The Dark Experiment

Not long ago, Akurle defeated her worst enemy.

His name was Terror.

He was a selfish, deadly, gigantic dragon who longed for revenge on the magical arctic wolf. He released an army of shadow tigers to kill her, but the plan failed. So he went to exact revenge on Akurle with his own claws.

But yet again he failed, and died in a fire before his hated enemy. Akurle thought that Terror was finally done for, and she could live in peace. But peace didn't last very long.

Terror is back, and ready for revenge.

## Intro

Akurle lay motionless in her bed, in a deep sleep. A ray of moonlight shone into her bedroom as the door creaked open. A rag was placed on her snout, lulling her into an even deeper sleep. Her legs were tied with thick rope, and her body was hauled into a large sack. The visitor left with Akurle, closing the door quietly. It left no trace or clues and strangely enough, not even a scent.

It was as if nothing ever happened.

## Chapter 1: The Lab

Akurle slowly woke up to find herself sitting upright. After a moment of confusion, she realized she was floating. When the thought hit her, she almost screamed. Well, she *would* have screamed, but something was holding her mouth shut. It looked kinda like a gas mask or something. She was fully awake now, and in total shock.

Looking up, she saw that she wasn't even in her room. And everything had a tint of green. She was in a white room -or maybe green, it was hard to tell with the green tint- filled with laboratory stuff. There were several tables covered in computers, test tubes, stacks of paper, needles (The kind that doctors use to give you shots) and other strange tools. Alongside her were several giant tubes filled with green liquid that you would see in a show.

Then, it struck her. She was in a lab, inside a tube of green liquid.

*And she was the experiment.*

Akurle wiggled around in the tube, but the thick green liquid kept her from moving much. She heard a faint creaking noise and a coyote wearing a white lab coat with goggles came in.

Akurle wriggled around in the thick liquid and bared her teeth at the coyote, even though the mask on her face covered it. The coyote had teal fur and orange eyes, which were hardly visible through his steamy goggles. The coyote adjusted his lab coat and looked up at Akurle.

"Your awake. Good." His voice was bored and emotionless, but had a sinister tone to it. His expression was blank as he looked up at the wolf.

"I'm Doctor Ryan, and you are Akurle?" He didn't wait for a respond before continuing on. "In case you're wondering, that mask allows you to breath in the luquid." Ryan pointed to a tube attaching the mask to an air tank outside the tube. It had a pump on top like a tire pump which was probably used to pump air inside.

Ryan waitined for a second before continuing. "I have brought you here for one reason- as an experiment. I have noticed your unique ability to tranform into other organisms and I plan to find out how this works. I will observe and experiment on this unique 'power' and perhaps, have this ability to myself." He smiled evilly, but the smile quickly faded back to a blank expression.

Akurle tried to shake the mask off her snout, but the thick transparent green substance limited her movement. She tried to talk, but the mask on her snout kept her mouth tightly shut. The coyote, Dr. Ryan, watched her movements closely. He waited till Akurle gave up and sat still before speaking again.

"You can't get out of there, so you mind as well stop trying. Anyway, you're probably wondering how I got you here. Well, in fact, I wasn't the one who brought you here. A dear friend of yours offered to help." He smiled wickedly.

*A dear friend*? Akurle shivered. It was then that she saw Nkurle chained to the table. *Oh no.*She thought. *It can't be her... can it? Did that wretched coyote turn her against me?*! Only a few seconds after Ryan had said that, the door creaked open and a familiar animal walked out. Hatred spread across her face as memories flooded back

Being suffocated

Being humiliated

Drowning

Burning

Bleeding

Dying

And in the end, watching him die in the flames

The memories flooded her mind like a giant tsunami. And here he was, the one who started it all.

*Terror, her worst enemy, was alive.*

## Chapter 2: Terror Is Back

Her *dear* friend?? It disgusted her. This was the one who had released thousands of psycho tigers to kill her. She snarled at Terror. But what startled her the most was that he was alive. She had seen him burn to his death right in front of her. It was impossible.

She glanced at Terror. His body was slightly transparent. He had tons of rips in his wings, and his body was covered in nasty looking scars. Several of his scales were burnt, and one of his horns was cracked. Terror smiled at her. His teeth were chipped, and several of them were yellow while others were pure white.

It looked like someone had plucked out his teeth, crushed them, put them back together and then popped them back in his mouth in all the wrong places.

It seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke.

"Remember me?"

Akurle narrowed her eyes and unsheathed her sharp claws. Terror continued to smile and stare at her with his hatred filled eyes. He already knew the answer to that question.

Doctor Ryan stood still and let the other two stare at each other in silence. It seemed as if they were having their own silent conversation in a launguage only they spoke. Akurle gave Terror a look that said "I'm going to rip the flesh off your bones once I get out of here." Terror responded with a look that said "Oh yeah? I could do much worse."

Ryan looked at the two as if their faces might do just that. After a long moment of deathly silence, he blurted out "Well, I bet you're wondering how your friend is still alive, after you burned the scales right off him." Both Terror and Akurle stopped their hatefull gazes.

Akurle knew that wasn't exactly what happened, Terror was the one who stupidly stepped in the fire and killed himself. She liked how he said it though, it made her feel more powerful. She turned to Ryan, waiting for the answer. For a moment she forgot that he was her enemy, and she quickly changed her expression to the hateful gaze she had given Terror. "I'm gonna rip the flesh off your bones, too." Her expression was unmistakable, and Ryan took a step back when seeing it.

He cleared his throat and continued on. "Long before Terror had planned revenge on you, he had met me. We became friends fast, and in no time, we were sharing everything with each other, from science experiments to revenge plans." Terror gave Ryan a reassuring nod, proving that he was telling the truth. It was hard to believe that Terror was friends with anybody.

"I gave Terror a few tips on his revenge plot. I didn't feel revenge was wrong... everyone does it in their own way. Anyway, just before he went, I discovered something astonishing. One of my test subjects had the ability to revive using certain cells in her body that is found only in dragons. By inserting a certain chemical into her bloodstream, she had the ability to revive as a half-ghost. Terror, being a dragon, could have this ability. I gave him the chemical before he left.

