May 24th, 2030
The same routine. The same mandatory commands. The same fucking bullshit that drove her insane. She didn't just hate being trapped behind the glass case like a lab rat, but it was also that she'd been there for so long that she simply grew fatigue of the same old cycle again. The labcoats ventilated sleeping gas every damn time they had to enter her cell, just so they could give her the daily shots and, once a week, extract her blood. They had to see how one of their newly-created monsters had fared in terms of physiological shape. She would always fight when she tried, but it happened to be never too often.
Luna Loud was a loser who won the unlucky lottery, being selected involuntarily to be experimented on by the devilish fiends who ran and worked in this Vial Corporation facility. She thought about it repeatedly, the need to break through this indestructibly clean glass and slaughter all of these maggots who kept not only her, but the other misfortunate folks who served the same role as Luna. She was far past knowing the legal and illegal aspects of this, already having settled that these guys, the scientists and the guards armed with both lethal and non-lethal weaponry, simply didn't care about nabbing people to use as their guinea pigs.
And if they had no sense of morality, then why should she have kept hers in this hellhole?
Today presented no promise of change, so Luna didn't expect hope for the umpteenth time in whatever year this was.
In her cold cell that had only a white mattress, a pillow and blanket, and a toilet in there, and she had only decorated the cell further by scratching away at the wall with lines made from her special nails, which represented how many days she had been here. And then, every now and then, shed forget to add a line; currently the tally was past seven hundred, but that number wasn't exactly accurate. She didn't know how many in exact it was, but she had to believe it reached a thousand by now.
Luna had been already experimented on long ago, when she was still a fresh catch for the scum at Vial. They worked on her, strapped her to a table, and had injected a syringe that contained a dark-green liquid. Two labcoats held her down while a third one, all wearing surgical masks, gave her the mysterious dose while she squirmed and shrieked like a child who had been denied candy.
Within minutes of having taken it though her neck, the serum worked its way into her entire system and did the job on its end. After that, it was time for the labcoats to see if Luna was able to handle the effects of the serum. Two guards formed on their behalf, having their rifles locked and loaded, aimed at the young woman.
Luna lost control of her body, a transformation she could not explain or stop. Her bones readjusted, almost basically being reshaped by an invisible will commanded by some fucked up deity. Her skin mutated, going to green color, only darkening fairly enough to be noticeable. Her short brown hair took exit, traded in for two rows of serrated teeth. Her nose was sucked into her skull, replaced by a pair of slit-shaped nostrils. Her ears went pointy. Her eyes went from a lovely shade of blue to monstrous yellow, with black slits in each eye. Luna only heard the sounds of her own body take an alternate shape, with the sound in question coming out like something from a grotesque horror movie with some serious effects. The last effects of this transformation involved her hands and feet, rearranged to be fitted with claws and talons, and even a tail.
And there, the newly-born Lizard Luna was born way back when, having the cold-blooded capabilities that belonged to a lizard, and now met more of the requirements to be an awesome friend for her younger sister Lana. Her senses had gradually heightened to superhuman levels; her nose had been able to sniff out odors normally undetected to the average nose; her eyes leveled up to be as sharp as grade-A binoculars, making even the flies, if any flew around, detectable to her; her hearing had also improved, with the chattering from the other side of the glass being comprehensible to her.
She gained these superior senses, a tail, and the stunningly ravenous appetite to consume flesh. She received fifteen to twenty pound of meat every couple of days, when it used to be a daily thing. She had, on the 42nd day, attacked a labcoat and gnawed on his throat, which wounded him fatally. Luna wasn't thinking as herself back then, but as the beast within, the very same one that didn't hesitate to lung and maim that labcoat. This had led to the ventilation shafts having the special chloroform gas installed to drive all testies to sleep when it called for it.
The hour of the gas had come again, and the clear air again was being filled up with the gray chemical. Luna, strapped in a white set of clothes, looked up at the shaft and backed away from it, smacking right into the impenetrable glass. As pointless as this was, and no matter the outcome, she still had some incentive, some motivation to try and defy what they force-fed her. This, this was the true meaning of hell on earth. And Luna had never ceased to want freedom back in control.
The gas swallowed the whole cell, just as Luna heard the faint and irritating squeaking of shoes running along the hall. She held her breath and tried again to fight off the drowsiness she'd get succumbed to. The way this went for all of these poor souls was based on time marks; each of the trapped people part of these insidious experiments were picked off and given their injections every half hour, rather than it being an all-at-once thing. This had been protocol since Luna had gotten there.
Escape, was it even to bother wondering about it?
Luna turned arpund, barely able to see with the gray gas through the transparent barrier. Two labcoats and only one armed guard were there, standing on the other side, but not moving a muscle. They were intentionally waiting for Luna to fall asleep involuntarily. In turn, the desperate woman in her ugly, plain attire began banging on the glass.
"COME ON, GET IT OVER WITH! I PROMISE I WON'T HARM YOU! JUST TAKE AWAY THE GAS!" She persisted on smacking her hands on the glass, waiting and hoping for some reaction from the stone-faced inhumans. Nothing. It angered here more, so much that she had not taken notice that the chemical agent had already infiltrated its way in. "Y-you mother-"
Her legs wobbled about as she backed away, making herself disappear into the dense fog. The gas was doing its thing yet again, putting her to sleep with her head throbbing as if she had been given a brain-freeze. She lost her composure and fell on a knee, still adamant to remain awake. She held her breath again and steadied focus on her hands, folding them into fists as she brought her claws back out, drawing them from her unstable anger.
Her eyes struggled to be kept open, focusing in and out from the sight in front of her. Her arms weakened dramatically, no longer strong enough to support her weight. In the next few seconds, Luna drifted off, falling right on the floor.
She failed again.
The ventilation shafts began taking back the gas when the metal fans stopped and rotated in reverse. Much of the dense gas dissipated in seconds, revealing the downed Luna to the cruel labcoats at her cell.
They entered her cell after accessing a clear panel on the left, which didn't seem to be there at first glance. The armed guard went in first, cautiously circling her, with the special rifle aimed down on her should she try anything funny. The two labcoats, in their long, white but loose coats that swayed by their sides. One of them grabbed Luna's arms and pulled them over her head while the other labcoat, carrying a small tray with a syringe filled with a yellow liquid, worked to give Luna her shot.
She received it just underneath her shirt, right over her stomach. But it didn't stop there for her, as the labcoat who placed the injection, had begun to lift Luna's shirt higher than needed, and exposed her breasts for his thirsty eyes to worship upon. And this had not been the first time Luna was taken advantage of. Sadly, it was never known to Luna that this had been going on for quite awhile, and it wasn't with this same exact staff member either for the course of her being molested unconsciously.
The labcoat, a man with facial hair all over, set on a creepy baby face, with cheeks all puffy and red, began fondling at Luna's average-sized breasts. "Perfect, perfect nipple placement, hon," the perverted labcoat moaned satisfyingly. He kept toying around with Luna's tits until he stopped to roll her on her stomach.
"Look away, boys," he advised. "I'm gonna get my bonus right now."
The pervert pulled her white pants down, revealing her smooth-skinned buttcheeks. He was getting more aroused, to the point a boner had begun to form. The second labcoat and guard turned away from the sight, leaving the pervert to tend to his primitive human nature. He unbuckled his pants and dropped up, followed by his dark-red boxers. His erect cock aligned with Luna's nice ass, slowly moving to infiltrate so that he could have himself some nice pleasure.
