Arghzzzzzz. Writing Z every words in the new villain's dialogue really upset my OCD. Don't forget to vote and comment if you like the story! :D
- Ida
Chapter 12 - Like brotherz like zizzter
I woke up at because a 16 pounds of Dachshund fell on my gut. All the wind in my lung was knocked out. I let out a wheeze and pushed Sushi down the couch. "Holy cow, Sushi!" I whined as it leaped up on my stomach again and tried to lick my face.
To my surprise, I was on a bed, tucked in a grey blanket. I fell asleep on the couch somewhere between the laugh and Les's terrible jokes while the video tape was still on.
Like every time we had movie night at his place, I couldn't last till the end of the movie. I'd fall asleep while the most awesome scenes of the movie, according to Les, was playing.
I allowed myself to have a noble (and quite nice) conversation with Les and I knew I would regret that later on when he flipped back the invisibility switch next to my name.
Frowning at the thought, I distracted myself by looking around instead.
I observed the photos on the blue wall and some ice shaped trophies on the shelf and assumed it was Les's room. I pulled out my phone from my checkered pajama pants to check the time. The light flashed on the screen, hurting my eyes. It was six twenty-six. I was about to get up and do something productive but another 61 pounds of little girl attacked me with a bear hug causing me to fall back on the bed.
"Jamie!" The brunette girl cooed, laughing. "Hey, Gale." I hugged her back. She still has her hair in 2 pigtails to express her eternal love for Anna from Frozen. That gray eyes resembled Les's alot but the similarity ended there because Les can be a jerk sometimes (most of the time, actually).
"Les said you will stay here for a couple of days." She smiled. "Can we play hide and seek again?"
That game became illegal in the Logan's house since Les decided it was a good idea to hide in his uncle's car trunk. His uncle drove out with him still in the trunk. If I wanted to find him and make him be it for once, I would have to go more than an extra mile, literally.
"You have school, Gale." Les walked in with a small Zootopia schoolbag in one hand.
"Not if I skip." Gale responded in the tone so similar to her brother's. Just cuter. A lot cuter.
Les ran his fingers through his tousled hair, leaning his head against the doorframe, still half asleep. "Nope, missy." He said hoarsely, closing his eyes. "The sooner I can drop you off at school, the sooner I get to sleep."
"Seems like you're still sleep walking, Logan." I pointed out causing Gale to giggle.
Les rolled his eyes at me. "Getting back to sleep on the couch at 4 AM isn't easy." He shook his head, shooting me a lazy smile. "Not to mention having someone napping right on your arm prior to that."
"I didn't." Gale protested as I kept quiet. I knew I didn't walk up to the bedroom by myself.
"Now we know who did that." Les raised his brow. "Out now, Gale. Mom'll kill me if you're late."
"But Jamie rarely visits us! Can't I stay home with her today?"
"Go finish your breakfast, please." He groaned and tossed her the bag.
"Cornflake is not real breakfast!" Gale caught it and punched Les playfully in the stomach before exiting the room.
"And your DIY omelette is not real food." He called after his sister.
"Meanie! You must not be my real brother!" Her angry little voice shot back causing me to laugh.
"Ouch." Les scoffed, amused by her respond. "So—How are we doing?" He yawned, walking over. "You better feel better, Devlin. You got the bed. I had to exile myself to the cold sofa downstairs with Sushi and Mochi as pillow and blanket."
"Sounds like a great bonding time. When did I fall asleep?" I asked, staring down at the blanket covering my shoulders like a shawl.
"Two—ish." Les clicked his tongue like a little kid. "Then, you practically cut the blood supply to my right hand for an hour straight. If I hadn't carried you up here, I'd have lost an arm." He held up his hand. "Feeling lucky I'm left handed."
"Just wake me up. Problem solved." I deadpanned.
"Just wake you up, yeah?" He repeated sarcastically, chuckling. "No, thank you. I still value my life so ,nope, not gonna make the same mistake."
Yikes. I felt like I had bothered him too much already.
"Sorry." I blew stray hair from my face. "I'll sleep on the couch tonight. You take your room back." I decided. And nights after today. If needed.
