Brutal2003: Yes, they are indeed strong enough, but fighting all those monsters would seriously drain their energy, as well as risk the life of the girl. It is, at the time, safer to try and avoid the fiends and only fight when there is no other option.
Disclaimer: Things that I created are mine.
Chapter XXIV
This Just Isn't Her Day
First weight the considerations,
Then take the risks. --Helmuth von Meltke
XxXxX
A man in his mid-thirties sat in a cushioned chair, leaned back, eyes focused on the television screens in front of him and another, younger man.
"I've never had a more boring job," said the younger man beside him, also watching the screens.
"You've never had another job," he replied.
It was silent again, the younger man trying to think of a witty come-back, but failing.
"Well, lookie what we have here," the older one leaned forward in his seat, elbows on the counter, eyes looking at one of the screens. "some escapees."
"Are you serious?" The younger looked closer, shocked. "Well I'll be. You ain't kiddin'. Those new guys got free. But how?"
"That ain't the important thing right now." Picking up a phone, the older man spoke. "Ms. Ultimecia--"
"What is it now?"
"Uh…we got some escapees."
"Who is it?"
He was silent for a couple seconds, then spoke, "The four new guys we tossed in cells 401 and 402."
There was a sigh on the other side. "Leave them alone, they won't get far."
"Okay, ma'am, whatever you say," he hung up.
"So?" the younger man looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"We gotta leave them alone."
XxXxX
The laptop was on, numbers and Latin names on the screen. A doctor around fifty sat on a stool in front of a metal desk, hunched over the desk slightly, hands flipping through pages and pages of books, comparing past experiment results to his own, a disappointed look on his face.
"I don't get it… I did everything right! I added the correct amount of everything! Why won't it work!" He hadn't slept in days, and it was beginning to show--on his face, as well as in his work. He couldn't stop now, not until he completed this. The other scientists completed their experiments, so why couldn't he? Perhaps it was because his wasn't exactly an animal--personality-wise, maybe, but genetically? No. Mixing human DNA--especially as unique as hers was--with animals' was more difficult than it sounded. He had done everything correctly; or so he thought. Obviously he missed something because he wasn't getting any of the desired results. If only he had more of her DNA to work with, then it may be more possible than it was now. Reporting bad news to the boss was not what he wanted to do, but he may have to if he couldn't figure out how to fix his little problem.
His computer made a dinging sound, causing him to jump. He reached over to the left side of the table and pulled his laptop closer to him, his eyes scanning over the results of the test he had been running. "Hmmm… So that's all I needed?" He stood, walking over to a refrigerator and pulling out a tube filled with liquid. The letter D was written on the tube, and after getting a few other things that he needed, he finished mixing things and ran the proper tests on the computer to see if he had finally completed the first half of his experiment.
Minutes later, the results came in, and he tried to contain his joy--it was too early to get excited. He grabbed the tube and walked over to the circular machine in the center of the room. After inserting the tube into a hole in the machine, he pressed a few buttons, a hologram appearing above the machine. Time to complete the next half.
XxXxX
Kate opened the door to her bedroom in the estate that sat on top of the secret basements where the boss worked 24/7. The room the boss--Ms. Ultimecia--had given her was on the third floor of the estate. The large bed, dresser, and desk didn't fill up the room, but she didn't care; this was the place she came to for some peace and quiet.
Sitting down at the desk, she turned on the computer and waited patiently for it to load everything. Once it was finished, checking her e-mail was her first priority; she hadn't heard from her brother in a while, and that worried her--this was not the kind of place he needed to be in. To be honest, she didn't even know how he had gotten mixed up in all of this. Oh how her hatred for Mr. Ultimecia was growing rapidly.
Ah, finally my dear younger brother decides to send me a message, Kate thought with a little sarcasm but a lot of relief. Having to worry about him was not something she wanted to do in a place such as this.
Silently, she read the message:
Sis,
I found someone else who can help us. She's a prisoner here, but my gut feeling tells me she'll be a lot of help--A LOT. Her name is Paine and she is staying on the second floor, in the large room in the center. Trust me on this, Katey, she's a one-woman army. She can bad-mouth the boss and only get grounded.
Gotta go and look up more info for Ms. Paine.
Steven
Kate smiled, happy about the good news. The more people they had, the better things would hopefully turn out. Turning off the computer, she stretched, letting out a yawn. It would feel great to finally get some rest.
The bedroom door opened, causing her to jump and turn around in her seat. She calmed herself down when she saw who it was. "Peritus, have you yet to learn how to knock on a lady's door before entering?"