He placed his big, meaty hands on the side of her soft hips, gripping to steady his entrance when he penetrated inside. He bit his lip and rolled his eyes upwards, moaning hard after shoving himself into her. Once he felt his penis being tightened to a perfect sensation, he redirected his hands onto her shoulders and mounted right over her, giving in to his human nature.
As the pervert labcoat began fucking Luna from behind, the second labcoat and the guard tried to drown out the groans he was letting out with each single thirst onto the young woman's ass. It was either awkward or immoral for them to withstand it. Either way, they didn't budge a muscle and kept looking away.
No other lab rat in the other cells heard what went down, making the atmosphere pleasant for the rapist.
Only, the gas had been entering Luna's system for so long, that her body had indeed learned how to counter it by adapting to it, thanks to the foreign physiology of a creature she was forever bonded to. This time, the gas had been rejected slowly, leaving Luna to be awake at this time.
Her eyelids split from each other as she started recuperating from the effects of the gas. She felt a rather roughly painful force rupture her inside, that came from an uninvited guest on her ass. She didn't actually like it all all. The feeling in her hands and feet slowly came back to her as she opened her lips. She titled her head, noticeably enough to make her personal rapist slow down. The grunting had also ceased, and then the silence came about.
It was a short-lived sequence after she developed disgust and anger, which brought about her tail again. She had been able to control it like some large finger, only it was still gross to think about.
"Hrrck!" The labcoat had his throat seized by the reptilian tail, completely caught with his pants down and yanked right out of Luna. So to speak. "Gruhhhh!"
Luna pushed herself off the ground and stood up, still holding the labcoat in her firm, deadly grip. Luna let out a groan, feeling literally butthurt.
The two others had heard the faint cries of their associate, and turned around to see the young woman awake, and having control of the situation. She had lifted her rapist off his feet, submitting him to a slow and painful death.
"H-hey, hands up!" The guard lifted his rifle up again and aimed at Luna. "Right now!"
Luna had no choice but to use her dying victim as a rag doll. She spun around, and in doing so, she dragged the snagged labcoat from her right to the left, hurdling him right into the guard before he could take a shot at her. She knocked him down, just as the second labcoat yelled for his life and ran from the cell, leaving it open for Luna to escape.
She hadn't known this would have happened, expecting at most some serious punishment that met their preference. The whole facility, a true hell where anything and everything could happen. Damned if she was raped again from this point forward.
No, the cell was opened, and left for her that way. Perhaps, it may have been a sign. She wanted to Take it, a long-due chance to escape this vile imprisonment. If she were to go out... What would await her? A guaranteed escape... Or her being subdued again and landing back here?
She clenched her fists, unsure of what path to choose. She had only seconds to before the-
The blaring alarm went off in the facility, followed by flashing red lights that filled the hallway. The guard she knocked down had moved about, still trapped under the labcoat's body. Now she was really in for it.
No. Only if she stayed, there would be more of this. More of the everything she didn't want or need here. She made up her mind, moving forward and dragged the guard away from the rifle, throwing him right into the concrete wall, turning him into a pancake as well as redecorating the wall with blood.
The entire level was structured in an oval layout, the only one made underneath the main facility. It housed over sixty unlucky people, placed in either solo or shared cells. These people, just like here, damned to this confinement. She understood them in that way. Some of them who were nearby her cell, had witnessed the labcoats running frantically away, and then Luna killing the guard.
Some pounded on the glass, crying out for Luna to help free them, while the deader ones just looked on, eyes almost not focused on Luna. These ones were those who could not be saved, even if they had been freed by some damn miracle.
Luna hadn't time to react or reply, for both sides of the hall were then blocked by guards, all guns being centered on the one woman there.
"Stand down, now!" The voice behind the intercom boomed. "Last chance or you will be fired upon!"
Luna shifted her head between both blockades of guards. She came this far, so backing down was no longer a viable option. She brought out her beastly form again, readying for a suicidal fight at most. Her upgraded form had ripped her clothes quite enough, a problem for when she reverted back to human form.
She growled and charged at the guards on the right. The waves of gunfire started, and Luna broke away from a straight run by pouncing on the walls and crawling on the ceiling in an unpredictable pattern. Truth was that she didn't know how she fared against bullets, but she'd soon find out.
She closed in and got the jump on some of the guards when they began to reload. She opened her mouth wide and sank her teeth into one of them, ripping away at their throat. She swung her tail and swept a close few off their legs. Luna worked these fallen ones, clawing them to bits and pieces.
Behind her, the other group began closing in, taking shots at her. Luna was hit with a few bullets, but kept moving and slashing through the opposition. Her hands became moist with blood after several swings from her hands. She broke into a run before the others could close in on her. Her advantage here was her speed, so she outran them on all fours, circling around the floor to find her escape. She escaped past this block and came into the other one and spotted her exit in the form of a staircase.
She also came across other cellmates who were minding their own, sad business up until she began slamming her clawed hands against the glass of each of their cells. "I'll get you out! I'll come back for you all!"
This was what she promised without having an idea on how to carry it out, but she did it anyway, and went into the staircase after she marked her words. She made leaps up the railing, further speeding up her escape time. For a second, she thought it was damn easy. Not just yet.
She entered the main floor, just one stop above, coming across a reception area with some tightened security being on the clock. Multiple guards were already checking around the area, and the second Luna had come out of the stairs, more shooting had begun.
"No, do not fire lethals! We need her alive! Get to the armory!" The intercom blared out again.
Luna only cared about getting out alive, and the exit to the facility was just past the goons. She raced her way to them, snarling viciously.
"Keep firing!" One of the guards defied. "I'm not going down!"
Luna tackled one and opened his chest in a gruesome fashion, taking a large bite of his flesh. The fresh scent of blood had aroused her inhuman hunger, and acting by her new primitive directives, she consumed the flesh as the guard cried out in agony.
"Aw, fuck! It's got Matty!" Another yelped in horror.
A bullet smacked right into Luna's left cheek, which ended up in her mouth. The guards had stopped right after noticing that Luna had first. She moved her head diagonally, distorting her mouth to dislodge the bullet. It came into her mouth, to which she spat out immediately. This made the other guards uneasy.
Luna's cheek healed rapidly, which she felt when it stopped twitching from the air that brushed against the wound. She started again, ramming right into two of the security who were close in between her and freedom. She didn't care to harm them, only thinking about sweet liberty in the distance.
"NO, DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!"
It was far too late for that, as Luna burst right through the front, breaking the glass entryway into a million pieces.
Beyond the facility and the parking lot, was an endless landscape that was of mother nature's making. A beautiful green field which ended at a forest, was there for Luna to run to, and to escape. At long last, she had eluded her captors, taking her time to sniff the organic atmosphere and take in the cool-fresh air. She didn't have time to enjoy it right off the bat, as the staff behind her were tossing yells and continued again to fire. Luna full-on sprinted down the path, going for the forest.
Act I: Enter The Dawn, Chapter III: The Beast Within
She sniffed out the air and kept wandering about with no sense of direction, but she knew where the facility was, so fleeing from it was no problem. The possible issue here was that they might actually give chase, but she wasn't sure this was the case. She wasn't going to follow the road either, avoiding the possibility of being spotted should reinforcements arrive.
Luna returned to her base form and had an uncomfortable run with her bare feet being exposed to the dirt beneath, along with the tiny branches, rocks, and leaves. She reduced her speed to a jogging level, not breaking direction apart from the straight line she decided to follow, down left of the facility. She passed many trees, seeing no clear end to the wide forest.
At least she now had time to clear mind. She was rather relieved to be out of there, and that alone had put her well at ease. But it was that she, a free bird at best, wondered what was the next step here.
