Serena's Story

BABBLE

The lights turned on with a buzzing sound. The light hurt his eyes. He had been sitting in absolute darkness for the last twelve hours. He sat in the middle of the featureless white room, looking at nothing. There was nothing else in his room. They couldn't trust him with anything after what happened back in the facility up in Hope, New York. For the greater part of the year he was mostly left alone in the room since they were not to test him until the investigation was resolved and his files could be transferred. Such was the nature of Bureaucracy, a double edged blade capable of allowing great harm or preventing it, both out of it's sheer inefficiency. It was orderly perhaps but efficient it was not.

As of late he has heard discussions regarding a test for him. They've gotten bolder. He understood that the guards assigned to him were quite nervous. Unlike the guards back in the last facility he was not directly the cause of this paranoia. These guards who attended him were not well informed as to the nature of his powers, only that he had successfully set at least three blocks of mutants loose before they narrowly managed to corner him. Until his file was released to this facility they simply left him in the dark. They couldn't of risked provoking him before they had proper security measures in place to contain him.


There were others in his block. Other mutants with different abilities and different problems. Most of the time he didn't bother listening to them, simply canceling the noise out so he could sit in perfect silence. Today he didn't listen to his golden sound, he could hear people walking through his block. Three guards approached his cell door. He could tell in what exact arrangement they were standing thanks to the sounds of their equipment bouncing off of each other illuminating their frames in his mind. He could see sound, even with his eyes closed.

Two guards, each fully armored and equipped with guns as well as a speaker attached to their belts and one guard also armored but carrying a white board instead of a gun. The speakers were a recent development of theirs to suppress him in case he tried anything using loud radio static. The white board was to communicate with him as they did not wish to provide him with sound while they were getting ready to transport him. He generally cooperated better when they didn't make too much noise so this method was what they used most often. The last few times they communicated with him verbally he either played with the very sound of their voice, disregarding their intended message and making silly sentences or he babbled on and on about irrelevant matters. None of the guards could use force on him unless permitted by his new doctors as they were still trying to understand what they could safely get away with. Thus far sound was the most successful method of punishment as they learned from his previous doctor's file on him. They'd expand upon their learning's with further sonic torture but first he was to undergo the social experiment.


Remain still. Do not make any movements.

When they opened the door Babble's eyes were naturally drawn to the white board as it stood out from the rest of the guard's current uniform. Seeing as how he oh so enjoyed silence he's quite happy with reading. A silent method of conveying a message was not unwelcome, especially if it came with illustrations. His favorite reading material was those dinosaur picture books meant for kids. He always loved the adorable drawings they had of all those ancient dead lizards.

He didn't move a muscle, something the guards were quite happy with. Not waiting to see if he was actually obeying or just spaced out the two guards stepped forward. From behind him one of the guards produced a set of headphones. These were noise cancellation headphones designed to cancel out all outside noise. Typically these are seen on people who have to work near deafening noises such as airplane mechanics. Tense as a tightly wound rope and with their fingers on their triggers the guard placed the headphones onto his head. He didn't flinch but a smile did creep it's way onto his face. It wasn't enough to completely shut out the noises in the hall, there was very little they had which could replicate the golden sound but the world had gone from a constant explosion down to a dull roar.

Stand. Follow us.

Babble unsteadily eased himself up onto his feet, just as what was written on the white board. The two guards stood to his sides but slightly behind him while the one which was holding the white board took the lead, tucking the white board under his arm and walking ahead. Babble staggered a bit as he had been sitting for an awfully long while which gave him leg cramps but slowly enough he made his way behind the leading guard, the two guards at his back focused on his every movement with great intensity.

He knew exactly where he was going. One time when they opened his room to give him his dinner he overheard a scientist standing in the room he was now headed that the room was to be prepared for the social experiment. Another time he overheard another scientist listing off the participants to a colleague and his previous name was mentioned. Lee was the name he left behind back at the previous facility. He left that name behind because Babble is sound and he is Babble. That's all there was to it.


Unsurprisingly to him they eventually came to the room where he already knew where he was going. As they approached the door the guard leading them stopped and so did he.

Stand still. Once headphones are removed proceed inside room.

The guard held the white board back up with the new orders written. Babble frowned in disappointment. The one guard removed the headphones and the guard with the white board moved out of the way so he could proceed forward. With the sound of the entire facility howling in his mind at a volume almost anyone but him would find intolerable he proceeded forward into the room. He wouldn't of tolerated the volume but by this point that was just how the world sounded. His tolerance for pain is much higher now given how much of this unrelenting storm of noise he's had to endure.

There were four people in the room currently. Though some of them might not have even seen him before he knew them all. Their conversations carried through the walls whenever he didn't tune out to the golden sound. Ember, Reyna Wynter, Neptune and Druggie. They weren't the only ones there either, more were coming down the hallway still. Looking mostly at his own bare feet he shuffled over to the corner opposite of where Reyna was and sat down with his back resting on the corner wall while leaving his legs straight out. His arms hung limply to his sides, the sleeves coming well past the point where most would assume his hands would be and resting on the ground like damp noodles. With his head hanging forward he closed his eyes, looking like he just straight up went to sleep as soon as he came in. As much as he'd like that to be true there was no way he could sleep with all this sound going around him. He was just trying to concentrate, shutting his other senses to the world and focusing purely on sound.

