The Ascended, "This is the Future"

Within the Facility...

As they walked down the hall, they quickly realized the ceiling had collapsed ahead! "Hmm...that's not good." David said, "We could try to slip through this way." Alex replied, pointing to a hole in the wall. It was the hole that the creature came from! Back when Red was escaping the facility, it had broken through that part of the wall.

"Well, you first." David said, "Alright." Alex replied, going through the hole. It was pitch black. He walked for only a moment before bumping into a wall! "Ow! Why is there a wall right next to this wall???" Alex asked, "It seems like some kind of piping area. It will be a tight squeeze." David answered.

Alex sighed, and started moving side ways between the two walls! David and the others followed. The piping in the area had been pushed down or aside. Fortunately, there was nothing going through due to the power being off. This seemed to be the way the creature came. They stepped over and under pipes, attempting to find an exit.

Suddenly, Alex stopped moving! "Is something wrong?" David asked, "I'm stuck." Alex answered, "Are you kidding me?! This is the worst place to get stuck!" Gill exclaimed, "Yeah, I know. I'm the one stuck. Push me out of this weird...sticky spot." Alex replied, "Sticky? That's odd." Knull said.

"Yes, quite. Now push me." Alex responded. David pushed him, and nothing happened! David pushed again, but harder! "Ow, that's my ribs!" Alex said, "Well maybe you should have kept your arms down and not moved along the wall like a moron." David replied, pushing again.

Alex lowered his arms slightly, and began pushing against the sticky wall. He exhaled, then stopped breathing in as an attempt to lessen his size. Naturally, this did nothing because his chest size didn't decrease. He pushed, and with the help of David, started to get unstuck! But just then...his hands sunk into the wall! "Huh?!" Alex asked, shocked!

He attempted to pull them out, but he was getting pulled in by some kind of force! A moment later, he was almost entirely pulled into the wall! "Alex!" David exclaimed, grabbing his legs to try and save him! His legs started slipping right out from his grasp! "Why are your legs so smooth?!?!" David asked!

Alex scoffed, and David barely managed to grab his feet! "Can you stop feeling me up, and pull me out?!" Alex asked, "Why don't you try too? If you did maybe you wouldn't still be stuck!" David asked, "How am I supposed to try, if there is nothing I can do??? There is literally nothing to push against, and I can't just pull my entire body against the force like an action hero!" Alex answered!

Suddenly, Alex was pulled completely in! David was pulled in right after! "David! Alex!" Knull exclaimed, moving towards the sticky area! But he stopped...he heard...crying. So did Gill. They looked back, and noticed Red was in tears! "What's wrong Red...?" Gill asked, "B-bad...place!" Red answered!

Knull sighed angrily, and started to move towards the sticky area again. Only...Firehawk was standing in front of him! Knull bumped right into him! "Ow! Since when have you been in front of me???" Knull asked, "The whole time. I'm wearing black clothing in a dark area, so you couldn't tell." Firehawk answered.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Knull asked, "I was considering the situation." Firehawk answered, "Well, can you get into that...sticky spot?" Knull asked. Firehawk pushed with as much force as possible on the sticky spot! Instead of being pulled in...nothing happened. "Huh." Firehawk said, noting the results.

"Well, let's continue, at least to get out of this piping area. They started to continue, when Firehawk stopped. "Guys...you aren't gonna believe this." Firehawk said, entirely stuck! Meanwhile, Alex fell down into some kind of dark room! "Ow...my back..." Alex said.

He heard some kind of screaming. It was getting louder...and louder. Then, David fell on top of him! "OW! My...everything else!" Alex exclaimed, "Thanks for breaking my fall." David said, "Yeah...no problem..." Alex responded, clearly in pain. David got off him, and stood up.

"Well, at least we're alive." David said, "Fair enough. Can you use your fire to light up the room or something?" Alex asked, "Sure." David answered. He held out his hand, and put in all his effort! A massive flame began to rise! But only a moment later, it faded into a very small flame! It barely lit up anything, but it was the most he could do in his current state!

"Wow." Alex said, clapping! David smiled. "Impressive, I know." David replied. Alex stayed on the ground for a moment. "So, are you alright? I can carry you if need be!" David exclaimed. Alex stood up immediately after David said this. "No. I'm fine." Alex replied, "Alright, let's see if we can find our way out of here." David said. They began walking through the room. It was barely lit by the flame, but they could see in front of them at least.

It didn't take long for them to reach a door. The door had...odd engravings scratched into it. It appeared to be symbols, though their meaning was unknown. "What are these symbols?" Alex asked, "I don't know...but look...it isn't just symbols alone." David answered, pointing out other symbols on the wall nearby!

These symbols were everywhere, and mixed in were odd shapes. The shapes looked almost like humans...and monsters! "Can you read any of this?" Alex asked, "I don't speak whatever that language is..." David answered, "I mean the shapes." Alex said, "Oh sure, let me just read the shapes like words." David responded.

"You know what I mean." Alex said, "Uhh...I can try...this one is a stick person...? This one is a fancier stick person, and now they are...getting married? No...walking together through...a hall..." David replied, "This is gonna take hours, isn't it?" Alex asked, "I don't know. I'm not too good at this. Why don't you give it a shot?" David asked.

"Hmm...well, it seems to start here by the door. Some kind of...human maybe? He's resting against...something. It looks like a tree, only the branches look like blades, not wood..." Alex said, "Okay, so dude resting against a blade tree." David replied, "Yes. And then here we see...the guy from the tree...or maybe girl I don't know. They are walking here with a fancier looking person." Alex said.

"I see. So he met a friend." David responded, "Then it continues here. It looks like they are on opposite sides of...a canyon? Or perhaps a river." Alex said, "Hmm, maybe they headed to different lands?" David asked, "Maybe. Over here it continues. It looks like the same image...over and over again...only each time they are further apart." Alex answered.

"But this part doesn't make sense. It's like there is something missing. Do you see it?" Alex asked, "How do you mean?" David asked, "Well, you see here, it goes from them standing on opposite sides, to a sudden...battle? It looks as if many of these people are all fighting. But why...? It feels like a part of the tale is missing. And even here, it looks like there should be something, but there isn't." Alex answered, pointing out a blank part of the wall.

"That is odd...but let's continue looking." David said. He shined the light over the next wall. It displayed a massive battle! The entire wall was just painted to show it! And at the center, the strangest part resided. "Is that...a Dragon?" Alex asked, "It looks like one..." David answered, "You know...the old tales..." Alex said, "Yes. But those are just stories. Odds are these are just the workings of madmen. Let's get out of here, shall we?" David asked.

Alex nodded, and they headed towards the door! But not without noticing the final detail. They shrugged it off once they saw the Dragon, but didn't just skip over the last part. The center piece Dragon wasn't the only one. There were seven! All across the wall! The door was quite large, it seemed to be an automatic door. Only the power was off!

"Great...how to get out now..." David said. Alex punched the door as hard as he could, and a small part blew open! It was just enough for them to exit! They left the room, and continued exploring the facility. Their biggest question was...what else did this facility have in store for them?