The Experiments (An Experiments Story)

cover by Darkmoon

### Main Chatacter(s)

Blade, Wolverine, Keen, Sheer, Damaged, Widow, Blaze, Flutter, Acidic, Ghost, Tranqulity, Copper, Carmine, Nebula, Snowdew, Cheetah, Darksky

### Supporting Character(s)

Dustorm, Silence, Spider, Bane, Sudavr, Eucera, Karner, Tidal, Glitch, Violet

## Story

### Who?

Blade, Wolverine, and the rest of the Experiments

### When?

a few centuries after the books, in 5335 AS

## Character Pictures

Blade

Wolverine

Keen

This is pretty much a fanfic, but really it's the fanfic version of the Experiments rp. This is typed by Darkmoon.

## Intro

Duststorm sat, staring at his Lab. His pride. His destiny. The tribes that forsaken him would one day be no more.... He would make sure of that. He would kill anyone who got in his way.

## Chapter 1: The Socialization Room

Darksky was on the first floor, in the socialization room. The experiment's big pale blue eyes were curious and sweet. Metal cords connect his horns they seemed to not be real horns. Instead, mechanical for some reason. Blade was pacing in the socialization room, tail lashing. "Hello, Blade," Darksky peeped to her.

"Hey, kid," she replied with a grin.

"What think scientist do now? Hope others are ok," muttered the dragonet in a faint, far away voice as if he was far off somewhere else instead of in the lab.

Blade sighed. She replied, "They'll be okay. We are all strong." Sometimes, though, she wondered if things would ever actually be okay. How could they, when those pathetic excuses for dragons were conducting their monstrous experiments?

"Right. Does one ever wonder of what on far away land? I want to feel it, grass. Fresh grass, trees, and flower. No metal, no experimenting, just free," Darksky said dreamily.

"These scientists will be sorry..." Sheer hissed. The IceWing-SilkWing experiment was tugging on the chains holding her down. Blade felt anger at seeing her friend chained like this.

Blade curled her claws. "I'm with you, Sheer."

"Sorry not for us. But, for own lives. No good in them at times, " Darksky said in response to Sheer. He nodded. Sheer looked gratefully at the dragonet.

Blade saw Carmine working on an experimental blueprint in another room. The SkyWing scientist seemed excited to see some of the newer experiments, but she'd been too busy designing another invention to leave her office. Carmine looked up from her project, and sighed, "Moons, I need some more ideas." Nearby, the head guard Cheetah was switching positions with Saltwater, another guard. Cheetah saw Carmine and barked, "Where's Duststorm?"

Carmine looked up and said, "I don't know, he has a busy schedule! Why can't you go find him?" Cheetah stalked off, and was on her way to the socialization room to check on the experiments when she was interrupted by another guard.

Tidal’s talonsteps echoed through out the hallway as she rushed towards the socialization room. Having just come from checking on an experiment in a coma, she seemed to be in a rather bad mood. She held her head high and pushed opened the reinforced steel door to the socialization room, her eyes scanning the room for Spider. Blade glared at the SeaWing when they made eye contact. Tidal stopped scanning the room when saw Cheetah nearby. "Have you seen Spider?" the SeaWing guard asked, tapping a claw on the marble floor nervously. Cheetah snorted. He was probably off flirting again. When Cheetah didn't give a response, Tidal gave her a sideways glare before storming off again. "Thanks for the directions," Tidal spat furiously.

The group of experiments were still in the socialization room, grumbling about the lab. Blade flexed her claws, admiring their sharpness. Sheer laid down, and Blade sat next to her, listening to the voice of the dragons around her. *I don't even know what life outside this lab could be like,* she thought despairingly. Around the wires keeping her mouth from opening too widely, Sheer began to sing. The song of despair and a dragon who had nothing left. She sang low and high, haunting melodies cutting through the bars, the cage, hopefully going straight into the hearts of the guards.

Sheer stopped, remembering that other dragons were with her. She grumbled to herself, "If any scientist tries to take me I WILL RIP OFF THEIR FACE! PUNISHMENT OR NO PUNISHMYENT!" Blade snarled in agreement.

"Sounds like you," Darksky proclaimed. "But wouldn't ripping their wings off first be more painful?"

Sheer nodded. "And more fun!" She looked around. "Can I test it?" She laughed slightly. "Ahhhh, this is nice." She reclined against the chains, looking perfectly comfortable despite the heaviness of her restraints.

Responding to Sheer's question, Darksky said, "Do it on oneself. I am not willing to be scarped by scientists yet."

Sheer laughed again. "Why don't I try it on a scientist?" she asked. Darksky seemed to think that was a perfectly fine idea.

"Works!" he yelped. Blade grinned a bit at this. Darksky was like a little brother, and he could be very fun to be around at times. Her grin faded as Cheetah walked directly into the room with the experiments. She carefully watched the guard, not taking her eyes off of the SandWing hybrid. Darksky seemed to notice her wariness, and the little dragonet tensed up. Cheetah just stood there, twitching her tail, and Blade approached her.

Darksky sniffed the air and became aware of Cheetah. Blade felt bad for her little brother as he scooted back. He seemed uncomfortable now, mostly because of his fear of the lab staff. She wanted to make him feel safe again. Cheetah sat down, and Blade sat down too. Sheer and another metal experiment, Keen, walked over to watch. The battle of the wits began.

## Chapter 2: New Friends

Meanwhile, Widow was in her room. *Oh boy, isn't this exciting!* she thought, as she remembered that she was gonna be able to meet the new experiments soon. She was busy trying to clear up some space in the entrance, as she had layered her entire chamber, floor to ceiling, with silky, not sticky, silk. She had made her own floor out of it, which she had weaved a staircase leading up to it at the front entrance, like the entrance to a house, almost.

