Whoop, and here's chapter two for you, readers. Not a lot of Warden action in this one, sadly, but I promise he'll be back in the very near future~! For now, though, this is basically when Dana tries to get her bearings of Superjail, but as one can imagine, that's kinda... um, difficult, with the place in question.
Anyway, here's number two, and I hope you like it. 8D
...Ah, yes, I forgot to add this last chapter: I don't own Superjail or Pokemon... quite sad, really. All I have is Dana and the characters of her Pokemon.
"I take it the Warden's not a very modest fellow?" I asked Jared as we were taken to our 'quarters'. To pass the time, I was looking out whatever windows we passed, seeing whatever could be classified as the outside world. And from what I could see, this Superjail place really was the Warden's world. It seemed nearly all the buildings were shaped like his head, top hat and all. It was insane.
"He has his… quirks," Jared replied cautiously. I titled my head, wondering if the Warden could hear everything uttered in his utopia. I hoped not, because I know I'd being doing some blaspheming about him once we were in our room.
"I can't believe this place is a prison," Kona mused, "It's so… crazy." He stopped to look out a window, and I did the same. It looked like some sort of happy-rainbow land out there.
"Is that a dinosaur?" I said in shock.
"Looks like it," Kona replied. Shaking my head in slight worry, I caught up with the rest of my Pokemon, who were a few paces behind Jared.
"You know what else is crazy?" Rex said to me, "The fact it seems we can be understood fluently here." I nodded.
"I have no clue why, either," I said, "The only guess I have is that maybe the change in dimension did something to your voice boxes."
"Meh, it's fine with me," Emily chimed in, "I quite like having my insults be heard." I rolled my eyes in response.
"Ah, here we are," Suddenly, Jared stopped before a rather plain door. I looked further down the hallway, seeing more doors dotted along the expanse. The short account opened up the door before us, pushing it open. My friends and I slithered inside.
And let me tell you this: I was a bit annoyed at the sight of where we'd be staying.
"This looks like a cubicle," I snarled. It was true. The room was very small and painted wide, so very different from what was outside. One lone gray lounge bed sat in the corner. There was also a table across from it, white as well. The only other rooms attached was what looked like a small bathroom on one side.
"This is it?" Rex said, "Good God, this is depressing."
"Are you sure the Warden didn't mix us up with one of the inmates?" I snapped at Jared. He started to sweat.
"Don't bl-blame me," he stuttered, "I don't know why the Warden choose this!" I growled slightly, and he squeaked.
"Uh, hey, Jared, why don't you go tell the Warden we're safe and sound in new room?" Kona said to Jared, obviously noticing how I was going to bite the accountants head off any minute. Jared seemed to get the hint and he nodded.
"Of c-course, I'll tell him right away," he said, heading out the door. A few moments later, and he was out of there.
Once he was gone, I slumped down on the bed and sighed.
"This has got to be the crappiest vacation ever," I moaned.
"Hey, it's your fault we're here anyway," Emily murmured, crawling atop the table.
"How is my fault?" I growled.
"You must have provoked the robot into grabbing us or something," my Weavile replied, before curling up and falling asleep. Moaning, I rubbed my temples.
When I asked for something interesting, I didn't mean this, I thought angrily.
"Well, what should we do now?" Kona asked, "I don't think there's much here, in this excuse for a room."
"No duh, Kona," I muttered, before shrugging, "I dunno… I guess we could explore or something."
"Isn't this insane prison a little big to explore?" Rex pointed out.
"That hasn't stopped us before," I shot back.
"You go ahead, Dana," Kona said, "Maybe we'll go exploring ourselves a little later."
"Nah Nyah," Hibiscus agreed. Sighing irritably, I stood up.
"Fine," I said, "But if I find something cool, it's your fault for missing it." I headed for the door. Just before I opened it, though, something crossed my mind, "One more thing, you guys."
"What's up?" Rex asked.
"Try not to use your attacks," I said, "This place is weird enough, and I don't want Mr. Crazy Warden asking questions, okay?" My Pokemon nodded. Pleased, I grinned to them, and headed out the door to explore.
Slipping outside and slamming the door behind me, I looked around. Where should I begin? Those other doors in the hall looked interesting… but, with my luck, I'd get caught snooping around and God-only-knows what would happen then. So, I decided to just head down the hallway and see what I could find.