"Now, as you can see, it worked. He has a few scars, a couple burns, but he is okay. The half-ghost effect causes him a bit of transparency, and he cannot hold paper or other extremely thin things because his claws slip right through it like a ghost. Other than that, he is completely normal." Ryan was about to continue but realized he had gotten carried off a bit.

Akurle stared at Terror in shock. Dragons could be revived? She could probably do that in her dragon form. She glanced back at Terror, who was clearly pleased with the jealous look on her face.

"Weren't expecting that, were you, *wolf*." He spat out the last word like it tasted like rotten eggs.

"It is a shame I can't use this ability for myself." Ryan muttered. "I suppose I could insert the cells needed into and organism to give them the ability.... I will need a test subject though." Terror heard the last few words and glared at him.

"You are *not* testing on her. Revenge is still the first thing on the list." He hissed, showing his crooked teeth. Akurle shivered. *They had a list of things they were going to do to her?* Ryan snorted. "Of course I'm not. This can have major effects and may perhaps cause death. I still need to find out how she can transform into other organisms. Remember, don't kill her and after you're done torturing her or whatever, I need to test on her. I've only met one subject who can transform, and she got away."

Terror narrowed his eyes at the coyote. Akurle was astonished. She'd never seen anyone talk like that to Terror. He clearly wasn't happy about it, but he didn't lash out or even say an insult at Ryan. Ryan walked off, Terror watching him the whole way. Once the door closed, the giant purple dragon turned toward her, a disturbing smile on his face.

Akurle realized that she was having trouble breathing. At first she thought nothing of it, but now it was getting unbearable. She gasped for air and tried to clutch her neck. Terror noticed and glanced over at the air tank. He let her suffocate for a couple more seconds before pulling up the handle on the air tank. Air immediately filled her lungs.

She knew how it worked now... it was like a tire pump, instead of constantly pumping, you just lifted the handle and waited for the air to run out befofe pulling it up again. It was kinda smart, but not very efficient. She wondered why they didn't just have the tube on the mask attached to a hole in the glass. What if she ran out of air and no one came...

Akurle shrugged it off and looked back at Terror. He smiled evilly at her with his gross crooked teeth. A few front fangs were facing the wrong way and pointing at Akurle.

"Well well well. Once again, I have you in my grasp, only to have you slip away again." Terror growled and flashed his talons at her. "I've tried doing revenge three times... this will be the last. You will get what you have deserved for so long. From the time when we were only teens when you sliced me with your own claws... when you embarassed me in front of everyone... when you slipped away during my second revenge. And finally, when you burned me to death on the battlefeild." Terror roared with fury and slammed his fists into the ground, making a few cracks.

Akurle flinched. She knew he couldn't hurt her right now, but either way, she was scared what he would try to do. Terror looked up at her just as she hid the fearfull look on her face. "This will be the last time I will be planning revenge, even if it means I have to spare your life so Ryan can do his stupid little experiments on you. You can't slip away this time. You can't run away. You can't fight back.

"*This is it for you.*" Terror snarled, smoke pouring out of his nostrils and curling around his horns. He smiled that bone-chilling smile and walked away without a sound.

For once, Akurle was truly scared. Yes, facing Terror was alwayts frightening, but this was just too much. She breathed heavily, but tried not to waste the air in the tank. She was shivering all over, not because she was cold. *Maybe it was just this weird green liquid*. She told herself. But she knew the truth- she was terrified.

For once, she couldn't just slip away and run. She had to fight back, not physically. She had to show him that he couldn't mess with her. She had to show him that she wasn't afraid. She had to stand her ground and show that he couldn't get under her skin.

But how? She was absolutely terrified.

She knew what she had to do.

She just didn't know if she could do it.

## Chapter 3: Experiments

Akurle woke up startled. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. She looked off to the side and saw Terror and Ryan observing a needle. Terror filled one with a clear liquid, but kept the other empty. They both crept toward Akurle, raising the needles.

*Oh no.*

Akurle wriggled around in the tube and tried to scoot back. Terror came closer and pulled a lever on the side of the tube. She heard a loud flushing noise, like someone was flushing a giant toilet. The green liquid in her tube drained down until there was nothing left. With a loud shushing noise, a section of the tube slid away, and akurle fell out of the tube.

Her legs felt wobbly and weak, as if she hadn't beeing walking in years, which was partially true. Before she could pull herself to her paws, Terror grabbed her shoulders firmly and slipped the mask off her face. He carried her to a door next to Nkurle's cell, inside looked like a vet room. The only difference were the chains and cuffs attached to the wall.

Akurle snarled, trying to twist her weak arms out of his firm grasp. "Let go of me you moldy sack of scales!" She bared her teeth and tried rearing around to bite him, but her neck cramped. Terror slapped her face with his hands, making a little cut on her cheek. "Quiet, fluff-ball."

"Are you sure you don't need this?" Ryan raised the needle with clear liquid inside. "It will keep her from moving at all."

Terror snorted. "Pfft. Do you really think I need some medicine to make this weakling hold still?" He kicked Akurle hard in the stomach, causing her to choke. Ryan looked nervously at her, but shrugged it off and helped chain her to the wall.

Akurle wriggled around, trying to get her legs to move. They were all cramped, and it hurt to move her limbs in certain directions. She managed to twist her front arm and push Terror away. He hissed loudly, making Ryan jump and drop one of the needles.

"*Quit wiggling you little rat*." He sneered, stepping on her paw and twisting his foot, making her howl in pain. Ryan didn't seem to mind as he picked up the dropped needle.

"Alright, lets get started." The coyote murmured. Even though Terror had decided against it, Ryan stabbed the needle into akurle's back leg. She immediately went limp, only able to move her head.

"*Let me go this**instant***." Akurle said through gritted teeth. Terror just smiled at her and gently kicked her side. Ryan was busy setting up a microscope and placing a few sharp tools next to it. There was a small test tube on the table he was at that was placed on a tiny platform with wires holding it up.

Akurle growled, trying to find the strength to transform. She lifted her head weakly and tried biting the metal cuffs holding her down, but she was too weak. She felt dizzy and let her head drop to the cold floor with a *thump*.

Ryan twisted around on one of those spinning chairs and gently took the test tube off its platform. "I want you to collect some of her blood with this." He held up the empty needle and handed it to Terror.

