"NO!" He shouted outraged as he saw the memorable duo step into the Station. "I need more time…" Mumbling incoherently to himself—which; Ruby had come to recognize was never a good sign now pulling nervously at her restraints and shrinking back against the wall. Irritating the IV cutting through the crook of elbow and forcing itself through her burning veins. She had been on a steady drip of thinner for a number of days now. She kind of wanted to die. Deciding on a plan of action he pressed an intercom button thus altering the beetleworx and providing the hopefully-a-bit-more-than-temporary distraction he needed. Ruby yelped as he tore her hastily from the wall tearing the nefarious tube from her arm with a callous jerk of his hand; irritating her broken, well, everything. She tried futilely to stand although the task was deemed impossible as her broken legs seemed and enjoy reminding her again and again with the unbearable agony shooting through them. Her eyes watered from the pain, tears leaking silently from the corners of her eyes. Blood poured from the puncture in her arm, neither really seemed to notice or care, Ruby almost wished it would quicken in its pursuit to kill her. She whimpered, tugging back on her chains uselessly in fearful resistance as she saw where they were headed. A hoarse scream tore through her bloodied lips as her body convulsed in punishing shocks—the area around her chip now to sensitive to even touch—as they entered, the inky ground squelching beneath their feet.
LINE BREAK
"BEHIND YOU!" Mickey shouted above the clanking metal noise as the contraption in front of him made to slice his older brother in half. Oswald, immediately heeding the warning ducked, shocking the contraption into dysfunction with a burst of electricity from his trusty remote.
"This way!" He called out to his younger brother who as of presently had fallen in step behind him. Pushing past the oncoming swarm of beetleworx the pair reconvened in a nearby corridor after several expertly eluding twists and turns. The two panted, shoveling in as much air as their burning lungs could hold while listening acutely for the approaching sounds of their assailants.
"This *pant* place is huge," Mickey gasped between breaths, "…how are we ever gonna find her in all this?" Catching his breath Oswald opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an onslaught of raw, throat tearing screams coming from a corridor down the hall. The younger of the duo felt an unnerving and forbearing chill crawl down his spine as his older brother, disgusted, clenched his fists in a newfound and deadly determination,
"I don't think that'll be much of a problem."
LINE BREAK
"N-no…" Ruby plastered herself against the door digging her heels futilely into the tar at her feet. "P-please, please don't d-do this please…" She mumbled on in a fevered plea for mercy from her deadly captor. He seemed more annoyed than anything she saw as he nonchalantly dragged her down into the depths of her demise although, with unnerving observation she could have sworn on seeing a malicious smile feed on her irreparable agony as if he found amusement in her pathetically incoherent mutterings. She could already feel the unnerving creature's inky tentacles reaching out, tickling the bottoms of her feet tauntingly as her already disturbed mind went painfully cold with immoveable fear.
LINE BREAK
"Hold on," Oswald halted abruptly holding up a hand while his ears twitched, "…I think its st—" Before he could finish they were discovered by another one of the Mad Doctor's cruel underlings. A garbled screech of clanking metal forced itself painfully out from within the depths of the spidery retch as it was abruptly overcome by a wave of thinner and electricity. Although, the small victory did little to help their situation as the contraption's noise had altered the rest of its kin and the duo ran for cover as a swarm threatened to stampede them.
LINE BREAK
A deadly tsunami of complicated and intense fear threatened to drown her sanity as the heavy door slammed solidly behind her. Her stomach dropped like a rock as the lock obediently clicked into place. She felt the horribly surreal reality sink in as a terrifying fate sealed her in forever. Her hands shook violently as the clutched the rusted knob,
"Please no please, anything but this…" She felt the inky tentacles rap around her feet, "Please…" Her grip on the knob tightened, "NOOOOOOOO!" The scream tore through her lips before she could even process what she was doing. A raw, animal instinct had taken over her body and was throwing her against the door. Banging mercilessly with her fists one thought and one thought alone drove her mind: survive. Her hand clutched the knob desperately, the creature pulled her down further and her finger nails dug deep into the rusted hinges towards the bottom, leaving long crooked scratch lines as she went. She turned in on herself; curling against the door as she pulled back futilely, the slimy appendages just about had themselves wrapped around the majority of her kicking legs. Escape felt more and more like a cruel fantasy every second.
LINE BREAK
A sufficient amount of zigzagging finally had the beetleworx off their tale when the horrible, almost animalistic screams started again. Even Oswald couldn't help but shiver as they tore down the hall; beetleworx screeching in the distance.
