#not recent stuff

The girl didn’t even bother to look back; she bolted across the eerily quiet street and dove through the yawning entrance as the five figures ran after her.

The girl scrambled through what looked like a lobby and under a door that was leaning off its hinges before running down the darkened hallway behind it.

If those freaks catch me, I’m going to end up in the Trials and I’m going to be dead meat. Gotta keep the fear down, Myra – they can probably smell it.

The girl – Myra – took in a deep breath and slowed to a halt in the darkened hallway, now more than far enough from the door that she was completely encased in blackness. Faintly, she could hear what sounded like people talking on the other side of the door in monotone.

Myra backed up a few more steps, looking at the light leaking in through the off-kilter door. Easy, easy; they’ll probably go away and not look behind the door—

The light disappeared abruptly.

Myra blanched before she turned and bolted down the dark hallway again. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as best they could, and she caught sight of a faint light hiding off to her right up ahead, and she scrambled around an almost-unseen corner, one hand on the cool, metal wall in order to keep her feet from running into it.

Around the corner, Myra came across a door with two lone lamps (that flickered like fire -- how long had they been on?) on either side of it. The metal -- might have once been iron -- that made up the area looked so rusted that it seemed as though someone had decided to paint the entire area bright orange and left the paint to flake off and take the iron with it.

Not really caring for the strange pattern that had been carved into the door, Myra began to push up against it, hoping to find a place to hide just beyond it.

At first, the door refused to budge -- the rusted hinges refused to move after remaining in their position for who knew how long. However, Myra continued to push, her cause to move far greater than the door's need to stay put.

The door’s hinges let out a shriek as the metal door was pushed back a short distance. Myra, seeing her chance, slipped through the opening before putting her back to the door and pushing it shut behind her.

Ka-chunk.

The sound of something falling to place echoed through the lightless area that Myra suddenly found herself in. She stood with her back to the door, trying to catch her breath.

Something rammed into the door from the other side, causing Myra to scramble away and turn around sharply as the door rattled and shook; rust fell off the door in dark orange snowflakes, which Myra was only able to see when they fell by the crack at the bottom of the door.

The door rattled three times, but held firm.

Myra stood, nervously staring at the door, then relaxed when the door didn’t fall over. “That’ll hold them back for a little bit. I’d better find another way out of here before they get through….”

She started to feel along the walls on either side of the door for some sort of light switch, surprised to find that the walls here were smooth and cool, almost as though they had been carved from rock, rather than the more common, chilled metal that made up the buildings in the area. It wasn't long before Myra came across a rather ancient, sticky light switch, which she promptly pushed on. However, the lights weren't so quick to come on -- they came on two at a time instead, leading down a corridor made of white stone.

Myra watched the lights cautiously, wondering what lay beyond the corridor, and whether or not it would be safe to go down it, considering what she had just run from. After glancing again at the door, which seemed to stiffen up in her eyes at the thought of being pushed again, Myra decided to risk it and continue on, wary of anything that might come out of the shadows behind the strange, rusted machinery and attack her.

The eerie quiet told her otherwise, however.

“Considering how rusted that door was, I’m…I’m probably okay,” Myra murmured to herself.

She looked over the machines again as she passed by them. None of them were recognizable, but that could have been because of the rust that was eating away at them – a good sign; if there was oxygen in the area, then there had to be a way out beyond the door that she had just come through. The machines weren’t just covered in orange dust, though – some of them looked like they had been…melted, before they had been discarded here.

“What is this place?” Myra’s gaze moved away from the machines and towards the other end of the corridor, which seemed to open up into a chamber of some kind.

She passed by a plain, metal door that was just as rusted as the first one she had come across, and stepped into a small chamber with flickering lights and sparking wires hanging from the ceiling. Along one wall was what looked like a large computer console that was covered in dust, and in the center of the room was what looked like some kind of glowing ice pillar with the form of someone trapped inside.

There was also a bunch of computer towers that had collapsed on one end of the room. It looked like there had been more to the area, but it was almost completely blocked off.

“Dead end,” Myra groaned. She slammed down on a computer console that was near her, hitting a few buttons. “Well, isn’t that just—“

The computer let out a loud whining noise, causing Myra to jump back in surprise as the noise quickly turned into something that sounded like a revving engine.

One computer screen began to glow blue, drawing Myra towards it, curious and cautious. As she approached, white words began to appear on the screen, constantly scrolling down as more materialized.

"This is the last log entry concerning Project: Reclaim.

