Chapter 6: Blaze
A year had passed, since they had been turned. Some of the hybrids were allowed more freedom than others, helping out around the labs. Lasciel and Laila worked as consultants. They would comfort the new arrivals, and offer guidance. CT himself moved on to become Blackstone's personal assistant, and even adopted his last name.
Ahti wasn't allowed as much freedom, but Porter declared him his own assistant. The two had become close friends, and just as CT adopted Blackstone's name, Ahti adopted Porter's. At the very least, he was allowed to share a room with his mate, Maggie's Absol, Zero, and the two decided to care for the young Stufful child.
Aidan was not allowed freedom. He had a hot temper, and would bolt straight to CT, if given any leniency. He hated CT, for what he did. He hated Dr. Blackstone, for creating such monstrosities. He was full of hate and wanted to get his revenge, on both of them. He had made no friends during his time here, and most had given up trying. Porter remained friendly, but had come to terms with the fact that Aidan simply was not going to socialize.
Dr. Blackstone himself was busy jotting down notes, about new subjects. He had sent CT out to another wing, to begin preparations for a second laboratory. He heard the door open, but never looked up. "Things went well, I take it?" he asked.
"Splendid." CT said, moving closer toward Blackstone. "In fact, I believe it's time to begin the next phase." He grinned. He proceeded to grab Blackstone by the shirt collar, whirl him out of the chair and slam him against the wall.
"Did you really think," he snarled. "That I was going to take orders from you, forever? My plan from the very beginning, was to kill you. I've worked with you for as long as I can stand, and now you're nothing more than an obstacle. I've gathered everything I needed, from you." He took out a flash drive, and held it in front of the scientist. "All of your research data. Funding. Subject files. Even your personal logs." He said, tucking it back into his jacket pocket. "I must thank you for making me better than I could ever dream of being. It's been a real pleasure, Dr. Hugo Blackstone, but I'm afraid this is where we must part ways."
"I should have been the one you kept locked away." he grinned, then in a fast and flawless movement, snapped Blackstone's neck. He straightened his jacket, and stepped over the man's limp body. He grabbed the last few files along with Blackstone's tablet, and calmly headed out.
"Heya." Laila was the first to speak to him. "Boss give ya' any good news? These guys are great an' all, but I'm ready t'get back in th'world, ya know? This stuffy ol' lab is getting' borin'."
CT smirked, deviously. "Not to worry. We'll be leaving, very shortly."
"So it went smoothly, then?" Lasciel purring, latching on to his arm. She was well aware of the plan, although CT left out a few gruesome details. Lasciel was always a worrier, and didn't entirely approve of killing people.
CT grinned. There was an opportunity and he was not going to miss it. "It was a snap."
"Great. Now, what about the others? We can't just leave them here." She pouted.
"It's a shame, but there's nothing we can do for them." He shrugged. He didn't care about them. They could all stay there and rot, for all he cared.
Meanwhile, Porter was on his way to Blackstone's office. He hadn't been answering Porter's page, which was a tad suspicious. At the very least, Blackstone made the effort to tell Porter to shut up and stop bothering him. Today, there was only silence.
Something was off. The door was already opened, and the office littered with paper and disorganized. "Dr. Blackstone?" Porter squeaked, looking around. He peered over the desk, to find the scientist's limp body. "Oh…oh, no…" he breathed, and rushed over to check a pulse.
This was CT's doing. It had to have been. Ahti and Aidan had both warned him, that CT was dangerous. Nobody listened, and now Blackstone was dead and Porter was left alone. He quickly rushed to Blackstone's computer, to send the labs on lockdown. He couldn't let CT escape.
Alarms screeched and doors began to close.
"Blast…" CT said, quiet at first. He sprinted down the hall, toward the exit, only to be met with another closing door. "Blast it all!" he shouted, louder.
"I can't let you leave." A voice said, from behind the trio. "God, you killed Blackstone, didn't you?"
"Let us out." CT growled.
"You're insane!" Porter replied.
"You knew that, from the start." CT spat. "You did your research. You knew what I was capable of. Did you think turning me into a human, would suddenly make everything gumdrops and rainbows? You had every opportunity to stop me, over the last year. Now, it's too late. You are going to step aside, and let us out of here."
Porter took a deep breath, and stood firmly in place. "No." he said, prepared to face whatever CT was going to do to him.
CT's eye twitched, in anger. Blackstone had to die. They wouldn't have ever left, if he didn't. But Porter never did him any wrong. Still, he was in the way. CT threw a Focus Blast at the man, knocking him across the hallway.
Before he could get back on his feet, CT grabbed him by the arm. "You are going to stop this lockdown, and let us out of this godforsaken lab. If you refuse, you will share Blackstone's fate." He growled, dragging Porter back to Blackstone's office.
He slammed Porter down, back in front of the computer. Flames danced across his hand, as he threatened the man.
