Stolen

With the blink of the eye I was standing next to Nightmare. We were in a big room that was dimly lit with a long hallway. As my eyes landed on the human sized test tubes I let out a small gasp, realizing the people who were in the tubes were us. Carefully looking at each of them I saw that they were all perfect replicas of us. Seeing only 13 I looked to Nightmare who was standing in front of someone that looked like my human self. Thinking angrily Oh That's it! Nightmare saw and felt my rage in waves he told me softly We need to tell the others.

Taking a moment to steady myself I replied Not before we find out what's going on. Moving into the darkest shadow of the room we held hands as our eyes closed seeing the whole building through the shadows. We are currently in the sub basement of what looks and sounds like a government building. Hearing someone say 'Dr. Spring' we honed in on their location. Feeling our bodies move with the shadows we found Spring and the person they were talking to with ease.

"How is the project going?", the one at the desk asked. Hearing Dr. Spring reply, "It's been going as well as possible. The clones have grown to the original's full size, are incredibly fast learners, all have been training their abilities while learning basic combat skills, the only downside is that none of them can last outside the tubes for more than a few hours, 5 at most. I suspect that if we used more of the alien substance then the clones would be the perfectly fine and no longer need the tubes anymore." Hearing the one at the desk counter, "As of right now you and your team will have to make due with the liquid you use to keep them alive in the tubes. Make some adjustments if you must, we need the clones to be resilient so we can attack those things on our island. The rest of the alien substance is needed as a fail safe. Speaking of which how is the other project going?"

Nightmare and I glanced at each other for just a brief moment when we heard that. Dr. Spring replied, "Project Hybrid is going as well as Replacement although a lot slower due to it being a more organic birth." Before I could make a sound or move Nightmare took hold of me while covering my mouth. All I could think was I'm burning this goddamn place to the ground with all of these fucks in it. Nightmare tightened his hold while saying I know, I feel the same way although now is not the time. Right now we need to listen and when the time comes we'll burn this place to the ground and hear these assholes scream. Taking a moment to relax he slowly let me go. I kept my hand over my mouth just to be safe.

Moving our attention back to the two women we heard the one at the desk say, "How strong are the clone's abilities?" Dr. Spring said, "The clones abilities while are different in use do still share one thing in common which is mainly using the shadows around them." Feeling my eyes widen I bit my lip to not make a sound. Nightmare took the chance to say Go tell the others what's happening I'll stay here. Taking a quick look into their eyes to say No matter what be careful. He gives my hand a quick squeeze for reassurance before I left them to go back to our body.

Inhaling deeply the first thing I see is the ocean. Having no idea how long I'd been in that state I shout with a new power from Daveed who can amplify any sound 10 to 100 fold if need be, "Everybody wake up!" Seeing Kevin and Ed wake up startled they got up quickly. Ed came to my side still in his tiger form to ask What's wrong? Staying on the sand I wrapped my arms around him to reply They're coming after us again. Hearing Eric tell us both Fuck! We can't ever catch a break. Feeling my eyes roll I reached out to grab Ed's clothes as I pet his head. Telling him aloud, "You should get dressed I'll make sure Kevin doesn't see anything." Ed playfully replied No peaking. Getting up with a smile I built a wall tall enough for him to be comfortable behind.

Kevin watching the whole thing from a few feet away asked, "You woke everyone up and just had a private conversation with your little boyfriend?" Tilting my head as I got up to look Kevin right in the eyes to say, "I woke everyone up due to an emergency. On the matter of Ed that's his and my business. Personally I could care less of what you think of us, although if you ever call him 'my little boyfriend' again you and I are going to fight."

Ed came to my side as everyone else comes out of the woods. They all had the same look of being tired and scared. While looking everyone in the eyes I felt Nightmare come back. Feeling my shoulders relax they said We should've burned that place to the ground. I reply snidely Told ya so. He said Z it's much worse than what you think. I'll tell everyone what's going on.

