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Get in, get out. There was no time to dawdle here. DRACO was an organization little-known for ending vigilante’s careers early, and entering their main research facility was akin to entering the dragon’s nest.
They claimed to be nothing more than an institute of natural disaster research and prevention, but they had made it very clear the only “disasters” they really cared to prevent was the rising number of powered individuals. Not that anyone could prove the quickly rising numbers of missing peoples and vigilantes was connected to them, of course. It was just word of mouth that the DRACO trucks that were spotted all around the city were carting people off, the only evidence being shaky and blurry photos from roof tops that gave the inkling of bodies being pulled within.
All this to say, being here was half-suicide mission, but it was necessary. Quqqie had disappeared.
Aimsey wasn’t even sure it was DRACO that had a hand in it. It wasn’t like Quqqie’s recently manifested power was anything of note. They had hid it well, Aimsey was pretty sure. It did turn their hair a soft pink, but it wasn’t so obtrusive that it looked anything more than dyed. It wasn’t like Aimsey’s power, where star was constantly watching stars hands to make sure star wasn’t spreading spores or causing mold growth.
Star pressed on, coming to a locked door and immediately pressing stars uncovered hand to the keypad, watching it get covered with green and blue fuzzy mold within seconds and then the metal beneath it started to rapidly deteriorate, the keypad slowly sputtering out. That, of course, didn’t open the door itself, so star pressed stars hand to the handle doing the same process.
“Isn’t it kind of weird how, in the movies, if you took out the keypad the door would just open ,” Mogswamp asked in a whisper behind star, its own hands clasping and unclasping around its weapon of choice: a shovel. “Even weirder that if the door is already open destroying the keypad closes it, don’t you think?”
“Mog, not the time,” Star hissed, the door handle decaying and the lock crumbling. Star pushed it open to another darkened hallway. Star wrinkled stars nose and stepped lightly through the threshold. “But you’re right. It’s like, which is it? In what universe do doors ever do what you want them to do?”
“Exactly. Exactly,” it replied, lifting its shovel to bash in the camera in the corner. There wasn’t really any reason to do that, since they planned on deleting all the recording from tonight anyways. It was much easier than trying to code a loop or destroying the camera before it caught their images. Also, destroying property of an evil organization was just fun. Aimsey starself was spreading mold over the walls as star crept forward, reading the plaques on each door.
Star paused at a door, the plaque reading “D.I.R.I. Reports”. Disastrous Individuals Research Initiative. It was amazing how something like this, the collection of data on another human being– on multiple human beings' lives, could be swept under the rug so effortlessly when it was sitting right here. The kidnapping of people to get said data aside.
“We’re here,” star said, and one broken door handle later they were in.
It was rows upon rows of filing cabinets, all perfectly labeled with case numbers and subject names. It didn’t take long for Aimsey to figure out how the names were sequenced and beelined for the correct filing cabinet.
Mog watched the door as star searched, shovel ready to swing. Until that got tiring, that is, and it started poking at the unfiled folders by the door that were waiting for some intern to sort in the morning. It leafed through them, as far as it could gather most of these were transfer notices; that each “project” had been moved to another location. Each location was just some codename, not helpful in finding the people currently, but it took time to remember each new one that popped up. There were a disturbing amount of them.
Then it came to a bright yellow envelope, a little more put together then the rest of the files. It opened it, scanning the pages—
“Found it!” Aimsey cheered, before quickly quieting down. Star glanced around as if the outburst would cause some security to suddenly appear. None did, but they shouldn’t be pushing their luck. “Found it. They– They actually have them. I was kind of hoping–”
“Are they here?” Mog asked, glancing between the folder in stars hand and the one in its.
Star shock stars head, “No. The last page is a transfer, but it’s something. Did– Did you find something?”
Mog nodded, adam’s apple bobbing, “You’re, uh, not going to believe who’s here.”
The detour was risky, it meant going deeper into more secured sections of the facility, but it would be worth it. Besides, what kind of heroes were they if they didn’t try to rescue someone in need.
