Young Writers Society

Deathwish

I stopped dead in my tracks. For some reason, I suddenly felt nauseous and dizzy. "What?" I muttered using the wall for support. The air seemed to be heavy and it was getting hard to breathe. "This.Isn't.Natural." I said dropping to the floor, keeping my back against the wall. Snap out of it. I pushed myself to feet, slowly becoming used to these conditions. I turned walking back the way I came, the air seemed to get heavier with each step. But I kept walking, my body was beginning to adapt (Adaption was something else that I was plagued with.), towards the cause of my sickness...towards the source of this Pressure.

Basilisk

In all honesty, my fixation with learning Pressure’s purpose in this hell-hole had dropped my guard, and furthermore my awareness of his abilities. I should have known better, yet he himself was unable to focus his abilities if his mind were somewhere else, a fact that I knew well, and would not hesitate to exploit to disable his potentially lethal power.
As Samuels had stiffened up in my grip, I felt a tight force around my head that simply would not go away, like the first few moments of takeoff on an airplane. Following this (I have heard reports of ears ‘popping’ yet I lizard anatomy does not retain the same hearing system), my head began to ache, intensely, and the world started to bend and curve before my eyes- a hallucination. Realising his intentions, shaking him around was enough to snap him from his Zen-like state, from which he was able to emit his low pitched vibrations (so low they remained even inaudible to myself).

Keeping him away from exerting pressure was the only way I could obtain the answers I required, so it would be wise to constantly give him a shake, like he was about to doze off. It did not escape my mind that the pressure would escape the room-the door in the corner was not air-tight by any means- which would play hell on the minds of other inmates, yet then it would dissipate once it reached outside. However, my mind was digressing.

“We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way.”

Pressure grunted in reply. I hoped, for his sake, that this meant he would desist in his opposing behaviour. I removed my palm from his mouth and clenched it by my side, the bones popping as my hand locked into a fist, readying itself for a strike.

“What do you want to know?” He exhaled; it was amusing how clear the effect of the adrenaline was in his voice.

“Let’s start with the basics now, shall we? I want to know why you’re here, and who sent you- and not bullshit either; you know me better,” I smiled to see the cooperation in Pressure’s eyes.

Deathwish

As I moved swiftly through the hallways, I heard the sounds of the other inmates screaming. More than usual. In fact, even the guards that I passed on the way were laying on the ground moaning in pain. Of course, since the guards were no longer a concern it meant that I could through the hallways at top speed towards where I estimated the pressure was coming from. Since I was no longer affected by it...or it was longer there, either way I wanted to see for myself. It was a few minutes before I came to a dimly lit hallway with a sign which I recognized to be the guards headquarters. I heard rumors about some of the inmates wondered in here and were tortured to death by the guards. "Great." I said creeping down the corridor, beginning to wonder if it was a smart idea to come down this way. With each step, the atmosphere seemed to become heavier with malice until I came to a large door...or more precisely, a large doorway. The door had been knocked from it's hinges. A hulking, scaled figure was standing there lifting a man by his throat. What in the world is that? I took a step back, tensing my muscles. I avoided Horntooth earlier so I didn't get shredded and now, I had just walked into a fight between a 8ft monster and some guard. Great Idea, genius! My muscles tensed even farther as the creature's head turned and one of his eyes focused directly on me.

The blindfolded me and handcuffed me to take me to my new cell. Really, I escaped from everywhere else, what makes them think this place will be any different? After all, they forgot to gag me.
"Hi," I pipe up in my sweet little voice. "I'm Emmy. What's your name?"
The guard barely glances at me, but that's enough. "Captain Jack, Jack Smith," he replies, his voice oddly distant. Well, maybe oddly to the other guards; I know exactly what's going on.
I smiled wide. "You know, these handcuffs are really uncomfortable. What could I do, after all? I'm blindfolded, and I'm just a little girl."
I could tell he was looking me over, judging whether it would be safe. I know my appearance will reassure him; I'm Goldilocks with a pink dress and a raggedy dolly.
He reached down and unlocked the cuffs around my hands. I smiled and gave him a huge. "Thank you, Jackie!" I knew he'd have a vapid grin on his face right now, they always did. "I'm tired now. Can you carry me to my room?"
He scooped me up in his arms, and I rested my head on his shoulder. Being three has advantages. I heard the other guard's feet clomping on the floor. "Sir, you can't-" His protest faded, looking at my sleepy smile. "What trouble could she be?" he muttered.
I was deposited gently on a bed and my blindfold was untied. "Goodbye, Emmy," Jackie said, with regret. "I'll see you another time then." When the cell door shut with a whisper, I held Dolly in front of me.
"Well, Dolly, as Mommy always said, wait for the right time. I don't think Jackie's quite ready yet to betray the Asylum."