"We made a mistake, creating you." Porter said. "All of you. It should have never happened."
The alarms stopped, and doors unlocked.
"If you're going to kill me, go ahead. At least I'll die knowing you were stopped." Porter added, and with one final click, released all of the subjects. Every door from every wing of the labs, opened. Angry, confused hybrids poured out of their rooms, scrambling to escape or looking for the one who had done them wrong.
"Bloody hell…" CT said. "You little-" he growled. "Right. We best be off." He said, then turned to Porter one final time. The flames in his hands burned brighter, hotter. Embers flicked across his fingers, igniting the strewn papers. He threw a blast of fire into the room, setting it ablaze with Porter still in it.
As he sprinted back to the hallway, he did the same. A powerful Heat Wave tunneled through the hall, setting fire to everything it touched, including some of the escaping subjects.
Lasciel gasped, as the flames made it difficult to breath. It was hard to see through the blinding flames, and she kept bumping into other confused hybrids. She felt a hand grab her wrist, and tug her along.
CT kept her close, as they made their escape.
Laila stayed behind. She would catch up to them, soon enough. But she couldn't leave the others in here, to fend for themselves. She had grown too close to them. Porter, Aidan, Ahti's family. At the very least, she had to make sure they got out.
She dragged the severely-burned Porter out, and created a Misty Terrain to follow her to keep the fire at bay. The first one she ran into, was Ahti. She grabbed him and pulled him into the terrain. Zero scooped up the Stufful girl, Penelope, they named her, and followed.
"Is that…" Ahti stuttered, looked down at the unconscious Porter.
"Yeah. Boss got a lil outta hand. Couldn't stop 'im, in time." Laila answered. "This ain't gonna last much longer; we gotta get outta here, now."
"We can't leave, without Aidain." Ahti said, starting off. Laila grabbed him by the shirt sleeve, and dragged him back.
"We don't have time, t'look for 'im. Porter opened all the rooms. Aidan definitely got out, and likely went straight after CT. Th'two can take care of themselves." She said. "Now I'm gonna start headin' for the exit, before this safety bubble wears off. I ain't gonna let Stephen get any crispier, and you gotta kid t'look after."
Ahti sighed, looking on at the carnage before him. He reluctantly followed Laila, as they made their way for the exit. The Terrain began fading, and Ahti could feel the heat of the flames licking his body. Time was running out.
The exit was in sight. Ahti looked back one last time, aching that there was nothing he could do to save all the other experiments. "I need to stay." He whispered.
Zero whirled around, starting to protest.
"GO." Ahti shouted, waving them to keep going. "I can help. I need to fix this! I nearly let one friend die, without doing anything. I am not going to let that happen, again." He continued.
Laila grabbed Zero, and dragged her out. Ahti was strong, and she knew it.
Ahti used the water from the sprinklers to create a Water Pulse, sending it hurtling through the hallway. He did it again, and again, until finally the flames were just too much. Much of the fire had subsided, but there was just too much that had spread through other rooms. He couldn't do this alone, but he hoped that he at least cleared enough of a path for any others to pass through.
It hurt that he couldn't do more. He wanted to rush in and gather the injured, to give them a chance at survival. Then he thought of Zero, and the little Stufful girl they had adopted. He had to make sure they were safe, too. He clenched his fists, and forced himself to run toward the exit.
He emerged from the lab, into a desert area. He hadn't seen sunlight in over a year, and winced at it hit his eyes. He collapsed to the ground, looking up at the sky, thinking about everything he could have done and didn't. He sat up and looked around, at others that had made it out. There weren't many.
He at least caught glimpse of Aidan, who was on his hands and knees, coughing violently as the smoke had scorched his lungs.
Laila was knelt beside Porter, who barely even resembled a human, anymore.
Zero sat beside him, little Penelope still in her arms. At least they all still had each other. He closed his eyes, as Zero nuzzled up next to him. The two just needed one moment, to enjoy freedom. They were promptly interrupted, by approaching footsteps. Ahti's eyes shot open, to find CT holding a hand out to him.
"I didn't mean for this to happen." He said.
Ahti refused to take his hand, and sat up, himself.
"You know Blackstone would have never let us go." CT continued.
"I am aware." Ahti said, looking away. He couldn't bear to look CT in the eyes. "But you took things too far. Many have likely died. Look at us…there are so few, who made it out."
"We were only in one wing." CT said. "These labs stretch for miles, across this entire desert. What you see before you…only a tiny fraction of what went on, down there. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of subjects in other sections. Porter released them all."
The two were silent, for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, CT sighed, and turned to walk away.
"Where will you go?" Ahti said, breaking the silence. "What will you do? What will any of us do? We are not human. We do not fit in human society."
"Figure it out." CT said. "As for me, I've got my own plans. Perhaps someday we'll meet again, old friend." Were his parting words, as he left his old teammate to fend for himself, in the desert.