The man with the medium, spiky black hair, all dressed in black and red, lowered his head slightly. "I did not mean to be rude, I was just eager to find out if you had any word from that brother of yours."
Kate looked at the emotionless, pale face of her ally, and smiled. "And you look it, too." Shaking her head, she decided to get down to business. Peritus wasn't exactly as mean as he looked, but she knew he wasn't one to toy with--or waste the time of. "As a matter of fact, you arrived just on time. Steven just contacted me. He spoke with the Paine you brought here--and apparently he thinks she's a one-woman army."
"What else was said?"
"Oh, not much; he was never much of a talker--always too shy. But he's getting information for Paine. I just hope he doesn't get caught."
"If your brother is as skilled as I think he is, he will be fine. But I will keep a lookout for any suspicions of him betraying her." Peritus bowed before walking back out the door. Standing right outside the room, he looked back at Kate, quickly changing the subject to something more dear to him. "Watch him, Kate, and let me know if she speaks of ay plans involving him."
Kate nodded, aware of the "him's" name, and reason for being caged like the animal he was. She didn't understand--or really know--why she always felt this…feeling coming from Peritus whenever "he" is mentioned; was it hatred, or something else? One would think a man would love his brother, would risk his life for him--in a way, Peritus was risking his life for him, but she had a feeling his reasons were different than simply trying to rescue his loved one from a dangerous enemy. Perhaps she was all wrong about this, simply thinking too much on the subject…
XxXxX
Her eyes stared at the quivering man standing before her, anger and impatience printed all over her face and eyes. "I will ask you ONE. MORE. TIME: how the hell did they get loose!"
After the security guards had reported to her about her prisoners escaping, she blew a fuse--and this poor man just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. For the fourth time she had asked him (first two rather calmly, third slightly irritated), and for the fourth--and final--time, he couldn't find the balls to answer her. Luckily for him, her strongest soldier entered, saving the pathetic man's life. And to think: it was just the soldier's second day here.
"You are dismissed, soldier," she said to the quivering man, watching him run.
Peritus walked past the running man, completely ignoring him. "Peritus--I want you to figure out how my prisoners escaped," Ultimecia quickly ordered, getting very impatient with the current situation.
"Yes, ma'am," Peritus bowed, understanding his new orders. After this job was done, he needed to pay a visit to his dear friends…
XxXxX
The doctor ran toward the boss' chambers, heart racing. He had to hurry and deliver the news. As he was running, he passed the boss' head soldier--Peritus was his name, no? He didn't remember, but all he knew was that he was a silent guy, never spoke unless giving orders, and tough, as well. He'd heard that he was the one who brought the female test subject here. Of course, that was just a rumor he'd heard, but had no doubt that it was probably true. Peritus was the head soldier.
After almost tripping over his own feet, he finally made it to the room, standing up-right and catching his breath before entering.
"You bring good news, I hope?"
He quickly nodded his head, glasses almost falling off. "Y-yes, yes, ma'am."
"Kome, tell me, then."
Listening without hesitation, he walked down the red carpeted stone floor, toward the rather scary woman pacing back and forth in front of her throne. "Ms. Ultimecia," he bowed, "I bring the results of the experiment--"
"And?" She stopped pacing and looked at him.
"Everything worked perfectly………kind of."
"Kind of? What do you mean 'KIND OF'?" He could see the anger in her eyes…
His heart picked up speed. "Uh…there is a little problem…"
"What kind of problem!"
"I wasn't able to revive the body--" Her hand went around his throat, lifting him a foot off the ground. "T-the--DNA w-worked--b-but…the-the body wouldn't--materialize--properly--" he tried to explain while trying to breathe.
"I GAVE YOU SIMPLE ORDERS AND YOU KOULDN'T EVEN DO THOSE RIGHT!" She tossed him to her right, his body sliding and finally stopping a few yards away. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "What do you need to complete the experiment?"
Slowly, he picked himself up, body sore. "I'll need to begin Plan B." Although, at the time, they had no doubt that this would work, they came up with a back-up, just in case. He'd hoped it wouldn't have come to this…
"Fine. When do you need her?"
"It'll take some time to prepare, but if I start right away, I'll need her sometime early in the morning."
"Good, leave now."
He bowed before running out, taking deep breaths when he stood outside the room. Sweat covered his red face, and he rubbed his neck, heart still not calming down. Hopefully that would never happen again.
A/N: Please excuse any spelling mistakes and such. I have not been feeling all that well and I apologize for anything spelled incorrectly--as well as the shortness of this chapter. I honestly wish it could be longer, but sometimes it just turns out this way. The next chapter will hopefully be longer.