Specter

My vision blurred and my ears rung when a sudden pressure appeared in the air but after a few minutes, it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. It didn't take me long to recover from the sickness, after all I had been poisoned so many times that I had a extremely fast recovery time. But I noticed something after regaining my vision, there was a guard laying on the floor directly outside my cell. Guess I'll put my plan into effect a little earlier... I reached through the bars and used the guard's keys to unlock my cell door. The guard seemed to awake but he was so weak that he couldn't move, guess the pressure sickness from earlier had more of an effect on the rest of the people. He didn't have any weapons worth taking and besides I was sure that I would be more than a match for anybody in this godforsaken place, barehanded. But my first task was getting this damn power-nulling collar from my neck. I ran through the hallways till I reached the guard station of this wing and kicked the door off it's hinges. While stealth is one of my strongest points, I seen no reason in trying to hide when it seemed that everyone in this place was badly affected by whatever the sickness was earlier. I was even happier that the only guard in the room was the one who had been serving my food for the place week or so "Hi friend." I said with a smile as he stumbled to his knees using one of the control panels for support. I snatched a odd-shaped key from the wall and used it to take off the collar from around my neck "Excellent." I muttered phasing my hand in and out. "Let's make sure everything is working properly." I reached into the guard's chest and wrapped my fingers around his heart then squeezed. The guard coughed up blood then fell backward on the floor. I flexed my fingers, looking at the blood on my hand "Everything is working just fine..."

Quartermaster

It was just as well that I had decided to stay awake later than usual, as a loud scream broke the silence. I got up and decided to inspect what had happened and what met my eyes was an inmate, covering his ears and his eyes bloodshot, screaming, then immediately passed out. My head began to feel lightheaded, and as I tried to shake off the effects, I realised two things: Pressure had gone to his quarters alone and Basilisk (from what I had read in his file) knew he was here.

"Get this inmate to the medical bay," I called out to a couple of nearby guards. I rushed to Pressure's quarters and came in to find Basilisk choking the life out of Pressure, and Deathwish just idly standing there.

"Tell me why you are here?" Basilisk asked, venom in his voice. I pulled out my pistol and signalled for Deathwish to vacate the room which he obeyed.

"Let the airbag go and I will resist the temptation to hand your ass to you," I yelled at scaly-skin. Basilisk's head turned. Pressure's face was turning purple.

"As you wish," Basilisk said and threw Pressure towards me. I sidestepped his, now unconscious, body, only to be met by Basilisks hand around my throat and the wall rushing to meet the back of my head. A loud thud is what followed. White light filled my vision, along with me seeing double of the reptilian-mammal hybrid.

"You may be the warden of this godforsaken prison, but look around, no witnesses. That means no one will know you are dead. Or that it is I that will have killed you," Basilisk whispered, not even bothering to hide his anger.

"Don't think of me defenceless. I still have a couple of tricks," I retorted back, and brought my right hand to my temple, where a hidden switch was concealed. Time appeared to slow down and a bunch of red dots appeared over Basilisks body.

"Locked," I said, a grin spreading over my face and brought both hands on his face. Basilisk appeared stunned so I followed through with a double kick to the chest. His vice grip released. Now onto the finale, I thought. My body obeyed and my right hand brought out my second pistol.

"Jackpot," I shouted and unleashed a torrent of bullets onto the red dots.

