Haunted Halls [mission]

She shivered against the cold, even as winter had finally begun to end and fold over for spring, the bitter chill seemed to follow them wherever they went - America, Germany, or otherwise. The blonde shrugged up her coat, staring on ahead. Or maybe she was just nervous and that's why she couldn't stop shaking? Her gaze rose up to the older boy beside her, trying to read his face. She couldn't have been the only one afraid.

"It'll be alright. We'll be ready this time..."

Barry, was that his name? Like the old super-hero comics. She'd smiled some when they'd first met. He'd known one of the people who were now trapped there, didn't he? She couldn't imagine why he'd sign up to come with them otherwise, unless he was insane, or someone else dragged him into it...

"I know this is unfair of me to ask..."

Brailynn hadn't been entirely sure what she was thinking, but they were short on hands, and well - she needed someone she knew she could trust to bring with them, and someone strong enough to help break them back out, if need be; whatever what happened. Kayla was one of the school's strongest, and while she'd asked for her company on a friend's favor, there was a shred of guilt that tore away at her all the same.

But it was too late to do anything about it now.

The Guardian let out a loose breath, staring down the rustic building before them from around a sharp corner, where she knew the institute lay hidden inside. The moon hung heavy above their heads and the night around them was dead silent, as good of an opportunity as they were going to get, but she couldn't shake the feeling that - even in this empty air - she was being watched.

"Are you alright?" She murmured to Richard, her voice low, before carrying her attention to the other two. Any of them could still back out if they wanted. "Are we ready?"

To be totally honest, Barry barely knew the kid being kept in Germany. They had met at the big bonfire he had tried to hold. He was just about the only person to go. But the truth of the matter was; the Speedster needed to get away from the school. He was tired of being cooped up in the technologically barren academy. Sure, he could run wherever he wanted to, but that was the thing. He didn't know where he wanted to go. He couldn't go home, not in the state of mind he was in, so the next best thing was a mission. So, he had signed up for the first one he recognized, which was the the one he was currently waiting to head on.

He nodded to the leader, a guardian by the name of Brailynn. He was ready, all they had to do was wait for the others to signify their readiness. "As ready as I'll ever be," he told her, looking over to Richard. Once upon a lifetime ago, he and Richard had been pretty good friends. But since the older boy had graduated, life had gotten entirely more complicated for the both of them. Richard had even been one of the students held in Germany, but he had escaped after months of torture. He could only imagine the pain he had suffered.

Sparks glittered in her frosted breath like diamond dust. Kayla glanced over the back of her hand like she was checking her nails, chafed knuckles and light blue currents, zipped up in a frayed old jacket and some worn down sneakers. There was barely any touch of emotion to her face, just thin lips turned in a hint of a half-frown. They'd ran her through some of the basics, some kids being holed up in this old junker of a lab, but she hadn't made a point to remember any of their names or any of the details.

None of that applied. Not to her, anyways.

A lab. Experimentation. That was enough.

She got the gist.

Electricity arced between her fingers, and she let her hand fall to her side, glancing up at the building framed against the night sky. "Night's not getting any younger." She snuck a sidelong glance toward Richard, then flicked her gaze back toward the building. In and out. It was that simple.

At first, the idea to go back in and help those who were still trapped and possibly get some revenge sounded like a good one. He had already been there one time before, so now he knew what to expect. Initially, hew as confident in their success, especially now that he couldn't care less if they just happened to level the building. It was just going to take a few minutes: going in, grabbing who they needed to, and getting out. Simple. Richard knew the layout of the place almost like the back of his hand at this point, especially with the nightmares he had about constantly being chased through the white seamless halls, crashing on cold, unforgiving tile floors and being captured just as he reached the top level. Usually, they were so vivid that he had to convince himself that waking up in his bed wasn't the dream. Since the idea came up to come back, he had been filled with so much anger and hate for this place that he couldn't wait to come back.

Now that they were here, though...

No matter how much Richard had convinced himself that they were going to succeed, the guardian couldn't shake the dread from his heart. He couldn't bring himself to peel his eyes off of the tall building looming over them, draping them in the cold shadow of the memories he tried to repress. A cold sweat had begun to bead across his forehead, thankfully concealed by his still-shaggy hair. His good hand was gathered in a tight fist, the knuckles turning a ghost white at his sides while his other hand was still sealed tight in its cast, and his jaw was clenched so tight it hurt. However, he snapped out of his daze with a sharp breath, his lungs suddenly on fire from the lack of oxygen. His rigid body finally began to move after what felt like ages of thinking of all of the 'what ifs' that could happen in the next hour or so, but he didn't settle down at all. Instead, he glanced at the other three members with him, his frantic eyes trying hard not to meet the stares of everyone.

