtle friends so unique." He waved it in front of her face. Daniel could now see that up close, the liquid was green and glowing, but contained pieces of blue goop, too. Mutagen.

Then he touched the tip of the needle onto her bicep, fingers ready to press down.

"What do you think? Do you think the freaks can save you now?" he demanded.

This time, it was her heart that gave a mighty lurch. She remembered their faces, their broken hearts, unbelieving eyes. The pleading and angered cries echoing inside her skull. Daniel bowed her head, tears stinging the corners of her eyes.

"No," she murmured.

He gave an odd sort of chuckle.

"Too bad."

And with that, he pressed down on the plunger.