Within moments of his arrival delightful Elevator Music was now playing at a rather gentle volume all throughout the social experiment room. This helped make the place a bit more pleasant while he focused on mapping out the surrounding rooms using echolocation.

To Serena, life couldn’t be better. All was well. In the corner of her cell, which wasn’t really a cell, was just a massive mound of assorted pillows, blankets, and cushions. It was like her safe little cave, nice, warm, and quiet. This is generally where she slept away more than half of the day; there wasn’t an actual bed in her room. If she wasn’t sleeping there, she was dozing off on some rafters, or in someone’s lap having her ears rubbed. The workers in the facility loved her, and, to her knowledge, there wasn’t anyone that disliked her, save the anomalies. Most, if not all of them, were extremely jealous of her. But all she really needed was for the workers to like her. They ran everything, and they provided her with food and comfort. She knew if she was not on good terms with them, then her life would be a living hell. Scientists and guards practically fought to be in charge of Serena. She generally provided them with cuddles and an easy job.

Serena’s cell is… odd. As stated before, its not really a cell. The floor was cushioned, like that of a cell in an insane asylum. The walls, however, were made of steel. But the steel was covered with hundreds of pictures. What are the pictures of? There’s nothing in specific. They’re just pictures. Some are posters, but the others are just pictures. Pictures of scenery, pictures of food, pictures of random people in silly outfit. Anything that interested her or fascinated her was pasted to her wall. Sometimes, she likes to just sit and stare at the wall, thinking about the pictures. Where did they come from? Who took them? These were all answers that she knew she probably wasn’t going to get. Even since she started crafting this collage of images, there had been a sort of… longing within her. She wanted to go to these places. She wanted to meet new people. But… she knew that was not possible.

A scientist walked through her cell door. The door was always open, unlike all of the other cells. Serena was free to roam the halls of the facility, as long as she didn’t go into restricted areas and returned to her cell by curfew. “Serena? It’s time to wake up, kit.” The scientist spoke quietly, hoping not to startle her.

What came from the mound of pillows sounded similar to that of a groan. Serene poked her head out of one of the small opening. She was blinking rapidly, hoping to remove the sleep from her eyes. “Why…?” She whined childishly, letting out a loud yawn as soon as she finished talking. Suddenly, her entire body went stiff. “I-it’s not… I-I don’t have to go to the doctor’s… right?” Her golden irises shimmer and then went from their usual gold to a darkened silver. You could see the fear in her eyes. She hated the doctor’s… They had to poke and prod her with needles, not to mention touch her in places she doesn’t like…

“No no no, that’s not today. Though I do believe you do have an appointment coming up soon…”

Serena let out a pitiful whimper as she receded back into her little pillow cave.

“Nevertheless, its time for you to get up. You need to get dressed-” Another whimper from her, “You’re doing something special today, kitten.”

The cat girl sat up, her ears perked with interesting. “Special? Like what?” She crawled out of her pillow mound. Digging her claws into the soft ground, she pulled back, stretching her shoulders and back like that of a cat. Purring quietly, she sat up.

“It’s not exactly something… amazing. Just a test.”

“Aww… You got me all excited…” Serena pouted.

“Sorry, sorry.” He patted her head a few times, causing another smile to appear on her face. “Don’t worry, we’ll have a special meal prepared for you when you return. As long as you’re a good little kitten. Understand?” Serena nodded, a big, toothy smile on her face. “Good. Now, get dressed.” He handed her the pile of clothes.

“But I don’t like wearing clothes…”

“I know, kit. But you can’t go in dressed like that.” Of course, he was speaking in reference to the fact that she was only wearing a pair of black underwear and a black bra.

After another few moments of pouting, she gave in and got dressed. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and an orange t-shirt. She also had on a pair of running sneakers. Her tail flicked about irritably. “I don’t like it.” She pouted.

“It’s only for a little bit. Now come along.” The scientist ushered her out of the room. Serena followed, a disgruntled scowl on her face. The walk to the room was a silent one, the two of them didn’t speak once. But the room she was put in definitely sparked some curiosity within her. The room was small and white. It also had a few other anomalies, almost all of them with some sort of restraint. Her head cocked to the side, her ear’s flicking. “Now, be good.” The scientist gave her a partially stern glare. Serena nodded, waving as he left. She turned to look at the others, surveying each and every one of them with a sweeping glance.

BABBLE

Four more were shuffled into the mix. Four more cards in this bad poker hand. A couple of them spoke, a couple of them were opposed to each other. It was clear that Ember and Brent had an enmity going, their heart rates spoke clearly. It could of been love but Babble wouldn't know what that would sound like. He's never heard love before, only hate. He knew the sound of hate well. He's heard plenty back at the facility, both around him and directed at him. His doctor didn't like him very much, not that he understood why.