"Subject has been resistant to any attempts at surrendering her mind to our master's control, even with our advancements in technology. Subject has refused to reveal how she has managed to avoid the commands and find ways to short-circuit the devices -- even when submerged under water, where her powers are unable to activate. Until further advancements have been made, Subject is to be placed in a cryogenic chamber, so that she will still be available at the time we have need of her. In the meantime, the others will be used to subjugate the populace, in order that no possible opposition will appear in the future."

A set of glyphs was flashing at the bottom of the screen, but Myra couldn’t read them.

Myra frowned at these words, feeling slightly confused. “Reclaim? Short-circuit the—“ She cut herself off as her eyes widened and something settled in the pit of her stomach uneasily. “Are they talking about…MindTech?”

She tried to hit a few more buttons on the computer console, but she wasn’t able to get anything other than the blue screen with its white text.

“Why isn’t there a map or anything down here? I need another way—“

BAM!

Myra’s head whirled back to the corridor she had just come down, and she sucked in a breath when she saw the rusty door she had just come through had come off its hinges and was now lying dented on the floor. She caught sight of a flash of a circular object in the doorway, and she sucked in a breath sharply.

“A Gladiator.” Myra swallowed. “I’m dead.”

She stumbled back and away from the door, bumping against the icy cylinder that was in the center of the room. Her fingers twitched; she wanted to fight, or find something to hide behind, but the room was small and lined with the same white stone that was in the corridor she had come through. There weren’t any weapons nearby.

Her chest felt like it was going to explode. “I’m going to the Trials…I’m going to die…”

The pressure in her chest started to work its way up into her throat as her eyes started to water. In order to keep her hands away from her face, she pressed her hands against the cold glass her back was already against. Her hands quickly became slick with water as the Gladiator with the circular shield stepped into the entrance between the corridor and the chamber that Myra was now trapped in.

Myra felt something move under the glass, scrape against it from the inside. The Gladiator – now with his red, white, and blue costume visible – paused as Myra stiffened in response to the movement.

Then the glass started to heat up.

“Wa!” Myra pulled back in surprise, moving towards the toppled computer towers instead of towards the Gladiator, who didn’t move after her.

Cracks started to spread across the cylinder as a dark orange glow came from within it, surrounding the figure that was encased within. The glow quickly moved and filled the entire cylinder as water started to leak out of it in squeaks of steam.

“Get back!”

Myra jumped at the young woman’s voice and quickly looked around. “Where did that—“

The cylinder exploded.

Ice and steam and glass flew out in all directions, causing Myra to drop to the floor and cover her head in order to avoid the blast. A wave of fire followed afterwards, then reversed direction and condensed into an egg-like shape before the fire disappeared abruptly, revealing a teenage girl with brown hair and red, orange, and gray armor that covered her form from the neck down.

Two white gloves went up, flashing golden bands on the wrists, and five tendrils of white fire lashed out at the Gladiator. The shield went up, but that didn't stop the flames. Instead, they went around the shield and the Gladiator on either side, formed one spear of fire behind him, and slammed forward into the back of the Gladiator’s neck.

The red, white, and blue-costumed Gladiator bent back and let out a yell of pain as the fire seared into the back of his neck. When the flames pulled back a second later, the man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed to the floor without a sound.

The armored figure's arms collapsed to her sides. She stood for only a moment, then collapsed down onto her knees, head dropping to her chest limply.

Myra blinked in confusion, jaw hanging open a little. What had just happened?

Something sparked near where the Gladiator had collapsed, causing Myra’s eyes to move in order to get a better look at what was getting her attention.

Lying near the Gladiator was a smoking black square of metal with broken electrical wires protruding from it. They sparked for a few more seconds before they died rather abruptly.

Myra blinked at the sight, then bit her lower lip and looked over at the two seemingly-unconscious figures that were lying between her and the open door. There could be more Gladiators out there waiting for her, but…if there was a chance….

She started towards the open door, moving quickly on her toes.

She hadn’t taken two steps before the man groaned and started to move. “Ugh….”

Myra froze, her eyes widening at the sound as the Gladiator started to push himself up into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his head as his mouth twisted into a grimace.

“God, that hurts,” the man muttered. “Feels like Thor tried to hammer a spike through my head.” He reached over to his shield and grabbed the edge of it, pulling it closer. As he did, it moved in front of the armored girl who had exploded into flames a moment ago, causing him to pause.

Myra watched as he stared at the armored girl with wide eyes that didn’t look glazed over. His hand shot to the back of his head – no, the back of his neck – fingers searching for something. His eyes widened further a moment later.

