The loud crash of automated metal doors opening awakened the test subjects of the Monster Division. In walked four nondescript men, pistols visible in the holsters in their belts. Another day of testing had begun. "Rise and shine, Monsters," one of the men said emotionlessly.
Vanessa slowly got up from her bed, visibly wincing, and got in front of the line. Millaarc blindly got up from her bed and followed after Vanessa. Or tried to, at least. The bloody bandages still covered her eyes, causing her to trip multiple times in the short walk to the prison gate. Elsa was still paralyzed from the surgery, so one of the guards lifted onto her wheelchair and pushed her to the door.
The guards handcuffed the three monsters and led them to the door. Steven, however, was clutching his stomach, rolling around on his bed. One of the guards, a bald man, walked forward towards the boy when Steven fell off his bed, and onto the ground, on his side, clutching his stomach in pain. "M-my stomach, i-It hurts! M-make it stop!" the young boy managed to gasp out.
"Boy, suck it up and get up right now! You have a lot to do today, and we won't postpone our experiments for a little tummy ache!" Said the bald guard before he kicked the young child's back. The three guards stepped a bit in front of the Monsters in slight concern.
"Sir, this specimen is our top priority," A guard with dull blonde hair began. "Is it wise to kick it if it suffers- AH!" A hard punch to the back of the head sent the guard to the ground before he could finish his inquiry. Before the other two guards could react, another blow struck them down, causing them to land next to their comrade on the cold floor.
The bald guard turned his head at the noise of the bodies hitting the floor, his hand already reaching for the handgun on his belt. But his arm was grabbed by the strong grip of a smaller hand. He briefly looked down and saw Steven stopping the man's hand with determination in his eyes. The man looked back up and saw a metal fist coming towards his face. The bald man could only say one thing.
" Shit… "
He then joined his fellows in unconsciousness.
Steven stood up and looked down at the guards with a frown, and shook his head in distaste. "I wish we didn't have to do this," he said sullenly.
Vanessa, Elsa, and Millaarc searched the guards for keys to both the door and their handcuffs, none of them pretending to be hurt anymore. As they did, the eldest of the three gave Steven a sympathetic smile. "They wouldn't have left us with a choice. You know that, don't you?" She asked as she crushed the bald guard's walkie talkie with her bare hands.
Steven flinched at the question. This reminded him of his other prison escape from space. Back then, Garnet had to fight Jasper so that he and the Crystal Gems could escape. Once again, he had to acknowledge that violence was necessary, even if he'd prefer resolving things peacefully.
After a moment's search, Vanessa found both the key to the handcuffs and access card for the gate. She first unlocked her handcuffs before proceeding to do the same to both Elsa's and Millaarc's. Then, Vanessa walked over to the gate and inserted the card into the scanner. The cell door opened, allowing the woman to walk outside. She turned to look at her younger companions with a confident smile. "Let's get out of this hell-hole!" She beckoned.
Millaarc and Elsa eagerly nodded and walked out the door with her. Steven, however, looked down at the groaning group of unconscious guards for a bit, looking conflicted. He sighed, spat on his palm, and knelt next to each of the guards. He then laid his saliva-covered hands on each guard to heal their injuries. Thankfully, this didn't wake them from their impromptu sleep.
After healing the guards, Steven followed the Monsters out of the gate. The Monsters looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. Of them, Millaarc asked, "Hey brat, why did you heal them? You could have just left them there."
Steven looked up at the vampire hesitatingly, looked back at the guards, and up at her again. "I just felt like I had to. If I didn't heal them, I would be no different from the scientists here." Steven answered glumly, remorseful for what they had to do. Millaarc huffed but didn't say any more about the matter.
Vanessa looked at her fellow escapees with a thoughtful expression before turning her focus back to the path ahead. She closed the gate, locking the guards in their former prison cell. Then, Vanessa looked down at Elsa with a small smile on her face. "Elsa, dear, we need you to be our lookout. Keep your ears open for trouble, ok?"
Elsa looked up at her with burning determination in her eyes. "I'll do my best, Ma'am!" She answered without hesitation. She walked over to the corner of the hallway, hidden behind the stone walls. Her wolf ears twitched, and she quietly listened for any noise for a moment. "All clear," She whispered.