He wasn't always cooperative but didn't always have the power to say otherwise. Back before he came to terms with this reality he's been presented he was in constant agony. Between the experimental drugs, the surgeries, the beatings and the constant howl of the facility screaming endlessly in his mind he would often be in too much pain to sleep. One would think that at night when everyone was resting and the machines were given pause he'd have enough peace and quiet to meekly pass out at his discretion.

That would be so if it wasn't for the guard of his block. The night guard was a brute of a fellow who used the scarcity of oversight during the night to get away with ghastly abuse. For everything that man did if it were done to a normal human he'd be sentenced for prison for life. As it was there was little to no recourse for his crimes. His worst crime in Babble's opinion? His radio.

The man always left the radio on all throughout the night, always on a station that played heavy metal rock and roll, always set obnoxiously loud. Almost nobody on his block got decent sleep thanks to him but Babble suffered the most from it. The feedback, that infernal buzzing noise, always playing kept him up for weeks straight. He'd only get to sleep after being so tired that his body would literally shut itself down. Quite frankly, it was no surprise he turned out this way.


But such was a story for later. Much later. For now there was a new harsh buzz, the crackle of the intercom. With the sound of a record scratch the calm unobtrusive sound of elevator music came to a dead halt, as did his own calm.

"Before we begin the next test, there is one rule to be obeyed. No Anomaly is to use any abnormal abilities lest the whole group gets punished. However you deem that rule applies to yourself; you would do wisely to obey it. Lastly- the aim of this next test is to observe how quickly the group can complete it. Individual achievements will not be rewarded. It is the groups time that will ultimately be of interest."

Babble heard him clearly but was barely paying attention. His focus was diverted on blocking out the crackling buzz of the electronic feedback coming from the intercom speakers. While it was mildly audible for those with keen hearing he heard it like a snow storm in his brain. He managed to lessen the noise somewhat by dulling the overall sound with some of his golden sound, fighting feedback with feedback on the same wavelengths but with a lesser volume so the noise of the scientist addressing them wouldn't be completely drowned out. As it was, the message would be a bit quieter for others as their hearing was nowhere near as keen as his.


The guts of the room grinded and churned, machinery locking into place as the bonds that held the door closed were pulled loose. Little did the scientists know the music was all a big ruse. By the time his music came to a stop he had projected his supersonic echoes throughout a majority of the course. He didn't have enough time to fully map it and even less time to memorize what parts he scanned because the door blocked a large portion of the pings he sent. Now that the door was open he could find his way through blindfolded with both his arm-stumps tied behind his back but he knew they were testing them. It was one thing to see closed floor panels where traps lay or hear the breathing of other oddities they placed in wait for hapless wanderers but there were some machines in there he couldn't identify even if he saw them in person. If they were scanning for ultrasonic waves using some super fancy microphone of some sort he'd tip them off.

Not that he thought they were going to be let off easy. He knew scientists, punishment was merely the tool of the sadist. Whether they used their powers or not was an uncontrolled variable and therefore, given that the scientific method is followed and their experiment is constructed in any way intelligently, just another point of data in the spreadsheet. This was a social test and it was highly likely that if they actually planned on punishing them then they would do it regardless of whether they cooperated with the stated rules or not.

It was clear enough to him. He just said that to see if they'd actually obey. Not only a social test but an obedience test hm? Well, seeing as how no matter what I do they'll get what they're looking for I might as well have some fun! He concluded, putting all the evidence he could arrange from his existing knowledge on doctors. He didn't know many but he knew his own doctor well enough and that was the kind of game he played. His whole life was like that one kids game 'Operation' except whenever the scalpel touched his sides there was more of a reaction from him than there would be from a plastic human figure with a light up nose.

"My name is Reyna! I hope we can all work together to get through this!"

She tried to fake a smile but her voice despite her efforts was laughably easy to see through. Reyna was nervous, there was no hiding that. Her heart rate had picked up a bit earlier as she saw Brent, indicating that she knew him at least enough to be concerned. All and all he'd analyze her further but what conclusions would he come to that would be of any actual note? None he'd actually care about. She was pretty low on his list of people he actually cared about right now. That could change later but given was little of her attitude he'd seen he was bored of this dish. Now Druggie was another matter, a dish he was keen on sampling. Just from seeing his behavior so far he struck Babble as a fascinating figure. No one knew his name for gods sake, how could people not be wowed by just how mysterious he was?

Mainly because nobody could get anything more from him. After all, the number of drugs they kept him on was a veritable alphabet soup of sedatives. Right now the real question was whether he liked him as he was or if he'd like him better if he was in his proper head space for once. Time could only tell.

"I think the beginning is safe."

That was it. Her babbling was enough to finally rouse him from what appeared to be complete catatonia. He put his back to the corner and pushed himself up the wall using his feet. What else was he going to use to stand up, his hands? Unlikely given how they were a fine meat puree somewhere at this present time.

