Test Tube Kids
A little girl with black plaited pig tails ran around Atmosia, laughing and not exactly watching where she was going. She didn't notice she wasn't the only one running. Except, this person had a reason to run. A dark haired boy smashed right into her and they both toppled over. Both of them were barely five years old. The black haired girl wore a dress that a parent had obviously picked out and they boy wore baggy, dirty clothes you might find people in an asylum wearing.
"Ouch…" The girl muttered, still grinning. The boy stood quickly, his eyes darting in a panicked frenzy. The girl with braids stood up, gesturing her hand forward for him to shake. The boy looked confused.
"Hi! I'm Arabella, sorry for running into you! You seem to be doing something important" She said cheerily. The boy blinked, not sure what to think. Was she another one of those people who were just nice to get to him?
"You're supposed to shake my hand" Arabella said. The boy slowly shook it, still looking around cautiously. Arabella giggled.
"Did you lose your parents? My daddy could help you find them, cause he says he knows a lot of people" She asked. The boy shook his head.
"Why don't you talk? Are you like a mote, or something?" Arabella asked. The boy almost laughed.
"No, I'm not a mute… I just don't like talking…"He muttered. Arabella just smiled.
"That's okay, 'cause we're friends right?" She said happily. It was strange how regular kids could so suddenly claim a person as their friend. She wasn't like the other's who tried to get close to him slowly. She seemed more real…
"Hey, what's your name? Daddy said it was always important to know names" Arabella asked.
"Trayos"
"Cool name!"
X
Piper was confused. Aerrow was angry and the lady in front office was ready to press the silent alarm. These people they were looking for people who weren't on the lists!
"What do you mean you've never seen them?! How do you miss a twenty foot skunk, a psychotic short guy and several, extremely hyper teens?! One is the impeached queen of Pathologica for the love of Atmos!" Aerrow argued. The woman bit her lip. She was NOT hired to lie to Sky Knights…
"I'm sorry, they don't exist, in this school, I mean" The lady whimpered. Aerrow opened his mouth to say something, then turned and stomped out of the office. Piper laughed nervously and ran after him.
"Doesn't exist, retarded school system…" Aerrow muttered. Suddenly, he bumped into a rather large and bald student. Although he was STILL forty eight.
"What the… KURK!!"
"What the Kurk? Now that's original" Kurk muttered, scratching his bald head. Piper thought he put wax on it, the way it reflected light.
"That's it. Where are you hiding them?!" Aerrow accused. Piper smacked her forehead. Kurk blinked for several seconds, and then chuckled. Aerrow looked totally confused.
"You're not the only one hunting down short people" Kurk explained.
"Sure… THEY'RE SKIPPING SCHOOL IN THE LIBRARY!! It's genius!" Piper exclaimed. Aerrow stared at her.
"Don't you see? Nobody ever goes to the library!" Piper assured. Aerrow punched Kurk in the face. But before he could retaliate, Piper shoved him into the men's room. Kurk leaped after him shouting nasty insults. Piper bolted the door as students began to gather around…
X
Shadow was about to puke. It was like the swinging roller coaster from hell. No it was worse than hell. Hell mixed with a doctor's smell. Other than the occasional misfired piece of wall from Rondana and a shriek from Celine, it was almost peaceful. Yeah, right.
"JESUS CHRIST, PUT ME DOWN!" Shadow screamed. Smooth.
"Nope!" Celine laughed, throwing her in the air. Shadow screamed and grabbed at the ceiling, hoping to catch hold of it before Celine snatched her out of the air. Again.
"TAKE THAT, YOU FREAK!!" Someone shouted. Another chunk of screwed up wall smashed into Celine's stomach, causing Shadow's face to slam into the linoleum floor.
"OW!" She shouted. Celine suddenly took off running, dragging Shadow across the floor.
"You ready to give up?!" Celine laughed, still running.
"Make me!" Shadow challenged. If Celine tried to strangle her, she could always throw up on her. Stork once taught her how to do that to freak out kidnappers.
