Chapter Text
That battle took a lot out of her.
When Kee woke up, she was staring at the roof of a truck. It was an absolute mess in there. Boxes were cluttered in almost every corner. It was probably early in the morning by now.
Despite just waking up, she was still tired. She remembered the fight with the agents. They were so hurt that they decided to spawn a mob and have that be the final straw. It was still defeated in the end and the Project Sandusky girls would be free forever. The blood from the mob was stained on her clothes. She hoped it would go away.
She still remembered everything from the Project. It made her a little homesick. There were some things she wouldn’t miss, like wearing that itchy uniform and always having to walk on eggshells around the agents. But she would miss the feeling of truly being at home, even after the Government closed the place down and infiltrated it.
Raptor was sitting next to her, trying to read a crumpled up newspaper from the night of the escape. There was one part that caught her attention. She had to tell Kee.
"Hey," Raptor shook her to fully wake her up. "Look what I found."
Kee sat up and looked at the article in the newspaper. It was about the agents of Project Sandusky.
It read: "On the morning of May 20th, agents of Project Sandusky (used to be known as Cedar Point) woke up to unfortunate news. Their families were already in the process of packing up their things and getting kicked out of Lighthouse Point. The test subjects of the Project left the night before, and since the agents had nothing to do, their jobs have been lost.
'This is the only way I can get paid,' An agent said. 'I hope the Government works to find those girls and bring them back here.'
The Government is currently investigating Project Sandusky. The whereabouts of the test subjects are currently unknown. They hope to find them soon."
"Scary, right?" Raptor asked.
A few seconds had passed until Kee finally answered. "U-uhm.. yeah.."
Raptor went over to a box in the corner and put the newspaper back. She wanted to forget about it.
The world outside looked pretty boring. This truck wasn’t going on the highway. Instead, it went down a backroad. There were a few houses here and there, but it was mostly empty fields surrounding the road. It wouldn’t be too long before Project Mason would be in the distance.
The truck took a turn and went onto the main road. The man in front sighed and pulled into the Great Wolf Lodge parking lot. He knew that he couldn’t go anywhere near the Project.
The man got out and opened the doors. "Hey. I gotta stop here." He pointed towards the distance. "Kings Island is that way. Good luck, girls."
As the man walked away, Kee got out first, holding onto Raptor’s hand. Dragster gave the man’s hand a shake as she and Millie made their way out. Steve jumped down with Maverick and Magnum following behind her. The man shut the doors and began to walk over to the driver’s seat.
Kee nervously led the others towards the Project. She strengthened her grip on Raptor’s hand as they ran on the grass. Great Wolf Lodge was busy, and many cars were pulling into the parking lot. Dragster waved at a car with some kids inside.
After a few minutes, the Kings Island sign was in clear view. It was surprising that the Government didn’t take it down yet. The only thing they took down was the signs telling vehicles where to go. The poles where those signs used to be were now completely bare.
"Rapsy, did you send a message here telling them we’re coming?" Magnum asked.
"Yeah." Raptor answered. "I’ve heard some bullshit about this place. Apparently somebody died trying to leave."
"That’s true." Maverick interjected. She faced Magnum, giving her a cold stare. "You.. won’t bring it up, right?"
"I won’t." Magnum said. "I know a death like that would affect things. I’ll.. try not to remind them of that."
The front gates were completely blocked off. Two agents walked around with their guns in their hands, guarding it from intruders. One of them was messing with his gun as he walked around. His face was filled with frustration as he tried to repair his weapon. The other agent was pacing back and forth as normal. He looked like he was sweating. The agent uniforms had long sleeves and pants. It was almost summer, which made it worse for them.
The other agent looked in the distance and saw some people going towards them. Raptor suddenly ran ahead at full speed and kicked him in the stomach.
"Hey!" He barked as he fought back. He looked at the other agent. "David! You got your gun fixed? Shoot this bastard!"
David looked up from his gun and stared at the other agent.
"Do something, man!" The other agent yelled.
Before David could react, Steve shot him with her revolver. He fell to the ground as she shot him over and over again. The other agent saw that he was unconscious.
"Shit happens to him.. again..“ The other agent groaned out. "Ugh.. son of a bitch."
Meanwhile, Kee stood alone. Her hands shook violently as she held her scepter. Millie was trying to get her to attack, but no matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not that anyone wanted her to attack right now anyway.
Raptor kicked the other agent until his face was completely bruised. She looked at Kee, reassuring her. "It’s okay,” She threw the agent’s body into the grass. "You don’t gotta attack anymore. Steve and I knocked ‘em out."
Kee felt relieved that she didn’t have to do that. "T-thank you.."
