[Jaykobell]

Getting to and into the sewers hadn't been the worst part of the job.

This was.

The whole thing had barely begun that he was already in trouble. Claws scrapped the dirty cobblestone floor as the Hydrolisks chased him, his footsteps hammering away against the stone as well. Strange hissing sounds echoed behind him, along with the occasional aggravated snarl. Adding on to that was his own breathing, which was becoming labored as he ran in the darkness, the heavy, bad air making this escape difficult.

But he would be damned if he let those stupid things catch him. Not when he had gotten through worse.

He would just need to get creative.

[Jaykobell]

"Meat! Meat!" the cries screeched from behind him, and with his heart pounding in his ears, he couldn't tell if those blasted lizards were starting to catch up to him. "Fresh meat!"

He cursed the chasing Hydrolisks, the creatures barely visible in the darkness of the sewers. He was lucky that they were as threatening as they were stupid: no self-respecting predator would make this much noise while hunting. As long as they continued to speak and make noise, he would be able to locate them.

Next, he had to think of a way to either lose them, or get rid of them. There had to be something in here that could scare those things into leaving him alone...

[Jaykobell]

Unfortunately for him, his luck was what ran out first.

As he ran in the darkness, the soiled cobblestone worked against him. He preferred not to know what he'd managed to slip on — sludge, slime, crap, or otherwise — what mattered was that, the next thing he knew, he was falling forward. His arms flailed, his brain panicked; his body tried, pointlessly, to regain its balance. With a loud thud, he hit the cold, wet stone.

"Fresh meat!" the Hydrolisks immediately screeched upon hearing the commotion, and they cooed their strange sing-songy calls. By now, he knew that even the gentlest or sweetest sounds could prove to be horrifying.

[Jaykobell]

He did his best to scramble back up, to force his dizzy mind and body to sync up and get back to running. And he had almost made it, too, but just as he had barely gotten on his feet, he felt sharp claws digging into his skin.

He let out a scream that echoed through the damp sewer passages, interrupted only by another thud as he was brought back onto the ground.

The Hydrolisks got excited, the little group of three ready to shred him to pieces. They hissed with anticipation, their reptilian eyes taking in the sight of their prey.

But he would be damned if he didn't go down without a fight.

[Jaykobell]

He kicked and flailed. He felt claws gripping onto his flesh, slimy reptilian skin getting hit by one of his punches, loud pain-filled screeches as he kicked them in the stomach. But the more he struggled, the more aggressive the Hydrolisks became, clawing at him more and more, their hunger vocalized by screeches of aggravated rage at his flailing.

His heart pounded in his chest, in his ears. He couldn't die here. He was better than this.

His luck returned. Out of the darkness came a deafening noise, and a flash of light that lasted for a heartbeat. A hot and sticky liquid splattered onto him, and the Hydrolisk that had been pinning him down screeched a blood-curdling cry of agony. Another shot rang out; then another; and another. The Hydrolisks started to panic, even if the bullets missed them and instead ricocheted against the wet stone.

"Danger! Danger!" the leader cried and hissed. "Not ok eat! Go! Go!"

Injured and bloodied, the reptiles ran off, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

[Jaykobell]

[Prompt 2]

Those creepy Hydrolisks had done more damage then he could've expected. He didn't think he would get ambushed walking into those sewers so quickly, either. But fortunately, after a short chase, those Hydrolisks had been chased away, but not thanks to him... but even he didn't know who had shot those bullets to scare those lizards away.

"Fancy meeting you here, Blaine."

The voice echoed through the sewer right next to him, feminine, but strong. He knew exactly who it was, and normally, he wouldn't be ecstatic to meet her while on the job... but she had saved his skin, just now.

He slowly shuffled about, shifting positions so he could confirm his theory on the identity of his rescuer.

[Jaykobell]

She stood over him like a hawk stalking prey. Still, it was a look he was familiar with — perhaps too much so. "I could say the same thing, Sienna," he rasped, forcing himself to sit up. He moved his legs; the wounds stung, but at least nothing was broken, and nothing was horribly damaged so that he couldn't walk.

Sienna's eyes didn't look away from Blaine. "Here for that Nix character?"

He stopped what he was doing to look up at her. Normally, he would deny being a part of any shady dealings — as you would, when your sister was a cop — but she had saved his hide, so surely, there had to have been a reason. "You too?"

She narrowed her eyes but slightly, but still enough for Blaine to notice. "Not for the same reasons you are."

[Jaykobell]

Blaine shrugged nonchalantly. "Me who thought we could finally work together." That was a joke: they had never gotten along as young siblings, and they still didn't get along now. "You did save my ass just now."

In a rare display of affection, Sienna's eyes softened, and she gave it a bit of time before answering. "You're scum," she confirmed to Blaine, "but you're still my brother."

The words weighted heavy on the air, leaving Blaine silent.

But it didn't take long for Sienna to regret her words. She cleared her throat and crossed her arms, adopting a steadier position. "And, well," she said, "I could use your help."

Now, she was starting to speak his language. Those words, too, left Blaine rather surprised. He blinked slowly as his sister stared him down, expecting an answer. "Me?" he replied, pointing a finger at himself. "Really?"

