Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 31: Seeing Them Fall

He holds his hands up in surrender. Sarina moves towards the keypad, frowning as she scrutinizes the hardware. Casey watches the cyborg closely, wondering what's going through the intelligent mind of hers.

"So she was captured, that's what you're saying," Sarina says, wording her question like a statement. "If I get to work now, I think I can hack this in a rather efficient fashion."

Casey fails to hide the shock that overcomes him. "Wait...what?"

Destiny laughs, the sound like a happy barking noise. "We aren't going to let you save her on your own. You could use some backup, Case."

"Sit tight, you two. This may take a while," Sarina says, wiggling her fingers over the keypad.

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Zilla lays against the wall of her glass enclosure, her eyes closed as she tries to send herself into a meditative trance. She wants to dream again, like how she did when she saw her and Casey dancing. As a shadow mutant, sleep is never needed for her, and her trances were simply to restore energy. Never had she dreamt until that one day.

It feels like she's been trapped here for weeks. The seconds tick by, blossoming into minutes and hours until she can no longer remember the time nor whether it's night or day outside.

Casey occupies her thoughts, her stomach knotted with worry and guilt. He's awake, she knows that only because she saw him before she blacked out. Furthermore, she knows that he probably won't listen to her plea for him not to follow after her. Even Zilla knows that he should be resting more before he goes out on missions again.

There's scuffling from outside the room, a noise that instantly makes her perk up. She lifts to her feet and glides over to the far side of the glass cage, seeing three shapes slowly creep out of the shadows; a pale figure dressed in white, a slightly shorter figure with piercing green eyes, and a tall boy in a hockey mask. Her emotions tug her somewhere between relief and fear.

"Casey..." she whispers. "Destiny, Sarina..."

Destiny's ears perk and she instantly looks towards the shadow girl, having heard her voice. Her scarred face lights up with surprise, her wings spreading and smacking against her two companions. She points, causing all three of them to hurry towards the cage.

"Shadow, you're okay!" Casey says, pressing his hand against the glass. "Or...you're okay, right?"

Zilla can't help but smile at his reaction. "I'm fine, Hockey Puck. What about you?"

He shrugs and flashes a grin. "Ah, Casey Jones is all good."

"That's a matter of opinion," Sarina comments, her bright electronic eyes flickering from the vigilante to the trapped mutant before them. "Shadow, or...Zilla, do you know how I could get your cage open?"

The shadow girl purses her lips, pointing towards the Necromancer's empty desk. "He could have something over there. Whatever you do, you have to hurry. He should be back soon with Beast Mode and his other animals."

"I'll watch the door. If you hear me bark, run," Destiny says, her words clipped and precise. Before anyone can argue, she heads off to the main entrance.

Casey looks back at Zilla as Sarina starts tapping away at Wallace's computer. The teen smiles widely at his friend as she shakes her head.