She had a seating area for herself, and two for any visitors, a dining area, a bit of a bedding area, anything they might need, all of which she weaved herself. *I must say, it looks quite amazing seeing it all.*

She had been there all her life. She hatched in their lab, she made her home at the end of a long hallway of chambers, the door being the size of the hallway itself, on the second floor. She had weaved together some... rather comfortable, and not sticky, furniture, including a large table, a few comfortable seats, and a large bed in case they got tired.. And, best of all, the furniture was quite durable, and could easily fit a Mudwing. Widow, or #1738 as she's been called once or twice, was busy trying to make the floor as even as possible, maybe make another little spot to sit down- *Oh, maybe I could request some tea! Who knows how much time I have, they may be already being prepared to enter!* She had even blocked off the lights in the room enough to have it at a mellow, calming, dull yellow glow in the room.

After a few minutes of having her little spider-lings touch up some of the furniture, she silently declared it all done, and her brood proceeded to crawl through and into the little tunnel system they had made under the floor themselves without damaging the floor's stability. Her seating area was more like a large indent into the floor and wall in the middle back portion of the room, of which, the wall blocked off a little under a third of the quite spacious room. *Perfect, all I need to do is wait for them. Whether it may be the new scientists or experiments.* She was quite excited to meet them.

*Wow... preparing that much has made me quite tired. Maybe a quick little nap...?* She thought to herself, letting her body rest in her little area she designed for herself.

She was awoken when she saw another experiment being dragged into her room. This new dragon seemed like a SkyWing or SandWing, and there were wires attached to her that the scientist reattached into the floor of Widow's cell. Widow couldn't see many of the experiment's features in the low light of her cell, but she stayed in a corner while the newcomer looked around. The new dragon poked the spider webs covering the floor, and immediately recoiled.

The new dragon's anxiety seemed to heighten more and more the longer she was in Widow's room. Widow saw the newcomer's eyes widen when one of her spider-lings crawled from a hole in the silk. When the other experiment took a nervous step back, Widow decided to introduce herself. "Oh good, my first visitor!" she called out in a smooth voice. The scared experiment let out a yelp and fell back, getting tangled in her wires and the webbing.

Widow spoke up again. "Dear me, I'm so sorry for startling you. You're not hurt, are you?" In response, the other experiment scrambled back to her feet with a clearly embarrased expression. Her face seemed to say 'you saw nothing.' Widow looked back with a friendly, though confused smile. "What? I'm just trying to be friendly."

The other experiment darted up and booked her on the nose, "♤□●●♤◇♧nice♤♡○♡●♧●you!" she yipped, smiling back. Widow recoiled with a startled yelp, "Uh, excuse me?"

She gestured to herself,"●○♧○speak little dragon." She the gestured to Widow, "○●nice○●!"

She seemed a little confused, but she smiled awkwardly, "Uh, thanks! I don't speak the way you do, is it possible you could speak more Dragon?"

"♡●I♡♧try,♡♡i♧♡●know little," the other dragon replied, deflating a little.

Widow smiled kindly, and a spider crawled out from underneath the webs, and crawled into the lock of the chain holding her in place, "Thank you, I'm not the most knowing of different languages. Please, try not to wiggle the chain, I'm trying to get you free while you're in here with me."

The other dragon smiled,"♧●we all learn.♧●" She held still, trusting this new friend.

Widow smiled. "Well, eventually," she said before laughing. She walked forwards and to one side of her new friend, her legs making a 'clink' when they hit the metallic floor. "What's your name?" she asked her new friend.

"B14Z3," the dragon replied, remembering the name on her cell door.

Widow knew enough of the designations they give the experiments to figure out her real name. "Ah, I get it. Your name is Blaze. I like it!" she said sweetly.

Blaze cocked her head to the side. "Blaze," she said thoughtfully. "●●I like♧○." Widow wondered if Blaze had known the Dragon way to say her name before, but it didn't matter. She liked her new friend, even if Blaze had some quirks. After all, aren't the quirky things the best part of life?

## Chapter 3: Imprisoned, Afraid, and Angry

Somewhere on another floor, Damaged was in his private cell. He remembered only the slightest bit of the outside world, it was only a few hours before he became an experiment. He had been in a building, an orphanage, and one of the scientists came in and looked around. They seemed to be studing each of the dragonets. They had come over to him, he was 7 at the time. The scientist turned to the orphanage director and asked, "Why is this one here? Isn't he an adult?" The owner then told them, "He's not an adult yet. He's seven years old, so one more year until he can leave for good." The scientist studied him, then told the owner/director, "I could take care of him." They then went into the next room for paperwork, when they came out, they opened where he was and took off a small grey bracelet. He had naïevely followed the scientist. Once they got into veiw of the lab he started to get scared. "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME?!" he had asked in a terrified voice. The scientist gave him a fake smile. "We're not going to hurt you," they replied, then his vision went black and he had woken up in his old cell.

When his flashback was over, he got up and paced his cell. "Dirty lying idiots," he grumbled. An unnamed guard came to bring Damaged to the room with the other experiments. After they entered his cell, they went 'missing', mysterious blood splotches were on the floor. A few splashes of blood were on Damaged, but the body was no where to be seen. He went back to pacing his cell. He wondered what the other experiments were up to.

Bane was in the basement, trying to figure out what emotion was. He shifted into the shape of a dragon and began ramming into the walls and ceiling causing small cracks to appear. Hearing music, he paused and then shifted into a peaceful ball on the floor. The music went on for a while, but the moment it stopped, Bane went back to trying to destroy things. His mind was a violent mess, and his anger was making the walls shake.

