Unlikely Friends

OoC: Those guys are supposed to be experts in holding and confining magical beings. They don't listen through walls, but through microphones...

”Good news,” the scientist said exited as he entered the room, “you don’t have cancer.”

Aronin flinched. “Cancer? What happened to the whole ‘you got great powers?’ thing? Was that only to figure out that I don’t have cancer?”

The scientist chuckled a bit, and shook his head. “Just pulling your leg. But you still don’t have cancer, so be glad. Here, come on, and I’ll show you the results.”

Aronin nodded and followed him through the same set of corridors as before. By now, Aronin had good knowledge of the different areas in the facility. The briefing room was in the west, the prison cells were in the north, and the labs in the south, while the dormitories were in the east. The only thing he was unaware of was the exit. There were no direction signs in the corridors, and most of the corridors looked alike, but in most cases, there were signs on the doors telling the purpose of that room. They arrived at Joslavi’s lab once again, where they started to explain.

“With your powers, you can manipulate materia? You see, with enough precision, you can not only move objects, but you can affect all the properties of the atoms, electrons, protons, et cetera et cetera. That means you can change and create magnetic fields, change and create elements, such as helium and hydrogen, but that I don’t have to tell you?”

“I know I can make things explode by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.”

“Yes. You see, there are a few kinds of photons. Light, that’s one. Gravity, that’s another, and magnetism are yet another. But what we believe you are using is a new form, a telekinesis photon. It means you are radiating telekinesis.”

“Okay?” Aronin said and looked skeptical at the two scientists. “Telekinesis photons? How do you know all this?”

“We don’t. But we have reasons to believe it. So, somehow, your body is making those telekinesis waves and sending them out. You just have to learn to aim those photons. And that’s probably your problem. Your powers seem to have emanated in the past just sporadically, but now your body seem to have learned how to control them, and so do you. And I think I know whom would be the best teacher.”

---

“This feeder, Grundcull, was that his name?” Aronin nodded, and the scientist continued. “Just look. We gave him a renegade who could emanate small sparks from his fingers. Now, he can make big balls of electricity in his hands.”

“Balls of electricity? How in the world is that possible?”

“Don’t ask, it would take about a month to explain.”

They were watching Grundcull playing with the electricity in his hands. Somehow, he really managed to make glowing balls of electricity in his hands. Aronin was speechless.

“So, what now?”

“He just got the power, and he is already more skilled than the renegade.

Then suddenly, Grundcull banged on the wall and yelled out that he wanted food. The scientist twitched when he mentioned that he wanted the same as before, but nodded at another scientist, who left the room, and soon, a person appeared in the prison cell. But instead of “eating” the prisoner, they just sat down and talked. Apparently, Grundcull was teaching him how to use the powers, and as Aronin looked at the scientist, he had a big smile on his face. Things were apparently going his way.

“They'll probably get alerted if you break them now so wait. Would you like to escape this place?”

“What… Is he stupid?” The scientist said as the whisper came out loud and clear through the speaker. “Didn’t he think we would tap his cell?” He pushed a button, and gave a signal that they would have a breakout in 452Beta-2’s cell. Soon after, a alarm went on and on a second monitor, he saw three guards clad in a strange armor position around the opening of the cell.

“They’re the elite team. They were conveniently here, so it’s better not to take any chances.”

Aronin watched as the guy was pinned down by the three soldiers. He did much resistance for a small fry, Aronin thought. Then he looked back at Grundcull, who now were trying to break his chains.

“He’s powerless without his bottles,” the scientist said. “We confiscated them, and are now examining them in the labs. The specimen in Nevada didn’t have such bottles, so it might be possible that they are his invention.” He pushed a button, and spoke into a mic.

“Grundcull, did you really think you would succeed with that simple plan? We know more about you than you think we do.” He paused. “But I have a proposition for you. If you can teach somebody for me, I’ll make sure you will be transferred to much better holding cell for your comfort.”

Aronin interrupted him. “What? You mean he shall train me? What if he takes my powers?”

