Thou fill'st from the
wingèd chalice of the soul
Thy lamp, O Memory,
fire-wingèd to its goal.
Cadmus Labs
July 4, 15:12 EDT
Finally, she got out. If she had realized how hard it would be escaping well. . . well, she still would have gone through with it anyway, now wouldn't she? Despite having apparently been laying down for years, her legs felt healthy. In fact, while vaguely aware the muscles should be atrophied, they were strong. The smooth skin of her thighs and arms were hiding athletic power.
She pushed the questions aside, at this point she was just grateful for the extra power as she pumped her legs harder on the flesh-like floors. In fact, the floors, walls and ceiling resembled tissue. Bulging sacs hung off the walls like hazardous tumors. Running past, you would only see dark splotches on the inside.
The girls legs slowed as she reached the end of the hallway she had been running down. She hadn't really planned this whole escaping thing very well at all. Without any knowledge of the layout, the way out seemed out of her grasp. As the opening came closer to her view, she cautiously looked with only one eye peeping out.
As she had feared, there was something there. A humanoid form with two long horns that were glowing red. A Genomorph. Dubbilex was its name, she remembered a scientist talking to him once, when she was half-conscious as the drugs were flushing from her system. The drugs they injected into her left her sleeping most of the time, but once they ran out or they had to switch to different experimental drugs she awoke long enough to regain most of her senses. Today they were supposed to be changed again, but something had kept the lab-coats distracted.
For some reason, the G-goblin was throwing barrels across the room. As she looked farther she saw three rather strange people. Two of them were masked, one in black, the other in yellow, while the third's face was freely showing. The bizarre outfits brought one word up to her mind. Heroes. The starting fight abruptly ended as the three ran down another hallway.
Is that the way out?
Unfortunately, she could not follow because as misfortune would have it Desmond came huffing to Dubbilex at that very moment. Everyone's attention was on the boys, thankfully. There may still be a chance for escape. From her position, she could clearly make out Dr. Desmond's growling voice.
"They're still in there with the weapon? Use your telekinesis!"
"I have tried to no avail," Dubbilex replied calmly.
"Useless! This is a debacle. Get some g-trolls down here to muscle open the door now!"
Another person answered the mad doctor, but the girl did not wait around to listen. The way was open for now. If she hurried, she might just make it. While she could not follow where the intruders went, she wasn't sure she wanted to now. It appeared that it was a dead end, the way Desmond and his lackeys were determined to get in there. But if she followed where the boys came out at, then maybe. . .
Well, only one way to find out.
Her assumptions were right. Down the next artery were elevator doors. While she may be stronger than she would have guessed, no way would she be able to pry open the doors. One the good side, there was a button. On the bad side, you needed a pass. Getting one would be a major problem, and she doubted there was a staircase nearby. She backed into a corner that was darker than the rest and thought over her options.
1.) Find a way to nick Desmond's security pass. (Or any other person with clearance)
2.) Go back to her prison of a room and wait out the rest of her life with whatever plan they had for her.
3.) Wait until somebody else opens the elevator and slip inside and have a greater risk of getting caught.
Or. . . she felt like slapping her stupid head back into place. The scientists she attacked to escape were still in her room swimming the depths of unconsciousness. They would have a pass. The only problem was getting there and back without being seen. She could do it, she was sure, it definitely wasn't the hardest thing she'd done today.
Creeping back to the crossroads, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief to see that no-one was there. Subconsciously, she traveled in the exact same steps as before until she came to the room she had been stuck in for years. The two labbies were still sleeping on the floor. They were started to come to. If they woke up now, then all her hard work would be for nothing. On impulse, she destroyed the computers, phone and whatever else might be used to call for help.
Digging into their pockets without further delay she withdrew her salvation; a plastic card. She looked around the room quickly. Everything was clean and smelled of antiseptic, a smell she was more than used to by now. Bags of toxic yellow drugs lay on the floor with the scientists. Thank goodness for the intruders, she thought with relief. If they were about to give her that poison she would have been in pain for days. Had she a gun during one of those days, she would already be in a body bag with a bullet lodged in her brain.
With a certain satisfaction she threw the bags in the trash, right where she believed they belonged. Without a second glance behind her she threw open the door and left.
Once more, she was traveling down the flesh-like hallway that connected with a bigger one, which in turn led to the intersection. As she emerged from the small opening she ran face-first into someone, falling onto the somewhat cushioned floor. She could feel her heart jump in panic as she looked up. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Desmond or a Genomorph. It was a boy, a boy in a white body suit. On it was a red 'S' and on his shoulder a G-gnome.