"Sure thing." He smiled weirdly at Ryan and threw the needle back on the table. "I don't need this thing to get some of her blood." He whispered, just enough for Akurle to hear. She shivered.

Terror slowly walked over to Akurle, flexing his long talons. Before she could react, in a swipe of his claw, he tore her leg open. Akurle howled in pain and clenched her jaw to ease the pain. Terror gently took the tube off its platform and held it close to the dripping wound, slowly filling it up. Blood was pouring out of her leg, staining her fur a deep crimson, and she couldn't do anything about it. She buried her head in her fur, tears streaming out of her eyes. Terror pressed the tube closer and took it away once it was full of blood.

"You.... nasty..." Akurle hissed, the pain overwhelming her. Terror tossed her leg to the side, revealing a puddle of blood underneath. Ryan was staring at Terror as if he was a madman.

"I said, collect blood with the needle, not... like that!" He gestured toward the growing pool of blood.

"I can do it in my own way, and besides, that was part of my revenge." He said, giving the tube to Ryan. The coyote took it and set two drops under the microscope and set the tube back on its platform. He put the cap on the tube and looked back up at Terror.

"While I observe her DNA, can you clean that up?" He pointed at the blood on the floor. Terror rolled his eyes and walked off.

The liquid that had paralyzed Akurle had begun to wear off, and she was able to cover her wound with her paw to stop the bleeding. She looked up at the coyote, who was concentrating on the microscope. She slowly raised her head.

"The moment these chains are unlocked, I am going to rip the disgusting flesh off your bones and burn the remains in your own, disgusting lab." Akurle hissed. Ryan whipped around, almost knocking his microscope over. His eyes were filled with fear, and he was staring at her like she was a gigantic monster.

"You-u... c-can't..." He muttered.

"Oh *yes* I ***can***." She bared her teeth at him and laid back down as Terror came in. Terror glared at Ryan.

"What happened to you? It looks like you saw a blood-sucking killer ghost." He asked, laughing a bit. Ryan shrugged awkwardly and spun back around and looked through his microscope.

After Ryan had bandaged her wound, much to Terror's disgrace, they set her back in the tube to sleep. She was absolutely tired, but she just couldn't fall asleep because she was so hungry. Her stomach growled so loud, even Terror could hear it through the glass of the tube. He looked up at her.

"Oh my, it looks like we forgot to *feed* someone" He sneered. Ryan suddely came out of nowhere and answered "Oh, you're right! We never fed the wolf." He nodded toward Akurle.

"Ugh. Do we *have* to feed her? Cant we just let her *starve* for a day? It's not like she's going to *die* or anything." Terror whined. Ryan shook his head.

"Despite her being a careless experiment, we must keep her alive and healthy. You never know what could happen, and we can't lose such precious information. Once I found out how her ability works and I am able to manipulate it into other organisms, then you can tear her to pieces since she will be useless to me. But for now, we treat her like a living thing." Ryan said before walking off.

*Really? A living thing? It sure doesn't look like they are treating me that way*. She thought. But the truth was, she was thankful that Ryan was here. He was the only thing keeping Terror from ripping her to shreds.

After a while, the coyote came back with a bowl of puke colored fluid. Terror took her out of the tube and chained her to the wall next to the table Nkurle was chained to. Ryan held the bowl to her lips and urged her to eat it.

After several minutes, Akurle finally took a sip. Not only did it look like puke, but it sure tasted like puke! She gagged and spat the stuff out, right on Ryan's coat. He moaned and looked at the gross splotch that was stained to his clean white lab coat.

Terror snorted. "If you want to live, I recommend you drink it. Right.*Now*." He flicked a sharp talon at the bowl of pukey stuff.

Akurle growled at him and took another sip. It seemed to taste even worse. She swallowed a little bit and spat the rest out. Terror growled, his forked tongue flicking out. He ripped the bowl from Ryan's paws and held Akurle's mouth open and poured the stuff in. She gagged and choked, coughing up some of the liquid, but managed to swallow the rest.

Ryan smiled a bit and took the bowl from Terror. "Put her back in her tube, I will clean up this mess." Ryan muttered. Terror nodded at him and hauled the wolf back in her tube.

Akurle was no longer hungry, but she had a better chance of falling asleep starving than with this disgusting taste stuck in her mouth. The lights went out and Terror and Ryan were nowhere to be seen. Another animal stuck in a tube next to her had fallen asleep, and light snoring had filled the whole room. It seemed like hours, and probably was, before she finally fell asleep.

## Chapter 4: Rescue

Akurle woke up in the dead of night when hearing faint roraring from above.

BDK slammed through the wall, Swishing her robotic tail. "***LET. HER. GO."*** The dark gray dragon ripped the chains off Nkurle. Nkurle quickly thanked her and ran out of the lab.

Akurle wiggled around in her tube, hoping for BDK to notice her. She tried to call for help, but the mask kept her mouth from opening. After a moment, the dragon broke the glass on her tube. Glass shattered on the floor and the green liquid poured out and sizzled when touching the ground.

Akurle slid the mask off her face and stumbled out of the tube. Her legs were wobbly and weak, she could barely stand. She took a couple steps and fell face-first to the ground. She moaned and looked up to see Nkurle and Blackdragonkid run out.

Akurle shook her head weakly and stumbled toward the door, falling over four times. She managed to get herself upright and open the door, but fell over the instant the door flung open. The wolf slowly hauled herself to her paws and slowly walked out. She was in a kind of living room with a table, a TV, a laptop, and several couches and chairs. There was an opening on the side of the room, and inside was a kitchen. She didn't have time to look around and crawled over to the door.

Akurle opened the door to another room. This one was obviously some sort of lobby or waiting room. There was another door with a window on it, showing the outside. Akurle stumbled toward the door, only tripping three times. Her legs were getting stronger, but she still had trouble walking.

The wolf walked out into the dark night. There was a forest nearby, and the stars were shining through the gray clouds. But what caught Akurle's attention most was BDK crying in the grass.

Akurle stumbled over to BDK. "Blackdragonkid, what's wrong?" She asked. Her voice was hoarse, as if she hadn't been taking in ages, which was actually true. The only things she had said the last day were insults at Terror and Ryan. Akurle looked around an saw Terror suddenly burst out of the door and charge toward Akurle. He pushed BDK aside like she was just a rag doll and grabbed Akurle by the neck.