“Then let him. He can’t do what you do anyways. There is another thing which I haven’t told you. You know how about 90% of the brain is inactive? Well, yours are not. Those 90% is used subconscious to help controlling it. He is still limited to the 10% brain activity, and might at most lift objects. What’s so special about your power is your brain activity. But that, you will have to learn by yourself.”

Aronin nodded, and looked at the bear-like creature in the holding cell. Some part of him felt sorry for him, while another part was afraid.

OoC: Yeah, back in business. If it's ok, don't make Grundcull be able to do more than lift objects.
There will be a breakout sequence, but not before my next post, if that's ok.

Grundcull nodded as a sign of thanks to the man that tried to help him escape. 'Twas worth a shot.

He struggled slightly against the chains around him but there wasn't much he could do. He simply shifted into a more comfortable position and waited.

The scientist gave Grundcull a deal but the kid had objected, apparently his opinion on Grundcull had changed after talks with the scientist.

"Sounds like a deal," Grundcull said. If he could earn the boy's trust he might have a better chance of breaking out.

"We'll begin immediately, then!" the scientist said, quite happy with the quick answer.

"Training will be in my room then?" Grundcull asked, hoping he wasn't correct.

"Yes, it will be," the scientist replied and signalled for Grundcull to be brought to his room.

Grundcull sat in the corner and Aronin was brought in soon after, keeping a fair distance from the vampire.

"I suppose I should ask before I leech off some of your powers," Grundcull said as he stood up.

OoC: I hope you don’t mind some power playing, as this next section would take forever if we would write each response each. In turn, I allow you to use Aronin in your next post.

You got to be kidding me, Aronin thought as the scientist held out his hand towards the door. I’m not going inside that… cage… But the scientist didn’t even blink a second, as he went over and opened it, since Aronin hesitated. The room smelled badly inside, probably because Grundcull had been held there for almost four days, without any kind of shower or washing equipment. But Aronin took a step forwards, and another, braced himself for whatever might come, and found himself in the room. Behind him, the door slammed close. There was an awkward silence, before Grundcull spoke.

Aronin thought about what the scientist had just said, that he should just let him take the power, and nodded carefully. But as the great beast rose, Aronin took a step back, and hit the wall. Grundcull hesitated a bit, before Aronin got back his courage and stepped forth again. The vampire lifted his hand, and pressed a claw to Aronin’s forehead. In a moment, Aronin felt strange, almost powerless, before Grundcull retracted his claw, and a warmth flowed through Aronin’s body.

There was yet another silence, as the bear like creature went back to his corner and watched his hands for some time. Then he reached out for one of his restraints, which were removed. It moved subtly, almost shaking, before it fell back. Grundcull repeated the process, and this time, it moved a feet, before it stopped. Aronin watched as the vampire went to almost moving it, to freely moving it around in the room, which took no more than two minutes.

“It was easier than I had thought,” Grundcull remarked with a smile as he turned to Aronin, who again took a step backwards. “Makes me wonder why you couldn’t do it yourself.” He looked at his hands again, and moved the piece of metal around some more.

Aronin looked at his own hands, and tried to move the other restraint. Nothing happened. Not even a budge. With a slight smile, Grundcull went over to Aronin.

“No, no. It’s you that has to control your power, not your body and reflexes. Listen, it’s like a baby. When born, it can move its arms, but it has no control. But eventually, it learns how to use it.”

Aronin looked at Grundcull, and then at the restrain. He lifted his hand once again, and focused on the piece of metal lying on the ground. Nothing happened, again.

“No! Don’t want it to happen. Make it happen. It seems like you used your powers subconsciously, and suddenly, you gained control over it. You need to be your power. It’s part of you, like your hand. You don’t move your hand by wishing it should move, and then waiting for your body to move it?”