It was down too many stairs and several doors later that they came upon the lab they were looking for. It was one of the few rooms that still had the lights turned on, with the overheads pointing directly at what would be a perfectly normal examination chair, if not for the worrying amount of restraint belts. The walls to the left and right had counters covered with equipment and various vials and closed containers of liquids of different assortments (some of which was most certainly blood, carefully sealed in a clear cooler) with cabinets above. To the back there was a table covered with various items that were very out of place: a red and blue leather jacket, aviator cap and matching googles, a blue bandana, and a giant pair of mechanical wings, the feather-esque metal slats painted a cheery sunny yellow. It didn’t take long to find who they belonged to.
Canary, the city’s golden boy of a vigilante, last seen two weeks ago by the public, was stuck in a cell in the back of the room. It was a no-brainer why DRACO wanted a hold of Canary. Even if they weren't straight up kidnapping people these days just for having powers, Canary had a power that could perfectly aid in their mission: Disaster Detection. Canary was always first on the scene because he always knew when something bad was going to happen.
He was stripped down to a t-shirt and his boxers, and a muzzle was strapped to his head. His eyes were closed and seemingly asleep despite sitting in the harsh lights. Surprisingly, a pair of dog ears sat atop his head, and a fluffy tail poking out the back, and the muzzle felt mocking with the new details.
Mutations were common among the growing powered population, but star would have thought that Canary would have some bird-type mutation given his whole gimmick, though star supposes it was an ingenious misdirection.
Mog didn’t hesitate as much as star did, rushing to the cell door. It smashed its shovel into the lock, and Canary was startled awake.
“Wha–”
“We’re getting you out of here, man,” it answered the unspoken question, punctuating it with another jab into the lock.
“Who are you?” Canary stood on shaking legs.
“Warden,” Aimsey answered, “And this is Super King.”
Another jab and the lock broke, Mog hastily throwing it to the side, “Come on.”
It pulled Canary out of the cell. Aimsey grabbed his jacket, tossing it over his shoulders. “We got you man. Let's get out of here.”
It took some time, Canary wasn't exactly in shape to run. They were against the clock and by the time Mog was seated in the security room, quickly deleting files after files, the upper level security guards were pulling into the parking lot outside (Aimsey could see the footage and was nervously counting each car that came through).
Once any video trace of them was deleted and gone they were rushing for the doors. They nearly ran straight into the security as they got to the gates, just barely squeezing by and out of sight. It wouldn't take long for all the things they had done to be found out, but they didn't come here without knowing they’d end up on DRACO’s hit list by the end of the night.
They hopped into Mogswamp’s little sedan, parked in the bushes just out of sight, and the license plates unbolted and shoved under its car seat for now. Once they were a safe distance they’d stick them back on but for now it was their getaway car.
Canary sighed as they drove off, eyes fluttering with exhaustion. “Thanks. I don't know how or why you found me, but.. thank you.”
Aimsey nodded, hand slipping around one of the straps of the muzzle and speeding along its decaying process. “We're looking for my girlfriend, Quqqie. DRACO took them, finding you was just, uh, a bonus.”
The strap broke and Canary pulled the muzzle off, dropping it to the floor, “Well, I appreciate it. I’m gonna guess Quqqie is in a different castle?”
Star held up the files star took, “Yeah, but this should give us an idea on where to start looking.”
“Good. Well, you got me on your team now. We're putting a proper end to this whole DRACO business,” he replied.
“Dude, I have to say, it's actually wild that they put a muzzle on you– Like–”
Canary chuckled, cutting Mog off, “Nah, I kind of deserved it after the, like, fifth time I managed to bite one of them. I mean, they shouldn't have put their limbs near my face, but I get it.”
“Wait, actually?” Aimsey asked.
The grin he sent star showed off a month full of sharp teeth as he sleepily tilted his head back, “Yeah. I went a bit nuts.”
Mog laughed at that, slowly decreasing speed as they were growing close to public roads and populated areas. “You deserved to, man! Really, that's kind of sick. You showed it to them.”
Canary fell asleep not long after that, obviously the guy had been through the wringer. The in and out plan had definitely gone askew, and they were lucky to not have gotten caught, but Aimsey was excited. Star might not have found Quqqie, but they were closer, and Canary was a powerful ally to have. Star was ready. Star was ready to face whatever challenge DRACO throwed at them.
The three of them had a mission now, to take DRACO down. It was going to be one hell of a ride.