Easing himself onto both feet he stood there, swaying from side to side like a gentle breeze could knock him over. AS he stuck one foot out he leaned back like his leg and body were all one bone, stuck in a straight line as he planted it back down. With the next foot he rocked his head back and then forward again, ending in a hunched slouch. He continued this walking pattern, his whole body swaying back and forth in accordance to the motions of his hips like his upper body was a metronome.


When he finally came to a stop his whole body slumped forward with the momentum of his walking. He was well within arms reach of Druggie, swaying as he stood like some sort of tired drunk. His arms just kind of hung there like they didn't even work, drooping to the side every time to swayed. He lifted his head up slowly, a genuine but somewhat off-putting smile on his face.

"Hello me. I am me. You are you. We are us. How are we?" He spoke, although he didn't actually speak. His mouth was not moving and it wasn't his voice. It was Druggie's voice.

"I wonder if these wonderful gentlemen and ladies in their little white suites have put something at the other end of the red maze. Maybe it's pizza? Or birthday cake?! Ooo, I love birthday cake. Is it any of our birthdays today? If not we might have to settle for regular cake. Or pizza. Pizza is good too. Not as sweet as cake but always delicious. I wonder if they'll have any toppings on it. Did you know that tomato sauce is a topping too? I know, right? It's confusing to consider a pizza without any tomato sauce, just a flat piece a bread with a crust. Not very pizza like if you ask me. If it's a good pizza it'll have tomato sauce and cheese on it. Melted cheese, a wheel of cheese sitting on a pizza would just be silly, am I right? Almost as silly as if they had no toppings. But what toppings would they put on that pizza if there was a pizza and if it had tomato sauce and cheese already? My favorite topping is pepperoni. Pepperoni's are a very tasty meat but they don't taste like peppers, isn't that strange? Almost as strange as putting pineapple on a pizza. It's got such a strange name, pineapple. Which is it? A pine cone or an apple? how on earth are we expected to make such weighty decisions when we just wanna eat some pizza? I mean lives are at stake here. If anyone of these lovely people got mulched or crushed or maimed or violently torn apart by the maze then the last thing we'd need is to decide what a pineapple is. We don't like pineapple pizza. I can probably guess why. I am right, we should just have it be pepperoni pizza. I like pepperoni pizza, even if it has nothing to do with peppers. After all, you gotta put something on a pizza besides just tomato sauce and cheese. Not putting toppings on a pizza would just be improper they'd say."

He babbled on and on using Druggie's voice to speak with Druggie, his mouth not moving a muscle. He didn't need to speak anymore, he didn't need to use his own voice anymore. No one liked his voice and as he saw it no one ever would. He was sound now, why limit himself? If he was going to talk he'd might as well make the person he's talking to more comfortable by letting them listen to the sound of their own voice. Some might consider that creepy but Babble didn't know better. Nobody had told him otherwise ever since he learned how. Then again, after he learned how he was thrown into a padded room with no lights and fed sandwiches three times a day. They couldn't trust him with any utensils so sandwiches were the safest thing to give him for sustenance. Anyone who asked how he'd be able to eat the sandwich when he had no hands was asked to offer a better solution and the discussion was quickly put to rest.

It didn't really inconvenience Babble anyways. He loved sandwiches, even if they were often just pieces of bread with a slice of cheese in between them, and he learned to use his feet to do more and more as the year flew by. Since his hands were gone he had to use his feet to do what his hands used to and because of that necessity he's gotten quite good at making do. As a bonus he's become very flexible, able to wrap his feet around the back of his own head kind of flexible. As for discussions though the staff never bothered speaking with him. All he did was babble. All he was was Babble. That's what he always was and that's what he knows himself as now. All it took was one nice doctor to tell him who he was. This was who he was.


No one is going to tell me to not be me.

A lot had happened in only a few minutes, and Serena was doing her best to take it all in. As she listened to the announcement that the main scientist was making, Serena couldn’t help but scowl. Not use my powers? I can’t just… not. They are a part of me. Her scowl turned into an angry grimace. That scientist is stupid. Her inner thoughts were jerked away from her as a wall had suddenly started moving. The loud, echoing sound beat against her eardrums intensely; so much so that she put her hands up to cover them. Once the wall was gone and everything stopped moving, she removed her hands from her ears. Suddenly, a lot of different scents and sounds hit her like a tidal wave. She breathed in deeply, her ears twitching and flicking this way and that, picking up noises like a sonar.

People had begun to introduce themselves, but Serena wasn’t paying attention. The… everything coming from the maze was almost hypnotizing. Plus, she knew all of the things they were saying already. Being nosy and loved by every person is power had its perks.