Yes, she figured they'd be coming after her, which meant she was still in danger. Only, would they still try to capture her or did she escalate this into something more deadly? She was out, and was able to go anywhere, or everywhere. She was the only one who knew what atrocities went on behind the scenes, therefore... She was a truly huge liability that they could probably not afford to let run around.
It was settled; Vial Corporation, a domestic science division that rose to become one of the nation's best research division, with Kapacity Korp and Mandel Industries being behind it, with power aplenty, could have very well have the resources to take control of the situation and hunt Luna as kill priority. She had to tell someone, anyone for that matter, and anyone who would most certainly believe her. The truth was in her hands for her to pass on. First, she needed to get back into society, no matter how long it's been, nor how much she had missed, nor how weirdly strange and distant it would feel like.
In that instant, Luna sobbed quite a bit, wondering what changed, while at the same time, being afraid of it. But she had to keep going.
Dadetown, Colorado
Three miles away, at the west end of Dadetown, a green 2019 Mercedes-AMG rolled up to an apartment complex, located right before the highway, one of many, that led out of town. It parked onto the small lot in the back, hidden at first glance, and that was only if anyone never passed the complex. On the far side of the complex, the small office was closed, meaning the landlord was not available.
The engine switched off, and the driver pulled out the key from the ignition, and out she left, coming out with her orange backpack. Samantha Sharp had come back from the college she attended, having a regularly good day. Even still, she had some serious work to do from her studies, for her studies. Today was no time to waste her time with her boyfriend and their group of friends.
Sam, the name she went by for most of her life, lived the majority of her young life as a kind-hearted, dependable girl with a clean record. At the hence of her teenage years, she picked up the rock phase, hitting the love for it enough to helm a guitar, but this was short-lived when after ascending to her senior year. She hung it up, while having developed a slow interest in computer animation.
Sam was a pretty blonde with a short and skinny body. She was of five feet long, half the inches away from a full six feet. Right now, she dressed more casually, sporting a pink shirt right underneath a fluffy purple sweater, with some gray yoga pants that displayed her ass for the world to see. She didn't like it all too much, but the only reason she wore it was for her boyfriend, Bradley Thompson, who had gotten it for her.
Truthfully, he was the exact opposite of her, being a big, muscly jock who had a full scholarship ride into college. He was of the sports variety, and a rough-houser for that matter, different from Sam.
How they were together had been a mystery for some time, but Sam, feeling like this relationship was vastly meeting its end, hsd already begun contemplating on how and when to break the news to him. Her dating life was not as long as of those she knew, and her sex life was about the same, maybe less. Either she just wasn't into it... Or there was something else behind it.
She walked up the stairs to her room, where she had been staying at since recently. She had been here because a serious incident had taken place at her own dorm, which she had shared with another girl. Someone had caused a "prank" that involved fireworks going off on their floor, and a fire had broken out. To sum it all up, six girls needed a new place to stay, and the dorms had already been stacked as it was. Money had come out of the college's pocket to pay a month for each of the girls while more was spend on damages and whatnot, while the legal battle was being fought at the court.
Sam chose this place because it overlooked the beauty that she didn't get to see much, over the popular place the other five girls chose. If the staff were questioning it, they did so in silent, otherwise Sam got it approved, hence why she was here today, for a month.
She picked a room on the top floor, just so that she could get the best view of the endless earth untouched by society. She had always found it peaceful, but never knowing why, she made it out to be a simple reason of it being just peaceful. And it was at that. Peaceful and beautiful.
The first thing she did when coming back into her room was leaving her backpack on the floor, in the near-empty room. Considering she had lost quite a few things in the fireworks display, she had to make due like this. All that had made it out safe and sound had been her bed and phone. She wasn't going to take the whole mattress, so she settled on buying a sleeping bag just like campers used, and had taken her pillow for further, guaranteed comfort. Apart from the sleeping bag, Sam filled the kitchen with some plates, cups, clothes, and bathroom-related items. Thanks to some of her friends, she was covered on that and showed gratitude, promising to pay them back in time.
Still, the place was damn empty and weird, but not enough for her to make her wish she took to a cheap motel instead.
Sam went to the balcony and took a nice view of the landscape.
Not only did she have her life taken up by college, but she also had a job, employed at a shopping mart, working as a cashier. She racked up extra money, despite still having quite the leftover from the college tuition fund her parents had worked for since she had been born. Sam was grateful for it all, and words could never express how much she really was.
What more could she ever ask for?
Today was her day off, meaning she could enjoy attending to her studies without any distraction.
She sniffed the fresh air and smiled widely, taking in the peace of mother nature before going back inside to start her work.
Thirty minutes into going through her sheets, and sitting against the wall, her phone buzzed with an incoming text. "Ugh..."
She had already known who it was, and she proved herself right, which she hated. Jock Bradley had thrown another text at her;
Hey, baby, where r u?
She was already sure she had told him she was not able to make plans today, so what gives? She groaned and shot a reply back to remind him again that this was more important than free time. Not that Sam wanted to be a bitch, but she just needed him to understand the importance of her school work.
Brad, I've gotta finish my assignments, you know how hard this is.
He shot back another;
Oh, cmon at least 1 hr
Sam sighed and put her phone away, giving up with him for tonight. She loved him, and that had been certain before, but now, it seemed like the priority was changing, and maybe this get-together had been a mistake to begin with. He wanted to take her everywhere, to spoil her like the princess he saw, and to fuck her like the hottie his penis was longing to find a home for. Sam was no cocksleeve, and, after the first time they had sex, she felt off and awkward about it, mainly assuming this was because it was Sam's first and only time.
She ran her finger back to where she had left off, and was distracted yet again. Only, this time it wasn't Brad pestering her again.
Luna made a daring entrance by climbing right into Sam's balcony, and let her body topple backside down, having been weary from her ordeal. The blonde became alarmingly surprised, leaning up quickly, forgetting the work she had in her lap. "Goodness!"
Luna's sniffer had detected food, and, being so damn hungry, she came about with what was left of her energy, but fell flatly short with making it. She presented herself in horrible condition to Sam, making the blonde go concerned for her. Sam pulled the strange woman with torn clothes, which exposed much of her skin, including her breasts, inside to her home. How this stranger climbed up stories high with no problem or in a truly silent way was lost on Sam.
"Hey- Hello? A-are you okay?" Sam was not an expert in these cases, so knowing what to do eluded her. She flicked her hand and waved it around Luna's face in an effort to bring her back from her seemingly unconscious state. "Miss?"
Luna moaned out, whispering for some water. Sam had leaned in and heard her strained request, going to the fridge rapidly to get a bottle of water. She gave the poor brunette the bottle, eyeing out in wonder. "So, h-how did-?"
Luna gulped down half of the bottle in one sip before sitting upright snd saving the rest. Despite feeling better, her stomach growled with ravaging hunger. Her face studied Sam, the tenant of the place Luna hoped would be gone. The food had been smelled here, but Sam's scent akin to clean clothes, was undetectable. She thought to escape now that she had been seen by a young woman.
"Wait, a-are you hungry?" Sam fondly asked, still mentally scratching her head.
Luna looked at this heavenly stranger with sincere curiosity, taken aback from the kindness. The blonde showed no dead eyes that belonged to a drone working with those damn scumbags. Luna left her mouth open, unsure of what to say.
"What happened to your clothes?" Sam pointed out, grabbing at Luna's ripped shirt. "Hey, what happened-?"
Luna yanked the young girl's arm off from her, still clouded by the uneasy feeling she hadn't yet shaken off. "Please don't touch me," she softly menaced, giving Sam the stink-eye.
