Me: pray that my writing focus stays, this flow has been so nice, really.
Mushra: yeah, I'd hate for you to get writers' b-*hand is slapped to his mouth*
Me: don't you dare jinx me little man.
Mushra: WE'VE COVERED THIS, I'M NOT LITTLE
Me: when I watch Shinzo episodes, you still are. In natural form, at least.
Mushra: *glares*
Me: hope you guys enjo- *sees Mushra* Oh no…oh god… nnaaAAAA-
Mushra: *tackles me*

Chapter 12—What It Takes To Survive

"When I get out of this dagum tube, BELIEVE YOU ME, I'M GONNA BE KICKING SOME BUTTS!" Heather complained as she was now contained in a tube, much like the ones Mushra and the other two men had been in. She kicked at the glass no matter how it still has not cracked, nor does it feel any weaker. What else is she to do? As she and the others had been thrown into three tubes awaiting them and said tubes tied to the backend of a centipede to be dragged.

All she could think was the bugs were lucky they even got them all in—one moment they have more than three bug Enterran's transferring them all to a single beast, which takes them a distance. And then they come across a bigger one, greener. They were smart to lock her in her tube first.

Nothing could be heard in her container, nothing but the sound of the metal tube being dragged across the ground, or the sounds of the centipede's. She could hear faint noises, what she knew had to be Jaden or Winter or both when they spoke or made noises, as it sounded more human than bug, but it was faint. The tube was too thick to hear clearly.

Even so, with such a confusing and impossible situation, Heather didn't stop kicking at the glass. Just wait until they tried to move her out of the tube—she'd get'em then!

As she fought, Jaden was on her hands and knees, if not on her side when the bumpiness knocked her down. She was trying to stay aware of their changing surroundings, as the trees had left them some time ago, and what had been around them for the past fifteen minutes was open land, though once or twice over the past few minutes, she'd taken note of seeing a few houses and buildings, or two.

Winter just lay and hope nothing had gone after New Yora or the others. Who knows what this was about? Ryuma, to a degree, made sense. However he found out the past of the first timeline, he'd wanted revenge for his downfall and failure to get what he wanted. But what could these bugs want; was it Daku? Was he after them? Or maybe even Katris? She could only pray they wouldn't attack New Yora or their friends when they were unsuspecting. Should she have waited before she called for help, before they knew what was going on? She curled up as well as she could in her tube, though no comfort came to her in doing so.

They bumped on and on for some time longer, until more and more buildings were appearing around them. Most seemed too ruined to be of any use, though one or another seemed stable enough, and occupied. Jaden kept as stable and upward as she could once she noticed, to observe the buildings and any Enterrans inside or outside them. There were so few, but the place wasn't abandoned, that's for sure. Some shady looking flies, angry looking wasps, and some intimidating but serious looking mantises.

"Where are you taking us?!" Jaden yelled then, but there seemed to be no answer. Aggravated and worried, she yelled it louder, but got no response.

"YO, BUG BRAINS. WHERE ARE YOU INSECTS TAKING US? SURELY YOU MAGGOTS GOT SOME BRAINS."

Jaden didn't know whether to be worried, thankful, or proud. Either way, she looked to Heather shaking her head as the other woman was pressing herself in awkward positions against the tube, as if to try and push it apart.

"You'll see soon enough, humans!" they surprisingly answered. So, they did hear Heather.

Jaden would love to converse with her sister and friend about what they think could be going on, or what a game plan against what was to come would be—but then again, speaking would take screaming, and then there would be no point.

Soon enough, there were enough buildings to assume they'd entered a town, half abandoned or not. Jaden hugged her legs to her chest, just trying to stay stable, which was difficult but the inability to do so was almost possible to ignore if she shut her eyes. That was until the swaying and turning of the tube on the ground turned into rolling. She heard something faint above her, something akin to laughter and looked, but could barely spot the bug Enterran or what they were doing.

The rolling continued until she bumped into Heather's, which had stopped completely so that the glass of both their tubes was facing each other.

'What's going on?' Jaden mouthed as best she could, only to earn a shrug back from Heather as neither of them could see anything. There was another bump behind Jaden, which she assumed had to be Winter. And it was confirmed what the other woman called their names.

"We're here!" Jaden called back to soothe her panic.

They heard grumbling around them, nothing loud enough to make out, other than 'no's or yes's or laughs. And then something bumped again… No, not bumped. Something shoved at them.

"Guys!" Winter squealed, as she watched the centipedes' hind end rise up and back, only to come down and knock right into her tube and the others, and suddenly they were rolling again. Heather and Jaden only briefly witnessed the nearly completely ruined building and it's still present flooring corners and the hole broken in the middle before they fell into the hole.

They fell through darkness briefly, before they found harsh light and landed hard on the ground. Surely they'd have bruises, aching limbs, and very possibly worse wounds such as a broken rib or something. Jaden was sure she might have broken her forearm, as there was never ending pain now pulsating through it.

Whimpering and holding back cries, her eyes did sting and tears fell now and again as she lay in her tube, cradling her arm. She couldn't even pay attention to the voices she heard calling her name. One arm cut and the other possibly broken. Would they really even survive this world? She wondered.

