I've been told that in dire circumstances, human survival instinct takes over. A common example of this is a mother whose infant child is trapped under a car. Suddenly, the mother has the strength to lift this car and save her child's life. When your body is already a chemistry experiment gone wrong, the added adrenaline can produce effects that make the term "superhuman" seem like an incredible understatement.
It felt like the world slowed down as I heard the triggers click back and the burst of bullets began flying towards me. The force field went up around me, deflecting each bullet as perfectly as I expected. The gunfire stopped quickly, but not quick enough to stop the ricocheting bullets from flying back at the guards. I stood up and watched through the purple field as the guards scrambled away from me. Trails of blood followed few of them as they dove for cover behind the whirring machines that filled the room.
I turned around and took in the room around me. A domed ceiling sat atop the room which seemed impossibly tall. The sheer scale of the room was reminiscent of a European cathedral, but the modern technology that covered every surface instantly put that thought to rest. The screen that faced me when I came in rose up to the roof, with clunky computers and gauges resting at the base of it. More blinking lights and various mechanical devices lined the walls in the rest of the room, covering the entire circumference. In the centre of the room was a large cylinder that extended about halfway towards the ceiling. Large tubes protruded from the cylinder which seemed to be slowly leaking steam. Blue lines of light pulsed from in between panels of steel and the whole thing emitted a loud humming sound. There were more consoles at the base of the large machine, adding to the loud electronic soundscape that encompassed the room.
Another gunshot rang out which the force field blocked as expected. I looked in the direction of the sound to see a guard duck back behind a tall, beeping machine. Through the haze of purple, I saw what looked like a snake writhing on the floor, sparking and flopping around like a dying fish. I cautiously lowered the force field before I called out into the room of hidden guards and mysterious technology.
"Elsa!" I shouted, my voice hoarse and almost unrecognizable even to myself. I looked desperately around the room, listening close for any sign of recognition. A cough was clear over the sound of the machinery and it took less than a second to find the source. Elsa's head was visible, on top of the cylindrical centerpiece of the room. Her eyes were closed and her blonde hair which was usually kept tight, had loose strands splayed every which way. Her face was soaked with sweat and her pallor was a sickeningly green colour. I ran towards the monolith, hoping to climb up to Elsa using the tubes and cables that connected it to the outside walls. Standing at the base of it, I heard another gunshot followed by the sound of lead on steel as it ricocheted off of the force field that had unconsciously returned around me. I took a look back, before turning invisible and running around the massive container to climb up the other side. The quick movement left me slightly light headed but I soldiered on. The pain had initially numbed after the adrenaline fueled use of my powers, but it was slowly returning in waves. My arms started to feel heavy and sore and my back began to ache again.
But you can do this I thought to myself as I began to climb over the noisy console that lead to Elsa.
The tubes were placed conveniently which allowed me to make my way up quite quickly, despite protest from my sore limbs. I came up to the right of Elsa and rested on my elbows on the plateau where her head was centered, my legs dangling over the edge of the cylinder.
"Are you okay Elsa?" I asked, the sterile smell of hospitals filling my nostrils. A small groan was the reply I received from the blonde before the machines around us started whirring loudly. Almost instantly, the device holding Elsa captive shook violently. I was quickly cast off and fell down to the web of cables and cords below. I reached out and grabbed one of the tubes as I fell, halting my downward trajectory but wrenching my arm in the process. I reached back towards the vibrating machine, grabbing onto a cord attached to the apparatus. The cord came out of the machine and immediately the tube I was holding onto came free of the cylinder. Steam poured everywhere and an alarm bell system added to the cacophony that engulfed the room. I dropped to the floor, the expelled vapour rolling over me and covering the floor in a cool, dense fog. I looked up to see more tubes being jettisoned from the machine, steam pouring down towards the floor. A horrible grinding sound pierced the air and the steel plates flew outwards from Elsa's containment. The machine came apart right before my eyes, falling to the floor in a discord of clanking metal and hissing steam.