"As if." Les sniffed and sneezed. He seemed to be mildly sick. "Chivalry or idiocy this time?" He wearily quoted what I had said earlier after we got mugged.
"A little bit of both."
"That's an improvement." He pointed out. "You know Sushi can't distinguish feeding time from playtime and both of that from resting time. You won't get to sleep."
"I figured from those rings under your eyes." I nodded. "You could possibly play angry Anakin at this point."
"Ooh, the sasses are coming back." Les noted. "Stress level normalizing and sarcasm level surging at steady pace. Happy now?"
"Is it possibly to feel remotely happy in mornings in schooldays?"
"If I were you, I'd just skip today. Mom didn't tell Gale about what happened. Sorry if she bothers you with her--" He paused to find the right word. "--enthusiasm."
"No, it's fine." I got up from the bed. There was a loud meow from outside.
"Mochi's hungry." I muttered, picking it up. "Any words from the police?"
"None so far. Your parents have been informed. They are coming over. They should be here by noon." Les told me as we walked down the stairs.
I froze when I saw a police car pulling up on the street and parked in front of the house. Only one of the police was present. I bolted out of the house to the officer, in my pajamas and all.
"Officer Browning!" I called her before she could enter the car. She turned around to face me.
"Have you found her?"
Officer Browning smile a tight lipped smile. "Yes, sweetie."
"Where? What happened? Where's she now? Why is she there?" I couldn't get the words out of my mouth fast enough. My excitement was bouncing like a ball inside me.
"We found her at science center. She's at the police station at the moment." She reassured and I jumped in glee.
"Can I go see her?"
"Sure, hop in." Officer Browning laughed kindly.
Les caught up with me and looked at us in confusion. "Good news?"
"They found her, Les!" I practically shouted. "I'll go see her. Can you take care of Mochi for me? It loves canned Tuna. If you don't have litter box, some newspaper will suffice. I'll be right back." I spoke quickly, stuffing the pissed cat into Les's arms.
"That's--great." Les chuckled, reluctantly receiving the cat (a demon). "But shouldn't you wait till your parents arrive?"
"Robert and Laurel Devlin are informed. They told me to have you wait for them at the police station. Everything's okay now, Jamie." Officer Browning replied with a warm smile. "We don't lounge around with donuts and coffee even when we have superheroes around."
"Can you tell Kat I won't be at school today so don't wait for me at the meeting." I turned to ask Les quickly.
"School? After what happened and you still have school on your mind?" Les rolled his eyes and gave me a quick hug. Mochi was crammed between us so it let out a whine and slapped its paw on my forehead lightly. "Call me when you get there, alright?" He said before letting go of me.
"I will. Thanks for yesterday." I said slowly, looking at him in surprise. Since when did this guy have a care in the world.
He took a step back, feigning surprised. "Is that a thank you I heard, Devlin?"
"No." I coughed, turning away. "Just sentimentality stuck in my throat. It's gone now. I'll see you at school, Logan."
"If I'm not at school tomorrow, suspect your murderous cat." He wrestled away the grumpy cat who had been trying to get back into my arm.
Officer Browning started the engine. Les's gaze was still on the car until we turned on a corner. I couldn't understand why Les has to wait for a situation like this to reach out to me again as a good friend, not a random jerk from school. If things were normal, I knew he wouldn't act the way he did the past few days.
That kind of hurt.
But I felt a little stronger knowing I could identify it was just a play.
Even though that didn't mean I would let my guard down.
But the worst was I was totally buying it since yesterday evening when we went through all the old tape collection his dad recorded.
"Protective boyfriend, huh?" Officer Browning joked. She looked quite young.
"Just a friend, officer." I said. On and off friend. Nothing more.
Her blue eyes met mind from the mirror. "You know, people in my unit thought you would be difficult to handle. That's why they sent me to handle you without completely freaking you out."
"Really?" I chuckled. "Does that make you a special force for dealing with teenage tantrums?"
Officer Browning laughed. "Yes, I'm the best in that department. You have no idea how intimidating those guys in my unit may appear to kids." She turned on the corner. "The last time I let them approach a kid, they ended up having to slit her throat because the girl won't stop screaming. So annoying. They even got blood in the backseat. Such a mess."
