Just as Z managed to get comfortable, he sensed a great disturbance in the area. He heard a faint roar of some sort of machinery out in the distance, and felt the grass under him shuffle a bit.

This was not good. He would not be able to maintain a peaceful mindset if something would disturb him. He did not like the idea of losing control again. He would have to do something about that.

He opened his eyes and stood up in a quick motion. Sight flooded his eyes as he looked to the sky where his ears directed him. He saw an elliptical body with a propeller on top and a tail at the back. It made a loud noise and disturbed the ground below it very greatly.

Yet another agitation. When would he be free of all of this?

He gazed at it as it flew past him. A few men came from the thing, and moments later, gunshots were heard. Z twitched as he felt himself slipping away to the chaos around him.


----------------------



The sound of quick steps to his left. His hands raised. Screams heard from behind him. Running, quickly, out of chaos. Turn left. Men in front. Eyes widening in fear. Loud bangs, flashes of light. Slight pain all over his torso. Charging forward. Rapid acceleration in growth of nails. Slashing throats. Blood splashing everywhere. Run. Escape. Turning right, surgeons ahead. Long tubes. Quiet bangs. Stinging in shoulder. Increase in adrenaline. Roar.



----------------------



Z opened his eyes from the memory the shots induced. He could not let that repeat. Clearly, the promise the scientists made was false, and he would have to leave. This problem now seemed more immediate than it had been ever before, and he would have to take necessary measures. He would not let himself be consumed by chaos, not today. If it meant a slight increase in the chaos within him, he would have to deal with it. He would escape total chaos at almost any cost.

He turned around to face the direction that would take him farthest away from this disaster.

About to leave, Z noticed the little creature on his shoulder. If he would take off at this precise moment, he was certain that she'd either fall off or not be able to hold on. He was also certain that she would not be able to keep up. Perhaps he should hold her, to make sure that she evaded this situation as well as he.

But why? What would be the purpose of this action? She would slow him down, and her failure to adhere to an aerodynamic form would surely produce quite the drag. No, it was best to leave her behind.

And yet.... He simply could not do it. Z did not know why, but he felt it necessary to bring her with him. Maybe it was the fact that she convinced him to leave and he felt a sense of duty to her.

.....That could not be it. This sense was totally inefficient, and would interfere with his complete sense of objectivity. Maybe she could be useful to him in the future.

What possible use could she be to him? That was mere guessing, and had no real value. She was a liability, nothing more.

Then why could he not run without her?

Z sighed. This was not the time to ponder such details. Either he took her, or she would die. For whatever reason, he could not let her die. Therefore, there was only one option left.

"We go now." he said, grabbing her. He put her into a pocket he had no use for until now, and firmly said, "Hold on tight and stay."

Drawing in a deep breath, he commanded his body to begin pumping adrenaline into his system. He hated adrenaline, but he had use for it now. It the less of two evils, and the possibility of total chaos was too apparent to choose any other route. The smaller chaos would cost him later, but it was necessary.

He felt a rush of excitement, a most detestable emotion, as he sprinted with a speed greater than anything anyone would imagine from such a sickly person. He hadn't done so for a long while, and it took much concentration simply to keep sure that he did not step on anything unfavorable.

He crouched down as he ran to increase efficiency so that he did not have to spend as much energy on the task. He kept one eye on the ground and one ahead; his mind fully on the task in front of him. He differed energy and attention away from all of his senses to sight, and shut out any auxiliary thoughts from his mind. There was only one thing on his mind: getting as far away from the facility as needed to reach somewhere he could have peace.



----------------------



Soon, just as he predicted, chaos reigned in the facility. A loud boom caught whatever attention he had been providing to his auditory functions. He did not dare to turn around in order to satisfy his curiosity, lest he were not able to maintain the speed and stability he had achieved.

A shockwave, however, forced him to pay attention. It pushed him enough so that he could not manage to keep his footing. Frame by frame, he decided on the most effective method of getting farther away. He pushed on with the only leg he had on the ground, and flew, pushed by the invisible force of the blast.

Turning in mid air, he grabbed the butterfly girl from his pocket and hugged her in a protective fashion. He braced for impact and tightened all of his muscles. The inevitable crash left him on his back, dragging a trail several meters down until he was stopped by a tree.

Z grunted as he opened his eyes to observe the scene before him. He was wounded, he was sure, in several places. His clothing was torn, and he was panting. Discomfort was felt throughout his body, and he could make out blood on the trail he had made.

He tried to move, and yet he could not. It would take some time for him to try to recover. That would have to happen much more quickly than he would have time for, so he did not waste time making the necessary procedures. He didn't think he broke any bones, he was just very sore and he was bleeding in several places.

"Saddening." He commented to the tiny critter in his arms. Hopefully, she was not hurt.

Too much chaos in one day.

