Seeking the Answers
'It was all a dream' he thought. 'A bad one at that' The last thing he'd seen was Jumba's face, it was cold and unwavering. A thought flashed into his mind, "Your dangerous, 626" That was truth, he was dangerous, but he'd never harm Jumba or 327. He slowly convinced him self that there was something more sinister behind them. "Your dangerous, 626." These words echoed in his head and slowly brought him awake, he felt like he had a hangover. Pain moved up and down his body, he remembered that the tranquilizer put great stresses on his nerves, giving the illusion of pain.
The atmosphere was different, he felt it. A slight change in the air pressure told him he wasn't in Jumba's lab anymore. There was an odor in the air, a very faint smell of Jumba's lab was present, then there was the smell of those dogs. He coughed. It was dark, too dark for him to see the room's layout. He wasn't sure his eyes were open, he blinked twice to confirm. His mouth was dry, a side effect from the tranquilizer. He tried to move, he couldn't, his body was numb and he couldn't see what restrained him. He violently jerked arround to try and release himself. He still remained constricted. He didn't call out for help, he knew it would bring the thing that had imprisoned him. The uncomfortable position in which he was restrained pulled on his arms and tendons, he felt like he was stretched the distance between a optical wire pole.
A thin stream of light appeared on the wall facing him, the room was bathed in light. He closed his eyes, the room continued to brighten. He opened them when he was sure they were adjusted. The room was a small box, the walls were steel, he lay on a table at a 45 degree angle pointed toward the window that opened up. His four arms were strapped to the table, he looked for a way out, there appeared to be no seams in the bonds, they were fused to the table. He tried to move his legs, they were restrained too. He noticed his combat suit was ripped and stained with blood, his bare chest exposed. The window had bolts around the perimeter. A thick piece of glass was between him and the exit. He looked out of the window, there was a white wall, nothing else. He hadn't ever seen this in Jumba's lab. But then again he wasn't in his lab. He saw a window to his right,in a different cell he barely made out the figure upon the table, 625. He looked like hell, his fur, this way and that. His head hung on his chest, obviously unconscious, or dead. He was ready to give up, something told him to hold on, he tried to keep himself from slipping into unconsciousness.
He stared at the wall. Waiting. He had to keep from slipping into the void, he occupied his mind. An evil thought crossed his mind, was this some sort of torture or execution room? He watched as a figure moved in front of the window. Zri. He nor realized why the tactician had looked at him like a prize before. He watched as he pushed a button on the wall. A speaker fuzzed. "Well, 626. What a surprize." he said. 626 only glared. He saw the black undershirt, it was frayed at an edge, ripped by something. He realized it now, Zri had taken great interest in him when they first met. He either wanted him for himself or to sell to the highest bidder. 'Greed', he thought, 'Drives men to do strange things.' "Who's paying you?" 626 asked, venom in his voice. Zri gave a cold stare, "No one, I employ myself." Jumba had betrayed him. "Why?" he asked. Zri stared as if it was painfully obvious.
"626, you were created to be the most efficient killing machine. Ulimately, terminate anything in your way. Jumba realized he'd gone to far, he'd created the ultimate soldier, you were perfect, too perfect. Jumba had a contract with an agency, he'd recieve funding for his experiments, in return he had to create you. Very early in his tests with the experiments he realized that you they were not objects to be sold or bartered with, they had a personality and a soul, there fore they could make descisions themselves. The 'Agency', as they are known in the galaxy, thought Jumba to be overstepping his bounds and rebelling. They cut his funding several years back, but he still produces his experiments. I still work for the 'Agency', they sent me after him years ago to check up on him and get close. I did, the ploy of a Chemical Engineer was successful. We became good friends, I almost decided to give up on the plot to eventually steal an experiment. I have recently been accepted in a strategic plan for domination of the Universe. Privided I get the Ultimate warrior. I didn't target living experiments first, they were too risky to keep, they might squeal. So I took several dead ones to experiment on. They were extemely benificial." Zri held a cocky expression during the talk. "Intergalactic ploy for Universal domination, some one's already written that one." 626 sneered. Zri gave a cold look. "Jumba was right, you are a nussience." 626 grunted, not effected by the remark. "What's going to happen now?" 626 inquired. "You will be brain-washed and re-programmed, then turned over to the 'Agency'." "And what of 327? Jumba? 625?" "I will dispose them as I see fit." He wanted to stall Zri as long as he could, "The things? what are they?" A confuzed expression crossed Zri' face, "Oh, the Hykry, the four experiments. They are a mutated form of the originals. I snuck in via the sky light above the bathroom the first night, I did it again the next, next night I took 625. I used his blood to fuel the dead experiments. I have created a syrum that allows dead tissue to regenerate. I put it in 625's blood then into the Hykry, I then inserted a microchip on the cerebrum, to controll the movement. They were under my command. I used them as a decoy, while you were chasing them Jumba and 327 slipped some of the other experiments to me. I also assume you want to know everything else?." 626 nodded, "Why not, I appears I'm going to die anyway."
"After I tranquilized 327, I looked for you, but you were gone. Jumba had taken you with him to Chenadiss. I was running out of time and options, I made several scewups, like the handle in the freezer. In despiration I though of another plan. I implanted a mind dissrupter chip into 327. I used her to implant one in Jumba too. They seemed like the most benificial, after all, you told them everything you intended to do. The second attack was a diversion and part of the plan. Jumba acted normal, then he seemed to turn on you, claiming you delerious. To you it seemed like a nightmare, your 'father' turning on you. I know how you think, it all sounded logical and reasonable, but something else told you it was otherwise. After Jumba was under my controll I used him to sedate you, he then brought you overhere, where you are now."