In a millisecond Nightmare took over our body to speak, "Everyone I'm sorry to have woken all of you up in a fright. Z and I found out some very disturbing news which is why we needed to tell all of you at once here and now." I astral projected to stand next to them, "We know where the mercenaries and scientists have been held at for the past year. The organization that was created to detain us before currently has all of them. They also have some of my original being there. With that the scientists have been running tests on what they call 'alien substance' all this time. 6 months ago Dr. Spring made some progress by using Z's DNA. With that they created 13 clones of a select few of us. Before that they created what they called 'hybrids' who are literally all of our children."

Everyone gasped all at once. Covering my lips with both of my hands I looked into Nightmare's eyes to see the truth first hand. Taking a moment I asked the question that was on everyone's mind, "How?" They replied, "When all of you were taken the S.I.N. organization (Symbiotic Intelligence Network) took the opportunity to steal some of your eggs and sperm. In total there are 28 kids in an area that's called 'orphanage' all of them are between the ages of 7 to 9 with one newborn." Nightmare looked right into my eyes while touching both of my upper arms as they said 'one newborn'. Feeling my heart drop to the floor I had to ask, "Night?" With a serious face he said softly, "It's yours' Z."

Those three words echoed in my mind for what felt like an eternity. Hearing Nightmare speak to me privately Z I'm going to need you to snap out of it, everyone needs us. It took all the will power in the world to push down that shock. Collecting myself I said aloud, "I'm good." Looking up at Nightmare I let my eyes follow to the others, the last person I look at is Ed. Reaching out I took his hand in my astral form. Even in this form I could still feel his warmth.

"What are we going to do?", Shelly stepped forward to ask while holding Eric's hand. Meeting his eyes then hers, I saw a soft glow in her. Having a sense of what state she may be in I amplified my hearing to listen inside her body. Hearing the sound of two fast tiny heartbeats filled my ears. Eric watched me the entire time and asked Is something wrong? Quickly replying Nothing, you and Shelly see me later. Eric nodded his head slightly.

Taking Nightmare's hand they continued, "As of right now we do have the upper hand. No one is expecting us to have this information. Now is the perfect time to attack. We will not ask any of you to fight with us. Those of you who do come may end up hurting or even kill some people. Take that thought into consideration before you make a decision. If none of you come that is also fine, Z and I can attack on our own against any reinforcements while the rest of you stay here to protect our home. There's no telling of how the clones will react to us, as a community we should still offer each of them a home here. As for the hybrids we will all come to a unanimous decision on what to do with them, for their safety."

Nightmare ran his thumb back and forth at the back of my hand for reassurance, that little action made my heart ache. Watching and hearing everyone in agreement the sun began to rise on us. Taking a look at the ocean everyone followed my gaze. Looking back to say, "With that being said, we should all get some breakfast. Those of you who want to come with Nightmare and I are welcomed to except for a select few including Eric, Shelly, Ashe, Leona, Mat, and Mark." Kevin took a step forward to ask, "Why just them?" Looking deeply into his eyes I said, "Whoever stays behind will protect our home and everyone here. It's best to take only a few to attack right now. All of you make your decision after the meal, we will meet back here for the people if there are any to come with us." Kevin just nodded in response.

Looking up at Nightmare then Ed we all walked ahead to lead everyone to the dinning room. Ed and the others sat down discussing their decision as Nightmare and I made breakfast. By the time we were done plates floated to everyone still talking at the table. Nightmare and I decided to merge and stay in my body for the time being.

When Nightmare and I were done eating the others still needed some time to think. Standing to leave the table only Ed followed us to the beach. "Why do you want to come with us?", we asked Ed. He got closer to say, "I was by your side when you set us all free, I want to be there when you help our kids have that same freedom." Seeing the conviction in his eyes I heard Nightmare chime in Couldn't ask for a better partner in crime. With a smirk on our lips I took the chance to give Ed a peck on the cheek. The sound of feet coming our way I said, "We've got company."