In a cell on the first floor, Copper felt the floor shake a bit. She sighed and flicked her tail impatiently. One of the better scientists had promised that she'd get to meet the others.

**I wonder how much they've thought of escape,** mused Moonbeam.

*Yes, and besides, new company would be good,* Copper mentally replied.

**I've heard there are some new scientists as well, or at least ones who haven't worked with us.**

*I have to admit, it could be fun to mess with some of the scientists who are total jerks.*

Copper paused for a moment before roaring as loudly as possible to attract attention that she wanted to see someone. Distantly, she could hear someone else roaring. It was in Tech-Speech, but she understood it. There was a loud metal clang and then a roar. "D1RTY L14R2! WH3R3'2 TH3 0N3 TH4T 241D Y0U W0ULDN'T HURT M3?" Copper wondered who the angry voice belonged to.

Finally, a guard came and escorted her to the socialization room with several other experiments. The head guard, Cheetah, was in some sort of staring contest with the metal experiment BL4D3. Another experiment, CL4R1TY, was sitting near the door, possibly waiting to be taken for testing. She turned to Clarity and said in Tech-Speech, "H3ll0."

Clarity replied, "H1."

"900d t0 233 20m30n3 n3w," said Copper. "1 d0n't g3t 0ut 0f my c3ll v3ry 0ft3n." From the corner of her eye, she saw Cheetah leave the room. A little NightWing experiment seemed to still be in distress. Clarity saw him being scared too. She sighed.

Copper tilted her head questioningly. "Wh4t 12 1t?" she asked.

**Someone's scared, I think.**

Copper saw Voidbreaker, a scientist, come up to the glass. She growled lightly.

**He's wrong. He thinks that the dragon over there - Darksky - is angry.**

She walked over to Darksky, wondering if she could help. *Moonbeam, can you comfort him?* she asked. Moonbeam nodded inside her head, and Copper settled down to let him do his thing.

Darksky was still skyrocketing into a panic. He hid behind a potted plant, breathing heavily in order to calm himself down. Copper could tell that he hated the lab staff, he hated their tests, and he couldn't fight his panic when they were near.

He was still panicking when Blade walked over. She wrapped her wings around him in a protective hug, and Darksky leaned into her. "It's okay, nobody will hurt you, " she said in a soothing voice.

"Go-gone?" he asked worriedly. Using her mind reading, she saw that he hated experimenting like everyone else. The tests were painful to him. It hurt more than anything in the world, and all the emotions of sadness and fear filled him when they took him away for their little 'test'. It was too much for the little dragon.

"Gone," Blade replied protectively. She eventually let go of him, and Darksky seemed kind of calm. This was changed when he heard someone say a scientist was coming their direction.

Darksky whimpered, he started to go back into panic. His heart pounding faster and faster. Twitching even more violently. "Err... He-he-he..." Blade covered him with a wing again. The scientist came over to him, causing his fear to increase a lot. But to his surprise, she left him some food and went away. He nervously ate it, and he began to calm down. Copper recognized the scientist as Dottyback, one of the nice staff. Seeing that the situation was handled, Copper stepped back and let the two experiments enjoy their quality time.

## Chapter 4: A New Guard

Silence knocked on the large metal door of the lab, hoping for an answer. He had heard of it from a friend. He had been bullied in his village for being mute, and he wanted to get away from the rainforest. Maybe here he could find acceptance.

Finally, just as his knocks were getting softer, a SeaWing opened the door. She was twice his size, and definitely looked strong enough to be a guard. "Who are you?" she asked him coolly.

He quickly scribbled out, *I'm Silence, I'm here to see Duststorm for a job interview.* He tore the paper off of his notepad and handed it to her. The SeaWing growled and reluctantly let him in, leading him to the socialization room.

She pushed open a door, leading him into a large room filled with dragons. Once he entered, she slammed the door and stormed off back down the hallway. Confused, Silence scribbled out another note. *Hi, I'm looking for Duststorm's office. Can you show me where it is?* He saw a HiveWing coming into the room, and he handed him the paper.

The guard read it and looked up at him. "Ah, you're looking for Duststorm. Well, he might be busy, but you can check his office. It's down this hallway, the first door to your left. You should wait in his office if he's not there." Silence went to go, and as he did, he heard the guard say samething else.

"I look forward to working with you if you get the job," he said. "My name's Spider, by the way." Silence nodded and quietly stepped out, shuting the door behind him before continuing down the hall. He stopped at the first door on the left, a small plaque beside the door read: Duststorm, the founder of the Lab. He carefully opened the door and slipped inside.

The office wasn’t large or very impressive like he thought it would be. Metal walls lined it on all sides and there wasn’t much decor either. It looked bland. Honestly, Silence wasn't very impressed. He expected a bit more from the office of the lab's creator. Silence was taken from his thoughts by a deep voice. "Who is it?" Duststorm grunted.

Silence looked around at the few bookselves that dcorated the office walls, picking up and dusting off a book with a red leather cover. It read *The Science of Bio-Engineering and Gene Manipulation*. Huh. He was distracted when he heard a deep voice. "Who is it?" Duststorm grunted, not looking up from his desk.

Silence's head perked up and he walked closer to the desk. He quickly scribled on his notepad and tore off a piece, handing it to the dragon he assumed to be Duststorm. *I’m Silence, I would like to work as a guard here.*

Duststorm looked up at Silence. "Give me one reason to hire you," he said.

