And the winner is Soul Burst! While I don't think it was the best option myself, I was personally leaning towards Scythe by the end of the two week period, but here you, the fanatics, are the boss. You may notice an oddity in today's chapter name and number. If you can figure it out and tell me in your review, you get a cookie. Finally, last chapters title comes from the song "What I've Done" by Linkin Park, with the albums from a few chapters ago belonged to Metallica, Audioslave, and Disturbed respectively.


Chapter VIII-I

But He Made it Out…

"Well, Jared, I must say that you are quite exceptional," my visitor said as he dismissed the guards.

I could not have been more frustrated. My father was dead, they accused me of killing him, and the man who actually DID do it was standing right in front of me, with a smug grin all over his face. I wanted to widen it from ear to fucking ear. "You must have destroyed about a million of your dollars worth of property, and incapacitated around a hundred men before they caught you, collapsed in the middle of the street. I can't say I'm not impressed.

"You're very lucky, you know. If everything had gone as planned, you would be dead already. You'd earned some sympathy from the court with that escape attempt. As it is, your execution will take place in three days. I figured you might want to know the name of the man who put you into this situation, so I'll tell you.

"My name is Myles Shatner," he said as he turned his back to leave.

Damnit, I thought as the door slammed shut. So that's what Dad meant.

---^v---

He awoke after the trial, and he was confused as a sperm whale suddenly coming into existence over the surface of a strange planet. How had his prisoner escaped? All he remembered was someone screaming, and then collapsing to the ground. The captain of the medical squad walked in a few minutes after he woke up. Ironically, this man's name was Mark Restore.

"Ah, Aaron, you're awake. I was beginning to worry about you. You've been unconscious for almost a week.

"You'll be glad to know that Jared was indeed captured, found also unconscious not far from the scene of his escape. His trial was three days ago, and the verdict was ruled guilty. Your money should-"

"He's innocent." Aaron said simply, sharply interrupting the doctor's train of thought. He didn't know how he knew. He just did.

The confused man was, well, confused. "What was that?" he asked.

Realizing that no one was going to believe him (The verdict WAS guilty, after all) Aaron decided to change the topic of conversation.

"Where do they keep the prisoners' weapons?"

---^v---

As I heard the door open, I was expecting a servant or something to walk up to the bars of the cell in which they were holding me. Maybe they were just going to give me some food before my impending execution.

Never in my life was I more glad to be wrong. After all, I was the kind of guy who prided myself in being RIGHT all the time. Standing at the door of my cell was Amelia Rayne. And somehow, she had the key to my cell.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my mother silenced me with a look. I now understood that stealth was key, and followed her silently through the hallway, and out a nearby window.


He may have grown up from a small purple button to a big gray one, but he's still your friend! Review!