"What do you think you were doing you worthless rat!" He scowled and lifted Akurle off the ground, still clutching her neck.

"You're as dumb as a dragon turd!" He slammed her to the ground. Even though Akurle was wobbly and weak, she still had enough energy to transform. In a bright flash of blue light, she turned into a shimmering white and blue dragon. But even as a dragon, Terror was much larger than her.

Terror slammed his fist down on her wings and held her down. She roared in anger and pain, thrashing around in his claws. Her dragon form had more energy than her wolf form and was much more fierce, but still no match for Terror.

Akurle glared at the giant purple dragon and realized that he was smiling. She could see Ryan coming outside, holding a weird device and several metal cuffs. Akurle realized with dread that this was their plan all along. Wait for BDK to save her, then toss BDK aside and force Akurle to transform.

Ryan quickly locked the metal cuffs onto her legs and muzzle, and used an extra one to set on her wings. Ryan was hopping around like it was his first birthday, and he was so excited, she was pretty sure his face was turning pink.

"Finally... a kind of evidence we've never experienced before!" He was saying with a joyful tone. "I could become a world-known scientist if I find out how to manipulate this ability into other organisms! This is something no one has ever been able to study, and rarely anyone has even experienced this unique ability in action! I will be the first one to ever experiment on it... and the only one to manipulate it into other organisms! Isn't this so exciting!" Ryan starting hopping around in little circles as Terror rolled his eyes.

"Let's just bring her into the study room and stop saying how amazing this is, because no one else in the world cares." He muttered, grabbing Akurle by the tail and dragging her back to the lab.

"Hmph." Ryan grumbled. "Well, I'm pretty sure a lot of scientists out there are very excited. Also the Jammers who want to have this ability!" Ryan attached a weird little device to the band on Akurle's leg and walked alongside Terror.

Akurle tried calling for BDK as Terror dragged her away. She was so close to escaping with her friends... She tried calling again, but the metal clamp on her snout kept her from talking. "Mmph! Mm mmph umph mm murph!" She tried to say.

"Quiet, you. No one can hear you, and either way they don't know what you are saying" Terror growled in her ear. Akurle let out an angry 'mumph' and wriggled around in her metal cuffs. Terror squeezed her tail and she yelped, then went still.

## Chapter 5: More Pain

Akurle's heart soared when she saw BDK charging at Terror. Terror knocked the gray dragon away as if she was a harmless kitten. BDK lunged again and Terror roared as BDK locked her jaws in his arm. Terror ripped her off, along with a couple scales, and threw her across the grass. His arm had a large gash in it, and blood was pouring out at an alarming rate. He hissed when he saw the wound, but continued on as if it wasn't there.

"Lets get out of here before that little lizard comes back." He muttered, running into the labratory and dragging Akurle along. Her heart sank when Terror closed and locked the doors behind him, foiling any plans of escape.

Ryan and Terror went back into the vet-ish room again and chained Akurle to the table. They stuck these weird tubes with suction cups on the end on certain parts of her body. When they were done, Ryan turned on some sort of lazer that slowly scanned Akurles body.

"Alright, why don't you go fix that hole out there." Ryan said, turning toward Terror. The dragon snorted.

"How? Should I cover it with my own body?" He growled, clutching the bleeding wound on his arm. Scarlet blood was pooling underneath him.

"Urgh. I will get my second assistant to go fix it."

Terror seemed angry at this news. "You mean your ONLY assistant. I am not one of your little slaves, Ryan." Akurle was a bit shocked. Terror had never addressed anyone by their names before, he ususally just called anyone a 'rat' or 'dragon turd' or stuff like that.

Ryan slumped his shoulders and huffed. He whistled, and a large robotic wolf walked in. In between the metal, Akurle could see bits of fur poking out. Akurle realized with dread that he had turned an alive animal into a robot servant.

"Shatter, you don't mind fixing the hole in the roof of the main lab room?" Ryan asked. He sounded like the robot had an option, but Akurle knew that whatever he said, 'Shatter' would do. The robot nooded and walked off, making a grinding sound when he moved.

Terror left as well, and came back with a thick bandage wrapped around his arm. Blood was already soaking through the thick cloth. Terror was a bit grumpy, having to wear the bandage. He considered it a sign of weakness.

But Akurle didn't have time to think about when he said with a sinister voice "Let's begin." Akurle knew that something horrid was about to happen.

Ryan started fussing around with one of the devices and the laser. After a while he got onto the computer and turned on some sort of radar thing. Finally, he said "Alright Akurle, I want you to transform into your Wolf form."

The metal band on Akurle's mouth was loosened, allowing her to speak. "Why should I?" She growled.

"Because otherwise there will be some unpleasant consequences." Terror said, flexing his talons. Ryan looked like he was going to have said something less threatening, so he closed his mouth and turned back to his computer.

"I'm not doing *anything* that you say." Akurle muttered. Terror flashed his claws and swung his arm toward her. Now wanting to get hurst again and having no other choice, Akurle quickly transformed into her wolf form. Blue light engulfed Akurle and pushed Terror backward, making him slam into the wall. He grunted and got back up.

Ryan was leaning so close to his computer, Akurle thought he might fall over. He observed the tubed attached to Akurle and turned back to the computer.

"Fascinating..." He murmured. He opened up another tab on his computer which showed a model that represented DNA. "This is incredible... even her DNA changes when she transforms!" Ryan was saying, and started explaining something that made absolutely no sense.

"Quick.. make her do it again! Perhaps... what kinds of forms does she have?" He asked.

"Hmm, let me thing. Ah, yes. Toxic form, python form, bomb form, killer form, and darkness form." Terror responded.

"Oh, so many choices! So many things to observe! Hmmm, maybe this 'killer form'. Yes, that sounds interesting." Ryan said, clicking things on his computer.

"*Absolutely* ***not***." Akurle hissed, trying to wiggle out of her chains. "That form is completely uncontrollable, and I don't have the energy to do so!" She growled.

"Hmmm, wait, what was that? You need energy to transform? Interesting..." Ryan muttered. Akurle instantly regretted ever saying that.

"Why not try her toxic form?" Ryan asked.