The blonde raised her hands and moved from Luna's range. "Uhhh... How did you get, like, all the way up here?"
Luna was reluctant to answer such a question, so she coughed and looked away, rubbing the back of her head. "Um, I'm a good climber..."
"B-but the balconies are space apart-" Sam countered.
"I'm also an acrobat..." Luna lied, not looking into Sam's eyes.
The blonde grew stunned but also amazed of her. For starters, Luna did end up from the ground, and there was no other way to do that unless she miraculously sprouted wings and flew like an angel. It couldn't be that, so Sam found this more believable. She didn't really question it, other than how well Luna must've been trained for this.
The tenant went into the kitchen, assured that the brunette was near starving to death. The clothes on the acrobat told her that Luna had come from a hospital or something, but nothing else that gave her clues. How Luna received all those tears, Sam didn't know, but felt she had to ask how it happened, and, more importantly, who she was and where did she come from?
Sam had some leftover pasta from the night before, so she served it up in a red bowl and microwaved it. She kept looking back at Luna, who remained seated on the floor, head down like she was brooding. Or, maybe she was brooding.
"Hey, um-" Sam became curious about this furthering development. The timer on the microwave kept counting down, with the humming of the machine keeping her comfortably at ease. The bowl rotated clockwise as the heating process continued. She moved her hand against it, head facing Luna the whole way. "Can I get a name? I don't get these kinds of drops in from time to time, ya know?"
Luna raised her head up, but didn't turn her direction. Just about an hour ago or so, she was being raped, and hadn't even suspected this was going on. How long had it been happening? What more atrocious acts went when they put her to sleep? No way was she ever going back there. Her eyes watered intensely, fists clenched hard. She leaned over and hit the floor hard, letting her tears fall onto the carpet beneath her. She mumbled out garbled words.
"Miss-" Sam understood this was an episode from the brunette, so she allowed the stranger to burrow into herself and wail out for whatever reason. If she didn't know back then, she gained more information now; this girl was in trouble, in some way Sam felt she needed to help with.
Minutes Later
Luna ate the pasta almost immediately, giving Sam more of a surprise. The style was different than that of her father's, but the meal was passable by itself. She set the bowl right beside her, going bsck into her mood.
On her other side, Sam had also sat with her, leaning against the wall, due to lack of chairs, or even a sofa. There had been a breeze that entered through the open balcony, blowing away at the remains of Luna's clothes.
"So..." Sam began. "What, did you run away from the hospital?"
Luna remained silent, much to Sam's patience.
"D-do I need to take you there? Maybe the police?" Sam dug her hand into her pocket, slowly taking her phone. "This looks really serious, and I'm not qualified to deal with these matters, I'm just a lousy college student after all..."
Luna had stopped crying, but the moist cheeks were still visible, and her eyes were still red. "I guess you can say that I did run away," she whispered with a deadened tone. "But it's... More complicated than that."
Sam held out her hand for a proper introduction. "I'm sorry, formalities were lost on me. My name's Sam Sharp, it's... Interesting to meet you like this."
Luna raised her arm and shook slowly. "H-hi, Sam," she returned, unsure of whether to be open with her or to continue with anothe lie. "I'm... Tabitha Sinclair."
"Nice to meet you, Tabitha," Sam concluded with a firm smile.
"So, a college student, you said?" Luna took notice of her surroundings, seeing the apartment almost empty. "You seem to be lacking in-"
Sam sighed, knowing where she was going with this. "Ugh, it's a long story, which I'm not going to get into."
There was no reason to be alarmed, even as something felt off about this Tabitha person. Maybe it was nothing, but the back of her neck was quite on edge. Even so, Sam had no reason to really suspect her of being behind something fiendish or diabolical.
"Thanks for the food," Luna expressed, late. Then, she realized something, and then began looking around frantically. Sam only watched as the brunette moved about, as if she was in search of something.
"Uh, hey, what's this?"
"Don't you have a calendar?" Luna asked heavily.
"I don't need one when I have a phone... Why?" Sam reached back to Luna, freaked out slightly. "I Don't understand-"
Luna placed a hand to her head, having her mind clouded with infinite bullshit. There was a number she had to remember. A number that belonged to Rinn Reagan back home in Royal Woods. Only, she didn't actually recall it well. The last four digits were lost on her. Apart from that, there was also the matter of the time. Just how long had she'd been away?
"What- What's the year? The date?" Luna circled Sam in a sort of panicked way, eager to know while the blonde was baffled as to why Luna would ask for the year. She understood if the date wasn't known, but the year? "We're on May of the Thirty."
"Thirty? You mean-?" Strangely, Luna stopped to process this, followed by a disturbing laugh. "I missed- I missed-"
She missed out on so much since her being kidnapped. It was all unfair, unjust for all the right reasons. Nothing more in the world could make her distraught this way. "Tabitha? How is it possible you didn't know? I don't understand-"
Her current objective now was to find a way back home, and that was after she went and blabbed to the cops. They'd look into Vial and see what those fucks were doing after she went and reported it. This was the scenario she could see happening. She had to get to the nearest department before Vial started their likely search parties among the town.
"Where am I?" Luna continued to ask. "This place, it's not Royal Woods."
"What, Royal Woods? No, this is Dadetown, state of Color-" It began clicking to her slowly. "Were- Were you k-kidnapped-"
Luna flinched at it wildly, which put Sam's suspicion to truth. The blonde college girl, far younger than Luna, placed a hand over her mouth in this profoundly horrible realization. This girl had to have escaped from her captors, who put her in these clothes. Sam right away felt she knew what to do now.
"That settles it," Sam ultimately decided. "We're taking this to the police."
The way this looked to Sam was that Luna, or Tabitha, was involved with some street gang or something. She had drug mule written all over her, a truly disgusting thing for someone as fragile as her. Sam, being a selflessly generous person, was not afraid to get involved into this. She took initiative and raced to the bathroom, grabbing her towel to let Luna have it.
"What's this?" Luna wondered.
"Well, you're practically naked, so wrap this around your chest. Sorry, I don't have any clothes I could spare, I don't have your size."
"It's fine, Sam. Thanks anyway."
Luna did as the nice girl asked and grew a little cold, then adjusted to the towel in terms of body heat. She followed Sam when the latter was already fetching her keys and shoes, storming her way out of the complex. Once the door was locked, the two girls made their way down to the parking lot. It never bothered Sam once that a fraction of her day off was being taken this way. Who could have really expected her?
Sam's car was alright, not that Luna cared, but it had been awhile since last being in a vehicle. The Way it felt when it was moving, and the strain and pull at the turns, it was all too familiar. Luna wanted the air conditioner, so she turned in on, mainly because the cold-blooded nature in her compelled her to. No heat stroke up in this ride.
"So, you're from Royal Woods, right? I'm sorry, I don't know where that-"
"Michigan," Luna cut off immediately. "I've been living in Michigan most of my life."
"Oh... Is it a big city?"
"Small town," Luna responded with no jazz in her voice. "What about here, what's this Dadetown like?"
"Small town as well. I mean, this state is more forest than civilization, I figure everyone knew that." Sam began tapping her fingers on the steering wheel at the stop lights, impatiently eager to get this older woman some help, and the proper type too. "So, um, how old are you?"
Luna hadn't known that either. She missed some birthdays, and had almost forgotten the day she was born. She had to calculate it for a bit. Considering they didn't pass July yet, this made Luna to be of twenty-nine years of age, soon to be thirty. "I'm almost in my thirties," she mumbled.