626 still had many questions, "What about the bodies? How did they dissappear? That would take a sheer act on genious" Zri grinned, "Ah, it was,two things played a major roll in the act. One, they were controlled by a micro computer, They didn't need to think, I used the computer as their brains. They could still be controlled, even with one thousand rounds in them. Two, I pumped Jumba's lab with a microbe-halluciegenic fog. I could manipulate the microbes to turn into everything and be anything." 626 was left speechless. He couldn't believe the alien he'd gotten to befriend was doing this. He'd used 327, that was low. Hatred grew inside him, it filled his eyes, his heart burned for revenge. Any one who pissed 626 off tended to dissappear. He tried again to escape, pulling at the metal bonds that held him, he snarled.
Zri laughed. "You can't escape you fool. Those bonds are made from an undestructable metalic alloy. Even you cannot get out. Have fun." he said coldly. Zri hit a button on the small keypad and walked away.
He felt defeat as Zri closed the window. There was nothing he could do. Nothing. Jumba and 327 would die, he would be brainwashed and turned into a babbling minion of some God-awful beast. Some thing still loomed in the back of his mind, he fought to get to it. There was a way out. He could feel it. He treid to get out again. He twisted his body as much as the restraints would allow him. They only got tighter, sweat rolled down his fore head. He stopped, it was useless. He was thinking. His short life wasn't that great. He didn't want to have a short life. He was getting frustrated as something bumped against his knee for the tenth time. He froze. There was something peculiar about that lump.
That lump at his knee was something, a blaster. They hadn't searched him that well, or maybe not at all. He tried to get it out and into his paw. He kicked furiously, he felt his foot come out of the metal restraint. Next all he had to do was get the pocket up to his paw. He moved his leg up, he felt the fabric, he grabbed. He bunched up the material and slowly got to the pocket, he reached inside. Ha! salvation! his next concern was how to position it so he could shoot the cuffs holding his paws to the table. He held it backwards, toward the metal. The shot bounced off. Damn. It was blaster proof, a synthetic alloy, like Zri said. But it wasn't immune to explosions, especially anti-matter explosions. He found the mode button and swithced it to, 'charge -up' He pulled the trigger, the gun slowly whinned, it became louder.
The yellow blaster shook arround in 626's small paws. It whined in overload. As long as he held the trigger it would charge, he felt it heat up. It then started to turn red hot and lit a small area in the pitchblack room. "Only a few more seconds." he mumbled. A spark, the holding chamber for the anti matter only had a few more seconds. Those few seconds seemed like eternity, the blaster scorched his paw, smoke came from it.
It approached the limit of the heat resistance. It turned into a pile of molten metal. It ate into the core and hissed. A huge explosion rocked the whole lab. 626 screamed, the metal scorched his paw, the pain was unbearable.
Smoke, the room was full of it. He coughed, he felt something sprinkle on his head, water. The cell had been equipped with a sprinkler system. He shuddered as the water fell on his head. The plan worked, he was now laying on the floor, dazed and disoriented. He felt the coolness of the water on him, an emergency light came on. It bathed the area in an orange glow. He tore off the remains of his combat suit and threw them aside. He examined his paw, there was a huge burn, it hissed when he put it in the water. It was bad, he needed to cover it, but his suit was gone. The only alternative was to retract his second set of arms. He winced as the muscle pulled the fore arm bones along the groove and into his side. It felt wierd for a second, having only two arms.
He surveyed the room, pieces of the table where he layed were covering the floor. The steel walls were all but untouched. The water didn't stop comming. He looked up, it wasn't a sprinkler, the explosion butsted a water pipe. He was dead now, the water would rise up and drown him.
626 stood in waist deep water, it still came in through the pipe. He remembered something, it couldn't come in unless the air had a place to go. And that meant a way out. He searched the cell at floor level. There was nothing. The water had reached his neck now. He climbed on the wall and searched the ceiling, nothing except the pipe and the orange light. If he was below, the water would be well above his head. He tried to stop the water, but only succeded in making the hole bigger. The small room was half filled. He held onto the roof, upside down. He knew he would die in a watery grave, unless.
He stood on the small sill of the window. The horrible liquid was up to his legs. The window was cracked, the sliding shutter was blocking the way out. He removed the broken window and surveyed the steel. It was at least one inch thick, a small feat. He punched it as hard as he could. He did dent it, just not enough to do any good. He waded through the water, it was now comming closer to blocking the only way out. He moved to an edge and punched there. It let in a little light from the outside. The water seeped out the crack. He hit it again, and again. There was a good sized hole now, the water flowed out, but it wasn't enough to stop the level from rising. In desperation he pounded on the steel, it slowy moved out. He stopped, exaustion set in. The water was on his shoulders, in one last attempt he swung, the steel moved five inches, the water stopped rising and fell. He leaned against the shade to see out. It fell off.
He landed on the floor with a crash, the water followed. He got up and shook off. The long white hallway was linned with windows, just like the one he fell out of. He saw keypads besides them. He hadn't the time to save anyone else now, he had to find Jumba and 327 before Zri killed them.
Weapon. His instincts told him to find one. He ran down the hall. He noticed besides each steel shutter was a number, three numbers. He passed 625, Then ther was one, X. 'They got him too.' he thought. He swore to find a weapon and return to free them. The hallway ended abruptly.
He now stood in a huge lab, the hallway was just a small extenuation of the gargantuan room. Ten huge tubes ran from the floor to the roof, in two of them were the 'demon dogs' still growing. There were five tables, all covered with blood. linning every inch of the wall were shelves full of containers that held different colored liquids, flamable was marked on almost every one. There was two doors, one was a steel door, the other was a plain brown door. He hoped that 327 and Jumba where somewhere behind the steel door. He prioritized his list of 'to do' things. Find a weapon, free the experiments, get Jumba and 327, kill Zri, find the mind implants controll, do something about the neatness of the lab where he stood.
Weapon, he scanned the room for one. He spotted a rack in the corner, he got closer. Swords, there were only swords on it. "Beggars can't be choosers." He picked up two of them and ran back to the hallway.