"Yeah.. Yeah, I'm fine," he said quickly, trying to hide what he could of the fear he was trying to bury deep inside of himself. He hadn't realize just how broken this place had left him until he had to be back. "Let's, uh... Let's go ahead and get this over with. The... The sooner the better." Cursing under his breath at his stammering, Richard took one last deep and shaky breath as he started for the entrance to the building.

Brailynn watched the elder Guardian with a hard stare. Try as he might have to hide it, she still knew him better than that. It was easy to see past that flimsy mask of his, all too obvious to figure how nervous this entire thing made him, just the sight of the place being enough to shake up his resolve. He seemed to have held steadfast all the same, being the first among them to push forward. "Alright," she murmured. The young woman chewed away at her lip, shooting one last curious glance around before setting off back after him. There wasn't any turning back after this.

From the outer workings of the building, the place seemed absolutely normal, at least to her. The first door, that was easy to break into. A sharper twist of the knob with a little inhuman force and viola, the thing creaked wide open for them, leaving them tapping through the darkness, their steps echoing against the tile. It was the inner entrance, the way into the laboratories themselves, that seemed to have give them trouble.

"It's budged," she spat under her breath. It didn't seemed to want to cooperate or yield like it's partner, locked from the inside. "Anyone else wanna do the honors?" Lynn took a step away from the frame. In that dead silence, she could just hardly make out the whirl of the small camera in the corner of the room; the eyeglass glinting faintly in the window light.

So they were all committed then. No cold feet, no takebacks. That was all fine by her. She didn't know what kind of history the blond guardian had with the place, and she wasn't going to ask. Right now she was just focused on her part in all of this. They were going to blow this whole place to hell. Pulling out any schoolmates locked somewhere inside, hey, that was just an excuse for her to be here. A secondary goal, a distraction, something on the periphery. Rescue missions required a certain... delicacy? Finesse?

This was all she knew how to do.

Kayla followed after them without another word, slipping her hands into her pockets, shoulders hunched up to block out the bitter chill, and then plunging into darkness, winding into the labyrinth. Her eyes adjusted to the gloom, little by little, wrinkling her nose at the sterility of the place. Like an office, or a hospital, or something.

...It reminded her of the infirmary.

They finally met their dead end, stopped in front of a stubborn locked door. Brailynn had busted open the other one so easy, it only made sense they'd start getting trouble now. Things couldn't ever be that easy, could they? Sparks spread out across her shoulders, and then down her arms, stepping forward in a twisting flurry of electricity. A brilliant current arced around her like a whip, flashing through the darkness.

POP.

The camera behind them broke open with a sizzle and then slid off its charred mountings on the wall, the cables the only thing keeping it from smashing against the cold tile. Kayla reached out for the doorknob and twisted. The metal warped and depressed beneath her fingers, and the electricity pulsed down her arm, throwing up white-hot sparks like thermite. Twist. Pull. Push. The heavy door cracked open, swinging, and the handle broke off in her palm.

She twisted and shot them a smirk, glancing over her shoulder and waving the twisted metal in her hand. "See? Easy-peasy."

In. Out. It was as simple as that.

crreeeaaaaAAAAAKKKKKKKK.

The door seemed to peel off its hinges. There was a snap and a heavy metal slam as the door hit the floor, blasting open the uneasy silence that had hung over their quiet break-in. She tossed what remained of the handle away, letting it bounce away somewhere into the darkness behind them.

Yeah... Sure. Right. She meant to do that.

Barry had always thought Kayla's powers were cool. He wondered how it would've been if he had the power to control electricity, but figured that it wouldn't have been very good, especially with his current emotional state. He watched as the fellow Autumn took out the camera and obliterate the door. "Subtle," he said. He crossed his arms and looked through the door, wondering if he should be the one to scout the building. He could easily run through the building, taking out any security camera along the way. The Autumn merely stood there, however, waiting for the official call from the guardians.

Richard swallowed hard as they approached the building, his eyes locked on the its sheer size as Brailynn grabbed the door handle, and within seconds, it was pulled open to reveal the inside. The others walked in rather freely, and the guardian reluctantly followed, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Of course, with this place, everything was weird. The white walls and the cold tile floor gave this place a lifeless look. The portable machines that occasionally littered the hallways only added to the aesthetic. There was absolutely nothing comforting about this place, even as they walked along as a group taking out the cameras and quietly making their way deeper into the heart of the laboratory.

Richard tried his best to stay composed as they left the exit behind, but the farther inside they got, the more the walls seemed to close in on him, pushing the air out of his lungs until he was suffocating. Only a few glances towards Brailynn's direction helped keep him attached to the real world rather than getting lost in his thoughts and fears about this wretched place. After only about a minute, however, it didn't feel like enough. Instead, he moved to where he was standing at her side, reaching over and giving her hand a squeeze as if to confirm that she was actually there when the next door came into view.