Seeing Martina, Nico, Anya, Dean, Edoardo, and Kevin come out of the tree line was a bit of a surprise. Asking the obvious question, "Are all of you sure about coming with us?" They all either nodded or said 'yes' in response. With a nod we used our shadows to create the layout of the whole building. Kevin asked, "What's the plan of action?"

"First things first Anya and us will figure out what time of day it is while taking a look at their surveillance and security. Anya we'll need you to get all the information from the smart computers before destroying all the data they have. Nightmare and I will be there the entire time in the shadows waiting to sound off an alarm that will get any civilian out. As that's happening we'll create a portal for the rest of you to come through. The goal is to bring the clones, hybrids, and the scientists who created them; that'll be Dr. Spring, Elliot, Smith, Irons, and Ripley. Dean and Edoardo I'll need you two to get the hybrids first, convince them that they'll be safer with us than staying there. Depending on if the clones are in the test tubes or not we'll need to either persuade them or knock them out if they attack. Nightmare and I will take care of the clones, they need a special liquid that we can transport to our lab safely. During that time Anya, Kevin, Martina, Nico, and Ed make sure no one gets in Dean, Edoardo, or our way. In the case of separation we'll use some code words: 'Island' to regroup and 'Red' if things go sideways. If by chance Nightmare or I say 'Red' everyone go back home, do not stay. The people who we excluded by name earlier will watch over the clones and hybrids. We will hold the scientists in a separate location to have them debrief us on everything that they've done since being employed by that company. When we're done with them we'll figure out our next move."

Taking a look around at everyone processing our plan we said, "We'll be on our way, if any of you have questions we'll answer them later." Walking away everyone stayed behind to talk about the plan. Using our shadows to feel where everyone is currently at, none of them left the table. Entering the room all eyes were on us as a heavy silence fell. Looking everyone in the eye we said, "We fully respect all of your decisions to stay. Although the people who were excluded by name are and will be needed to help." Watching Eric, Shelly, Mat, Leona, Ashe, Mark, Emilia, and Gabriel stand from their chairs we held the door open for them.

Leading them to the beach we said, "Emilia go to the lab and make sure the tubes will be ready for the clones. Stay there until you know for sure that they'll be safe." She said while walking away, "You got it Boss." Hearing a light chuckle from behind us Nightmare commented Looks like that's going to stick.

Eric privately asked When are we going to have that talk? Replying We'll tell you both when we all come back. Reaching the beach everyone looked ready to go. Anya asked, "Can you create some privacy for me?" Looking up at her we said while creating a circular wall for her to get undressed comfortably, "No problem." Watching her toss some clothes outside of the wall she gave a thumbs up. Taking a quick look to make sure everyone was ready to go we gave a nod sending each of them the same thought We really appreciate all of you for doing this. Phasing out of our own clothes we created a shadow portal in the server room.

Avoiding any cameras Anya went straight into a super computer while Nightmare and I checked the building. Seeing that the sun had already set explained while there were no civilians around. Noticing that all the guards on duty were heavily alarmed with both guns and knives, they seemed to be mercenaries. With that in mind I checked to make sure my favorite one is still here. Watching Edgar tossing and turning again brought the same wicked grin to my face.

Anya reached out to me Ready when you are. Nightmare came to my side to say All the scientists are here including Ripley, I also know where the hybrids and clones are at. Replying to Anya Give me a minute before short circuiting those serves. Once that's done please find the hybrids. Anya thought Copy that Boss. Taking both of Nightmare's hands I told him I'll bring the others here please find the clones. They gave my hands a quick squeeze before leaving. Beginning to open a portal big enough I reached out to Anya Light it up. Lifting my head out of the shadow portal I said aloud, "Now."