*I'm agile and quick, and I've been known for my ability to stop fights. I'm also quite strong for my size,* Silence wrote out. Duststorm took his paper and considered it, but they were interrupted when the SeaWing guard from earlier burst into Duststorm's office.

"Sir, subject 215 has woken from her coma!" she shouted, and gestured for him to come. Confusion spread across Silence’s scales and he quickly followed after them as they rushed down the hall. A red and gold SkyWing who had been in the hallway overheard, and she said, "What? Two-fifteen is awake? Take me to her!"

The guard lead the way towards what looked like a rehabilitation center, forcing her way through the doors to a room with a large cot in the middle and a dragon the colour of rosey moonlight with splotches of sky and raspberry. Silence stared at the colorful dragon. She seemed so familiar, but how? Surely she was just some random dragon. Or was she?

Silence looked towards Duststorm with a hopeful glint in his deep brown eyes. He was tapping his crescent-shaped talons on the marble floor anxiously, as he waited for a response. *Please tell me I made the cut. Why do I have to be so bad at job interviews? Wait did I mention that I work as a guard for the Queen of the Nightwings? I just hope I make it,* he thought over and over.

After a brief conversation with the SeaWing guard, Duststorm turned to Silence. "Fine..." he replied gruffly. Silence's eyes lit up with joy. "Just don't get yourself killed on the first day, kid."

Silence nodded vigerously and waited for his next order.

"Tidal, take him to the rest of the guards and when you return, you may begin testing on 215," Duststorm told her.

Tidal growled quietly under her breath. "What do you think I am? A messanger?" she whispered bitterly before nodding reluctantly. Luckily for jer, her complaint was roo quiet for Duststorm to hear. "Follow me, Silence," she growled and headed out the door.

Their talonsteps echoed as the hurried along the corridor to the breakroom. Tidal opened the door for him, he entered and heard a deafening clank as she slammed the door. Nervously, he slowly made his way towards the sofa and sunk into it. As he sat on the sofa he continued to wonder about the strange dragon he'd just seen. *I don't even know who she is, yet she feels so... familiar. Do I know her?* he wondered.

A few minutes later, Tida opened the room to the breakroom and walked over to Silence, who was sitting on the sofa, anxiety painted across his wings. "Hey new guy, I have a job for you," she told himm. Hid ears pricked up. "There’s a new experiment I would like you to look after while I gather a team for testing, make sure she doesn’t leave, got it?" Silence nodded and stood up, then in a flash he was booking it down the hall to the socialization room.

The dragon stared at him as he walked through the door and he greeted her with a little wave as he shut the door behind him. She did the same and continued to hum a melody to herself as he found a seat on a mat near the door. From time to time, he saw Tidal walk by the door while she presumably searched for scientists.

After several minutes of awkwardly watching the experiment, Tidal came back in and told him he could go to his sleeping quarters. After leaving the experiment sleeping peacefully, Silence began to wander the halls. He took a random turn and went up a flight of stairs to the second level. He explored the second level before moving onto the third. He headed back to the first level and into socialization room to check on the dragon he'd met earlier, to find there were now multiple other dragons.

Silence saw the dragon lying asleep on the ground, and another hiding in the corner. He saw another emerge from another room and he stood there, awkwardly watching. *What am I doing here still?* He asked himself. *You checked on her now, so what are you still doing here?*

## Chapter 5: Lunchroom Conversations and New Revelations

Carmine briefly watched as Tidal talked to Duststorm and the new guy. She overheard Tidal saying, "She just started to glow randomly, then she woke. We have no clue as to what caused her to wake, I would like to start testing immediately, if that's okay." After glancing again at TR4NQU1L1TY, Carmine left to find a dragon with some authority. She wanted clearance to run some more tests.

She went to the lunchroom. Based on the time, most of the staff would be there, and Carmine really needed to talk to someone of high authority. Thankfully Cheetah, the head guard and second-in-command, was in the room. As she got closer, she overheard the conversation Cheetah was having with a NightWing she didn't know.

The NightWing smiled and got up to sit next to Cheetah. "Hi! I'm Voidbreaker, the new guy," he said.

Cheetah grunted. "I'm the head guard. Know your place and don't mess with me," she said.

Voidbreaker stuttered. “Uh, I....uh, you-okay....” He moved away.

Carmine walked towards Cheetah. "Hello, Cheetah, may I have permission to work with a few experiments?"

"Which ones?" Cheetah growled.

Carmine looked down at the list she was holding. "Uh, C0773R, D4M493D, K33N, and maybe W1D0W, if they're not full."

“I’d rather you leave K33N. The others you can take," Cheetah replied.

Carmine nodded. "Fair enough. Thank you, Cheetah." She walked away a little, and turned around. "On a lighter note, enjoy your lunch," she said before walking towards the door.

Cheetah snorted. "Don't die," she replied.

Carmine walked down the cells, intending on finding Damaged, who she had yet to meet. She had her special electrical device to protect herself in a lab coat pocket. Carmine walked around until she found Damaged's cell, and saw Karner looking in. "Oh, hello. I was given permission to work with Damaged here, so could you please move out of the way?" she asked.

Karner stalked away, and Carmine entered D4M93D's cell. The poor dragon looked terrified. Carmine walked in and closed the door softly behind her. She sat down three feet from the door and looked at the experiment. She said, "Hello, Damaged. Pretty sure that's the name they've given you." He nodded slightly.

Carmine cleared her throat. "So, um, how are you doing?" she asked.

"O-okay," he replied, relaxing ever so slightly.

She nodded, then asked, "Have any other scientists performed modifications to your body?"

"Very few," he said. "Just talons." He held up the metal talons.

