The Triplets' POV
The door to the holding cell clanged shut. The lock engaged with a heavy, final-sounding thud.
It was a small room. Maybe ten by ten. Concrete walls, a single dim bulb, and a bucket in the corner.
"Quaint," Leo said, pushing his glasses up his nose. He walked to the door and examined the keypad from the inside. "Standard reinforced steel. Electronic lock, magnetic seal. Grade 4 security."
"It smells like pee," Cyra said, wrinkled her nose. She sat down on the only clean spot on the floor, hugging her knees. "I want my bunny."
"He took it," Aries said. He was pacing. Three steps forward, turn. Three steps back, turn. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white. "That ugly man took Mr. Fluff. Mom is going to kill him."
"If Mom is alive," Leo corrected, his voice flat.
"She's alive," Aries snapped. He stopped pacing and glared at his brother. "Don't say that. Ever."
Leo didn't argue. He just sighed and tapped the wall. "Vibration sensors. If we try to break the door, they'll know."
"So what?" Aries growled. "I can take them. Did you see that guy? He was slow. I could have kneecapped him."
"There were twelve of them, Aries. And they had guns. And wolf modifications. Probability of success in a direct confrontation was 4.2%." Leo turned away from the door. "We need to be smarter."
"Smarter how?" Aries kicked the bucket. It clattered loudly.
"Shh!" Cyra hissed. "Listen."
They froze.
Outside the door, heavy footsteps approached.
"Little brats quiet down in there!" a guard shouted. He banged on the metal. "Boss says we can't kill you yet, but he didn't say we couldn't rough you up!"
The footsteps receded.
"See?" Leo whispered. "They think we're just kids. That's our advantage."
He reached into his pocket.
"What do you have?" Aries asked, leaning in.
Leo pulled out a small, flat object. It looked like a piece of chewing gum.
"C4?" Aries' eyes widened. "Where did you get C4?"
"It's not C4. It's high-density corrosive putty. I made it in chemistry class last week." Leo smiled. It was a terrifying smile. "Teacher thought it was playdough."
He walked to the hinge of the door. Carefully, he pressed the putty into the seam.
"It takes three minutes to eat through the steel," Leo explained. "When it weakens, Aries, you kick it."
"With pleasure," Aries cracked his knuckles.
"Cyra," Leo turned to their sister. "We need a diversion. Can you do the thing?"
Cyra looked up. Her big blue eyes were innocent and wide. "The crying thing? Or the scary thing?"
"The crying thing. We need them to open the door before the hinge melts completely."
Cyra nodded. She stood up, smoothed her dress, and took a deep breath.
Then she let out a scream that could shatter glass.
"HELP! HELP! MY BROTHER IS DYING! HE'S NOT BREATHING!"
It was an Oscar-worthy performance. Tears streamed down her face. She banged on the door with tiny fists.
"PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP!"
Aries immediately dropped to the floor, sticking his tongue out and holding his breath. He looked genuinely dead.
Footsteps pounded down the hallway. Not one guard. Two.
"What the hell is going on?"
The keypad beeped. The lock disengaged.
The door swung open—but not smoothly. The hinge, eaten away by Leo's putty, groaned and snapped. The heavy steel door hung crookedly for a second, then crashed inward.
The guard in front barely had time to say "Oh sh—" before the door flattened him.
The second guard stared at his partner, then at the three children.
"Oops," Leo said.
"Get them!" the guard yelled, reaching for his radio.
"Aries!" Leo shouted.
Aries sprang up from the floor like a coiled spring. He didn't look dead anymore. He looked like a guided missile.
He headbutted the guard in the stomach. The man doubled over, wheezing.
"That's for the bucket!" Aries yelled. He followed up with a sharp kick to the shin.
The guard collapsed, clutching his leg.
"Run!" Leo ordered.
They sprinted out of the cell, turning left into the corridor.
"Wait!" Cyra skidded to a halt. "My bunny!"
"Forget the bunny!" Leo grabbed her arm. "We need to find an exit!"
"No!" Cyra pulled away. Her eyes were flashing. A stormy, dangerous blue. "He has Mr. Fluff. He's going to hurt him."
"Cyra, it's a toy!"
"He's not a toy! He's family!"
She turned and ran the other way. Towards the main lab.
"Cyra!" Aries yelled. He looked at Leo. "We have to go after her."
Leo groaned, adjusting his glasses. "Probability of survival dropping to 2.1%. I hate this family."
