[ooc: This assumes that the guards in the room are gone, though there might be some watching through cameras. If this turns out not to be true, I'll change one sentence. Her course of action would remain pretty much the same- she wouldn't ask for ideas on how get out.]

Anmar woke with a start as fire alarms started going off. That's what you get for poor lab safety, she thought to herself. Wouldn't be awful if we happened to escape now?

She immediately started looking around the room for assets. The lion was awake, as was the cheetah-now-human. Guards? None. "So, my spotted friend, what did they give you? And any ideas on how to get out?"

(human)

Damien threw the covers off of himself as he sat bolt upright, driven from sleep in an instant by the nightmare he'd faced. He wouldn't be able to describe the images if he'd been asked-- they were already fading from his memory-- but the bone-jarring crunch of his headlong collision with the illusory wall still echoed between his ears, and the ghost of a headache could still be felt.

As the memories of the previous day came forward to greet him from the back of his mind, Damien made note of an alarm sounding from somewhere else in the complex. Was someone trying to make a break for it? He could see little from where he was, but nothing like that seemed to be happening around here.

"You know," he said, looking to the once-human cougar in the cage next to him, "I can't help envying you a bit. I dunno how much what they did to you has to do with it, but somehow, you can just lay there while all hell breaks loose around you."

Wheeewheeewheeewheeewheee... the sound of fire alarms startled Ethan out of his uncomfortable sleep. He had been dreaming about the meadow again, and, like last time, woke up before he could see the girl's face. Groggy and annoyed, he screamed to no one in particular, "Would somebody shut that F***ING ALARM OFF!"

Almost on cue, something else happened. The door to the room opened, the light blinding Ethan momentarily, who turned his head and squinted until his eyes adjusted. Standing in the doorway was a man Ethan hadn't seen before, but he could tell it was a Stark employee. "You with Broderick, are you?" he spat.

The Stark guard got what Ethan thought was a surprised look on his face and burst out laughing, "Ahs if! Ah'm here ta clean up 'is mess. Only a meat-'ead lahk tha' would actually drag someone off ta th' lower levels because o' a grudge. Naow, let's get ye untied."

After the guard untied Ethan, they both stood there, the only sound being the fire alarm.

"You're going to take me back to those cages, aren't you?" asked Ethan solemnly.

"Aye." was the guard's only response.

"I... I guess I owe you one. What's your name?"

"Ahm Nigel. Just yer av'rage securety personnel. Perhaps ah could get yer nayme, laddie."

"Etha--... Lee. Just... call me Lee."

"Well, Lee, mah boyo. We best be gettin ya back ta yer quarters than," Nigel stated, pointing towards the door.

Ethan stared for a moment, "Aren't you gonna restrain me or something?"

"Only ef ya trie ta run."

Ethan smiled. He liked Nigel. This was someone with decent sense in this senseless place. A ray of kindness in hell. Nigel was the kind of person who died first in the movies. Please, Ethan pleaded silently. Please don't let it be like that.

Aaron had not slept at all, not that he felt any the worse for it. He attributed this to how he stayed awake until the early hours of the morning almost every day anyway, though it didn’t help that he thought the way he had always seen cats sleep, with their head resting on their front paws, was incredibly uncomfortable. He had tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, trying to find a position that he could get some rest in, but to no avail.
Eventually, he gave up. Sleep was, it seemed, not an option. Instead, he started padding around his cage, getting used to his new form. He had been messing around for at least a couple hours, practicing running and jumping, even coming to a bit of understanding on his thermokinesis, when he heard a yell from the opposite side of the room. He had almost forgotten there were others in the room with him; he hadn’t heard anything out of them for a long time. The yell had startled him, but when an alarm went off, he started to worry. What’s happened? Is that good or bad?

The lynx woke up to the sound of sirens blaring. He murred, curiously then sat upright, the feeling of alarm arriving in a rush. He padded around in his cell and looked about. Ethan wasn't in his cage, and he was still in his lone corner. A commotion started on the other side. Sam's hackles raised as he hissed, frustrated that once more he had no one to confide to, or ask for anything. This was a horrible way to start the day.

