Superhero Chronicles

She said nothing in response to this, and she just kept her eyes looking downward; devoid of any kind of emotion, just blank like paper.

"I need to go..."

I watched as she walked away, and as she left, I couldn't help but feel sad and disappointed that she had chosen some jerk over me...Wasn't it obvious that I had liked her? Why choose a creep over a nice guy? Was she really so blind?

I was about to leave the facility when I heard footsteps coming from the second floor.

I thought everyone had left, but I figured I'd go up and give them a friendly reminder that it was closing time and we were all to head home.

It was pretty late.

We weren't intended to stay so long, but things happened, such as some technical difficulties involving some of the equipment, so some of us had to stay a little bit later than what we had planned on.

I headed towards the capsule-shaped elevator and went through the laser scan process, and then, once the clear, orange doors that shone brightly due to the darkness of the night, opened, I pushed a button and headed up to the second level of the facility.

"I don't understand why anyone in their right mind would be out here when it's this late."

I quietly murmured to myself while the elevator rose up into the air, going up into the orange tunnel.

The first floor got farther and farther away, the higher up I traveled in the glass, capsule-like elevator.

I gently rested my back against the back of the elevator, folding my arms over my chest while I waited to reach the top.

"I just wanna go home, eat supper, play some video games and go to bed."

I dully spoke to myself; my head shaking.

The elevator rose higher up, and soon I heard the ding, which indicated I was at my destination. The door opened and I walked out, stepping onto the floor of the second floor.

The footsteps grew louder.

"Look, if someone's here, leave. It's late and everyone's already gone home. Didn't you get the memo?"

I narrowed my eyebrows while my lips took the form of a rather disdainful pinch, and I walked forward.

I realized the more I started walking, making my approach through the holographic forest-like environment, which ultimately led to the other rooms, that there was little light, that the orange neon light that usually kept the place perfectly lit up, was quite dim.

"You know," I continued to speak; the footsteps sounding closer, "if I were to tell the CEO that someone was lurching around here after hours, you could get in really big trouble..."

And that statement wasn't entirely false. Rexiaus didn't like people snooping around because of the secrets that he held in the facility.

One if two things could happen if they were caught or found out about: One is they could lose their job, and two is that they, much worse, could be arrested.

"I know you're there, come out!" I was growing agitated; my patience clearly thinning.

The footsteps were closer.

"We'll leave together." I promised. "And I won't tell anyone about this."

The footsteps stopped, and suddenly they started again...But they were closer? But why did they sound line they were coming from a different direction? It sounded close...But no longer like they were coming from the center.

"If you're trying to psyche me out, tough luck. You're doing a pretty bad job at it. But I will say this: I'll have your butt fired if you don't show yourself NOW!"

Truth be told, I was becoming unnerved.

The monstrosities of nature this place gave shelter and birth to was enough to unnerve anyone...

The footsteps ceased.

I shrugged, turned around, then left; heading back to the elevator and got inside.

"What the?" I blinked.

The elevator was set to floor '666X' otherwise known as 'None shall enter without authorized permission'. The room...Where...'they' dwelt.

I didn't want to go there.

I tried to push a button to go back to the first floor, but no matter how many times I anxiously pounded on the first floor button, the cursed thing was dead-set on going to 666X.

I sighed; shook my head, and tried to reach deep down inside myself to gain my courage as I traveled high-speed to the lowest of all the floors...The room located at the very bottom of RC; no man's land.

In only a matter of seconds I had arrived.

The lights were even dimmer than the second floor; I thought that this was odd.

"Better have Rexiaus take a look at this lighting problem." I mumbled.

I found it odd that I couldn't hear the rattling and pounding of extra-precautioned doors, and the inhuman, bone-chilling, sounds of screaming, growling and muttering that I had heard the first and only time I had been to this room.

I continued down the hall, and soon I was seeing the doors that bound the experiments of RC.

I walked and walked, slowly realizing that the air was growing colder, and the lights even fainter.

I stopped once I reached the back of 666X, and concluded nothing was out of the ordinary...Other than the fact I was in a restricted part of the facility that could land me in prison for life.

