Alex held a small scrap of a plastic bag stretched taut between his thumbs. Blowing against the edge, the plastic vibrated, letting out a sharp, annoying, and horribly out-of-tune screech. It was his makeshift harmonica.
Lying comfortably on his hard metal cot, legs crossed and eyes fixed on the damp ceiling, he tried to replicate a melody with absolute shamelessness. Evidently, the rest of the max-security block wasn't exactly thrilled with his acoustic concert.
"Love, love me do..." Alex sang in flawless English, pausing to let out a high-pitched screech with his plastic. "You know I love you... I'll always be true... So please, love me do... Whoa-oh, love me do..."
"Shut that idiot up!" roared a booming voice that echoed from the upper tier of cells.
"Will you shut up for one damn second?!" yelled another inmate from the end of the hall, violently pounding the stone wall. "You've only been here a couple of hours and I already want to strangle you with my own chains!"
Alex lowered his plastic instrument for a second, flashing a smile of pure satisfaction. Driving hardened criminals crazy was a surprisingly entertaining pastime. He brought the plastic back to his lips to start the second verse of The Beatles, but was abruptly interrupted.
CLANG!CLANG!
The brutal sound of metal clashing against metal stopped the music dead in its tracks. A security guard, his face red with irritation and a vein pulsing on his forehead, had just mercilessly slammed the heavy butt of his blaster against the titanium bars of Alex's cell.
"Shut your damn mouth and keep quiet, scum!" the guard barked, glaring at him with pure hatred.
With a gesture of profound contempt, the warden slid a dented aluminum tray under the gap beneath the bars. The tray skidded clumsily, spilling half of a lumpy, highly suspicious-looking gruel onto the dirty cell floor.
The guard let out a grunt and continued his rounds, leaving Alex alone with his culinary disaster.
Alex sat up slowly, resting on the edge of his cot. He looked at the piece of plastic in his hand, then glanced down at the inedible mush oozing across the cold floor. He let out a long, dramatic sigh, shaking his head.
Definitely, Alex thought, running a hand through his pink hair with a wry smile, prison life is no walk in the park.
Alex waited patiently for the guard's heavy footsteps to fade at the end of the hall. Once the echo of the boots died away and silence reigned over the block once more, he knelt in front of the culinary disaster the warden had tossed onto the floor.
Making a face of genuine disgust, Alex stuck two fingers into the grayish gruel and started digging around.
"Gross... I hope the overtime pay is worth it," he muttered under his breath.
Seconds later, his fingers bumped into something solid wrapped in plastic, perfectly hidden at the bottom of the disgusting ration. He carefully pulled it out and wiped the excess food-sludge off on his prison uniform pants.
Tearing open the small airtight baggie, he pulled out a tiny black encrypted communication earpiece. State-of-the-art tech, courtesy of the Intelligence Wing of Blakk Industries.
He discreetly placed it in his right ear, making sure it was hidden under a lock of his pink hair. He tapped the device once to activate the link.
"Took you long enough," Alex whispered, his usual arrogant tone immediately returning. "I was just about to ask for custom drapes. I thought I was going to live here forever."
A brief crackle of static preceded the unmistakable voice of the Intelligence Commander. The rapid clatter of a mechanical keyboard echoed in the background.
"Holy slugs, Alex, it's barely been a couple of hours," Valentina shot back through the earpiece, sounding torn between the relief of hearing his voice and sheer exasperation. "Stop being so dramatic. Sneaking a comm package into a prison food tray by altering kitchen logistics without alerting the guards isn't magic. It takes time."
Alex stood up, wiping his hands on his pants, and leaned against the wall farthest from the door to avoid being seen.
"Easy for you to say, Val, you're not here," Alex complained, crossing his arms. "You're sitting pretty in your comfy swivel chair, probably with the AC blasting and a hot cup of coffee, while I'm breathing in a bouquet of stale sweat, dampness, and pure desperation."