Aylen's pupils dilated with panic. Her fur bristled and rippled along her body. No. Danger. I can't smell it but it sounds big. Huge in fact. Her gaze shot out across the span of open ground landing on a darting shape silently swishing through the bushes out of sight. Surrounded. Danger. I won't die here. She took a slow breath below letting out a high screech. "No! That is not-" Her voice was cut off by the sound of an explosion. She went down to her knees, hands covering her ears. The bushed rattled violently and the massive hound stepped towards Ivan. Aylen clenched her teeth and shot forward only to have another hound snatch her off her feet.

Aylen yowled as pain burst in her other shoulder. How many times are they going to do that? Her foot shot out knocking the slim creature's back leg out from under it, where it towered over her body. Taking the chance to get away she careened back, adrenaline and her capabilities pushing her forward. The hound was considerably smaller than the massive one after Ivan but it was much, much faster. Just Aylen's speed.

She zipped towards a tree, hearing the snap of teeth close right behind her ankle as she leapt for the tree, using it to stop her progress and twist her around to face the hound. Red crowded her vision but it wasn't enough to erase the hideous, salivating beast from her gaze. Her momentum swung her forward and the two met again, however her hands pushed at the beasts jaws, keeping it properly away from her neck. She bit down on the beasts shoulder and held on as they tumbled across the forest floor. She could feel numerous cuts and bruises sting across her skin but she kept pushing and shoving at the creature. Claws pummeled her legs and chest but she made sure to do just the same. Eventually one of them would bleed out if the battle went on much further.

After a moment of scuffle the creature howled, sending up some sort of signal. She hissed and snapped out a fist to hit the beast's jaw, stunning him. However, the soft fall of footsteps didn't escape her ears. They are coming. Blood. My blood! Guns. More pain. Please! No. She shrieked as another fist caught the side of the beast's fang. It countered snapping its jaws down on her wrist and she felt the bone give away to the strength but her knee came up with a viscous hit to it's lungs and the pressure released. How much longer? I can't keep going much longer. So much blood. Lost.

By that point they both were wearied down, panting and scrabbling across the floor to get away and start again with a new edge but yet also trying to kill and bloody the other. She felt claws graze her face but her hand snapped out with a shot to the gut and the beast grunted before taking advantage of her satisfaction at the sound. She felt her body whip across the beast and out on to the floor. "We need to go! Now! Gun people are coming." She squeaked, getting to her own feet cautiously aware of her wounds. She watched the beast get it's feet under itself before she backed herself towards a tree to glance towards Ivan and see his condition. Please be okay. I need you. Can't escape without someone else. Those people will eliminate me.

Ivan had only a second's thought before four things very rapidly occurred.

First, the girl unleashed a shriek that Ivan was sure was heard by every living bastard back in the facility.

Second, a huge explosion rocked the earth, the sound of it easily overpowering the girl's screech.

Third, he saw, out of the corner of his eyes, a bloodhound strike at the girl.

And fourth, a huge bloodhound advancing on Ivan himself.

His eyes narrowed on the beast as it stepped forth. "Give me your best shot, you oversized poodle!" he snarled at the hound, which was only too happy to comply when a moment later it threw its vast bulk at him, aiming to latch onto Ivan and then clamp its jaws over his throat. As it leapt forward, however, Ivan charged forward as well, the two massive creatures colliding, sending both reeling back. Ivan staggered a bit, but before he could follow up on his attack, the hound was back on its feet and on the offensive. The hell is up with this bastard? the man thought furiously as the hound prepared to strike again. It looks more like a damn wolf than those other hounds.

He wasted no further time on such thoughts, however. As the beast prepared to launch itself forward again, Ivan aimed a heavy blow to its head; it dodged under his arcing attack, and managed to rake its claws down his chest, bringing a roar of pain and rage out of the man. The feeling of the claws digging into his flesh, stopping at the reinforced muscle and bone, caused Ivan's entire focus to turn back to the utter destruction of his opponent. He grabbed the beast's lower arm as it reached forward to repeat its success, his other hand latching onto its upper arm, and with a twist of both hands the beast's arm was snapped at the elbow. It howled in pain, gnashing its jaws, and forced Ivan backwards, throwing him off of it before leaping at him again, bowling the man over onto the ground with the hound on top of him.

One of Ivan's hands latched onto the rabid humanoid wolf's throat, barely preventing it from securing its jaws over his face, while his other hand reached out to grab its good arm and ensure it could not use that to attack him. The two struggled against one another in a deadly stalemate that was not broken even after the beast freed its arm from Ivan's grasp and slashed its claws down the side of his face, both snarling like enraged animals. Finally, however, the hound was unable to fight any further against Ivan's fingers tightened like death around its throat, and after a few seconds its movements became frantic, thrashing uncontrollably; the hound was aware it was in the throes of death, and Ivan knew it as well, applying more pressure as the beast struggled less and less. At last, it began to cease its thrashing, and after a moment, it was still, what little light it had in its eyes disappearing. Ivan pushed the dead body off of him, standing up, his breaths coming in rasps. Blood was running down his face and stained his shirt.