And so I walked. To be honest, nothing was really invoking my interest. This was just a boring hallway, a door coming up every now and then. But nothing that looked like the craziness outside.
I paused. The craziness outside; that was it! There had to be a door or something that led outside, right?
"Come out; come out, outside door…" I muttered as I looked around. Suddenly, the hallway I was in split in two, a fork in the path. I bit my lip, figuring out which way was best.
"Let's try… the right," I decided after a moment, walking down the right path.
The second I did so, I found myself in what looked like a dark elevator. I blinked. Okay, this was odd. How the hell did I wind up here?
"Stupid, stupid Superjail," I cursed quietly. It looked like this bizarre place randomly changed itself every so often. Well, wasn't that just great? I wish one of my Pokemon HAD came along with me.
Just then the lights on the elevator switched on, as if willing me to push them. I looked, and my jaw dropped. There had to be at least fifty damn buttons on this thing, all of them with different labels! Squinting, I stepped closer to read them. That didn't help very much. Most of them were labeled with random crap that I didn't think could be places.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" I snarled as I scanned them. Seriously, this whole thing was starting to become stupidly surreal. If I was lucky maybe I'd wake up in a few minutes.
Finally, I saw a button on the elevator that actual made sense: Cellblock 742. And though I didn't want to admit it, it was probably the only choice I had.
"I am so gonna regret this later," I groaned, slapping the button. Moments after my finger impacted the button, I was already regretting it.
The elevator shot downward at extreme speed, and I screamed, clinging to its side like a frightened cat. Even the goddamn elevators in this place were insane!
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," I breathed as the elevator shot sideways and then straight down again. For a moment I felt like my stomach and liver switched places, and I began shouting out loud streams of obscenities at the crazy Willy Wonka stunt double that ran this joint.
Abruptly, however, my elevator stopped short, making me crash to its floor. With a light ding, doors I hadn't even noticed before opened up, revealing a path to the place I had chosen. Continuing to swear under my breath, I slithered out and began regretting once again.
Cellblock 742 was just how I imagined it would be: loud and outrageous. I was barely in the large prison block before I heard the screaming voices of violent, wild, incarcerated men. Rolling my eyes, I trudged forward. My appearance oughta shock 'em.
It did. Oh, how it did. No sooner had I made my way through the narrow hallways between cells of orange-clad miscreants did I start hearing the calls and the wolf whistles and the 'hey, baby's!' Pfft, like these guys thought they even had a chance with me.
Keeping close to the middle of the hall so I could avoid getting my ass grabbed or something, I couldn't help but chuckle slightly. This cellblock didn't look very out of the ordinary from any other one. No rainbows, no vibrant colors, no ponies, there just the dull gray of metal and concrete. My only idea as to why this was like this was simply that maybe this helped the prisoners from completely losing what little sanity they had.
Musing on that thought for the moment, I suddenly heard what sounded like the chirping of a bird. I stopped short.
"Okay, I've been here for, like, thirty minutes and my miniscule amount of sanity I have left has already curled up and died," I said to myself, coming to the only conclusion I had, "Now I'm hearing chirping birds."
Just then, I heard the chirping again. I looked around, frantically trying to find the source. It had sounded closer this time. Finally, the tweeting let out once more, and I felt something land on my head.
Raising a finger up to my hair, I checked to see what had hit me. Sure enough, there was a slight fluttering sound and whatever was on my head was now on my finger. I looked upward, and found my chirping source.
It was bird alright, and it looked like a canary of sorts. It was small, but just from the look it had in its ticked-looking eyes I could tell it had a big attitude. Cautiously I reached over to scratch it on the fluffy feathered head, praying it wouldn't bite me or anything.
"Um, hey there," I said, though it was sort of drowned out by the screaming of the prisoners, "Were you the one chirping?"
The bird twittered a reply, and I understood it immediately. It told me "well, you don't see any other birds around here, do you?"
Must be like how I get what Hibiscus is saying, I thought.
"Point taken," I replied, snickering slightly, "So, uh, are you an inmate here?" I got more chirping in response.
"You and your keeper?" I said, looking about for anyone who looked like they'd take an interest in birds. The bird abruptly took off of my finger and over to a nearby cell, as if reading my mind. Biting my lip, I followed it, trying not to get raped in the process.
