One (A SPM AU BASED ON LN2)

The Lab: Part 3

"HEY, LADY!" I shouted, causing her to snap her neck all the way around, which was super unsettling and made me jump. Her eyes were grey and empty, devoid of all emotion and personality.

I immediately regretted my choices.

"Six...." One whispered, voice soft and strained, his brown eyes softening. "Wh..t...are....y....doing...?" He squeaked. "...Run..."

"P-put him down!" I cried, trembling. It was definitely a lot harder to act bravely in person like this. I had no idea how One did it so often. I was drop-dead terrified.

"Well, well, well," The teacher giggled, dropping One, causing him to land on a heap on the floor, making a small noise that sounded like what a hurt animal would make. Then he sort of just lied there, his breathing uneven. I could only hope he wasn't hurt too bad. 

She then stretched her neck over to me, cocking her unusually large head to the side, right in front of my face. 

"Aren't you interesting..." She beamed, looking me over. "Blue skin, blue eyes, blue hair. Classic traits of lower numbers. Are you lost, my boy? Must I... return you to where you belong?" She asked in a tone that was so sweet that it was scary. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Blumiere," I muttered, trying and failing not to let my voice shake. "A-And I don't need your help. M-me and my friend were just leaving."

One slowly raised his head from the floor. I remember making brief eye contact with him, seeing his brown eyes soften.

Because I had called him a friend.

"Your friend?!" She asked, lightly laughing, then pointing at One while still maintaining eye contact with me. "Sweetie, this isn't a friend. It's a monster. Why don't you come with me, and I can get you a room-"

"NO!" I shouted, clenching my fists, squeezing my eyes shut, and looking down, not moving. "H-He's not a monster. J-Just let him go and we'll be out of your way. And then I-I promise to never bother you again! Honest!"

She smiled a horrifying grin that nearly stretched to each of her ears, revealing long, crooked teeth which had most likely not been properly brushed in many many weeks. "Oh, brave child... you have NO idea what you're associating yourself with..." She trailed off. "You have no idea what that thing could do to our world."

"No, YOU have no idea what he can do to the world," I spat in return. "H-he can bring back the sun."

"He can lie," She stated, her voice seeming to echo now. "He can kill us all... he can destroy everything..."

"No," I hissed. "You can't.... you can't judge him solely on his number."

"That's what the numbers are for, sweetie" She stated. 

"No... Our... our numbers don't define us." I said.

With that, I suddenly summoned what looked like a small black blob, lined with red. A dark projectile, if you will.  I have no idea how I did it, but I made it appear, flicking my wrist and hitting her right in her face, causing her to hiss and rush backward, screeching like a monster. It was loud, high-pitched, and it hurt my head.

I took that opportunity to rush over and grab ahold of One, helping him up and slinging his arm over my shoulder, causing him to wince and hiss in pain, squeezing his eyes shut. I rushed over to the vent while she was stunned, quickly getting inside and crawling through while holding him over my back, essentially carrying him.

"H-Hang in there," I whispered, sweating slightly. It was hard carrying another person, and even though I was stronger and faster than One, I still wasn't super strong. "W-We're gonna make it."

It felt weird for those words to be coming out of my mouth instead of his. Usually, he was the one saying things like that, but I guess it was my turn to be brave.

But sadly, that bravery didn't last long, as I suddenly heard a loud banging noise. I quickly turned and looked back at the vent, seeing the teacher having stuck her head in, stretching her neck so she could follow us.

That was the image of nightmares. I gasped and started crawling faster as she chased after us, feeling my heart accelerate. 

I continued running, when I saw the vent end, leading to another gap I would have to jump. The gap was out of the vents and onto a small wooden platform outside, leading to our freedom. We would finally be out of the lab! There were stairs on the other side of it, leading to the ground, but if we were to miss and fall, we would surely die.

"Oh no...." I trailed off, knowing I couldn't make that jump with One on my back. But the teacher was hot on my heels, so I couldn't just stop.

"One?! C-Can you move?!" I asked him frantically, earning a soft nod from him.

"Okay, then here's what we're gonna do," I breathed, still holding him up and supporting him. "I'm gonna let you go and jump across. Then, you're gonna jump and I'm gonna catch you. I know you're hurt, but it's what we have to do!"

He didn't verbally respond, but I could feel him nod into my back, so I continued crawling forward until the vent ended, leading to the gap we would need to jump. I set him down and gave myself two steps to run and jump, easily making it across. Then, I quickly turned around and kneeled down, holding out my hand.

One slowly stood up, his legs shaking. I could see the teacher just a few feet behind him.

"ONE!" I cried, "HURRY!"

He slowly looked up at me, almost looking drowsy. 

Why wasn't he panicking?!

"ONE! PLEASE!" I shouted, trembling. "I NEED YOU!"

He seemed to take a deep breath, then stood up on his tiptoes, like he was preparing himself. Then, with the teacher inches behind him, he gathered all his strength, took two long strides, and jumped.

The teacher's teeth barely missed his trenchcoat as he leaped, grabbing ahold of my hand.

She tried reaching towards us, only to stop as if her neck just quit stretching. Looked like it would only go so far. Thank Grambi. She screamed in a frustrated manner, her neck retreating and bringing her backward, away from us.

I quickly hoisted him up and pulled him forward, causing him to trip forward and land on his face.

I was worried he passed out since he seemed unresponsive, but when I asked, "One, a-are you okay?" He replied with a weak thumbs-up, showing me that he was at least alive.

I lightly smiled, then sat down next to him, utterly exhausted. "Y-You're hurt pretty bad..." I pointed out.

"'m srry...." He mumbled with his face into the ground, sounding so tired and defeated.

Why was he apologizing for that? It wasn't his fault. 

"It's okay..." I assured him, looking forward. There was no one in the streets. It looked like we were safe for now. "It's okay.  W-we'll stay here until you feel good enough to keep moving. Okay?"

"...We?" He asked, softly raising his head and looking up at me. I could see the cuts and bruises around his neck. It looked so painful. I couldn't even imagine the fear and pain he must have been feeling.

And for the first time ever, I actually smiled back. A full, real smile.

"Yes," I replied. "We."