Ava's eyes cracked open. She was about to take in her surroundings when she was suddenly face first on the ground, having been rolled off the bench she was laid on. Ava yelped as she was rolled to one side of the small room thing she was in. She felt her wrists tug on something, pulling it tight. As she stabilized herself on an opposite bench, she discovered both her ankles and wrists were restrained. Her ankles were chained to the bench she was laid on previously, and her wrists were bound in suppression handcuffs. She recognized these from when the brothers were in jail. It just blocked mystic powers at most.
And then Ava froze. She froze as she realized just the texture of the "Floor" below her. "EW EW EW EW EEEWW!" She jumped up onto the bench, trying to wipe the goo off her hands, feet, and everything else.
"Ah, you're finally awake." A voice called out.
"Calm down Ralof the stormcloak, where am I?" Ava asked, looking around. She was in some kind of gooey cell, bars on every window.
"Yer in a hidden city police vehicle, ya human scum." The voice answered, hatred seeped into every word.
"Wh-what? What did I do?!" Ava protested. She followed the sound of the voice to look out one of the two barred windows, looking out to see a hidden city police officer, one of the ones who had launched a lightning ball at her.
"What did you do?! Maybe kill hundreds of Yokai in the war." The officer sneered. "If not you then yer kind."
"What?! What war?!" Ava asked, panicking slightly. How long had she been gone?
"Don't play dumb. The war on yer entire race. Every human should know it." The guard snapped.
"...Then shouldn't I be like a hostage? Or a prisoner of war?" Ava asked bluntly.
"By order of the council, all humans are to be brought to the dungeon below the council head meeting room." The guard explained.
"Why would the council heads want humans?" Ava wondered to herself.
"How do you know 'bout the council heads?" The guard raised an eyebrow. "They were gone before the war even started."
"What? But then who's in-" Ava stumbled as the vehicle heaved over a bump, the ground beneath her lifting. "OKAY WHO'S BAD WORKMAN SHIP MADE IT SO THAT THIS CART MOVES IT'S BASE WHEN IT GOES OVER A ROCK?!"
"Cart? You're in a snail." The guard corrected. Ava had to pause to process what she just heard. That… explained a lot actually. The goo, the reason it didn't jerk every time it went over something, the crazy story Raph told her about when he was arrested. She thought he was trying to use a metaphor. Silly Raph. Ava felt a small pang in her chest, realizing just how much she missed the brothers. But missing them would have to wait. After all, Magic suppression chains had nothing to do with DT. Of course that would be a last resort, if she used too much DT she wouldn't be able to use her sword or shield.
"Hey why did you put handcuffs on me?" She asked innocently. "After all, if you searched me you would have seen I have no weapons."
"You humans always have weapons, be it a gun or a toothpick." The guard spat.
Well there went plan A. Time for plan B. Ava sat on one of the benches and leaned forward, putting her hands near the shackles on her ankles, where it was chained onto the bench. She focused, summoning her sword only with the minimum DT possible. Slowly she put more and more DT into it, pressing it against the shackle. Ava grit her teeth as the sword warmed up beneath her palms. She focused the DT onto the tip of the sword. With just enough DT slowly being concentrated on the tip, she could heat the sword up just enough to at least bend the metal till it snapped. If she did it too fast the sword's end would explode like a firework.
She brought the sword down, straining as she felt the familiar dizziness fill her head. DT was taken from a human's soul. If she used too much she would pass out. *CHING*! The metal link snapped, being bent to the width of a sword. Ava instantly stopped, leaning back as her stomach swam in circles and her eyes struggled to focus. Using that much that slowly was always difficult. It was like trying to fill a cup with a river, and not being able to spill it.
After a few moments, she regained her strength, fiddling with the link until she unhooked it. Which only left the chain binding her ankles together. Ava groaned. Why did the hidden city police have so much better security?! She repeated the process, barely clinging to consciousness. After another 20 minutes, she got up, stretching her legs. She didn't want to have to run, and the guard probably didn't want to have to chase her. But it seemed not everyone was going to get what they wanted today. Ava summoned her sword, pressing it against the back door of the snail. After a moment to prepare herself, she shot DT to the tip of the sword.