Pressure

I had realised with great joy that may new acquaintance (possibly even friend considering he was the closest thing I had to one in this country) had breached the room and intervened in Basilisk's interrogation. Despite the fact that his arrival had indeed saved me from revealing secret information that I would hate to be passed on to other inmates- this Vergil was dangerous enough as it was- I worried that Quartermaster had underestimated the cunning and deviousness that Jason retained.

"Let the airbag go and I will resist the temptation to hand your ass to you!"

My worries were very much confirmed.

I felt the air leaving my lungs in a rapid gust as Basilisk's grip tightened; the man never did take threats so likely. I felt unconsciousness begin to well over my vision, my brain failing and darkness smother all around me. However, I was awakened fairly quickly as I felt a sudden sensation of weightlessness- my body had left the hold of any physical bound, and I was hurtling towards Quartermaster's unsuspecting self.

I hit the concrete ground with a 'smack', and my mind flashed back into consciousness- the pain a sudden spark of electricity to keep me working. The adrenaline pulsated through my veins, and I tried to push myself back up to my knees, but to no avail. I could hear in some out-of-body experience that the Watchman and the Lizard began to throw subtle threats to strike fear into the other.

The next second a yell echoed from the cell, and the loud noise of gunshots blasted at my eardrums, thumping as hard as I imagined my exertion did. I covered my ears, but it was in vain; the assault had ceased. Turning my head, I saw Basilisk collapse to the ground, and Quartermaster blew imaginary smoke from the muzzles of his firearms.

"A lot of good those scales did you 'gator," he said, emotionless, before spitting blood from his mouth.

He turned and noticed I had stirred. Offering his hand, he huffed in humour at me and winked in over-confidence. I shook my head disbelievingly and slapped my palm into his, and he hauled back to my feet, supporting me with his right arm to make sure I didn't fall from dizziness.

"Thanks," I smiled in gratitude.

But then panic set in.

Alarms blared through the guards quarters, and megaphones shouted in an urgent manner.

"Attention all guards: prisoner 21758 has escaped- do not provoke on sight, contact Jonathon Samuels ASAP."

The men in uniform began to sprint from their quarters to search for Vergil- but it couldn't just be him, there was someone else involved.

"Raithen," Quartermaster growled in an annoyed undertone.

Emmy

"Hey, Jackie!" I called, smiling. His attentive face appeared at my grate. "I've changed my mind. I want to leave my room."

He smiled affably. "Sure, honey. C'mon." He unlocked the door.

Like Mommy used to say, eye contact is essential. I smiled and met his eyes with my deep blue own as I passed. "Re-lock this, okay?" I didn't want Jackie to get into trouble until after he helped me out. Right now I was just exploring.

I wandered down the halls until I heard gunfire in a room to the side. Mommy always said to stay away from guns, but Mommy's not always right. I peeked in and smiled. Three people. One dead looking lizard, and two other guys. One matched Mommy's description of the warden.

Alarms blazed through the corridors. "Attention all guards: prisoner 21758 has escaped- do not provoke on sight, contact Jonathon Samuels ASAP."

The warden growled, "Raithen."

Good. It wasn't about me. My ace in the hole, Jackie, was still out there. In the meantime, I decided to try to have a little fun with the warden. "Hi."

He spun around, gun tracking towards me. "What?"

I held up my dolly, careful not to make any sudden moves. I hadn't used too much charm yet, and since everyone here was a villain, he might not hesitate to shoot even though I was a little girl. "I'm Emmy and this is Dolly."