He opened all the doors to the windows. He pounded on the keypads untill the restraints came undone, he then broke all the windows. 625 didn't look that good, he jumped inside and hauled him out. He groaned, weak from the loss of blood. X was already out, he didn't say anything, he stared at 626. "Do something! Get outta here!" he yelled to him. 625 regained concoiusness. "I'm hungry," he groaned. 626 dumped him on the floor, "625, listen, I'm going to find Jumba and 327, you destroy anything you see and get out of here, X willl lead you." "Me?" X said, surprized. "Yes, GO!" he yelled. Both of them ran off, 625 limped. 626 listened as X mumbled something,"That smell,"
The smell, it was there, he was getting tired of those dogs. It turned to the lab, the ones in the tubes were gone. He looked for signs of them, nothing. He began to think that Zri's lab was filled with the microbe fog too. He heard the same wheezing as every encounter with the things. He turned arround, the two stood there, on their hind legs. Something was different, the legs were thicker and looked more sturdy, they also looked more muscular. He heard a crackling from above, "Ah, 626, took you long enough," Zri's voice said. "While you were sleeping last night I modified my creations. You could put down you weapons and go quietly, or my hounds will kill you. Make a wise descision." It crackled off. 626 thought, he glanced at the hounds, they stood stock still. "Hmmmm......," he thought out loud "Go with the ugly freaks, or kill them and leave." The demon dogs pulled swords from their backs. They understood what 626 said. More intelligent from the ones last night. He rushed them, hoping to get the advantage.
He'd never fought with swords before, and he now knew why Zri only taought him how to use spears. The dogs were fast the both aimed for his head and slashed. He blocked with the swords he had. They came in again, this time swiping horizontally. He brought his vertically, they deflected the incoming blow. His turn. He was smaller and faster than the ogres. He swung viciosly at the hairy feet, they blocked every swipe he threw. 'The're good.' One brought the sword down , trying to cut 626 in half. He made an X above him. The clank told him it worked. He saw this one comming, as soon as the goon's hit didn't succede he thrust his sword at 626. He moved too fast, 626 leaned and chopped the arm off, the sword went too. The thing tried to pick it up with the other hand, 626 lobbed that one off too. The thing growled, 626 replied by cutting at his legs.
While the one he attacked was disabled a low growl told him he had one more advicary. The other beast was more skilled that the limbless one. Swords clanked and sparks flew as the tall beast mercilessly attacked 626. He survived only by his speed, the beast had immence power. The dog tended to use a left, right, up, up, down, left attack pattern.626 was blocking and weaving throught the fury of blows. He looked of a hole in his opponents defence. He saw one. His left sword pinned the beasts sword down, he thrust with his right. Into the demon's stomach went the saber, 626 twisted it, the hairy thing didn't grunt. 626 remembered what Zri told him, cerebrum. He removed the sword from the stomach and spinned arround. The sharp blade penetrated the neck and cleaved the head from the body.
Without the chip, the beast fell over, dead as it once was. 626 grip tightened on the handle. He walked over to the limbless beast. He saw the thing trying to get somewhere, it's bloody stumps were waving in the air. 626 felt no sorrow, even if it was an experiment. He brought both swords down on it's head, it rolled away from the body. "Two down." he mumbled as he ran off to find the mind chip controll.
Zri pounded the console, breaking it. He swore. He stood up and went to the door controlls and flipped them all off. The room holding the other 'demon dogs' was slowly opened, they bolted out and into his lab. Zri unhooked the keyboard from the computer and smashed it across his skinny knee. He went to the docking bay, his ship awaited. He had one thing that was important. '626 will be angry.' he thought.
A rumbling sound made him look up through the skylight, he saw a huge ship hovering over the lab, Zri was escaping. He picked up his pace, he still was looking for a weapon. He rounded a hallway and came face to face with another beast. He stood in the hallway and readied his swords. The dog wasn't one one of the advanced ones, it came straight on. 626 prepared the swords, he brung them over his head.
The thing was more stupid than he thought, it stopped. 626 brought the swords down, chopping the head in half. He didn't stop. An upward motion brought the beast to it's knees, they were gone. 626 slashed to the side, again. It still moved. He hacked away untill he was sure he got the chip. The thing didn't move. He ran toward the room where the thought Jumba and 327 were. He entered the lab where he'd killed the beasts, to his relief they were still there. He ran to the door and opened it with the keypad. Inside was a small cell, about twice the size of his, Jumba sat on a bed, he jumped up as soon as 626 walked through. He didn't care, he was looking for 327. He ran arround the small cell. She wasn't in there. "Where is she?" he yelled at Jumba. "He took her away." Concern crossed 626 face, "Who?" he exploded. "Zri." Jumba replied flatly.
Jumba couldn't tell what 626 was up to, last thing he remembered was walking down the hall, then he was here, Zri took 327 away, and he was powerless to stop him. 626 growled in anger, he took off. Jumba followed.
He saw a sign, it said 'controll' he ran to where the arrow pionted. He hoped Zri hadn't left orbit, if he did 327 was lost. He entered the room, the main computer was inoperable. He swore and jumped onto another one. His mind raced, he though faster than everbefore. He hoped he could hack into the main controlls from there. In thirty seconds he was in, he looked for the controll for the teleporters. They were still operable. Zri was still in orbit, good. He turned the teleporters on and linked up with Zri's ship. He opened a channel and hacked into the ships computers. He jammed them, the ship would remain in orbit forever, or untill 626 blew it up. "Jumba, find 625 and X and get out of here, this place is going to be blown sky high." 626 told him. Jumba didn't argue, he just ran.
He picked up the odd pistol from the floor of the controll room and raced to the teleporters in the comm room. He was just about to enter the comms room when he smelled the smell of the dog things. He turned arround and saw the thing, it was down the hall. By it was a dolly full of canisters. Butane was written on them in yellow paint. He looked at the pistol. It was a GyroJet, Earth. It fired small rockets that blew up on contact. He aimed at the thing, it hadn't noticed him yet. The pistol whoosed. A small objcet flew down the hall. It clinked off the butane canisters.