The group then ran forward, every step advancing them towards freedom.
XXXX
Miku, a black-haired girl with green eyes, arrived at the pier SONG's submarine base was docked in. After she showed her SONG issued ID to the guard, they allowed her access and parked next to the submarine. She walked onto the bridge into the submarine, greeting its crew members.
Miku knew the submarine's layout like the back of her hand. She'd come here numerous times before to bring Hibiki her lunch while the Symphogear users were training. As she made her way to the cafeteria, she wondered what new friend Hibiki made this time.
When Miku entered the cafeteria, the sight of a purple woman eating an entire food tray greeted her. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and opened them again. No, she wasn't dreaming. The woman wasn't gorging herself on just the food but even the utensils and the tray itself. Hibiki and Chris were looking at the woman in both shock and fascination. Miku couldn't blame them.
"There you are Hibiki!" Miku called out to her sunshine, which Hibiki snapped out of her trance. She ran over to Miku and hugged her.
"Miku, you're here! Come and meet my new friend. She's really cool!" Hibiki said while dragging Miku by her arm over to the table where Chris and the purple woman were sitting. As the brown-haired girl sat down, Hibiki pointed her arm towards the new woman's direction in excitement. "Miku, this is Amethyst! She can eat anything! "
Amethyst waved her hand, chewing her food tray, and swallowed it. She then burped out a piece out of it onto the table in front of Miku. She stared at it for a bit, then turned her head at a grinning Hibiki and stunned Chris, and switched her focus back to Amethyst. Miku then smiled at Amethyst, trying to forget what she had just witnessed.
"Hello, Amethyst-san. I'm sure Hibiki already told you this, but my name is Miku," She greeted while she looked down at the food tray piece on the table. "I see that you like the… food… here," Miku stated, still not sure how to respond to seeing Amethyst eating the food tray.
Amethyst just shrugged at Miku's statement and reached over to grab the piece of the food tray in front of Miku. "What can I say? The stretchiness and crunchy parts of the food tray really speaks to me, you know?" She then threw the last piece of the food tray into her mouth and swallowed it.
Hibiki grinned at Miku after seeing it, "Can you believe it Miku? We've finally met someone who's a messier eater than Chris-chan!" No sooner did Hibiki say this than Chris's hand grab her by the ear, causing the brown-haired girl to yowl in pain.
"Care to say that again?" A blushing Chris said into Hibiki's ear, both pissed off and embarrassed at the remark. So what if she sometimes got sauce on her mouth? Everyone else did too!
Miku ignored Chris and Hibiki's spat with a sigh. She walked over to the chef to get some food. After filling her plate, she sat down at the table with her friends.
Amethyst looked at the two girls fighting and scratched the side of her face. "Huh, they kinda remind me of Pearl and me. We used to fight with each other all the time. Like, so often that it got in the way of our missions. One time, Pearl, Steven, and I had to find a magic beetle, and Pearl and I weren't able to go for more than ten seconds without fighting. But by the end of it, we fused and kicked bird-monster butt!"
Miku made a mental note to ask Amethyst about 'fusing', looked at Amethyst with a smile on her face, and said, "Oh, is that so? You two sound like such great friends now! With these two," Miku gave a pointed look at her friends. Chris was still tugging Hibiki's ear, causing the brunette to moan in pain. Neither of them paid attention to the other two people at the table. "It can be hard to tell, but they know that they can trust each other with anything," Miku concluded with a small smile on her face.
Miku then stood up from the table and put her hands on their shoulders. "Hibiki, Chris-chan, do I need to remind you that tomorrow we have school? Don't use all your energy on arguing with each other, alright?"
Chris sighed, and with a grumble, let go of Hibiki's ear. "Fine, but only because we have to be good role models for Kirika and Shirabe."
Hibiki smiled weakly while clutching her red ear, "Thank you, Miku. I don't think my ear could've taken much more punishment!" She thanked her roommate while grabbing the black-haired girl's hands.
