Split Second Sprint

"That's just wrong," San said, glancing over at where Aarti and Lucy were diligently working. He gently set the giant screen he'd appropriated on its stand.

"Shh, you want to be a guinea pig?" Court muttered, plugging in the giant screen.

He took a step back, frowning. Then he picked up his laptop. With a hum, the screen lit up with various scenes of the fight going on half a building away. Dawnie stifled a yawn as she sleepily watched the ongoing fight. Beside her, Don had already succumbed to sleep, head leaning against her shoulder.

They'd all been surprised to find that the kitchen area was still working. It even had a fully functional stove and refrigerator. That had sparked speculation that perhaps someone else was using it as a hideout as well as the Abominators in the hidden labs below. Even when Arkham had been running, few people had known of the labs so it had been a feasible thought.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Aarti asked as she pounded candy into dust. She paused every so often to sweep the crushed remains into a bowl.

"I don't know but do you have a better idea?" Lucy replied as she checked the flame under a huge pot. In it, energy drinks were slowly coming to a boil. "This stuff is supposed to have about 400 calories per little bottle. We put in about a hundred."

"And people think I'm a mad scientist," Court grumbled, watching the whole thing with disbelief.

"No, we all know you're a mad scientist, Court," San comforted. He patted Court's shoulder gingerly. He was still having difficulties controlling his strength.

"Well, whatever works. I think the whole battle is starting to wind down." Aarti said as she looked up at the screen.

Indeed, the battle did seem to be reaching a climax. None of them had thought that it would go on for so long, but it had. What was a battle royale had then turned into some weird version of stratego. It was a bloody one, true but it reminded her of nothing more than that game.

"Give me the powder," Lucy said, holding out her hand.

With a grateful nod, Aarti put the bowl of powdered candy into her hand. It had taken far more effort than she wanted to admit. The children here must have teeth of steel.

Lucy dumped the powder into her mixture along with the muscle powder. They all took a step back at the weird smell. Lucy gave it a few more stirs before turning to Court. He filled up two large cups with ice. With a grimace, Lucy ladled her concoction into the cups.

"Now, let us hope this works." Lucy grimaced as she examined the results.

*****

The corridor was finally clear. Maisie couldn't figure out why there were humans patrolling while Ella seemed unfazed by everything that happened. The guards weren't that vigilant, despite carrying rifles and sporting riot gear. Maisie knew about both from the news. The fact that her captors had it and stupid people to wear it was what was worrying her.

"I think the exit is that way," Ella prompted as Maisie wavered. Maisie shot her a suspicious glance that had her rolling her eyes. "All the bases are built the same way. Just little changes," Ella assured her with an airy wave. She smiled. "That's pretty much the only good thing about here."

Maisie followed Ella's directions, pausing to avoid the lackadaisical guards. She still couldn't figure out just how they thought they were guarding anything. Ella seemed more wary of them than her captors.

"Some of them are in it for the containers," was all the girl would tell Maisie.

Which confused Maisie even more because she couldn't figure out why anyone would want shipping containers or even how they would move them. Ella had simply shrugged. Still, there were plenty of shipping containers down here which baffled her even more. How on earth did they even move them in without attracting any attention?

What neither of them expected once they managed to hijack an elevator to a higher floor was the massive fight.

*****

"Did it work?" Lucy asked Dawnie, wincing as her friend downed another glass of Lucy's weird concoction.

"It's passable. I don't feel so hungry anymore," Dawnie said. She thunked the glass down. "What's the plan again?" She nudged her brother awake and handed him his glass. "Just drink it," she urged as he blankly stared at it.

"Zip in, grab the girls, zip out," Court said. "Crap! And do it fast because they just stumbled into the fight."

"What?" Aarti and Lucy said in stereo.

They turned towards the giant screen. In the high corner, unnoticed yet by the fight's participants, two girls stood, watching everything with wide eyes.

"Hurry," Lucy breathed as she watched the elevator behind them slowly close and descend.

"Those things are old, right?" Aarti said.

"Yep," Court agreed, his fingers flying over his keyboard.

"And they wouldn't move—"

"—Unless someone summons them," Court finished. "We're running on borrowed time, people!"

"Don, you ready?" Lucy turned towards Don who was slowly standing. He was downing the last of the concoction followed by a handful of uncrushed hard candy.

"On it," he mumbled as he and his sister dashed out of the kitchen.

"If this wasn't an insane asylum, it would make a really good hideout," San remarked, slowly standing. He was polishing off the last of the energy drinks.

"Forget it. It was demolished in the Battle of Gotham," Lucy said, grabbing Court and hauling him out of his chair.

"Battle of Gotham again?" San sighed. "Nothing good happened that day."

"Tell me about it." Lucy vanished out of the door after the twins.

Aarti rolled her eyes at her friend's laconic words. Then she and San followed after Lucy and Court, absentmindedly snagging Court's laptop bag. It held the last of the one-ways they needed to go home.