She knew that symbol, the G-gnomes taught it to her. Superman. It was funny, the girl always thought Superman was older. He never looked at her, but to give him credit he offered a hand to lift her up. As soon as she was standing upright, he continued on his way, until stopping suddenly, ripping the Genomorph off his shoulder and running back in the other direction.
Watching him go, the girl felt a tug in her gut, she had a feeling that she was running out of time. Taking advantage of the sudden energy surge she felt, she left behind all caution and sprinted in the direction of the elevator.
Her hearing was fluctuating. One moment she thought she could hear someone talking and the next she only heard her rhythmic breathing. For a second she thought Desmond was right beside her, which pushed her heart up into her throat and made her trip on her own feet. Once she recovered though and realized that the mad doctor wasn't there she continued her hurried pace.
Past the large machinery and bulbous sacs, was the metal doors of the elevator. Quickly, she pushed in the security pass and pressed the up button, but nothing happened. With a frustrated growl the girl punched the smooth doors. With a loud crunch and creak, the alloy bent and melded to the shape of her fist, leaving a small crater.
She gave a breathless laugh. The collision had not caused any pain. With this revelation she wondered if she had super-strength, it would explain the ability to move this much after years of little physical activity. But she didn't have anymore time to ponder this. With a succession of quick punches and jabs she was able to get past the door.
Below her was what seemed a never-ended corridor, the end was shrouded in darkness. Above her was much the same. Trusting her strength not to fail her, she began climbing.
Thirty stories later she was still going fairly strong, if getting a little worn down. Sweat was beginning to plaster her hair to her scalp, but she wasn't about to give up yet. Several levels below she could hear the grinding of an elevator door being ripped open, much like what she had done to hers. She was now at the opening for level 12.
Overhead, the actual elevator began descending, the noise echoing through the close space. Ramming the door open with her shoulder, the girl emerged on the other side. This floor, she noticed, was strangely empty. Not that she was going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If anything, everyone was most likely trying to take care of the three teenaged intruders.
Before long, she was able to find the entrance to the staircase. Running up two at a time it still seemed to take too long to get to the top. With a final burst of speed and strength, she pushed past the door labeled, '1'. . . only to be thrown upwards by something breaking through underneath her.
"Aaahh!" A startled yell broke past her lips. A grunt and a hiss of pain soon followed once she landed back on the floor.
Well, that answered the question of where the three boys were at. Except that there were four now. The young Superman was with them, that must have been where he ran to earlier.
The one in the black domino mask and cape ran over to the fallen girl.
"You should get out of here," he said. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes," she answered. She hadn't spoken in a long time. Speaking felt weird, she decided. "Who are you?"
"Name's Robin," the boy replied hastily, he kept glancing at the others and keeping tabs on the fight. "What's yours?"
"Olivia."
"Well, get out of here Olivia, it's dangerous." With those words he left and joined into the fight, which was looking very one-sided. Whatever creature they were battling, it didn't seem they were causing much of an affect.
"Well, get out of here Olivia, it's dangerous." With those words he left and joined into the fight, which was looking very one-sided. Whatever creature they were battling, it didn't seem they were causing much of an affect.
Getting up onto her feet seemed to be pointless nevertheless as the gray monster threw the young Superman again right on top of Olivia. With a not so gentle push, the Superman in White got out from underneath the girl and charged at the beast again with a deafening roar. She nervously watched as the four costumed boys fought. Each one had a different attack style, ones that spoke volumes about their character and personality, if one were to look. Olivia didn't. Instead, she backed towards the front doors and then stopped.
She couldn't just leave, not yet. Those three had saved her, whether they knew it or not. She had a debt to repay. But. . .what if this was her only chance to be completely free?
The debt could always be repaid later. In some way or another.
A/N: I just have a really bad time at figuring how I want to start a story. Ugh, it's tough work, writing.
If you liked this at all let me know. I won't be updating for awhile because I want to write several more chapters before posting again. I just wanted to see what kind of (or if it will get any) feedback this got, first.
Thanks if you read this and stuck through to the end, this chapter was close to 2,000 words so I know it's a bit much to start with (but hopefully you like it!)
The title of this story will make sense in later chapters, in case you might be wondering. Basically, Mnemosyne is the Greek Goddess of memory, if you were curious :) This info will come into play later.
P.S. I'm making Robin the same age as Kid Flash because. . .well because I can. . . and want to. It's just gonna make it easier i guess. I don't really need a reason.
~Piggy out