A huge explosion blew the thing all over the wall. A huge crater was all that was left of the butane canisters. Flames licked the walls, starting a fire. 626 didn't get to see his victory, he had jumped onto the teleporter.
*
He found himself in a dark closet, he pushed the door open. He hear Zri cursing, aparrently he had found the drive systems inoperable. 626 snickered. His firts priority was to find 327. He searched the ship. Passing leather seats, a small kitchen, and into the cargo hold. He spotted the pink alien, she was inside a cage. 327 lay still, aparently drugged. He though of what Zri intended to do with her, make more things or worse. He lifted he body up in his arms, she stirred. "626?" she said in confusion. "Quiet." he whispered. "What? where am I?" "Ssshhhhhhh." 626 hissed. She stood up and tested her stability. She was unbalanced from the effects of the tranq. "Wait here." 626 said, running off.
626 slowly approached the cock pit. He snuck up slowly, he looked up.He saw a mirror, and Zri's face. Zri saw him. He gave a venomuos look and grabbed a pistol from a compartment and turned to 626. He started firing, 626 jumped aside. "You can't stay dead, can you?" Zri hissed. "You first." 626 shot back. He climbed on the wall and scrambled as Zri fired shots, He found time to look behind him and yell insults. He hopped to the floor and rolled. Zri put three rounds where 626 landed.
A rumble came from deep within the ship. An explosion blew out the bottom hull and comprimised the orbit. They slowly listed into the Turian atmosphere. Zri and 626 rushed up to the cockpit to see what they could do. Zri slammed 626 into the wall as they raced to gain controll of the ship. 626 lunged at Zri exposed feet. Zri yelled in pain, he tried to shake 626 off. He held on fast, nothing could make him let go.
He let go of his feet and rushed up to the cock pit. He stared out the window. Turo grew in the view port. The ship hurled itself to the palnet. "Escape pod!" screamed Zri, he limped away. 626 took off from the cockpit and caught up to him. Zri reached it first he jumped inside, 626 thought he'd lost. Suddenly Zri was tossed from the pod and into the room. 626 looked inside, he saw 327 she was smiling, "It was the least I could do." she blushed. 626 leapt inside and pushed 'close' on the hatch controlls. The door slid down, a window sat in the center. Zri pounded on the glass, screaming. 626 gave him a cold look, he had no remorse, no regrets. He pushed 'eject' Zri's expression turned to horror, his eye were huge. The escape pod jettisoned out into the atmosphere.
The ship broke up in the atmoshpere and turned into a ball of flaming metal. The escape pod shot down too, it had heat resistant blocks covering it though. The paracute deployed and it floated down on the air currents. 626 did as best he could to steer it into the lab. A small section was flaming. The pod got caught in the current and was carried into the flaming mass of a lab.
The impact blew the pod apart, pieces of shrapnel flew in all dirrections. No one could have survived that. The flames engulfed the parachutes, the smoke it made was carried high into the atmosphere. The seats were overturned in the lab, a part that was not burning yet. 626 and 327 huddled under the seat. 626 sensed the pod landed, he was a bit shaken by the impact. He pushed the seat away, 327 was a bit stirred too. He slowly led the way to the main hall. He got to the door and pushed the keypad. Nothing happened. He heard it, there it was, the wheezing, he didn't smell anything because of the smoke. He lifted up the door a few inches, then a few more. "Go" he shouted to 327. "No, I won't leave you." "GO!," he yelled. "I'll catch up later ,GO!" She didn't argue, she slipped out the small crack. 626 dropped the door. He had other matters to settle. He turned arround.
The beast walked throught the flaming walls and caught fire. It truely looked like a demon now, the yellow eyes seemed to dissappear in the flames than had engulfed it. 626 stood there, waiting for it to make the first move. It came running fast. Both of the creatures in the hall had a hatred for each other, they both wanted to kill eachother. This hatred seemed to fuel the flames, the increased in intensity, burning brighter. The heat was unbearable, both absorbed it. 626 clenched his paws into a ball and raised them like he was at bat. The thing got closer, closer. Three feet. 626 swung in an uppercut, his balled paws hit the beast in the jaw sendind it upward, blood sprayed onto him. The beat landed and didn't move, 626 didn't take chances. He grabbed the flaming mass and threw it further into the fire. It flew down the hall and hit a dolly full of butane canisters. They broke open from the impact and exploded. A large piece of permacrete flew down the hall. Straight for 626.
He saw the huge missle comming, time slowed down. He bent backwards and pushed back. The huge rock grazed his chest and flew into the door, it went through to the other side. Time returned to normal. The hole created fed the fire, it started growing. 626 jumped out the hole, the fire trailed out behind him. He landed in the octaganal room and ran to Jumab's lab door, 327 opened it.
He leapt the final few feet and landed in 327 arms. They huged each other, they embraced with love and a finality that it was all over. Tears rolled down 327's face "Oh, 626, that was horrible." She sobbed. "Yes, it was." she started to cry.
* * *
Four hours later 626 and 327 watched as the fire rescue teams put out the blaze. This was the first lab fire in the history of Turo. 625 and X had made it out after Jumba found them cowering in a room. "It's amazing, your dreams can burn up in an instant." 626 marveled. "Jus tlike Zri's." 327 snuggled closer. They had dinner in the grass and watched the embers glow in the sunset. The heat traveling up from the fire obscured the sunset making it look wavy.
626 told 327 he'd be back in a minute. He pushed her inside the door to Jumba's lab. He turned to the burnt out door that was Zri's lab. Yellow lines crossed it, condeming the place. He stepped inside and went straight for where the lab had been. The embers were still hot under his feet. A question still burned strong, one that might go un-answered. He approached the spot where he'd put the two bodies that he'd decapitated. He put them here for a reason. He now sifted through the ashes, he used the burnt out wall and hole in the floor to pinpiont the location. He heaved the huge piece of wall that had fallen down over the spot. He saw the empty space underneath, a pool of dried blood was there, as well as some of the fragments of the spinal cord where he chopped. The two bodies he'd put there were gone.