“It worked?” he asked incredulously. He quickly hooked the shield onto his back and glanced around behind him. Upon catching sight of the remains of the black box, he picked it up and inspected it with a frown before crushing it in a tight fist.

“I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time.” A confident grin crossed his face, and he returned his attention to the armored girl. His brow furrowed under his costumed mask. “Knocked out…makes sense; no one’s been down here recently to give her an energy boost.” He pulled himself up into a crouch and grabbed the armored girl, lifting her up over one shoulder effortlessly. As he did, he turned and locked eyes with Myra, then paused.

Myra gulped. “U-uh…” Her gaze went to the remains of the black box, crushed and dropped to the floor, then back to the man with the armored girl over his shoulder. She swallowed again.

The man sighed and shook his head. “I’m not taking you in, but you’re going to have to come with me if you’re going to be able to get out of here.”

“Wh-wh-“

The man motioned for her to follow him as me moved towards the door. “Come on! We don’t have much time before the others come back!”

Myra hesitated, looking between the man and the door for a moment, then bolted out the open entrance and down the hall towards the abandoned lobby. She could hear his footfalls behind her, which only made her speed up.

The door at the end of the hallway only slowed her down for a moment, but it gave the man enough time to grab her foot and pull her back right before he put his shield between them and the door.

“Let me g—mmmf!”

“Shh.” The man held his other hand over Myra’s mouth. “I don’t know how you managed to survive so long, but bolting out into the open isn’t going to end well.”

Myra grabbed the man’s hand and tried to pull it off her face, but it didn’t budge.

“I’m trying to help!” the man hissed. “You woke her up – the least I can do is help you get out of here without attracting more attention!”

Myra paused at that, blinking a couple times before looking up at the man in confusion and fear. “Mm?”

The man looked at her for a moment, then pulled his hand back and adjusted the armored girl’s position on his shoulder. “Come on. We only have a slim window before they come and find us and bring us in, and I do not intend to go through that again.” He peered under the door as Myra scooted towards the wall and away from him, watching him warily.

“H-how do I know this isn’t a trick?” Myra looked between the girl, the man, and the open door. “Y-you could still be working for them!”

The man sighed and turned his head to look back at Myra. “I understand why you don’t trust me. But you are going to have to stick with me until we get out of here safely. Can you trust me for at least that long?”

Myra shrank back a little at the question as shouts started coming from outside. The shouts drew the man’s attention towards the door, and he rose up from the crouch that he had been in, one hand on the armored girl over his shoulder, the other in the straps on the back of the circular red, white, and blue shield.

Something crackled in the air; Myra’s nose twitched as she picked up the smell of ozone from outside, and suddenly the door in front of them was completely torn off its hinges and thrown somewhere else in the lobby. The echoing, metallic crash that resulted caused Myra to flinch back in alarm at the noise, but she didn’t retreat back – there was no place to go from there.

“Torunn, you used too much!” scolded a boy’s voice on the other side of the door.

Myra blinked in surprise as the man next to her stiffened, and she cautiously rose to her feet. Torunn?

"We wanted it out of the way, so I got it out of the way," replied a teenage girl's voice in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes, but they could have heard it!" spoke up a third voice -- another boy's.

"That doesn't matter right now," stated the first voice. "We saw him go down this way, so let’s go after—“

“James, what do you think you’re doing?”

Myra looked up in alarm as the man stepped out of the darkened hallway and into the open, lowering his shield. All movement in the lobby area stopped at the sound of his voice, and she peered out from the darkness in order to get a look at what was going on.

A group of four teenagers – well, three teenagers and a smaller boy – were standing out in the abandoned lobby. As soon as the man with the armored girl had stepped out into the open, all four of them had raised their fists – and sword, in the case of the only girl who was out there.

“Dad,” said the red-haired boy. “Put the shield down, and turn around so Torunn can blast the MindTech on the back of your neck.”

“Do you really think that saying that is going to work?” hissed a darker-skinned boy with light blue tattoos on his skin. “He’s going to take our heads off in a second!”

“You kids are being horribly reckless and you’re lucky that I haven’t,” the man said sternly. “You can look, Torunn, but I don’t think you’re going to find it there anymore.”

The boys exchanged looks in confusion at that as the only girl in their group moved closer to the man, with her sword still drawn and pointed at him. She stared at the armored girl for a moment before jumping up and hovering behind the man with the shield.

“He’s right! I see where it was, but it’s gone!” Torunn dropped to the ground, then looked between the man and the others.

“How?” the smallest of the four, wearing a yellow and black-striped costume, looked at his companions. “Do you think they made it so that MindTech is inside his neck now?”

“Their technology may be good, Pym, but it isn’t that good.”

