"Owww...my back..." Rayne moaned as she popped some pain killers into her mouth and sipped her energy drink "Tseng is so gonna pay for this..."
"Pay for what Pequena?"
Rayne slowly raised her head and glanced towards the lounge door. "Shutup and leave me alone you slave driver..." she mumbled, before laying her head back down and closing her eyes.
"Poor Kitty.." Reno whispered, stroking Raynes long dark hair "Shes had a rough day."
"Yes well, get used to it." Tseng replied, taking a seat across from his friends "Turk trainig is like that. She can't expect me to go easy on her all the time."
Rayne grumbled incoherently into the table top. It sounded something like, "Quiet slut."
"Heh.." Tseng chuckled slightly and patted Raynes head. "Whats wrong Pequena?" he asked mockingly "I'm not that hard on you, am I?"
"Mmmmmm....." Rayne growled and covered her head with her arms.
"Hey." Jade called from the doorway "One of you guys wanna come help me? The copy machine is broken again."
"Did you try kicking it?" Reno asked "That usually does the trick."
"I tried that." Jade replied "It didn't work. I think the storm shorted something out."
"I'll look at it..." Rude said as he stood up and followed Jade out of the lounge.
"Arigatou Rude-san." Jade smiled, leading her friend down the hall towards the copy room. "I don't know whats wrong with it." she told him "It was working fine this morning." The two of them entered the small copy room and headed over to a far corner to examine the unworking machine.
"Its probably the wiring.." Rude said, taking the front cover off the copier "If thats the case.... we'll have to go down and check the circut breakers."
"You mean down in the basement?" Jade blinked "Its creepy down there.... especially with all of dads....things...locked up down in the lab."
Rude looked up and blinked at Jade over the top of his sunglasses. "I'd think you'd be used to it down there." he said "What are you so afraid of?"
"Have you heard the sounds that come from that lab?" Jade asked "Thats scary shit. Oh sure, I go down there on occasion, but I always try to get out as soon as possible. And the basment is dark, and musty... who knows what might be hiding down there...in the dark..."
"........" Rude placed the cover back on the machine and stood up. "Its got to be the breaker." he said, more to himself than Jade "One of us better check it out..... before it shorts out the whole building...." He grabbed a flashlight from a nearby storage shelf and headed out of the room.
"Hey wait up!" Jade called, hurrying after her friend "I'm coming too."
Rude glanced down at her with a slight smile. "What happend to being scared?" he asked.
"Well someone has to go along and make sure its safe." Jade replied "Who knows what you might run into down there. I'm just going along so I can protect you... wouldn't want anything to happen to ya Rude-san."
"Riiight......."
*********************************
Hojo clasped his arms neatly behind his back as he made his way towards the stairs. It was true, the file he had been searching for was of no major importance at the moment. But he still needed to find it. He couldn't afford for it to fall into the wrong hands. Someone might try to stop his expirment, and he just couldn't have that, could he? The sound of voices caused the man to look up in time to see Jade and Rude walking towards him.
"Hiya papa-san." Jade smiled cheerily "Did ya find that thing you were looking for?"
"Unfortunately no." Hojo replied. He nodded in Rudes general direction, then turned his attention back to Jade. "And where are you off to dear child?"
"Rude and I are goind down to check out the circut breakers."
"Ah..." Hojo nodded "Very well then." he waved the two of them away and continued down the hall. "Stay out of my lab." he called over his shoulder.
"Don't worry we will." Jade called back. She turned around and followed Rude down the stairs. "Do you even know how to fix a blown fuse?" she asked "You don't look very mechanically inclined."
"Whats that supposed to mean?" Rude asked.
"Oh nothing..."
The basment was just as Jade had described it, dark and musty. Huge steel pipes ran along the enitre length of the ceiling, each darting off in different directions like a giant metal spider web. The walls and floor were constructed out of thick cement, and covered with hard water stains. The only sounds in that huge emptiness were Jades high heels clicking on the hard floor, and the occasional hum of a distant generator. "Told you this place was creepy..." Jade whispered, as if the very walls could hear her.
It didn't take them long to locate the breaker they were looking for, and Rude quickly got to work fiddling with the fuses. "Hmmmm....." he sighed, pushing his sunglasses up in order to get a better look at the blown fuse "This shouldn't be too hard...."
"Try to be quick about it.." Jade whispered, her eyes darting nervously around the darkness "This place gives me the heebie jeebies."
"You didn't have to come down here.." Rude told her.
"I know, but someone has to look after you."
"Of course...." Rude smiled at the girl out of the corner of his eye, then went back to checking out the breaker box. Within a few minutes he had changed the fuse, and was going about checking the rest of them. Just as he was about to turn the main power switch back on, a shower of sparks flew from the box, causing the two friends to jump back in alarm. A loud popping sound followed, then another, and another, as the overhead lights went out one by one. ".......!!" Rude stared up at the ceiling in shock.