'It was all a dream' he thought. 'A bad one at that' The last thing he'd seen was Jumba's face, it was cold and unwavering. A thought flashed into his mind, "Your dangerous, 626" That was truth, he was dangerous, but he'd never harm Jumba or 327. He slowly convinced him self that there was something more sinister behind them. "Your dangerous, 626." These words echoed in his head and slowly brought him awake, he felt like he had a hangover. Pain moved up and down his body, he remembered that the tranquilizer put great stresses on his nerves, giving the illusion of pain.
The atmosphere was different, he felt it. A slight change in the air pressure told him he wasn't in Jumba's lab anymore. There was an odor in the air, a very faint smell of Jumba's lab was present, then there was the smell of those dogs. He coughed. It was dark, too dark for him to see the room's layout. He wasn't sure his eyes were open, he blinked twice to confirm. His mouth was dry, a side effect from the tranquilizer. He tried to move, he couldn't, his body was numb and he couldn't see what restrained him. He violently jerked arround to try and release himself. He still remained constricted. He didn't call out for help, he knew it would bring the thing that had imprisoned him. The uncomfortable position in which he was restrained pulled on his arms and tendons, he felt like he was stretched the distance between a optical wire pole.
A thin stream of light appeared on the wall facing him, the room was bathed in light. He closed his eyes, the room continued to brighten. He opened them when he was sure they were adjusted. The room was a small box, the walls were steel, he lay on a table at a 45 degree angle pointed toward the window that opened up. His four arms were strapped to the table, he looked for a way out, there appeared to be no seams in the bonds, they were fused to the table. He tried to move his legs, they were restrained too. He noticed his combat suit was ripped and stained with blood, his bare chest exposed. The window had bolts around the perimeter. A thick piece of glass was between him and the exit. He looked out of the window, there was a white wall, nothing else. He hadn't ever seen this in Jumba's lab. But then again he wasn't in his lab. He saw a window to his right,in a different cell he barely made out the figure upon the table, 625. He looked like hell, his fur, this way and that. His head hung on his chest, obviously unconscious, or dead. He was ready to give up, something told him to hold on, he tried to keep himself from slipping into unconsciousness.
He stared at the wall. Waiting. He had to keep from slipping into the void, he occupied his mind. An evil thought crossed his mind, was this some sort of torture or execution room? He watched as a figure moved in front of the window. Zri. He nor realized why the tactician had looked at him like a prize before. He watched as he pushed a button on the wall. A speaker fuzzed. "Well, 626. What a surprize." he said. 626 only glared. He saw the black undershirt, it was frayed at an edge, ripped by something. He realized it now, Zri had taken great interest in him when they first met. He either wanted him for himself or to sell to the highest bidder. 'Greed', he thought, 'Drives men to do strange things.' "Who's paying you?" 626 asked, venom in his voice. Zri gave a cold stare, "No one, I employ myself." Jumba had betrayed him. "Why?" he asked. Zri stared as if it was painfully obvious.
"626, you were created to be the most efficient killing machine. Ulimately, terminate anything in your way. Jumba realized he'd gone to far, he'd created the ultimate soldier, you were perfect, too perfect. Jumba had a contract with an agency, he'd recieve funding for his experiments, in return he had to create you. Very early in his tests with the experiments he realized that you they were not objects to be sold or bartered with, they had a personality and a soul, there fore they could make descisions themselves. The 'Agency', as they are known in the galaxy, thought Jumba to be overstepping his bounds and rebelling. They cut his funding several years back, but he still produces his experiments. I still work for the 'Agency', they sent me after him years ago to check up on him and get close. I did, the ploy of a Chemical Engineer was successful. We became good friends, I almost decided to give up on the plot to eventually steal an experiment. I have recently been accepted in a strategic plan for domination of the Universe. Privided I get the Ultimate warrior. I didn't target living experiments first, they were too risky to keep, they might squeal. So I took several dead ones to experiment on. They were extemely benificial." Zri held a cocky expression during the talk. "Intergalactic ploy for Universal domination, some one's already written that one." 626 sneered. Zri gave a cold look. "Jumba was right, you are a nussience." 626 grunted, not effected by the remark. "What's going to happen now?" 626 inquired. "You will be brain-washed and re-programmed, then turned over to the 'Agency'." "And what of 327? Jumba? 625?" "I will dispose them as I see fit." He wanted to stall Zri as long as he could, "The things? what are they?" A confuzed expression crossed Zri' face, "Oh, the Hykry, the four experiments. They are a mutated form of the originals. I snuck in via the sky light above the bathroom the first night, I did it again the next, next night I took 625. I used his blood to fuel the dead experiments. I have created a syrum that allows dead tissue to regenerate. I put it in 625's blood then into the Hykry, I then inserted a microchip on the cerebrum, to controll the movement. They were under my command. I used them as a decoy, while you were chasing them Jumba and 327 slipped some of the other experiments to me. I also assume you want to know everything else?." 626 nodded, "Why not, I appears I'm going to die anyway."
"After I tranquilized 327, I looked for you, but you were gone. Jumba had taken you with him to Chenadiss. I was running out of time and options, I made several scewups, like the handle in the freezer. In despiration I though of another plan. I implanted a mind dissrupter chip into 327. I used her to implant one in Jumba too. They seemed like the most benificial, after all, you told them everything you intended to do. The second attack was a diversion and part of the plan. Jumba acted normal, then he seemed to turn on you, claiming you delerious. To you it seemed like a nightmare, your 'father' turning on you. I know how you think, it all sounded logical and reasonable, but something else told you it was otherwise. After Jumba was under my controll I used him to sedate you, he then brought you overhere, where you are now."