The three humans continued to eat their dinners while Amethyst ate a couple more trays. After an hour of eating, talking about their lives, and telling jokes to each other, Miku looked at her phone and saw the time. She stood up from her chair and moved her head towards Hibiki and Chris. "Hibiki, Chris-chan we have to go home now if we want to get to bed on time," she said.
With a sigh, Chris got up from her chair and made her way to the door after cleaning up. "Miku, wake the Idiot up so she isn't late to class, ok? And see ya, Amethyst."
"Aw man, do I have to? I was having so much fun talking to Amethyst-chan!" Hibiki lamented but got up from her seat after seeing Miku's stern face. She turned to Amethyst and, with a smile on her face, said "Bye, Amethyst-chan. We'll come back in a few days with our friends!"
With a smile on her face, the purple woman waved her hands in goodbye, "See ya later guys! And bring some snacks while you're at it!"
XXXX
The escaped experiments slowly made their way through the complex, stealthily dodging any patrolling security guards. Elsa's wolf ears detected anyone they came across, allowing them to move through the base like ghosts.
The group ran past a door in the hallway and went to the corner of the end of the hallway. After waiting a few moments, the group was about to go past it when Elsa's ears perked. "Someone's behind-"
The young werewolf was interrupted by a chuckle. "I knew something was wrong when you Monsters didn't show up for our regular appointment," An amused voice from behind the group said. Suddenly, Steven felt the cold, metal barrel of a gun press against the side of his head. He glanced up and saw the same gray-and-brown-haired doctor that experimented on him yesterday. The man must have come out of a door on the side of the hallway as Steven passed it, which is why Elsa didn't detect him in time.
The same doctor gave his characteristically sadistic grin and placed his other gently hand on Steven's shoulder. Steven's eyes bulged, and sweat started to form on his face. Then, the doctor let out an evil chuckle, causing the young child to gulp. "Now, unless you want this specimen's grey matter to coat the floor, you three will return to your cells," The doctor ordered, reveling in his power over them.
"You bastard, let him go right now if you know what's good for you!" Millaarc sneered at the doctor, her eyes burning with hatred. Her hands began bleeding from her nails digging into her palms. Vanessa and Elsa gripped their hands and bit their lips in frustration.
The doctor looked at Millaarc's eyes in slight shock. "I see," He said in a genuinely surprised voice. "Your eyes have miraculously healed. I assume that this specimen here healed you somehow," The doctor pressed his gun at Steven's head harder. Then, he regained his confidence and said, "No matter. We'll put you in separate cells so something like this won't happen again."
As Millaarc glared at the doctor, her eye color changed from a yellow and red iris to the color of a church's stained glass windows. The change was so startling that when her eyes met the doctor's, the scientist almost dropped his gun. "I said, let him go!" the vampire sneered at the doctor.
In a monotone voice, with no emotions guiding his words, the doctor simply said, "As you wish." He dropped his gun and took a step back from Steven. The boy then ran from the scientist to the side of the Monsters, hiding behind Vanessa. The girls were shocked.
Then, Vanessa's face brightened in realization. "I know what happened here! According to mythology, vampires can hypnotize people using their gaze," She explained to her curious companions. "Millaarc must've gotten that ability from yesterday's surgery."
"Hypnosis huh?" Millaarc asked Vanessa rhetorically before she got an idea. "Hey," She addressed the scientist. "Is there anything here that would help us escape this dump?"
The doctor nodded and walked into the room he came from. The three younger experiments looked up at Vanessa for guidance, to which she nodded in approval. However, before she went inside, Vanessa picked up the pistol from the ground, just in case this was a trick.
She walked into the room after the scientist, with the younger experiments following after her. When the group looked around, they saw a workshop filled with materials and tools. There was a big table in the middle which had a red and black suitcase on it. There was also a big box filled with glowing crystals on the side.
"This suitcase here is a weapon designed to be used by the werewolf specimen," The scientist explained as he took the suitcase off the table and gave it to Elsa. The pink-haired girl inspected the device. Her left eye twitched in annoyance when she saw a sticker of a bone over a crescent moon. She wanted to peel it off immediately, but it looked like the sticker was stuck to the suitcase for the time being. She sighed and, with great reluctance, accepted the suitcase.