"Too dangerous. Her poison can kill a full grown dragon within hours." Terror aswered. Ryan slumped, clearly disappointed.

"Well... if she needs energy to transform, lets put her back in her tube to rest. We can test on her later. Give her an hour to recharge, but no more!" Ryan said, getting out of his chair and unchaining Akurle. Terror helped out and set her back in the tube.

## Chapter 6: Alex

Ryan peeked through the first door and saw BDK attacking it. "Shatter! Stop that dragon attacking the door!" With a loud clicking and grinding noise, Shatter walked through the doors and over to BDK. Ryan quickly locked the doors behind him. The hole in the roof was almost completely finished, just a few holes were left.

BDK was screaming in anger. If anything were to actually conme out, Chances are, she would want to kill it.

Because her thoughts were not her own.

Aggressive biting, aggressive clawing, and etc. She roared at Shatter. Snarled, Foam spilled from her jaw. She unsheathed her claws.

Shatter howled in fury, slabs of metal being ripped off, revealing fur underneath. Shatter despertaely tried to keep BDK out of the lab. Pale red blood was leaking out of the cracks in the metal and the wounds BDK had made. His metal tail was brutally ripped off, electricity sparking out. Finally, after a few more slashes, hes glowing yellow eyes dulled and he collapsed in a heap of metal and fur.

Akurle could barely hear BDK. She was worried for her. She was also worred for Nkurle. Akurle sweared that she had seen Nkurle run out, but now she was nowhere. It was like she had disappeared into thin air. And Blackdragonkid... something was wrong with her. She never acted like this. She was also a bit worried for Shatter. Akurle knew that Shatter was probably an innocent Jammer at first, and then turned into a robot slave. I mean, who would allow themselves to be turned into a robot slave who had no control over themself?

Akurle had to get out there. Something was horribly wrong... she could hear BDK tearing Shatter apart. She needed to do something!

Akurle's paws reached her mask. She tried to call for BDK, but the mask kept her from even opening her mouth. There was only one thing to do. She took a deep breath... and ripped the mask off. The green liquid swirled around her face. It stung her eyes and felt gross and slimy.

Akurle tried to slam her fists against the glass, but the liquid slowed her movements and kept her from doing much damage. She pushed herself back and slammed her whole body against the glass. She heard a loud bleeping noise, and reed lights flashed throughout the room. Just what she needed.

Terror came charging in. He immediately noticed that her mask had been torn off.

"Really? Taking your mask off? Do you realize how stupid that is?" He growled.

Terror had no choice but to drain the liquid and open the tube to put the mask back on. But Akurle was ready. The moment the tube opened, jumped out onto Terrors head and flung herself toward the door. Terror came charging after her with a ground-shaking roar. Akurle ran up to the door and tried opening it, only to remember that it was locked.

Terror slammed his fists down, but Akurle moved just in time. Her legs were still wobbly, but she was getting stronger and faster. Terror roared in fury and spread his wings. He looked twice as terrifying and huge with his wings spread. He jumped up and flew after Akurle and slammed his claws down on top of her.

They slid across the floor for a few second before stopping. Akurle tried to wiggle away, but Terrors grasp was too strong.

"Alright doggy, don't you *dare* try that again. Almost *every* test subject who tries that ends up *dead* the third time. *Trust* me. You *don't* want to end up like them." He hissed in her ear. After holding her down a moment more, he picked her up and shoved her in the tube.

Akurle slumped in her tube, which was kinda impossible because she was floating. She moaned loudly and hovered there, bored and angry. She heard a telephone ring and saw Terror answer it, then hung up when no one answered. After a while, Ryan came back dragging a torn apart robotic wolf. It was Shatter.

Akurle felt bad for him. Another helpless and hopeless test subject who was forcefully turned into a robot slave against his will.

After what seemed like a while, Ryan and Terror walked in.

"Alright... she should get out of the liquid now. The liquid should be done reverting her prokariotic cells, thus causing- " Ryan tried to say.

"I DON'T CARE, ALRIGHT?!" Terror suddenly roared. Ryan winced and took a step backward.

"I was just trying to explai- "

"I don't care for an explanation, it's not like I'm going to understand anyway!" Terror interrupted again. Ryan did a soft growl and stepped forward to take Akurle out of the tube. Terror helped, and they dragged her to Nkurle's cell.

Next to Nkurle's cell were two other cells. They each had a prison-like bench hanging from the wall, but not too far off the ground. There was a pillow on the bench and a toilet in a closed off section of the cell so no one could see her using it.

There was a large barred window on each wall so she could see the other cells, and another one by the door of the cell. Terror stopped at Nkurle's cell.

"Why can't we just use her sisters cell? It's not like shes coming back at all... the Unhappy Thing probably has his own cell for her." Terror said, gesturing to the cell. Akurle's eyes went wide. Her sister was with the unhappy thing? That couldn't be good. The unhappy thing was Nkurles worst enemy.

"No, I still haven't cleaned it. I don't want her catching a disease." Ryan said matter-of-factly. He pointed to the cell next to it, and Terror threw her in- literally. She thudded to the floor as the door slammed shut behind her.

Ryan turned back to Terror.

"I need to repair Shatter's metal parts, so I need to place him in a cell while I do it. I already took the metal off, but can you drag him in here?" Ryan suddenly said after a moment of silence.

Terror rolled his eyes and pushed Ryan out of the way as he headed into the vet-lab room.

Terror dragged a pale brown wolf into the cell next to Akurle. His tail lashed furiously and accidentally hit a phone laying on a table behind him.. The phone was knocked off the table and shattered.

"Terror! Seriously! Do you know how much that cost? I hope you have a bit of money, because you are going to go out and buy a new phone!" Ryan yelled. Terror shot him a glare and snarled.

Ryan squinted at him and pointed to the doorway. "Out."

"Ha, you think you can order me around?" Terror mocked.

*"Out*." Ryan hissed, still pointing to the doorway. Terror arched his back, and for a moment it looked like he was going to attack. But then, he whipped around and headed out the doorway.

Akurle stared at the scene before turning to the barred window. She peeked through and saw Shatter lying on the ground, watching Ryan. He had a long cut along his side, which was oozing pale red blood that looked more like water than blood, of all things. His breathing was very shallow, and he was quietly moaning.

