Chapter Text
“I don't wanna work.” Wemmbu whined quietly, leaning on the table of the main hall that their little group had claimed just over a week ago. His past injuries had long since been healed, now he stammered an excuse as Baablu and Fantst laughed at his misery. The two brothers had been stuck in this prison for a few months, and already learnt the ways of the prison, and after spending and sharing a lot of the time with them, the human quickly started to gain confidence around them. It really did help that Zam trusted them, even if to an extent.
Now the three of them finished their task which was chopping down trees. They were now waiting for Zam who had been quickly appointed to take care of the washing up after the guards discovered he had water power and decided to put them to good use.
Baablu winced at the thought as he scratched his wrist around the dense bangles that restricted his own powers. He was sitting next to his brother and Wemmbu sat in front of them leaving space for Zam.
Eventually the monster they had awaited for did come back from his task and trotted up to where they were, carrying a tray with food.
“This has to be some kind of child labour.” She sighed and sat next to the only human in their group, hissing when his red hands brushed painfully against the rough table.
“There's no way this is legal.” Wemmbu said slowly so nobody could hear except the four of them, as he held Zam's hands in his own. Fantst reached over, laying his hands on top, and wordlessly healed his new friends hands, leaving them good as new.
.
.
.
Wemmbu still remembered how they found out about Fantst healing powers. They were in some kind of ravine and they were forced to mine for gold, could you believe these greedy people? Still being the only human of the three made him appear weak even though he knew how to handle his own.
It was a hot day and he was getting dizzy when he slipped on some rocks and fell down to a deeper part of the small canyon. He didn't fall really far but it sure did feel like it when he tried to cushion his fall with his arm and ended up breaking it.
The others came running when they heard his scream, Zam immediately ran forward to him with Fantst close behind. Wemmbu's best friend panicked not knowing what to do, she had no experience with injuries but as soon as he saw the other monster's hands crackle with energy alike electricity she stepped back, leaving space and holding Wemmbu as Fantst healed his arm.
It had been a real shock for the human… Anyways back to the present.
.
.
.
“I hate chemicals bro.”
“This sucks.” Wemmbu sighed.
“The food?” After a second of thought, someone on the table replied, "I think it is not that bad.”
“No, the ‘tasks’, Dumbass” Wemmbu replied with no real heat. A moment of tense silence overpowered their table.
You see, the tasks the four kids have been doing since a few days ago are some kind of punishment Lettuce had brewed up after they tried to escape. Too bad they didn't think there were going to be gigantic walls surrounding every side of their small hell.
How did no one even find this place?
Anyways, the endless tasks only made the teenager's determination grow. It didn't matter if they had to mine stone for hours, plant for hours, chop down trees or wash infinite piles of clothes. They were going to keep trying, especially after they had to spend a day in solitary confinement which wasn't really secure considering they could still talk to each other.
Great discoveries came out of that.
Now, Lettuce passed by their table checking in on them. The four of them had long since annoyed Lopezz so much she had requested to transfer to another part of the prison, too bad because the one in charge of them was the law leader himself.
As he passed by their table the lynx stared at the weird behavior of the four teenagers. They were mostly silent, peacefully passing the time. That was a first, these kids were like chaos itself.
Zam was humming on himself while drawing something on the table with a piece of charcoal. Baablu was leaning over to Wemmbu playing some game that included making hand symbols and Fantst was simply head down on the table resting.
They all looked kind of tired, maybe he should give them less things to do. Maybe they finally comprehended what they had done thanks to the manual labour. Lettuce knew it took time but maybe they would even accept to be turned into humans again and be just like their friend.
The law leader concluded they probably weren't doing anything harmful and left the mess hall. He had been swamped with work since a certain voidling had broken in the prison, fortunately the monster didn't manage to find what he was looking for.
Or so he thought.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“Is he gone?”
“I think so.” Baablu whispered quietly using his own powers to mess with any cameras or speakers nearby. Everyone straightened and concentrated on what Zam was working on.
“The map is mostly ready,” The monster announced. “I feel like something is missing, though.”
“It is the same as last time.” Wemmbu responded, leaning into his side. “Me and Baablu found a vent on the wall but I don't remember which side.”
“I don't think we should use it because it takes us to the top of the wall,” Baablu pipped up.
“How would we get down afterwards?”
“It is not that high,” Zam argued, “I'm sure I could use my powers if there is water nearby.”
“You know, to soften the fall.”
“We should try it.” Wemmbu said, filled with determination. His eyes sparkled at the idea of finally escaping this place.