Meanwhile, Steven walked over to the box of crystals on another desk and picked one up, and looked at it with curiosity. "What are these things anyway?" He wondered aloud. Vanessa came up behind him and took it out of his hands gently, making sure not to break it.
"These are teleportation crystals. When broken, they teleport the target to a predetermined destination." Vanessa explained while putting her hand under her chin. "These crystals here are probably programmed to go to an Illuminati base. But maybe…" Vanessa smiled when an idea came to her. "Everyone, I want you to take some of these crystals with you! I might be able to reprogram these for us to use later!" Vanessa ordered while carefully stuffing the crystals in her sleeves. The other three nodded while following her orders.
When the group finished their scavenging, Millaarc looked back up at the hypnotized doctor with disgust. "Now, is there a way out of this dump that won't set off the alarms?" She asked him.
"I am afraid not. You will likely have to fight your way through guards at the gate if you want to leave," He said blankly. The Monsters sighed at the news, but they weren't too surprised by this. However, Steven nervously gulped at the news.
With an annoyed look on her face, Millaarc continued her questioning by asking, "Anything else we should know before we head out?"
"I have heard rumors that the three leaders are currently looking for something in Val Verde. I don't have the clearance to know exactly what, but I do know that it is something powerful. It may be enough to grant you your humanity once more," Answered the hypnotized scientist.
That had gotten a reaction from the experiments, with the three Monsters grinning at the new information. Grinning ear to ear, Millaarc said, "Thanks for all your help, doc!" She then looked towards the pistol that Vanessa was holding. Her smile turned into a snarl. "But for trying to hurt our friend Steven, I'm going to need you to di-"
However, before Millaarc could finish the order, a panicked shout came out of the young half-alien's mouth, interrupting her order. "Millaarc, please don't finish that sentence!" Steven said while grabbing Millaarc's hand.
Millaarc growled at Steven, disbelief in her eyes, "Why are you defending him!? He held you at gunpoint just a few minutes ago!"
"I know that he and the other scientists have done terrible things to you guys. And you have the right to hate them, I can't take that from you." Steven said while pointing his arm at the brown-haired scientist who hurt him so badly. "But I can't let you kill him, for your sake! If you kill him, you'll only be proving them right!" The Monsters' eyes widened at the claim, while Steven continued, "You'll let them win if you prove to them that you are monsters!" Steven concluded with determination in his eyes. Millaarc stared at Steven's eyes, the boy not flinching from the vampire's gaze.
Millaarc sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Tch, fine whatever kid." With a reluctant grunt, she looked back at the doctor. "You there, just go to sleep and forget we ever talked to you, got it?" She ordered the brown-haired doctor. The doctor then flopped onto the ground, falling asleep immediately.
Vanessa grabbed the back of his lab coat and dragged him towards the back of the room where passing guards wouldn't see him. With a small smile, she grasped her metal hands together. "Okay everyone, now that we have everything we need, let's get going!"
The other three escapees nodded before going out the door, making sure no guards came by. When Steven went out of the room last, Vanessa looked at the young boy with an almost unnoticeable frown on her face.
The cyborg shook her head when she remembered his earlier speech. With a sigh too quiet for even Elsa to hear, Vanessa followed the younger experiments out the door and began their escape with their new equipment.
XXX
Pearl was in the submarine's workshop, working on the spacecraft with the highest quality tools that SONG could give. But even then, the progress was slow. The Rubies' ship was made of a material that human tools had difficulty manipulating.
Garnet was there, helping Pearl move the bigger pieces and giving advice as to where to place the bolts. Times like this made Pearl grateful for Garnet's future vision.
Speaking of which… Pearl looked up at the maroon gem in slight hope, "Garnet, I-I know that this might be too hopeful, but can you see anything about Steven?"
Garnet allowed herself to bow her head in disappointment, "You know I would have said something if I could, Pearl. But this Earth's geology is very different from our own. All I know is that he is somewhere on this Earth."
Pearl sighed in slight relief, glad to know that Steven was here on Earth somewhere and not in space, where who knows what could happen. But she could not shake this feeling of dread in her gem. Steven could be in danger on this Earth, but she couldn't help him without knowing where he was!