A faint sigh could be heard on the other end of the line. Valentina knew he was right, but she would never give him the satisfaction of admitting it out loud.
"Anyway, the earpiece works and the satellite uplink is stable," Valentina cut in, quickly adopting her professional, tactical tone and dropping the banter. "What's your current status?"
Alex wiped the smile off his face. His eyes sharpened in the darkness of the cell, scanning the bars and calculating distances. Playtime was over; it was time to work.
"Status is perfect. I'm exactly where I want to be, just three cells down from our target," Alex replied, his voice cold and calculating. "So, Commander... what's the plan to break this mad scientist out and clear a path?"
"I'm just opening the doors for you. It's entirely up to you to convince the package and make it out in one piece," Valentina's voice came through crystal clear, accompanied by the rapid clacking of her fingers on the keyboard.
Click!
A dull, metallic thud echoed from the heavy titanium door. The red light on the electronic lock blinked, turning a bright green. It was unlocked.
Alex gently pushed the sliding door, poking his head out first to scan both directions of the dark hallway. Dampness stained the walls, and the fluorescent lights flickered with an electrical hum. His Hyper-Tactical Perspective confirmed what his eyes were seeing: the corridor was empty.
Great, the guard on duty is M.I.A., Alex thought, smoothly slipping out into the hallway.
He walked with silent, feline steps toward his target's cell, barely three doors down. However, in a maximum-security prison, absolute silence doesn't exist. In the gloom, several inmates in adjacent cells noticed the unusual movement. They saw a pink-haired kid walking freely through the block.
"Psst... hey, you... how'd you get out?" a raspy voice hissed from the shadows. "Get me outta here, open mine!" "Help me out, kid, I'll pay you good!" another whispered, gripping the bars.
Muffled shouts and desperate murmurs began spreading like a virus. Alex majestically ignored them all, keeping his eyes locked straight ahead. He was no savior of criminals; he was an officer of Blakk Industries on a mission.
He stopped in front of the bars of Quentin Collowsk's cell.
"Buddy, turn around. I'm getting you out of here," Alex whispered, peering inside.
Inside, the cell was just as gloomy as his own. Quentin was lying on his cot, his back to the door, knees pulled up to his chest, his empty gaze fixed on the stone wall. He looked like the spitting image of defeat.
"Go away. Don't bother me... I don't want any trouble," Quentin replied in a dull, trembling voice, not even bothering to turn his head.
Alex let out a short huff, leaning his shoulder against the cold bars. "Yeah... I'm afraid that's not an option," Alex said, his tone calm but unyielding. "I was sent here specifically to rescue you, and I'm not leaving this dump without you."
Quentin let out a dry, bitter laugh entirely devoid of humor. "Rescue me?" the scientist murmured, sounding profoundly sad and insignificant. "What lunatic would bother with someone like me? I'm a failure."
Alex smiled in the dark. He had found the open wound. It was time to apply some corporate manipulation.
"Listen, Collowsk. We looked into you. You're what some might call a misunderstood genius," Alex began, injecting a calculated dose of admiration into his voice to stroke the kid's fragile ego. "You invented a giant freaking robot that terrorized a whole cavern, didn't you? Not just any amateur can pull that off."
Quentin stopped trembling. The silence in the cell suddenly grew tense. Alex knew he had his attention.
"You still have so much to offer the world, and trust me, you're not gonna accomplish anything rotting in this cell," Alex continued, dropping his tone to make it sound more confidential and intimate. "We see your potential. We're offering you resources. If you managed to build a giant robot out of simple junk and scrap metal you found lying around... just imagine what you could create with nearly unlimited funding, state-of-the-art tech, and real laboratories."
Quentin's body tensed. Alex's words were like a spark landing on dry gunpowder. Slowly, the scientist sat up on the cot. He turned his face and locked his wide, shining eyes on Alex. The spark of madness and genius had returned to his gaze.
