Ch 2

A never ending darkness surrounded Alex, making her truly believe this was death. Nothing but an infinite black void.

But... how did that explain the portal? She saw the guards being sucked into the anomaly; saw the ground tearing and her shackles breaking free from their post. And the feeling of drowning... what had happened? Was that death? Reincarnation?

It seemed an eternity before Alex could open her eyes, as the heavy weights of her eyelids relinquished and she gave way to the light. She found herself staring at a wooden ceiling, lying in a soft plush mattress. What the... where... am I dead? Shakily, Alex began to sit up on the bed and look at her surroundings. She was in a small, but tidy room, and though it merely contained a dresser, a vanity set, a couple of chairs, and the bed she was sitting on, it made Alex feel at home.

As she hesitantly stood up, Alex wondered if this was even her body; perhaps... she had been reborn. She went to the vanity mirror and gazed at the face that looked... exactly the same. "Either I was reborn as my clone, or I haven't been reborn," Alex thought aloud. Perhaps this was all a dream, or...

She ran to the single window to find herself staring at a mass of blue. She was on a ship, heading God knows where, and her captors...

What kind of sick torture would she be subjected to if they were delivering her to the capital; to...

Alex's scar hurt at the idea of being face to face with that creep of a leader. And if he wanted revenge on her for last time and for her stunt at the trial with the heroics...Alex shuddered at the very thought of what would be in store.

"I got to leave. Now."

Alex rushed to the door, trying to formulate what she should do to subdue the guard, when she heard the sound of approaching voices. She stopped dead in her tracks, and rushed back to the bed, lying down in her same position just as the doors opened.

"I don't get why I have to take your shift, it's not like you have anything important to do."

"Yea, but I promised Lloyd I'd show him a thing or two in a match of Fist to Face 2, plus Nya and I..."

"Forget it. I don't want you pulling my ear off with excuses, just stay away from my sister, motor mouth."

"Thanks, Kai! Owe you one!"

"Yea, which is why you'll be the first one to try Cole's chili tonight."

Before the guard with the obnoxious voice could retort, the one with the sarcastic tone slammed the door shut, sighing out loud to himself as he pulled up a chair and sat.

Alex tried to act asleep, but her mind was filled with question, one being, Since when do neosapien guards act so stupid and childish, especially over guarding a prisoner? Well perhaps she'd figure it out or perhaps not, but currently, all Alex was concerned with was escaping.

She began to formulate a plan, but it was hard when the sarcastically spoken guard kept making laser noises and commenting about his looks. Narcissistic much? Alex thought as she brought into mind the fact that there was a chair right next to her.

After about an hour of planning, Alex was ready. She cracked open one eye to find the guard, who had his back to her and was hunched over...a portable video game? Who hired these guys? Alex wondered as she began to slowly stand, reaching her hands towards the chair by the bedside. She began carefully making her way to the hunched guard, who was still oblivious to her presence.

He had little time to react as Alex slammed the chair down on his back, knocking him to the ground with a thud. With the guard disoriented at the moment, Alex quickly thrusted the door open and sped down the hallway. She used her senses to find a trace of salty air, and quickly headed in its direction.

She was almost home free until she heard a cluster of voices from a nearby room. She skidded to a halt, squeaking on the wooden floorboards. Alex inwardly cringed as she heard the noises stop and footsteps coming closer to the hallway.

The figure walked out, clad in a blue pajama like outfit, and looked towards the exit, before turning towards Alex. However, he did not have the ability to react quickly enough as Alex punched him hard in the gut. With a squeak, he fell to the ground, and before any of the others in the adjacent room came out to inspect, Alex dashed for the exit, running out into the bright sunny day.

She glanced at her surroundings, searching for any means of escape, but there were no lifeboats; only this ship and the open sea. Alex felt trapped, her plan crumbling as she looked around, and tried to think of another way of egress. But her train of thought was cut short as she heard a commotion coming from downstairs, and Alex now had to search for a hiding place before continuing her new plan. After scanning the ship, she decided to run to the end of the ship, where two flame shaped designs jutted outwards away from the deck. Alex hurriedly climbed up to the highest point on deck, and leaped to the structures, climbing to a certain point where she believed she'd be safe.

As she heard voices clamoring on deck, Alex tried to formulate a new plan of escape. She could try swimming to shore, but she couldn't determine how far it would take to reach land, and who knew what lay in the depths below. Hiding would not be an option unless the guards believed she was dead, and Alex wasn't sure she'd be so lucky to avoid capture a second time. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Alex tried to think of any other possible option.

"There!"

Alex lost her train of thought as she looked back to the ship to find that the guard she had punched in the gut had located her whereabouts. Before she knew it, three more had joined him, and were now looking in her direction.

As one of them began to step forward she yelled out a warning, "Stay back! I'm warning you! I will jump!"

The guard, dressed in black, stopped moving, and replied, "Come down from there. We can talk this over."

"After she apologizes for knocking me with a chair!" the sarcastic guard, dressed in red, growled out.

Ignoring the one in red, Alex yelled back, "I am not going to let myself get tortured again. Do you think I'm stupid or something? Because I'm human? Well tough luck, I'm one smart chick that you underestimated, so good luck trying to earn your boss's favor, assholes!"

"Will you just come down already?" the one in black said, "We're not going to give you to any boss and we're not going to torture you."

"Yea, like I've never heard that one before! Well too bad, whatever you want me for is going to have to be delayed, so good luck scouring the ocean for me, dumbass!" Alex doubted she'd escape, but the least she could do was taunt. Now that she noticed, she was beginning to slip.

The bickering went back and forth, with the black garbed guard repeating his message, and with Alex retorting with insults, until a new voice spoke up.

"Please stop this. We promise no harm will come to you."

This came from the silent guard in white, who began to walk over to where Alex was hanging.

"Stay away from me! I will jump!"

"Do you trust me?"

The words caught Alex by surprise, "Should I?"

"Yes, because I swear on my honor that no harm will come to you on this ship."

The one in red was about to retort, but the one in black elbowed him.

The white one repeated, "Please, will you come back here?"

Alex was stunned at his soft tone and calm attitude. He wasn't like the other three, he seemed more understanding and... maybe even...trustworthy?

Alex found herself shuffling back towards the deck, and the white clad guard moved forward to help her.

She was almost there when she felt her foot slipping, and would have fallen had she not grabbed the siding with one hand, and the white one's hand with the other. Before she knew it, her helper was guiding her back towards the others, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Facing the group of four, Alex felt like saying something witty, or even thanking the guards, but no words formed in her mind.

That's when the leader in the black garb stepped up towards her, and said in a softer tone than before, "Let me take you to Sensei Wu."