~ 8 ~ Prison Life

I didn't know how far the chopper took us or how long I was asleep. All I knew was that I was suddenly hauled off the ground by strong hands as I felt Shorty roll off my lap and on the floor.

"Get up, kid," said a grunted voice, "we're here!"

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked up to see an ugly face glaring at me. I almost yelped and fell on my rump before the man grabbed me and shoved me towards the doorway.

"Whoa, hey! Don't I get a complementary breakfast first?" I sarcastically asked. The guy responded by shoving me to the ground.

"Did you get a good sleep?" Shung asked as he walked towards me. I glared at him for a minute before giving him a cocky grin.

"You suck," I said, getting up and dusting myself off, "you didn't leave any chocolate on our pillow like those luxury hotels Devo told me about. Hell, we don't even have any pillows, let alone a soft bed to sleep in!"

"Loaded with sarcasm, I see," Shung said, "I'm surprised your groove- tron doesn't hurl insults instead of fire. Well, I'll just make sure your room is a little more 'close to home'." He turned and left as the man grabbed me and pushed me towards the door of the chopper.

"Hey! This...thing just bit me!" one of them yelled. Shung stopped as did the man that was dragging me. I could hear him swearing under his breath.

"Well, why don't you knock that rat out like you did the girl and things would go smoothly!" Shung snarled. I then heard the sound of something hitting cotton and another man in black comes out, carrying Shorty with her mouse laying on her chest, stars circling the bump on its head, "There, now that wasn't so hard was it? Let's go."

We left the choper as I looked at this huge building that looked like a mix between a palace and a Goverment office with an "X" in the center of one of the window covered pillars. When we entered the building, the whole room went from light to dark. The lights were on, but very dim.

"Let me go! I wanna go home!" Shorty screamed as she started to wiggle and force her way out of the man's grip.

"Shut up, kid!" He snapped.

"I want Cutter! Where is he!? Where's Heat!?" she screamed. If the guy behind me didn't have a tight grip on me, I'd punch the other guy holding Shorty and get out of here. I just stood there and growled, hearing Shorty calling out Cutter and my name.

"Oh! What is it now!?" Shung snarled. He walked over to the guy carrying Shorty and grabbed her by the collar of her sweater, causing her to scream louder as he raised his hand, "You either shut up or I'll..."

"Cut it out!" I cried, "she's in a coma! Yelling at her isn't going to help!" Shung glared at me and lowered his hand, "The only way you're going to get her to shut up is if you get Cutter and bring him here...that's assuming you kidnapped him as well."

"Fine then, Einstine," Shung grumbled, "What brave soul in this building wants to go get Chef Scar Face and bring him here." The men in black began to protest.

"Oh, hell no! Last time I went there, that guy with the shades tried to turn me into swiss cheese just for fun!"

"Are you nuts!? I'm not going near that cell! It's suicide!"

"I lost my best friend to that cell!"

"ALRIGHT!!! JUST SHUT UP!!!" Shung screamed. The whole hallway was dead silent as he sighed, "There, ya see? No one wants to get near the cell our 'miracle' is in because one of our prisoners loves to torment my employees. Even my bravest and strongets men are scared of him!"

"Please tell me I have to put up with her fussin'!?" the guy carrying Shorty whined. Shung nearly blew his cork.

"You'll be the one fussin' if you don't..."

"Wait!" I yelled, causing Shung to stop before he had a chance to raise his hand, "You want her to calm down, right? I'm the only one who can do that. Let me carry her."

"What're you tryin' to pull, kid!?" the guy straining me snarled, "I bet you're usin' this as an excuse to escape. We're not fallin' for it!" the others nodded in agreement.

"You rather spend the rest of this 'trip' hearing her complain?" I was surrounded by glares. Shung slammed his fist against the wall as the sound echoed through the hallway. He grabbed Shorty and shoved her into my arms.

"I swear, you so much as look back and you'll be in the same condition your girlfriend's in!" Shung hissed.

"Heat?" Shorty mumbled. She was still unconscious and sounding worse than before.

"Take it easy, Shorty. I'm here," I said, "Don't worry. I got everything under control...I hope."

"Very touching," Shung said, desgustingly, he then grabbed my shoulder and started pushing me down the hall, "Get a move on!"

As we continued down the hallway, I looked at Shorty, who was now resting in my arms. After an hour, we stopped in the dungeon near one of the cells. Shung unlocked the prison cell and shoved me in, almost knocking Shorty out of my arms.

"Enjoy your stay." he laughed as I watched them walk off.

"Well, well. Look what the cats finally dragged in," said a voice. I turned around and saw the guy from the carnival looking down at me with taunting smirk, "what you in for, kid? Smacked Ms. Hoochie with your groove-tron?"

"Heat!?" called a voice. I was then glomped by Frida who suddenly jumped out of the shadow and hugged me so hard, I felt like my head was going to fall right off my shoulders.