Carmine looked a little uncomfortable, "...I'm afraid to say, you'll probably have to go through another one, at least one. I'm sorry, but they're really trying to help you. Believe it or not."

"O-Okay," he said, he seemed scared. Obviously, he didn't like the tests, but he understood that more tests would probally be needed. Carmine smiled sympathetically.

"How are your talons feeling?" she asked.

"They feel normal," he replied. He paused briefly, then said, "Slightly heavy."

Carmine smiled sympathetically again. "If there's anything I can do to help ypu feel better about this, just ask," she said. Damaged smiled slightly in return.

"Thank you," he said. "It became instinct." He paused, then started again, "To retract and push b4ck 0ut."

She looked at him confused, and wrote something down on a notepad. "...Hm, alright. What did you just do with your mouth just then?" she asked, clearly interested.

"Dragon becomes Tech," he did an ever so slight stop again. "Speak after 3," another slight stop. "Words, only not," once again the slightest stop. "One letter ones," he finished.

Carmine was thoroughly interested now, and she looked at him with intrigue. "Tech speak? Like, another language?"

"Yes, where letters 4r3 20m3t1m32 r3p14c3d w1th numb3rs," he said. He chose not to stop so she could hear the Tech-Speech.

She wrote something down on her clipboard. "That is very interesting, I might have to see more about that in the future. Is there anyone else who can speak... Tech?"

"None that I know," he said. Carmine supposed he didn't have to stop because I is a one-letter word.

Carmine sighed, "...Alright, can you speak a little in that Tech Speech? Just, say something random." She had took out a little device from her pocket, and had pressed a button on it.

"Um, okay, I'll try," he said. He didn't pause, but instead he kept going. "1 w0nd3r wh1ch tr183 fl132 f42t32t, pr0848lly 2kyw1n92," he said to test out the Tech-Speech. He paused, swwmingly listening to something. "I can hear another 2734k1n9 1n T3ch-2733ch," he said, but Carmine obviously couldn't understand the Tech-Speech part.

"Thank you. I might be able to translate it to something I can hear myself if I study it. And, no, I'll keep that project a secret, so you can say what you want to the others," she said, as if she was sharing a secret herself.

"Thank you," he said gratefully. He seemed a lot calmer around her now rhan he had been when she first came into his cell.

She nodded. "Keep an eye out for some of the meaner scientists, however. They don't share my ideals. And, I don't want to lie to you, some of the modifications they want to do... are a little less than ethical, and safe. They have the best intentions, though, I believe."

He shook his head. "Some want pain," he paused the slight bit. "For us," he finished. Carmine somewhat agreed that they did. "Tidal, and Karner," he said after thinking about it. "They hate all," he said after the short pause. Carmine looked at him a bit guiltily.

"Not just those two," she said. "Saltwater, Yellow River, and several others hate the experiments. I'm not the only kind one, though. I don't know all the staff, but I do know that there are others who are more kind." She smiled warmly at him, hoping that he didn't feel as scared anymore.

## Chapter 6: Friendly Chat

In Widow's cell, Blaze was enjoying the company of her new friend. She thought Widow was quite nice, and she liked the kindly dragon. One of Widow's little spiders was working the binding on her leg loose, and with one last click, the chain around her ankle unlocked and fell off. Blaze moved her foot around gratefully.

"Here, come along, I have an area for us to talk!" Widow said. She turned around, and her eight legs were completely silent as she walked along the silk floor.

Blaze looked around at the room, noticing some of the little details. There was about a half foot of dense silk from the metal floor to the silk one, and stairs leading up to it. She.smiled, and followed her friend up the stairs, grateful that her chains were gone.

Widow walked along the floor, which was surprisingly sturdy, and took off a little bit of web to reveal a light behind another layer of webs. It reveals a gentle yellow glow across the large room, which reveals a array of silken furniture, and a large indent seemingly shaped around Widow's abdomen and body. She walked towards it and said, "Feel free to sit down, the chairs are comfortable, I've made sure of it."

Blaze grinned and sunk deep into a beanbag, "●♧○●nice,♧○I like lot!"

Widow looked at Blaze. She smiled and gestured in a sort of bow towards herself. "Why thank you! I made them all myself," she said, looking at her friend with her six blue eyes "I've taken a lot of time to perfect my little craft. Say, would it be better to have another little seating area?"

Blaze didn't answer, being too preoccupied with her cozy beanbag chair. She sunk deeper into the beanbag, admiring the silk. Widow finally sat down after settling her legs and body into the right spots. She leaned back and into the webs, which barely moved as she rested and her head raised up.

Blaze looked at the seating area and nodded. "○♧nice○♧"

Widow seemed to relax into her seating area. "So, how have the... scientists been treating you?" she asked.

Blaze thought for a moment, "/○○♧which ones?○♧♧" she asked

Widow looked thoughtful. She replied, "All of them, really, unless you want to talk about anyone or anything specific."

Blaze shrugged,"♧♧some not nice,■●■others nice, like you!♧●" Blaze smiled.

Widow smiled warmly and said, "Oh, I try. Sometimes dragons just don't grow up well, and they just... don't end up nice. I'd like to believe that they can change, and some just do what they have to do to survive."

Blaze cocked her head,"●■●♧take anger out●■others!"

Widow analyzed what she seemed to be saying. She looked beyond towards the door. "Well, some of them do, maybe because they had anger taken out on them. ThereHh are very few dragons that are truly irredeemable."

Blaze nodded. "■■●I may not know■●" she replied.

Widow shrugged. "They treat me well enough, because they want to use my silk. I could just as easily not give them any, so they do their best to either avoid me or treat me well. You... I wouldn't know what they want with you, other than just company."

