The End of the Rainbow! (Pop Quiz: Rain Lynn Bow)

A slow exhale revealed a mist from Alex's mouth. It was really freezing in here, but, with this newest subject, he was actually excited! She seemed nice, alone, scared...a little like he was back before Maze met him! A loud echo filled the tank as he walked up the very long metal ladder. It reminded him of a clink of brass...or was it tin? Anyway it didn't matter...The sound reminded him of a trumpet that he used to play when he was blind. He was often encouraged to pursue things similar to that because he was bound with a lacking of sight. His parents seemed to hope that he'd have an amazing talent in some other area of life but...none really ever came...

Once he made it to the top of the large metal bowl, he began to pull up the ladder. His eyes turned yellow as he peered to the center of the bowl at the pink haired girl that he had just laid there. If the anesthetics were working properly, she should awaken in about twenty minutes. She was...she was cute, he thought shyly, but quickly shook away the thought as a voice spoke into his ear piece.

"And how is our guest, Blink?"

He cleared his throat before replying to his mentor. "In place and ready for testing, Mr. Maze," he replied quickly.

He turned away from the doorway and walked into the large room, full of wooden boxes, ladders and various other materials that one might find on an oil rig. He jumped up a few stairs to the central computer and next to the exit of this room. After typing in his password and ID, he watched as the lasers in the top corners of the the room came to life and began scanning the area. He quickly turned and exited the room.

"Lasers active and scanning, sir."

"Excellent! Remember her last test don't you?" he asked darkly.

Blinked turned and exited the last hallway, sliding open a heavy door to reveal the windy outside area of the oil rig. He folded his arms to fight the chill from the harsh wind, took about ten paces to a box turned to lean on it and face the door. "I'm ready when she's ready," he finally replied.

"Good," Maze said with a sinister smile. He was sitting next to a lavish fire probably miles away, enjoying a glass of wine and a plate of pasta. "I'll be watching intently Blink. This one could be a keeper." He said brightly but turned his head down so that the rim of his top hat created a shadow to cover his entire face. All but his mouth. "Do be gentle with her."

"Roger that."

"Hm...not the method I had guessed but, effective nonetheless." Maze said, pondering in his microphone. He turned to another console next to his toasty fire and typed through a few codes. "The behemoth is armed and charging. It's about time we see what this girl can do in a fight."

"Roger that." Blink replied, shivering. He blinked, turning his eyes red and let a beam of red hot lasers emit from his eyes and strike some papers that he had gathered and placed into a tin trash can. It created a strong fire that would prove to be a cure for Blink's shivering.

Back inside the testing ring, the floor opened just as Bow would be entering the room, revealing...a pride of Maze's mechanical army. His Behemoth!

Spoiler:

This robotic giant would remain dormant while Bow dealt with the heat seeking lasers and would come to life once both lasers would be offline. The Behemoth would prove to be something far more difficult than most of Maze's other inventions. It had a few...surprises up its sleeve...

With a roar, the Behemoth quickly came to life. A source of heat in its chest cavity lit up the entire shell of metal and wires as it rose to its feet, twisting and turning its arms as if waking from a long hibernation. It turned with a large urrr as the metallic pieces seemed to warm up and rub together. Its eyes changed to red as it identified its target, a small pink girl. Slowly it lifted its club-like arm above the girl and dropped it, expecting to squish the girl underneath.

Back by Maze's fireplace, the kingpin spun in his chair, clapping in glee as it saw his Behemoth come to life for the first time! He spoke into his speaker, "Oh Blink! It's marvelous! You simply have to see it! It's truly glorious! Surely you should have some time to experience its power once you make it back to HQ!" He shouted happily into the speaker.

Blink rolled his eyes and smiled solemnly as he rubbed his hands together over the fire. It slightly amused him at how excitable his boss could be despite all of his dealings. "Sounds like a plan. Let's see how Rain handles the Behemoth, first."

"Yes, yes, yes, of course. Business first as always." Maze said regaining his composure and getting glued back to the screen. Maze wasn't sure if he wanted to see Bow win, or if he wanted to see his Behemoth win. Either way, he'd have quite the powerful new toy at the end of the day.

With a roar, the Behemoth rose to its feet right up and spun around, zeroing in on its target with renewed speed. It looked up at the ceiling and made a roar as if in anger and crouched down. As it leaned, two latches in its shoulders opened up and two lasers poked out with a hum, similar to the two that Rain had already faced but, it seemed, that these were not heat seeking. Maze seemed to have more faith in the Behemoth's own aiming system in its design.