When I stood up to observe the wreckage, I could see Elsa kneeling down in the midst of broken machinery. The lights in the room had changed from stark fluorescence to oscillating red lights that were hooked to the alarm system. Elsa stood up shakily, revealing the sleek black body suit that clung tight to her figure. Her eyes opened, and she looked down at herself. She raised her arms ahead of her and I finally understood the extent of her imprisonment.
Needles protruded from her arms and shoulder blades, wires extending down into the mist that rolled along the ground. They must have been experimenting on her or trying to control her powers with the obscene amount of needles hooked onto her body.
She looked along the length of her arms, before clenching her fists and closing her eyes. Without warning, every single needle and wire attached to her body flew outwards and froze in midair. Ice coated the needles and traced the length of the wires into the floor. Surrounded by the icy tentacles that she had just ejected from her body, she slumped back to the ground. I limped over to her, every single nerve in my body screaming at me to stop. I pushed through the stalks of ice-covered wires that cracked and fell to the floor when touched. I knelt by her and gently put my hand on her back.
"Elsa, we need to get out of here" I whispered to her, knowing it wouldn't be long before gunfire erupted around us.
"I...I can't" she replied weakly.
"I know it's not easy, but if we don't move we're dead." I pleaded with her, anxious to escape.
"Then leave!" She whispered, strength beginning to return to her voice. "I should be dead anyways."
"Stop talking like that," I said as I resolved to grab her from under the shoulder and hoist her up. "You and I have a long way to go." I placed a force field around us as I started to pull her along with me.
Gunfire erupted on cue, bouncing off the shield once again as we slowly made our way along the misty floor towards the entrance. I could feel Elsa's reluctant legs starting to support themselves as she stood straighter. She stopped to look around us as the guards stood from their cover and approached us, guns raised. She slowly lifted her leg and then aggressively stepped down onto the metal floor. Blue fractals spiralled from her feet, coating the floor in a thin layer of slippery ice. Around us, the mist covered the ice that extended past us and under the feet of the surrounding guards. Elsa walked backwards, pushing me towards the door. One guard tried to follow us slowly, resulting in an embarrassing show of flailing limbs and fancy footwork as he unsuccessfully tried to gain his balance before disappearing into the mist. The remaining guards looked around at each other in surprise and their new, uncertain positions took a visible amount of confidence from them.
When we arrived at the room's entrance, Elsa stepped ahead of me and placed her hands on the door. Frost spread from her fingertips and into the crevice where the two sliding doors met. With a loud crunch the doors were forced open violently by horizontal pillars of ice. We walked through the doorway, which Elsa made sure to shut behind us immediately.
We looked down the hall for our escape route and found it in the form of the old rustic elevator descending to our floor. I sprinted towards the door, surprised by the sudden burst of adrenaline, with Elsa following not far behind. Without warning, the elevator stopped moving when the waists of the guards were just visible through the rusted grate. Elsa had stopped following and I looked back to see her stretching her arms in the direction of the elevator, straining to keep it frozen in place. Slowly, a wall of ice began to cover what we could see of the guards. Some had begun kneeling down to get a good look at us and a few gun barrels were visible.
Then the elevator dropped. The sound of screeching metal filled the hall for a split second before fading into silence. I saw a brief glimpse of the emotionless masks before the guards plummeted to their inevitable death.
Stunned, I turned Elsa who looked just as shocked as I was. Her mouth hung open and her arms were still stretched towards the empty elevator shaft. Before I could say anything, panels from the wall began to fold out and large guns appeared, ready to fire. I grabbed the hand that Elsa was staring at in disbelief and ran towards the elevator grate. Elsa's face was emotionless as she used her door opening technique on the old entryway. The bars shattered under the sudden pressure and fell down into the elevator shaft. Elsa jumped backwards in surprise at the force she had just used and found herself contained in my force field. No sooner was the shield up than the guns had begun firing at us. Unfortunately the ammo being dispensed was not anything like the bullets I had fended off earlier. Instead a black substance stuck to the shield and began to grow, encompassing most of its surface. Shocked, I tried to think of a way to escape the predicament when the force field began to roll away from the hallway. I looked over at Elsa who was walking the sphere precariously over the edge of the elevator shaft.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I shouted at her before we both began plummeting through the darkness.