"What the hell did you do?!" Jade cried "You're supposed to fix it, not make it worse!"
"Don't ask me." Rude replied with a shrug "I'm not mechanically inclined, remember?"
"Well this is just great!" Jade exclaimed, stomping her foot "I bet the powers out all over the building. Gee, nice going Rude!"
".........."
"I should've asked Cait to help me." Jade continued complaining "He knows more about the power than you do. But noooo, I let you do it. And now look whats happend. Serves me right for letting a Turk change a fuse..."
Rude crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to the girl rant. He was about to say something, when a low moan sounded from down the dark corridor. At first the Turk thought it was just his imagination, Jade apparently hadn't heard it, for she kept right on complaining. Rude listented intently for the sound again. Sure enough he heard it, this time a little louder than before.
"And another thing!" Jade went on "Why can't men do anything right! You guys mess up everything, why I..."
"Shhhhh!" Rude put his hand up to silence her "Be quiet for a sec..."
"What?" Jade asked fearfully, glancing around the hallway "What is it?"
"I thought I heard something..... there, hear it?"
Jade held her breath and listened for whatever Rude had heard. Once again, a low moan echoed down the hall, causing Jade to release her breath in a silent gasp. "Its coming from the lab..." she whispered.
"What is that?" Rude asked "It..... it almost sounds human...."
"Rude...." Jade reached out and tugged on her friends sleeve "Can we go now? Please, I wanna go back upstairs."
Rude glanced down at the young girl, fear was written across her pretty face. "Alright..." he said "Lets go.."
*********************************
The moan seemed to get louder as the two friends passed by the lab. Jade grabbed Rudes arm in fear and he squeezed her hand. "Theres nothing to be afraid of." he told her "Whatever it is, its in there.....locked up in some cage."
"Yeah... I guess so.." Jade sighed a bit and released her grip on the Turks arm "It just sounded so.... unnatural.."
Inside the lab, the moans were much louder. They were coming from the cage Hojo had kicked earlier. A dark, distorded shape moved around in the back of the large steel cage. Whatever it was, it was big. Big enough to rattle the entire prison as it moved. With a loud cry, the creature in the cage began to shake its metal confinement. The steel bars creaked as they bent under the extreme pressure. SNAP! One of the bars broke in two. SNAP! Then another, and another. Whatever was in that cage wanted out. And it was about to get its freedom...
"Pay for what Pequena?"
Rayne slowly raised her head and glanced towards the lounge door. "Shutup and leave me alone you slave driver..." she mumbled, before laying her head back down and closing her eyes.
"Poor Kitty.." Reno whispered, stroking Raynes long dark hair "Shes had a rough day."
"Yes well, get used to it." Tseng replied, taking a seat across from his friends "Turk trainig is like that. She can't expect me to go easy on her all the time."
Rayne grumbled incoherently into the table top. It sounded something like, "Quiet slut."
"Heh.." Tseng chuckled slightly and patted Raynes head. "Whats wrong Pequena?" he asked mockingly "I'm not that hard on you, am I?"
"Mmmmmm....." Rayne growled and covered her head with her arms.
"Hey." Jade called from the doorway "One of you guys wanna come help me? The copy machine is broken again."
"Did you try kicking it?" Reno asked "That usually does the trick."
"I tried that." Jade replied "It didn't work. I think the storm shorted something out."
"I'll look at it..." Rude said as he stood up and followed Jade out of the lounge.
"Arigatou Rude-san." Jade smiled, leading her friend down the hall towards the copy room. "I don't know whats wrong with it." she told him "It was working fine this morning." The two of them entered the small copy room and headed over to a far corner to examine the unworking machine.
"Its probably the wiring.." Rude said, taking the front cover off the copier "If thats the case.... we'll have to go down and check the circut breakers."
"You mean down in the basement?" Jade blinked "Its creepy down there.... especially with all of dads....things...locked up down in the lab."
Rude looked up and blinked at Jade over the top of his sunglasses. "I'd think you'd be used to it down there." he said "What are you so afraid of?"
"Have you heard the sounds that come from that lab?" Jade asked "Thats scary shit. Oh sure, I go down there on occasion, but I always try to get out as soon as possible. And the basment is dark, and musty... who knows what might be hiding down there...in the dark..."
"........" Rude placed the cover back on the machine and stood up. "Its got to be the breaker." he said, more to himself than Jade "One of us better check it out..... before it shorts out the whole building...." He grabbed a flashlight from a nearby storage shelf and headed out of the room.
"Hey wait up!" Jade called, hurrying after her friend "I'm coming too."
Rude glanced down at her with a slight smile. "What happend to being scared?" he asked.