"I don't■■♧●go back ■●♧●♧■" Blaze replied. She sighed, thinking of the painful tests.

Widow looked at her, and filled in the gaps. "I haven't seen them do the tests, but I've seen a couple results. I'm a little scared myself, but it's best to follow their command. Their guards are being outfitted with better equipment every day."

"■●■■♧not better. More pain," Blaze growled

Widow looked down at her empathetically, saying, "...yes, the tests sometimes are quite painful. There's not much we can do though, they have run of the facility."

"●■●pain fear,♧■♧, no need!■●■●" Blaze growled, her tail twitching. She would never understand why the scientists did what they did. She hated their experiments.

Widow smiled, "Hey, there's no experiments being done here. You're safe in here with me."

Blaze sighed, relaxing a little. She absentmindedly watched as the tip of her tail burst into flame. She held it up like a candle, away from the flammable webbing. Widow looked interested.

She said, "Oh, your tail is... on fire, how'd you do that? Also, don't worry about the webs, webs aren't flammable. Well, mine aren't, anyways. The worst it'll do is melt a little."

Blaze shrugged. "Don't know!" she replied.

Widow looked at her, intrigued, "You are a very interesting dragon. You should be proud." Blaze smiled, glad that her friend liked her.

## Chapter 7: Breakouts and Bargaining

K33N went to one of her tablets on the wall, looking at a new book called Scavengers of Pyrrhia. She was one of the oldest experiments, so her file was very thick compared to most of the others. She sighed and looked up at the vent in the ceiling. Feeling bored, she melted into a puddle and slid inside. While climbing through the vents, she passed Glitch, another experiment who spent a lot of time in the vents. She waved, then moved along to a vent opening where she heard a commotion.

Inside a nearby cell, the scientist named Dottyback was running around and trying to find a new jar for an experiment named Violet. Keen could see Violet. The other experiment appeared to be a small dragonet. She was being grown in a jar, and now she was trying to break free. *This seems... interesting.*

The jar holding Violet fell to the floor, rolling around while Dottyback searched for a bigger jar. Through the vents, Keen thought she heard something. She tilted her head, and recognized the voice of Sheer. "SOOO BOOORRED!" Keen slid through the vents toward the socialization room.

"Want to make some escape plans?" Keen asked.

Sheer hesitated. She mumbled, "I'm not sure. Can I trust you?" She was hardly able to speak around the wires binding her mouth, and Keen wondered if she could help.

Sheer rolled her eyes and suddenly closed her eyes, trying to pry open her jaws. The wires were digging into her scales, but finally they broke with a satisfying SNAP. Sheer opened her mouth and let out a screeching roar, which looked like something she had longed to do for a while.

Keen said, "Yes, you can trust me. I'm K33N, but just call me Keen."

"Well, I'm escaping right now!" Sheer exclaimed. She shot some sharp spikes at the wall. "I'm so glad I have these."

Clarity, who was standing nearby, heard Sheer. "Ummmmm, Sheer?" Clarity pointed to the cuffs on her spinners.

Sheer turned towards her. "What?" She snapped.

Clarity sighed. She said, "Never mind, I can do it myself, now where is the metal?"

"Oh." Sheer stuck out her wing and sliced through the chains with the spines. "You're welcome," she hissed.

"I'll be on my way," Clarity replied. Keen watched as she shot silk at the nearest wall, pulling it down after several tries. "Simple," the SilkWing said.

Sheer rolled her eyes. She said, "For supposedly smart scientists, they really are dumb." Keen nodded in agreement.

Clarity walked out calmly. "Just act like nothing happened," she whispered. A guard appeared around the corner, and she groaned. "Aw, flutters, we were doing so well."

"I'll keep them busy," K33N said as two guards ran to try and keep them contained. She smashed in one's head, cracked the neck of the other and rolled her eyes. "Lazy cowards. Let's go, banana slugs!" She ran, but then she heard Spider cry, "Wait!" She whirled around.

“Really, Spider, you, of all dragons, flirted with me EIGHT times. Do you really think I’d not hold a grudge? If so, think again, lizard.” K33N stomped on Spider’s foot, causing him to yowl in pain.

Spider looked at keen. He said, "I have never wanted to be here."

Before Keen could respond, Sheer hissed, running for the wall. Suddenly, her talons were yanked out from under her. *Blast it, the chains!* K33N thought. They forgot to break the fat chains that were wound around Sheer's talons and bolted to the wall. K33N whirled around, slicing the chains open. Then she went back to Spider and bonked his head against the wall. “LET’S GO!”

Spider dropped his weapons, still reeling from the impact of hitting his head. "Do what you want with me," he said.

“Get. Out. Now. You never saw this, understand?” K33N snarled. Spider nodded. One of the guards, who K33N thought might be Steam, shot multiple sleeping darts in their direction. K33N smirked, snatching up the nearest dart with her tail.

Spider looked at his claws. He said, "I give up." K33N paid no attention, as Steam had shot another dart, this time pointed straight at her. Unluckily for the guard, it bounced off of K33N's scales with a clang.

“Ssstupid scientist,“ K33N hissed. “Toxin does absolutely NOTHING to me.”

A few more darts were shot at K33N, but she ignored them. She noticed that Clarity had become stuck between some metal bars. K33N walked ovwr and aliced through the bars with her metal claws, freeing Clarity. "There. Done," she said.

Shw turned to watch as Sheer leapt towards the scientists, fangs bared. Sheer shot a spike at the scientist and growled angrily. K33N sighed, knowing that this coukd end badly. Steam shot a dart at Sh33r right before she landed on her, and Sheer promptly collapsed. Her claws and wings still managed to make a mark,and Steam began to bleed heavily.

