The Ascended, "This is the Future"

Bad Place

David and Alex were walking down another dark hall. "Man, this place is really dark." David said, "Well...woah, really? I never would have noticed that detail." Alex replied, "Shut up. I'm just trying to make conversation so it's less creepy." David said, "This place isn't thaaattt creepy." Alex replied.

Just then, a loud clanking sound blared out! Alex jolted, and swiftly turned to look back! David shined his light behind them, then looked down. There was some sort of metal pipe laying there. "Huh? How did this get here?" David asked, "Maybe we just walked over it?" Alex asked, "No way. This thing is huge. Knowing our luck I would have tripped over it, then you would have as well." David answered.

Alex glanced forward, and noticed a light approaching. The light barely lit up the shape of a woman approaching. Though her shape was unnatural! She was hunched down, and wearing a white cloak. As she walked, her body waved from side to side in a rather creepy fashion. And the light...it seemed to come from nowhere.

Whoever this was, they were not a natural person. "Uhh, what do we do?" Alex asked. The Lady drew close, and David had no answer! "Umm...excuse me miss? We are lost here. Can you help us find the exit?" David asked. The Woman responded in a very gruff voice. "Must...leave...before they..." She did not finish this.

She continued approaching, before passing by them! "Uhh..what...?" Alex asked, "Don't look...or they...find..." The Woman struggled to finish what she was saying. Alex and David glanced at her, and noticed her entire back was slashed through! It looked like some kind of animal had sliced through her!

"No...you fools..." She said, turning around! She stood still for a moment. All the wabbling had stopped. Only a moment later, her wounds began spraying blood! She let out a blood curdling scream, followed by the sounds of rapid movement elsewhere! "What's that sound?!?!" Alex asked, covering his ears, "I don't know. Maybe the screaming?" David asked, also covering his ears!

"No! I mean besides that!" Alex answered! Alex walked over to the woman, and punched her in the face! She collapsed to the ground, seemingly dead! "Did you just kill her???" David asked, "Listen!" Alex answered! They went silent for a moment, and both heard it! Rapid movement, like the pitter patter of dog paws on tile.

Only it kept getting louder and louder! David shined his light in the sounds direction. They found a crowd of creatures running towards them! They looked like the creature that attacked them on the beach! "Run!" David exclaimed! They began dashing down the hall! David shined his light to the right, and they turned into another hall!

They kept weaving through the facility's darkness, with the creatures not far behind! They eventually reached a dead end, with nothing but a strange opening in the wall. It looked like some kind of trash dispenser. "Let's go!" Alex exclaimed, jumping in! David jumped in after him! It was a tight squeeze, but they just barely fit! As they slid down, it felt like the area around them was quite...sticky. They slid down into another dark room.

"Can you get your flame back...?" Alex asked, "Give me a moment." David answered. Alex began feeling all around him. He felt something...odd. it felt like he was running his hands over coins. But that couldn't have been right, after all, why would there be coins in the trash? A moment later, David's flame arose. It revealed that they were indeed sitting on coins! In fact, coins were covering the entire ground!

"Huh...? Why is there coins here?" Alex asked, standing up. As he stood up, his feet sank into the floor of gold! There were so many coins, that it went up to his knees! "Woah!" Alex exclaimed, "So many..." David responded, standing up. His feet sank into the gold as well. They started walking through the gold, until David stopped Alex!

"A-Alex...stop..." David said, "What?" Alex asked. David pointed to the area in front of them, and he saw it too. A massive shape was lying down just ahead! The mountain of gold they stood on was practically nothing compared to the size of this beast! "What is that...?!?!" Alex asked, "I don't know. But maybe we can try to sneak away. Just take it real slow..." David answered.

They began sneaking away from the beast, but the coins were quite loud! Fortunately, it seemed to be a deep sleeper. They backed up to where they came from, and David shined his light up. They found the hole, only it looked a tad different than before. However, they still wanted to exit that way, rather than searching around the creature.

Alex moved quickly, and began lifting them up with wind! But as the wind reached the bottom, it began to shift coins around quite loudly! "Faster Alex...faster...!" David exclaimed quietly! As they neared the top, David noticed the creature starting to stand up! "Faster, faster, faster, faster!" David exclaimed!

The Creature let out an incredible roar! It ran towards them at an insurmountable speed! Though all they saw was it's silhouette! As they reached the top, the Creature made it too! Alex put all his power into speeding them up! The Creature began ripping the area beneath them apart, and following just behind them!

This Creature had the power to tear apart solid structure, and potentially even the ground itself! Though they could not tell how far down they were. "We're nearly there!" Alex exclaimed! They reached the top, and flew out! The Creature came out only a moment later! As it rose, it's massive size and speed caused it to bash the ceiling! The ceiling itself tore apart, revealing the moon!

Moonlight shined down upon the Creature's white scales! It spread out two massive wings, slammed down it's front legs, and let out a deafening roar! Alex and David covered their ears, but could see it just fine. It was...a Dragon! It grabbed onto the ceiling with it's frontal legs, and used it's hind legs to propel itself into the air!

It flew off into the night, leaving only more questions for Alex and David. "Oh man...if you didn't have tinnitus already, you do now." Alex said, "Good thing we didn't use too much power yet. We would have definitely gone deaf immediately if we had." David replied. What David said was true. Using powers required a sacrifice. Ascended always have extreme durability, and cannot lose sight or hearing easily.

Though as they use their powers, their durability is weakened, and must regenerate. It is when their durability is entirely weakened that they risk death by using it. Powers require the sacrifice of life, some more than others. And that is where their durability comes in. If they are to die via the use of power, then they are doomed to become a monster.

"I have no idea what that was...but we need to get the others and get out of here." Alex said, "Agreed." David responded. They were shocked, but they kept moving forward. They were somewhere else once more. They saw a door at the end of a hall. They walked over, and entered. There was another door, and a control panel!

On the panel, there appeared to be a power button! "Worth a shot." Alex said, tapping the button. As he pressed it, an automated voice rang out. "Powering on." The Voice said. Through a dark window on the wall, they began to see a light. A massive engine of some kind lit up, and the entire facility's power turned on! "Was definitely worth the shot..." Alex said.

"Good job! Now we just need to find our way to the others." David replied. With that, they left the room. The lights were now on, and it was much easier to pass through the facility! Now all they had to do was find the others.