"What? I'm not even twenty-three yet!" Sam let out a groan as she passed an intersection. "Well, whatever has happened, I hope that it turns out well."
"Hmmm," Luna managed to croak out.
"I... Don't know what I'm supposed to say, but whatever happened to you, or whatever they did, I'm sorry." Sam might have been a little inexperienced, and awkward, but she was sincere and meant it for all it was worth. She also didn't need to acknowldge how dark and tragic it might have been on Luna's end, and she had done well to avoid those certain bumps.
If there was anything Sam could do for this victim of God-knows-what...
She had an idea and veered off course. "Hang on, I think you are going to need a touch-up."
"I'm sorry?"
Sam pulled into a shopping center before they got to their destination. Upon parking her car, she asked what Luna's size would be right about now, to which she hadn't known, only knowing what her last measurements were, and Sam went and sought out the sizes higher than described. Luna adjusted the towel again when it began to fall off as she waited for her savior, having already gained the idea that the college girl was going the extra mile by gifting her some actual threads. She didn't protest it, for she might have needed a disguise to get by the search parties, should there be those.
The car was faced toward the store, and Luna had to watch people come in and out of the stores in front, including the clothes shop. She took notice of the people coming in and out. Normal people, regular citizens who had never been kidnapped, experimented on, nor even kept in damn glass cases. All these happy folk who lived their lives in full, now why wasn't that something she earned? She, who only did wrong by someone once. But was that enough to have earned this? Had she been truly deserving of this hell inflicted onto her?
The smell of something rather stinky irked her enough to sniff out the source. She looked back behind her, eyeing the backseat. There was indeed a pink bikini with a faint fishy smell that made her raise an eyebrow. She turned away, but on the road behind her, her eyes caught a glimpse of a large, white truck that looked like one of those armored transports banks used, moving in the direction they were going. On the side of the truck, she could make out the logo that made her heart sank; Vial Corp
The schedule was happening faster than Luna had expected, and there wasn't even time to be prepared for it. Luna grew pale white when more armored trucks tailed the first one, acting like a convoy. Where were they going?
About fifteen of those scary vehicles had passed through when Sam had returned, and Luna still stood staring through the back window, thinking she'd be seeing more. Sam pulled on the handle, which made Luna jump; the scared brunette hadn't centered her focus on the nearby sounds, so of course she was caught by surprise. Luna's weight shook much of the car, which made Sam freeze while holding a large paper bag.
"Hey, what's the matter?" It looked like Luna had seen a ghost. Sam held the bag up and gave it to Luna. "I think I got the right size. You can change at the police station, alright?"
Luna took the back and placed it on had feet, looking into it. Sam picked out pants that she felt was purple-pinkish, or a color she didn't know, along with a white shirt with a colorful target in the center, and a baby-blue sweater that felt rough by fabric. "Oh..."
"I know it's not much, but I hope those are fine," Sam stated firmly. "Alright, no more delays."
As she inserted her key into the ignition, Luna shot her hand out and snagged before Sam could start the car. "Wait!"
Sam was so startled that she dropped the keys, trembling with nervousness from Luna's sudden move. "Whuh-what is it?"
The terrified Loud woman strained to speak. Her head grew to throb from within, from the instability her state of mind had become. She kept opening and closing her hands, shaken by the escalating situation. The chances of being locked away again had increased tenfold, with Sam being the one to drive Luna back to the discomfort of her dark lifestyle. Even Sam had a sense of what was, she didn't know all, so Luna had to fill her in all the way.
"L-listen," she twitched verbally. "D-do you know what Vial Corporation is?"
Sam slowly nodded, not breaking her eye contact from the brunette with this dark backstory. Luna let her hand go, but Sam remained in her position, wondering where Luna was going with this. "What about them?"
"Them, Sam. It-it was them who did this-" Luna tugged on her ripped white shirt and rubbed it between her fingers. "They took me, and..."
The driver's lips split from each other, overwhelming Sam with more than she bargained for. "Th-those guys?" She gulped. "But, they're a firm for science-"
"No, th-they're more than that!" Luna protested to the top of her lungs. "They take people, they- They do their damn evil things onto- Onto us! I can't go back there! I just can't!" She turned away to burrrow her hands into her face and bellow out a fragile cry.
"Uhh..." Sam wasn't sure how to take this. "Y-you mean they've... Been... Experimenting on people-"
"Yes..."
The blonde college girl let her eyes move away from Luna, and her head moved dramatically away. "Then... How long have you-?"
"Four years, dude," Luna counted. "They locked me away for four years."
"Oh, my God... Then-" She immediately recalled hearing about various people having gone missing, and it started only around the time Vial had been unveiled to the world. And then, two years later- "So, you don't know, do you?"
"Know about what?"
"Okay, so maybe thus is gonna sound crazy, but..." Sam cleared her throat before going forward. "Two years ago, there was this reported break-in at a Vial facility in Ohio, right? At least that's what they've reported to the news, but a month later... These... Girls, two girls, they just shown up and out of the blue."
"Girls? What does this have to do with-?" Luna was rendered silent when Sam went out of her way to pull out her phone and open up an app. She typed into the search bar, quickly getting video results. She clicked one such video and showed Luna;
Velocity and Momentum speeding through Times Square
Luna was shown a vertical video where someone was recording around the area of Times Square, focused on the traffic. The cars in the video were moving along, and some nearby people walked in front of the shot. It was only a few seconds in when someone screamed and pointed to the right. The camera redirected to the other side, catching two bizarre lights of both pink and blue, catching the attention of everyone around. A wave of hearty cheers filled the air wave, with an additional horde of car honks joining that chorus as well. And then, the video ended.
"What- Wait, what did I just-?"
"The world's very own pair of heroes, of course!" Sam took back her phone after holding it for Luna to see. "I was skeptical to believe it when word first started coming out, but they made it to the news, it's... I still think it's something out of a comic book, but here it is."
It sounded like she was being a fangirl, to which Luna coughed loudly.
"So maybe I've been told a bit of this stuff by some of my friends, but I looked into it and I thought that there might have been a connection between them and Vial..."
"So, I missed out on the introduction of actual heroes, is that right?"
"When you put it like that..." Sam was good at side-tracking herself. "Okay but with you here, and your whole experience with Vial, that has to mean that they've been behind many of those missing persons cases that started back four years ago, and also..." Sam happened to be slighty deductive to a frightening level. Right now, she was wondering that reported break-in was not one, but rather an escape that was successful. And they who escaped were none other than the two heroines of New York. Only, those two heroines had never mentioned or outed Vial's doings to the media, or anything of the sort. "Can I ask some questions?"
"Look, dude, I don't mean to be pushy, but I'd rather go back to your place."
"Wait, what? Tabitha, this just got, like, way bigger than I thought. Like, jeez, you escaped a corporation of evil, one who has some serious power and money to like... You know."
"You mean..." Luna thought about it and assumed Sam meant to imply the corporation was powerful enough with resources to have Luna silenced, if she were to blab her mouth. So... Did they even need to bother? Then, what was going on behind them? What was it that Vial was really up to now?
"I don't mean to drown your hopes, but... It's just not possible to fight some bigger power like this. You're gonna need proof, and... I don't know if you know, but crying wolf won't work."
"The one I was in, it was back over there," Luna mentioned. "The direction just past your place... And what's more, I wasn't the only one there."