Meanwhile,“I don't think we should risk it.” Fantst said, voice low as his mind filled with pessimistic thoughts, while he leaned on the table. Soon enough he attempted to continue, “None of our other attempts worked-”
“Yeah but that's because we never tried to go over the wall before.” Baablu interrupted, the end decision was clear.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Two days had passed since the plan was finished and set in motion.
A sole shadow in the distance, not able to get closer but still watched over the teens with keen eyes.
Anyways the tasks and list of things they had to do varied a lot, they did things that ranged from doing the washing up to things like manual labour all day.
Thanks to this, their little group was left exhausted at the end of every day.
It was going to be hard after a day of hard work but it was ultimately decided to do their escape at noon just after the guards opened their cell during dinner. Instead of going to the mess hall they would sneak outside and use the ventilation shaft to get to the top of the wall without being unseen and finally escaping.
It didn't go to plan unfortunately, as if Ace, who they came to know was the Law’s second in command, knew something was up and escorted them himself to the huge room filled with tables they had come to associate with crappy food.
Their opportunity arrived suddenly as a large group of inmates, who were usually chill, started revolting and creating chaos as fights broke out in between them. Most of the present guards intervened and those who didn't were overseeing everything. There was no Ace or Lettuce either, probably in their offices with no knowledge of what was going down in the mess hall.
This was their chance.
So with the usual authorities distracted and Lettuce nowhere in sight, the four teenagers slipped unnoticed as they ran through corridors and stairs reaching the surface and finally leaving the underground part of the prison behind for, hopefully, the last time.
Finally after almost two weeks everything was coming together.
Running to the west side of the walls a ventilation waited for them, the rusty metal appeared to almost shine thanks to the last rays of sunlight in the twilight after the sunset.
Wemmbu watched as Baablu went first. The pink monster was the only one among them that had the ability to defend himself without engaging in physical fighting per se.
You see, Baablu had some kind of electricity power, similar to fantst but instead of healing Baablu's was perfect for harming. Unfortunately Lopezz, the one who captured both brothers in the first place, already knew of this and commanded him to use some kind of cuffs that suppressed his powers so he didn't harm anyone.
Getting rid of these was a first priority in their escape plan. Wemmbu being the only human in the group and one of the few in the prison was underestimated and managed to snatch the keys to them on one of the break times the guards had.
Anyways back to the present… again. Wemmbu went after the two brothers and Zam climbed up last.
Once at the top the four crouched near the wall so as to not be spotted and slowly made their way to the south side wall where a river made its way, it was just in the direction in which the city was too.
Wemmbu breathed the fresh air after what felt like months. He should feel good warm but his body tensed without warning. All was going well… too well and don't call Wemmbu a pessimist too but his gut had never betrayed him in the past. Something was about to happen and he didn't know what it was.
They kept moving and rapidly it became obvious what was rubbing him wrong, there were no guards. The coup in the mess hall couldnt possibly have been that bad for everyone to intervene.
Out of the sudden just before the four of them jumped, shouts and yells for them to stop where they were rang out. The four of them froze as guards surrounded them from both sides ready to drag them back to the cold empty cells that had their names.
If they jumped now they would be at a disadvantage and probably be followed, Wemmbu thought. He held Zam’s hand and intertwined their fingers as if he could communicate throughout just that gesture and not his weak voice.
He hoped zam could understand him, and the other probably did considering how he pushed Baablu and Fantst back but didn't just throw herself off the wall to the water below.
Lettuce stepped forwards as one of the sides made space for him to pass unbothered.
His face was deliberately neutral but with just one look and his eyes Wemmbu could see the anger and hatred directed to something behind them. The lynx reached over to them, his hand open and welcoming like it was saving them when it was everything but that.
The four recoiled, pressing together like they had learned to do the past two weeks and a half inside the prison, as a dark flash darted in front of them as Lettuce stumbled back clutching now bloody hand.
Wemmbu’s own eyes widened as his gaze landed on Spoke, his friend… his family. Who was now standing between them and the Law, who was now a wall between a chain and freedom.
“Spoke…?” Zam whispered beside him, barely audible. The only human of the four inmates swallowed as he came to the realization that someone had come, someone had finally come to help.
The voidling turned slightly and quietly mouthed for them to run and normally Wemmbu wouldn't just leave but this was Spoke who was unpredictable and always had an ace in his sleeve. In this case it was his power because only the ones to be in their little city on the monster world knew that the shadow could manipulate light, letting him create believable and realistic illusions.