"Hey." Akurle whispered, poking her nose through the bars. "Are you Shatter?" She asked. It was an obvious question, but she wanted to sound friendly. And perhaps, that wasn't his real name.

Shatter slowly turned his head to look at her, so slowly it was actually creepy. He let out a long, ragged sigh and answered in a hoarse voice. "That's what Ryan calls me." His voice was very hoarse, but his voice wasn't as slow as she thought it would be. He spoke in a steady tone, which was probably the most normal thing about him.

"Oh. Did you have a different name?" She wondered aloud. Shatter closed his eyes and sighed again.

"Yes. My real name... was...." He pressed his paw to his forehead as if he was in deep thought. Akurle felt so bad for him. He didn't even remember his own name? He looked so skinny and unhealthy, he moved so slowly, and his blood didn't even look like real blood.

"I think it was Alex. Maybe Aless... no, that doesn't sound right. Alex, Alen... Al.... Mmmm. None of those sound right. It was Alex. I think." He opened his eyes and slowly lowered his paw to the ground. He sighed again, but this sounded more like a sob.

"Alex. I like that name. Soooo... if you don't mind telling me, what did Ryan do to you?" She asked. She wished she could just go over there and hug Alex, he looked so sad.

Alex looked down at his paws and moaned. After a while he looked back up at Akurle and answered. "I... can't quite remember. I just rememer that he wanted to make me into an actual robot. I think he tried to make one from scratch, but he couldn't make it... alive. So he tried attaching metal parts to me, and making them respond to my brain, and stuff like that. He tried to make the metal feel pain too... that sounds weird. Let me rephrase that. He tried to make the metal act like skin, with the same properties and stuff." He took a deep breath, as if it was tiring to talk. Maybe it was.

"He tried to change me." Alex continued. "Tried to make me into something completely different. He... was just using my body as a model, an anchor, because he couldn't make certain things himself. He wasn't just changing me... he was just using me for the more complicated stuff. He altered my brain to listen to his command. He changed my organs so I didn't have to eat. But he couldn't completely change me, the metal makes that stuff happen. Only when I wear my 'armor' I listen to his comment. The 'armor' gives me the nutrients I need so I don't have to eat. But some things that he changed, can't be changed back." He looked at the pale transparent blood oozing out of his cut.

"Like, he changed my blood for some reason... I can't remember why. But now it takes a long time to clot, so when I get an unjury, it keeps bleeding for a long time, unless it is covered up. Ryan thought that wouldn't be a big deal because of my armor, but he never expected someone to be able to rip it off like that. Also... who was that dragon? Do you know?" Alex gave a shuddering sigh and looked up at Akurle with a hopefull expression.

"Yes... I do." Akurle started. "She is my friend." Alex stiffened when he heard that.

"You- your friend? That savage..." He scooted back from Akurle, a fearful look in his eyes.

"No.. I mean yes. She... I don't know what happened to her. She was trying to save me, but she probably got out of control. And Ryan ordered you to stop her... and she didn't want anything in her way. She... she was trying to save me. And you were trying to stop her." Akurle looked at Alex, hoping he would believe her.

Alex's expression was suddenly filled with guilt. "I was trying to stop her... from saving you? I... I'm so... I'm so sorry! I didn't.. I wish... I wish I had friends like that. I wish someone would bust in here like that ad risk their lives just to save me." He looked longingly at the roof, as if he expected that to happen.

Akurle felt so sorry for him. By the look on his face... he wasn't lying. He just wanted someone to love him, not for his horrid reputation as a heartless robot, but as his true spirit, the wolf inside the thick metal.

"I will." Alex looked up at her. "You what?"

"I will be your friend. And I'm going to get us out of here." She smiled at Alex. His whole face lit up, and a huge smile spread across his face.

"You... you would do that? Your not just going to save yourself.. you going to save me too?" He looked around nervously. "But I'm so slow and clueless. I would only slow you down and get us in trouble."

Akurle shook her head. "Even if you are slow, you're not clueless. You have been here much longer than I have, and you will be a great help. Terror isn't here right now, and I don't think Ryan will be able to do anything to us. And I have just the perfect plan to get us out of here." Akurle smiled at Alex again, this time with a fierce look in her eyes.

Alex shivered and swayed his head from side to side. "No no no, he has another 'assistant'. He created a monster, a huge thing... it will surely stop us. You can't fight it, you're only a wolf. It is a huge thing... so powerful..." Alex was shivering from head to toe now, with a worried expression.

Akurle chuckled. "I'm not *just* a*wolf.* And I have killed monsters before, surely this isn't any more terrifying. The most terrifying thing here is Terror, and he is going to buy a new phone." She chuckled again, and in a flash of light, she was no longer *just a wolf*.

She now had glistening black fur with long glowing strips of yellow-ish green running across her body. She had long, thin red eyes with a large green patch of fur above it. Large spikes lined her head and neck, tipped with the same yellowish green glow and smaller black spikes along her back and tail. Her tail was no longer big and fluffy, it was thin and slim like a lizard's and complete with a sharp stinger on the end. Her ears were long and pointed like horns, and her paws were replaced with dragon-like feet with long talons prodruding out.

Alex gasped and squirmed away, his face filled with wonder and fear. "How... how... did Ryan do this to you?!" He stammered.

"Nope." Akurle responded, her voice was a bit creepier, but barely enough to be noticed. "This is just me. And this is the reason Ryan brought me here- to test on me and try to give others my powers. But I won't let him, these powers belong to me." She said, her voice filled with pride.

Alex was left to stare in awe as Akurle slammed her stinger into the bars off her cell. It slid right through, and when she pulled back, the bar was split in half. She slammed her talons against it, and both parts snapped. Now that the lock was exposed, she stabbed her stinger into his. It took several tries before the lock fell off and the door slid open.

Akurle leaped out as fast as she could and ripped the lock off Alex's cell. He slowly crawled out, moving very slow but just barely fast enough to make it out before Ryan burst into the room.

## Chapter 7: One Last Escape

Ryan gasped with fright when he saw them. He stared at Akurle for a long, deadly silent moment before he realized what had happened.

"You... Akurle!? Your Toxic form... right? But how..." He reached out his paw as if he was tempted to touch Akurle, but she moved out of the way and leaped on top of him. She pinned him down under her talons and snarled, her tail raised dangerously above her head.