Heather was even more intent on trying to break out, despite the fact that there were still no results. Winter watched her sister, until she heard shrill male laughter behind them. She turned, but there was nothing. Only the gray and white walls, tables and machinery like in Ryuma's castle, and two doors across from each other. But she didn't turn her gaze, trying to stay prepared.

Though she wasn't prepared for the two praying mantises in a lab-coat and the other dressed in many pockets for carrying, perhaps. And the two of them, as large as they were, began to lift one tube at a time, starting with Winter.

"W-what are you doing with us? Let us out!" she demanded pointlessly, beating on the glass until it was set into something, a spot that was a part of a machine. Her tube began to light up once it was set and that worried her. Not that it hadn't crossed her mind, but that seemed to confirm that these tubes weren't just for holding them.

Jaden could barely look to see what was going on, she only had enough focus to sit up so her arm wasn't bumping the bottom and she did her best to keep it from bumping anything. When she could bear to look, she glimpsed shiny tools and something glowing, but soon the light was giving her too much of a headache and she shut her eyes again.

Heather, however, began interrogating (or attempting to interrogate) the praying mantises once they started setting up her tube.

"What you want from us, huh?! Can't get what you want from us up front, gotta close us away? Who's telling you to do this?!"

The Enterrans ignored her except for an eye roll or a snicker, which only made her glare.

With the mantises gone, Heather and Winter took in their surroundings. Heather and Winter could barely glimpse each other, as Jaden's tube between them was in the way, though they could see Jaden decently clearly. Heather took note of the medical and scientific tools and contraptions in the room and began to wonder.

"What…are those?" Winter asked, confused, as she spotted the glowing object Jaden had only glimpsed.

What it seemed to be was a great, unearthed jewel or fusion of jewels. You could still see lingering dirt and dust on it. It glowed through some of the jewel, though other parts seemed dully colored where others shimmered or shined. There was a red one pulsating with shades and shimmers of red orange. There was one of pure white that shimmered blue, and then another and the last that seemed a strange black color that shimmered with purple.

"What he has in store for you."

The voice was strained, tired, angry, and forced to be loud enough to be heard. Heather couldn't see the source, but Winter could, as it was from another woman set up right beside her in yet another tube. She looked her over and noticed how…human she seemed. And not Enterran human, not by the look of her clothes. And there was a great scar on her upper shoulder, red and irritated, and some blood seemed to cover something protruding from the wound. She was certainly too weak or tired to brush her black hair from her face, and Winter couldn't tell if the paleness of her skin was natural or from deteriorating health.

"He…who's…are you from—" Winter barely got the questions started or out, and nowhere near as loud as they should have been, before the door opened then and a short and stout little being came scuttling excitedly in.

Dr. Parasite himself.

"You dirty coward!" Winter sputtered in anger suddenly. Sure, Ungar had begun by working against them and, as she learned about the visions, she knew Ungar was the very reason Ryuma even decided to come at them. But he did his best to right things, for whatever reasons. And the doctor had just left him.

"Parasite?" She could barely hear her sister whine out, and she heard Heather from the other end, "What are you doing!?"

"He was helping Ungar, but the scared little maggot ran because he didn't want to have Ryuma after his ass!" Winter nearly growled.

"Maggots, maggots, oh, what I can do with maggots, ehahaa!" he exclaimed excitedly as he came to look over the three of them. "And what I can do with you three… So few of you come through prepared, but something about you three, you were, more than most…even this little missy.." he tapped at the other girls tube, who just seemed to look away and shut her eyes in frustration and weariness.

"Prepared for what?!" Jaden yelled, still in a bit of pain, and completely frustrated at this point.

He came up to her and smiled excited, with his bug eyes wide with wonder and possibilities. "To help me make one of the greatest scientific discoveries since our creation! I escaped that palace when I knew it would not benefit my plans to stay, and took what I needed. And here we are—thank you, by the way, for dispersing with that Lord. He would have been after my head." He chuckled.

"What makes you think we won't be when we get out of here?!" Heather challenged.

"I control your freedom, girl, your threats do not scare me!"

With what was very literally a growl, she punched and hit the glass hard enough that it made an echo, and pleasingly pulled a surprised yelp from Dr. Parasite before he hurried away.

"What do your stupid discoveries have to do with humans?" Winter called to him as he went off to one of the desks, and seemed to ignore her, if he even heard her. Getting angry, she hit the glass and yelled, "I'm talking to you!"

He just scuttled around a bit more, using some sort of chisel and hammer or something of the sort as he stood before the fused jewel. It was only when he turned and put three separated jewels (the ones that had been glowing) onto a sliding silver table that he came back over and began to answer.

"You humans are going to be my new guinea pigs. I have high hopes for you, I do hope you don't disappoint!"

Mushra: Really? This guy? I still get nightmares about those maggots… *shivers*
Me: come on, they were only maggo-
Mushra: YOU DID HAVE THEM CRAWLING, JORDAN. CRAWLING. EVERY. WHERE.
Me: …Fair point. But don't worry, no maggots will be used in this story, I'm not that gross.
Mushra: And what the heck were those jewels, I mean whats his plan?
Me: You'll just have to reeeaaad~~! Review if you'd like, next chapter soon~!