Aronin shook his head wearily, and focused again. “Like my hand,” he said to himself, as he lifted it, pointing it at the restraint once again. “Like my hand,” he repeated, and imagined his hand moving over to it, and lifted it up. Nothing moved. He tried again, by imagining he was the object, and tried to move, but again, nothing happened. Aronin let out an angry sigh, and lifted his hand again. He tried once again to imagine his hand moving over to it, but not as his hand, but as an invisible force.
Nothing happened, and Aronin lowered his hand, and the restraint moved slightly as it fell a few millimeters down.

Aronin blinked. Something had happened, and he had done it. He looked up at Grundcull, who nodded, and held his hand in an “I told you so” way.

His blood raced, as he realized what he had done. His powers were returning, and he would soon be back in business, escaping this place. He caught himself in his thoughts. Why would he escape? Something in the back of his head was bugging him, but he could not quite put his finger on it. Returning his attention to the object in front, he tried once again to move it. He imagined some force coming out of his body, like fire, or water, to pick up the object, and to Aronin’s glee, it moved, and hovered over the floor. He let out a gasp, and the restraints fell down on the floor.

“I did it,” he muttered. “I did it!”

He lifted his hand again, imagined the same force, and with a laugh, he managed to move it around the room, just like Grundcull had done moments ago. He let if fell down, and tried again. It moved, just like it should.

“That’s great! Now, if you could come out, we need to make preparations for Grundcull’s move,” a voice came through the speakers. The scientist had apparently watched them train. Aronin looked at Grundcull, and moved to the door. It slid up, and Aronin went through, but just before it closed, Aronin turned and nodded at Grundcull. “Thank you,” he said, and smiled.

---

The next day, Grundcull was moved to another cell, which had more facilities, such as a proper bed, a bathroom and some furniture, almost like Aronin’s room, which made Aronin puzzle what exactly his room was when he saw the new room. There was no more training that day either, and Aronin was mostly left to himself, in his room/cell. He could not quite make up his mind of what it was.

This place was starting to bugger him. Something about the whole concept, with scientists, elite guards, cells. And he had still not seen other persons with abilities except for Grundcull, and the renegade. Was he really a renegade? He really doubted it.

And then it was this about Grundcull eating people. It was not messy and evil at all. The scientist looked more and more fishy the more that happened. There was obviously more to all this than he would like to admit. But Aronin was no fool, although his momentary loss of power might have augmented his ability to rationalize properly. Now that he was more self-confident, things became much clearer, and the clearest point was that he had to get away, somehow.

But, he thought to himself, how? Perhaps Grundcull had a plan. But the scientists were listening to their conversations. There was no way he could have a proper conversation with him, without letting the scientist know they were planning something. Then, and idea struck him as he thought back at the time before they were captured.

---

The next day, Aronin was once again lead to Grundcull. This time, the smell was much more pleasant, and the whole mood was better. He sat down in one of the chairs, and Grundcull sat down in another, facing him.

“So, what do we do?”

“You still need to train. It’s still not naturally for you, if I’m correct?”

Aronin nodded and lifted a ball lying conveniently on the table for training purposes. He still had to imagine the force flowing from his hand to move it. Trying again, he now tried to only imagine a string of force trying to lift it up. It took some tries, but eventually, he managed it. And with some more training, he was finally able to move things, just by moving them. It was almost as he had done it before, only this time, he really felt himself doing it.

“So, as you are my… Teacher… I’d like to know about your power as well?” Aronin asked. “Is it so that you gain a specific amount of power that you can store inside you? Like, you said you only had a few explosions left. Say, would the power you leeched off me still remain?” Grundcull shook his head.

“I’ve used all that power, so I need to leech again, but you are right.”

“So, say you bump into someone with power, would you have them, and you not know about it? Or if it was on purpose? Like that waitress?” he said, and hoped Grundcull had leeched off the mindreading power of the waitress they had met in the restaurant.

“If you did, and can read my mind,” Aronin thought with a sly smile, “then say let’s not speak of this no more, and continue the training.”