She looked back at the ship, attempting to fix a huge gash on the side of the ship. "I'm sorry I asked. I just want to find him as soon as we can."
"I don't mind, Pearl. I know that you only wanted to find Steven as soon as possible. We all do. But we can only hope that he is okay right now, and can handle himself." Garnet comforted the lithe gem, gently putting her palm on Pearl's shoulder. The smaller Gem looked up at her friend, with small tears in her eyes. But soon she wiped them away.
Crying wouldn't help Steven now. Now was the time for action.
XXXX
After what seemed like forever, Steven and the Monsters finally arrived at the exit of the facility. A metal gate fifty meters wide and ten meters tall stood between them and their destination. The planes and helicopters in the landing bay might've been an option for escape if not for the twenty guards standing guard. There were probably more hiding somewhere.
Steven pointed at one of the planes. "We could take one of those things over there…" He suggested.
Vanessa put her hand on her chin. "It's likely bugged, which will let them track us towards our new location. We'll have to leave the plane soon after we leave this prison. But we can still use it for now." Her answer caused the other three escapees to smile slightly. They could almost taste their hard-earned freedom.
But before they could make a plan to sneak over to the plane, a loud siren rang through the hanger, causing the experiments to cover their ears. The sudden noise especially disorientated Elsa, who attempted to cover her wolf ears too.
"FOUR OF THE EXPERIMENTS HAVE ESCAPED THEIR CELLS. BE ON THE LOOKOUT! LETHAL FORCE IS AUTHORIZED," Rang the intercom, alerting the guards of their escape.
At this, the guards became much more vigilant than before, watching each shadow with great care. More guards flooded the room, some approaching the gates the escapees were hiding behind.
"They're getting closer each second!" Millaarc cursed, her eyes becoming like stained windows in preparation for a fight.
"They're coming from behind us as well," Elsa informed them with urgency in her voice. Her wolf ears twitched at the sound of footsteps coming from further down the hallway.
"We'll have to run to the plane then," Vanessa concluded. She looked at her younger companions. "Alright. Girls, Steven, whatever you do, don't stop for any reason, got it?" Vanessa ordered the rest of the group. They nodded with determination.
Vanessa aimed her left hand towards a pile of barrels, and when her fingers opened, quietly shot a bullet out towards them. With a bang, the barrels of jet fuel fell over, attracting some guards towards it to inspect the cause.
With a wave of her hand as a signal, they began running out of the hallway as fast as they could. With the guards distracted, they had managed to get a head start towards the plane. When the guards running down the hallway arrived at the hangers, they spotted the experiments.
"There they are! Fire!" said the guard in front of the unit. He and his comrades aimed their guns at the escaping experiments.
Vanessa, Millaarc, and Elsa kept running towards the plane with no regard to the man's order, but Steven instinctively turned his head to look in the direction of the guards. His eyes widened when he saw the guns being pointed at the Monsters.
"Don't hurt them!" Steven yelled out when the men pulled the triggers on their weapons.
The guards fired their guns, only for their bullets to ricochet off a bright, pink shield four meters in diameter with a thorn pattern on it. It covered the young boy and the Monsters, protecting them from the gunfire. The bullets bounced off the forcefield and into nearby boxes, breaking them apart and ridding them with holes.
The Monsters turned back when they heard Steven's shout and were stunned to see his shield. Millaarc was the first to act, "Brat, get a move on! They won't sit here forever!" She said while grabbing the back of Steven's shirt and dragging him back into the plane.
Steven kept his shield up to block the guard's path and followed the vampire towards the plane. The blockage forced the hallway guards to make a detour to get a clear shot at the monsters. The guards originally in the hanger heard the shots, realized the escapees' ploy, and joined their fellows in the hallway.
After what seemed like an eternity, which in reality was thirty seconds, the escapees reached the plane. Fortunately for them, it was being prepared for takeoff right before they arrived. They ran inside and hastily closed the door. Vanessa took the pilot's seat and flipped every necessary switch needed in haste.
"Hurry the fuck up, Vanessa! They're gaining ground on us!" Millaarc shouted while looking out the windows, seeing guards appearing pass by the crates and shield blocking their previous line of sight.