The four kids turned as the man moved his gaze to the entrance of the building, where another figure was standing – a young man, wearing a black-and-cobalt costume that had the head of what looked like a wolf on the front of his costume.

The young man walked into the building. “I’ve heard that they’ve tried, but the signal back wasn’t—“ He stopped. “Cap, is that…?”

Cap – the man – adjusted his grip on the girl on his shoulder. He nodded. “She was sealed away in a lab back here, frozen solid. I think this girl accidentally started the defrosting process and she took care of the rest.” Cap motioned back to Myra, who backed up a little bit nervously.

Torunn looked over, then lowered her sword and reached into the hallway, grabbed Myra’s arm, then pulled the purple-eyed girl out into the open. “Thou dost not look like someone they would want.”

“Torunn, you’re doing it again,” James warned.

Torunn ducked her head a little at that.

The boy with the tattoos looked between Cap and the man who had just arrived. “Wait…do you mean…that’s…?”

“It is, Azari,” the man replied. He turned and started out of the building. “We don’t have much time. Come on.”

Cap followed after the man instantly, James and the others falling into step around him as Torunn dragged Myra after them.

“H-hey!” Myra tried to pull her arm out of Torunn’s grip, but the other girl had a tight grip on her wrist. “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe!” Torunn looked back and grinned at Myra. “It’ll be a lot better than any sort of hiding hole that you could find for even a few hours.”

“Wh-what?” Myra’s brow furrowed as she stopped pulling. “Someplace safe?”

“Yup! A place those dark beasties don’t know about yet.”

The man Cap and the others were following led them around to another alley. Hovering a little of the ground was what looked like a truck frame without the tires.

“I’m glad you remembered the E-Brake this time, Azari,” the man said, looking back at the boy.

Myra blinked in confusion.

Azari crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "I was still learning about the Zoomer technology last time."

“Seeker, how much trouble are we in?” James asked.

“Plenty,” the man – Seeker – replied. He looked over at Cap. “Captain, you do realize that you’re going to be detained for a short time when you come back.”

Cap nodded. “At this point, I’m relieved that my thoughts are my own again.”

Seeker eyed him for a moment before nodding again. Then he went over to the truck cab and jumped into the driver’s seat. “James, you take shotgun. Everyone else in the back.”

James nodded, then moved around to the other side of the cab as the others started to climb into the truck bed of the vehicle. Myra was dragged on with Torunn and ended up sitting next to her as Cap sat on the other side of the bed.

As the man pulled the armored girl off his shoulder and lay her down in the center of the truckbed, Myra leaned forward a little in order to get a better look at her.

The red, gray, and orange color scheme was separated into different areas of the girl’s armor: red boots, red on the abdomen, red on the upper half of her chest, on the square-shaped shoulder pads, and on her arms from her elbows to her wrists. The only part that was orange was on the lower half of her chest, and the rest – minus the white gloves and the gold bracelets that were on the girl’s elbows and wrists – were gray.

Myra looked up at the man on the other side of the truck bed as Azari settled next to him and Pym sat on her other side. “Who were you?”

Cap looked up at the question. His blue eyes were dull as he frowned slightly. “Steve Rogers. Captain America.”

The truck started up with a low purring hum and started to move as Myra sat back against the side of the truck bed, eyes slowly widening. “And…and her?” She pointed down at the armored girl lying on the bottom of the truck bed.

Captain America’s mouth quirked up a little, and his eyes lost some of their dullness. “The World Jumper.”

Myra’s eyes widened even further, and she looked quickly between the girl lying on the floor of the truck and back at the man she had been running from not but a few minutes ago. “World Jumper? But – but those people are myths! They can’t be real!”

“She is one,” Captain America insisted. “I met her before.”

“You can ask more questions when we get to where we’re going.” Pym pulled out a folded swath of fabric that was under him. “We need to cover up. Stay quiet until Seeker gives us the all clear, got it?”

Myra swallowed and nodded nervously as Pym and Azari unfolded the fabric and threw two corners over to Torunn and Captain America and over Myra’s head, pulling her a little away from the side of the truck bed as everyone else with her joined under the cover of the heavy fabric.

Myra bit her lower lip. She hoped that she wasn’t going to end up falling into a trap with these people. And yet…

Her eyes moved to the World Jumper’s form in front of her, remembering that fire storm that had filled the room before Captain America’s MindTech had been blasted off the back of his neck.

Maybe…the World Jumper is unconscious because she knows she’s safe?

Myra crossed her fingers as the hovering truck started moving, slowly at first, then quickly started to pick up speed.