OoC: Now, you might compose the escape plan. Aronin will think of a few scenarios, and ask Grundcull which one he would like to work on, or dismiss, by making him say things like, “Good, try again” or “how about you go again” to guide him, to avoid the attention of the scientist. Just remember that they are smart, so they need a smart plan.

Grundcull ignored the Aronin's talk for the moment, he needed to talk about his powers in a safer enviorment. No reason to give the scientists' more information, right?

"From what I know of your powers you can do much more than lift objects. So, try making a magnetic field. It should be simple enough."

Aronin nodded and closed his eyes in concentration. After a few seconds his brow unfurrowed and he said, "The field is just around my skin."

To test the boy's assumption Grundcull lifted the steel ball Aronin had previously been moving and held it about a three feet from Aronin's chest. When it got within the three foot range the ball flew to Aronin's chest and sat there, unmoving. "Good, good," Grundcull said and plucked the ball of Aronin's chest. "Now expand the field as much as you can."

Aronin nodded and after a few seconds he said, "Done," sounding quite please with himself.

Grundcull threw the towards the wall and it stuck itself there. "Good. Now make the magnetic field as large as you can."

Once again, Aronin nodded and after a second or so he said, "Now it's half the size of the building."

"Then that means they don't have audio or visual of us," Grundcull commented with a sly smile.

The same sly smile appeared on Aronin's face and he said, "Then we're free to discuss our escape."

"Exactly," Grundcull said. "Now, I was planning you bust down the door with your telekinesis, I neutralize the guards outside the door, then we make our escape with little interference seeing as your magnetic field interfers with their sensors. Or, if that seems to dangerous and if you're too tired from training right now I could ask for "food" and we could do it tomorrow."

"I'm eager to leave now but it might be better if we were both stronger."

"Then we wait. Get rid if the magnetic field now, they might be getting suspicious."

Aronin nodded and a moment later the metal ball thudded to the floor.

"You did good, holding that field. Practice and you can make it larger and hold it for longer," Grundcull said. He turned to the door and announced, "Aronin's training is finished for the day. Fist think in the morning I want Aronin, and someone for me to feed off of, brought here."

A voice that sounded like it came from everywhere said, "Will do. Aronin, go to the door and someone will come in to take you to your room."

"Get a good night's sleep," Grundcull said with a wink as Aronin was promptly taken back to his own room, leaving Grundcull to shower, and then sleep.

Magnetic fields. Aronin felt truly powefull as he went to bed. Tomorrow would surely be a day the lab would remember, if everything went well. He had caught himself thinking, ‘according to the plan’, as they did not have a plan. If they had one, it was ‘use as much force as neccesarily’. But as long as they were careful, that should work pretty well. His magnetic field would ensure their swift escape.

But, a little extra help is not a bad thing, he thought and watched as a spark of blue flames manifested and disappeared in his palm. Somehow, he could now remove the electrons from the core of the atoms, creating a somewhat stable form of plasma. The most useful material, he figured, was hydrogen, as it made the most stable variant, and it was easily accessed in form of the vaporized water in the air. And, as he practiced, he noted that it required not much effort to make, or maintain, and somehow, it did not hurt him at all.

He released his magnetic field, and pretended that it was the only thing he had been training. The more they was obvious of, the better, he thought and went to bed.

The morning came soon, and after a quick breakfast, Aronin was collected by two guards, who lead him to a small room with no windows. A bit worried, Aronin sat down on one of the chairs, and waited. Not long after, the scientist came in, and sat down on a chair facing Aronin.

“So, I see you have been progressing with your training? I must say it went fast,” the scientist said and took out a cigarette. “Do you smoke?”

“No thanks,” Aronin replied as his hairs rose on his back. What if his training with Grundcull was over? “But yes, it is going pretty quick.”

“You may wonder why I put you with Grundcull as your teacher?” he continued, ignoring Aronin’s reply, and lit his cigarette. “We want you to kill him.”

Aronin blinked. “Kill him? Why?”