Martina, Nico, Ed, Dean, Edoardo, and Kevin all jumped into the room at once. Edgar's eyes opened widely in a fright as he couldn't move his body an inch. Seeing that Ed was back in his tiger form he roared at Edgar loudly. Watching him piss his pants was almost laughable. The sound of boots coming our way hurriedly brought the sense of danger to everyone's mind. Running into the hallway first I saw four guards with guns positioned to fire. Using Mat's voice I said, "All guard are dismissed, go home now." They didn't follow my command instead they began to shoot. Using shadows to create a barrier I yelled, "Anya be our guide." Feeling a hum of electricity around us she said, "You'll have to go through those guards or go through the wall."

Hearing Martina speak from behind as she cracked her knuckles, "We can take them, eh Nico." He replied with his notorious grunt 'Hmm'. Asking before taking a step forward, "Anyone here bullet proof?" Nico came to my side and said, "I am." With a nod I opened a hole big enough for him to go through, Martina followed behind his heels. Watching them fight together was incredible Nico took any bullet that came Martina's way. She took a knife out that I don't think any of us knew she had. In less that a minute all four guards hit the floor hard.

Looking up ahead we saw the lights brighten to lead the way. Dropping the wall all of us followed Anya down the hall. Ed stayed right next to me as we all followed behind Nico. After taking a few turns we dealt with any guards that came our way quickly. Finding the room where the sleeping clones were currently in the test tubes Nightmare walked out of the shadows into the room. "Find the hybrids", I told all of them. Ed protested I'm not leaving your side. Looking him in the eye to say, "I'll be right behind you, count to 100 and if you don't see us yell 'Island' I'll come running." Nightmare took the opportunity to say, "I already took care of the scientists. Ed go with the rest, I'll help Z." Before another word could be said I created another wall to keep them out. With Nightmare's help we created portals under each test tube to bring them back to the underground lab.

Watching the liquid flow downward the clones stayed asleep as their bodies fell into our own test tubes. Hearing Emilia say, "We're all good down here." With that reassurance as the last drop fell Nightmare and I started a controlled fire. It started off in the room we were in and we made sure it traveled to the other rooms behind us. Watching the flames attack from the shadows the color originally started off from jet black, blue, then turned normal red.

Nightmare caught my attention by saying, "We should go, it's almost time." The sound of Ed counting into the 90s now I followed Nightmare down the hall to see that only Ed and Dean were left behind. Dean took one look at the three before leaving through the portal by himself. Nightmare told me while we were in the door frame Go ahead of me, I'll take care of the rest. I couldn't respond to them, all my focus was on the little bundle that Ed was currently holding carefully in his arms against his chest. He was back in his human form wearing a lab coat that was long enough to cover most of him. Frozen in place Ed got within arms reach before he began to cough gently due to the smoke. Hearing him snapped me out of the shock I was trapped in to create a barrier around us. Touching his arm lightly I looked down at our feet to form a portal back to the beach.

Rising up to see that everyone was safely back my eyes landed on Mat and Edoardo talking with the hybrids. Seeing just how young and scared they were broke my heart. "They're so young", I barely said loud enough for only Ed to hear me. All of them moved their focus to me. The tallest took a step forward with a raised finger pointing at the infant to ask, "Is double zero ok?" Looking over to Ed he said, "The baby is fine, are all of you ok?" Seeing that all these kids had a number on their shirt I understood that they referred to by numbers instead of names, just like us.

The tallest one had 01 on their shirt. They looked at the others before replying, "We're scared and confused." Seeing the other kids get closer to them if not behind 01 as much as possible. I took a step forward to ask, "What exactly are you scared and confused about?" 01 met my eyes for the first time to ask, "Why did we have to leave?" Getting closer most of the kids got behind 01 as I crouched down to be at their eye level to say, "That place where all of you were created and being held at was a very bad place. Did any of those people ever let you go outside?" 01 held my gaze as they quietly shook their head to say, "No." Digging my hand into the sand to ask, "Do you know what this is or what this area is called?" They followed my hand to say, "Some people taught us to read, I think this is called sand and maybe a beach." Softening my eyes I said, "You are correct, what does it feel like?" 01 rubbed their feet deeper into the sand, with a smile forming they said, "It's nice, soft." Watching the other kids touch the sand and begin to move ever so slightly away I heard Edoardo think They're a natural.