In the cell the bird brought me to be a man who looked oddly out of place in the whole prison scheme. He had modest black hair and shiny glasses with glare that hid his eyes. There was also some fat cellmate behind him asleep on a bunk, but I tried to avoid looking at that horrible creature.
"Oh, okay," I said to the bird, which was perched on one of the bars, "This is your keeper?"
The bird whistled.
"Huh, alright, Gary, you said it was?" I said, glancing at the man with glasses. He nodded mutely. I smiled slightly, and glanced at the bird, "And what do you call yourself?"
More tweeting poured out of its beak. I blinked slightly.
"Oh… Bird… your name is Bird? Gee, isn't that original?" I muttered. Hearing me, Bird hopped over and promptly bit my finger.
"OW! What the hell, Bird, that freaking hurt!" I snapped, clutching my wounded finger. Bird just gave a mocking chirp to me. I glared at it. Actually, by now I had figured out Bird was, in fact, female, so I was technically glaring at a 'she'.
Anyway, after a few minutes of letting the pulsating pain in my finger pass (and apologizing to Bird), I at last got a chance to introduce myself.
"I'm Dana," I presented myself; "My friends and I are being held captive here. So, in a way, I'm a prisoner here myself." Bird chirruped in understanding, "Yeah… pretty much right now I'm just wandering around and trying to get my bearings." Hearing that, Bird fluttered onto my shoulder, and suddenly began twittering out several places that she thought I'd like. I nodded at each one.
"Interesting… interesting… ooh, a bar… say, how do you know about all these places?" I asked, mentally remembering to check all these places out.
Bird tweeted: 'oh, I get around.' I raised an eyebrow at that.
"Oh, do you?" I said to her cheekily.
Bird sang out a harsh note: 'Not that way, smart one.' I laughed, before going back to the matter at hand.
"All these places you're telling me about sound fascinating," I said, realizing I probably should get moving if I wanted to check all these places out, "Alright, now… I guess I should be going. The noise here is starting to get to me. See ya around Bird, Gary."
Bird ruffled her feathers slightly and whistled, while Gary just nodded. I returned it with a grin, before quickly scurrying out of Cellblock 742 as fast as I could. No matter what, those other big muscled guys in there scared the crap out of me.
Soon I found myself at the end of the long unit of cells, much to my delight. However, my joy was quickly diminished as I found myself in yet another long blank hallway. I sucked in some air.
"Alright, where was the first place Bird said was cool? Some sort of secret underground lab…" I muttered, looking about for any sort of path that might lead to that. Because a secret underground lab sounds so easy to find.
I couldn't find a new path, but every so often I found a door dotted along the hallway. Of course, I being my curious self, I had to open it. This usually led to more regrets. Trust me, behind so of those doors were things I don't think I'll ever be able to unsee…
I've gotta get outside, I thought to myself as I went along my self-guided tour, maybe out there I can get my location straightened out.
I looked about for anything that might lead to outer side of Superjail. But I saw nothing except the corridor I was already in. To be honest, I was beginning to feel this hallway would never end.
I stopped short suddenly. Maybe that was it! Maybe this hallway was never-ending! Considering the rest of the craziness in this place, a never-ending passageway seemed quite fitting. Of course, I had to be the one stuck in it.
"I'll just go through the next door I see," I decided as I picked up speed, "Yeah, that's it. It might be terrifying, but at least there's a chance I can get out of there." So that was that. Fortunately, coming up on my right was another door. I clenched my fist. That would be my escape from the Hallway of Endlessness.
"Outside here I come," I said, stopping before the simple wooden door. I grappled its cool metal handle, and without further ado, turned and opened it. Just before I jumped in, I prayed that this path would lead me outdoors.
***
Well, the good news was that door did lead me outside.
The bad news was it was not in the way I had wanted.
You see, I was currently dangling from the edge of one of Superjail's gigantic Warden-shaped buildings, trying with all my might not to let go and fall to my doom. And for the life of me, I still had no clue how I wound up here. One minute I was going through the doorway, the next I was hanging onto structure and trying not to die.
"This place makes no goddamn sense…" I muttered as I struggled to lift myself up. At least from where I was swaying there was a little lip I could stand on once I got up there.