"Well someone has to go along and make sure its safe." Jade replied "Who knows what you might run into down there. I'm just going along so I can protect you... wouldn't want anything to happen to ya Rude-san."
"Riiight......."
*********************************
Hojo clasped his arms neatly behind his back as he made his way towards the stairs. It was true, the file he had been searching for was of no major importance at the moment. But he still needed to find it. He couldn't afford for it to fall into the wrong hands. Someone might try to stop his expirment, and he just couldn't have that, could he? The sound of voices caused the man to look up in time to see Jade and Rude walking towards him.
"Hiya papa-san." Jade smiled cheerily "Did ya find that thing you were looking for?"
"Unfortunately no." Hojo replied. He nodded in Rudes general direction, then turned his attention back to Jade. "And where are you off to dear child?"
"Rude and I are goind down to check out the circut breakers."
"Ah..." Hojo nodded "Very well then." he waved the two of them away and continued down the hall. "Stay out of my lab." he called over his shoulder.
"Don't worry we will." Jade called back. She turned around and followed Rude down the stairs. "Do you even know how to fix a blown fuse?" she asked "You don't look very mechanically inclined."
"Whats that supposed to mean?" Rude asked.
"Oh nothing..."
The basment was just as Jade had described it, dark and musty. Huge steel pipes ran along the enitre length of the ceiling, each darting off in different directions like a giant metal spider web. The walls and floor were constructed out of thick cement, and covered with hard water stains. The only sounds in that huge emptiness were Jades high heels clicking on the hard floor, and the occasional hum of a distant generator. "Told you this place was creepy..." Jade whispered, as if the very walls could hear her.
It didn't take them long to locate the breaker they were looking for, and Rude quickly got to work fiddling with the fuses. "Hmmmm....." he sighed, pushing his sunglasses up in order to get a better look at the blown fuse "This shouldn't be too hard...."
"Try to be quick about it.." Jade whispered, her eyes darting nervously around the darkness "This place gives me the heebie jeebies."
"You didn't have to come down here.." Rude told her.
"I know, but someone has to look after you."
"Of course...." Rude smiled at the girl out of the corner of his eye, then went back to checking out the breaker box. Within a few minutes he had changed the fuse, and was going about checking the rest of them. Just as he was about to turn the main power switch back on, a shower of sparks flew from the box, causing the two friends to jump back in alarm. A loud popping sound followed, then another, and another, as the overhead lights went out one by one. ".......!!" Rude stared up at the ceiling in shock.
"What the hell did you do?!" Jade cried "You're supposed to fix it, not make it worse!"
"Don't ask me." Rude replied with a shrug "I'm not mechanically inclined, remember?"
"Well this is just great!" Jade exclaimed, stomping her foot "I bet the powers out all over the building. Gee, nice going Rude!"
".........."
"I should've asked Cait to help me." Jade continued complaining "He knows more about the power than you do. But noooo, I let you do it. And now look whats happend. Serves me right for letting a Turk change a fuse..."
Rude crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to the girl rant. He was about to say something, when a low moan sounded from down the dark corridor. At first the Turk thought it was just his imagination, Jade apparently hadn't heard it, for she kept right on complaining. Rude listented intently for the sound again. Sure enough he heard it, this time a little louder than before.
"And another thing!" Jade went on "Why can't men do anything right! You guys mess up everything, why I..."
"Shhhhh!" Rude put his hand up to silence her "Be quiet for a sec..."
"What?" Jade asked fearfully, glancing around the hallway "What is it?"
"I thought I heard something..... there, hear it?"
Jade held her breath and listened for whatever Rude had heard. Once again, a low moan echoed down the hall, causing Jade to release her breath in a silent gasp. "Its coming from the lab..." she whispered.
"What is that?" Rude asked "It..... it almost sounds human...."
"Rude...." Jade reached out and tugged on her friends sleeve "Can we go now? Please, I wanna go back upstairs."
Rude glanced down at the young girl, fear was written across her pretty face. "Alright..." he said "Lets go.."
*********************************
The moan seemed to get louder as the two friends passed by the lab. Jade grabbed Rudes arm in fear and he squeezed her hand. "Theres nothing to be afraid of." he told her "Whatever it is, its in there.....locked up in some cage."
"Yeah... I guess so.." Jade sighed a bit and released her grip on the Turks arm "It just sounded so.... unnatural.."
Inside the lab, the moans were much louder. They were coming from the cage Hojo had kicked earlier. A dark, distorded shape moved around in the back of the large steel cage. Whatever it was, it was big. Big enough to rattle the entire prison as it moved. With a loud cry, the creature in the cage began to shake its metal confinement. The steel bars creaked as they bent under the extreme pressure. SNAP! One of the bars broke in two. SNAP! Then another, and another. Whatever was in that cage wanted out. And it was about to get its freedom...