Sluggishly, she began to walk towards the maze, in between everyone else. Her eyes were glazed over, as if she was in a hypnotized state. Too many questions arose at the same time. Too many things to take in. She walked past Reyna, her ears still fidgeting atop her head. After taking a few large steps, she froze, her body stiffening. “What is…” She muttered out loud to herself. The overpowering smell of… something flooded into her nose. It was a strong, odd scent. She couldn’t make out what it was, which is surprising. She spent years of her life memorizing the specific scents of different animals, but this one was… strangely different. Almost like a combination of more than one creature. The musk of fur was present, but as was the much drier smell of bare skin. She could hear it lumbering about. It was large, larger than her, no doubt. The sound of claws scraping the hard, metal ground sent shivers up her spine, causing her entire being to grow tense and on edge. Should I tell them… Her golden gaze flicked to a camera. She knew where to feed to that video was going. But what about the scientist… this count as using my abilities? She clamped down on her bottom lip, the feeling of her sharp fangs jolting her from this frozen, shocked state.

Serena turned on her heel and made her way back to the others; she wasn’t far, just a few strides ahead. Once again, the small girl, Reyna, had just finished speaking when Serena had come up next to her. “Sorry to interrupt.” She apologized quickly before looking back at the group before her. “As most of you may know, my name is Serena. I know that most of you…” She frowned and looked at the ground, her shoulders suddenly heavy with shame. “Most of you probably hate me because of the way I am and what I do. But I have helped you in the past, you just have not noticed. That extra amount of food on your plate? That day that they decided to leave you alone instead of poke and prod you, or perhaps put you into another one of these? That fresh change of clothes you got once, randomly? They listen to me. They think they understand me, so they listen to what I have to say. What I have to suggest. I know the things I have done are very little, but if I ask for more… I would probably end up like most of you, unable to help you the little that I ever had.” She stopped and bent down, untying her shoes. She kicked them off, and took off her socks as well. “If anyone wants these, have them. They are a hindrance to me.” She turned, stepping on the cold ground.

Serena could hear it all, feel it all now that she didn’t have half an inch of rubber keeping her feet from the ground. “This is indeed the first time I am being tested like this, with many others. I am used to working alone, but I am sure we can do this.” She looked at the others, taking a deep breath through her nose. “This maze is riddled with traps. I can hear them and smell certain ones. All I have to do is this.” She walked over to the white wall of the maze. She then tapped her finger nail against the surface, and the sound began to echo. She listened intently, her eyebrows furrowing. “And I can sense the exit… It is subconscious. Something that I cannot control. The air in here is bitter, dusty. When was the last time this maze was cleaned? The exit sends in a gust of air. It is not fresh, but it is different. Clean. There are doctors waiting for us. Presumably because the traps we will encounter are going to harm us.” She spent a few moments staring intensely at the T-split in the maze. “You can choose not to trust me, but we all want the same thing, no? Not to mention, the smell of blood is gross. I’d rather we all make it out unharmed.” She tore her gaze from there and rested it upon the rag-tag ground once more. “I recommend we stay together. Nothing good will come of us splitting up, I am sure of that.” Serena looked back at the fork in the road once more.

“The first turn we will be making will be a right.”

BABBLE

"mnnyyyaaeee."

Babble just kept his head cocked to the side, his eyes locked Druggie's. Most of his face remained still like stone however his eyebrows moved as though he were cycling through a whole spectrum of emotions. After a few seconds which felt more like minutes he shot right up, his right arm sleeve brought right up to his cheek while he sported a great big happy smile. He'd of moved his other sleeve as well but it was being held onto so it was kind of stuck.

"Eeeeeeee! I just absolutely LOVE IT!"

He cried out in the voice of a little girl he knew. Of course his mouth still didn't form words or even open. It was pretty much established by this point that he didn't use his mouth or even his voice to talk.

He was just adoring this new friend of his. His response, regardless of it's coherence, said everything that needed to be said. There was no need for words, Babble understood just fine. Such a quizzical sound for what was understandably strange to him, it all fit together like legos. It was such a breath of fresh air too. While everyone else was babbling about this and that all this tall fellow made was a sound and that's that needed to be. What point was there in communication anyways? Words to him were like the plastic wrappers over candy bars. Remove them and all that was left was the delicious sound. It made him wonder what it was with all these people eating the wrappers and ignoring the bars of chocolate they held.

The kitty started speaking but he had little interest in listening. Not that he had a choice though, he could hear her straight through his skull which was part of what made it so annoying. Her words just kept droning on and on about how she's oh so sorry and really a nice kitten who's just trying to help but the scientists don't let her and other such monotony. He didn't care, he couldn't care less. He didn't hold her treatment against her, he barely cared even when he wasn't in the same room as him. If the scientists wanted to play favorites how was that any business of his?

She claimed she had very good hearing and could sense the exit. Yeah nice work, gold star, bravo, congadularations, you win the prize, ect. His thoughts maintained a sarcastic and bored tone as he listed off praises in his head, all of them intentionally back-handed. This was one of the few times he bothered to keep his thoughts to himself, mainly because he didn't want to have to bother getting involved in their little patty-cake session over in the halls when he was much more interested in his new pal. Needless to say he wasn't impressed as he already knew most of the paths to the exit as well as where most of the traps and fun things were. If he wanted, he could just skip his way down the safest route no problem. Of course uncle Sam said there was no using their powers. It's not like he could comply even if he wanted to but he figured he'd make it easier on the others in case the doctors actually meant what they said and simply not use his powers to help.