“We need to see if you are ready to join our little operation. You are an invaluable tool for us, you see. With your powers, and your quick thinking. I’m offering you a job here, a job you cannot find the likes of. You get to use your powers as much as you want, and get paid for it. But we must be sure if you are worth it.” Aronin hesitated, and looked around in the room thinking of his possibilities.

“And what if I say no?” he asked slowly.

“You will not get the antidote,” the scientist said and made smoke rings in the air. “While you were asleep, we infused you with a poison which will eventually kill you, unless you take the antidote,” he continued, but was forced against the wall as Aronin made a sudden move with his arm.

“YOU DID WHAT TO ME!?” Aronin raged, and pressed against the scientist throat with telekinesis. “GIVE ME THE ANTIDOTE NOW!” His heart was pumping fast, as adrenaline rushed through his veins.

“Relax,” the scientist tried to say, “I don’t have the antidote. I can’t even get it now. It has to be made first.”

“THEN MAKE IT!” Aronin yelled and pressed even harder, before he felt an electric shock in his back and blacked out. When he woke up, the scientist stood in front of him and held a hand out.

“I’m sorry that we had to taze you, but you got to understand this: We don’t want you to die. But in return, we want you to accept this offer. Kill Grundcull, and become an agent.”

Aronin snorted. “I don’t have much choice, do I? Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Good,” the scientist said and took forth another cigarette. “Sure you don’t smoke? What you shall do is the following. You shall escape with Grundcull, and then when you get to the southern exit, there is a panel on the right side. Input 1671, and then press star, 5, 3 and square. That will activate the security systems in the entrance. Afterwards, go to the laboratory, and you will get your antidote.” Aronin nodded carefully, and was lead out of the room, and to Grundcull’s.

As Aronin entered, Grundcull looked at him and nodded, and Aronin nodded back. It was almost time. But first, they started training on the magnetic field again, this time Aronin tried to shape the magnetic field, making at first regular shapes such as a sphere and a torus, but not long after, a small long directed magnetic field, and in one case, a magnetic field shaped as the number 8. The fascinating look of the iron ball moving in and out was funny enough, but funny things were of the past, it was finally time. The magnetic field collapsed, and Aronin replaced it with a much bigger one, that disabled all the electronic devices.

“After you,” Aronin said and blasted the door away with a push of his hand. Grundcull went outside, and after some yells, the two guards that were positioned outside came flying into the room with the help of Grundcull’s strong arms.

“Let’s go,” Grundcull said and motioned to Aronin. “I do hope you know the way, after all your wandering in here.”

“Actually, I do,” Aronin smiled and retracted the magnetic field. He needed to charge it up for later. “This way,” he said and led Grundcull in the route the scientist had given him. As promised, the route was clear of any guards and obstacles.

“I don’t like this,” Grundcull said as they reached the south exit. “It’s unlikely that they let us go so easily. They are sure to detect out escape by now?”

“Oh,” Aronin said and blinked at a surveillance camera. “You don’t know half of it.” And with that, he unleashed a great magnetic pulse, equivalent of an EMP, that not only disabled the electric devices momentary, but permanent.

“The scientist tried to set me up on you,” Aronin screamed through all the noice of exploding generators, fizzing lights and creaking cables. The whole area was darkened, only lit up by the occasional bursts of electricity that sent sparks flying all over the place. Aronin held out his hands and engulfed them in a bluish fire, and held them towards a sign above, to light it up. “The labs are that way. I have an antidote to collect, and I heard the scientist say your possessions are also there, so let’s hurry before they catch up!”

At early morning Grundcull awoke. He took a minute to strech then announced to the door that he was hungry. Several minutes later a man was brought in, bound completely. His arms were tied bheind his back with titanium chains, his legs were tied together with the same type of chains, and his head was covered with a black hood. They obviously didn't want Grundcull to communicate with this one.

The vampire pressed a claw to the man's head and absorbed as much magic as he could without endangering the man's life. Immediately after he took his claw away the man was led out by a large guard.