"What do you think I'm doing!?" Vanessa yelled out while pulling the last switch needed to fly the plane. "I think I got it!"
"That's great, ma'am, but please, we must leave now !" Elsa yelled out when a bullet pierced through the side window, barely missing the werewolf.
"Hang on everyone!" Vanessa yelled out as the plane lurched out of the hanger and into the runway. Any guards who were at the hanger's door jumped out of the way of the speeding plane. When it reached the outside, Vanessa ignored proper flying etiquette and took off the runway as soon as possible.
Elsa looked outside and her eyes widened when she saw something on the ground. "Ma'am, turrets are aiming at us!"
"What!?" Everyone yelled out when they heard Elsa. Millaarc and Steven went to her window and looked outside, and indeed saw that there was a turret aiming at their aircraft. Vanessa continued flying the plane, trying to move the machine faster than before.
"They're going to shoot us out of the sky! Vanessa, dodge them!" Millaarc cursed out when she saw the weapon aiming at them.
"No, don't do that, Vanessa!" Elsa yelled out at the woman, causing Steven and Millaarc to shoot her incredulous looks at her.
"Why shouldn't she try!?" Millaarc demanded from the werewolf.
The wolf girl looked at the vampire with certainty in her eyes. "With Steven's shield, we can defend ourselves without slowing down!" She answered back while pointing her hands towards the young half-gem. "This plane is not built for sudden movements, so it can't dodge the turrets. But if Steven can block the turret's bullets with his shield, then we can escape gracefully!"
"That's still too risky, we're not-"
"I'll do it!" Millaarc was rejecting the younger girl's proposition when Steven answered with conviction in his voice. He was already going towards the door when Millaarc grabbed his shoulder tightly, stopping him.
"Listen brat, if you mess this up, we'll be blasted into smithereens," Millaarc warned with an annoyed look in her eyes.
"Trust me, I can save us from the turrets! And you can't stop me from trying!" Steven retorted with a determined look in his eyes. Millaarc sighed, let go of his shoulders, and looked out the windows towards the turrets.
"Fine, whatever. If we blow up, don't think I won't find you in the afterlife to give you two a piece of my mind!" Millaarc threatened the two younger escapees. She and Elsa grabbed a nearby railing tightly in preparation.
With a smile, Steven walked to the door once more and grabbed the side railing next to the door. With a deep breath to focus, he opened the door, and soon the air was rushing around like a storm inside the plane, almost making Steven, Elsa, and Millaarc let go of the railings.
However, Steven refused to let go and gained his bearings quickly. He looked at the turrets and saw that they were about to shoot the plane.
The turrets spat their bullets towards them, trying to knock the plane from the sky. But just as the bullets were about to reach the plane, Steven's bright pink shield reemerged, this time big enough to protect the entire aircraft.
Nonetheless, the turrets kept attempting to shoot the plane down. But no matter how many bullets were shot at the shield, none were able to pierce through its defenses.
When the plane gained enough altitude to get out of the turret's range, Millaarc pulled Steven back inside the plane and closed the door. Immediately, the roar of the wind and the sound of gunfire ceased, making the inside of the plane calmer. The vampire girl tossed the half-gem onto a nearby chair. As rough as it was, Steven didn't care. He was so exhausted from the day's events that he was grateful he didn't have to crawl to the chair himself.
"Jesus Christ, you two are nuts! Your plan could have gone so badly!" Millaarc ranted while pulling her hair.
"But it worked, didn't it?" Elsa retorted with a small smile. She felt like she had the right to be a little smug for her ingenious plan.
"That's enough out of you two. Just be glad that we escaped!" Vanessa cheered at her seat, which made the other three experiments realize that their escape plan worked.
Millaarc gave a big whoop, turned back at their former prison's direction, and gave it a middle finger. "So long!" She cried.
Elsa's reaction was quieter, though much more poignant. "Freedom," she whispered loudly. A big smile crossed her face as tears began forming in her eyes. "We finally escaped," she said as if she couldn't believe what had just happened.
Steven smiled at his chair and looked out towards the dense woods illuminated by the moon. The serene sight of the shattered moon behind a forest would make a nice painting…
Wait…
"Guys, what happened to the moon!?"