As Fidget sat back down, she
wondered about the same things as Alex had. Where was Rikki? Where was she
going? What was she going to do?
She heaved a sigh. Just as she
was getting settled in to be good and gloomy, her truck veered right, and she
gave a yelp and fell off the tire hump. She stood quickly and pressed against
the back bars.
"Alex?!" she cried out
searching the darkness for any movement. Nothing.
A sudden drop, and Fidget was
sure she left her stomach behind. And then, it somehow managed to get darker...
Alex heard a screech of tires,
and Fidget yelled. Alex stood and yelled back, but there was no reply. He cried
out again and again, but to no avail. Grinder stood up, too.
"It's no use, man.
Somethin's happened, and we'll either see her later or not. At any rate, there's
still nothin' you can do just now."
Alex sat back down. This was just
too stressful. He couldn't do anything, and had no idea where they were.
Suddenly, there was light! Alex
and Grinder shielded their eyes against the sudden brightness. When his eyes
recovered, Alex saw a huge cavern, lit with countless fluorescent lights. An
entire city was built underneath, but a city crafted by madmen. It was nothing
but black, and tubes connected buildings. The entire thing radiated power, evil
power. Alex gasped, and Grinder's jaw dropped.
A huge hologram flickered into
view above the demented city. It was a projection of a hooded head, too deep to
see the face within. It spoke over the puffing noise the city made.
"Good day, gentlemen. I see
my men have escorted you to my home?"
"Who's this character?"
Alex whispered to Grinder, who squinted up at the hologram.
About then, the men hopped out of
the trucks, let down the bars, and grabbed Alex and Grinder by the arms.
Fidget stood still against the
bars, trying to see something, and feeling dizzy. The truck finally
rolled into a dimly lit tunnel, and Fidget watched as the rough walls buzzed
past. She bounced painfully against the bars again as the truck pulled to a stop
in a small, rock chamber. The driver and second man stepped out, and the bars
sucked back into the bed. She hopped down, but they caught her around the middle
before she'd taken two steps. She screamed loudly as the other guy handcuffed
her, and when they attempted to lead her away, she fell on to the ground. The
driver grumbled, picked her up, and flung her over his shoulder like a sack of
potatoes. She yelled and kicked and pounded him, but it didn't matter. She was
carried away down a hall.
The hall had lights along the
walls, and Fidget thought franticly about escape. Thinking got gradually harder,
though, for a lot of blood was rushing to her head right then. Fidget groaned
loudly, and shook her head to try and clear it. The only thing it did, though,
was to finally shake loose her earpiece. She grabbed franticly for it, but with
her hands cuffed, she missed. The man carrying her kept walking, and the piece
got farther and farther away.
When the tunnel ended, she turned
over and saw a brightly lit room. It was completely empty, except for something
on the wall, and a hooded figure stood in the center. She peered into his hood,
but it was hard to make out a face.
"Excellent." said the
figure, and Fidget's stomach knotted up at the voice. It gave her a feeling of
deep dread, and she began to shake. The voice laughed, a horrible laugh.
"Leave her here. Un-cuff her first."
And a heavy object came in
contact with the back of her head. She fell, and knew no more for a long time.
Alex and Grinder were pushed down
the streets of the awful city. The hologram had since disappeared, but the
driver and other guy knew where they were headed. Alex did, too. They were
headed for the huge, dark building ahead. It was obviously the headquarters. A
figure waited in the doorway, also hooded, but looking somehow different than
the holo. They stopped at the doorway, and the men backed away. Alex looked from
the figure to the men. The figure raised one hand dismissively.
"I'll take it from here,
boys." it said. Alex jumped. He knew that voice...
After the men walked away, the
figure lowered its hood.
Asazi!
She smiled. "Yeah, that's
right." she said reading their shocked faces. Alex spluttered.
"Wha...what's going
on?!"
Asazi shrugged. "That, is
beyond me. But I'm sure you'll be...running into someone who does
know." She smiled again.
"X." Alex glared up at
the building in disgust.
"I wouldn't be so
sure." Asazi followed his gaze. "Most people haven't even been past
the third floor. Some, like me, have been all the way to the twelfth. But then,
there's the thirteenth floor." she looked back at Alex's face. "That's
where you're going, you lucky devil, you."
Grinder looked at the building,
and back at Alex. He opened his mouth to say something, but Asazi kicked him in
the shin.
"Shut up. And start
walking."
There wasn't much else to do. Handcuffed and confused, Alex and Grinder started into the building.