My blood ran cold, hearing her word. I froze. My breath got caught in my throat.
"Oh, you heard it right, Jamie Laurel Devlin." She cackled.
From the mirror, I saw her eyes changing from cool blue to hard brown. Her blonde hair seemed to be pulled back inside her--his skull. A black hat formed on his head. It looked as if the texture of everything came from his own body!
The officer that took Harmonia smiled at me a little too friendly in the reflection and tipped the hat. I let out a muffled scream as I reached for my phone and tried to unclasp the seat belt. Neither worked. The seat belt trapped me in the seat. I pulled my phone out, trying to get to the emergency call but the car swerved violently to the right and the phone flew out of my grip onto the rubber pad covered floor. I snatched it up with difficulty and typed in the password.
I heard a click and looked up. "You have less then split second to talk on that phone after I pulled the trigger which I would definitely do as soon as you press the call button. " He threatened. "Now, unless you have super speed, I suggest you hand the phone over, missy."
I breathe in deeply, trying to control my shaking hands as I dropped the phone into his hand. As if I had a choice. "Thank you, very nice."
"I don't have any money on me." I said, keeping my voice level even though I was being kidnapped by a super who's definitely not a hero. My eyes were looking out the window all the time, trying to take in the details of the path this psycho was taking me.
"As if I care about the money." He deadpanned, scratching his nape with the gun. "Where's Casey Dunne?" I was taken aback. "Right. Where's your aunt?" He asked again, his tone harsher this time. "That woman escaped. She would definitely go back to her niece. Speak!" "
I don't know." I replied, feeling more scared every seconds. He attempted to hunt my aunt down but she escaped so he went to me instead.
"Wrong answer. Tell me where's she?"
"I really don't know! She went missing! Were you not listening?" I shouted back as he moved the gun backward to point at me again.
"Not taking any risks, love. She must have told you something."
"Not to talk to stranger is one of them."
"You'll be sorry if my friends find out you're lying. They don't have patience like me." He sighed as if she really cared for my fate. "My friends always ask me why I'm so good with kids. Never had to splash their brain in the car." He chuckled. "Not that you can't be the first case."
I swallowed hard, craning my neck away from the seat as much as I could. I didn't know if it was just a trick to scare me but I could smell metallic scent reeking from the seat.
I was scared for Harmonia. I hoped the little girl who got her throat slit earlier wasn't her.
"So I told them if you want to be good with kids, all you need is a super power to transform into someone they trust and some sleeping pill." He said as he aimed the gun at me and pulled the trigger.
I expected a loud bang but none came. I felt just a sting on my arm and then nothing at all.
- - - -
I woke up to the sound of Kat's shriek. My cheek was resting on a cold floor. I blinked slowly as my vision got better. I rolled on my back and cursed as sharp pain shot from both my arms which were handcuffed together behind my back. "Ow!" I hissed hoarsely, pushing myself up against the wall. I was behind these black bars. "Kat?" I let out a cough, staggering to the bars, looking outside.
"Turnz the thing downz, Blob fizz!" A woman's voice called out. There was a sound of high heels clanking outside and every Clink! Clank! Sent a wave of pain in my head. "The caller hung up! I don't know the password!" A man replied. "I cannot even hold that tiny thing!"
"Then shut the goddamn phone downz before I shatterz it on your faze!" The woman hissed again. "Chameleonz! Do zomething aboutz itz!" She had a very unique way of speaking by unnecessarily adding Z behind every word. She sounded like some sort of reptile.
Even criminals couldn't stand Kat's scream. Ha.
"Shut it and they will call the cops instead. Then we'll have 'em on us in an hour." Another voice spoke up calmly. The Browning guy who took me here. "Don't touch it, idiot, it's not waterproof. don't break the thing. We still need it. If it wasn't for—ah, the girl's awake."
The area in front of me resembled—a room minus windows and door. It actually looked more like a box. There was a ladder that went through the ceiling. 3 people were standing in circle. The thing that was called Blob fish was sitting on the ground in heap. It looked purplish and smelled like a very strong grape wine. Overall, it—he looked like a very big chunk of grape jell-o.
