"Hmm, well that was pretty easy," Virgil said as they paused momentarily to catch their breaths, "I thought Mercy would be better at babysitting."

"Or maybe she figured we're good little kids that wouldn't take Lex Luthor for granted," Eduardo shrugged while taking another deep breath, "Either way, she's knock out or powered down or whatever she is on that couch and will be for the next hour or two. Gives us some time to look around."

"Yeah…about that," Tye took a look around the hallway, rubbing at the back of his neck, "Just what are we looking for?"

"No idea," Virgil replied, "I just wanted to find the kitchen. There has got to more of those chocolate pudding cups in there."

"Really? We escaped our room for pudding cups?" Eduardo sighed, leaning against the wall, "Shouldn't we look around for something - yo no se - cooler than that?"

"Those pudding cups were pretty good," Tye admitted, "What do you think, Sam?"

Their fourth member was staring at the floor, off in her own little world while the three boys rattled on. At the sound of her name, she looked up and gave Tye a quick smile, "Sound good!"

Despite not understanding the question, Tye still nodded and returned the smile, muttering something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'cute.'

"Okay, okay," Virgil steadied himself, feeling a little antsy given the fact they had been outside in the hall for the last five minutes. If they didn't move soon, someone was bound to find them, "Let's just take a look around and if we don't find anything interesting in the next half hour, we'll scram towards the kitchen, grab the pudding cups, and get back into our little prison cell."

"Alright," Eduardo nodded, "It's bueno."

"What he said," Tye said, waving for Asami to come along, "Time to go, Sam."

The first twenty minutes of their search was uneventful. They tried to go through multiple doors, but they were either locked or led to broom closets. The kitchen and the scrumptious pudding cups were on the first floor and each runaway filled their pockets with four or five of their favorite variety (Tye noted Asami really liked the tapioca) before Eduardo opened what should have been another storage room.

"Huh, that's weird," he quirked an eyebrow, looking down at a set of stairs that led downward.

"Oh, sweet, secret staircase!" Virgil exclaimed through a mouth full of chocolate pudding, "I've always wanted to find one of those."

"Should we go down?" Tye asked, "It's pretty dark…"

"Oh don't tell me you're scared," Eduardo snickered, poking him in the ribs, "Afraid we might meet a horde of zombies?"

"No," Tye defended, "I just don't care for the dark anymore."

Eduardo went silent, fully realizing what he meant. He looked away, lost in his own memories of the night he was taken. Virgil eyed them both before wrapping his arms around their shoulders.

"Hey guys, it's fine," Virgil softly smiled, nudging his head towards the staircase, "We all have ways of lighting up the place. But I'm sure my electricity will be enough. And if someone gets too spooked, we'll come back up, no questions asked. Got it?"

Both boys nodded while Asami took their hands, urging them on, "Let's go, let's go!"

The four of them soon broke away from one another and quietly entered the staircase. Asami wedged a chair in-between the door and the wall while Virgil snapped his finger tips and lit up the hall with electric-blue sparks. Nothing was out of the ordinary - just your average basement staircase with your average basement walls. The four of them figured it might just be a bomb shelter or a room for emergency provisions. Lex Luthor might be suspicious, but even he wouldn't have some mystery science project locked up with the threat of a bunch of runaway teens discovering it.

Then again, he had picked Mercy, his right hand woman, to babysit them.

When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Virgil brightened his electric currents, helping illuminate the room. To the right was a bunch of scrap metal and discarded militia equipment, varying from experimental guns to riot shields. On the left were rows of boxes labeled with an assortment of non-perishable foods. Everything they expected, except…

"Huh, wonder where this door leads," Virgil walked towards the steel door in front of them, about to turn the knob and push it open -

"Luthor?" something yelled from the other side, banging into the door. Virgil yelped, the sparks in his hand going out momentarily, "Is that you? I've been stuck down here for three days, Lexy with nothing to do but watch you prattle on TV about a bunch of teen strays. If they aren't for me to play with later on, I really see no point in keeping them around."

"Oh man, who is that?" Eduardo's voice shook, taking a step back, "It…it doesn't sound too human."

"Oh wait…" the voice from behind the door paused for a second. Then, a deep, booming laugh vibrated throughout the room, "It is the strays! Well whattaya know, I didn't think I meet the little meatbags so soon! Come to get a look at your old Uncle Corben, did you? C'mon, little Static over there, open the door! You're in for a real treat!"

"He can see us," Tye gulped, grabbing a hold of the equally frightened Asami and stepping in front of her, "He can see us, bro. We have to go. Now."

"Oh, don't leave," the voice taunted, "We're just getting started. Open the door, boy. Open the door!"

Another loud bang hit the door and a green, florescent light could be seen from the cracks. The bangs continued and the voice's laughter and pleas became almost manic.

"Ed!" Virgil screeched, scrambling towards his friends, "Get us out of here!"

"But, I can't - " his protest was interrupted by another barrage of hits to the door, his eyes widening when it seemed the steel door started to unhinge.

"Just you wait, boys and girl," he sneered, "Just wait until I get my hands on you. Lex will think twice to forget about his last project."

"Ed-kun!" Asami exclaimed, holding onto his arm tightly, "Shite kudasai!"

Eduardo gulped before taking a hold of his friends and shutting his eyes, envisioning the kitchen above, "Everyone, hold on!"

A warm gold light enveloped them and a second later, their heads were pounding and their bodies were slouched against white tiles.

"Shut that door," Virgil managed to choke out, looking to Tye who happened to be the closest.

Tye nodded, wincing at the throbbing pain coursing through his veins. His fingers swatted at the chair and the door closed with a resounding click. Turning the lock, he let out a shaky breath and collapsed onto the floor with the rest of his friends.

"We need to get to the room," Eduardo said as he slowly stood up, "Now."

"Yeah, yeah," Virgil nodded, taking Eduardo's hand and allowing himself to be lifted off the floor.

"Mata to nai," Asami whispered near the sink, rubbing water all over her face, "Mata to nai…"

"You said it Sam," Tye agreed with whatever she said, letting her use his shoulder for support as they stumbled out of the kitchen, "Let's just go up stairs and watch some TV."

The four of them stood up for the rest of the night, unsure of what to make of the voice that still laughed and banged at the door it could never open. Just what had it meant by "project?"

And, in the far corners of their mind, they wondered if they could end up just like it.