Warden POV
The Warden's heavy boots pounded against the metal flooring as he marched through the main hallway of the high-security prison, flanked by two elite guards. The alarms had long stopped, but tension still electrified the air. The scent of smoke and scorched metal from the earlier EMP hung in the corridor like a ghost.
"Status report!" the Warden barked, his voice echoing with authority and fury. "Where the hell is Prisoner 528?!"
"We're still scanning the lower levels, sir," a nearby soldier answered, practically jogging beside him. "Security systems are coming back online slowly—cameras in Block D are active again."
"Not fast enough," the Warden growled, clenching his jaw. "Double-check every blind spot, every air vent, every damn janitor closet! I want boots on every level and search teams ready for breach tactics."
He turned a corner and paused as he spotted three soldiers casually standing near a corridor intersection, chatting amongst themselves.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he thundered, eyes narrowing.
The three soldiers stiffened like caught children. One of them stepped forward, saluting quickly. "Apologies, sir. We received a transmission—your main office may have been breached. We were investigating before alerting you directly."
The Warden blinked. "A breach… in my office?! Why the hell didn't anyone report this immediately?!"
"We wanted to confirm before causing unnecessary alarm, sir," the soldier replied in a strangely monotone voice, subtly deeper than expected.
The Warden snarled. "Out of my way. I'll see it for myself."
He shoved past the trio and broke into a run.
As soon as he was gone, the three "soldiers" exhaled in relief.
"Ole dumbass," the first said with a smirk.
Bobby pulled off his helmet and shook out his hair. "He didn't even recognize us."
Cassie snorted as she removed her helmet. "Can't look a gift horse in the mouth. Or a dinosaur with a clipboard."
Adrian grinned, pulling off his own disguise. "Let's keep moving. His real stash is in the second office."
The three slipped into the shadows, vanishing down a hallway that only high-level personnel could access.
Warden POV – Minutes Later
The Warden sprinted through corridor after corridor, shoving aside stunned guards and mutant prisoners still being processed back into their cells. Rage thrummed in his chest like a drumbeat.
"How dare they—how DARE THEY—" he hissed under his breath as he approached the reinforced titanium door that led to his private office. "528... You insolent brat."
He yanked his ID card from his coat and swiped it through the lock. A soft beep confirmed access. He placed his hand on the biometric scanner and leaned into the retinal reader.
Access granted.
The door hissed open.
And what he saw made his vision go red.
"MY OFFICE!" he roared, stepping into the chaos.
Papers were scattered like snow in a storm. His meticulously organized files—shredded. His desk—flipped. His personal weapon rack—empty. One of his prized jackets was wrapped around a mannequin with a note that read, "Too stiff for anyone to wear anyway."
Then, the painting on the wall caught his eye.
It had been vandalized beyond recognition. His stern portrait now wore a cartoonishly large Eggman mustache. Someone had drawn a childish stick-figure penis across the cheek. In bold red marker, someone had scrawled:
"I'm a little crybaby. Wah-wah.""P.S. We stole all your crap from the safe."
A vein pulsed dangerously in the Warden's forehead. "I will kill him," he muttered.
He turned toward the nearest terminal to check the camera logs—only to realize the hard drives had been fried. It said sorry your information in our pocket now.
Group POV – Warden's Secret Second Office
A soft boom echoed faintly in the distance.
Bobby spun around. "What the hell was that? An explosion?"
Adrian nodded, stuffing more classified files into his makeshift bag. "Sounded like the Warden finally found our little love letter."
Cassie chuckled as she found a drawer filled with keycards. "He's going to have a stroke when he sees what we did to his face."
"I even left a note on his desk," Bobby added with pride. "Signed it: 'Maybe if you weren't a thousand-year-old dinosaur with a stick up your ass, you could've caught us.'"
Adrian laughed, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "Brilliant."
Then he turned serious. "Alright, fun's over. Time to get out of here. We've got what we need."
He looked over the contents of the second safe: documents detailing underground mutant experiments, coordinates to hidden labs, and—most strangely—a vial of glowing purple liquid.
He picked it up and turned it over in the light.
Cassie glanced at him. "What is that Is that the same liquid we find in his main office?"
"Not sure," Adrian murmured. "But if it was in his vault, it's either important... or dangerous."
"You keeping it?"
Adrian pocketed the vial. "Yeah. Might come in handy."
They moved fast, packing up everything and leaving one final gift—spray-painted on the Warden's backup monitor:"Oops. You were too late. Maybe cry about it."
Cassie smirked. "Let's get a vehicle and vanish."
Bobby nodded. "Before the real lockdown hits."
The three donned new disguises—this time, as janitors—and slipped into the maintenance tunnels.
Warden POV – A Wrath Unleashed
Back in the destroyed office, the Warden was practically foaming at the mouth. He grabbed a chair and hurled it across the room. It exploded against the wall, scattering shattered wood and splinters across the floor.
"ADRIAAAAN!" he screamed, his voice booming like thunder. "When I get my hands on you—I'll rip you apart piece by PIECE!"
His fists trembled. His face twitched.
All around him, staff cowered in silence. No one dared speak.
No one dared move.
One junior officer whispered, "Sir, we may still be able to intercept them—"
"SHUT UP!" the Warden snapped. "I don't want 'maybes'—I want RESULTS!"
Another officer tapped a console. "Sir... we may have a vehicle heading toward the west hangar. Could be them."
The Warden's eyes lit up. "Mobilize every available soldier. I want checkpoints at every exit, every tunnel, every sky-lift. Send out Drones. If they're on the move, I want them boxed in."
"And if we fail, sir?" the officer asked.
The Warden turned, his face a mask of pure venom.
"We don't fail."
Group POV – Moving to Escape
Cassie peeked out from behind a supply crate near the west hangar. The sounds of guards shouting and boots scrambling echoed from the floors above.
"They're on high alert," she whispered. "Every hallway's crawling with guards."
"Which means we're running out of time," Adrian muttered.
Bobby pointed to a cargo truck parked by the loading bay. "That's our ride."
Cassie narrowed her eyes. "How do we even get to it? They've got checkpoints every few meters."
Adrian cracked his knuckles. "We still have our suits. We bluff our way through one last time."
"And if bluffing fails?"
"Then I go 3% Full Cowl and we run like hell."
Cassie and Bobby looked at each other, nodded, and followed Adrian into the chaos.
As they stepped out into the open, the echo of boots, alarms, and orders rose louder than ever.
Somewhere behind them, a furious Warden marched down the corridor, vengeance in his heart.
But Adrian and his team had already disappeared into the shadows—one step ahead.