Deathwish

The warden came soon after I did then ordered me to go back to my cell, not asking why I wasn't there in the first place. I was glad that he came when he did cause another few seconds I probably would have be torn limb from limb, regenerative factor or not, I could still feel pain. But I didn't do exactly as the warden told me, I couldn't miss out on a fight between the warden and the lizard-man. After all of the stories that I heard about his skill set, I wanted to see it in action. So I ran down the hallway a few yards, then silently made my way to the ceiling where I watched the battle. And I shortly learned that the stories weren't as fictional as they sounded: Though the giant reptile did slam the warden into the concrete wall with enough force to put some cracks in it, he quickly recovered kicking the monster back and showering it with bullets not even a second later. He was definitely not someone who'd you want to get on the bad side of I wonder if he even has a good side. The guard who the monster was holding by the throat started talking to the warden, he didn't seem as injured as I thought he would be. A voice blared over the speakers "Attention all guards: prisoner 21758 has escaped- do not provoke on sight, contact Jonathon Samuels ASAP." "Raithen" The warden growled. Raithen...I hadn't heard that name before. A few moments later, a little girl, couldn't have been older than five, holding a doll came walking down the hallway being escorted by a guard. She ran up to the warden and held up her doll "I'm Emmy and this is dolly." She said grinning. I chill ran down my spine, something didn't seem right about this kid. After all why would she be in here if there wasn't something abnormally dangerous about her? I decided that with everything that was happening, guard being attacked by some monster and escaped prisoner, that I should head back to my cell. So after traveling through the ceiling until I would be safely out of their sight, I quietly dropped to the floor and started running towards the wing where my cell was located.

Basilisk

The plan had began to roll into action. Although Raithen had not informed me that he was interested in breaking Vergil from his confines as early as the same day, it did not surprise me entirely; the Doctor was clever enough to undertake such a feat in such a short space of time. The warden that was greatly familiar from my interrogation earlier that day had appeared and interrupted my extraction of information from Pressure- and I had no interest in obliging with his demands, not without defiance; this little man did not have the right to order me.

Unfortunately, my arrogance had cost me dearly. The lack of knowledge I retained of this man had led me the road of stupidity and bravado; he had a nasty little magic trick concealed upon the right side of his head that had rendered me much weaker after a torrential onslaught of bullets. Although they had dealt no real physical damage to myself, whatever customisations the weapons he possessed had, exhaustion from the unrelenting impact is what brought me down.

However, the sirens that blared with the voice shouting in urgency from the inter-communications had made me laugh in smug joy- success. I realised that because of my position, annoyingly, that I had no way of joining Raithen, despite the fact that he may need my assistance considering what we encountered down there last time we ventured. So silent I laid, feigning unconsciousness.

But then a small girl approached the Quartermaster. She was odd, even to me; only young, yet in an asylum full of psychopaths. However, this sparked suspicion in my mind- if this kid was dangerous enough to be brought here she must have some worryingly lethal abilities. The warden I expected to simply ignore her, but I knew, from his temperament, that Samuels would at least make eye-contact with her. And what if that was all it took?

I watched in patient scrutiny.

Dr. Raithen

I stood on one of Arkham's many roofs, wary of the tiles which failed to provide stable footing beneath me. Rufus crouched beside me, brown fur rippling in discontent, clutching at his ears as alarms sounded throughout the asylum.
"Attention all guards: prisoner 21758 has escaped- do not provoke on sight, contact Jonathon Samuels ASAP."
This was a thorn in my side I could do without. I had intently studied the medication required to control Vergil- learned the best ways to command him, bend him to my will, keep his impressive skillset in check- and now this. He was free, unless this was some sort of training exercise.
"Are you familiar, Rufus, with the feeling that everything you want to happen is occurring much too quickly?"
Rufus looked at me blankly, and wondered if he had heard. He shook his head, dispelling the idea with a rough, pained motion.
"I don't normally get involved in stuff like this," he mewled plaintively at the noise, "Just small-time jobs. Banks and businesses. Sometimes I'm the only super involved."
I smiled, my icy demeanour cracking behind my mask.
"Welcome to the big time, my friend. Everything is more complex when there are more of us. You will soon learn this for yourself."
Rufus' reply was another blank stare, then, at my command, he took off, grasped my shoulders in his taloned feet, and carried me down to begin investigations into this catastrophe at a more reasonable altitude.