The woman had black hair and she was in an electric blue super suit. I remembered her instantly. Electra. The well-known super villain. I wasn't sure how she got her power but I was guessing, similar to Peter Parker's case, a mutated electric eel may have bitten her.
Just a vague guess since eel is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw her.
It was unfortunate for her that she's got her facial structures from the electric eels as one of the side effects. (Another being her incapability to speak properly.)
Her jaws were as enormous as moray eel's.
The guy she called Chameleon stepped in front of me, holding the shrieking phone to my face.
"I'll pick up and you tell them you're alright. On your way to your grandma's blah blah blah. Any funny business and she will make sure you regret it."
Charming.
Kat shouted at me as soon as Chameleon picked up. "Jamie! Why are you absent? Professor Dmitri just paired me up with jerkface in physic!"
"The feeling's mutual, Haliwell." Les's faint scoff could be heard from the phone, indicating he, too, wasn't having a nice time working as her partner. "You shut up!" Kat hissed, assumingely at him. "Are you okay, Jamie?"
I wasn't even remotely okay unless that word meant being held captive by super villains in the middle of nowhere for no reason at all.
I looked at Electra's smirking face and answered calmly. I felt warm sensation in my chest. Les's at school with Kat. He knew I was going to the police station. If I told Kat anything other than that, he would suspect what's wrong.
(Jerkface had been a nickname Kat secretly established for Les since he started ignoring me. She harbored special hatred for him because of that.)
Chameleon must have heard Les's name when he was in the more feminine form. I needed to shut Kat up before she mentioned Les's name.
"I'm fine, Kat. Something came up so I couldn't pick up. I'm just heading to my parent's. Bad signal. Will talk later."
"Aw, man! You are so occupied these days! Isaac is not here also! That means I'll have to sit alone at lunch! You know that's not acceptable!" (I wonder where's Cryonics.)
I rolled my eyes. Being held at gunpoint surely isn't as problematic as sitting alone in the cafeteria full of 3 hundreds other students. "Sounds like the end of the world. Look, Kat, I'll see you tomorrow."
Chameleon hung up.
"You found the pill?" He turned to ask Electra and she shook her head. "We zearched through her houze buts we couldn't find it."
Chameleon turned to me. "The pill you take everyday. Where's it?"
It's in my overnight bag at Les's house but why the heck would I tell them the truth?
"It ran out. My aunt went missing before she could give me the new bottle." I lied smoothly.
"She couldz be lyingz." Electra suggested but Chameleon tilted his head to one side, observing me slowly. "She didn't take it today. The car was about to explode on the way over here because of her so I gave her the shot we have left."
Electra rolled her eyes. "You uzed up the zample. Great. Now, our only hope izz to find that zcientizt woman."
"As if you didn't need her to mix up those stupid chemicals in the end anyway." Chameleon argued.
"What now?" I asked monotonously.
"If your aunt won't give us the information we need and turn herself in in 10 minutes, we'll operate without consent." He grinned. Now I knew why they called him Chameleon. Apart from being able to shape-shift, his unattractive grin stretched from ear to ear as if his skull was cut opened and put back in a bad way. I shuddered, backing away. "What do you mean by that?"
"Plan B. Extraction process." He muttered, looking at me emotinlessly before all of them walked up the ladders.
- - - -
I knelt down and hopped backward over my bonded arms so I got my arms in front of me. That's better. My wrists were covered in purple bruises. I would be wearing only long sleeved sweatshirts after I got out of this place.
That's if I could get out of this place.
I tried concentrating my power on the handcuff but the thing was metallic and I would burn my wrists before I could melt it and free myself.
I wondered why they were after my aunt. To me, she doesn't seem like a secret agent undercover at all. I meant it would be a little bit too much for an act to sprain your ankles in every high heel ever and setting the fire alarm off every time you cook. Was it because one of her weird projects? She worked in Super Power Research Department. She may have stumbled upon something these villains want.
Maybe something like kryptonite to defeat the heroes? They did said they needed my aunt here to make them something they're too stupid to make by themselves. That's the case in most superhero movies.
There was sound of someone coming down the ladders. I went over to the front of my cell.
Electra.