I made my way slowly back to the elevator when I heard footsteps.

"Look!" I spoke cholericly, "whoever is there, get out of here before you get caught and taken to prison."

No answer.

Slowly it started to sink in that the footsteps were neither in front of me or behind me...Or even beside me...But...Rather.

"No way!" I hastily choked out.

I jolted my gaze to the door on the left, and felt as if everything zoomed in like a periscope, and actual drops of sweat fell down my face, and I felt my teeth involuntarily gritting while fear overcame me.

Liquid was dripping down right in front of my feet; drop after drop falling, until, instinctively, I looked up.

My eyes enlarged behind my silver visor sunglasses; my heart rate increasing great, thudding against my chest, and my face went pale while my mind screamed at me to run.

There, standing on the ceiling above me, was one of the escaped experiments...A sight so disturbing and hideous that I nearly fell over when I saw it.

Half man, half spider; nightmare of the purest form.

I wouldn't be able to describe the creature I saw even if I were to tell people about it.

It was badly deformed, and the way it looked, the unspeakable, inconceivable, truly mind-shattering appearance it had, rendered me consumed with feelings I'd never felt before.

It jumped down.

I jumped back.

I backed up as it let out a muffled, strained yell, and came towards me; approaching fast.

I ran quickly towards the elevator as the disgusting and chilling looking experiment gave chase; yelling and growling.

Soon, all the hundreds of thousands of doors were being pounded on, and more frightening, inhuman moans and screams filled the room, with the experiment who was chasing me most likely having stirred them all into the ruckus.

It was a nightmare! Hearing the sounds that put every horror movie I had ever seen to shame, being chased by a freak of nature who's very appearance was enough to make one's heart want to give out.

I needed to escape.

I ran faster; turning around face to horrible face and watching as a line of web shot towards me.

I jumped out of the way; narrowly missing the web, but this gave the creature time to pin me down.

I stared at the chilling, deformed face, of man and beast, and, realizing I had to do something; kicked it in the face. It was stunned by my move, temporarily, and this gave me plenty of time to resume my running away.

I ran. I ran and ran, only to soon hear the sound of rapid footsteps following me in pursuit.

The elevator was still a ways away.

"How am I supposed to reach it in time?" I asked myself, knowing I had no answer to return. I guess just hearing my own voice was comforting, given the situation I was in.

The beast was catching up; I could feel it.

I had to escape before this thing got me and turned me into its meal.

As I continued to run with the experiment obviously gaining on me, I finally made it to the elevator, by some miracle, and, just as I was nearly pounced down, entered without verification.

The doors leading to the elevator closed, just as it jumped at me, and I hit the first floor button.

My back hit the back of the elevator; and I just stood there breathing in excess, with drops of sweat dropping down every corner of my face.

I had never been so terrified in my whole life as I was right then with that nightmarish deformity chasing me and trying to take me back with it.

When I got to the entrance of the facility, I left and my hover board materialized.

I boarded it and blasted off into the sky; shooting up into the neon-lit, dark sky, flying away fast from the facility and heading home.

I completely skipped supper that night, skipped playing video games, and skipped having my nightly chat with Platinimia and just brushed my teeth and went straight to sleep to just forget about the horror that I had seen back at the facility.

I was only glad that I was the only one who had stayed that late there, who hadn't gone home yet, because I was afraid of the consequences that would follow if I were to have been spotted in 666X.

As I fell asleep...I had a strange dream.

I was surrounded by a forest, and not the holographic forest that Chrysalis was known for, but actual, green, living, breathing trees that went on for miles, farther than the eye could see.

There was a dense mist that surrounded the forest from every corner, and the sun, which was shinning down, was a beautiful and enticing orange, like when it was sunset.

I crunched my way through fallen green leaves mixed in with orange leaves, and continued through the forest; pressing my way into these as most while I marveled at all the greenery that I was taking in. It was gorgeous. Just gorgeous, like how the plant-life of the past looked like on the old classic movies I enjoyed watching.

As I continued into the great forest, the entire scenery changed around me, and soon, strangely enough, the air, the sky, my surroundings, all turned into a violet tint.

