Caged (Dar)

Silently, the ferocious young king of the jungle raised its head just a hair above the grass line as it prepared to strike. It lowered its head, focusing intently on its target before lunging through the air and attacking.

An excited exhale rang through the air as the few viewers watched the lion cub attack its parent's tail, playfully wrestling with it as its father lazily rolled over to watch its child. A smile spread across Jackson's face as he watched the scene with mild fascination. It had been some time since he'd been able to go to a zoo and really be able to examine all of the different animals in close detail. When he was younger, he didn't care enough to really notice the details of the different animals and, when he lost his vision, he realized some of these things that he would now miss out on.

His sister approached to stand beside Jackson, sporting a satisfied smile as she examined an informational pamphlet that she had found on a bench. "Wow, listen to this: Dr. Janice Tindal of the University of Columbia is serving as an on site adviser to our own Jump City Zoo, for the remainder of the month!"
Candace recited. "You've heard of her haven't you, Jacks? She's straight up famous! I've heard of her on the news, she was in Madagascar where her team dug up some kind of crazy fossilized animal; they don't know what it is, or was, I guess..."

His sister trailed off as she read more of the story. It was a fairly cool day, although the sun was shining,
and the birds were out singing. Candace was wearing a light purple sweater and held her handbag close around her shoulder. Jackson was astonished looking at her. He hadn't realized how long it had been that they had been apart until he got to see her again. She was beautiful. She was really flourishing in Jump City. He couldn't have been more proud of her.

"What's this doctor doing at a regular Zoo if she's so special?" Jackson inquired, as he walked alongside his sister from the 'Cat House' on towards the 'Monkey Kingdom'. He smiled at a young girl as she was chasing her brother around the legs of their parents as they walked in the opposite direction.

"Jump's Zoo isn't just some Zoo. It's one of the biggest in the country and they do a lot of studies, in conjunction with the University sometimes as well. Wait, I think that's her!"

Jackson looked up and Candace raised her gaze from her reading as they approached the glass to the great Gorilla observatory. Inside was a young women with tan skin, glasses and black hair tied back into a bun a tan vest and what seemed to be just casual jeans and a greenish shirt. She was accompanied by two animal handlers, larger men, only there in case of emergency, Jackson supposed. The doctor was leaning close to a massive Gorilla as it leaned next to a synthetic tree, appearing incredible down, depressed or sick.

The doctor revealed a syringe and began sticking the great ape in the arm, as the a crowd watched on,
wondering what cure or experiment she was implementing. Jackson glanced around at the various people,
as some were taking pictures curiously. He looked across the way and watched as a man with binoculars and an extremely nice camera and sunglasses snapped a picture. He was dressed fairly conspicuously, at least in Jackson's mind, as he was wearing nearly all black and had a large, dark backpack.

Jackson blinked, shifting his eyes to a full blue color as he zoomed into the man, standing across on the other side of the observatory. He watched the man raise a hand up to his ear as he murmured something. Jackson focused in a little more to the man's ear as he made out a small ear piece, before he blinked, reverting his eyes to their normal state. They must have really amped up the security with this doctor here. Even people were patrolling the crowds.

"She must be doing important work." Jackson observed, not entirely interested, but trying to continue the conversation for the sake of his sister.

"Here! Take a picture with me and Dr. Tindal in the background!" Candace turned excitedly to her brother, handing him her camera as she knelt down in from of the glass, smiled widely and held up two digits next to her face.

"Lookin' good," Jack chuckled as he lined up his shot.

SNAP

"Man, it's getting sort of crowded. D'you think we could move on? I want to check out the penguins before it gets too late." Jackson looked around his shoulder as he felt the area become more and more congested with people.

"Yeah...it's not like she's going to do anything particularly special right out in the open," Candy agreed, although he could tell she seemed a little disappointed.

Candace grabbed Jackson's hand and began pulling him through the crowd. They weaved back and forth, bumping into people, trying to be as cordial as possible as they did their best to find their way out. After a moment's confusion, Jackson bumped into a boy who seemed to be walking along with his younger sister.

"Sorry," he smiled, "Good luck getting a clear shot. The doctor's popular today."

Jack continued on, as Candace pulled him out of to get some fresh air. A man wearing black moved past him,
once again with a black backpack. He sort of let out a grunt as he nudged Jack aside and forced himself forward in the crowd. That was the second man he'd seen like that. Just one guy, not with anyone, crabby looking, wearing black and carrying a black backpack. He didn't need to be a genius to know that there was something peculiar about that picture.

With a quick blink, Jackson's eyes changed from its dull greenish usual iris, to a full vibrant violet. He squinted slightly as he let go of Candace's hand and peered a few yards away into the man's backpack. Almost hoping that he'd just find a water bottle and a bag of chips, Jackson turned his head to one side as he tried to understand what he was looking at.

"Hang on Candy...I need to check something out," Jack said as he took a step up and onto a nearby bench to give himself a better vantage point.

With another blink, his eyes shifted to a light blue. He squinted as his eyes shuttered like a camera, zooming into the crowd. Quickly, he examined the area, glanced past the man that had bumped into him, spotted the original man that he'd seen earlier, and, after a moment, he had found two more large, menacing men dressed in the same attire, with the same sort of backpacks. They were all moving closer to the front of the glass,
near Dr. Tindal and the Gorilla Exhibit.

"What's going on Jacks?" Candace poked her brother, causing him to close his eyes and revert to his normal vision.

"Something bad, I think..." Jackson jumped down from the bench and placed a hand onto Candace's shoulder. "Go find security or call the police. I think something bad is about to happen."

