Long chapter that had to be broken into three threads. This is the first. The room chosen for the pair of heroes was incredibly cramped. Its thick steel walls covered in a cheaper sheet rock could hold in almost anything. A heavy music-woven door was easily one of the most unbreakable things panzie had ever encountered. Rogue pulled her fist from the crumbling mortar in the wall Fine grey dust covered a steel plate behind the sheet rock. Rogue's white and light grey fist en-clothed itself in patches of blue bruises and red sores from repeatedly punching the solid walls of the dungeon in a fruitless attempt to quell her anger. She rubbed it and paced back and forth. Panzie knew that the easiest thing for both of them was to let her vent. He chuckled a bit. Most of it was funny to listen to anyway. "stupid -blam!-s and their goddamn bigotry, I should leave right now and personally kick each and every one of their collective asses until they crap crimson for the rest of their lives. That stupid ugly -blam!- has the GALL to say she's better than me? I'll show her when I ..." In the hours it took for Rogue to calm down, panzie had been thinking about their situation. Upstairs, somewhere in the large, illustrious halls of the castle, Harlow sat. Panzie wondered what the man had in store for the pair. Hopefully, he could convince harlow to allow them to assist in the investigation of "over 9". Something in him cast doubt on it. Across the hall, in a less resilient cell, Joker snoozed in his interrogation chair. Panzie heard his snoring, and slowly fell asleep on the dirty cot in the cell. HArlow Stripped the covers from his body and pulled on a pair of royal boxers, he was careful not to awaken Jay, his queen and true love. As he clasped on his royal cape, something was off. deep inside him, a feeling held precedent. An obscure, far off burning that seemed to grow slowly. A fire in the distance. He dismissed it and prepared to the day's problems. First, he would need to deal with the situation involving the "over 9" facility. The data in Seneka's datapad pointed to its location, defenses, and even the occupants favorite additions for goulash. Harlow's face hardened. The pair of low-life terrorists in the dungeon also served as a stipulation. It was obvious they couldn't be trusted, but he hated looking a gift horse in the mouth. Still, he decided it would be best to execute both of them in broad daylight. It would help his flood approval ratings as well. Harlow suddenly realized he was in the war room, with the datapad in hand. His faithful royal guard stood firmly by the door, prepared to fight their way through hell, and win, in order to defend their king. He smiled. having men like that made his heart rise. "Captain, summon gamerz and escort mr.Joker to my war room." he said, gripping his hands behind his back. Before him, the hibernating display shone the last image he had been viewing. Large vats filled with spongy shapes gave a greenish light to a room, Terminals and various pieces of equipment Harlow had no knowledge of littered the room, so he assumed it was a medical facility of some kind. It sounded like a great mission for his recon team.f Panzie sat in his cell, trying desperately to keep Rogue from going berserk again. The pair sat across from each other playing a game of go-fish. "Got any twos?" Rogue said, looking at her cards in concentration. "Go fish." panzie replied. "how bout we play strip poker?" he said, cracking a wide grin under his helmet. Rogue simply looked at him like he was stupid, Panzie could swear she could see through his helmet. Suddenly, the loud fumbling of locks being undone broke the short back and forth. Entering the hall full of cells, A royal guardsman held a ring of shiny, golden keys. panzie looked in interest while he unlocked joker. "Time off for good behavior?" Panzie quipped. "We have a need of him" The guard said then put a Thick, metal collar around Joker's neck. It made a slight buzzing, then quieted. The guard looked at rogue. "Your turn jaws." He said, chuckling at his own little joke. "What do you mean?" She said, puzzled as to why she would be let go. "And what is that collar?." The Guard looked at the collar and explained that its purpose was to kill whomever wore it if the holder of its remote chose to kill them. If the user stuggled, tried to remove the collar, or the owner wanted, the collar would electrocute whomever it covered. Rogue gulped, as the guard pulled out a second. "And you get one too!" he said happily "-blam!