"What's going on?" I questioned aloud; knowing there'd be no answer.

I stopped in my tracks; feeling my eyes grow in depth while I gazed in front of me...Noticing that the moon was far away in front of me, lower than should have been physically possible, and that, small sparks of shimmering energy was floating around me and in front of me.

"This is nuts.." I whispered.

I shrugged my shoulders; telling myself to just go with it, and carried onward.

I soon came to a small creek with pink, sparkling water.

I crouched down on one knee and stared at it, but soon I jerked my head back; my sunglasses falling off my face.

Was that giggling that I heard? Was that laughter that was coming from the water? It sounded like a little girl's voice, not one little girl, but MANY.

I got up and walked away; completely forgetting about my visor sunglasses.

I continued into the forest, and and soon the color tint faded, and everything returned to normal, well, sort of...Only now vines and more trees were popping up, growing before my very own two eyes.

I soon stopped once I reached a giant bed of various different flowers, from carnations, to roses, to buttercups, to bluebells and more.

I tilted my head faintly when I saw an old, aging, decaying metal door covered with moss and vines.

The door was open.

But where did it lead to? I saw nothing on the other side except...Well, a dead-end; a wall of trees and rocks on the other side.

I soon heard excessive laughter; tiny giggles that were very faint in sound, and reminded me something of a feminine chipmunk voice.

"Who's there?" I inquired.

I saw nothing, but aside from the carefree laughter I was hearing, I could feel the presence of another.

"Oh," the laughing voice spoke, "you know who I am."

"I do?" I was clueless.

"Of course!"

"Sorry," I started, "I don't recall being friends with a voice."

"Are you sure you don't remember me?"

"Pretty sure." I chuckled.

"You'll remember. Bye for now."

"Hey, wait! How do you know me? How do I know you? I don't...Who are you?" But it was no use. The voice was gone.

I woke up.

"Good morning, sir." It was Platinimia.

"Lemme guess," I couldn't help but snicker when I locked onto her face, "time for work?"

"Affirmative, sir." She rubbed my shoulder.

"All right.." I muttered under my breath; shaking my head at the thought of having to go back.

After last night, I never wanted to go back to RC again.

But it was a job. Or at least this period's definition of a job, anyways.

I reluctantly pushed the covers and blankets off, swung my feet over the edge of the bed, then sat them down on the floor, getting out of bed.

"Is something bothering you, sir? You didn't even eat last night."

I pushed my gaze to meet with hers; my head shaking slightly while me eyes fell and my lips expelled a long, cold sigh.

"It's just..." I hesitated.

"You can tell me anything, sir. You should know what you say stays between us."

I smiled at her encouraging and comforting words...But still wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about what I had seen in the facility.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand, sir." She continued rubbing my shoulder, until I stood up.

"I guess I better get ready for work. At least after today I'll have the week off."

I headed to the bathroom, and after going through the scanning and getting inside, saw that again, Platinimia had gathered me my outfit for the day.

It was the usual; a silver jumpsuit, but this time my favorite long, silver jacket was resting with it.

It was only when I was about to remove my shirt that I remembered my sunglasses were missing. My sunglasses were missing...I hadn't even taken them off for bed, I was so eager to get to sleep I must have forgotten about them, but still they were gone.

And I had lost them in that strange place I was at in my dream. But that wasn't possible, was it? It was a dream; not reality.

"How could I lose my sunglasses in a dream?" I placed my index finger on my forehead.

"But it was just a dream. It wasn't real...Was it?"

As I stood there fiercely arguing with myself, I realized I was wasting time.

I forced my thoughts away and removed my dirty silver jumpsuit, tossing it down and it disappeared, being transferred to the laundry room.

I walked over towards the egg-shaped shower/bathtub and pushed the button.

Before I entered, I was careful to remember this time to get my loofa, shampoo and soap and then I entered the inside, with it automatically closing once I stepped inside.

I poured soap into my loofa, then started rubbing it all over my chest while I relaxed under the water, and tried to push the image of the experiment I had encountered at RC last night, away from my mind.

I moved the loofa onto my abs and stomach, then my arms and legs, then my crotch, and then everywhere else.