All of a sudden Ember decided to be a spoilsport and come over to talk at him. She decided she wanted to look him straight in the eyes, something which was uncomfortable as she basically wedged herself between him and Druggie as he was looking towards him when she decided to do that.

"I suggest you quite using your sound ability, else you not only suffer Sam's punishment but mine. I don't care if you think we'll be punished anyway. I'd prefer to err on the side of caution."

Her eyes were red, not that he'd of noticed. He wasn't looking back at her eyes but rather her mouth. After all, that was the only part on her which could actually do some damage to him. As she spoke the golden noise gradually drove the volume of her voice down until the end of her little threat at which point her voice was barely audible to anyone else but him since there was little he couldn't hear. He'd say it was a waste of her breath but he knew she had plenty of others to spare.


"Hah! After killing at least over a dozen people I've become a pro at killing the mood, eh Brent?"

It was Ember's voice coming directly from no more than a millimeter out from her lips and loud enough so that everyone in the immediate vicinity could hear. Everyone that was behind her would have very little way of knowing it wasn't her speaking, Brent included as she had strode ahead of them all. After all it wasn't just a reproduction of her voice, it was her voice down to the accent and eccentricities of her speech pattern. Babble was a master of sound and was very keen on the nature of the voice. The way words sounded, the way people spoke, even the various factors which influenced their voices was something he's honed to the point where he can pick up on details even other anomalies with keen hearing wouldn't pick up on just by hearing a person speak once. There was a large gap between hearing a sound and understanding what the sound really was and why it was made. He had crossed that gap a while ago and then some.

In his mind he was sound. Sound was no longer just a scientific phenomenon for him, it was a way of life. He still had a lot to learn about just what could be done with sound but with every chance he'd get he was determined to learn it all. Duplicating human speech while hard at first had become second nature for him. As such there wasn't a human voice around he couldn't replicate to the point of being indistinguishable from the original.


After that fun little jab at miss grumpy pants he turned back to his newest friend, big smile still stuck on his face. "Hey! I've got an idea!" He was now speaking using Druggies voice once again and he was back to being the origin of the sound. With that said he wormed about in his long sleeved white shirt. Pulling his arms up through the sleeves he pushed the collar of his shirt over his face. The collar of his shirt now rested on the crown of his head, exposing his midsection slightly. Pushing his arms back through their sleeves so they'd stay nice and concealed his whole head was now immersed in his shirt like he was some sort of turtle.

"I'll let me decide where we go!" Since the voice was Druggie's he'd hope the idea got across. Since his pal had a hold on his sleeve he was going to let him lead the way. He already knew the way as well as where the traps were so there was little fun left to be had. All he'd have to do is skip to the end and then receive a nasty recess with scientists. What he wanted to do to make things more interesting was to let Druggie, someone who didn't already know the way, decide and see where that takes them. He could hear where everyone and everything was but he couldn't see anything and since he wasn't using his echolocation he wouldn't be able to see them that way either.


"Where do YOU want to go?" He asked Druggie. He was fairly sure that wherever they were going was bound to be interesting. He could hear the husky breathing of something up ahead too. Things were already getting exciting, he could feel it in his bones.

The lumbered foot steps and deep, heavy breaths of the creature only loomed closer, causing Serena’s entire body to grow rigid and tense.

"MOVE!" A loud, commanding shout from Brent, who had grabbed Neptune and was dragging her behind him, echoed through the halls; Serena could hear the sound waves bouncing through even distant corridors. Interesting…

“Wait!” Serena cried as she heard a click coming from the machines. The second Brent and Neptune had stepped past the others, a wall came crashing down. Another click and it had locked in place. “Est-ce que vous me baise plaisantez!?” She spat out a curse in one of the many languages she had learned throughout the years. It was a habit she couldn’t seem to shake. Now the only way they could go was left, which means they were going to end up having to take a longer route…

Another tidal wave of smell washed over her senses. But this was different. The dominating smell that flooded her nostrils was fear. The second one was that of the beast. The sounds of its sharp claws dragging on the ground was suddenly much, much closer. Serena whipped around, her eyes widening with horror. The beast was right there. She stood there, perfectly still. However, it was not out of fear as most would assume. She had to test something… She did not know of the nature of this beast. She had a lot of learning on the job to do.

Serena’s eyes glanced at its shoulders; she saw them tensing, preparing to strike. Its strike was amazingly fast, but as was Serena. She had barely a fraction of a second to launch herself backwards. She was so close to being swiped down by the beast’s mighty claws that she could actually feel the wind that was blown by the quick movement. She landed on all fours, her knees bent and her hands planted on the ground.