Raising my hand from the sand to point at myself I said, "My name is Z/Nightmare, do you have a name you would like to be called?" 01 took a moment to think before saying, "Everyone called me 01, but I have always liked the color Violet." Saying with a kind smile, "That's a very pretty color it can be your name if you like." 01 now named Violet beamed with excitement as they nodded their head. Taking a look at the other's eyes there was a little less fear in each of them. Feeling a loving warmth reach my heart and soul seemed to radiate to the kids, they all seemed to relax for the first time in their young lives.

Looking over to the others I got up to introduce everyone in sight to the kids. Some of the kids made names on the fly as they introduced themselves. I walked over to Edoardo to ask, "Did you feel that?" He touched his chest and then pointed to me with a nod. Responding with a shrug I walked over to Ed who is still holding my child in his arms. Finally being able to see the kids face, they were sleeping so peacefully in his arms. I whispered, "How are they doing?" Ed looked down at me with soft eyes to say, "They or maybe he is doing just fine." Gently rubbing Ed's back I said softly, "Thank you for taking such good care of them, I'm going to check on the clones." He nodded his head and continued to hum a lullaby to the sleeping baby.

Walking over to the underground lab I felt Nightmare come back to our body. They spoke before I could ask if that goddamned place had been burned to ashes yet It's done. Closing my eyes to see the building burn with all the mercenaries and scientists inside burn along with scream in agonizing pain became music to my ears. As we descended down the stairs the feeling of Emilia staring as I grinned with my eyes closed watching the fire engulf everything and everyone inside that building. Opening my eyes to say, "You know it's not polite to stare." With a questioning eyebrow raised she countered, "I know that grin all too well Z, if I didn't know any better I'd say you secretly like to hurt others the same way I did as Nurse Ratchet." Meeting her eyes I replied, "You might end up grinning when I tell you something that the others don't know yet." With a hand on her hip she asked, "What would that be?" Slowly walking down the hall I said, "Edgar suffered to his last breathe, like I promised."

A look of relief washed over her face as the words sank in. Emilia seemed to be at a loss for words as her eyes were just cast down. Memories of what Edgar did to her flooded into my mind. Even though I had already seen all of them through his eyes feeling Emilia's terror and shame now made me furious. Death really was too good for him, at least now he's burning in Hell. With that I thought If I had my way he would've suffered by your hands instead.

Seeing Emilia's body shake I said, "Why don't you get out of here and meet the kids or go find Alexia." She just nodded her head in response, as Emilia walked away I said, "Thanks for everything you've done." With a shaky voice she responded, "No, thank you two." Quickly sending Alexia a message as Emilia walked up the steps Your boo needs you now. Knowing that she heard me I kept an ear out just in case. Hearing Alexia say 'Hey lady are you ok?' we immediately backed off. Moving our focus to the sleeping clones we saw that only the strongest most powerful of us were made into clones.

Reach out to all 13 of their minds I saw that each of them had barely been alive for 6 months. They are the first trial of clones to be made and they do share a bit of our powers with the exception of having to use shadows just like Dr. Spring said. Going deeper into their subconscious I saw that they were trained from day one to destroy all of us. Feeling all their emotional turmoil spiraling we knew that if they could be rehabilitated it will take awhile.