Once I was done with that, it was time to wash my hair.

As the pod started filling up with water, I quickly bent down and picked up the bottle of shampoo, brought it to my head, and squirted it in my hair, only to close the bottle and started mixing the refreshing scent into my hair, creating a rich lather.

Once the water had reached me neck point, I closed my eyes, let my hands fall down into the water, and just relaxed as I enjoyed the last few minutes of the water, which would be drained shortly from draining mode.

When all the shampoo had been washed out of my hair, and the water had completely cleansed my body of the soap, draining mode initiated, and the water levels quickly dropped.

I waited for the short time it was being drained, and once all the water was gone, the door automatically opened for me, and I stepped out of the pod, pushed the button to close it behind me, and walked over towards the towel rack and grabbed a gray towel to dry myself off momentarily, before grabbing my clothes once I was dry.

I put on my boxer briefs, looked at myself in the mirror, reached for my deodorant, opened it and applied it under my arms, closed it back up and sat it back down, then put on my silver jumpsuit and matching flowing, silver jacket, socks and shoes.

"Good morning, sir. I assume you're ready to brush your teeth before work?" Asked a deep, bear-like electronic voice.

"Yup. Then I'll comb my hair and be out of here."

"Allow me, sir." Spoke the sink.

Two robotic hands came out from the sink and the right one grabbed the tube of toothpaste, while the left transformed into a spin brush.

The right hand screwed the lid off the toothpaste, brought the tube towards the toothbrush, and squirted the toothpaste onto the brush. I opened my mouth and the toothbrush went in; then I closed, while it started brushing thoroughly while I looked at myself in the mirror.

I closed my mouth once the toothbrush left it, and then it rinsed itself off in the glowing water and turned back into a robotic hand, and then both hands disappeared into the sink.

"Have a wonderful day, sir."

"I doubt it." Was my only response.

I picked up my comb and started my daily routine of fixings jet black hair into spikes, then sat the comb down and made my way towards the door.

"Open." I said.

"Yes, sir."

The door slid open, and I walked out, hearing it slide back down and close behind me.

Once I had made my way into the living room, following the blue, neon floor, I stopped and made my way towards the kitchen, and even though I had told Platinimia I would be making myself breakfast, lunch and supper this week, I was surprised to find that Platinimia had thoughtfully prepared me lunch for the day.

She must have did it as a means of making me feel better, knowing that something was wrong...She was always sweet like that.

I closed my eyes, and my lips curved upward with a smile working its way on my face, taken back by this.

Orange rice and steak.

The one thing she knew I couldn't resist...The one thing that my mother used to make, that was my favorite of all of her dishes. I grabbed the silver Tupperware and it disappeared into the same pocket universe that my hover board was at.

"Off to work, sir?"

Platinimia was standing in front of me.

"Soon." I replied.

"I hope you have a great day."

"Would you like to sit down with me while I eat breakfast."

"I would be delighted." Platinimia's lips formed a smile.

I walked over a few steps towards her, and leaned forward, with the obvious intent to kiss her, but when my lips went to touch her left cheek, they went right through her.

I pulled my face away, and shook my head.

"I forgot about that." I remarked with a look of embarrassment on my face.

"What was that for, sir?" She tilted her head.

"It was supposed to be a thank you, but, yeah, you know; not able to touch and all that."

"Then," her smile expanded, "allow me."

She placed her hands on my shoulders and leaned her face forward; her lips touching my left cheek and kissing it in a soft, friendly gesture while her hands patted my shoulders.

I blushed.

She pulled her lips away, and her face returned to neutral.

"Sir, don't waste too much time. You still need to get to work."

"Right." I nodded.

Walking over towards the refrigerator, I once again went through the daily verification, and once the scan was complete, it opened and I reached inside pulling out a jug of milk and sat it down on the counter.

The door closed again.

Reaching towards the clear, see-through, light neon blue cabinets, I once again had the usual red-laser test done again, and once it was complete, the cabinets opened. Reaching my hand up, I grabbed a box of cereal and a bowel and spoon.

I sat down at the round, glass table an poured cereal and milk into the glass bowl.