Usually, his cocky attitude grated on her nerves fast. But this time, she seemed to be deadly serious. "Really."

[Jaykobell]

For the first time, the two siblings agreed they couldn't do this alone. Blaine was in it for the money: but he had no idea what was out there in the sewers. If those Hydrolisks had been but the beginning, he had to admit he might be in over his head.

Sienna, as for her, she preferred to ask Blaine for help than needlessly risking her own life foolishly running into these sewers.

And that was how these two extreme opposites had decided to call a truce in order to merge forces for this mission. They walked through the sewers, droplets hitting the stones and echoing through the walls. It was awkward at the beginning, but eventually, it felt like all that tension between them was slowly ebbing away.

[Jaykobell]

Eventually, they reached a tunnel that seemed... different. Neither could put their finger on it, but it felt like seeing a light at the end of a dark hallway. The air became soft and breathable, and it felt like they could finally relax. "There has to be something here," Sienna said quietly as they slowly walked through this new tunnel.

"Right," Blaine agreed, and for once, he didn't find Sienna's observation to be aggravating or pretentious. He, too, found this tunnel to be promising on their moving forward; unlike the rest of the place, this tunnel made him feel... good, comfortable, safe.

And yet, something in his gut bothered him. And it wasn't the wounds from those stupid lizards, either. It was something else: a bad feeling in his gut, one that told him to run. Run fast.

He stopped in his tracks, and he looked around. He couldn't understand why; nothing seemed wrong in this tunnel. They had come from a dark, damp sewer, and now they had turned into a safe tunnel, with air that was breathable, with absolutely no...

A weight dropped in his stomach.

[Jaykobell]

The walls had eyes. The floor had some sticky substance all across it. Something was chittering, making sounds almost similar to those nasty Hydrolisks.

He shook his head, his gut feeling now coming in full force, his fight or flight response flaring.

As he continued to look around, he spotted the source of it all: a massive creature, covered in eyes and standing on countless legs, stood in the tunnel. It had to be the threat, the thing that was making Blaine start to panic.

His heart hammered in his ears as he saw Sienna aiming straight for that monster's huge maw, still completely unaware of the creature luring her towards it. "Sienna!"

He ran. His brain couldn't understand why he would run towards the source of the danger, but if he didn't—

"What?" Sienna replied slowly, with not a care in the world.

[Jaykobell]

Blaine said nothing. He only grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop in her tracks, forcing her to just stop moving. And with his free hand, he threw something at the creature; a sort of small throwable blade, aiming for one of the many eyes.

In a heartbeat, the spell was broken. The creature flinched, the blade stabbing one of its many eyes, and it screeched a blood-curdling cry. The tunnel walls shook from the intensity of that cry, and the place no longer felt safe nor inviting: instead, it had become a tunnel that had brought them straight into hell.

Sienna was now out of it, too, staring at the monster with wide eyes. "Blaine?" she gasped, shocked, her brain still processing what had just happened. "What the fu—"

Blaine didn't wait for the monster to get a headstart. He pulled Sienna by the arm as he started running in the opposite direction. "Run!"

He didn't know if they could even outrun this thing — with how many legs it had, most likely not — but surely, together, they would find a way to outsmart it.

First, they had to run.

[Jaykobell]

[Prompt 3: Containment Breach]

Run!

The word echoed in both of their heads as they ran, as fast as they possibly could. Things like the filth of the sewers, the dripping droplets, the gurgling waters; they all mattered little now, things neither Blaine nor Sienna could afford to pay attention to. The only thing they could think about was to run, their hearts picking up the pace, their legs burning under the heart-pounding strain.

Neither could remember the last time they'd ran so fast, and with so much focus. Blaine, as a criminal, had seen many a perilous situation; and Sienna, as a police office, had seen much of the same.

A large, otherworldly demon creature, however, was arguably very much outside of their experience.

[Jaykobell]

Eventually, gradually, the chase stopped. The lizard, most likely having lost interest, retreated. For Blaine and Sienna, it had because of their determination and their refusal to stop running.

In reality, it had been because of their new destination. An eerie door, one that did not fit the place at all, and which most likely fit the end goal the both of them were after.

Reaching the door, the two siblings finally got to take a short break to breathe. They both stood, hunched over, prompted up on their knees, wheezing hard as their bodies recovered from the chase.

Meanwhile, the door loomed, a heavy silence suddenly present throughout the sewers.

[Jaykobell]

"For God's sake," Sienna breathed after a solid minute of heavy panting. "What the hell was that thing?"

Blaine was in no better shape, just recovering as well. "No clue," he wheezed, and he slowly straightened up. "And I don't wanna know." In fact, there something a lot more important now: what looked like their destination, and the entire reason why they had come into these sewers.

Sienna seemed to agree, especially once she had spotted the door. She, too, straightened up; and the two approached the door. They stared in silence, and then, Blaine pulled out a keycard. He was rather banged up, but the card was in good shape.

Slowly, he brought it to the door. A familiar electronic clicking sound snapped through the tunnel.