"Ivan!" he heard someone call out his name, and, turning, saw the girl backing against a tree. "We need to go! Now! Gun people are coming!"

Gun people. They'll have those bullets...the ones that can take me down for sure. To hell with that. I ain't getting taken down by some asshole human. He turned, motioning with his head for the girl to follow. Gotta get out of here quick. Before they get their sights on me. Or I'll be screwed.

The massive beast lifted its claws high over his head, clenching its malformed hands into fists. As he brought them down Kate rolled back and out of the way and popped up to her feet in one smooth movement. Her heart was racing and her senses in overdrive as she tried to keep track of all four beasts, the sniper and then trying to locate the black smoke boy. With all of that going on, she didn’t hear the mechanical chopping noise in the distance.

The massive hound stood up, pulling his hands from the Earth where she once laid and it roared at her before he charged. He was much slower than her, but BIG. Gracefully, Kate danced out of his reach only to find herself face to face with the very thin hound, it blood red eyes locked with her green ones. She hissed and struck out with her claws, aimed for its throat. The hound reacted just as fast and back up, only getting a minor cut on its shoulder and returned a swipe of its own. Kate tucked it the full blow receiving a cut a long her cheek.

BOOM!

The ground under her feet shook then an invisible force threw her five feet back. Kate twisted in the air just enough to land back on her feet. The 4 hounds on the other hand were sprawled across the ground and the sniper was hanging from tree, his pistol fell to the ground and his rifle locked around his shoulder.

Kate, leave it. We need to get out of here now!

Ignoring Kat’s words, Kate ran right for the sniper, her green eyes locked on him as she ran. The ground was still shaking and there was a rumble as trees and snow fell but she didn’t care. She had her target. Kicking off the ground, Kate landed on the branch the man was hanging on to. He looked up at her and swore, letting go of the branch he fell. Grabbing his pistol he rolled to take aim only to have Kate land square on his chest, surely fracturing his sternum. All of the air rushed out of his body and he dropped his gun again. Kate cocked her head and looked him over. Then, with a fast movement of her claws, she laid his throat open.

The smell of blood erupted into the air and sent the hounds mad. They all scrambled to their feet and looked right at her. I made it this far, there is no fucking way you beasts are going to stop me now! The hounds rushed her and Kate turned and ran as fast as her legs would carry her. The two wolf like hounds stopped and began to gorge themselves on the human as the other two ran after her. The big guy fell behind whereas the thinner one kept pace. Then, up ahead Kate saw this strange glowing wall up ahead.

Kate, I hope you have a better plan than fight or run into that wall…

The man silently strode away from the door, leaving the sirens behind. Rosaline was grateful, the noise were grating her already frayed nerves. At least they were free of the facility. Finally free of the facility. Rosaline took a seat on the man's shoulder, leaving him to his silence. The man was a quiet one, and now she was just realizing that Z hadn't said a word to her during their escape. She caught herself wondering if he even could talk. The experiments were horrible, and she could only imagine what the others had been through...

Others...

There were others in the facility. Rosaline thought about them. Did they escape? Were they alright? She sincerely hoped they did and they were. She wondered if they would meet some of them. Even if the facility had many exits, they couldn't be spread that far out could they? They were bound to run into others sooner or later. If others did indeed managed to escape. She dashed that grim thought immediately. Of course others survived. They had to. She was a tiny fairy and Z was a big man. There had to have been others more suited to escape. They had to be out there... Roaming the... Mountains? Yes. They were in the mountains. How grand.

Then Z suddenly stopped and sat down. Rose looked up at the man from her perch on his shoulder, but said nothing. She had already brought- no, made him escape and help her flee. She could not- would not bother the man during his meditations. She evened her own breathing so as to not disturb the man. He had followed her out into the unknown, now she would follow him. It was only fair. Besides, there was no way she was going to wonder off by herself. There could be birds of prey loose in the woods who would like to make a snack of the petite fairy. No, no, she would stay with Z. She owed him that much.

Lost in her own thoughts, Rose didn't notice the sudden shift in wind. The gunshots however did yank her from her thoughts, rather ruthlessly. She made to stand on Z's shoulders and looked in the direction of the shots... That was not good. She felt fear take her and still her tongue. Were they after them? Where were they? Are they coming to take them back? A thousand horrible thoughts flooded her mind. All of them about capture, about punishment... About the experiments.

Yet a couple of words managed to peel away the fear like it was nothing. "We go now," The man said in a slow and deliberate voice. The words seemed to not come from his mouth, but his very being. Rose had time to look at the man and nodded. He then picked her up, something she did not like. That was how the scientists collected her for the experiments, and she hated the feeling of being useless in the hands of another. She made no move to fight it though and instead went with it, inside the man's pocket. "Hold on tight and stay." She grabbed the lip of the man's pocket and grasped on for dear life. Well, at least she knew the man could talk now. She was making some progress.

All thoughts of progress were erased when the man shot off in the woods. Fear gripped at the fairy like she gripped the man's pocket. She didn't want to be thrown out and left behind, for there was no way she could keep up with his clip. Such speed... Such power... Who was this man? Who was Z?