"10 minutez wait iz over." She said casually before unlocking the padlock on my cage and dragged me outside. "Yourz aunt doesn't really care about you." She taunted with a smirk.
"She cares about me enough to teach me how to pronounce the letter S properly." I retorted. Electra hissed a reptilian-like sound and shoved me up the ladders.
The another floor looked like a lab. With bright light and white floor and tools on the aluminum table. Add a guy with bright smile in a lab coat holding a flask of green substance and the picture would be completed.
Except for the fact that there was some dark spot on the floor that suspiciously looked similar to blood. And those blood stain on the tools. And that coldness in Chameleon's eyes while he put on the white gloves professionally.
I realized the dreadful fact 3 minutes later when she strapped me on the bunk with my hands over my head. I was the lab rat.
Not a really pleasant discovery, actually.
I thrashed and even burnt down good portion of Electra's black hair until she was left with a stump of something that resembled a too short pixie cut.
She cursed in her Z language and sent a light shock of electricity up my arm. It didn't hurt that bad but I was sure if Chameleon didn't hold her back, she would have turned me into ash.
"Stop it, Electra. She will die if she's not hydrated then we can't-" "I know thatz!" She hissed, shoving him away. "You've gone zoft, boy."
Chameleon eyed her with boredom prominent in his eyes. "Hurting the victim would result in more years in jail doing community service if we get arrested." He said calmly as if he was dealing with a kid. "Now, if you don't want to spend the rest of your life as a lab rat crocheting pink woolly hat for the orphans, I suggest you listen to me."
"You uzed the laz syringe on her! You zaid she can't uze her powerz! Did you lie to me, idioticz brotherz!" Electra spatted venomously at him.
Brother? Okay. I guessed an electric eel and a Chameleon can be siblings nowadays.
Chameleon sighed and moved to my side and let the syringe hovered over my skin. I gulped, wriggling with all my might. "What the heck is wrong with you people? What are you doing? (And where on earth are the superheroes?)" I shouted and the rubber glove on Chameleon's hands gave out sizzling noise before melting at my touch. He hissed in pain and yanked the gloves off.
I took that opportunity to bring up my bonded arms, hard and fast. The strap was torn apart and smell of something burning filled my nose. I let my looped arms encircled Chemeleon's neck and I yanked my hands back toward me with all my might. The metal chain on my handcuffs dug into his throat and he produced gurgled sound as he tried to relief the pressure.
The straps holding me down were now burned till nothing's left of them but toxic ash.
"Let go or you'll regret this." Chameleon spoke as calmly as he could with a crazy teenage girl hanging from his back, choking him with a chain.
"That's my line!" I crossed my hands, intensifying the force. I was at least 10 sizes below him but I was faster.
"Stupidz girl!" Electra yelled, lunging toward me but her brother stopped her.
I didn't expect to be judo flipped over Chameleon's shoulder and landed on my back, completely winded. My vision blurred out and my arms fell to my sides. My coughs muffled my wince. I was too shock to speak.
The villain snatched my wrists and pinned them above my head. "Give me that syringe. I'll just put her out." He grunted as I kicked my leg up, catching him in the shin.
"Get! Off! Me!" I hissed, thrashing with all my might but he just bent my arms in the direction that shouldn't be bent. Involuntary tears welled up in my eyes simultaneously to pain spreading from my limb held down in sickening angle.
If Barbie dolls had feelings, this is probably what they would feel when I bent their arms too far backward until the joint popped out...
"Stop it! You sick psychos!" I cried out, tending for it to be an order but when it came out in a whimper, I just sounded pathetic.
"I'll snap your arm if you won't stop being so difficult." He said calmly. However, to my surprise, the pressure subsided.
I closed my eyes, trying to get my breathing back to normal.
"Zeemz like we got ourzelves a fighterz." Electra mused and I turned to glare at her, hoping I had laser vision.
"Maybe this one's immune too." He said before touching the tip syringe on my skin and applied pressure.
To my surprise, the syringe shattered.
No, I was not invincible.
It's been frozen until it's too brittle to withstand any resistance the second before it hit my skin.
"You should have muted that hideoz ringtone." A familiar voice said, mocking Electra.
That voice alone brought a weak smile to my lips.