She stammered about. "Y-yeah, I got that..." She gulped, closing her eyes, for realizing how scary up front this had escalated to. And she wasn't even one of the kidnapped people, so for sure Luna had it real intense for her. And suddenly, going to the police did not seem like the best plan in the world. "Okay, okay, I'm t-taking you back-"
"But- Wait, why won't that work? They have to believe me, right? I-"
Sam shook her head. "A story without evidence is only one that's been fabricated, and that's how the system has always been, otherwise everyone would get away with lies and what they selflessly wanted."
"Uhh..." Luna had her mouth go open, but then shut it when she made sense of it. "But... It really did happen."
"Yes, I don't doubt you, with all that you shared and told me. But, the thing is, this isnt an easy case to win, even if you happen to stir suspicion onto them. They're a whole body, and you going up against them will mean nothing because you're... You're just one person..." She didn't want to be that person at all. "Don't get me wrong, you can possibly make a dent if you gathered evidence that proves what they've been doing to you, and to anyone else in their facility."
"Evidence..." It was that word that brought upon a challenge, part of an internal conflict that resided within her. She could not be able to fulfill it, for she'd have to to confront all of those labcoats, and the ugliness of that place. No, she could never. It wasn't even remotely fair, for she had escaped with her life, or what was left of it. "Fuck."
"I'm sorry, but there isn't much I think I can do from here on out, apart from helping to hide you... But I couldn't be able to do that forever."
Luna was defeated, and defeated so damn hard. Her versus an entire board with unlimited resources and power, why did that feel familiar? "If it's all the same with you..."
Sam nodded, accepting Luna's request. "Is there anyone related that we can reach out to? I'll try that, which should be just as good, right?"
Luna shook her head. "All my contacts were in my phone they took, and I can't remember the home phone of my aunt," she told the blonde. "Damn it, why can't I remember?"
"Take it easy," Sam suggested. "What about social media? Facebook? Twitter? Tumblr? Or maybe Discord?"
"I... Kinda had a falling out with them... My aunt, I-" She stopped, and had no trouble recalling what set the divide between her and Lynn. "I don't know if I'm welcomed back in with them."
"Oh, family matters, huh?" Sam finally picked up her keys and started the engine, being more than ready to leave. The sun above had reached its highest point, marking it past the noon, and had only a few more hours left before the darkness would coat the sky. "I guess we'd better be going, and don't worry, we'll come up with something."
Sam drove off steadily while Luna had her mind clouded with the hopelessness she received from her guardian angel. She was truly grateful to have a sweetheart having come to her aid, which was only due to her crashing into the girl's life without an invite. She had no idea how to repay her back, but maybe she didn't have to, but Luna was obliged to, out of the leftover decency of her heart. Only, she had no idea how to yet. "Hey, um... T-thanks for this... For everything."
They stopped at a red light, still a few blocks away from Sam's temporary place, which she hadn't explained to Luna yet. She believed now that she no longer had to, as she was sure they'd find some family member of hers and they'd tell them of the situation, and that would guarantee Luna's safety permanently. This was how it had to go... Or bust.
"Hey, you don't need to, I just want to make sure you get to safety, live your life and all of that, you know?"
That had gotten Luna wondering; Sam sounded more older than she appeared to be, speaking with some serious, mature advice that made her feel like she was living for at least forty years. Luna had only taken notice of it right then and there, and thought to let her know. "How do you know so much? You're strangely calm than I'd figure, and not just that..."
Sam blinked in response to what Luna had unearthed. "What do you mean?"
"Like, you sound like an adult-"
Sam laughed. "Tabitha, I am an adult."
"I mean, I know that, but what I mean is... Well, it's like you're experienced, like you're..." She knew the next words, and hit a nerve. "L-like a mother..."
"Mother...?" They had gone another block closer to the west end of Dadetown. Sam had been told she had some certain vibes that felt like a professional life counselor, but being compared to a mother? Someone who had children and knew how to raise them? That was by far the most unexpected comparison to receive. And then, she wondered if Luna hadn't known how to describe it well, or maybe it was that Luna had- "Do you mean to tell me that I sound like yours?"
Luna narrowed her eyes, and stared at the blonde. After a moment of pausing, she went, "I... I don't know... I don't remember..."
"You... Don't?"
Luna looked at the window next to her, staring out onto the stores and neighborhoods they passed by. "My parents died when I was fifteen, and that was so long ago. I can barely remember them as it is, but... It's weird to say that I feel like you... On some level-"
"Oh, I think I understand," Sam figured. "You see part of your mother in me, is that right?"
Luna gave no immediate answer.
"That's..." She found it rather strange that Luna had shared it, but there was also the clear hint that there was a reason Luna did so. "Well..."
"Uh..." Luna felt awkward indefinitely. "I didn't mean-"
"Oh, no, y-you're fine, I've just never been compared to someone's mother..." Sam had finally reached the end of the block, veering left into the parking lot of her complex. "I guess I just have one of those personalities."
"You said you had questions you wanted to ask?" Luna recalled.
"Huh?" Sam pulled in to her parking zone. "Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I? Well, this is revolving around your time within those walls, but I'd get it if you dont want to answer."
Luna faced Sam again in full. "There isn't anything I could say, other than my time having been quite the hell you could imagine. We get gassed to sleep, we get injected with liquids we don't know what they're of, and worse-" Luna thought about telling her what she really was, the monster that they have created. The beast within that she locked away up to here.
Sam reached over and put a hand over one of Luna's, a gentle effort to ease her. "It's okay, it's gonna be okay," her gentle voice spoke. This girl was more than what was seen on the surface, and Luna really admired it. She showed off a smile to her, and Sam returned one back. All began to feel right in the world with someone like her around.
"Thanks, Sam," Luna expressed with content. "You're pretty amazing, dude."
"Oh? Nothing interesting about me, in my humble opinion, and yet people somehow like me," she shrugged, exiting her car. "We'd better come up with a solution right away."
Luna had no idea where to to, or what was going to happen from here on out. Life had gotten fucky on her yet again, but maybe she could catch a break and find a way to contact her aunt. Lily and the twins were likely to still be around, maybe even Leni, too. Lynn and Luan... They were another case she didn't want to think about. The scars ran deep with those two. "Her name is Rinn Reagan, with and E and an A." She got out of the car and followed, bringing with her the clothes Sam got her .
"Reagan? Not Sinclair? I see."
Right, Luna forgot she was using an alias. That was before she knew she could trust the Sharp girl this much, and before she had an idea of what she was like. "Actually..."
"Is this the part where you tell me your real name?" Sam asked with an eyebrow raised, stopping to look back at her.
"How did-?" It was her turn to be shocked. "Okay, fine. My name's Luna Loud, yeah."
"Luna... That's Spanish for the moon." She looked up and saw only the clear blue skies above. "I could still see it, even if it's not around anymore."
"Not around-?" Luna didn't know what Sam meant.
"Oh, well... It's been drifting so far from us that it just disappeared deeper into space," Sam explained. "This affected the oceans and the behavior of nocturnal animals, if you ever want to know."
Luna gazed upwards as well. Funny... Her name had meant moon, and coincidentally, the moon was gone. Was that to allude that she was gone? Or rather, the person she had been before all of this? Luna closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose.
Returning to the apartment, Luna went to the bathroom and changed into her new clothes. Surprisingly, they fit her perfectly well, but Luna would have preferred her own threads. Not that anyone was complaining. She came out looking better, only she might have needed a shower as well. She returned Sam's towel and left it on the bathroom and threw away her disgusting white ones away. "Well?"
Sam held a thumbs up. "I'd say you're looking spiffy, Lunes."
"Lunes?" Luna wiggled her legs around, tugging at her pants. "Interesting color."