"H-hey!" I choked, "You mind getting off!? I'd like to breath once in a while. And you're crushing Shorty!"

"Who!?" Frida immediatly got off me and looked at Shorty who's mouse was now so flat, I almost mistook it for a design on her overalls. Shorty's appearance brought up another familiar voice.

"WAH! NOOOO! NOT HER TOO!" Cutter came charging out of the shadow and snatched Shorty out of my arms, and hugged her.

"Um...do you mind? She's not in the best condition to be enjoying a bear hug." I said. Cutter pulled Shorty away from him and his face was as white as her's. I sighed and took Shorty from Cutter and laid her on one of the prison beds near the wall.

"THIS IS A CATASTRAPHY!" he screamed, "if her parents come home and found out what happened to her, I'll never live it down!"

"Oh, will you shuddup!?" the tall guy roared, "It's bad enough I had to hear you complain everytime I threaten to shoot those 'poor innocent people'. The least you could do is have a little attitude!"

"I am not going to be as cold hearted as you are, Strike!" Cutter snapped.

"Did I say I wanted you to be!?" Strike yelled.

"That's enough, both of you!" Frida said, "arguing isn't going to get us anywhere. You're no better than those other prisoners in this dungeon!"

The whole cell was silent. Strike huffed and plopped on the other prison bed as Cutter turned and grieved over Shorty. After about an hour, one of us spoke...and it wasn't pleasent.

"She didn't deserve this..." Cutter grumbled, "she's just a child." Cutter then turned to me, tears wielding up on his face, "It's you...it's all your fault!"

"Whoa, hold the phone here!" I yelled, "I wasn't the one who gave her 20 bucks and told her to go spend it at a carnival without a chaparon!"

"Don't deny it, punk! Things were going fine until you showed up and beat the tar out of that man!"

"Oh, and I suppose you prefere I let Shorty get taken away by some total stranger to be shot full of lead!?"

"THAT'S IT!!!" Cutter shot his hand towards me and water suddenly gusted out of his palm. I yelped and stumbled away from it as it hit the wall near the cell door. I looked at the dent on the wall and back to Cutter who was now breathing angerly with more tears coming out of his eyes, "What's the matter, Fireboy? Can't swim!?"

"Leave him alone, Heat," Frida said, "If you make a move against him, he'll use that as an excuse to get you in trouble."

"Get him into trouble!? He's been nothing BUT a troublemaker ever since Shorty started talking about him!" Cutter said, "Not only did he save her by brute force, but he spoils her rotten and allowed her to get into a situation that brought her here in this condition!"

"What was I supposed to do!?," I yelled, "Being in a chopper full of men who might be armed with every last weapon known to man, I may as well attempt suicide by charging at them with my bare hands!"

"Secret X is possabily the most dangerous organization in the world! And to see someone like you go up and punch one of their assosiates almost makes you one very brave person. But I guess I was wrong. The only think you are to me is a boy who can't even protect his own dirty ass!"

That last sentance popped a vain and I completely lost control, charging at Cutter with my fists on fire. He yelped and moved out of the way of my fists, nearly burning the tip end of his ponytail. From there it was an all out, groove-tron flying fist fight. Frida started screaming at us to get us to stop, but it fell to deaf ear. About five minutes went by and most of the prison was drenched and covered in burnt dents from the fireballs I threw at Cutter. Just then, a shot rang out that got us to stop, the both of us holding each other's throat with one hand holding a ball of water or fire.

"As much as I'd like to see Scar Face get into a fight (for once), I'd really feel much better if I didn't have ten seconds left to live!" Strike, who was holding a smoking hand gun in the air, demanded. I pushed Cutter off of me as the fire in my hand disappeared.

"Well, he started it!" I yelled.

"I don't fuckin' care which one of you started this," Frida said, startling us, "you were both acting like a couple of untamed lions and you nearly got us all killed with your stupid fight! And you know what!? If you two kept fighting like this, one of your shots could've landed on Shorty and kill her before you even realized it! Then who'd be put on blame!?"

We looked at Shorty who was still laying on the prison bed. About ten wet and burnt dents on the wall stood over her and her mouse was in a fetal position, trembling everywhere. I almost went stiff after seeing that. Cutter, on the other hand, gave me a dirty glare before he stomped off into the shadow of the prison and sat in the corner with his head buried in his hands. I looked at Frida who had her hands over her mouth, worried, then I looked at Strike who just laid on his prison bed, chewing on another toothpick like it was tabbacco, acting like he didn't care one bit.

I sighed and sat on the prison bed, resting Shorty's head on my lap. Her mouse laid on her chest as if it was dead, but I can tell it was just as depressed as Cutter was. If only there was someway I can help her recover faster. If there was someone who's groove-tron can heal anything, I could really use it right now...