Drinker

I rose from my crouched position as guards surged into the cell. Nurseing the wounds Vergil had given me, slipping in the pool of my own blood as I tried to stand, I stared at the men as they surrounded me, rifles trained but trigger fingers still, though twitching whenever I made an attempt to rise.
The guards shouted, so many questions at once, an ocean of voices filled with undercurrents of fear, anger, rage directed at me.
"Sooo many quessstionsss... I hissed, at last managing to stand, "Why sso many quessstionss? I wass only huungry."
One of the men snarled and fired. The bullet penetrated my left hip, throwing me to the ground. My skin rippled, scales and spines shifting, as I hissed in agony.
The butt of a gun against my throat pinned me to the ground.
"Where is prisoner 21758? Where is Virgil? Where is he?"
"Too... many... quesstionsss!" I spat the words, and with them droplets of acid. The pressure let off as the man pinning me to the floor flailed. I leaped upon him, biting into his throat, tearing open his veins with needle teeth as a long tongue lapped at the blood. I felt it course down my throat, the guard's very essence fuelling my healing, regenerating damaged cells, altering my perceptions of reality.
Bullets danced around me, and I fled, scrabbling along the floor on all fours like the animal I know I am.

Emmy

Hmm. Apparently the lizard wasn't dead, opening his eyes a little. The warden barely glanced at me, once he had registered I was "just" a little girl. But the other one... the other one met my eyes, if just for a moment. Mommy always said a moment should be enough.

His face went blank. I grinned in triumph. The warden said, "Pressure, leave her. The guards will pick her up later. We have bigger fish to fry." The man, the one he called Pressure, just stared. The warden took a step closer. "Pressure?"

I cocked my head. "Prezzie is my friend now. Prezzie, take out the warden." His face twisted. His will must have been strong to resist my command.

I waited it out. Either he would attack or he wouldn't, and he would break free. I hoped he would attack. Things did get so messy when I had to ask Dolly to help. Mommy had screamed for a very long time.

Brigade

10 O'clock, right on time- or so the Doctor said. I had a few afterthoughts as to if he meant PM or AM, but it was better be safe than sorry, right? Using as much strength as I possibly could, I had hauled the security door from its hinges and crushed the staff that wait inside. The man named Vergil seemed relatively unphased by the ordeal; it was obvious his was under some kind of anesthetic, so I'd have to carry him with pace to the entrance of the catacombs of the asylum.

Luckily the guards had not arrived with such speed that I had to fight with them, I simply waited around the corner of a corridor and knocked them all down with the door I had picked up earlier. I held the figure I was required to escort over my shoulder in a fireman's carry- which made me reminisce slightly about older times.

I had laughed when I came to a crossroads, because the alerts directed at security had triggered a violent outbreak in the inmates of Arkham. This carnage would help me travel to my location with much more considerable pace, especially if the resistance became heavy enough to actually incapacitate or kill many of the guards.

Roaring with destructive enthusiasm, I began to sprint the last few metres towards my objective, hoping that the Doctor and Jason would meet me there.

Pressure

I felt odd, the girl stared deep into me, and my mind, for a few seconds I felt, no longer belonged to myself. It was as if I was merely an observer of the events that were about to ensue, but the child's words were said with such malice and terrific intent that my willpower forced my sub-conscience to rebel the mind-control.

"Prezzie, take out the warden."

It all snapped back into place. The sepia vision was replaced with full detail, and I blinked hard as my brain readjusted to what was going on.
In the background I could hear the shouts and roars of inmates; it would have appeared that the announcement had been overheard, and now the inhabitants of the asylum were taking the opportunity to raise havoc. Quartermaster glared at me that seemed to contemplate killing me, but a force, of insecurity possibly, managed to keep him from pulling the trigger of his guns.

I wanted to turn and grab the girl, but I suspected that she would not entirely rely on me to do her bidding; she probably had a few of the guards under her hypnotism too.

Instead, I played along and did indeed attack- but with my ability. Not too smart a move, kid. The room hummed gently in my ears, but I knew that no one else would hear the reverberations that I emitted.
Quartermaster leaned his head to the left and gritted his teeth in pain as the pressure began to build in the room, and it seemed as if the young girl was suffering from the power I exerted too.