"Yeah, thats right. Just like Terror said, I'm *too* dangerous, with poison that can kill you within a few hours. Want to see exactly how long it takes?" Akurle hissed, pretending to poke him with her stinger. She was so tempted to do it and watch as the poison flooded his body. But something was holding her back.

She shook her head and raised the stinger, then slammed it down. A furry paw grabbed her stinger and held it back. At first she thought it was Ryan, but realized that is was Alex.

"Please... don't hurt him." Alex said. He had a weak grip, but Akurle raised her stinger again.

"Why not? Look at what he did to you... and all these others. Why can't I just end all this torture before he does something else horrible." She said, trying to hide the impatience in her voice. "I will make it quick and painless, just one prick of my stinger."

"I know he did horrible things... but he doesn't deserve death. Just... please, leave him alone. Don't hurt him, please." Alex pleaded. He let go of her stinger. He trusted her not to hurt Ryan.

Akurle held back the snarl that tried to escape her mouth. She lifted Ryan up and tossed him into Nkurle's cell and locked it with her stinger. She cave the coyote one last look of hatred before turning back to Alex.

"Alright, lets go before Terror comes back. Do you want me to carry you?" She said calmly.

The pale brown-ish gray wolf glanced at the door. "If it will make it quicker, yes." He replied. Akurle nodded at him and lifted him onto her back. Akurle was stronger in her toxic form, but even in her wolf form she could carry Alex. He was so skinny and light, he weighed barely anything. She ran toward the doorway, but was stopped by Alex- again.

"Wait! Don't go that way! There is a secret exit in the back of the lab." He pointed the opposite way that she was going. She turned and headed the opposite way. She trusted Alex... but hopefully he wasn't lying.

Akurle ran through the lab. Alex pointed left, she went left. He pointed right, she went right. Her legs were getting weak and wobbly from running and turning so much, not to mention that she was also carrying a wolf on her back. (Which wasn't that heavy, but still enough to wear her out.)

She came across a large room like the one she was in with tubes full of green liquid with deformed creatures inside. There was another room filled with vials full of blood, puss, and other really disturbing things like that. There was even a room with cells lined up along the walls, and several splats of blood here and there.

Even Alex seemed to be highly disturbed. He must have remembered the other exit, but probably not what was in these rooms. Akurle turned and ran through a long hallway with circular windows everywhere. Akurle glanced into one of them and saw a phantom wandering around inside a white room filled with smoke. In another there was a phantom in its natural habitat, and one inside a room filled with random pieces of metal and screws. In the last window was a phantom hovering over the dead body of an animal.

*He is watching how phantoms behave and act.* Akurle realized. She ran even faster than before, hoping to get away from there as fast as she could. Alex pointed to a door to the left, and Akurle busted inside.

Just to be sure, Akurle closed the door behind her. This room had several tables lined up with computers, lamps, weird machines, and tazers lying on top. There was a strange machine with a radar on it and electricity crackling in between two wires sticking out.

Alex pointed to another door, and Akurle walked through it. She didn't realize how big this lab was until she had to go through the entire thing. Actually, no. This was only half of the lab. Akurle closed the door behind her and looked around. This room was even worse than anything she had seen.

There were several tables with dissection tools placed neatly on top. There was a sink on the far corner of the room where a few bloody knifes were washing off and several huge posters with diagrams of certain animals insides. Akurle nearly puked when she saw phantoms organs inside a glass refrigerator. Alex instantly looked away and glanced around the rest of the room.

"I think this is the wrong room... go back into the hall." He ordered. Akurle turned and went back into the other room without looking back. She headed out the other door and back into a hallway, smaller than the one with the windows. Alex pointed to the end of the hallways and Akurle ran toward it.

There were several doors lined up along the hallway, but it was short. At the very end was a large metal door with a huge metal lock holding it closed. Akurle set Alex on the ground and worked on picking the lock. The pale gray-ish brown wolf slowly got to his feet and looked down the hallway, as if expecting something, or someone, to come charging toward them.

The lock was incredible hard to pick open, so after a few minutes Akurle gave up and started picking it with her talons instead of her stinger. After several more minutes, Akurle heard Terror screaming with rage.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!?! THEY ESCAAAPED?!?!"

Akurle bit a bit surprised that she could hear him through all these thick walls from the opposite side of the lab, but then again, Terror was very *very* loud. The whole world could probably hear him.

"Hurry hurry hurry! That doesn't sound good at all..." Alex barked, his ears lay flat against his head. Akurle growled and twisted her talon into the keyhole faster and faster. Was it just her, or could she hear wing beats coming her way?

Akurle's claws were getting shaky from fear, and she was having trouble unlocking the lock. She took out her claw and starting picking it with her stinger, but still no progress. She hissed loudly, startling Alex, and stabbed her stinger into the lock, trying to rip it off. Her poison sizzled when it touched the metal, but it didn't do anything.

Alex was shifting his paws and constantly lifting them up and down, up and down. It was kind of distracting, but this was not the time to be yelling at others. Alex's ears suddenly pricked up and he stared fearfully down the hallway. He must have been hearing wingbeats, too.

Akurle hissed again, quieter, and tried slicing the lock with her stinger, but only made tiny cuts. She bit the lock, yellow-green poison dribbling onto the metal, and clawed the lock as well. She slammed her fists on it, but only hurt herself and didn't even make a dent. She swore she could hear wingbeats, now.

"Alex... I need you to distract him. Go to one of the doors at the other end of the hallway where it turns, and open it. Open a few doors actually. Go inside the room and mess a few things up and try moving desks and shoving things behind other things to make it look like we are hiding in there, alright? Can you do that as fast as you can?" Akurle pleaded, looking Alex in the eyes.

Alex seemed even more frightened. "But... but.. what if I'm too slow? What if I don't get here in time and I lead Terror right to us, or what if I'm am too late and I get caught?"

Akurle sighed deeply and took her stinger away from the lock. "Alex... this is serious. I promise to get this lock open before you get here, so if you lead Terror to me, we can just bolt out of here. If you get caught, I will stab Terror and save you. I can take you over there to be quicker, but please, you need to do this or both of us will be caught. Okay?" Akurle didn't wait for an answer as she picked Alex up and carried him to the bend in the hallway.