Grundcull sat down and learned the ins and outs of the man's power, which was sight manipulation. He could make his vision zoom in or out, attune it to the dark, and even see more frames per second which gave the appearance of time slowing down. A useful power for the escape, almost like they wanted him to escape...

A half an hour later Aronin was brought in. For the rest of the hour they trained, Aronin perfecting his control of the magnetic field. When they were ready Grundcull nodded, and recieved a nod back from Aronin who promptly busted the door open. Grundcull ran in, and was greeted by three momentarily startled guards. He delivered a haymaker to one on his left and the man fell to the ground instantly. With his forearm he pushed away the gun the right guard held and brought him to the ground with a hook to the head. The guard in front was still in shock and fell to the ground with a punch to the nose.

Before throwing the men into the room, which would become their cell, he took their weapons, gaining two SIG Saur pistols, one Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun, a Hackler & Kock machine gun, and a Steyr Aug with an M203 Grenade Launcher. After holstering the weapons he threw the men into the room.

They ran through the building with nearly no interference. Even without electronics surealy other guards would hear the collapsed door and the screams of others...

Grundcull announced his suspicions to Aronin and was told of the scientists' plot to kill him. He was happy that the boy hadn't double-crossed, and grateful that the electronics were out.

Grundcull slipped one of the pistols into Aronin's pocket, seeing as his hands were filled with fire, whie also using his previously absorbed power to see in the dark.

They made their way to the lab with no interference from the guards. They must've thought Grundcull was dead. When they reached the door Aronin forced it open and said, "You get your stuff while I get the antidote."

Only a heartbeat after he said this the sound of clapping filled the room. Overhead lights filled two points of the room with light. The first was where Grundcull and Aronin were, while the second was occupied by a single scientist. "I guess we need to train our guards to handle stronger subjects," the scientist said wtih a smile.

Grundcull whipped out the Steyr Aug and held his finger over the trigger of the attached grenade launcher. "You should also have the sense to keep guards with you when prisoners escape."

The man chuckled and said, "I do have guards with me." With that five guards emerged from the shadows, encircling and the two. Four trained a machine gun on Grundcull while the other had his on Aronin. "Now, Aronin, you have a choice," the scientist said. "Either kill Grundcull or be killed."

OoC: OOhh… I got good feelings inside of me when reading that post.

Bic: “So, you are not as stupid as I first assumed,” Aronin said, while freezing in position.

“Oh, no. We were perfectly aware of your little escape plan. Although, I did not expect that EMP back there. It’s going to take a while before we get this section operational again. But as long as you just do this tiny thing for us, I’m willing to just overlook all this as a malfunction on the electric layout.”

“I’m not, and I emphasize not, going to be an agent of whatever you are doing. From what I have seen, you are treating ‘us’ as animals! Nothing more than a dog. And I refuse to do your bidding, running around fetching sticks and burying bones in the backyard.”

The scientist looked down and shook his head. “If you’d only know what we are doing,” he started, but was interrupted by Grundcull. “So tell us. What are you doing, except keeping the likes of me prisoners?”

The scientist looked suddenly up at Grundcull with a disgusted look. “Shut up, beast. You are even not meant to be.” Grundcull got a fierce look on his face and took a faster grip on his weapon.

“I would not do that if I were you. Those weapons are not your average weapons, those that you might survive, or Aronin block. It is plasma rifles, shooting high energy beams of plasma. You wouldn’t survive a single shot, and even less a whole barrage.”

Grundcull lowered his weapon and grunted, before looking over at Aronin, who looked back with an uncertain look. He did not know what he was going to do.

“You see this, Aronin?” the scientist said and held forth a syringe filled with an orange fluid. “It’s the antidote. You can have it right now, if you only kill Grundcull. If you don’t kill him, I’ll destroy it, and you will die, and if you try to take it, we will shoot, and you will die. The only possibly sensible reason for you is to kill him.”

Aronin closed his eyes, and thought about the situation. There had to be an easy solution, but the scientist was talking too much, and almost cluttering his mind with garbage.