The mechanical monster leaned back and let out one more roar before it aimed right at one of the wooden crates that Rain was standing beside. A blue laser screamed out of the left turret and hit the crate straight on its cap. A moment after impact, the crate exploded! Seemingly, Maze had filled some of the crates with gun powder...this just got a bit more dangerous...

***

Back outside the testing area, Blink turned as he heard a large explosion inside. Concerned, he placed a now gloved finger on his right ear and began to speak into his headset. "Maze, I just heard an explosion in the facility. Is everything okay?"

***

Maze looked down with a dark smile as he watched his Behemoth in all its glory. He listened to Blink's concern but chose not to answer. This was his Behemoth's unveiling, it's premier! It was more glorious than he could have imagined.

***

Blink sighed as he looked at the, still closed, steel door. "Come on Rain...you can get out of this..." He muttered hopefully to himself...

The Behemoth roared angrily as it seemed the girl had scampered off again! It spun around, trying to locate the girl but, once it turned to its left, he was met by a torrent of fire straight at its right laser. The fire collided harshly and charred the gun but, it seemed to still be functioning properly. The metal coating that Maze had built into this prize was very strong, one of the strongest in the world, and it seemed that it could stand up to a few consecutive strikes.

It focused in its aim at where it believed the blast was produced from and fired both of its lasers, the blue light screaming across the room. The turrets turned and struck everything in the area, some crates simply were crushed by the force and others would explode on impact, similar to the first crate.

***

Blink turned and bit his lower lip as he continued to listen to the explosions inside the facility. He spoke sternly into his mic again, "Maze stop! You're going to kill her with that thing! She doesn't have any combat experience and she's not part of any threatening team, just let her go!"

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Suddenly a reply came, "Just a moment longer," replied a malevolent voice. "If she is ever to join us...she will need to be hardened...stoic...controlled..."

Blink looked back at the door, concerned. It still...remained solidly shut...

The Behemoth knew how to do its job well. It had an amazingly successful unveiling and its power seemed to not have any rival as it tore the room apart and reduced Bow down to a tiny bloody pile. But, something amazing happened. Bow looked up, fire seeming to light up her eyes and she released a huge burst fire right into the stomach of the Behemoth. The blast was loud and it struck with a loud crackling force that flung the Behemoth back onto the opposite wall. It was still on its feet but, all of Maze's readings said it needed major maintenance to be able to survive and move onto another fight.

As the Behemoth began to rise to its feet and start a grunt that would surely grow into another mechanical roar, Maze jumped over his couch to the robot's control panel and pulled down a heavy lever. The Behemoth immediately dropped to the ground and the heat in its stomach and eyes turned off. If Maze wanted to use the Behemoth again, he didn't want to risk it continuing this fight. This...this girl...was something else. She had potential, yes...she had something that she wouldn't be able to control for quite some time but...the power was easily there. Just barely out of reach for her now but...with Maze...he was confident that he could unlock it and with her on his team, they could do amazing things! The thought made Maze sweat...he wanted her...he wanted her bad...but...would she be willing to commit herself to a team that she probably wouldn't fully understand? Probably even fear their methods and goals? Only time would tell...

He tapped another button which unlocked the steel door to the cool outside world. He spoke into his headset. "Alright Blink. You're up. Work your magic."

***

"Roger that," Blink replied quickly, turning to face the unlatching door. As Bow would walk out, Blink would prove to seem to be just another kid. Nothing about him suggested any power at all, but, he stopped rubbing his hands together and stood tall and confidently, poking his chest out. He was hoping to make a good impression. This girl truly seemed amazing to him already just from hearing the girl fight Maze's new toy.

Finally, the heavy metal door screeched across the oil rig's floor and out emerged a, mostly pink, but now, slightly red girl. Blink let out a sigh of relief. She was okay! Then again, no one ever died in these tests. Maze seemed to know exactly what each test subject was capable of...

Blink mad a motion with his arm to tell Bow to come over by the fire and warm herself up. It was still very cold outside. "You've done well!" He said with a big smile.

"My name's Blink. I already know you, you're Rain Lynn Bow, or just Bow. Here..." He picked up a hot cup of cocoa and handed it over to the girl. "This will help you out..."

He took a deep breath and blew out slowly, revealing the slow moving air and bringing how cold it really was to realization. "Now I'm here to give you an offer. Maze has decided that you are powerful enough so that you could help us out quite a lot. Would you be interested in joining our crew?" He asked with a smile. It seemed genuine because it truly was, unlike most of the other henchmen.

Bow did have an interesting opportunity here but, she really didn't know anything about it and reasonably would probably decline, but, Blink knew how to negotiate. Aggressively. Just like how he was taught to by Maze. If she was stubborn enough to really still decline, well...they'd cross that bridge when they came to it...