Relaxant

“Gaahh… Ahh…” a weak feminine voice cried as I shoved her into the wall. Definitely not one of the gruff voices I was expecting. “Stop… It's me…”

That voice…could it be…?

“Ekko?” I released her, stepping back to give her space to reveal herself.

“The one and only.” She took hold of one end of the active camo cloak and threw it off her body. “I don't know how to turn this off, so I'm worried about dropping it.”

I immediately pulled her in for a hug. She was such a sight for sore eyes. Ko looked like she wanted to join us, but she was preoccupied watching the hall for any threats.

“How did you find us?” I asked.

“Well…” her lips pursed as she gave an uncomfortable look. “I-I’ve actually been following you for a while.”

"Why didn't you help us out?" I asked, confused.

I was also worried about the ingredients we needed to get to Miyazaki-sama. There’s no way she went to the sanctuary and returned here in time to help us out.

"I did a lot more good for you guys then you realize. It was better to stay hidden. "

"And what about the mission?"

“Don’t worry, I did get in contact with Home Base.” She held up a cell phone, which looked like it had been stepped on. “It was our leader's idea to follow you guys and free you, but things got interesting after that mercenary took over.”

“So, are the crates safe?” I asked.

She explained that the crates were in the car that we took to get here. They were being picked up by someone, if not already. Ko also supported that our enemies getting those crates were a low priority, especially since father had little interest in impeding our mission.

“So, the announcement that we were escaping underground…”

“That was me tapping into and disabling the comm systems. I’ve been trying to keep them off your backs for a little while, but they’re hard to fool.”

Her performance on the speaker certainly left something to be desired, but it did manage to buy us some time to get out of here.

Having Ekko around was going to be a huge boon for us. If she was here the whole time though, I had to wonder what she heard from Father.

She pulled out a camera as a response.

“Hey, that’s mine!” Ko announced, snatching the camera up and holding it close like a little gremlin.

“Sorry, Ko,” Ekko shrugged with a smile. “But I got the whole meeting recorded on your camera.”

Alright! Things were looking up for a change. The mission wasn't a bust. We got the ingredients out and we had proof of a major conspiracy against humanity. I was in high spirits.

“Good work. Now how are we getting out of here?” I asked.

“Outside’s crawling with government men. They really didn't want you guys to leave. But there's a helicopter on the roof. If we can get there, we can fly out of here.”

We'd only simulated flying a helicopter on computers, never actually taking a test ride. But if that was our way out, then it was to the roof we go.

***

Thanks to Ekko’s earlier announcement, Bear’s men were confused and running all over. But the stimulating squeak of the building loudspeaker system startled us.

“All personnel!” The woman on the speaker finally got things functioning again. -Someone has tapped into the broadcast and spread misinformation. Disregard the prior message. The escapees are still within the building and are currently heading for the roof!-

By the point they were getting back on track, we’d managed to find a staircase that allowed us to get all the way to the top. Our biggest hope was that all of Bear’s men were well below our floor.

“They’ve got the elevator, right?” I asked, considering that they’d reach the roof before us.

“From what I understand, there’s no roof access from the elevator,” Ekko said. “They’d need to get to the top floor and then access the roof.”

Even with that, they’d probably already be up there. They might even be ready to ambush us on the stairs. We stayed alert, watching closely for any signs or sounds that would give away an attack.

Suddenly, my legs gave out and I collapsed on the stairs. I went to shield my head, but my arms weren’t cooperating with me.

“Gah…” I grumbled in pain as I tried to recover, but dizziness kept me down. “What the hell was that?”

Horrible nausea overcame me. I couldn’t get up on my own. Both Ko and Ekko had to help rest me on the wall of the landing.

Ekko pulled out a syringe and poked it into my leg. A fluid was injected into my body.

“Sorry, Kitsune…” she sighed, waving Ko over. “I forgot to give you this. Ko, you were exposed to that gas too. This is the antidote.”

Ko allowed Ekko to also inject her with that antidote to counteract whatever drug they gassed us with.

“Took it long enough to kick in,” I commented after letting my head rest against the wall.

“I had to do this for myself earlier too. They didn’t just gas your room, they did it for the whole building.”

Figures that they’d want to be extra thorough in putting us down. It’s surprising that the relaxant hadn’t kicked in until now. Good thing it didn’t happen at a worse time.

I saw stars in my eyes for a moment. My head felt a rapid rush of blood as the antidote worked over the drug inhabiting my system. I was so loopy that it felt like I was stuck in a bubble of my own vomit. I may or may not have actually thrown up. Everything was just a blur.

They called this a relaxant? There’s nothing relaxing about it.

“How long until I feel good again?” I said in a dull voice, trying to keep my head up straight.

“Give it a few. It seems like it's hitting you hard.”

We didn’t have much time to waste. We had to get moving up to the roof before Bear’s men caught up or got ahead. Ekko had to lend me a shoulder for a few more flights.

“Ekko, what’s the odds that the helicopter is still there?” I asked as my senses returned to somewhat normal.

“High,” Ekko nodded, twirling keys in her hand.

That was convincing enough for me. I could have complicated my hopes by pretending that the enemy could have hotwired the vehicle or had spare keys, but I just needed the hope right now that we could get out of here.

***

One final door remained before we reached the roof. Feeling had largely returned to my drugged body, but my legs were still a little wiggly. No matter how much I stretched them, it wouldn’t fully bring back the feeling.

Ko took the helm, pressing up to the door and preparing to force it open. We had no idea what to expect on the other side.

“Are we ready?” Ko asked.

I still felt horrible, but that wasn’t getting any better than it was.

“Alright,” I said. “I’m ready.”

"Me too," Ekko said.

We all took a breath, then all three of us pushed the door…

Only one man stood between us and the helipad. It wasn’t any of Bear’s lackeys, rather the big eye patched man himself.

“Bout time you all made it up here…” he said, flicking a cigarette out of his mouth. "I was getting lonely waiting for you."