Alex jumped off and ran into a room, leaving the door wide open and started messing things up. He even shoved a black fur carpet behind a desk, which made it look like Akurle was hiding there. He was much smarter than she thought.... he may not have been too brave, but he defenitely wasn't dumb.

Akurle ran back to the end of the hall and started clawing at the lock again. She bit it once more, and with a loud snap, the lock fell to the ground. The metal doors almost intantly flew open, and Akurle walked inside.

The door swung open, and on the other side was not what Akurle was expecting. It was a fairly big room filled with cages and chains. Smeared on the wall was splats of blood and- wait, goop? In several places there was dark purple blobs of goop, extremly similar to phantom goop. Or *was* it phantom goop...

*Is this where Ryan puts his test subjects befoe he decides what to do with them? But wait, he already has cells. Maybe this is like another prison, or the prison he used to use before he made the other ones.* Akurle thought. There were several claw marks inside the cages and on the chains. A few of the chains were broken, like someone had escaped. But according to the blood smeared right next to them, whoever had escaped hadn't gotten far.

"A key! I got the key! I got it! Right here, the key! Here it is!" Alex barked with joy as he ran toward Akurle. The smile on his face faded once he saw the broken lock.

"Oh.... Well, I guess I don't need this anymore." He said sadly, tossing the key behind him.

"Thanks for trying, anyway. But are you sure this is the exit?" Akurle asked, gesturing toward the cells. Then an idea popped into her head.... what if Alex was leading her into here so he could capture her and make sure she never escaped? Alex padded toward the doors, faster than usual, and rested his paw on the door.

Akurle leaped toward him with a growl and forced him to the ground.

"YOU! Traitor!!!" She roared, pinning his arms down.

"No! What? How did I... no! No no no! I would never! OUCH!" He squeaked, squirming under her talons. She pressed down harder and he yelped.

"You led me here so you could trap me again! Thats why you convinced me not to kill him! Then you led me here and put your paw on the door so you could close it and trap me in there! Why? Why would you betray me like that!" She roared, making him wince.

"No... I... This is the exit! Trust me!! And I put my paw on the door because I was tired, so I was going to lean against it! And I didn't want you to kill Ryan because... because..."

"Because you were loyal to him and you wanted to betray me?!" Akurle finished for him.

"No! Please! Ryan... he... He was a friend. I knew him, he used to be so nice and caring. He loves science... but then, something happened. He started testing on bugs and stuff, then pets and phantoms, and then Jammers.... at first he just did harmless experiments, but then he went a little farther. He wasn't doing dangerous experiments until he met Terror, and after that, he didn't even care about his friends anymore. I tried to convince him to stop, but then Terror stopped me and convinced Ryan that the only way he would reach his scientific goal, was if he got rid of anyone who stood in his way. He believed Terror, and then they started testing on me. In no time, he had turned me into a heartless robot.

"The reason I didn't want you to kill him is because I know he can change. I know that because he is that kind of person, and because he didn't just dispose of me, but made me his second assistant. He never truely harmed me, even when Terror wanted to himself. Ryan didn't let him. If we can get rid of Terror, there will be no one to convince him to keep things this way. He can change... I know he can." Alex sighed deeply, tears streaming from his eyes. That, Akurle believed.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I never should have done that. I'm sorry." Akurle got off of the pale wolf and helped him up.

"Now, about that key..." Akurle glanced back into the room and saw another door on the other end.

"Maybe you could try that door?" She asked. Alex nodded and they both walked in.

And the door slammed shut behind them

## Chapter 8: The Monster

The whole room was shrouded in darkness, only the glowing stripes along Akurle's fur illuminated the area. Alex was clutching his head and whimpering.

"I remember now... I remember! There is a monster here that Ryan created to capture experiments that tried to escape, and it throws them in the cages until Ryan comes to take then back..." Alex muttered, shaking his head and whimpering.

"Well, this 'monster' is gonna have to try a lot harder to keep me from getting out of this cursed lab." Akurle said with a hiss. Alex was still swaying from side to side and whimpering, not at all any more reassured.

Akurle's eyes had adjusted to the dark now. The ceiling was incredibly high, and a small button was sitting on the wall near the ceiling. This 'monster' hadn't shown up yet.

"What is that for?" She muttered, pointing to the button. She snatched the key from Alex and shoved it in the lock on the door ahead.

"The monster can press the button to let Ryan know that he caught whoever was escaping. Only it can reach it..." He muttered.

Akurle fit the key in the lock, determined to get out of this horrid place. She felt a tingling sensation, like someone was watching her. She could hear heavy, ragged breathing, that didn't sound like Alex. She could feel a rush of cold air fill the room, as if someone had just stuck a giant icecube in there. She could smell something disgusting, like rotting meat. She could feel electricity crackling through the air and something slimy. She could taste hatred in the air... and she could barely see the glimmer of a huge white eye.

Akurle twisted the key a third time and heard a click. Before she could push the doors open, a blob of purple slime shot through the air and landed right on the lock. It seemed to connect itself to the doors and hold them shut. Akurle growled and tried to push the door open, but the slime kept it shut.

Alex started whimpering loudly behind her, and only now did she turn around to see the huge, floating phantom monster staring at them.

The monster hovered in the air. It was made of phantom goop, with four large white eyes. Electricity crackled between its many many tentacles. And before she could react, it made a furious screeching sound and charged.

The phantom monster opened its giant, gaping mouth. It had huge sharp black teeth and a faintly g'owing purple inside its mouth. It charged toward Alex, ready to bite his head off... or worse.

Akurle leaped forward and pushed him away. He was very slimy... probably made of Phantom goop. Must be why Ryan was testing on phantoms. The monster stopped and glared at her, and turned back to Alex. Akurle swung her poisonous tail at it and it pierced his back... and slid right through to the other side.

Akurle pulled her stinger out in shock. A part of the phantom monster shriveled up into black dust. The phantom roared in pain, in with a disgusting slurping noise, the phantom regrew the part that it lost. Akurle hissed loudly and it swung its tentacles at her.

Akurle dodged and grabbed Alex, who was frozen in fear. She ran to the other side of the room and told Alex to hide.