Ryuu jerked and spasm as pain shot through his nerve endings, even as he was strapped to the ice cold metal of the table top. A lab assistant off to the side took notes as Doctor Hojo stared down at him, Ryuu, the twisted man's latest experiment. Ryuu had been a SOLDIER trainee once, before Hojo had taken an interest to his rather odd reaction to Mako and Mako enhanced items.

He stared at the object in the man's hands with abject fear. It was a small Mako-like orb that glowed much like a black light in the dimly lit room. It was a direct contrast to the bright silver orb they had attempted to place in him just two days before. His body had rejected the silver orb amidst what felt like eons worth of pain. Ryuu could see the crack marring the side of this one and knew instinctively that this one would hurt worse, and he would not be able to reject it. That crack would allow its contents to spill directly into him, binding it to him without the barrier the orb would have naturally provided. Hojo grinned maniacally at him.

"I have discovered why your body rejected the Control material, and have decided that instead of slowing down the discovery that the material is no longer necessary as the experiment will continue without it. Much easier, don't you agree?"

Ryuu was unable to reply as the Mako drip dosage that had been steadily dripping into him up until this point increased. Unlike the Mako given during his sensitivity testing, this one was tainted by something. He could feel his body actively fighting it, but even as he fought off the intruder, the changes it left behind remained in its wake, permanent. He closed his eyes, knowing whatever thought he could possibly utter wasn't important. He let himself fall into the temporary oblivion of sleep.

He could hear footsteps. Even as he hung from the heavily fortified chains against the reinforced beams. By the gate, he suspected a group, small in number. He was curious about who it would be, and why they were waking him from his slumber. By the smell of the dust in the air, this outpost had been vacant for almost ten years, maybe a little over. Not that it mattered to him, after his last bout of 'training' he'd been left here while Hojo moved on to other experiments.

Ryuu wearily lifted his head, tired even after his long sleep. Fear stirred in the back of his head, murmuring his annoyances and brushing at the mental bindings that kept him in place, always searching for weaknesses. Ryuu reinforced them without conscious thought, well used to his Demons' antics. Fenrus, his first possessor, and the only one to physically have become a part of him, absorbed, stirred inside him. He shivered, the chains clinking slightly with the movement. The scaled, wolf-like winged being pushed at his instincts and almost had him jerking at the chains in an instinctive reaction to being trapped. He barely forced back the reaction, not wanting to alert the intruders to his presence if he hadn't already.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and slumped back down, allowing the chains to hold him.

A protesting screech of hinges that needed oiled badly woke him from his doze with a growled rumble of annoyance. He blinked open eyes that looked like shattered mirrors to observe whomever had disturbed him. Two humans blinked back at him. One, a blond with Mako blue eyes, looked to be a SOLDIER. He had the stance, and his reaction to Ryuu's presence told him that perhaps Hojo's perversities had finally been discovered. The other, a redhead, was obviously a TURK. Ryuu stiffened, eyes locked on the smaller male. The redhead raised a brow before blinking in the blond's direction.

"Yo, should I go get ta others?"

"Yes." The blond replied, not taking his eyes off of Ryuu's. "Bring Vincent first."

As the redhead exited the room Ryuu turned his attention to the other one.

"You speak?"

Ryuu blinked before opening and closing his mouth. Could he? He remembered Hojo threatening to take it away. Only one way to tell.

"Yes." Was what he attempted to say, what came out sounded like, "Sry."

He blinked in confusion before attempting to speak again.

"Stlnoff dras sjurtn."

He hissed in annoyance, eyes swirling as English refused to leave his mouth. Fear hissed in amusement before informing him he was speaking in Dalsinj, the language used by Demons. He rapidly paled at that. Fear used his distraction to puch at the barriers and Ryuu was forced to ignore the blond for several minutes as he forced the Demon back. He groaned aloud as he felt Distortion begin to wake. Movement off to the side had him snapping his attention back to the male to find the redhead leaving again, and an ebony haired male in crimson clothing standing beside the blond with a concentrated expression.