Whatever the alarm was, the lynx couldn't figure out what it was. He panicked, but he was trapped. There was no sign of immediate danger, and he hoped it stayed that way.

"I can't hear you," Anmar shouted back. "There's a fire alarm in the background. It's kinda interfering with the conversation."

Ethan and Nigel hadn't said anything since they had left the room behind. The guard hadn't drawn his gun, but Ethan still felt uncomfortable being escorted. Obviously this guy knew that it was Broderick that had 'kidnapped' him, so why hadn't he gone to the top brass? That didn't really matter though as they came around a corner to face the instigator of the fiasco.

"How the hell did ya get outta there?" Broderick asked Ethan, then stopped as he noticed Nigel. "You. Of course it would be you. Just can't keep your nose outta other people's business, can ya?"

"Et's no' so much bein' nosy ahs et es savin' yer ass from gettin' killed, Tim. Ya' should know better than ta hold a grudge against people here an' try an' get back at 'em. Especially McFarland's pets."

Broderick exploded, "I know I told you not to call me by my first name! Everyone else calls me by my last name, even McFarland! You are no exception!"

"An' you," Nigel spat, poking Broderick's chest with his middle finger, "are en no position ta tell me haow ta address ya'! We're both on th' same level, laddie boy!"

Broderick was getting pissed. Here was a prisoner, walking unrestrained through the building, and some little punk trying to keep him from getting back at the one who had humiliated him. And Nigel was still prattling on. Broderick had reached his limit.

BANG!

The shot rang out through the empty halls of the lower levels. Nigel stepped back, tripping over his own feet, forcing Ethan to reach out and catch him. Ethan looked down and saw blood pouring from his stomach. No way he thought. Was he really stupid enough to not wear kevlar or something? As the thought ran through his mind, Nigel let out one last sigh and closed his eyes as the life left his body.

"Damn," Broderick said. "Didn't realize I was that pissed. Too bad, so sad. Now to make sure you don't talk." He started walking toward Ethan, who was still staring at Nigel's lifeless body, and gave the boy a right hook to the face, sending him flying into a nearby wall. "I'm really gonna enjoy this!"

As Broderick raised his fist for another blow, Ethan found his vocal chords, "You... dumb... tard."

Broderick paused, "What did you say?"

"I'll bet your mom was a whore... you're probably just the bastard child of her and th' milk man..."

The veins on Broderick's head started pulsing, "What did you say?"

Ethan chuckled, "Go sit and spin!" then launched himself into Broderick's stomach, forcing the guard to fall onto his back, allowing Ethan free reign on the guard's face. Broderick grabbed hold of one of Ethan's legs and threw him off, trying to stand up again, but was forced back down by a kick to the bottom of his jaw. Ethan went in for another kick but found himself being tossed away and staring down the barrel of Broderick's 9mm.

"Die you son ovva--!" Broderick started to say but was cut short as Ethan jumped back up and pushed the gun to the side going for the solar plexus. Broderick countered by smacking Ethan in the side of the head with the butt of his gun.

"Don't you get it!?" the guard shouted. "You are out-sized, out-classed, and out-matched in every way! You can't beat me! You're too weak!"

"I m-may be too weak like this," Ethan stammered. "But I know a way to kick your ass easy!" Ethan thought of the first time he'd changed after getting tased. He thought of the second and third time. The time he talked with that strange girl. The time he'd changed with Dr. Helen. He thought of Nigel, dying in his arms. Ethan thought about his weird dream. Ethan thought, and changed.

Broderick just stared as his bones cracked and changed size, as Ethan's skin shrank and expanded and grew fur. In the end Broderick was left staring at a wolf, snarling where a prisoner had previously been. Ethan drew a deep breath, raised his head, and let loose another sonic howl, even louder than the one with Dr. Helen. As Broderick covered his ears Ethan began adjusting the frequencies like it was something he'd done his entire life, overpowering the still ongoing fire alarm. He stopped and looked at the guard, who was now on his hands and knees, noticing a thin stream of blood seeping out from behind the guard's hands, which were still covering his ears.

Broderick looked up one last time to see a flash of fur.

Ethan stood over his slain foe's body, blood dripping from his muzzle where he'd ripped out the man's throat, and let out yet another howl. But this one was normal, a victory howl. Ecstasy coursed through Ethan's being. I know it shouldn't... but this... this feels good.

