Chapter 7: Lab Rats
At first it was normal, rising up as soon as they had gotten on it. The fact that it was moving in the first place was a surprise that the group decided to ignore for now. It stopped once they got to the top. Shadic was expecting it to drop, but it didn't. Instead, there was a loud ding and the back wall slid open. Beyond was a large hall, glistening white in the lights hanging from the ceiling. The group cautiously stepped into the hall and looked around.
"Where are we?" Knuckles asked.
"This is probably that demon's doing," Shadow said.
"Great. Another spooky place. What are we going to run into here?"
"By the look of things, I'd say a doctor."
"An evil doctor, no doubt," Shadic said.
Shadow laughed for a moment. "I guess it could be worse."
Shadic smiled, but then heard a voice. "So, more rats have found their way to my lab." Shadow and the others looked around, but no one was there. "I do hope you enjoy what I have set up for you."
The voice stopped.
"What does he mean by that?" Shadic asked.
"If movies are anything to go by, nothing good."
A few minutes later they came to a large room. The group looked around. Blood and bodies were everywhere, causing Shadic to gag.
"This looks right out of a movie," Shadow said.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Shadic said, and ran out of the room. The others could hear him vomiting.
"I'll see if he's going to be okay." Tails ran after Shadic.
He found the hedgehog leaning his hand against a wall, his vomit on the floor. Tails walked up to him, putting a hand on his arm.
"Hey," the fox said. "You okay?"
"I'll be okay in a minute," Shadic said.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. I was shocked too."
"Honestly, I should have anticipated something like that." Shadic groaned and kept his forehead against the wall.
"Hey, it's okay. Everyone chokes once in a while," Tails said.
"I know."
"Let's go. You won't get sick any more, will you?"
Shadic shrugged. "I'll try not to."
"Good enough for me."
They walked back to the room, and Shadow looked at his son.
"You okay, Shadic?"
"I think so."
"All right. Let's continue."
They moved farther into the room and Shadic pressed a hand to his mouth. "I can't take this," he said, feeling vomit rise in his throat. "You go on without me. I'll stay outside." The door slammed before he could leave, refusing to budge no matter how hard Shadic tried. "Oh, come on!" Shadic yelled.
"It appears that we have no choice but to continue," Shadow said.
"Damn it!"
"You'll be all right."
"I won't be all right!" Shadic yelled, motioning to the gruesome scenes. "I can't stand this kind of stuff!"
"You'll do fine if you stop yelling about it and get over here. We can and will help you through this."
Shadic sighed and walked over to his father. "Sorry."
"It's all right." Shadow pulled him forward into a hug. "Just try to remember that we're here for you. You're not alone in here."
They continued on, each room more gruesome than the last. Many times, Shadic got sick and vomited, but his friends were there for him.
"I hope there's an end to this soon," Silver said. "I'm not sure how much more of it I can take."
A voice spoke up. "How are you liking my home?"
"It's...gory," Shadic said. "Where are you?"
A laugh sounded over the speakers and doors opened in front of them. "Keep going and you might find me."
Everyone hesitated and stepped into the next room. There wasn't much of anything different there. The lack of gore was nice, as was the lack of anything overly creepy. It looked like the room you would expect in a scientist's lab. Shadow walked around looking at everything before stopping in front of the containment tanks on the far wall. Looking in the water, he started shaking. His heart was racing, pounding loud in his ears as he was rooted to the spot.
"What is it, dad?" Shadic asked.
"I'm fine," Shadow said. "There's no reason for me to..." He shut up, stepping away from the tank as he breathed. Calming down was the best course of action. He wasn't in any danger, he knew that. "Let's keep going," Shadow said.
"Are you sure? You looked..." Shadic trailed off. "Okay." Shadow shook his head, and they walked into the next room. Shadic noticed a change in his father; the black hedgehog suddenly seemed distant. "Dad..." Shadic bit his lip slightly. He'd never seen Shadow like this before. "Did you see something in that tank?"
Shadow ignored him.
"He might be thinking," Silver said. "Maybe it reminded him of something?"
"Probably," Shadic told him.
The two looked back at Shadow, wondering what was wrong. Shadow pulled open one of the doors in the room and looked in before turning away in disgust. "Clearly someone here's been playing God."
"What do you mean, dad?" Shadic asked as he looked in. What he saw disgusted him.
"This could be where all those monsters are coming from."
Shadow walked into the room, moving the arm of the dead creature on the table.
"This is just sick," Shadic said, struggling to hold back vomit.
"This is a scientist," Shadow said. "One who chose to focus on organic beings rather than robotic ones."
Shadic was about to say something when something grabbed him. He yelled as he was dragged away. A laugh sounded over the speakers.
"I have your friend," the voice of the doctor said. "If you want him alive, you'll have to find me. But I must warn you...we won't be the same after experimentation! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
Shadow growled, ears flattening as he slammed his hand against the door that had closed before he could follow them. Turning back to the others, he motioned.
"Can you figure any of this out, Tails?"
"I...I don't know, Shadow," Tails said, looking at the hedgehog. He examined the dead creature. "It seems that the doctor has taken subjects and mutated them into terrifying creatures like the ones we've seen."
"I mean where he is. You're better at computers than the rest of us- see if one of them can tell you anything useful."
Tails understood and walked over to a computer, turning it on. A few minutes later, he had found the doctor's location.
"If this is correct, he's going to be two floors above us in a room at the far end of the hall." Tails looked over at Shadow. "Under the assumption that he's going to his office. If not... there are too many rooms to check together."
"Well then, let's head up to his office," Knuckles said.
They left the room, keeping themselves on edge in case anything happened. Couldn't be too careful in a place like this.
The doctor smiled wickedly as he strapped Shadic on a table in his lab. He chuckled and injected the blue hedgehog with a serum.
"I've just injected you with a transformation serum," he told Shadic. "You'll be one of my creations soon."
He walked off and Shadic began to scream in pain.