Then there was an explosion. It was as if someone else was in control of her body, and Rose was only watching. Time felt like it slowed down as everything around her was a blur. She saw Z's feet lift off from the ground with great strength. She saw the man fly through the air as he reached for her and pulled her out of his pocket. He then pulled her in close and... Protected her? For a moment, Rose didn't feel fear, she felt complete and utter safety within the man's arms.

Then time seemed to have resumed it's normal current as they slid across the ground and into a tree. She laid in the man's arms for minutes... Or seconds. Time was still a mystery to the fairy, all she known was she was still alive. She picked her head up as the man spoke in his deep, emanating voice. [i=]"Saddening."[/i] She only nodded, unable to find her tongue. She looked backwards at the mark Z had left on the ground. It was marred with certain stretches of... Red? Blood? Was he hurt?!

Rose paid no mind to her own wounds, a scratch across her cheek and a thin line on her thigh, blue blood lightly oozing from the wounds. They would heal in time, but what about Z?! Her wings lifted her out of the man's arms and she set upon inspecting the man's wounds. One such lesion on the man's leg caught her attention. She gingerly landed on his thigh and expected the wound. It wasn't life threatening, but it would cause discomfort. Tears welled up in her eyes. She had caused this, it was all her fault the man was hurt. He was hurt trying to protect her. She was useless, she couldn't do anything for the man. "I-I'm sorry," She said between tears. "It's all my fault," She said.\

Rosaline fell to her knees over the mans wounds wishing, hoping against hope that she could help him. But she knew better. She couldn't. The scientists who experimented on her said so themselves. While her own healing properties were unique, they could not be transferred to another. There was no way to help Z and she hated herself for it.

As she cried, her wings began to accumulate a fine layer of sparkling dust. Between sobs, the dust sprinkled from her wings and landed in the man's wounds, stopping the blood loss. She watched through her tears as the blood stopped flowing from the man's wound... Just like how her own wounds stopped flowing after couple of seconds. What... What happened? What did she do? She looked over to her wings, the fine dust still layered on. But the scientists... The scientists said... They were... Wrong? Was this... This dust a product of her own will? It was true, during the experiments she never wished to give anything to help the scientists...

Tears still staining her face, she began to fly from wound to wound on the man, sprinkling the powder from her wings to help alleviate the man's injuries. The injuries she had caused. While she still didn't completely understand it, she hoped that it would work.

Aylen saw that he was okay and let out a collective sigh but her relief couldn't last. She had to get rid of that hound. Her gaze narrowed as she focused on the hound that was shaking out it's bloody fur. She took a step forward and the hound turned to her. A bloodstained paused before the hound charged, considerably slower and stiffer than before, and she feinted left before spinning around to leap upon it's back as her hands reached for it's throat. She stretched out her claws and using it's momentum against it she ripped it's throat out. If she felt guilty about killing the beast but she could have said that it killed itself. The beast staggered to a stop and wet sloshing sounds emitted from it's mouth. She winced. "I'm sorry." She turned tail and ran for Ivan.

It wouldn't be long until the gunmen found the bloody scene and the two hounds dead. They would hunt them until the ends of earth probably. She licked her lips tasting the foul blood of the hound. Her stomach gave a sickening twinge. She glanced up towards the sky as something cold touched her heated skin. Snow? Is that snow? The sound of a machine in the distance, from the sky. She frowned and sped up to run with Ivan.

Now that she looked over his wounds she wasn't sure if he would be okay but then again she had more to worry about. Her own body ached and cramped. Cuts, bruises, wounds, and claw marks aligned all over her body making her out to be a bloody ball of a girl. Some of it wasn't her blood and most of the new blood was. She panted heavily and turned her gaze to watch the partially white floor pass under her feet.

"Weak. So weak. So tired." She murmured, her mind feeling slightly numb. She felt like a sack of led, as if her arms and legs were made of metal. Gray fogged her vision but every time she would blink it away. She couldn't rest until they were safe. Blinking for the tenth time she finally raised her voice. "Aylen. My name, that is." She couldn't manage a smile but simply continued. "We have to find safety." She stumbled but caught herself just in time. Her center of gravity wasn't usually perfect but now that she had to fight back the sleep she could just barely keep from falling. She took a harsh breath and look forward. What is that? What now? She viewed the new obstacle in front of her.

The shimmery wall was huge. It looked dangerous but it was the only thing keeping her from escaping. She skidded to a stop, crouching on the ground as she heaved out air just to suck it back in again to repeat the process. One of her hands floated over to clench her shoulder where most of the pain derived. "We can't go past that. I don't want too. Those people must have done it. They want to kill us and we have nowhere to go." A quiet sobbing gasp escaped her lips. She had to go past it. She needed too.

Her body shuddered as her other hand that had been balancing her on the ground went up to her other shoulder in a firm self-hug. Her tail curled around her cold, bloody body. What could they do now? They were trapped. Who knew what that fence did? It could kill them with one touch. Horrible. So horrible. She looked up to Ivan, her eyes hopeless. "What now? Should we find somewhere to curl up and hide? Should we find others?"

Ivan turned at the sound of further battle, and saw that there was still another bloodhound--pursuing the girl, it seemed. Now how did I not notice that, Ivan mused to himself, watching as the girl managed to basically rip the thing's throat out. Huh. Well done, he thought, genuinely impressed. But she seemed to think she'd done something wrong. "I'm sorry," he heard her murmur, before she turned to follow him again, and Ivan said nothing of it.

They walked in silence mostly, and Ivan did not stop or slow at any point. Even when the snow began, Ivan spoke nothing and did not stop to admire the sight of the tiny, fluttering aqueous crystals falling from the heavens. He didn't seem to acknowledge the girl's presence at any point, though occasionally, while glancing to the side to get a look at his surroundings, he took a quick glance out of the corners of his eyes to check on her--the last thing he needed was her keeling over into the ground, now covered with a thin, flaky layer of snow, without him even noticing. She wasn't looking too good, however. She was covered in injuries, slashes and bruising from the hound attacks, covered with a layer of blood--some of which definitely wasn't hers but that of a hound. She was panting and trudging through the snow, dragging her arms and feet as if weights were tied to each. Ivan said nothing and continued walking. She's not some puny human. She can take it.

"Weak." He heard her voice murmur weakly, as if in responce to his very thoughts. "So weak. So tired." Ivan turned his head stonily to look at her, and she looked back, and then raised her voice. "Aylen." He raised an eyebrow, not sure what that meant. "My name, that is." The tiniest tug at the corners of her lips, weak but present, seemed to be an attempt at managing a smile. "We have to find safety."

"Yeah," was Ivan's terse, grunted reply, before he turned his head and spoke no further. His name could wait. Until they were well the hell out of here.

Soon, through the snowfall, he saw something--a very large something. As they approached, he felt his heart suddenly harden and begin to boil with rage.

It was a wall. A laser wall. And by the looks of it, it surrounded the entire area around the complex.

"We can't go past that." He barely heard Aylen speaking; her voice sounded years away. "I don't want to. Those people must have done it. They want to kill us and we have nowhere to go."

Nowhere to go...her words drove it in all the further. He was stuck. They were stuck. Trapped. Confined.

Imprisoned.

"Dammit!" Ivan suddenly roared savagely, furiously turning away from the wall. "Goddammit! Right on the edge of making it out, and they put a fucking laser wall in front of me? This is fucking impossible! I didn't make it all the way here just for this shit!" Unable to attack the object of his frustration, Ivan swung his fist at the truck of one of the towering fir trees, but of course the impact achieved nothing--his anger refused to abate.

His furious tirade completed, Ivan gritted his teeth and leaned against one of the tree trunks, glaring at the wall and wishing he could just charge into it and crush it...Ivan was not used to being faced with a problem that could not be solved by beating the shit out of it.

"What now?" he heard Aylen, and turned to look at her as if he had forgotten he was not alone here. "Should we find somewhere to curl up and hide? Should we find others?"

Ivan scoffed. "No matter what we do, we're fucked. They'll find us. Unless you happen to be capable of growing a pair of wings that can get you over that laser wall, there ain't no way outta this." He sighed. "Hide and they'll just track you down. We have to find a way to shut this thing off...but that's probably impossible, so yeah. We're screwed."

Hachiro breathed deeply in contentment as he raced through the forest.  After years of stale air, fluorescent light and windowless prisons, the outside world had attained a heavenly quality to it.  Sure, Hachiro was running for his life, but it was so relaxing!

Hachiro was yanked abruptly back to reality as his 'partner,' so to speak, hurled him to the ground, a sniper rifle bullet striking the ground just behind where he had stood.

Take cover,” [the girl] hissed and ran into the shadows of a nearby tree.

Without further thought, Hachiro sped up a tree, his skin tanning instantaneously to a dark brown, that of the tree trunk to be exact.  Tiny muscles under his skin expanded and contracted, retexturing the organ to more of a rough surface.  In a matter of seconds, he had transformed from boy to tree branch.

Hachiro watched in absolute silence as the cat girl stalked the sniper.  Ooh, almost got him... What happened next surprised Hachiro so much he almost fell out of his tree. They had been ambushed by several Dogmen!  Was the sniper just a decoy, or are these guys his bodyguards? Hachiro's mind was racing, desperately trying to find a solution to the situation.  If he were to try to fight with Kitty, he would only be killed, or possibly worse, as well as her.  However, if he were to stay in hiding, he would never be able to live down his actions.  What do I do? 

Before he could even move an inch, it was over;  the girl had escaped and the sniper was dead.  As Catwoman raced off into the distance, so did Hachiro, keeping close behind her canine pursuers.

Soon enough, the larger of the two Dogmen fell behind, enough so that Hachiro felt it safe enough to confront him.  Swinging down from the canopy, the boy's arms seemed to bend like snakes, wrapping around the beast's limbs and neck, essentially trapping him.  "Night night, little puppy," he said in a quiet, singsong voice.  Before the dogman could even attempt to fight back, Hachiro broke his neck, quickly racing on to catch up with the other.  

The other beast man was taken out in a similar way: Hachiro snuck up, restrained him, and killed him. Before long, the young man had caught up with his companion. "Sorry for the delay," he said, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow.  "Got any plans to get over that?" he finished, gesturing to the large red barrier that loomed before them.

Although Z was not happy, he knew that he had no choice in the matter. He hated not having choice. He would have just like to stay at the facility, stay in his cell, stay in his peace. He hated this new turn of events, and he most certainly did not enjoy the wounds that he now felt.

Now was not the time to think about that, however. Now was the time to heal. He concentrated his energies on his immune system and his metabolism. He needed to recover, and quickly. He began to regenerate his cells, and coaxed his body into releasing endorphin. He closed his eyes, shut off his olfactory sense, and lowered his overall perception of the world to allow only the most necessary functions to operate.

Some whining, however, caught his attention. He opened one eye to see what it was that was causing his disturbance, and saw that the butterfly woman was... weeping. Why was she weeping? He had made sure that she would not weep, he had taken every step necessary to prevent her from being hurt. Why was she still weeping?

More urgent however, was that he felt that a gash he had on his leg was healing at a much faster rate than he had calculated. Almost twice as much. This was strange. It was welcome, but strange, nonetheless. Was this her doing?

He saw a light dust falling from her wings on to his wound, and he connected it to his increased healing ability. He was surprised at this turn of events.

And yet... why was she crying? Did this process cause her pain? Was that it?

No, she did not seem to be in pain. What was the reason for such actions? She was just losing necessary fluids, and would have to replenish them later. It made absolutely no sense.


"I'm sorry, it's all my fault" What was her fault? What was she sorry for? He had not even the smallest idea. All he knew was that she was a strange being, and that a more chaotic analysis of her actions would be needed before he would know. For today, there was simply too much chaos to allow for that.

Furthermore, his musings were counterproductive to his cause. With a long breath outwards and a grunt, he propped himself against the tree that had served as a brake. He needed to see his wounds to map them out properly. Most were on his back, and he could feel terrible scrapes and gashes there.

The little thing was flying around, going from wound to wound, dispensing her magic powder. Why was she helping him? What was the point? He was a liability, he was weak, he could be found at any moment. It made no sense.

One word escaped his mouth, and he swallowed it almost as soon as he said it.

"Why?"

Kate looked up and down the large glowing gate, then to her left then right. Whatever this thing was, it rounded out. They weren’t free. Not yet. A few seconds later, Kate heard someone jogging up and the sound of the hounds was gone. Kate turned and saw the boy running out. Slightly winded but ok. There was no sign of the hounds at all. Kate rose a brow at him as he approached. "Sorry for the delay," he said, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. "Got any plans to get over that?" he finished, gesturing to the large red barrier that loomed before them. Kate rolled her eyes at him then looked up.

"Whatever we do, it isn’t going to be easy and I’m sure we’d alert more guards and hounds." Placing a hand on her hip and ran her claws on her other hand through her hair she mumbled to herself. At least that’s what it sounded like to anyone who didn’t know her. In reality she was talking to Kat. You have any ideas Kat? This planning part is more your thing.

Why don’t we switch up for a while. It’s easier for me to plan when I can look at what I wanna look at.

”Fine, but as soon as there is trouble you better let me back out.” Kate closed her eyes and let her arms fall to rest at her sides, her tail wrapping around her right leg. In the next instant, all of the hair on her body began to fall off of her body, and her nails began to removed themselves from her finger tips, being replaced by strong, but not very sharp nails. Her bones began to loudly grind and snap as they moved around to realign themselves. Her naked tail began to shrink back into her spin, her paws looking more like feet. Then bright blond hair erupted from her head. What felt like an hour only took 30 seconds.

Kat fell to her knees panting, trying hard to catch her breath. Unlike Kate, her endurance isn’t as strong and since they share the same body she was beat. After a few gulps of air, Kat looked up at the boy and smiled. “Hello. Names Kat.” Carefully she pushed herself up to her feet and twisted. Reaching to her back she tightened the string to her smock to cover her bare backside and to protect her bare skin from the chilly wind.

”So, I think our best bet is to find others like ourselves before more Hounds find us. Because up against this thing we don’t have much of a chance and I don’t think either of us can do anything to shut it down.” Kat smiled brightly at him and gesture for him to follow. Gracefully she turned to the right and began to saunter off along the wall hoping to find other who got out.

Aylen cowered back, curling into a small bundle in the slowly growing snow. Ivan's burst of anger made her afraid. She didn't feel like the anger was directed at her but nonetheless after all she had been through this night, she was more than wary of anything dangerous. Her tail curled over her tired legs as his fist hit the tree. So afraid. Tired. How much more must we suffer? She wobbled slightly and pulled her muscles in tighter even though this created another round of oozing blood to flow from her cuts. At least they weren't bleeding heavily anymore.

"No matter what we do, we're fucked. They'll find us. Unless you happen to be capable of growing a pair of wings that can get you over that laser wall, there ain't no way outta this. Hide and they'll just track you down. We have to find a way to shut this thing off...but that's probably impossible, so yeah. We're screwed."

She clenched her fists, making her body wobble once again. Her center of gravity was getting worse as she slowly got colder. Aylen stood up stiffly and made her way over to Ivan to crouch at his feet. Just thinking that she was closer to someone warm made her feel better, even if he might not be even warm at all. She could imagine after all.

"I know." She ran her tongue over her lips, tasting the faint flavor of blood. Her emerald gaze turned up to Ivan curiously before she sighed. "We can shut it down. Find others like us. Launch an attack. Use them to get what you want so we don't die alone." She shivered, only slightly against the idea of using someone to gain her objective. Although, she would be in the fray of battle right with them so wasn't it equal? She turned to peer up at the night sky. It was so solemn and distanced. Just like my memories and my survival. Aylen bit down on her lip and shifted closer to Ivan.

She flicked her ears hearing something soft in the distance. Footsteps. It wasn't the sound of boots crunching the snowy floor underneath but of feet like hers and of large bodies like Ivan's. Bigger than her body, at least. She snapped her gaze to the forest warily. What if she was wrong? Her olfactory sense was just starting to come back but it was mostly out of service. She wouldn't put it past any of those men to disguise themselves as something else. To trick us! I don't like this.

Aylen touched Ivan's hand lightly. "I hear something. I'm not sure. Coming up the wall but I'm not sure. I can never be too sure." She let her gaze roam over the area before resting on the distance where her words had been directed towards.

A number of men sat down in front of large monitors in the facility. The placed large white headsets over their ears and began stroking keys on the console. Soon the screens flared into life, after entering a series of pass-codes and security questions the monitors flickered to show a picture of the mountainside. Soon the picture changed to show the wide valley that separated the two facilities and eventually the snow capped peaks of the mountain range. "Sir the three Unmanned Arial Vehicles are up and running." one of the soldiers said as he observed the three men flying the UAVs.

"Very well, keep me appraised." Joseph said as he began typing at his own console. All of the excitement of the past couple of hours had distracted him from the work he was doing at his private lab. Furious that he couldn't find the right base pair he needed for his next experiment. Over the next hour or so, scientists, guards, soldiers, medics, and government officials moved in and out of the command center. A blur or human activity continued on in the command center. The soldiers began doing low level surveillance sweeps of the area that the experiments were in hoping to scare them out of their hiding places by flying the planes lower to the ground.

Suddenly one of the head guards spun around in his chair, holding his hand to his ear to get the report correct before informing Joseph. After he was sure he had heard the message correctly the man said "Sir.... ground team four seems to have found a group of... people walking in a group... they are moving in to secure." the man said.

Joseph angry that he had to break his concentration stood up from his chair and moved over to the man's station. "Put it on speaker." he said as he watched the live video feed. The group of ten men expertly moved through the snow and began to surround the group of three. Drawing their weapons the launched small sonic charges at the targets, knocking one of them into a solid rock wall a yell was heard. Another one was shot several times with tasers and the third was tranquilized. The team moved in to "bag" the experiments, when one of the men simply exclaimed "Fuck."

"Team four report..." the man back in the command center said calmly into the headset.

"We have a bunch of mountain climbers here... going to have to lift them back to base for medical attention." the leader of the team said before setting a flare on the mountain.

Joseph shook his head and returned to his work.

"Why?"

Rose glanced back at the man. A sweet shrug was her only answer before she sprinkled more of the healing powder over another wound. As she was finishing up dusting the man with the powder she slowed and hung in mid-air, "Why? Why. Why not?" She asked, "I was the one who brought you out here. I was the one who led you to the door. It's my fault you were hurt," She said, choking back what little tears she had. He was going to be fine now. He was going to be perfectly fine.

"Besides," She said regain composure, "We're out here together now. We don't know if any others have gotten free," They had to, they just had to. "I'm not going to leave you by yourself. We're in this together now..." She said, lightly drifting down to his knee and stood. The scratch along her cheek was beginning to disappear and the thin line on her thigh was gone, the only evidence she had been hurt there is the line of blue running down. She still paid it no mind and shrugged again, "I won't leave you here for them to find you," She said, crossing her arms with a defiant gleam in her eyes, "They'll have to go through me to get to you," Which wouldn't be all that hard... She was only half-a-foot.

She finally sat down on the man's knee, "I won't leave until you're good and ready to move," She said, her jaw set. No matter what the man said, she wasn't budging. The fairy had a long defiant streak within her. A strength that got her through the years of experiments with her hope still intact. She looked over into the sky. They'd be gone from this place soon, they'd be safe, and they'd be free. She won't be a captive any long. She would be her own master, not some object to examine and experiment on.

She pulled her knees closer to her and leaned on them... Absent-mindedly, she wondered out loud, "I wonder if anyone else made it... I wonder where they are..."

The thing was... staying. The little creature would... protect him? That was a laugh. She was a fool, nothing more. She would get herself killed, and most likely take Z along with her. There was absolutely no reason for them to stay together. If she pushed enough to stay, he could simply squash her. It was no big deal. He'd killed worse.

And yet.... He simply could not. Perhaps it was sentimentality that got in the way, and if so, Z would certainly have to put a stop to it. The thing was, he could bring himself to hurt the poor thing, idiotic or not. It had shown him... kindness.... yes, that was the word. It had shown him kindness, and that meant something, perhaps. It never meant anything before, but perhaps only because he had never experienced it.

With a grunt, Z tried to stand up. He used the tree for leverage, allowing him to rise quicker. The combined effect of the healing powers of the butterfly woman and his enhanced concentration allowed for him to get past the many bruises and cuts he had.

After much trouble, he got on his own two feet.

"Let's find them." he said, limping along. It was a quick decision, there was strength in numbers. That strength could be used for protection, though, at the price of being more conspicuous. That did not matter however. Although he could defeat several enemies, his present state would not allow him to take on anymore than a dozen armed men. Although it would seem to be a sensible amount, he did not know what else would be on the run. Perhaps some of the escapees would be hostile, he did not know what he would find.

"Whatever we do, it isn’t going to be easy and I’m sure we’d alert more guards and hounds." Hachiro nodded; there was no way he could have slipped trough the tightly woven net of lasers, let alone Catwoman, and the pillar looked too smooth to climb, even with his uncanny bodily structure. It seemed to be that the only ways to get past the barrier were to go above it or to go below it; and both of those possessed their own risks. So much for getting out of this hellhole being a snap.

”Fine, but as soon as there is trouble you better let me back out.” "Huh?" Hachiro replied, thoroughly puzzled by the girl's sudden outburst. "I didn't say anything." Kate closed her eyes and let her arms fall to rest at her sides, her tail wrapping around her right leg. In the next instant, all of the hair on her body began to fall off of her body, and her nails began to removed themselves from her finger tips, being replaced by strong, but not very sharp nails. Her bones began to loudly grind and snap as they moved around to realign themselves. Her naked tail began to shrink back into her spin, her paws looking more like feet. Then bright blond hair erupted from her head.

Before the astonished young man was not the cat he had seen before, but a normal looking girl, similar looking to the other, but less... furry. “Hello. Names Kat.” Carefully she pushed herself up to her feet and twisted. Reaching to her back she tightened the string to her smock to cover her bare backside and to protect her bare skin from the chilly wind.

”So, I think our best bet is to find others like ourselves before more Hounds find us. Because up against this thing we don’t have much of a chance and I don’t think either of us can do anything to shut it down.” Kat smiled brightly at him and gesture for him to follow. Gracefully she turned to the right and began to saunter off along the wall hoping to find other who got out.

"That's one helluva dual personality you've got there," Hachiro said as he followed 'Kat,' his mind still reeling from the sudden character change. After falling silent for a little while, he spoke up again. "Do you think any others made it out? I mean, it was a veritable war just to get out the front door, or air vent, in my case, and that doesn't even include all of the guards, snipers, and dogmen swarming the grounds out here. Let's just hope we find someone, or else we'll bee stuck trying to get out by ourselves."

"That's one helluva dual personality you've got there," Kat smiled at the boy, not feeling like trying to explain herself or Kate. Plus if they chatted to much it could only draw more attention to themselves. So they continued walking in silence for a few minutes. Kat didn’t pick up on anything but her hearing wasn’t nearly as good as Kate’s. But that aside, she thought things out much more carefully than her counterpart.

As they walked, Kat savored the feel of the chilly ground on her bare feet and the soft caress of the wind on her face. Nature really was a beautiful as what she’s read about. Although, the silence did not last for much longer. "Do you think any others made it out? I mean, it was a veritable war just to get out the front door, or air vent, in my case, and that doesn't even include all of the guards, snipers, and dogmen swarming the grounds out here. Let's just hope we find someone, or else we'll be stuck trying to get out by ourselves."

I hope so. I mean, Kate did a hell of a job causing chaos and I’m sure in the confusion someone else must have made it out. At least I hope. Kat folded her arms over her chest in an attempt to preserve the little bit of body heat she had. Again, unlike Kate she didn’t have a warm layer of fur. But pushing the chilly feeling down, she didn’t want to give Kate more of a reason to switch again.

But all we can do right now is hope and watch each other’s backs. Especially if we want to live. A small frown pulled at Kat’s lips. Whatever that explosion was, it came from the lab. And from the feel of the force and for as far out as they were, it was massive. Besides, if anything or one was still in that lab must be dead. There is no way there was an explosion that big without destroying that facility…

And may they all burn in hell.