Raptor held onto Kee’s hand again as they led the way into the Project.
There was a small issue when the girls entered Project bounds. Nobody was around to greet them. To Raptor, that was surprising. She’d expect someone from here to meet them at the entrance or something. The question was undeniable. Where did everybody go?
The noise of a quiet laugh was heard in the distance. In less than a second, a whirlwind of smoke appeared in front of the girls and a figure appeared. He looked.. like a bluish-purple color? That was weird. He was still in one of the average test subject uniforms - a white t-shirt with black pants. He began to introduce himself.
"Hello, darlings!" He said, taking a bow. "Wait. I don’t think you’re supposed to be here.."
Raptor stepped forwards towards him. "Yeah. We.. well.. I sent a message telling one of your little friends that we’re coming. So here we are. You got questions?"
He realized what Raptor was talking about. "Oh.. You’re all test subjects too! Did anybody die in your Project?"
Raptor crossed her arms. "..No.."
"Dang it.." He looked sad for a moment before acting like his usual self. "Anyways, My name is Banshee! And you are.."
Raptor made the others go away before turning back to Banshee and answering. "Raptor. Also, aren’t you supposed to be a girl?"
"Why yes, I am. But.. the agents prefer to say I’m a boy. It’s all private stuff. " He quickly changed the subject, clearly not ready to talk about his gender. "Anyways, do you guys have a Project leader? Who is it?"
"See that blue-haired girl?" Raptor gestured towards Kee. "That’s my best friend, Kee. She’s the Project leader. I.. I know she gets really scared when meeting new people. Be as nice as you can to her."
"I most definitely will. I would like to show you two around the Project! What do you say, new friend of mine?"
New friend? That was odd. Raptor just met him and he’s already saying that the two of them are friends. She didn’t mind it, though. She looked at Kee, who already knew what was going on and left the others to join her and the new person.
It was painfully obvious that this Project was in existence for quite a while. Maybe it existed longer than Project Sandusky? No.. that couldn’t be, right? The Government formed only three weeks ago. All of the Projects could have started at the exact same time..
Anyways, Banshee continued his tour around the Project with Kee and Raptor following him. They saw many interesting things that didn’t exist in Project Sandusky. Almost everything was blocked off with yellow caution tape. For every entrance to something, an agent would be guarding it. It was a miracle that the Project Sandusky girls weren’t kicked out already.
Eventually, they made it towards the back of the Project. Banshee was clearly excited to talk about this part.
"So," He began "The normal humans used to call this 'Area 72'. I don’t understand why. This is where our Project leader usually stays at. But don’t fear! He socializes! Sometimes.."
A little kid popped out from a place he wasn’t supposed to be. He jumped over the caution tape blocking the entrance to what used to be Flight of Fear. He put his hands on his hips, pretending to be someone brave. He was also dressed in the test subject uniform. This must be Flight of Fear himself.
Banshee went to the kid in a cheerful mood. "Oh, Fear! Hello there, little one!"
"Who are they?" Fear asked.
Banshee was caught off guard for a moment as he looked at the other two for a second, then looked back at Fear. He looked eager to introduce them. "Ah, yes. Those are my new friends! Raptor is that one," He pointed at Raptor. "and Kee is the one next to her!"
Fear waved at them before Banshee led him aside to ask a personal question. He crouched down to get at the kid’s level.
"So.. we came over here because we’re looking for someone." Banshee explained. "Do you know where Orion is?"
Fear thought about it, trying to remember. "When I saw him.. he was.. uhm." He paused to think about it some more. Suddenly, something came to him. "Now I get it! He’s talking to Dia! He told me he would.."
He drifted off as a certain someone came by. "Oreo!"
Oh.. so this was the person that hated everyone outside of the Project. Fear looked happy to see him.
Raptor put herself in front of Kee to protect her from getting attacked. "Piece of shit.."
"I.. I d-don’t think y-you.. you should.. provoke h-him.." Kee warned.
"Don’t worry. I’m not trying to."
Orion stood completely still where he was. He gave Raptor a harsh stare as she protected Kee. It was obvious that he wanted them to leave. Banshee tried to talk him into trusting them, but only because Kee was a "highly respectable person". Despite the effort, he didn’t believe that at all.
To contest, Raptor stared right back at him. For some reason, he reminded her of Millie. Maybe those two should meet up.. No. That’s dumb..
"Hey," Raptor turned towards Kee, still blocking her. "We should go talk Millie into meeting that guy."
Kee wasn’t so confident in that decision. "A-Are you.. sure..?"
"Yeah. Come on."
After that, Kee and Raptor ran off together. Hopefully the plan they made up would work..
END OF CHAPTER ONE