“So, what do you choose? Do you choose to die, and let us kill Grundcull? Or do you want to live and kill Grundcull yourself? Whatever you do, he dies, so it’s actually about whether you live or die. Will you die? Or live? Kill or be killed? It’s a tough world, and if you can’t decide whether you survive or not, you won’t last long out in this tough world.”

“Be quiet! I’m trying to think!” Aronin screamed as his head pounded hard with thoughts.

“What is there to think about?” The scientist snapped back and held out the syringe. “You kill him, you get this, you don’t, and I’ll drop it, and it will shatter all across the floor.”

That’s it, Aronin thought. If he drops it, I can catch it. Now, how to disable the guns? He could not disable them, as he had no insight in how they worked. But did he need it? While keeping his eyes closed, he tried to close out the psychological chatter from the scientist. He could feel his bones, his flesh, and his cloths. They were all just particles he could manipulate. But could he feel the guns, and their build?

“I’m growing tired of waiting, Aronin,” the scientist said and tapped his foot impatiently. Aronin felt the shape of the gun. “I’ll give you ten seconds, before I drop this syringe. If you haven’t made up your mind, I’ll take it as a negative answer and we will be forced to shoot you.” Aronin could feel the material of the gun. “Ten, nine.” The trigger. “Eight, seven, six.” A cylinder of some kind. “Five, four, three.” The barrel. What to do, what to do... “Two, one.” Yes! Aronin looked quickly up, and the scientist stopped counting. “Well?”

“I choose option four!” he said and made a quick motion towards all the guards. The syringe left the hands of the scientist, just as the guards opened fire. To Aronin, it was almost as if time slowed down as the syringe slowly fell towards the ground. He reached for it as all the guns backfired, covering the guards with plasma. Clogging the start of the barrel by pinching the material together worked better than Aronin thought. The syringe stopped falling as it was caught in the air. Aronin let out a breath of relief, and closed his eyes for a second to calm down. As he opened them, the syringe was shattered with a hit from a small bat the scientist had carried. In shock, Aronin watched as the fluid splashed to the floor, ruining his chances of survival.

“You should have made the right choice. I warned you,” the scientist said and took a few steps backwards, and made a motion with his hand. From all around the room, armed guards appeared and started firing at the two in the center with machine guns. Aronin quickly made a shield of magnetism which threw the bullets on different paths, just skimming Aronin as they flew by.

“Grundcull! Catch!” he yelled as he sent a few “shields” at Grundcull. The guards screamed as they speed towards the creature, and their guns the other way. But just as they disappeared, more guards came forth.

“Clones. Easy to make, easy to replace,” the scientist said through a speaker from a terminal somewhere.

OoC: Ok, new ending. Let’s just beat the crap out of them.

Grundcull caught the two men by the wrists, promptly breaking them. Plasma bolts smashed into them from all directions. They died within seconds. Grundcull spun several times and then let go of them. The momentum threw the men into several guards. In the sudden confusion Grundcull charged a guard and took his weapon, killing the weaponless man with a burst of plasma to the head. Then he shot the two men beside him, and the men beside those men.

He grabbed Aronin by the scruff of the neck and they both ducked behind a pillar. He gave Aronin the machine gun and then took a few moments to examine his surroundings. Roughly ten feet away was another pillar, with three corpses between. He judged that he could make it without suffering signifigant damage, maybe even be bfast enough to loot a couple of bodies.

"Stay here," he hissed at Aronin.

With that, he sprinted away, taking a gun and two grenades from the first body without anyone knowing where he was, but only had time to grab a gun from the second. He skipped the third altogether.

Grundcull leaned against the large column, the steel cooling his back. He smelt blood in the air, and the room reeked of singed flesh. He waited behind the pillar, keeping his breathing as quit as possible and not moving even an inch. After a few minutes one of the guards was sent to check if they had killed him. When he appeared around the pillar Grundcuill sprung forward and gagged him with a grenade.