Jackson looked her sister in the eye seriously, he looking into her yellow eyes, and her looking into his.
Candace seemed to understand the weight with which he spoke. "Come with me,"
she grabbed his arm as a smile faded from her face.

He had a desire deep in his stomach to intercede right now, but, she was right. He couldn't risk himself again.
Not with Candace here to see it. With a quick nod, Jackson urged, "Fast."

The two ran as quickly as they could down the trail, past couples and families, turning confused glances at the two teens as they frantically tried to spot a security guard. A moment later, Candace spotted one man leaning down next to a little girl and her parents, presumably being a charming man, telling a nice story or whatever,
but that would have to late. Jackson and Candace skidded to a halt behind the man, startling the family and causing the officer to turn around in confusion.

"Officer, there's a problem at the Gorilla Exhibit. I think some men snuck in weapon or a machine or something," Jackson rattled off as quickly as he could.

The officer's expression turned stern as he squinted at Jackson. "Show me."

Before too long, the three of them had dashed back to the exhibit, finding the scene, mostly the same for the moment. Jackson scanned the crowd for a moment and pointed towards the middle of the crowd. "There he is. He's-he's towards the front, by the glass."

The officer nodded. "Don't move. I'll be right back."

Jackson and Candace waited anxiously as they watched the officer walk through the crowd. Jackson almost felt sick, just leaving the job up to some stranger, feeling like he could do so much more himself. "What did you...see?" Candace's words brought him back to his body. She spoke as though she was talking about his third arm.

"Something weird. There's a machine in the man's backpack. I've only ever seen something like it once. Back at the lab." He watched with anticipation as he lost the officer in the crowd.

Moment's later, an insanely loud, high pitched ring blasted through the area, bringing Jackson and his sister to their knees, covering their ears in agony, clenching their eyes shut. After ringing ended, when Jackson's eyes were opened, he was met with a scene of utter chaos, the crowd was quickly dispersing, everyone running in random directions away from the Gorilla Exhibit. It took a moment for his eyes to focus as the aftermath of the ringing still echoed through his mind. He blinked, turning to his magnification vision and peered toward the enclosure, discovering that the glass wall was completely shattered.

His sister grabbed his arm and flipped him so that they were face to face. With his magnified vision, he got a great view of her nose before he blinked again, reverting to normal. "We need to go!"
she pulled at her brother, but was surprised at his resistance.

Jackson looked down at his feet for a moment and bit his lip. "I can't just leave..." he looked up and into his sister's beautiful yellow eyes. "I love you, Candy."

Jackson turned and sprinted away from her, running against the current of crazed zoo goers. As he saw a body laying on the ground, motionless, he dove down beside who he discovered was the officer from before, with a bullet wound between the eyes. Jackson looked down into the enclosure, frantically figuring out what he could do.

As Jackson searched for the doctor or the men in black, he wrenched his neck sharply to the right as a roar from a gorilla bearing down on a boy standing firmly in defense of a smaller girl. After a deep breath, he was about to blast the beast away, but he stopped himself as he realized, this was just an animal that was as shocked as the rest of the crowd. It wasn't moving against these two because it was aggressive, it was just scared. Jackson looked at his feet and saw, strapped to the wide eyed, motionless guard's thigh, a pistol that appeared to be loaded with some kind of dart.

Quickly, he snatched the gun, fumbling with the locking mechanism for more than a moment, before finally having a chance to take aim at the gorilla a few short yards away. With a blink, he magnified his vision, feeling as though it steadied his aim, although he didn't feel like it would be too hard to hit a target this big. He took a slow breath out as he pulled the trigger.

The dart sailed through the air, whirring quietly through the chaotic atmosphere, and then sticking itself into the back of the gorilla's neck with a light FLICK-ing noise. The gorilla seemed to notice the stick as it turned its head for a moment, looking around in confusion. The tranquilizer surely wouldn't be able to knock out a beast as big as this guy, at least immediately, Jackson figured,
but it seemed to be slowing him down, which could be enough to help the two out.

"Get away from it!" Jackson yelled at the two, waving his hand towards the strangers.

The lumbering gorilla turned its gaze back towards the other people and made (what looked to Jackson at least) a menacing smile. Jackson cursed to himself as he shook his head getting the remnants of the loud ringing out of his ears before biting his lip as he watched what came next.

Jackson smirked as the boy gave him a thumbs up after he landed his shot, but, to Jackson's dismay, the ape continued to pursue its mark. As the boy yelled for him to shoot it again, Jackson quickly took aim again, magnifying his vision and pulling the trigger. A small clicking sound responded, causing his heart to drop. The gun only had one dart loaded!

Jackson blinked, setting his gaze to a dim purple as he looked down and scan the officer's body, searching for wherever he might be hiding any extra ammo. He pried his fingers into a holster on the officer's belt and clumsily fumbled with the dart, nearly dropping it onto the rocky outcropping around the Gorilla Enclosure.

He rose quickly rose from his spot, gun loaded and took aim, with a quick shift, he magnified his gaze,
spotting the gorilla as it was looming over the two. To Jackson's surprise, the boy was offering the beast some cotton candy, and, oddly enough, it seemed to be working! The gorilla seemed to lean down and examine the fluffy mess, sniffing it, curiously, giving Jackson a moment to pull the trigger.
Anxiously, Jackson prayed for the shot to land, hoping that the strike would possibly be enough to take it out of commission so that he could start looking for the men in black and where they may have taken the doctor.