Pulling back as we heard someone calling out to me. Opening my eyes to not see anyone I heard Eric think Ok Z now is as good a time as any to have that talk. Quickly getting out of the lab we found Shelly and Eric just outside the entrance waiting for us. Trying to lighten the mood I asked, "How are the kids doing?" Eric nodded while Shelly responded, "They're still a little skittish, although they seem to trust us enough." Feeling a smile form while I thought Good thing Shelly is already pregnant cause these two are going to make great parents. Seeing Eric's eyebrows shoot up surprisingly I said aloud, "Surprise?" Shelly looked between the two of us confused to ask, "What's going on? What am I missing?" The shock finally left Eric as he to put his hand on her midsection to say, "You're pregnant...We're having a baby." Shelly placed her hand on top of his to say, "I'm pregnant? Oh my god we're having a baby!" Overjoyed to see their reaction we walked away to let the both of them have that moment. Using Daveed's power to amplify the sound of the fast tiny heartbeats growing inside Shelly.

We ran back to the beach as Hannah was coming our way. She stopped just short to say, "Met the kids, they're great and hungry, plus it's about lunch time now. Have you seen Eric and Shelly?" Holding up a hand I said, "Let's leave the happy couple alone for now they just got some good news. Now on the matter of food that's great we're famished." She ran back to the main area, this time I didn't try to beat her there. Walking I thought Where are the scientists? Nightmare replied At the dock, by the way there's something really important I need to tell you soon. Responding Tell me later tonight keep an eye on the Doctors. Nightmare left our body to head in the direction of the docks.

Continuing to make my way to the dinning room I could hear the sound of everyone talking all at once. Opening the door to see all of the kids at the table while everyone else was either standing or sitting on the floor. Seeing that my seat was still empty I sat down to watch everyone mainly the kids enjoy themselves and the food. Noticing that Ed was nowhere to be seen I reached out to him Everything ok? Did you get some food? He replied I'm good in my room, Hannah brought me some food. It got a little loud down there, didn't want to wake the kid. Standing I said, "I'm going up, y'all enjoy yourselves."

The majority of people either nodded their heads or lifted a glass for acknowledgment. Going up the stair I saw that Ed left his door open just a crack for me to enter. Closing it gently behind me he stood by his bed to wave for me to come closer and look down. He had laid the baby down on the bed with pillows around to make sure they wouldn't fall off. Looking down at them compared to the pillows they seemed to be so tiny. Feeling the beginning of hunger pains I sat down next to the bed, Ed did the same. We ate quietly and whispered idle chit chat for the time being.

By the time I finished eating Nightmare told me I'm going to bring the scientists some food. With the tilt of my head I replied Thanks, we'll deal with them soon. Ed whispered, "Everything ok?" Looking into his sweet brown eyes I replied, "All good, it was just Nightmare." He looked down at our hands to intertwine his fingers with mine. Rubbing his index finger with my thumb I leaned my head against his arm. Even in this moment worry still gripped my heart tightly as a thought came to mind We're going to have to let them all go soon.

Feeling tears begin to well up in my eyes I felt Ed give my hand a gentle squeeze. Looking back into his eyes as tears began to downpour he wrapped his arms around me tightly. After some quick adjustments Ed held me against his chest as I sat on his lap. My body began to shiver as he rubbed my back gently. Nightmare asked me Is everything ok? Taking in a deep breathe I replied No, not in the least. I could feel Nightmare's unease as he says Z I really don't want to kick you while you're down, but it is about the kids...yours especially.

My body completely tensed as those words came to me. Ed pulled away to ask, "What's wrong?" Moving out of his arms completely I said coldly, "I need to talk with Nightmare." Leaving immediately I ran to their side to ask, "What have you been hiding from me?" There was a deep sorrow in their eyes as he said with a heavy sigh, "Z, I had a feeling from when we first merged that was just confirmed as I talked with Dr. Spring and Ripley." Feeling my hands ball into firsts I waited for them to finish. Nightmare took a step forward to say, "Z there's no easy way to say this." Frustrated I raised my voice, "Oh for the love of fuck just tell me!" He put a hand under my navel as they said, "Z you're barren."