(Summary: Ethan and Nigel run into Broderick. Broderick gets pissed and shoots Nigel. Ethan fights a losing battle against Broderick as a human, and then changes to his wolf form, disabling Broderick with a sonic howl and killing him via removal of throat.)

Kayje watched as Broderick entered the hall while Nigel began his escort through the monitors in the security room. Knowing a conflict would be inevitable, he looked to the other guard in the station, who had fallen asleep with a silver flask half out of his pocket. Kayje swiped the container and left the station, rushing through the room with the captives and into the hall, the doors closing behind him just as the second howl started.

Kayje drew his gun as he approached the first corner, looking carefully around it to see a wolf standing over the bodies, blood on his face. Damn it, singer. If you're going to make messes like this, I can't use you. He stepped around the corner, aiming the handgun at Ethan with his left while his other went to his voice box.

"I. See. That. Both. Of. Them. Are. Down. Back. Away. And.. Transform. Singer. So. I. Can. See. What. The. Damage. Is."

After the stresses of the night before, Cassandra didn't notice herself drift off to sleep. Groggily waking up however to the sight of a near reachable blanket and what looked like a bar of some sort. Her stomach prompting for an immediate refill she swiped at it, without so much as thinking if the scientists had done anything to it. Who cared? Food was food.

As she wolfed it down the fire alarm woke. Blaring it's unwelcoming warning of danger. Unsure of where danger could feel her stomach tensing. Looking around she scanned to see who was awake or someone who knew what was happening. Maybe even someone to let her and everyone else out, away from danger?

As she cleared her throat she heard someone call out "Hello?". With that she gave her own probing reply "Hello?... Who is that?". Unsure of where the sound came from with the alarm screaming in her ears she tried again. "Hello there! I'm Cass, do you know what's going on here?!" she sat as close to the bars as she could manage, straining to hear for a reply.

The robo-man Kayje came out from around the corner just as Ethan had finished Broderick. Not only was he barking orders at him, but he was pointing a hand gun, too. "He is a threat" a voice whispered in the back of Ethan's mind. "Kill him. Show him what you can do. Let him hear the call of the wild. Bless him with the sweet release of death. Look at him, he needs it."

Ethan couldn't resist the voice and its commands. He couldn't even comprehend the words coming out of Kayje's voice-box. All he knew was a new enemy had entered into the fray, according to the voice, and enemies needed to be dealt with. Raising his head, Ethan let out yet another sonic howl.

[OOC: The sparkly stuff is for humor only, and will never be used again. Ever.]

Anmar's head snapped around. "Did you hear that?" she asked loudly. "Sounded like a wolf howl. A super-powered wolf howl, since it didn't seem to come from this room. One of us is on the loose, I think." I've got to help them, whoever they are, she thought to herself. A chance like this never may come again. She closed her eyes and focused on a mental switch, trying to flick on her powers. Nothing happened, at least nothing that she noticed.

Things were different, to say the least, when she opened her eyes. Her hands were wreathed in some strange green glowing light, which shimmered softly in the darkness. It was almost like flame, but the edges were softer.

After a minute or so of testing, she discovered that she didn't have power over green flame or energy, radioactivity, and couldn't conjure stuff. Really, she could only think of one other power associated with green stuff. Namely, plants.

Plants, she thought to herself. I can control plants. Dozens of powers and they gave me this. Might as well make the best of it. With a flick of her hand, Anmar sent out her will and summoned a pencil. It rolled off a desk and across the room, coming to rest at her cage. "Now, if I can only get the damn sparkle-stuff to go away," she muttered to herself. She focused, and it vanished. "Good riddance. I looked ridiculous with that stuff." She sent out her will again, and a piece of paper moved towards her. Picking it up, she rapidly started sketching out everything that she could see. It wouldn't be very accurate, but perhaps it would be better than nothing.