Frontal blindspot? Nope. It seemed frustrated by the fact that it had missed its prey. It let out a blood-curdling growl, its eyes glowing with anger. For some reason, it’s eyes seemed to be trained on Serena and Serena only. “Ember!” Serena shouted, not taking her gaze off of the creature. The two were in a stare down, neither moving, but Serena could tell its patience was going to run out soon. “I’m going to lead it away…! It wants me.” She projected her voice so she could be heard by the others. “Babble knows where to go…” She glanced over at Babble, her eyes practically pleading. She remembered the day she learned of his powers and past; the scientist who happened to be watching her for the day liked to mutter under his breath. She had decided to do some research of her own… She ended up being caught and punished, but not after learning all she needed. Not to mention, the punishment was just a day locked in her cage. “Help them. Please. They won’t know.” She spoke in Babble’s direction, knowing he would be able to hear her. She said they in reference to the scientists of course.

Boom! The creature’s powerful paw came crashing down in a motion that would absolutely flatten whatever it struck. It’s eyes gleamed with triumph as it lifted it paw, expecting what was underneath it to be a blood splatter. But, to its dismay, there was nothing. It let out a mighty howl of pure anger. Where had his prey gone? Serena had seemingly disappeared.

No matter, it would choose another. It’s gaze locked on the one it had spotted recently; the one covered in black. It seemed moments before it was about to strike, it froze for a split second before throwing its head back in a cry of pain. It lurched and heaved its massive, heavy body to and fro. Attached to one of its haunches like a leech, Serena clung for dear life, her diamond hard claws dug into its thick skin, slicing through it like butter. The second before it smashed its body against the wall, Serena leapt off. Did that count as using her powers? She hadn’t been shocked by her collar yet, so it must not. It stumbled about, dazed. Smashing its entire being against a metal wall did a number on it.

“Hey!” Serena shouted, trying to catch its attention. She stood proud and tall, her chest puffed out and her tail lashing back and forth. Her stance screamed dominance. “Stay away from them!” She hissed, her eyes narrowing. She suddenly widened her stance, her hands clenching into tight fists. Serena tilted her head back and let out a bone-jarring roar, one that resonated everywhere throughout the maze. The creature howled back, regaining it’s balance. “I’ll catch up with you guys later!” She gave a single wave, a grin plastered on her face, as she disappeared around the corner. The beast lumbered behind her, its limbs swinging heavily with every wide stride.

And they were gone. Serena ran this way and that, knowing she would be able to find her way back. She just wanted to draw it as far away as possible from the others. Something within her told her she must protect the others… They were all in this situation together, and no one was going to be able to get out of this alone.

BABBLE

Well this was exciting.

The thing was quite an oddity. Large and hairy, kind of like a cross between an ape and a dog, at least as far as he could tell. He couldn't see through his shirt but the sounds gave him a rough approximation of it's general shape. Serena babbled some nonsense about helping the others and that They wouldn't know. He knew what she meant by they, well enough at least but what was she even trying to get at? That's what confused him.

Whatever. He quickly put her words to rest before returning his attention to his new bestest friend in the whole wide facility. Druggie seemed to have the right idea, trying to push him through the door they came in through. It seemed like the doctors all saw this as an eventuality as it seemed the door was less of a house door and more of a bank vault. The thing had two plates of several inch thick high carbon steel and a layer of concrete between them for extra padding, not to mention the thick system of heavy locks which needed large motors built into the walls in order to function. Even a burly bloke like Ole' Druggie couldn't bust that thing without putting at least an hour or two of ramming into it first.

Well unfortunate was the beginning of their interesting adventure. Unfortunately everyone all put on their grumpy pants when he babbled so if Babble was told not to babble then babble he wouldn't do. That didn't matter though, this wasn't his show. His friend was leading him about, no need for him to go ahead and accidentally ruin everyone's super serious mouse trap party. That reminded him, there were fun things in the ground and they were starting to move. From what he gathered they had nozzles and flowing up thin pipes was a gurgling liquid. His only guess was that whatever came out the end was something not to get all over him. Of course when he heard the sound of fire bursts up ahead there was no surprise as to what the neat little fire hoses did.


Then Reyna, the mousy one, came back for them. But why? He asked in thought alone, the words never even making it to the stage of becoming sounds. Little girl all friendly and what not bothering to try and drag us along with their not so merry band of crotchety old men living in the bodies of teenage girls and young adult dudes? Oh right, the whole 'everybody goes through or else you get an F on your report cards' deal from that one scientist fellow who was quite frankly a little too touchy feely with the Ember there. I mean seriously, my doctor at least was professional at all times when subjecting us to science. Up until the end there I can't say he ever broke down. It was natural for the stress to get to him of course. This Sam guy, he's just a pervert.

It was quite funny really, even Babble's thoughts rarely stayed on one track. As for the situation he could really care less, jets of fire or not. As Reyna grabbed his sleeve he was half tempted to simply slip her grasp, a simple task indeed but he didn't see much need. He was only going where his friend wanted to take him and if his friend didn't want to follow her he simply wouldn't. Unless she blood puppeteered him like he had heard about Druggie could stand there and she'd be like a rabbit trying to pull a freight train, something would be moving but it wouldn't be him.