If I got up there at all, that is. Every now and then I made the mistake of looking down, and seeing just how far a drop it was. And it was far.
"Just a little more… got it!" Finally, I managed to crawl up onto the thin lip. Breathlessly, I struggled to stand, and promised myself not to look down again.
Well, that's that, I thought as I started to regain my breath, now I just have to figure a way back in. That had to be easier said than done. The outcropping I was on went all the way around the rounded top of the building, and it could take me a while to shuffle along it looking for a window or something.
What other choice do you have, Dana? That thought hit the nail right on the head. I couldn't really do anything else. So, shuffle around it was.
Stepping as gently as I could, I began to walk with my back against the wall, watching for anything that could let me back in. And so far I wasn't really getting anything. The golden steel of the wall was flat as ever.
"Oh, come on!" I shouted, and it almost sounded like I was addressing the building itself, "I managed to get up here without dieing, now cut me some slack, dammit!" I let out an exasperated sigh after my outburst. Yelling at the building was not going to work at all.
Suddenly, though, I almost believed it did. As I shuffled along, something protruding from the wall appeared. It was a window. My eyes widened, and I picked up some speed.
That was my ticket back inside.
"Thank you," I felt a bit stupid thanking the building, but hell, for all I known they might be alive in the world or something. Either way, when I reached the window I could almost hear choruses of angels cheering. Now all I had to do was get back.
"Well, that's easy enough," I said. Situating myself in front of the window, I clenched my fists and prepared to punch. I grinned. Well, I had wanted to release my pent-up rage at the Warden anyway.
"This is for holding us against our will!!" I roared, and with one swift movement, swung my fist at the window. Unfortunately, it didn't break. It just cracked a little bit. I bit my lip, and gripped my slightly wounded hand. Maybe I needed to be a bit angrier.
"Um… okay, this is for giving us a room that could pass off for a cubicle!" I shrieked, before punching the window again. Still nothing. I narrowed my eyes.
"C'mon, window, you let me find you, so how about you let me in?" I said, going back to the "let's talk to inanimate objects" method. Again, though, it didn't speak to me in any way. I rolled my eyes. Maybe I should just punch it again and hope for the best.
"Alright, what else can I scream about the Warden…" I thought aloud, staring off into space for a moment. Finally, I got an idea. A rather stupid one, but an idea nonetheless.
"Okay… this here is for the overuse of purple!" I shouted, and before cranking back and my fist and thrusting it at the window. It shattered on impact. I beamed to myself.
"Well, it's about time," I said firmly, before knocking out the pieces of glass still stuck into the window frame.
Once it was clear, I slithered in through the empty frame after the glass stopped falling. Careful not to step on the shards, I hit the hard ground beneath the window, and let in a prideful sigh. That punch had felt good.
"Okay, now where am I?" I said to myself, looking about. I was in a small hallway now, one that actually ending. One side stopped with a simple wall, the other with a door. I swallowed. That was my one way to continue.
"Here goes nothing," I said, trotting to the door. God, I hoped I wouldn't end up inside the lava of the volcano this place rested on, or in the middle of an ocean of cola, or something horrible like that. In fact, seeing as I was starting to get a bit beat, I actually hoped it would drop me off nearby the room I was supposed to stay in.
"Only one way to find out," I concluded, and grabbed the doorknob. Thrusting it open, I cautiously stepped into this new room.
Fortunately, I wasn't outside again. But I also wasn't by my quarters either. In fact, it appeared that I was inside one of the maximum security wings of this prison. At least, that was the general idea I derived from the extremely sturdy looking doors and dark vibe I got.
But from the looks of things, this was the only way to get to next exit. Maybe if I moved quickly I wouldn't have to worry about anything.
"Just keep moving. That's it…" I told myself, skating along as fast as I could. I could already see the door out of here a little ways away. Just a bit more and I'd be there.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing down here?" a deep voice that sounded like it arose from the bowels of Hell itself emanated from my left. I froze, recognizing the voice.
"Alice," I said very quietly, and shivered. Of all the people to run into…
I turned slightly so I could make out where 'she' was. The burly guard had been in a corridor I hadn't noticed as I was scurrying to the exit. It looked like she was beating up some terrified inmate (The fact that "woman" could send terror into the high-security prisoners frightened me more so than it should have). Of course, I didn't totally care about that. I cared about the fact she was coming towards me, and how she looked very, very mad.