626 still had many questions, "What about the bodies? How did they dissappear? That would take a sheer act on genious" Zri grinned, "Ah, it was,two things played a major roll in the act. One, they were controlled by a micro computer, They didn't need to think, I used the computer as their brains. They could still be controlled, even with one thousand rounds in them. Two, I pumped Jumba's lab with a microbe-halluciegenic fog. I could manipulate the microbes to turn into everything and be anything." 626 was left speechless. He couldn't believe the alien he'd gotten to befriend was doing this. He'd used 327, that was low. Hatred grew inside him, it filled his eyes, his heart burned for revenge. Any one who pissed 626 off tended to dissappear. He tried again to escape, pulling at the metal bonds that held him, he snarled.
Zri laughed. "You can't escape you fool. Those bonds are made from an undestructable metalic alloy. Even you cannot get out. Have fun." he said coldly. Zri hit a button on the small keypad and walked away.
He felt defeat as Zri closed the window. There was nothing he could do. Nothing. Jumba and 327 would die, he would be brainwashed and turned into a babbling minion of some God-awful beast. Some thing still loomed in the back of his mind, he fought to get to it. There was a way out. He could feel it. He treid to get out again. He twisted his body as much as the restraints would allow him. They only got tighter, sweat rolled down his fore head. He stopped, it was useless. He was thinking. His short life wasn't that great. He didn't want to have a short life. He was getting frustrated as something bumped against his knee for the tenth time. He froze. There was something peculiar about that lump.
That lump at his knee was something, a blaster. They hadn't searched him that well, or maybe not at all. He tried to get it out and into his paw. He kicked furiously, he felt his foot come out of the metal restraint. Next all he had to do was get the pocket up to his paw. He moved his leg up, he felt the fabric, he grabbed. He bunched up the material and slowly got to the pocket, he reached inside. Ha! salvation! his next concern was how to position it so he could shoot the cuffs holding his paws to the table. He held it backwards, toward the metal. The shot bounced off. Damn. It was blaster proof, a synthetic alloy, like Zri said. But it wasn't immune to explosions, especially anti-matter explosions. He found the mode button and swithced it to, 'charge -up' He pulled the trigger, the gun slowly whinned, it became louder.
The yellow blaster shook arround in 626's small paws. It whined in overload. As long as he held the trigger it would charge, he felt it heat up. It then started to turn red hot and lit a small area in the pitchblack room. "Only a few more seconds." he mumbled. A spark, the holding chamber for the anti matter only had a few more seconds. Those few seconds seemed like eternity, the blaster scorched his paw, smoke came from it.
It approached the limit of the heat resistance. It turned into a pile of molten metal. It ate into the core and hissed. A huge explosion rocked the whole lab. 626 screamed, the metal scorched his paw, the pain was unbearable.
Smoke, the room was full of it. He coughed, he felt something sprinkle on his head, water. The cell had been equipped with a sprinkler system. He shuddered as the water fell on his head. The plan worked, he was now laying on the floor, dazed and disoriented. He felt the coolness of the water on him, an emergency light came on. It bathed the area in an orange glow. He tore off the remains of his combat suit and threw them aside. He examined his paw, there was a huge burn, it hissed when he put it in the water. It was bad, he needed to cover it, but his suit was gone. The only alternative was to retract his second set of arms. He winced as the muscle pulled the fore arm bones along the groove and into his side. It felt wierd for a second, having only two arms.
He surveyed the room, pieces of the table where he layed were covering the floor. The steel walls were all but untouched. The water didn't stop comming. He looked up, it wasn't a sprinkler, the explosion butsted a water pipe. He was dead now, the water would rise up and drown him.
626 stood in waist deep water, it still came in through the pipe. He remembered something, it couldn't come in unless the air had a place to go. And that meant a way out. He searched the cell at floor level. There was nothing. The water had reached his neck now. He climbed on the wall and searched the ceiling, nothing except the pipe and the orange light. If he was below, the water would be well above his head. He tried to stop the water, but only succeded in making the hole bigger. The small room was half filled. He held onto the roof, upside down. He knew he would die in a watery grave, unless.
He stood on the small sill of the window. The horrible liquid was up to his legs. The window was cracked, the sliding shutter was blocking the way out. He removed the broken window and surveyed the steel. It was at least one inch thick, a small feat. He punched it as hard as he could. He did dent it, just not enough to do any good. He waded through the water, it was now comming closer to blocking the only way out. He moved to an edge and punched there. It let in a little light from the outside. The water seeped out the crack. He hit it again, and again. There was a good sized hole now, the water flowed out, but it wasn't enough to stop the level from rising. In desperation he pounded on the steel, it slowy moved out. He stopped, exaustion set in. The water was on his shoulders, in one last attempt he swung, the steel moved five inches, the water stopped rising and fell. He leaned against the shade to see out. It fell off.
He landed on the floor with a crash, the water followed. He got up and shook off. The long white hallway was linned with windows, just like the one he fell out of. He saw keypads besides them. He hadn't the time to save anyone else now, he had to find Jumba and 327 before Zri killed them.
Weapon. His instincts told him to find one. He ran down the hall. He noticed besides each steel shutter was a number, three numbers. He passed 625, Then ther was one, X. 'They got him too.' he thought. He swore to find a weapon and return to free them. The hallway ended abruptly.
He now stood in a huge lab, the hallway was just a small extenuation of the gargantuan room. Ten huge tubes ran from the floor to the roof, in two of them were the 'demon dogs' still growing. There were five tables, all covered with blood. linning every inch of the wall were shelves full of containers that held different colored liquids, flamable was marked on almost every one. There was two doors, one was a steel door, the other was a plain brown door. He hoped that 327 and Jumba where somewhere behind the steel door. He prioritized his list of 'to do' things. Find a weapon, free the experiments, get Jumba and 327, kill Zri, find the mind implants controll, do something about the neatness of the lab where he stood.
Weapon, he scanned the room for one. He spotted a rack in the corner, he got closer. Swords, there were only swords on it. "Beggars can't be choosers." He picked up two of them and ran back to the hallway.