After Lynn tried opening this door as she had the last and couldn't get it to move, the guardian hesitated. Sure he could easily open the door, but what was waiting on the other side? Would he get snatched up as soon as he entered? Could he even get through the door? The last time he was here, they quickly found out that he couldn't phase through anything, and, in fact, platinum was way too dense for him to pass through. Maybe they updated all of their spaces just in case something like this happened. No, he had to do something.

However, as he stepped towards the door, sparks and electricity shot from close by, striking the door hard and popping it open. Almost instantly, the guardian cursed at himself for being so afraid of completing such a remedial task, but it quickly didn't matter as the newly opened door creaked and fell with a loud clang, taken completely off of its hinges. Well, that was one way of doing it. Richard's heart couldn't help but skip a beat and send a chill down his spine. "That's one way of letting everyone know that we're here..." He muttered as he stared down the now open hallway.

Suddenly, as if right on cue, the darkened corridors immediately lit up with flashing red lights as alarms blared and echoed off of the cold walls. Almost instantly, footsteps rang through the hall in the midst of the small silence between the alarm. Richard had always been amazed at how organized this place was, but he knew that in minutes, they would be surrounded, and these guards mostly knew what they were up against. Gritting his teeth, the guardian looked around, trying to see where they had come from just in case they had to make a run for it. There was no way in hell he'd get stuck here for another six months, especially since Lynn was here. He was not going to fail again. "Get ready, guys. Stay on alert. These guards... They can be dangerous. They have strength in numbers," He told them. He knew that this group would be a little harder to subdue, though. With super speed and electricity, it was going to be hard to get near them. Maybe this time, they did stand some kind of a chance.

For one moment, Brailynn actually had hope that the door might have been only a door, that and nothing more. Maybe, despite the ear-wrenching echo throughout the corridors, they might have been able to stay in the clear after all. Still nothing but smooth sailing. Of course, things wouldn't be that simple though. They never were. She supposed she should have known better than to count on luck. All the same, the blonde let out a weak smile, brushing her free hand through her bangs and shooting her sparky friend a tired glance. "You did get it open," she mused in a low, sing-song. This would be their last easy moment it seemed.

Her hazel eyes flickered back down the hallway, illuminated by eerie white and blaring reds. She bit away at her lip, feeling a bit of sweat bead in her hand as she squeezed Richard's hand in return.

So be it.

"Barry, scout ahead." She muttered, slitting her eyes and keeping a sharp watch for any sign of the welcoming party. "Cut us out a path." A way to the experiment facilities, where the others were being held, that was all they needed. 'And don't get caught,' she'd thought. Her eyes flickered to the others. It was up to her to lead the way, wasn't it? "Come on..."

Lynn dragged herself inside, firing her eyes around. Already, so close to the entrance, there were so many forks in the road.

Did she hear other footsteps? Or was she imagining things?

She sucked in a sharp breath, stepping over the fallen door and into the corridor, rubbing the back of her neck as the sirens began to blare. "Yeah, well I never said I was ready to ninja around, alright?" she shot back at Richard and Barry, sparks cracking along her fingers. Sheesh, give her a break. They weren't the only ones sticking their neck out for this mission right now. "Don't sweat it."

These were just normal people they were talking about, right?

Then they didn't stand a chance. That was just how it worked.

Electricity cracked down her arms as she stepped forward past Lynn, turning the corner. A dozen lights beamed out through the hallway, a dozen guards armed with flashlights and nightsticks. She squared her body and slapped her palms together, making thunder clap down the hallway as electricity flicked out from her bangs and shoulders. The flashlights flickered, flashed twice as bright, then popped one by one like chains of firecrackers.

Vivid blue currents snaked around her arm, the only source of light now except for the gleam of wailing sirens, as she balled her hand into a fist and slammed it against the wall. It was like a magnet. The batons went flinging out of their hands to smash against the wall, bouncing away to clatter against the cold tile at their feet.

She'd barely cracked a smile yet when she heard the crack of a gunshot.

Muzzle flash. Her ears rang. She heard the bullet whiz just past her ear, heard it smash into the wall just behind her. Another, this time on the other side of her head. Kayla hurled herself to the floor as holes peppered the patch of wall where she'd been standing just a moment before, sliding across the tile to cover. Fuckers...!

Barry nodded to Lynn, preparing to run ahead, but the alarms and Kayla stopped him for a moment. He rolled his eyes. The speedster didn't have time for this. He could've had the door open easily without the Lightning Rod having to set off every alarm in a 10-mile radius. When the guards pulled out guns, he sighed. Just more time he'd have to take to make sure his partners didn't get hit. As soon as he heard gunshots he took off, catching every bullet he could that was in the direct path of Lynn, Richard, and Kayla. Dropping the bullets in front of his group, he got to work on the actual guards. He ran and swept the legs out from most of the guards and used the guns to knock them out by pistol-whipping them to the temple. When he stood in the middle of the hallway, he crossed his arms and waited for his "team." "C'mon, keep up. We don't have all night."