He turned and ran after his siblings.
They found the main lab easily. It was the room with the giant glass tanks and the smell of rotten eggs.
They peeked around the corner.
Jax Vane was there. He was pacing back and forth in front of a console, yelling at a scientist in a white coat.
And on the table next to him, sitting in a puddle of green slime... was Mr. Fluff.
"Target acquired," Aries whispered.
"Hostiles: five," Leo counted. "Jax, the scientist, and three guards by the elevator."
"I can take the guards," Aries said confidently.
"No, you can't. They have assault rifles." Leo scanned the room. His eyes landed on a yellow pipe running along the ceiling. "Chlorine gas line."
He looked at the shelf next to them. Cleaning supplies. Ammonia.
"Okay," Leo whispered. "Aries, I need you to create a distraction. A big one."
"Like what?"
"Like breaking that glass tank." Leo pointed to a vat of green goo labeled 'Subject 14 - Unstable'.
"Cool," Aries grinned.
"Cyra," Leo looked at her. "When the gas starts, you grab the bunny. Don't breathe. Hold your breath and run."
"Okay," Cyra nodded.
"Go."
Aries picked up a fire extinguisher from the wall. He wasn't big enough to lift it properly, so he dragged it. He aimed the nozzle at the glass tank.
"Hey, ugly!" Aries shouted.
Jax spun around. "What the—"
Aries pulled the pin.
WHOOSH.
White foam sprayed everywhere, blinding the guards. In the confusion, Aries hurled the empty canister with all his might.
It hit the glass tank.
CRASH.
The glass shattered. Green liquid flooded the floor. And something... something crawled out.
It looked like a wolf, but turned inside out. It had too many teeth and no eyes.
"Subject 14 loose!" the scientist screamed.
Chaos erupted. The guards started firing at the monster. The monster started eating the guards.
"Now!" Leo hissed.
He threw a bottle of ammonia at the leaking chlorine pipe. He'd loosened the valve with his multi-tool while Aries was yelling.
The chemicals mixed.
White smoke began to billow.
"Gas! Gas!" a guard choked.
Jax was coughing, waving his hand in front of his face. He backed away from the table.
Cyra saw her chance.
She darted out from the shadows. She was small, fast, and silent. She weaved through the legs of the fighting guards, ducking under the flailing claws of Subject 14.
She reached the table.
She grabbed Mr. Fluff.
"Gotcha," she whispered, hugging the soggy rabbit tight.
"You!"
Jax lunged out of the smoke. His hand, now a clawed paw, grabbed Cyra by the back of her dress. He lifted her into the air.
"Let me go!" Cyra kicked, clutching the rabbit.
"You little pest," Jax snarled. His eyes were watering from the gas, but his grip was iron. "I'm going to snap your neck."
"Put her down!" Aries yelled, charging out of the smoke. He jumped on Jax's leg, sinking his teeth into the calf muscle.
"GAH!" Jax howled. He tried to shake Aries off, but the boy was like a pitbull.
"Leo! Do something!" Aries muffled through a mouthful of denim and flesh.
Leo was at the console. "I'm trying! The system is encrypted!"
Jax raised his other hand to strike Aries.
"NO!" Cyra screamed.
And then, Aries growled.
It wasn't a child's sound. It was a low, vibrating rumble that seemed to come from the earth itself. The air in the room grew heavy, charged with a sudden, suffocating pressure.
Jax froze. His raised hand trembled, not from pain, but from instinct. His inner wolf whined, cowering before a superior predator.
Alpha.
The thought flashed through Jax's mind, paralyzing him for a split second.
His grip on Cyra loosened.
She dropped to the floor. Aries let go and scrambled back.
"Run!" Leo yelled.
He hit the 'Emergency Vent' button he'd finally hacked.
The massive fans in the ceiling roared to life, sucking the gas (and the air) out of the room. The sudden pressure change knocked everyone off their feet.
The kids scrambled towards the service hatch.
Jax shook his head, the violet fog clearing from his mind. He looked at the retreating children, then at his trembling hand.
"What..." he whispered. "What are you?"
He didn't chase them. He just stared, fear—genuine, primal fear—dawning in his eyes.
They weren't just brats.
They were monsters.
Just like their father.
"Lock it down," Jax whispered into his comms, his voice shaking. "Lock the whole facility down. Release the Omega Subject."
He looked at the small service hatch where the children had disappeared.
"The hunt is over," he said. "Now... it's war."