"Okay" Celine giggled stopping and bringing Shadow into the air again. A huge glass wall was all that separated them from the wastelands and certain doom.
"If you won't give up, you have to go. It's the rules" Celine said.
"Who MADE these rules?!" Shadow demanded. Now, she was really gonna barf.
X
"It's ALL under control!" Piper assured, trying to keep the door to the men's room closed. Just that second, an impression of Aerrow's face was made on the door, causing Piper to shriek and fall over. The crowd of students started chanting.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!!" They shouted. Piper wanted to die. Aerrow was going to be SO pissed when everyone came back…
X
Dawne ripped the alarm system out of the wall. Funny, she thought, it wasn't on…
The creature squeaked oddly, like he screamed. Dawne looked down. He was looking around, the fur and feathers on his neck standing up.
"What's wrong?" She asked. Then she paused. She was talking to a weird funky thing. What was wrong with her?!
"Scree!" The creature screeched, taking off down a hall, then spun around to stare at her again, like a dog wanting someone to follow them. He screeched again.
"Great. I've got a half bird thing yelling at me" Dawne muttered, taking off after him.
X
"Now will you give up?" Celine asked. Shadow half wanted to say yes.
"No!" She shouted. Hopefully the rules had something against throwing her out a glass window the size of three platinum screen TVs. The Wastelands looked foreboding and… orange. Orange with lava, which would burn the skin right off before she died. Either that or she would die from impact. Basically, she was going TO DIE.
"Mommy?" She squeaked. Oh wait, I don't have a mom, she remembered.
"Hey!" A voice shouted from behind. Celine whirled around, smacking Shadow against a wall.
" OW!" She said. The source of the voice stood in the hallway behind them. And he looked extremely pissed off.
"Trayos!"
Trayos continued to stare Celine straight in the eyes.
"Celine, you're not a killer" He said. Shadow almost laughed. The psychopath was about throw her out a window. That would probably be classified as murder. Sure, Shadow was supposedly dead anyway, but still.
"Shut up! I was created to kill! You were an accident! You can't tell me what I am!" Celine shouted. Shadow felt extremely awkward.
"You know, if you put me down, this conversation would be so much more-"
Celine squeezed Shadow's rib cage tighter and her last word came out as a squeak.
"You've been told you were created to kill. Is that what you want to do your entire life? Kill with little remorse? Or did ATLAB completely destroy your conscience?" Trayos challenged. Celine gritted her teeth.
"You don't get it, do you? All that I ever think of doing is killing whoever gets in my way! I have no say in what those scientists do to me! Every time I move, something hurts! Something is wrong with everything I do! My own family thinks I'm hideous! What else can I do other than kill, huh? How about you tell me that!" Celine screamed, black oil that substituted for tears running down her face. Shadow felt horrible. Every time she insulted Celine, she drove a nearly insane girl who just wanted a real life to want revenge.
"You can forgive. That's what you can do, instead listening to lies" Trayos said.
Celine's face darkened.
"You're right. But why do I have the feeling you'rethe one who's lying?" She asked. Shadow felt her gut turn inside out. That had to be bad….
"SCREEE!" A ball of fur and feather's suddenly launched itself at Celine's face. A frantic, and rather confused, figure skidded into the hall, waving her arms and shouting.
"No, BAD THING-A-MA-BOB!!GET BACK HERE!!" The person ordered, then stopped.
What have I gotten myself into? Dawne thought, slowing her flailing of her arms. Celine screamed, desperately trying to detach Griffey from her face, and lost grip of Shadow.
"OH CRAAAAAAP!" She shouted. The glass window would shatter the minute she smashed into it…
CRRRK!
Shadow squeezed her eyes shut. In a split second, the entire window would implode, she'd be plummeting into orange lava…
"Wow, you two are certainly a mess" A voice joked. Shadow opened one eye. Dawne stood directly in front of her, chuckling as Celine tried to claw off the clawed creature that so loving was destroying her face. Shadow opened the other eye. She was alive?!
" I'm alive?" She asked. Dawne burst out laughing. Trayos just pointed in different directions with a completely confused look on his face.
"For now!"