He opened all the doors to the windows. He pounded on the keypads untill the restraints came undone, he then broke all the windows. 625 didn't look that good, he jumped inside and hauled him out. He groaned, weak from the loss of blood. X was already out, he didn't say anything, he stared at 626. "Do something! Get outta here!" he yelled to him. 625 regained concoiusness. "I'm hungry," he groaned. 626 dumped him on the floor, "625, listen, I'm going to find Jumba and 327, you destroy anything you see and get out of here, X willl lead you." "Me?" X said, surprized. "Yes, GO!" he yelled. Both of them ran off, 625 limped. 626 listened as X mumbled something,"That smell,"
The smell, it was there, he was getting tired of those dogs. It turned to the lab, the ones in the tubes were gone. He looked for signs of them, nothing. He began to think that Zri's lab was filled with the microbe fog too. He heard the same wheezing as every encounter with the things. He turned arround, the two stood there, on their hind legs. Something was different, the legs were thicker and looked more sturdy, they also looked more muscular. He heard a crackling from above, "Ah, 626, took you long enough," Zri's voice said. "While you were sleeping last night I modified my creations. You could put down you weapons and go quietly, or my hounds will kill you. Make a wise descision." It crackled off. 626 thought, he glanced at the hounds, they stood stock still. "Hmmmm......," he thought out loud "Go with the ugly freaks, or kill them and leave." The demon dogs pulled swords from their backs. They understood what 626 said. More intelligent from the ones last night. He rushed them, hoping to get the advantage.
He'd never fought with swords before, and he now knew why Zri only taought him how to use spears. The dogs were fast the both aimed for his head and slashed. He blocked with the swords he had. They came in again, this time swiping horizontally. He brought his vertically, they deflected the incoming blow. His turn. He was smaller and faster than the ogres. He swung viciosly at the hairy feet, they blocked every swipe he threw. 'The're good.' One brought the sword down , trying to cut 626 in half. He made an X above him. The clank told him it worked. He saw this one comming, as soon as the goon's hit didn't succede he thrust his sword at 626. He moved too fast, 626 leaned and chopped the arm off, the sword went too. The thing tried to pick it up with the other hand, 626 lobbed that one off too. The thing growled, 626 replied by cutting at his legs.
While the one he attacked was disabled a low growl told him he had one more advicary. The other beast was more skilled that the limbless one. Swords clanked and sparks flew as the tall beast mercilessly attacked 626. He survived only by his speed, the beast had immence power. The dog tended to use a left, right, up, up, down, left attack pattern.626 was blocking and weaving throught the fury of blows. He looked of a hole in his opponents defence. He saw one. His left sword pinned the beasts sword down, he thrust with his right. Into the demon's stomach went the saber, 626 twisted it, the hairy thing didn't grunt. 626 remembered what Zri told him, cerebrum. He removed the sword from the stomach and spinned arround. The sharp blade penetrated the neck and cleaved the head from the body.
Without the chip, the beast fell over, dead as it once was. 626 grip tightened on the handle. He walked over to the limbless beast. He saw the thing trying to get somewhere, it's bloody stumps were waving in the air. 626 felt no sorrow, even if it was an experiment. He brought both swords down on it's head, it rolled away from the body. "Two down." he mumbled as he ran off to find the mind chip controll.
Zri pounded the console, breaking it. He swore. He stood up and went to the door controlls and flipped them all off. The room holding the other 'demon dogs' was slowly opened, they bolted out and into his lab. Zri unhooked the keyboard from the computer and smashed it across his skinny knee. He went to the docking bay, his ship awaited. He had one thing that was important. '626 will be angry.' he thought.
A rumbling sound made him look up through the skylight, he saw a huge ship hovering over the lab, Zri was escaping. He picked up his pace, he still was looking for a weapon. He rounded a hallway and came face to face with another beast. He stood in the hallway and readied his swords. The dog wasn't one one of the advanced ones, it came straight on. 626 prepared the swords, he brung them over his head.
The thing was more stupid than he thought, it stopped. 626 brought the swords down, chopping the head in half. He didn't stop. An upward motion brought the beast to it's knees, they were gone. 626 slashed to the side, again. It still moved. He hacked away untill he was sure he got the chip. The thing didn't move. He ran toward the room where the thought Jumba and 327 were. He entered the lab where he'd killed the beasts, to his relief they were still there. He ran to the door and opened it with the keypad. Inside was a small cell, about twice the size of his, Jumba sat on a bed, he jumped up as soon as 626 walked through. He didn't care, he was looking for 327. He ran arround the small cell. She wasn't in there. "Where is she?" he yelled at Jumba. "He took her away." Concern crossed 626 face, "Who?" he exploded. "Zri." Jumba replied flatly.
Jumba couldn't tell what 626 was up to, last thing he remembered was walking down the hall, then he was here, Zri took 327 away, and he was powerless to stop him. 626 growled in anger, he took off. Jumba followed.
He saw a sign, it said 'controll' he ran to where the arrow pionted. He hoped Zri hadn't left orbit, if he did 327 was lost. He entered the room, the main computer was inoperable. He swore and jumped onto another one. His mind raced, he though faster than everbefore. He hoped he could hack into the main controlls from there. In thirty seconds he was in, he looked for the controll for the teleporters. They were still operable. Zri was still in orbit, good. He turned the teleporters on and linked up with Zri's ship. He opened a channel and hacked into the ships computers. He jammed them, the ship would remain in orbit forever, or untill 626 blew it up. "Jumba, find 625 and X and get out of here, this place is going to be blown sky high." 626 told him. Jumba didn't argue, he just ran.
He picked up the odd pistol from the floor of the controll room and raced to the teleporters in the comm room. He was just about to enter the comms room when he smelled the smell of the dog things. He turned arround and saw the thing, it was down the hall. By it was a dolly full of canisters. Butane was written on them in yellow paint. He looked at the pistol. It was a GyroJet, Earth. It fired small rockets that blew up on contact. He aimed at the thing, it hadn't noticed him yet. The pistol whoosed. A small objcet flew down the hall. It clinked off the butane canisters.