"Well, I didn't know what your preference was, but-"
Luna waved and flicked her hand. "Oh, this is fine, I like these clothes-"
Her body did quite the thinking for her; Luna moved close to Sam and gave her a hug. The difference in size and height became to apparent; Sam was shorter and a little more skinnier compared to Luna.
"Oh!" Sam was the first to have her cheeks go red. When Luna was that close to see Sam's face, she also blushed, and pulled herself away. They both scratched their heads in sync, looking away from each other while giving weak laughs. "That was, uh-"
"Uncalled for?" Luna finished for her. "It might have been."
"But that was... Cute," Sam stated. "In the nice sense."
Luna looked to the living room. "Only one sleeping bag?"
Sam crossed her arms, but laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I would have gotten another should I have known you were coming."
"So this is my fault?" Luna set her hands to her hips and gave Sam the sassy look. "Hmmm?"
"Yes, yes it is!" Sam sarcastically challenged.
"Well then-" Luna went for a playful tackle, taking Sam by surprise. She had the blonde fall on her back, with Luna having landed on her. The two broke into heavy laughter, then died it down as they looked into each other's eyes, and Luna's heart was beginning to beat faster at this time. She was guided by some unseen force, her hand moving to Sam's face, stroking at her cheek. The skin was smooth as it looked, and the blonde did the same with Luna. Then, Luna leaned her face in and pecked Sam right on the lips, closing her eyes.
Sam didn't fight her advance, but also had no idea how to react or respond to it. Actually, it felt rather nice. Luna's kiss onto her was soft and beautiful, not a heavy forced one where the tongue roughly got into her mouth. Not like Brad's. This kiss was more heavenly. And Sam wanted more.
Luna figured she went too far, but Sam wrapped her arms around the bisexual girl, pulling her so Th at she could kiss her softly and deeply. Their lips went at it again, entangled in an exotic dance. The further they went, the more deeper their kisses had ascended to. Luna directed her tongue and licked the back of her partner's upper lip, which let out a moan from her lovely voice.
Sam ran her fingers down one of Luna's hands and led it to a breast, which Luna squeezed with the right amount of force. "Mmm..."
Luna worked her way down, applying her lips to the cute blonde's neck, kissing all over it. Her body swelled up with intense heat, and it didn't help that her heartbeat had risen to a higher level, not that she fought it. She wanted it, and this long-due sensation was not something she'd deny herself, and by the looks of it, Sam wasn't either.
On the other hand, Sam was rather enjoying their make-out session. Luna was gentle and quite firm, with her set of hands being quite suave, nothing that felt rough, forced, or motivated by pure arousal. It was nothing like that of Brad's, where he was the opposite of how Luna was. This was perfect, and Sam loved how this was going. Did that mean that she liked girls?
Sam was in the midst of removing her purple sweater, eager to go further with the brunette. She slipped it off, followed by her pink shirt. She ran her hands behind her to undo her bra, which made Luna's heart revv up to full throttle. And just before the boobs could come out out to play, a siren rang off in the distance. Luna and Sam stopped dead short before they could escalate into sex.
"What is that?" Luna advanced up and jogged to the balcony, opening it and hearing the siren get louder.
"It's the civil defense siren, but what is it for?" Sam dressed herself back again, getting up from the floor slowly. Her phone had begun to ring; a call from someone. Sam dug to get her phone while Luna looked down the streets. She heard vehicles roaring down from the direction they'd come from, so maybe an evacuation was in order. What really happened was three of those Vial Corp vehicles appeared and stopped just before the exit from town, and blocked the way out. In seconds, armed guards, just like in the facility, stepped out and stood around the vehicles.
"Fuck!" Luna cursed under her breath, moving away from the balcony.
"Luna...?" Sam was seeing a live local news audio broadcast through her phone, and called upon the involved brunette to update her. "You'd better check this out."
"-On all roads that lead in and out of Dadetown. Authorities of Vial Corp have instructed that all citizens immediately return to their homes while they, and the local law enforcement, work to detain the escaped animal. We'll have more coverage from the air in just-"
"Escaped animal? Clearly a well cover-up, right?" Sam went out of the radio app she used, only to have Brad call her. "Oh, joy..."
"Who's calling at this time?" Luna scoffed.
"It's... My boyfriend," Sam revealed reluctantly.
This paralyzed Luna. "Oh..."
Sam rubbed the back of her head, feeling guilty at this point. "Well... I d-don't know if I can see us together, anymore-"
Luna eyed back outside, seeing the sky begin to darken. "Well, in any case, it's getting late..."
Sam had gone the extra mile for Luna, and like she thought, there was no way to repay her, until right now. She guessed that Sam would go further to try and sneak the girl out of town undetected. But that was if they wouldn't get caught in doing so, and the probability of that was less in their favor, for they were two versus a great many. "Sam, dude..."
"Y-yeah?"
Something else clicked inside. Luna had been dreadfully afraid of going back to her hell, but Sam had shown her something else she had long forgotten; Luna didn't have to be alone, nor was she, all this time. Sam was the person who proved that there was decency within people, and not just her. On that note, Luna had that potential, and considering that she could keep the ball rolling by paying it forward. Sam had all the right traits Luna sorely needed, and having an idea on what she needed to be. It was time for that to be applied, and Luna was about to play savior today, or die trying.
"It's time I stepped forward on my own," Luna confidently grasped, breaking into a run.
"Wait, what are you-?!"
Luna jumped right over the balcony and disappeared before Sam's horrified eyes. Pity about the clothes, for they were practically ripped apart as Luna transformed midair. When she landed on the parking lot, she was the hideous monster with the ravenous appetite yet again.
Sam looked over below, expecting to see human pizza. For the life of her, she couldn't fathom why Luna chose suicide for this, up until she saw for herself what really was. The gunfire erupted, and the Vial Corp guards were shooting up at the beast that she knew was Luna.
Escaped animal! It is her!
Luna clawed her way through them, circling unpredictably to dodge the grazing bullets she was sure could hurt her. She swung her arms and legs, hitting and kkicking away while her tail defended her backside. She tore and bit off several arms and legs off of them, eating away at some of these find limbs. Sam forced herself to stop watching this graphic spectacle and retreated inside.
"West squad is down!" One guard yelled into his walkie-talkie, right before Luna stood over him. "We've made contact-"
Most of his face had been bitten off, with only the lower jaw and below having remained. It was a dastardly bloodbath that Luna carried out with her darker side. Now that she had attracted the attention of the whole Vial Corp facility staff, she booked it and raced away from town. Whatever Sam had seen and planned, Luna hoped she would be smart with it, enough to be okay from this. The only thing was that she killed all those guards because they were sure to have pieced together where she'd jumped from, which was bad on Sam's end.
The Vial Corp facility was back down the forest she sprinted towards, finding it hilarious that She would be coming so soon. Unbeknownst to her, the faculty had deployed all their muscle into town to search for Luna; who could really anticipate that she'd be returning rather than trying to escape?
Breaking in wasn't too hard, especially with not too many guards to delay her at all. She came across the scattering labcoats while tossing the armed staff like nothing, with the labcoats giving out orders and yelling indistinctly. Luna didn't crash the party to kill them all, even if that was what her heart desires. She crawled in her reptilian form, moving swiftly to the stairwell, where she jumped down the steps and came across one labcoat who was retreating topside when the alarm was activated.
"No," Luna rasped with a deep, lowly grumbled voice. She grabbed this employee and dragged him back to the floor. "Open the other cells!"
""I- I- I-"
Luna let out an enraged roar in front of the labcoat. Her saliva flew out to cover his face like polkadots, and also made him smell bad.