K33N saod to the scientists, “If you treat us the same way, this will happen over and over again. Treat us better... we’re open to negotiation.”

K33N walked over and picked SH33R up, tossed her on her back, and walked to a corner, were she gently placed SH33R. She sat down, glared at the Spider, and began singing badly. Spider left the area covering his ears and helping Steam limp to the hospital wing. When he had left, K33N changed abruptly to a beautiful melody.

Shine walked into the bloody, half-destroyed hallway with no weapons and asked K33N what she wanted. K33N said, "A place with real sunshine, and a nice little room with a computer, bed, and skylight. Give that to me, SH33R, and CL4R1TY, amd we might cooperate a little better." Satisfied, Shine left the hallway, and K33N returned to the socialozation room to help Sheer.

## Chapter 8: Kindred Spirits

While Cheetah sat in the lunchroom ctaching up on paperwork, she heard Bane roaring and screeching in the basement. She decided to go deal with him. Briefly stopping to drop off the paperwork to Duststorm's offoce, she made her way down to the basement and Bane's cell.

Bane seemed to see Cheetah outside his cell. He rammed into the glass with a hideous screeching noise, causing a few cracks to appear. Ignoring this, Cheetah opened the cell and walked in, locking the door behind her in one swift mivement. Her eyes, full of many emotions, locked with Bane and she cocked her head.

“You want to kill them. Don’t you?” she questioned. “Me too. Duststorm will let you, let you get revenge on everyone who has wronged you, as soon as his use for them is up.”

Bane shivered and turned to a quietly pulsing orb, a hissing cackle filled the room. "Yessssss, they will pay." Bane expanded,covering the walls of the room but leaving a space in the middle for Cheetah. "They may have created me, but I do not look upon them asss masssterssss."

Cheetah nodded. She said, “Neither do I. Duststorm understands, and I promise he will set you free.” She edged closer, body low and neck tilted. “Your revenge will be well earned. For now, we must lay low...”

Bane puased, a tendril slowly came out of the mass to hover near cheetah. "Yesssss, we must be wary of thosse with eyess, for i sense they are watching usss closely."

Cheetah purred, “And I’ll be your ticket out.”

Bane let out a pleased hiss. The tip of the tendril detached and floated over before attaching to Cheetah's ear like an earring. "Now we will always be able to communicate."

Cheetah shuddered, only a bit, but did not protest. She nodded. “Perfect. Also, I claim killing Brilliance.” A dark chuckle escaped from her throat, then she turned and lett to attenr to other responsibilities. She had a good feeling about this alliance.

## Chapter 9: Escaping... Again

Eucera awoke, her wings opening up from being closed for a little while. Her tail swished around as her mouth opened wide for a yawn. She glanced down at some tokens that were spilled over her knives, and she grabbed them and placed them in her pouch. Eucera walked out of her quarters, deciding to meet with one of the guards, but she stopped in her tracks. From a nearby hallway she heard yelling. "HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!" The voice was male, and whoever it was seemed very desperate.

She started following after it, but stopped at the cell where the voice came from. She glanced at the dragon in there, becoming remorse. She wanted to help him, but she was a guard and so she just turned around, looking away to try to cancel out the yelling.

"HEY! YOU! PLEASE! Unlock my talons!" he shouted at her.

"I-I can't," Eucera replied back and sighed sadly. She wanted to help him but couldn't. "I'm a guard, and, well, if I help you escape I might as well hand in my resignation now. I'll be fired, or worse," she said softly, turning back around to look at him.

The experiment turned and seemed to get an idea. He twisted himself and managed to shoot a piece of silk at the IV. He reached down, and now that it was close enough, he ripped it out with his teeth, but he was still chained. He looked up at Eucera. "You could pass me the key," he said. "I would never tell, and no one would know."

*Moons help me,* Eucera thought. She opened the cell and walked toward him. *I'm totally going to get killed.* She started to unlock his chains, setting him free.

"Thanks... I could help you, if you want?" he said. When she finished with his chains, he smiled, glad to have his talons free. He turned toward the door, his talons and scales sparkling. He stopped, turning to look back at her. "Well? Come on!" he said, smiling brightly again.

Eucera smiled back at him and chuckled to herself, of course she would go with him. She believed that experimented dragons like him should be treated fairly. Her smile quickly faded. "Where should we go?" she asked him, looking around. She felt a bit scared as her pupils shrank a bit.

The experiment sprang out of the room, and strached his wings. "That feels good. Okay! Any idea which way to go?" he asked her.

"I was hoping you had some escape ideas, but we'll figure it out. We should hurry and leave, before someone catches us," Eucera replied back, sweat going down her head. She nervously peeked around, her wings trembling.

Her new ally began walking down the right passageway. He shot a burst of silk and his front talons went to work as he walked. He found a set of stairs and bounded up them, slinging a woven silk bag over his shoulder. Eucera spotted a map and saw they were on the third floor.

They seemed to be going up rather than down, so Eucera took the lead. "There's an emergency exit on the roof," she said. "Just one more floor and we'll be free."

"That's good news," her experiment friend said. "It's kinda funny that we're risking our lives for each other and we haven't even introduced ourselves, though. Whaat's your name?"

"Eucera. You?"

"Snowdew."

"Well, Snowdew, I hope you're ready for freedom."

"I was born ready!" Snowdew replied.

The two dragons raced down the halls together, running toward the staircase they needed to get to the fourth floor. Eucera skidded to a stop when a hulking figure blocked their way in the hallway. Eucera sighed. "Stupid guard, getting in our way." She was worried for what would happen next.