Distortion took one glimpse through his eyes at the intruding male before catching sight of the golden clawed arm. With a scream of rage he threw himself at his bindings, succeeding in temporarily displacing both Fenrus and Ryuu. Eyes now a black bleeding inked tears down his suddenly white skin as bone spikes erupted out of his bare back. Distortion pulled at the chains, causing them to groan and the beams they were connected to begin to shake as the captive Demon screamed in defiance at the red cloaked male.

Ryuu merged fully with Fenrus from within his own body as the pair fought, temporarily in truce, to regain control. Ryuu could only groan mentally as Distortion shot off a black sphere of energy at the pair of intruders before spitting lava at the chains and melting them. Distortion had just managed to move a few feet forward when he stopped and raised clawed hands to shred desperately at the air as he roared in defiant rage before being forced back. Ryuu's choked scream took over the howl as he was slammed back into the forefront of his rapidly changing body. The spikes disintegrated back into his skin as it returned to normal, his eyes blinking through burning tears as the colors slowly spun back into shattered silver. He collapsed to his hands and knees, fighting desperately to regain his breathing.

The click of a gun being readied to fire brought his head slowly up. The crimson man was aiming a pair of guns at him. Neither moved for several seconds before Ryuu forced words out of his throat, even if the male wouldn't understand him.

"Jhardin."

The man's grip on his guns tightened reflexively before he nodded slightly. It was at that point Ryuu realized the male was just like him. He gave a broken laugh as he let himself drop to the floor. He curled into a pained ball as he watched the pair watching him.

"Gheltin nas dru verdinin?"

"Am I to be taken for more training?"

Vincent Valentine stiffened as the words registered in his mind, courtesy of Chaos. This male thought they worked for his captors; that they worked for Hojo. And he thought that because of Vincent, because he was the same. Vincent shook his head slightly in the negative and the odd colored male seemed to collapse even more in defeat.

"Then I am either being moved elsewhere, or eliminated, yes?" The male, man-child really as he appeared no older than sixteen at most, watched him from beneath strands of long white hair that had fallen near to his ass when he'd been standing. When Vincent didn't immediately reply the male continued. "If I am to die, I would rather you get it over with quickly. I might actually get some peace…"

Vincent felt obliged to answer him.

"We are not here to move you. Hojo is dead. We are cleaning out his outposts and labs." He ignored Cloud's questioning looks as they conversed. The other Host blinked, obviously assimilating the new information.

"Then do you work for his replacement?"

Vincent shook his head no. The male frowned.

"Then if you do not, and I am not to be moved or trained, why have you not eliminated me. I am obviously of no use to whoever you work for. Just kill me and get it over with."

Vincent stared at the male for several moments before a rumbling sigh escaped him in annoyance.

"I cannot kill you. Neither you nor I can die, we are unable to rejoin the Lifestream."

The male stiffened before swallowing back a choked noise that was somewhere between a scream of rage and a sob of despair.

"I'm stuck with them, aren't I?"

Vincent nodded his head solemnly. "As I am stuck with mine. I am Vincent Valentine. Who are you?"

"Ryuu Desoto."

"Can you control them?"

"Yes. You…surprised Distortion. He does not like Chaos. I am uncertain why. Now that I am aware of his dislike Fenrus and I can keep a closer eye on him."

"You have two?"

Ryuu shook his head.

"I am uncertain, I am aware of three who are awake, and one who sleeps. If there are others, than they are buried deeply. I was not always aware when Hojo was…adding."

Ryuu could see the way that the information affected Vincent. The male lowered his guns but only re-holstered one before approaching him. He let the man flip him over and check him for whatever he was looking for. Ryuu saw Vincent's eyes trace over the scattered designs on his chest, a mixture of magic seals and marks leftover from being dipped in the Lifestream. Whatever the male was looking for, he appeared satisfied as he helped Ryuu to his feet. As he was escorted from the building under guard, Ryuu could only hope that the world he was going out into was better than the labs he was leaving behind.