In a swift motion he took the pins out of the three grenades at his belt and the one in his mouth. He grabbed the man by the collar and belt and heaved him 14 meters back at the guards. The combined explosion of five grenades killed everyone within 10 meters and injured everyone else without cover. (Aronin and Grundcull being the only ones who were protected. It also blocked the enterances used by the guards.

"We ready to go, Aronin?" Grundcull asked as he examined his new toys.

Aronin blinked in surprise at the sudden massacre taking place before him. A headless guard came flying overhead as an explosion shocked the room. He looked at his hands; he held a machine gun. When did he obtain that? Where was he? A faint voice called his name, asking if he was ready to go. Go where? He fell limp to the floor.

"Wake up!" someone shouted.

"I'm awake," Aronin answered groggy. A bright light covered his eyes. Was it the sun? A sharp pain brought him back to reality. "The antidote!" He noticed just then exactly where he was; outside, on Grundcull's back. He wasn't moving. Why wasn't he moving?

"Good," Grundcull said as he started to run and Aronin fainted again. He woke up a little later, feeling warm and full of sweat. "Did you get the antidote?" he asked as he noticed Grundcull. "Where are we?" He got the answer to his question himself; a car, driving quickly on a road. He smelled bad, he thought as he lie back down.

"How are you?" Grundcull asked as they stopped. "You don't seem so bad?"

Aronin felt through his body for any sign of pain coming from the poison. He didn't feel any, nor did he feel hot anymore. His head were clear, he was thinking properly, but his clothing were soaked.

"You sweated a lot during our ride," he said as he helped Aronin out of the car. Aronin found it easier than expected to stand. Actually, there was no trace of fatigue on him.

"I'm.. fine?" he asked, surprised. "I don't feel poisoned at least," he added and pressed on his temple. "But I got a hell of a headache, almost as if I used too much energy. What happened?"

OoC: Oh never mind the ****ty post. Feel free to end in your post.

Grundcull had been considering the answer to the question all through the car ride. He wasn't even aware of the road beneath him, which nearly caused him to miss a couple exit ramps. He decided to just be honest with the kid.

"Truthfully," he said, "I have no idea. It was like you were in a coma. You started sweating a lot. I think you body went into a kind of survival mode. You must've sweat out the poison they gave you." Grundcull turned away and looked at where he parked the car. On the right side, just over the concrete barriers, was a steep cliff drop, and on the left was an open field with a forest just a couple hundred yards away.

"I suppose this is where we go our seperate ways," said Grundcull. "I won't forget this little adventure, but I wouldn't exactly want to do it again," he added with a small laugh. "You should be able to hitch hike and find your way. The car's out of gas so I'm gonna make my way over to that forest. Good bye, Aronin."

With that, Grundcull ran towards the forest, not even giving Aronin a second to reply.

”Well, not me neither,” Aronin replied quietly as Grundcull left him. The small adventure had been full of moments, some bad, some good, but at least he had gained what he might call a friend, if he were to have any. He watched as the man disappeared into the dark forest before he looked in the other direction. In the distance the outskirts of the city emerged like a dangerous and treacherous swamp. “Take care… Friend.”

He started to walk back down towards the city, hoping to find a road somewhere before. He wanted to get away as fast as possible, away from the scientist and ADAM. “Poisoned,” he said to himself. “They poisoned me.”

But still, he was not sick, or anything like that. Were Grundcull right and he had sweated all the poison out? He checked his pulse; normal, he held his hand over his forehead; not warmer than normal. And his headache had disappeared almost as soon as he had started walking. Had the poison not worked, or was he deliberate poisoned with a false poison? Or was it just a poison to disable him in case he should escape? He looked at his hands. Was it his own powers that healed him?

He pointed at a rock, and moved it around. As long as he was aware of the flow of energy flowing from him it was indeed easier to move it around than it had previously been; he had absolute control over it instead of just an indication to where it should move.

Looking at his hands he wondered what other things he could do easier. A grin spread over his face as he lifted from the ground, slowly at first, and then faster as he got the hang of it.

OoC: Ah, done at last!