"This is a limited-access area, bitch," the woman-man-thing snarled at me. I shrunk back.
"I got a little bit lost," I tried to explain; "I didn't know I'd end up here."
You know how people say you don't want to meet something in a dark alley? Well, as Alice advanced towards me, I came to the conclusion I didn't want to meet her in a dark alley, a light alley, a "limited-access area", or in a public park filled with tons of cute animals.
"Bullshit," Alice snarled at me, and I began cautiously heading for the door. That didn't exactly help. The burly guard grabbed me by the scuff of my collar and glared at me through those pink tinted eyes.
"I was telling the truth," I reasoned, but was once again ignored.
"Listen, tramp, I don't care what the Warden says about you, but if you try to cross paths with me again," Alice clenched her fist for emphasis, "You gonna wish you were never born. Got that?"
I let out an incomprehensible squeak in response.
"Good," Without another word, Alice released me, and I didn't waste any more time being near her. Like a rabbit fleeing from a predator, I bolted from Alice to the door in about three seconds.
"I'm scarred for life now…" I muttered as I pulled open the heavy steel door and skedaddled out. Never again did I wish to run into that defective creature.
Once I was safe and sound outside, I looked around, and was pleased to find that my quarters were only a few paces away.
"Well, it's about goddamn time," I hissed, running a hand through my hair. I had had enough exploring for one day, thank you very much. So, without further ado, I trotted over and slipped into my pleasantly-boring room, eagerly awaiting some well-earned relaxation.
"Hey, Dana," I jumped slightly, not expecting just Rex to be in the room. But there he was, curled up against the wall, "You look crappy."
"I feel crappy," I muttered, storming over and plopping down on the bed, "Where are the others, anyway?"
"I think they're still out exploring," Rex explained, his blue eyes curious. He got up and trotted closer, "But what happened with you?"
"Oh, let's see: I met a few inmates, one of them being a bird, got lost, almost fell off a building, and finally, had a bad encounter with that Alice…thing ," I rambled off, before groaning and slamming my head against the wall, "It was just peachy."
"Ouch," my Lairon replied.
"Gee, thanks," I snapped back, "Did you take a walk or what?" He flinched slightly.
"Yeah, a little while after you left. It was… interesting," he said, "And I've come to the conclusion that the Warden is completely insane."
"Figured that out the moment we met him," I mused.
"I mean, I happened to walk by his office, and he was going on and on to Jared about some of his "great plans". They're completely idiotic!" Rex ranted on, "And I honestly can't believe he controls everything here. No one person can do that." I blinked a few times, and bit my lip.
"I dunno, Rex," I said, "I think there's more to that man than what meets the eye."
"What do you mean?"
"I think he's willing this gargantuan prison to make me lose my way."
"Oh, come on, how can he do that?"
"Clearly, by using some sort of powers. Seriously, I turned a corner and wound up taking the worst elevator ride of my life. That just doesn't happen in a normal dwelling!"
"But still… Dana, it just doesn't work that way… no one person can control a place this big. It just doesn't happened" the Lairon rationalized. I blew a raspberry.
"Screw you and your logic," I snapped, rolling onto my stomach, "There's something up with this place."
"Blah, blah, blah, whatever," Rex grumbled. I smirked slightly, knowing that was his general response when he didn't want to continue arguing with me. He was a smart Pokemon.
Indeed, there had to be something up with this 'Superjail'. No regular, sane place acted like a living creature, or something that's controlled by a single man. And to think I had only been here two hours or so.
Sighing, I closed my eyes. I didn't know if I could take it much longer.
She's got her work cut out for her, doesn't she? Endless hallways, elevators from Hell, burly women-men, yep, just another day in Superjail.
Speaking of burly women-men... I hate writing for Alice, even though I think I managed. D: She's my least favorite character, to be honest. She frightens me. ;-; Don't expect her to come up too often in further chapters. That's just coming from the preference of the writer.
Most of the other aspects I enjoyed here... Dana's theory is mine, I admit. I think teh warden's powerful enough to bend his prison depdns on the person in question. If it's someone he likes, you find your way. But if he hates you... well, you'll be taking a bit of a long tour.
Ah well, I'm rambling. R&R, peoples, and stay tuned~ ;D