And so the young human did his best to not worry and put all of his trust on Spoke before he grabbed Fantst and jumped with him to the water, Zam did the same behind them but instead just threw Baablu over the wall and jumped after him.
The guards didn't even try to stop them, Spoke was a mastermind.
When they were finally safe underwater the yellow aquatic monster made a few air bubbles for the other three to be able to breathe and not get discovered. Wemmbu’s mind filled with distant memories and a sense of familiarity, this felt like what Zam and him had done before.
Anyways the two brothers eyes widened when the Zam did their bubbles, they had been told about it but experiencing it in real time was completely different. Wemmbu chuckled as a part of the heavy pressure was lifted and no longer weighing him down.
“Was that Spoke?”
“It was him, why?” Wemmbu tilted his head in Fantst direction to hear him better.
“How do you guys even know him?”
An innocent question really but the answer quickly snowballed into a huge explanation of how Wemmbu and the shadow met, and how Zam had met him. In turn Both of them learned that the immortalized teen had a reputation in the monster community and was pretty known inside of it.
“Where do we go now?” Baablu muttered, once they were a few hundreds of meters away from the prison. “We are so far from the city.”
“Are we really?” Wemmbu asked, "I think we are on the right path.”
“We really should have talked about this before,” To his right Fantst hummed as he swam, eager to continue feeling the water against his gills. “How do you know that?”
The human, as shy as always, flushed at the sudden attention on him. And if it was a light sent from above, “This is the same river me and Wemmbu used to go on some days, if we continue in this direction we will reach the outskirts of the city.” Zam interrupted.
“How long is that?”
“An hour, maybe less if I do this.”
“Wait do what-”
Baablu was interrupted by a shriek of glee from Wemmbu as the current of the water that guided them speed up, the oldest monster between the four caught a smile taking over his face as he watched the youngest between them laugh and yell in ecstatic like never in the prison, even after Fantst had decided that Wemmbu was apparently bringing the mood down and decided to tickle him until he was begging for mercy.
He laughed at the other’s happiness and decided to let Zam grab his hand so he didn't get stuck behind the group. The moment was like a relief of tension, like a minute of respite they had hopped for everyday in that human made hell.
The four of them were too calm for just having escaped being kidnapped.
Anyways they continued traveling throughout the length of the river as the moon shined bright in the top of the sky, their burst of energy dying out and they couldn't help but notice that once they arrive to the outskirts it was going to be a long way back if they wanted to reach any of the portals leading to the monster realm or someone’s who wouldn't rat them out house.
But Wemmbu got an idea that would probably save them time and wouldn't get them discovered as fast.
It was revealed once they came out of the water, clothes and hair wet, four freezing teenagers in the dead of night wondering where to go so as to not get caught or die of hypothermia.
“Theres someone I know that lives near here,” Our protagonist pipped up from his side of the pile they had made, leaning on each other as to not feel as cold. But his voice lowered as four pairs of eyes found his.
Wait four!?
The four members of their little jail break group scrambled away from the intruding shadow that landed between them.
Before a second of incredulous silence took over the place as the kids face’s shifted from disbelief to shock and surprise.
“Spoke!?” Zam whispered- shouted at the somewhat older monster. “What are you doing here?”
“Dude, I followed you guys,” The voidling explained, “we need to get out of here and i dont know how to make portals to the monster realm.”
“Anyone got any ideas?”
Everyone nodded like that was normal, well normal for spoken but soon what the voidling said finally registered. And once again four pairs of eyes, this time with everyone accounted for, landed on the only human present as he muttered “... It's in an apartment building though.”
“Let's go then.” Fantst agreed, trusting Wemmbu’s judgement. Baablu nodded, learning on his brother.
It had been a relatively short walk but it felt as long as the swim back, they were all tired from doing all the manual work back in the prison and, in spoke’s case, holding back the guards and buying them time to escape. It had been silent the entire way too, Wemmbu could feel how Spoke’s gaze landed into his back as he guided the group and then shifted away, towards Zam probably and then to their two new friends before landing back on him.
He knew the voidling was worried and concerned about all of them, mostly him and Zam but he really wanted to get somewhere safe instead of wasting time somewhere the people who were hunting for them could find them.
They arrived at an apartment complex and entered through the back door, quickly climbing the stairs to the second floor. The five of them reached a certain door when Wemmbu stopped and stumbled once everyone crashed into each other.
The commotion must have caught the attention of whoever owned the apartment and whoever Wemmbu trusted enough to house all of them.
Four monsters froze as the door swung open and Wemmbu smiled at the person behind it. When the person came into view Spoke yelled in shock.
“Jaden!?”