Mental Case - A Zodiac Story

A Battle of Fire

Orion

Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. The three patients Orion worried about the most. He watched his computer screen closely as they stood in the experimentation hall in a trance. He drummed his fingers on his knee with impatience. After such a successful first round, the abyss of his genius was finally becoming a reality.  

Aries

Aries blinked and glanced around the large white room. Her eyes stung due to the bright light being emitted by the walls. Next to her were two familiar faces: her friends Leo and Sagittarius. They stood as still as statues, their eyes wide open and unblinking. Slightly creeped out, she waved her hand in front of Leo's face. His blue eyes were unreactive. She tried the same with Sagittarius, same result.

She decided to take a different approach. "WAAA!" She shouted in Sagittarius' ear loudly. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well and he reflexively punches her square in the jaw. She stumbled back in pain, cursing.

"I...um...sorry, Aries." Sagittarius said sheepishly once he realised what he had done.

Aries rubbed her throbbing jaw. "Doesn't matter." She muttered. "Wake Leo up, we need to figure out why we're in here."

Sagittarius nodded, his cheeks bright red from embarrassment. Leo didn't wake up as dramatically as Sagittarius had, much to Aries' disappointment. "Where...are we?" Leo murmured, rubbing his eyes.

"No idea." Aries replied, placing her hands on her hips. She scanned the room again, but nothing stuck out.

The air suddenly turned heavier, as if the oxygen molecules had been replaced by lead ones. Aries' legs threatened to give in and she shook with the effort to stay upright. The air above them crackled.

"What is that?!" Aries heard Sagittarius shout. Sound was somehow being distorted too, so communication was going to be hard.

A buzz scraped past her ear, and the ground on her right exploded. Aries leapt out of the way before being hit by falling debris. Sweat trickled down her back as she took a shuddering breath. "They're showering us with lightning!" She yelled. Sagittarius and Leo nodded, both looking alarmed.

As if on cue, the air sizzled again with ozone, and another bolt was directed towards her. She dodged quickly, leaping back further away from her comrades. From what she could tell, they were currently only targeting her. Just her luck, she thought angrily. She clenched her fists and glared at the ceiling, waiting for the next blast. It came just as quickly as the previous ones. Narrowing her eyes, she prepared to jump, but just as it was about to hit her, it changed direction.

Aries blinked, thinking it had just missed, but following it's direction, it was heading directly towards Leo, who still looked slightly under the influence of the drugs. "Leo!" Aries screamed, but she was too far away for him to hear.

In an act of desperation, she thrust out her hand while sprinting towards her friend. Time seemed to slow down. Her burnt arms screamed in pain, but she ignored it. A bright light filled the area between herself and Leo. A wave of heat hit her face, and she reflexively closed her eyes and covered her face with her arm. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed a big scorch mark in the centre of the room. Leo was sprawled on the floor some way away, and Sagittarius looked both confused and terrified at the same time.

"What was that?" Sagittarius asked. Whatever was distorting noise to come through had broken in the blast.

Aries ignored him and rushed to Leo's side. She hoped the lightning hadn't killed him. She let out a sigh of relief when his eyes fluttered open. However, when she put a hand to his skin, he felt feverous and boiling.