As soon as Ethan began to inhale for his attack, Kayje spun back behind the corner and crouched, sticking a finger in each ear and the others positioned around the face, vibrating his skin to keep the sound from hitting hard. As the howl continued, Kayje's face began to split from the vibrations, cracks forming from the corners of his eyes, mouth, and nose. I guess I'll have to find a replacement. This one is broken. As soon as the sound stopped, Kayje hit a switch on his voice box to blare static at full volume, covering up the sounds of his transformation. As he changed form, he tossed his jacket around the corner at shoulder level, slithering into it's shadow as it fell, coiling under it when it landed and shaking his rattle.

Ethan let the howl die away. Looking forward, he saw Kayje's jacket lying on the ground, a strange rattling coming from it. Whatever it was, it frightened the voice in his head. "Don't go near it! It will kill us! It will kill us!"

The voice just continued to repeat those words until it faded into a faint throb in the back of Ethan's skull, losing its control over him. What just happened? Ethan thought for a moment, then remembered that Kayje must still be around somewhere. But what was that rattling noise?

Jacinta woke up to a loud yowl. It seemed, familiar… Opening her eyes Jacinta had a small moment of panic. Where was she? Looking around her cage she gradually calmed down. Oh…right… Her stomach growled. Crawling to the corner of the cage she lifted up the hospital dress and quickly woofed down the bar, faster than she thought possible. The protein bar did little to ease her hungry stomach; in fact, it just made her want more food.
Shifting back over to the bars of the cage, Jacinta was about to demand that someone tell her what was going on when suddenly an alarm went off. In response Jacinta promptly jumped back to the far end of the cage. It was an understatement to say she was surprised, the adrenaline pumping through her veins made her head a bit dizzy. It wasn’t just the fire alarm though, the built up stress and shock that she had kept in control suddenly let loose. And then there was the howl. The ear-splitting howl, followed by the cries of a man. It was all too much…
Jacinta began to feel herself change. It was like spiders were crawling all over her body. She could hear her bones popping as they readjusted themselves and feel her muscles and skin change in ways that they weren’t supposed to go.
Then suddenly, it stopped. Slowly Jacinta tried to crawl back to the bars of the cage but it didn’t work. She would try to bend her legs at the knee, but then she would lose balance and topple over. A growing suspicion forced her to look at her hands. Paws. There were spotted paws where her hands should be. With calm like that before a storm Jacinta tried to wiggle her fingers and with her eyes saw the paw segments move in the same way.
Still holding back her added confusion and desperate for an explanation Jacinta went back into her memories. Before, when she had first woken up, what had happened? She had changed, after a guard tasered her and then… What had she thought of afterwards? True cheetah? Was she a cheetah? No, that’s way too absurd… A quote popped into her mind, ’Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth’. Well, turning into a cheetah wasn’t the only probability. She could be insane. Or dreaming. So either she was insane, in a really, really strange and ‘lifelike’ dream or was actually a cheetah. Or maybe she was abducted by aliens…
She should try to change back to a human. Could she go back? If so how would she turn back… Jacinta took a deep breath, stiffening at how weird it felt, a lot deeper, like she was using all of her lung space. Jacinta focused on her ‘mental image’ of herself, her human self. The spidery sensation returned, Jacinta could hear the popping of her bones again and the shifting of muscles and skin but somehow, this time it felt a lot easier. Before she knew it, Jacinta was crouching on her toes in her cage. As a human of course. Ok, that was weird… She thought to herself, struggling to hear her own thoughts thanks to the blaring alarm. Slowly she shuffled over to the bars, glad to see her body was listening and pressed her head against them, trying to see what was happening. No one was in the cages next to her. Sighing Jacinta realised she would have to wait for the alarm to go off before she could ask the question blaring loudly in her mind.

Is anyone going to tell me what the $*#! Is going on?

Sabra had a gift. Sabra could sleep through almost anything, as long as she was comfortably bundled up. As the fire alarm rang and howls echoed through the building, Sabra slept peacefully.

She dreamed of a wolf running through a maze, chased by an ambulance full of white coats. She dreamed of Taz, from Loony Toons, flying through the sky in a tornado. She dreamed of being back home, with Hooyo and Aabbo and her brothers. She dreamed of going to school, playing games with her friends, and escaping from the madness that was this entire situation.

She also dreamed of a rainbow, and a unicorn waiting to take her across to a land filled with flowers and candy where she could be queen.