"You think... you think I can be useful?" Quentin asked, stumbling to his feet and approaching the bars, his breathing quickening. "That I can be a great inventor?"
"I know you are," Alex replied with absolute conviction. "If you come with me right now... if you prove to us that you're the genius we need..."
Click!
The lock light on Quentin's cell turned green, courtesy of Valentina's remote hacking. The heavy titanium door slid open with a metallic squeal.
Alex stepped forward, walking into the scientist's cell with total confidence. He stopped right in front of Quentin and, with the posture of a top executive closing the deal of a lifetime, held out his right hand.
"Want to work for me?"
Quentin stared at Alex's outstretched hand for a couple of seconds, his eyes wide. His breathing was erratic, but finally, driven by a mix of desperation and the undeniable spark of ambition Alex had just ignited, he raised his arm.
He shook the Blakk officer's hand. His grip was weak and shaky, but the decision had been made.
"What's the plan to get out of here?" Quentin asked, peering timidly over Alex's shoulder into the dark prison corridor.
Alex broadened his smile, let go of the scientist's hand, and pressed his index finger to the earpiece hidden under his hair.
"Val, it's time to execute Plan 'Poke the Beehive'," Alex ordered over the comms, his tone dangerously cheerful.
"I still hate that stupid name..." Valentina replied instantly with an exasperated huff. "Initiating override sequence in three, two..."
Without waiting for the countdown, Alex stepped out of Quentin's cell and walked until he was positioned smack in the center of the max-security block's main hallway. With absolute calm, he put two fingers to his mouth and let out a sharp, long, piercing whistle.
The sound bounced off the walls, immediately silencing the murmurs and groans of the inmates. Dozens of pairs of hostile eyes peered through the bars to stare at the pink-haired kid strolling freely.
Alex cleared his throat, spread his arms like an orchestra conductor, and began his speech, projecting his voice so it echoed across all levels of the block.
"Esteemed criminal scum of Slugterra!" Alex greeted, giving a slight, mocking bow. "As you may have noticed, I am now a free man. And you lucky bastards could also be joining me toward the exit... provided you follow my orders to the letter."
The stunned silence lasted barely a second before absolute chaos erupted. The worst criminals in the caverns were not used to taking orders from a teenager with delusions of grandeur.
"Follow you?! Never!" roared a giant, scar-covered man from the second floor. "Go to hell, brat!" "Why the hell should we listen to you?!" "The second you hand over the keys, I'll snap your neck!"
The shouts, insults, and threats multiplied, turning the cell block into a madhouse of rage and indignation. The prisoners pounded the bars with their fists and metal plates, creating a deafening racket.
Alex didn't flinch. He let them vent for exactly ten seconds. Then, his expression changed. The cocky smile vanished, replaced by a cold, lethal glare that cut like ice.
"QUIEEEEET!" Alex bellowed, his voice so commanding and overwhelming that it made the closest inmates tremble.
The uproar died down almost magically. The criminals gulped, thrown off by the intense pressure radiating from the kid.
"You ask why you should follow me?" Alex continued, dropping his volume so that everyone had to keep absolutely quiet to hear him. "It's simple. Because without me, each and every one of you is going to keep rotting in these damn cells until the end of your days. I am your only key."
He raised his hands in front of his chest, a confident, lopsided smile creeping back onto his lips.
"Let's watch the magic happen..." Alex whispered to himself.
And he gave a single, loud clap.
CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!
With a perfect, cybernetic synchronization that only Valentina could pull off from her console, the red lights on every cell in the block turned green simultaneously. The mechanical sound of a hundred electronic deadbolts unlocking in unison went off like a cannon blast.
The heavy titanium doors slid sideways, freeing every single inmate at the exact same time.
The criminals pushed the doors open, slowly stepping out into the hallways in sheer disbelief, staring at Alex like a madman who had just descended into the underworld.
Alex lowered his hands and looked at all of them, defiant.
"So... are you with me?"