## Chapter 10: More Introductions

TR4NQU1L1TY lifted her head slowly, still blinking the sleep from her eyes. She sat up and walked around the socialization room. She saw two dragons standing in the corner and decided to go introduce herself. "Hello." She greeted them quietly. The little hybrid replied with a quiet greeting of his own. "I'm TR4NQU1L1TY, nice to meet you," she said softly. "You are?"

A NightWing with some robotic features looked up. “I’m....my name is.....what’s my name?” he asked himself. He looked like had forgotten everything about his old life.

The little Night/Rain hybrid simply replied, “D4RK2KY.”

"That's a nice name," she replied warmly, then turned to the other dragon. "Really? That's...sad..."

“I...where am I? The last thing I remember is being tossed into a jail cell,” he said sadly.

"Do you remember anything? I don't. All I remember is waking up in a cot here..." Tranquility replied. She looked over at the glass that separated the guards from them. "Why are we behind a barrier?" she asked, confusion flickering in her ruff.

“We’re in a lab. Here you’ll be tested on, and made to be fit for the scientist’s needs. Tests will be performed, painful ones. They may add things to you. Like they did me,” Darksky explained, opening his mouth to show sharp metal teeth and already visible mechanical horns.

“I already was.....they broke my mind...and body,” the NightWing said. He looked at his hand, which was made of metal.

“Happens,” the little hybrid muttered. Her smile disappeared and a frown quickly replaced it. Suddenly, a flashback washed over her. While she was out of it, a SeaWing/SkyWing hybrid came over to introduce herself.

“Hi Copper,” greeted Darksky.

"Hello, Darksky. Who's this?" she asked Tranquility. Most dragons felt awkward when she already knew their name.

“Tranquility. Both these two are new here,” answered the small dragonet.

She snapped backto reality. "Oh, uh hi. Sorry, I was just thinking about something," she lied. "Who are you?"

Copper nodded to Tranquility. "My name's Copper. Although you may hear the scientists sometimes referring to me as '5U1C1D3.'"

"Nice to meet you..." she said as her mind replayed parts of her flashback. Needles. Injections. Darkness. They're hiding something from me... she thought. "How long have you been here?" she asked curiously.I

Darksky yawned. “I’ve been here 2 years, don’t know about Copper though..”

"Wha-" She froze. "Do you know anything about it?" TR4NQU1L1TY asked.

Copper decided to let her be... for now...

"I'm not sure how to count it. I used to be a guard here. A while back, they needed extra guards to watch Experiment 5U1C1D3, who had a knack for escaping and causing a lot of death. Once, he escaped. You know when that happens when dragons start setting themselves on fire near his enclosure. But instead of killing me, we 'joined.' Combined forces."

The NightWing started to break down. “What’s my name....? How did this happen!?” His sadness turned to rage. “What did they do to me?!”

“Aren’t you Ageis?” Darksky asked quietly. “And, to answer your second question, no one knows. All I can remember is a burning bakery and me being taken away somewhere. Probably here. Most everyone barely remembers their past lives. Shriek has no voice, and most everyone is hurt in some way.”

“I need a name, no name, no identity!” He was going insane.

Sheer looked over at TR4NQU1L1TY and Darksky and raised an eyebrow.

"Can you two shut your yappers. Some of us are trying to sleep."

## Chapter X: A New Experiment

Wolverine sat in his cell. Just earlier that day, he had been doing his job in the army. But some stupid MudWing mutt just had to come and ruin his life. Great. He was pretty sure that they wanted him for his weird healing ability, which made him a great soldier. Any wound that could heal would heal extremely quickly, making him immune to the effects of aging and battle. Hopefully, they'd leave him alone, but that was doubtful.

“Everyone back in their separate cells!” Wolverine heard a female voice giving orders. As she got closer, Wolverine heard her more clearly. “Dolphin, get the equipment ready!” The bossy dragon walked over to where Wolverine was being kept. “Come with me. If you resist, it will be fun for me, not so much for you,” she said with a cruel smile. She seemed to be a SandWing hybrid, and she had the air of an experienced fighter. She was either a soldier or an assassin.

Wolverine snarled. "Go f\*\*\* yourself," he muttered, but knew better than to fight a trained assassin in her own turf, even if he could heal. You can't heal if you're dead.

“Careful how you talk to me,” she advised coldly. She opened the cell, her plasma blade in hand, and started to escort him to a large, entirely glass enclosure. “In,” she snarled. Not sure if he could escape, Wolverine walked into the enclosure, throwing one last glare at the SandWing.

The door shut behind him and she called to the scientist who Wolverine assumed was Dolphin. “Hit him with a dose of something strong- Duststorm's orders.” The scientist nodded and pressed a button. A needle flew into Wolverine, and he blacked out.

Two or three scientists were working on Wolverine after he had been hit with a strong dose of anesthesia. They worked on his skeleton, adding metal to every bone except his skull. They stuck metal blades in his tail, using their pre-crafted blades that would ensure perfect retractable weapons, ready at a moment's notice. But the medicine must not have been enough, because he snapped awake shortly after they installed the blades.

In a furious state, Wolverine snapped the restraints off, and sprang into a defensive position. With hardly any thought, he shipped out the tail blades. When he saw them, he was even angrier. "What the h\*ll did you do to me?" he snarled, blood dripping from his tail where the scales were briefly broken from the blades.

Several guards burst into the room, pinning him down. A burly female MudWing fixed his restraints, while a blue hybrid guard stuck him with a stronger dose of anesthesia. Wolverine tried to fight, but it was too much. He spiraled out of conciousness, blackness overtaking his vision. (Wip?)