"Okay! Uh-" The intimidated labcoat pointed down the left end. "There's a hidden room I can access-"
Luna wasted no time to get her mission done. If only Sam could see her now, taking and adopting that same bravery and will to achieve her goal, even as painful as was to be here. Luna avoided looking at the cells, fearing to imagine herself back inside them.
The hostage pressed a hand to the barren wall on the curved side of the hall, where a door opened up by sliding back and the rising upwards. Two others were inside, manning the cell systems. She tossed her hostage into the monitors they were seated at. "Release these poor people, now!"
She was chalenegd when one labcoat drew out a pistol and fired at Luna. She yanked his arm out of its socket and used the limb to slap him, with the gun still intaxt, knocking him out. "You!"
"P-please don't eat me!" The third one whimpered, returning to the controls. "Hold on, h-hold on!"
"Hurry!" Luna growled impatiently still holding the severed arm.
"There!" The labcoat opened all cells, and Luna looked at the cameras to see the other experimented victims begin wandering out of their cells, pleased with the results. She grabbed and threw the labcoat into the wall, sparing him from death.
The rest of the tortured guinea pigs were moving about, looking for the exit. This was Luna's cue to lead them all outside and towards freedom.
Above, Sam arrived before the various units had, stopped right at the parking lot of the red-blaring facility. Luna had to be inside, she figured. Only, Sam wasn't going inside. She left her car running when getting out, looking through the place, and saw no sign of life at first. "Hello?"
In seconds, she was greeted by the Vial Corp units who had finally come, and just in time to see the renegade escapees emerging from the building. They ran past Sam, centering on the many armed Vial goons they spotted, all packed with the same hatred Luna had come to know. Sam backed into the side of the building while the shooting happened. Some of these unarmed folk exhibited powers of different varieties, witnessed by the blonde before her eyes. She was truly amazed by the view of this phenomenal event, despite there being carnage in play.
"RUN! RUN AWAY AND HIDE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" Luna looked over the panorama and cheered on the others as they massacred their captors, while giving them instructions. "VIAL CORPORATION BURNS TONIGHT!"
Some of the kidnapped super freaks looked her way and cheered. A long-haired sandy-blonde teenager, accompanied with a redhead girl shorter than him, stared at their savior with curious eyes. Another one, a blonde with longer hair than Sam's, waved at her before calling out to her brethren. "Every freak form themselves!"
Most of them broke into a run, leaving the area once it was clear of officials and armed security. The day had been darkened enough to call it a night now, and Luna had achieved the impossible. Only by then, she knew it was all but impossible, and for that, she was grateful, especially with Sam's help in this.
"Luna?" Sam came up to the bizarre creature she had trouble accepting as Luna. "S-so..."
The field became empty, but they took no notice. Sam put her hands over Luna's own when she held them out, and the two ascending lovers stared into each other's eyes as they had before, back in their place of safety and tranquil. "I... Have to go..."
The smile on Sam's face flipped upside down. "W-wait, but you just won, y-you defeated them..."
Luna moved one of her vicious hands and stroked Sam's face. "More facilities to find... I have to-"
Sam understood, and that's why she backed away with hurt in her eyes. She looked down and was upset that this was how it had to be. Luna felt the same way and snorted through her slit-nostrils. If there had been a chance that these two women who came from different parts of a shared world were somehow falling for each other, it could not be, for one was full of life, and the other had been long gone. "L-Luna... It's been f-fun-"
"It has, hasn't it? Well..." She ran away from the facility, to hurt to say goodbye to that pretty girl she knew she'd been crushing on. Oh, how she wanted to go after Sam like this, to let her feelings do all the thinking for her when around the beautiful girl. If only this was granted to her.
A helicopter, followed by sirens wailing in the distance, advanced towards the scene, making Luna run with all her speed down into the forest. Next came the huge explosion from within the facility, and Sam was still near it at the time. She had kept staring at her, and taken notice of the chopper and patrol cars nearing the place, unsure of how to explain herself. The place crumbled down, and crushed her in the process. Luna lay witness to this and was truly denied the chance in such a fiendish way, aggravated and flabbergasted by the untimely death. She wanted to to and search through the wreckage in hopes that Sam might have been alive, but the timing was not on her side, and for that, she had to leave.
Luna raced far away from the area, runniny even after all the noise in the world began a deafening silence. That explosion had to be them covering their tracks, no doubt. But at least she did something to make them pull that move. Now, there were more of them to attack, and she knew it. More Vial Corporation facilities all throughout the states, and she had already self-appointed herself to that crusade to break out all the captured. And she'd offer anyone victimized a place alongside her, for this wasn't a one-woman army type of journey, and it didn't have to be.
Luna stopped when she heard footsteps running behind her, so she turned around to confront them, but saw no living soul behind. She focused her hearing, pin-pointing for a source of noise. There was a voice that came out whispering to her.
"Hello, Luna. I've been watching you for quite awhile, and I have to thank you for showing me what has been really happening inside of Vial."
"Who are you?" Luna heard the crunching pair of running footsteps from all directions. "Show yourself."
"I'm just someone with the same interest as you, Luna. I want to personally see to it that Vial Corp and all of its affiliates pay for all of their crimes against humanity."
Luna had yet to trust the man this voice belonged to. She let loose and went back to her human form, her new clothes barely holding onto her body now. "I'm listening... So how?"
Behind her, the speaking man had deactivated a cloaking device and let himself be known. Luna was met by a middle-aged man in some kind of armor that looked futuristic, unlike anything she'd ever seen before. The man had long, wavy black hair, with some facial hair that hadn't grown out fully. This man felt like he belonged to some sort of secret organization she had yet to find out. "You ask me how? Well..."
A blue portal opened up behind the man, further intriguing Luna.
"I'm hoping to put together a team."
The whole scene crawled with police officers, medics and firefighters. The entire thing was a mess, and the ruins of the facility had been closed off until further notice. The amount of bodies that lay in the wake of this apparent animal attack, which was now being reported as some kind of large reptile creature, had most of the scenesters shaking silently. It would take hours, maybe even up to a day or two to get this bloody incident taken care of. There weren't enough ambulances to take all the corpses at once, meaning a couple of runs in and out of here had to happen.
"What kind of shitshow...?" The town sheriff watched a headless body get placed into a body bag before looking over the destruction. "These eggheads and their little pets, I tell you."
Three firefighters were in charge of dousing what remained of the fire among the rubble, keeping their distance from a peculiar smell that made them want to gargle, only they had to keep their breath in.
"H-hey-" One firefighter squinted his eyes at what he thought was movement from the debris. "I think I saw something."
"Shut up and keep spraying, Doherty!"
Indeed, someone buried within the heavy debris struggled to move, but they were there, still alive.
"Wait, look!"
The jagged breaths of the girl slowed down, but her many scars didn't go away. Only, she had begun to feel itchy all over, and didn't notice her sudden peak in strength, or that she had gotten out of there with ease. The red liquid had made contact with her skin, and that had to be why she was irritated physically. Only, her entire skin had turned to a pale-red color, and she was plagued by some sort of unbearable burning sensation she could not shake off. Sam let out a rabid scream just as she gained the attention of all the people around her.
AN: I will intentionally be misleading around the titles, but this one was a doozy on my end. Enjoy your very first look at Saluna/Suna in a different setting. I know it might be weird, considering the clear age difference, but I'm all about change, and looking for ways to shift up the regular designs people are used to, that way, it pays off and nothing can really be predicted.
And no, I'm not completely following the show's canon, just like that other time. More of Sam down the line... As well as Simon.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading.