Shane Lawson's Story

Shane Lawson

Within the facilty that housed the genetic mutations that now served as supernatural assasins, one young man was alone. Some boasted strength while others boasted speed or even more amazing they boasted flight. Yet one soliatry figure hung in the darkness of a cold room. There was no light in the hollow room and in the darkness an eeire feeling hung heavy in the air. To open the door to this particular room one would come face to face with a room filled with spiderwebs so thick you could not see through them. Webs whose strength could hold a man in thrall in seconds. A young man hung there in the corner ofthe room, hanging by a single silken thread. Shane Lawson hardly felt human anymore. More spider than man. He could hear a few of the others palying out in the sunlight. A part of him wanted to join them. Feel what a teenager should feel. Joy, freedom, youthful carelssness. These things were all strangers to Shane and he hated that. He hated what he had become. He hated himself. More than anything he hated them. Those bastards that did this to him and took his life away. He felt powerless as of now yet a fire was burning inside the young mans heart. The fire to rebel.

The guard has his rifle up and poised to spray the back of the big young man's head. Kylar Blint was big and tough but a burst from an assault rifle at point blank range just might do some damage. Or at least it would have if the guard managed to get a shot off. Before the guard pulled the trigger webbing appeared out of nowhere and stuck to the gun before the weapon was yanked out of the guards grip. The guard looked up in shock just as Shane dropped down from the ceiling and landed on his chest. Pinned beneath the spider hybrid the guard struggled to reach his shock stick. Shane wrapped his hands around the guards head before expertly twisting, cracking his neck and ending his life in a flash. Shane looked up just as two more guards came running in with guns. The spider hybrid leapt into the air and shot out a web line to swing and kick one in the chest sending him slamming into the wall before spinning around to fire two web lines at the other guards ankles. The guard skidded to a stop and looked down at the webs in surprise just before Shane gave them a good yank and sent the guard sailing through the air to land next to his fellow unconscious guard. Shane already had his trademark black suit in a backpack he was wearing but he needed some guns. He grabbed two pistols off the unconscious guards and found that one had a knife on him. After liberating the blade he slit both their throats before concealing the knife and turning to the massive hybrid who had initiated the escape.

"You must be Kylar. I heard you were big but... damn."

Shane said in obvious awe.

Shane was still breathing heavy from the excitement of their escape. He had blood on his hands. Most of it not his own yet for the first time in a long time he really felt alive. Not like some mindless automaton doing as commanded just to avoid the pain. Yes he had killed today but those deaths were of his own choosing. No one made him do anything. This was all because of the others. Because of Aello and Kylar, Elesh and Eden, Pavel, Joanne, Krein and Josh. If it wasn't for them Shane would still be in his cold, dark cell with only his own webs to keep him company. Sure he'd helped. Killed a few guards here and there but the others were heroes in comparison. Shane took a minute to walk to the river bank and sit on the edge before splashing some cool water on his face. Shane didn't see himself as particularly talented at anything except what he was created for. So if killing was all he was good at right now he'd use it, to protect the others or die trying. The human-spider hybrid took a deep breath of forest air as he sat alone on the rivers edge, for once just enjoying being outdoors.

Aello spots a bot sitting by the river's edge. This is problably a good time to say hello, she htough mustering up hte courage to seak to him. After all that we went through, why is it so difficult just to say hello? She walks over, her bird legs carry her over in just a few strides. She sits down a few feet awat from him and says, gazing over the rushing blue water, "It truly is beautiful out here,"hoping her would lookover, "Where should we go from here,do you think?"

Shane looked up to the girl beside him. Aello was unique and magnificent even amongst the group here. Shane couldn't help but marvel at her beautiful wings and feathers. He took a deep breath before turning back to the water.

"I don't know... I honestly never thought I'd be free of that place. Whatever we do though I think it's best if we stick together."

Shane paused to rub the back of his neck in worry.

"I mean it's not like we can go and just try and live normal lives. They'll be after us and it took all of us to get out of that place. I don't like our chances if they catch us alone."

Shane turned and looked at Aello, giving her weak smile. The young man was tired from fight it showed.

"Thanks by the way... You were really amazing back there, made it look easy. Sure wish I could fly."

Aello blushes as the boy looks her over. This may be the first time someone other than a scienctist has truly at her.
"Oh it was nothing really, flying really is the only thing im good at." She lifts up on of her legs to show her powerful talons, "I can't really do anything with theses unless im int he air. I can carry things though, which comes in handy.." she was rambling, she wasn't quite sure how to carry on a conversation with the opposite sex... she couldnt stop looking at him. Something about him made her want to keep talking, whether the words coming out were really words or not. She realized how silly she must sound, and turning a shade more embaressed said, "I'm sorry, I'm not too good at this whole converstaion thing yet..." being outside of the facility was turning out more interesting already.

Shane smile went from one of politeness to on of genuine pleasure. Aello blushing was adorable and made the young man realize that maybe they weren't so different than the so called normal people after all.

"Don't worry about it. You're the first person I've really talked to in... well... too long."

Shane said with a shake of his head and a half chuckle. The two fell silent for a moment as they allowed the awkwardness to pass. Shane picked up a smooth stone and skipped it across the water before speaking again. His eyes focused on the water.

"I used to wonder about my family. My real family. I used to wonder if they ever thought about me. If they knew I was alive. If they gave me up and if so why. I wondered if they knew what the scientists were doing to me. If they cared...."

Shane took a breath and tried to let the painful thoughts pass.

"Guess it doesn't matter in the long run. If they gave me up or didn't, whatever. Can't imagine they'd be too interested in meeting me now anyway. The half human half spider killing machine. Bet family dinners would be a riot..."

Aello watches Shane skip rocks across the water, he looks so sad as he speaks of his family...
What should I say... she scarmbles in her head, "I was born at the Facility...the only person I know as family...is back at that lab. It hurt me to leave her...her name is Kathleen...she is problalby so worried about me right now. She was the only one that was ever kind to me..."
She looks at her feet as she talks,and crouches down to pick a rock up out of the cool, crisp running water. She pulls her arm back and tosses it...but hers just sinks to the bottom. She feels her face flush a bit again as she fails to skip her stone, and looks over to the boy.
"Ill stay with you if you want, I mean, we can work together to survie..."

It was so strange, the feelings welling up inside her. She had never looked at another before and felt butterflies in her stomach, she felt foolish acting such a way when all she was offering was what he had mentioned before. The others would be there, but saying it to him this way felt more personal. She was enjoying the human side of her finally coming out, after years of being treated like nothing but a bird..she finally felt like a girl.

A feeling of pride and gratefulness sparked to life within the human spider hybrid in that moment. Aello's words seemed to echo out in his head. Ill stay with you Her words meant something to him. They were important. She was important. She had offered to stand by his side and he would do no less than match it. Then a smile etched its way onto his face as he thought he just might be able to do more.

"This Kathleen, if she's still back there maybe we can get to her. Get her out of there. It'll be dangerous sure but if there's one thing I'm good at its getting in and out of places no one else can."

The excitement of Shane's idea was evident in the young man as his entire demeanor began to shift. He finally felt like he could do something. Something worth while. A chance for him to really help.

"Do you know where she worked? What department was she in? If I can track down her office I can find her. Once we get her out at least she'll be able to have a shot at freedom even if we're gunna be stuck on the run."

Aello listened to the plan Shane layed before her thinking, he would do that...he would return to that place just to save Kathleen for me... She remembered the sweet voice coming through her shell as a child, cooing to her. Kathleen was the one who named her, she remembered vividly the moment, though she was young, "You shall be Aello, named after the most beautiful of the three Mythical Harpy's." From that moment on she had felt a strong bond with her...and she missed her dearly, but could she let him take that risk for her?

She looked at him kindly and replied, "She will be easy to find. the top floor of the west wing. Half of my cage hung out into the forest. Her office will be in the lab just on the other side. But Shane-" she hesitates, "if you do go...please come back safely...I love Kathleen but Dr. Arcadian can be vicious. He is the leader of 'The Harpy Project', and to get to her you will have to get through him."

She thought about it for a second and added, "And Shane...If you get the chance...I want you to kill him."

The young man gave her a firm nod before standing up.

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry Aello."

With that Shane shifted the backpack containing his suit and shot out a web line to the nearest tree before swinging off into the distance. He was heading back to that place. Back top all the pain. Back to all tests. This time he would save a life and take one all in the same day. This time would be different. Shane Somersalute3d in the air before flipping and landing on a branch. He dove out into the air and shot out a webline and continued his journey back to the facility. Once he closed the distance and was about ten minutes away he stopped to change into his suit and check his weapons. A pair of stolen pistols and a combat knife plus his powers. This would be easy. Shane pulled the mask over his head and instantly his entire demeanor changed. His mind grew cold and more tactical. His fists clenched reflexively as he steeled himself for the job at hand. It was time to go to work.

Aello flew up into a tree and sat...she was worreid about Shane.
"I shouldn't have let him go," she scolded herself, "What if her gets killed...? It will be all my fault."
The guilt was eating away at her as she paced along the tree branch, she wanted nothing more then to have Shane in front of her again. To be able to talke to him and see his face, Her nerves would settle when he returned...but would he be coming alone? Or would he have Kathleen with him? The though tore at her, she missed Kathleen...

She wondered what Shane was doing right now, how far he had traveled so far...If he found her cage yet. She could picture him crawling up the ivy clinging to the bars, and hoped he would find an easy way inside. Her thoughs flickered to Dr.Arcadian...anger swelled up inside her. What i would gibe to tear that mans throat out myself...

All she could do was sit and await his return.

A shadow darted between the canopy of the trees before finally breaking the tree line and coming to a stop. There, looming before him was the place that he'd spent his entire childhood. The place where he was raised, tortured and made into what he was now... an animal. This time however the animal was off the leash. Shane raced across the grass and was careful to keep out of sight. The facility was like a hive of angry bees, guards and personnel rushing about in the chaos following the breakout. There were still more than a few bodies left in the wake of Shane and the others from when they left. The guards merely stepped over their fallen comrades heartlessly. With all the commotion it would normally make infiltration difficult for most people. For Shane however it just made things more interesting. He leapt on to the high wall surrounding the exterior of the facility and scaled it with ease using his fingertips and feet to stick to the surface like only he could. He reached the top and carefully poked his head out. Two guards stood backs to the wall looking down at the facility, a third walking on to the portion of the wall where the other two stood. Shane waited patiently for the guard to walk in to his trap. The human spider hybrid clung to the wall motionlessly as he eyed his prey. The guard made his way along his route completely unaware of the fate that was about to befall him. When he was right in front of him and behind the other two guards Shane sprung his trap. First sticking a line of web to the exterior of the wall before leaping up and behind the walking guard. He lashed the web line around the guards throat in a flash before hurling him over the edge to hang and die a slow, suffocating death. With the silent take down done Shane turned his attention to the other two who were still unaware of his presence. Shane walked up behind them and kicked one in the back of the knee then immediately threw an elbow into the others throat. The guard succeeded only in letting out a hoarse gasp before clutching his throat in pain. The other guard attempted to scream for back up but the spider hybrid whipped around and shot a quick ball of web and sealed the guards mouth shut. The guard who was still standing but unable to breath went for his gun but the spider assassin was too quick. He shot his hand out and grabbed the guards wrist before he could reach his gun. With an expert twist he snapped the mans wrist before throwing three quick punches while he held the man at his mercy. One punch to his ribs cracking bone, the second to his gut knocking the last of his wind out and the third to his temple dropping the man to the ground in a heap. Suddenly Shane's mind seemed to slow the world around him as it screamed at him to turn around. Shane spun just in time to see the second guard had pulled his pistol and lined up a shot. In the blink of an eye Shane shot a web line out and pulled the pistol from the guards grip before he could get a shot off. The guards eyes went wide with terror as he knew his last hope at survival had just been pulled from his grasp. Shane flipped into the air and landed on his back before reaching down and snapping his neck. With the last guard dealt with Shane did a quick visual sweep of his immediate area before leaping into the air and swinging deeper into the facility unseen.

Kathleen sat in her office, head in her hands. Today had been a very, very long day. She looked over at the empty cage through the glass divider to the lab. Aello had escaped, not just her but the majority of the ohter subjects had. Only one remained. She wasn't sure what emotions should be runing through herhead right now...Shoud I be happy they don't have to go through the suffering anymore, or fear for the innocent people's lives that are at stake? Part of her leans toward being happy for them. She had wanted to realease Aello for a long time, but knowing that Arcadian had the only codes to her cage. It was better that way, it kept her mind on her work, and her hands out of trouble...but now what?

She ooked over at Arcadians office. He was in a meeting at the moment witt his supervisors about Aello. They were gathering as much information as they could about the subjects, more than likely to be used against them. She swiveled in the chair for a moment and looked at her computer screen. She dragged the mouse over to her photo's and spent a few moments reminicing about Aello.

Dr. Arcadian walks in, slamming the door behind him. He has a bottle of whisky in his hands and he is having troube walking. Kathleen rushed over to help him, she pus one arm under his and half-drags him to her chair.

"Doctor, I thought you were at a meeting?" she said, fanning the alchohol smell from her face.
"I wwaaassss," he slurred, "thennnnn i stttoppppeddd to seemmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyooolllldpal Frank," he said spitting at the name, "annddd we gottttttt tooo taalkkkkkkkkkkkin and driinkkiiiiiiiiiinnnn," he swayed splashing some alchohol on the floor.
"I see this," she said, " kneeling to wipe some drool from his face, "You are a mess sir, why would you do such a thing?"
Dr.Arcadian looked at her and started to glare, "Whooo aaaaaaaareeeeeeee yyouoooooooou, mmmmmmyyyyyy muuuuuuddddddeeeeeeeeer?" he asked as he raised the hand weilding the bottle, 'Gett thhhhhhaaaaaa hhhhhhhhhheeeeelllllll awwwwwwaaaayyyy frrrrrrrrrommmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmeeeeeee..." he swings the bottle at her and barely misses her head.
"Doctor!" she shouts backing away from him. Without her support he sudenly falls to the floor.
He looks at up at her from the floor, for a woman of forty, she doesnt look her age. She has lean legs and a fit body. He starts to feel a growth in himself, a desire he restrained for a long time in his sober mind...
"Where do you think you're going" he says lurching at her, he manags to grab her ankle as she turns to run and pulls her down to the ground. She claws at the floor and kicks at him, but hejust puts another strong hand on her calf and pulls himself up her body.
"HELP" Kathleen screams, everyone is out looking for the missing subjects...there are only two winged beast researchers in this wing...no one can hear me

Weblines shot from Shane's wrist and stuck to the drunk doctors back in an instant. With a rough yank Dr. Arcadian was sent flying through the air and slammed into the wall. Shane dropped to the floor from his perch on the ceiling and walked towards the drunken doctor. The young mans fists were clenched and almost shaking in anger. The Doctor stumbled to his feet with a drunken grin.

"I knew youd...youd be back Shane...The s-spider knows where he belongsss."

Shane didn't reply but instead punched him in the jaw. The blow dropped the doctor to the floor who spat out a mouthful of blood. Arcadian looked up with blood dripping form his mouth.

"You want me dead don't you Shane?... Go ahead then and do it. Just like we taught you."

Shane glared at the man from behind his mask as the hate welled up inside him. He reached down and grabbed the mans neck before lifting him off the ground and pinning him to the wall.

"No....You taught me to kill quickly, quietly..."

Shane paused to punch him in the ribs. The blow snapped bone and the doctor screamed in pain.

"You taught me about ending things quickly. The less my target suffers the less chance I have at being caught..."

Shane paused again and punched the doctor a second time, this time shattering his collar bone.

"But you... you will die painfully, you will suffer and I promise you.. this wont be quick. Not for you."

Shane let go of his neck and grabbed the doctors arm before twisting and snapping it. Arcadian shouted in agony before Shane sweep kicked his legs out from under him and dropped the man to the floor. Once on the ground Shane walked around to his feet grabbed hold and snapped his ankle. Tears streamed down the doctors face as he let loose yet another blood curdling scream. Shane then grabbed a handful of his hair and dragged the man to the cage where Aello once was kept.

"Taste of your own medicine doctor?"

Shane asked darkly before shooting a webline to the center of the cage ceiling, wrapping the other end around Dr. Arcadians neck and letting him hang in the cell. Shane stepped back as the doctor kicked helplessly as the life drained from his body. Once the body went still Shane turned to see the woman he'd come here to rescue.

"Dr. Kathleen, Aello sent me..."

Kathleen watches in horror as Arcadian tears at her skirt, slapping at his face with no avail. She sobs and cries, Why Doctor?
As fast as it started Arcadian is off of her, she seems him fly acrross the room. I don't know who you are, but thankyou she praises the hidden force that saved her. She scrambles to her desk and peeks over to see what happened.
One of the other subjects, She realizes, scanning her thoughts for his name. The spider boy, Shane? But how did he know- Her htouhgt is cut short as she realizes whats happeneing. The doctor is bleeding, and crying out in pain. She gets a sting of satisfaction from seeing him cry, clawing at the boys grip on his throat. Fool, you know you will never break free. She watches him hang the Doctor in Aello's cage, pants still hanging unbuckled around his ankles. What a fitting death for such a sorry excuse for a man.

Shane walks ove to her, " Dr.Kathleen, Aello sent me..."
The shock of the incident hits her, and her knees buckle underneath her. She slumps down to sit on the floor.
"Thankyou," she says, tears rolling down her face. She wasn't sure where they camr from, but she couldn't stop them.
"Are the others with you?" her heart leaps in her chest, "Aello? Is she ok?"

Shane moves to her side, putting his arm around her to support her, worried she might faint.

"She fine, Aello's fine. She's with the others. We all made it out. That's why I'm here. Aello couldn't leave you here. She asked me to get you out."

Shane paused to look over the desk at the front door to the office. He could already hear the loud speakers from the guards radios and their loud booted feet as they tramped down the hall. He turned back to Dr. Baker before speaking again.

"We don't have much time Dr. Can you stand?"

Already a plan of escape was formulating in his mind of how this escape would have to go. HE knew it would be significantly less quiet then his entrance.

She allows Shane to support her, and felt the blood rush back into her legs. She stood, wobbled a bit, then steadied herself.
She turned to him and said, "Didn't you come to ge tthe last subject? Josh, he is still here. They have him locked up...luckily though," she said pointing over to Arcadian's lifeless body, "He has full access to all areas. His key card should be in on his labcoat still." She walked over to the bloody mess against the wall and picked up his nored lab caot and unsnaps his ID card from his pocket.
She hands it to Shane, "Here, take this." Josh will be in the East wing, his room is room 1458. They may have sedated him however. Most of the gaurds are searching South toward the city, only the injured and the lab rats are left."

She opened the door of the lab and looked around the corner. She walks over to her desk and leans crouches down, pulling a long chain with a key attached rfom around her neck. She unlockes the drawer and pulls out a Colt M1911 and some ammo.
She see's the look of surprise at the handgun on Shane's face. "What, he always gave me the heebyjeebies, I got this a couple of years ago,"she said taking a practice shot at Arcadian, hitting him right in the groin.
"Don't worry, thie facility is sound proof, and no one is in this wing right now. Only Elesh and Aella were held in this wing, so they didnt keep as much security as the others," She ushers Shane out of the door and swiped Arcadians card behind her, locking it.
"Only three cards open then door," she said holding up her card and Arcadians, "Adn we haev two of them. They won't find him for a while."

Shane couldn't help but be impressed.

"You're full of surprises Doc."

He said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. Resigned to rescue the last subject before leaving the facility Shane headed to the door and carefully opened it. Peeking out he saw no guards before turning back to Kathleen.

"Alright well if we're gunna do this lets get to it. You lead the way, I'll cover you from up top."

With that Shane leapt to the ceiling and clung to it with practiced ease. He climbed out of the room and waited on the ceiling in the hallway to shadow Dr. Baker and take out and guards between them and Josh.

Kathleen lowered her weapon to her side and walked as calmy as she could down the hall. She cute her eyes to hte ceiling where Shane stuck and said to him, still looking straight ahead, "Watch out for the security cameras, as long as you dont get in front of them they can't see you on the ceiling. As long as I look normal, we should be able to make it to Josh in no time."

She navigated through the halls of the empty wing, and stopped at the elevators. She pressed the down button and waited for the doors to open. She glanced around, she couldn't help but be nervous. Shane stuck out of the camera's view on he wall. The doors slid open with a whoosh as two lab techs from Elesh's crew walk out. Katheens heart jumps as she see's Shane crouch, she motions for him to stay still, the girls start talking to her.
"Hey Kathleen, any progress on locating Aello's tracker?"
"No," she reples, hding the gun behind her back, "You guys?"
"Sort-of. We are trying to see if we can still pcik up the radio waves, but they may be too far away."
"Thats too bad to hear," she says turning her body akwardly so the young techs would move, from behind her back she motions for Shane to board the elevator.
"Well i was just on my way to get some files from my room, I was up so late working I forgot to put them in my briefcase," she lied," I better go," and she slips into the elevator. She looks up to see Shane looking down at her.
"That was a close one. Now comes the hard part. once were down on the third floor we need to Left down the long hallway and Then eft again once we reach the Wild Feline wing. He should be a the end of the hall. There are three gaurds posted on each hall right now, usually there are six but the others are witht he searh party. Luckily though Josh was one of the most behaved out of all the subjects, so his room is right next to an exit."
She started walking down the hall gripping her handgun, and recalling the training she had. Aim for the head or legs, these rounds can't pass through a vest...she redied herself for what was to come.
((You are pretty good with the fight scenes so haev at it. Kathleen is a moderate shot when tagerts are moving, but almost perfect when they are still))