LINE BREAK
What was left of her fingernails scrapped and clawed desperately at the slimy black floor as the stuff of nightmares wrapped its sticky, oozing tentacles around her middle. Dragging her further down into the depths of its deadly clutches kicking and screaming. More limbs shot out and grabbed her arms, the slimy parasites flipping her over onto her back so that she faced the creature. Beating like some grotesque organ and dripping green venom it dragged her thrashing body painstakingly across the oozing ground, bringing her closer and closer with every bone shattering tug.
LINE BREAK
Their feet pounded across the uneven concrete floor, thundering down the hall as the shrieks rose higher and higher in their ears. They were close. He could feel it. The brothers rounded another corner as the screams became almost unbearable; the door to their left almost seemed to vibrate with the sound waves. Mickey dove and reached for the knob; bracing himself for what might be awaiting them on the other side.
LINE BREAK
With painful defeat Ruby felt the fight drain out of her. Nothing mattered anymore. Not the hurt or the pain; not her life. Her resistance had fled, Penny was dead and no one was coming to rescue her. She was going to die no matter what and honestly, she deserved it. Penny was dead and she—Ruby herself—was a monster; and that was all the conviction she needed. She felt the darkness closing in on her and only hoped it would be quick.
LINE BREAK
The door swung open. The two felt their stomachs drop about a hundred deadly leagues as it did so. One word could describe the emotion haunting them both: empty. The room. It was empty. The mouse's eyes stared forlornly at the only object occupying the dwelling: a small, black walkie talkie emitting the tortured screams of a 14-year-old girl.
LINE BREAK
Pain. Excruciating pain; everywhere. All her incoherent mind could register. Electrifying her every vein. White hot. Burning. As if every nerve in her body had been lit on fire and mangled with a pair of hot, blistering pliers. Incoherently nightmarish screams tore though gullet as she choked on what her mind could only register as a million red ants biting the inside of her throat. She couldn't breathe. White hot knives pierced her skin and sliced her nervous system to shreds. Each breath forced through her dry, stinging lungs brought her one step closer to death. She tried, as best she could, to number each one; counting down pleadingly as she waited for respite only the afterlife could offer her.
LINE BREAK
"DAMIT!" A resounding echo reverberated throughout the room as Oswald slammed his fist against the stone. "THAT, THAT…" He grabbed the talkie and threw it as hard as he could against the wall and shattered into a million pieces, the noise stopped. An uncomfortable silence dominated the room. Mickey felt a sickening hopelessness sink into his chest, she could be anywhere. He held his head in his hands while Oswald ran a paw through his ears, defeat settling itself uncomfortably in their dry stomachs. Eyes wandering towards the ground he saw that it was blood splattered; the rabbit looked away, appalled at first, but then turning his head he saw a red trail leading out. Without a second thought he raced out of the room and followed the lead into another corridor.
"OSWALD!" Mickey shouted after him; racing to catch up, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Throwing his voice over his shoulder the rabbit managed between breaths,
"NO TIME, JUST FOLLOW ME!" Trusting his older brother's instinct and hoping it was right he did and, glancing at the floor he began to catch on as they made their way haphazardly through the maze of corridors. The trail ran into dead end and Oswald kicked down the opening in front of them. Both tried hard not look any more than they needed to; unfortunately there wasn't really any part of the room that wasn't thoroughly disturbing. Dark red stained chains hung from a wall on their left, accenting the splatters behind them and the ones that dyed a good portion of the floor. A reeking stench of disconcerting aromas polluted the stagnate air. Congealed blood caked the green discolored restraints protruding from an unsettling strapped armchair. Both felt an unnatural chill run down their spines as their eyes feel upon the row of stained syringes lining each armrest. Red blood glistened at the foot of a heavy rusted iron door on the opposite side of the room. That was when it clicked in his mind. Glistening; the blood. It was fresh.
"She-she's in there…" Oswald half whispered to himself in an attempted to verify the unreal conclusion. His younger brother's eyes spaced out in the direction of the bloody restraints, complexion somewhat paler than usual.
"What?" He replied snapping back to reality.
"SHE'S IN THERE!" The realization overtook him and suddenly he found himself on the opposite side of the room trying to force open the seemingly immoveable heavy metal door.
"ARE YOU SURE?!" Mickey called out as he ran to his brother's side to help pry the opening.
"Hold up a sec…" Wasteland's leader held up a smooth black hand and pressed his ear against the rusted metal. It twitched sporadically as sound waves made their way in, faint but definitely there. She was in there, or at least something was. The two pushed as hard as they could, trying hard not to think about the slick blood beneath their feet until, with an unforgiving moan and grinding screech the barrier gave way. He was going to be sick.