A huge explosion blew the thing all over the wall. A huge crater was all that was left of the butane canisters. Flames licked the walls, starting a fire. 626 didn't get to see his victory, he had jumped onto the teleporter.
*
He found himself in a dark closet, he pushed the door open. He hear Zri cursing, aparrently he had found the drive systems inoperable. 626 snickered. His firts priority was to find 327. He searched the ship. Passing leather seats, a small kitchen, and into the cargo hold. He spotted the pink alien, she was inside a cage. 327 lay still, aparently drugged. He though of what Zri intended to do with her, make more things or worse. He lifted he body up in his arms, she stirred. "626?" she said in confusion. "Quiet." he whispered. "What? where am I?" "Ssshhhhhhh." 626 hissed. She stood up and tested her stability. She was unbalanced from the effects of the tranq. "Wait here." 626 said, running off.
626 slowly approached the cock pit. He snuck up slowly, he looked up.He saw a mirror, and Zri's face. Zri saw him. He gave a venomuos look and grabbed a pistol from a compartment and turned to 626. He started firing, 626 jumped aside. "You can't stay dead, can you?" Zri hissed. "You first." 626 shot back. He climbed on the wall and scrambled as Zri fired shots, He found time to look behind him and yell insults. He hopped to the floor and rolled. Zri put three rounds where 626 landed.
A rumble came from deep within the ship. An explosion blew out the bottom hull and comprimised the orbit. They slowly listed into the Turian atmosphere. Zri and 626 rushed up to the cockpit to see what they could do. Zri slammed 626 into the wall as they raced to gain controll of the ship. 626 lunged at Zri exposed feet. Zri yelled in pain, he tried to shake 626 off. He held on fast, nothing could make him let go.
He let go of his feet and rushed up to the cock pit. He stared out the window. Turo grew in the view port. The ship hurled itself to the palnet. "Escape pod!" screamed Zri, he limped away. 626 took off from the cockpit and caught up to him. Zri reached it first he jumped inside, 626 thought he'd lost. Suddenly Zri was tossed from the pod and into the room. 626 looked inside, he saw 327 she was smiling, "It was the least I could do." she blushed. 626 leapt inside and pushed 'close' on the hatch controlls. The door slid down, a window sat in the center. Zri pounded on the glass, screaming. 626 gave him a cold look, he had no remorse, no regrets. He pushed 'eject' Zri's expression turned to horror, his eye were huge. The escape pod jettisoned out into the atmosphere.
The ship broke up in the atmoshpere and turned into a ball of flaming metal. The escape pod shot down too, it had heat resistant blocks covering it though. The paracute deployed and it floated down on the air currents. 626 did as best he could to steer it into the lab. A small section was flaming. The pod got caught in the current and was carried into the flaming mass of a lab.
The impact blew the pod apart, pieces of shrapnel flew in all dirrections. No one could have survived that. The flames engulfed the parachutes, the smoke it made was carried high into the atmosphere. The seats were overturned in the lab, a part that was not burning yet. 626 and 327 huddled under the seat. 626 sensed the pod landed, he was a bit shaken by the impact. He pushed the seat away, 327 was a bit stirred too. He slowly led the way to the main hall. He got to the door and pushed the keypad. Nothing happened. He heard it, there it was, the wheezing, he didn't smell anything because of the smoke. He lifted up the door a few inches, then a few more. "Go" he shouted to 327. "No, I won't leave you." "GO!," he yelled. "I'll catch up later ,GO!" She didn't argue, she slipped out the small crack. 626 dropped the door. He had other matters to settle. He turned arround.
The beast walked throught the flaming walls and caught fire. It truely looked like a demon now, the yellow eyes seemed to dissappear in the flames than had engulfed it. 626 stood there, waiting for it to make the first move. It came running fast. Both of the creatures in the hall had a hatred for each other, they both wanted to kill eachother. This hatred seemed to fuel the flames, the increased in intensity, burning brighter. The heat was unbearable, both absorbed it. 626 clenched his paws into a ball and raised them like he was at bat. The thing got closer, closer. Three feet. 626 swung in an uppercut, his balled paws hit the beast in the jaw sendind it upward, blood sprayed onto him. The beat landed and didn't move, 626 didn't take chances. He grabbed the flaming mass and threw it further into the fire. It flew down the hall and hit a dolly full of butane canisters. They broke open from the impact and exploded. A large piece of permacrete flew down the hall. Straight for 626.
He saw the huge missle comming, time slowed down. He bent backwards and pushed back. The huge rock grazed his chest and flew into the door, it went through to the other side. Time returned to normal. The hole created fed the fire, it started growing. 626 jumped out the hole, the fire trailed out behind him. He landed in the octaganal room and ran to Jumab's lab door, 327 opened it.
He leapt the final few feet and landed in 327 arms. They huged each other, they embraced with love and a finality that it was all over. Tears rolled down 327's face "Oh, 626, that was horrible." She sobbed. "Yes, it was." she started to cry.
* * *
Four hours later 626 and 327 watched as the fire rescue teams put out the blaze. This was the first lab fire in the history of Turo. 625 and X had made it out after Jumba found them cowering in a room. "It's amazing, your dreams can burn up in an instant." 626 marveled. "Jus tlike Zri's." 327 snuggled closer. They had dinner in the grass and watched the embers glow in the sunset. The heat traveling up from the fire obscured the sunset making it look wavy.
626 told 327 he'd be back in a minute. He pushed her inside the door to Jumba's lab. He turned to the burnt out door that was Zri's lab. Yellow lines crossed it, condeming the place. He stepped inside and went straight for where the lab had been. The embers were still hot under his feet. A question still burned strong, one that might go un-answered. He approached the spot where he'd put the two bodies that he'd decapitated. He put them here for a reason. He now sifted through the ashes, he used the burnt out wall and hole in the floor to pinpiont the location. He heaved the huge piece of wall that had fallen down over the spot. He saw the empty space underneath, a pool of dried blood was there, as well as some of the fragments of the spinal cord where he chopped. The two bodies he'd put there were gone.