As the flames announced their arrival before spewing from the jets he simply leaned to one side then to another. His almost pendulous swaying seemed to have little purpose even before but while it appeared to have no use he was quite deftly avoiding the eruptions of flames so smoothly it seemed as though it wasn't even intentional. Behind the curtains however while the level of precision was just natural his intent in avoiding immolation was very much intentional.

As for the metal beneath his feet that was growing hotter with every moment, well, there was little he could do about that. The calloused meat on the bottom of his feet sizzled like a well cooked treat. Any longer here and there'd be no doubt that his bare feet would need medical attention of some sort. Despite the heat and the pain however Babbled looked rather unphased. It wasn't that it wasn't painful as it most certainly was. It was that the pain he suffers now pales in comparison to what he's felt thus far. The suffering he had endured for all these long years has numbed him to pain, making even intense pain lose it's touch with him. While the bottoms of his feet were somewhat ouchy it was a far cry from his whole blood stream bubbling and feeling like it was trying to escape out his orifices.


So... Where do they take me now? The excitement seems to have only just begun.

In all honesty, Serena was getting bored. The creature was slow and rather nonthreatening if she kept out of it’s claw’s reach. She was simply jogging along now, humming a quiet tune. The beast’s loud breathing was growing obnoxious, interrupting her melody. She wondering why she even bothered to draw it away. She could just kill it now. Would she get in trouble for something like that? What qualified as using her powers? Serena thought quietly to herself, wondering what to do. This creature was nothing but… a liability. She was just protecting herself. Right?

Serena tried to convince herself. Shaking her head, as she turned another corner, she sprinted forward as far as possible before turning on her heel. The creature glared at her, charging forward, snarling loudly. Serena ran forward as well. The creature swung at her with its powerful paw; Serena easily dodged, and, at the last second, launched herself upwards. She bit down on its throat, digging her nails into its skin and slashing as much as possible. The creature tried to cry out, but Serena had hit her mark; the only sound it could make was the gurgling of blood. It thrashed its mighty body, its head flying this way and that. Serena’s body was thrown from where she was, attached to its neck, to against the wall with a rather sickening thud. The creature dropped to the ground, twitching and writhing as the last moments of its life slipping away.

Serena’s head was spinning, and there was searing pain in her shoulder. She gasped, trying to return the air to her lungs. After a few minutes of catching her breath, she managed to drag herself to her feet. Her whole body ached, and her left arm was hanging limply by her side. “That is definitely dislocated…” She muttered, poking her shoulder and wincing. Serena sighed. “Fuck it, here goes.” She gripped her shoulder firmly, gritting her teeth, and, in one quick motion, snapped her shoulder back into place. She only squeaked, unable to shout in pain, her eyes squeezing shut as she tried to catch her breath once more. “Goodness… Fuck.” She cursed to herself, still holding her shoulder.

“C’mon, it's time to get going… We need to meet up with the others…” Serena spoke to herself, one of the dozens of habits she can’t seem to shake. She followed her footsteps along with the sounds and scents of the others that she could pick up on. Eventually, she turned a corner and saw the rest of the group. Well, some of the group. “Hey!” She jogged over to them, a surprisingly genuine smile on her face. She suddenly remembered they her mouth was probably covered in blood and she looked absolutely insane. Pausing in her footsteps, she grabbed her shirt and tried to wipe the blood off of her face. Considering there was blood on her shirt, it didn’t exactly do that much. “I, uh, took care of the creature, if you couldn’t tell.”

Her ears flicked and she turned, looking down a corridor. “Well, on we go, I guess. This way.” Serena pointed in the direction she had been looking and began to talk down it, hoping the others would follow.

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EVENT

Sure, the maze was riddled with mechanical traps that are scary, large, and would cause physical harm or entrapment, but there were so many hidden ones. The poor anomalies didn’t know what would hit them.

There were hidden speakers within the maze. First, they started with something quiet. Thirty kilohertz very, very softly, which is too high for normal human ears to detect. Of course, not all of those in the group had ears as weak as a normal human’s. As time crawled onwards and the anomalies began to make their way close to the exit, the sound got louder and higher, reaching almost 60 kilohertz. At the time, it must be practically agonizing for anything who had powerful hearing…

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“Odd…” Serena muttered, her ears twitching. She reached up and itched them and down the back of her head. It felt like there was a fly buzzing in the back of her skull. The sounds grew more and more powerful, the buzz growing stronger. “Ahh… What is that sound?” She looked around, of course she looked at Babble first, but he didn’t appear to be doing anything. It suddenly got louder, like an explosion in her ears.

Serena cried out and stumbled, her shoulder hitting a wall. She clamped her hands down over her cat ears, flattening them to her head and trying to muffle the noise. Her face was twist with pain, and her body trembled. “That sound… Make it stop!” She screamed, her entire body tense. It felt like she couldn’t breathe. It was like the noise was cutting right through her hands and slamming against her ear drums.