- you!" rogue said, standing up. The guard laughed in mirth, then pushed a button small silver button on the wall. Immediately, the room began to hum, then turn blue. Suddenly, panzie could hardly move. He stretched his hand out in a movement that would have taken fractions of a second, but it took nearly 7 seconds. he turned to see the guard pulling rogue out while she tried to struggle, but was just too slow. Panzie tried to run and help her, but she was already out of the room when he closed the door and turned the slowing mechanism off. Rogue tried to struggle in her newly increased speed, but she was immediately hit with a tazer-like device that stunned her and dropped her on her knees. Shame overwhelmed her as she touched the stark tile floor. The thick collar clamped around her neck ominously. With a kick, the guard yelled for her to stand in the harshest way possible. Rogue raised a fist to punch the man in the face, but he smiled and held up a small device, then shook it in Rogue's face carelessly. She turned away, knowing she was caught. Panzie had seen many things, but slavery was one he would not stand. "You'll take that off now, If you know whats good for you." He said angrily. Panzie walked to the strangely unbreakable bars and stared at the man through his visor. "Or what?" the man asked, he was mocking panzie. "Or I will unlock everyone with one of those on, then let THEM decide what should be done." The man looked confident at first, but he seemed to know something he didn't like. "Uh...uh..I'm sorry, but i can't take them off." He turned to the door and yelled for both rogue and Joker to follow. Joker shook his head and followed. Rogue slowly started to follow the guard, but panzie spoke up. "rogue, come here." He said. She complied, putting her head against the bars to panzie's "cage". He could see the anger inside her growing, but a bit of fear was apparent in her predatory brown eyes. "I'll come for you." Panzie said before the guard yelled for her to follow. She narrowed her eyes, gave him a nod, then turned to follow the guard through the cold, winding halls. The trip to the war room was short, but it gave rogue time to think. She liked panzie, but he was responsible for everything that had happened to her, which she hated him for. On the other hand, he was the only one who still knew her for more than the monster she had become. She was now faced with the decision of helping him, or leaving him to rot. Ahead, a thick door was secured with many hinges and locks, Rogue assumed it was the "war room". She banished thoughts of panzie from her head, and steeled herself for what lay ahead. The guard looked back at his unwilling associates, then used a large, golden key to open the locked door. Inside, the room was dark and musty, but a blue table in the center of the room streamed with data on a large hologram above it. King harlow and several of his commandos stood behind it discussing something of importance. Harlow jerked his eyes up to see the trio enter the room, then waved the guard off. Blue light from the hologram echoed coldly across his features, giving his crown an unearthly glow. "Welcome my guests," he said. "I have decided to give both of you a pardon, You have not been proven guilty." "So you're going to let us go." Joker said, speaking for the first time since entering the palace. "Now I didn't say that." harlow said "You see, you'll have to earn your freedom." "That's bull-blam!-." Rogue forced through her mouth, which was clamped in anger. "I wasn't aware you were allowed an opinion furry." Harlow mocked. "Due to your military experience, we feel it would be a waste to kill you like we are for your friend Panzie." Rogue winced "You're going to be under the command of Grand spec ops Gamerz. If she dies, or you mistep, so many volts will be sent through your body that you could power the flood for year." he continued. "And if we refuse?" Joker asked. harlow laughed a bit, then pushed a small button on the remote for both collars. An incredibly painful jolt sent both of them to their knees. A few tears fell from Rogue's eyes, Hot tears of anger and humiliation. "I think you get the message." He said, then threw the remote to Gamerz. She smiled and shocked rogue again. harlow chuckled slightly. "Gamerz, it seems bungie is up to something odd. I need you to take your team and investigate this little occurrence." he said, "Relevant information has been sent to your datapad." Finishing, he flashed a thick bracelet of gold and technology. He pushed a button on it, and a small vortex opened. "Drop point is exactly 1/2 northwest of the facility. Make me proud." Gamerz nodded, then pushed Rogue and joker through the portal, then entered it, followed by her team of well equipped commandos.