Yet, suspiciously, a security officer, one Jack Smith from the front gate security team exhibited no suffering from the mind numbing vibration I released. I heard him whisper, almost silently into the little girl's ear. "It's too dangerous here, Emmy, we need to go now"

The name I stored briefly in my head, but as the brainwashed guard seized her and jolted from the area, I released the power I was emitting so Quartermaster would recover. Basilisk continued to lay unconscious in the corner of the room, and my friend rose to his feet and shook his head violently to rid himself of the nausea the pressure often caused as a side-effect.

"Remind me not to piss you off anytime soon," he cursed with pain in his voice.

"Hm, I'll try to keep it in mind. We need to go find Raithen and Vergil, and quickly, before something seriously bad happens."

"Agreed. And then I'll get that little brat," he spat angrily, before stretching his arms and cracking his back.

I ran out of the bursted open doorway and sped down the hall, with Quartermaster in quick pursuit. As we passed a squad of guards that ran forth into the destruction that had occurred in the asylum, I signaled for three of them to follow us.

Quartermaster turned his head to me, an epiphany had struck him. "I know where they're heading."

Dr. Raithen

Rufus carried me down to just beside the entrance to the catacombs, at which point I dismissed him. The door had been repaired, and the number of guards significantly reduced. Adding to that the carnage which raged all about the asylum, and I decided that sneaking Vergil into the underground labyrinth should be fairly straightforward.
Of course, that relied on the brutish Brigade springing Vergil from his cell once the drugs necessary to keep him sedate were procured, and going by the alarms which rang throughout the asylum, I had to conclude that somewhere along the line things had become significantly more complicated.
Not to worry. With the correct timings and dosages scrawled in illegible doctor's handwriting in a small notebook concealed within my left breast pocket, I was confident that I could work another miracle.

It had taken all of three minutes to fashion simple transponders from a collection of electronics. I now pressed the button furiously as guards rained bullets down on my position. This was no situation for a doctor to find himself in!
I kept a vacuum-sealed metal briefcase close to my chest, hoping that I could protect its contents from harm, and that it might provide the same service in return. I had to admit, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through my veins was somewhat exhilarating, but time was of the essence.
I sat in the research and development wing of Arkham Asylum, a laboratory complex fit for a king, or at least one with a less well-developed grasp of experimental sciences than myself. I found that I hungered now more than ever to return to my own laboratory, free from difficulties such as being shot at.
A bullet caught my laboratory coat and flung it about me, and for the first time I wondered whether the transponder would actually work.
On queue, Basilisk smashed his way through the wall and positioned himself between me and the security guards. I wasted no time in exiting, using the time it took my reptilian acquaintance to put the dozen-or-so men down to slip into the shadows.
After a moment, Basilisk joined me, bloody and somewhat haggard. I shot him a questioning look.
"I had a run in with some friends of ours." he spoke in a deadpan tone, then chuckled, "Damn near killed that bat-freak pet of yours when he showed up to give me the receiver."
He opened his hand, and in his palm rested a small electronic screen. A small blip indicated the position of my transponder.
"May I take it this was not a part of your plan?" Basilisk asked with no sympathy, gesturing as he did to the hole in the wall.
I took a glance over my shoulder, surveying the carnage myself, then began to walk away.
"Granted, it did not go so well. I tend to shy away from factoring near-death experiences into my schemes but-" I smiled, though my companion could not see it- "I trust this has given you time to locate Vergil? And to recover from your ordeal, I would hope."
"Yes to both. He is waiting for us with Brigade, and still not lucid enough to cause a problem."
I tightened my grip on the briefcase. It seemed I now had an ace in the hole secured.

Ten minutes later and darkness had descended fully. I administered a dose of medication to Vergil, who moaned, bit otherwise remained silent. Basilisk looked less weary than he had the hour before.
"Quartermaster knows that I am involved." I stated. Basilisk nodded. Brigade seemed shocked that I had used words with multiple syllables.
"No doubt he has told Pressure." Basilisk spat the words. I nodded.
"Then it is time to leave."