Entropy. Ikebukuro was full of entropic, catastrophic energy. It was an undeniable, inescapable truth. Lights on billboards bloomed every night until their bulbs burst, humans dragged their work worn shoes over degrading asphalt, and Orihara Izaya watched from the high window of his apartment as the world ate away at itself, becoming nothing but chaos.
There was a sadistic grin stretching the pale face of Orihara Izaya that night. Moving from the window, he spun on his heel and paced from wall to wall in the dark, shoulders shaking, entire body quivering with anticipation. Entropy. He was the king of entropy, the master of deterioration. It was like a sickness for him- a cheap thrill. There was nothing better in the world than watching people crumble. Breaking down walls, tearing away masks, watching blood spill and tears fall... these were the most beautiful parts of humanity.
To put it plainly, Orihara Izaya had a huge hard on for misfortune.
However, there was one person he could never break. Heiwajima Shizuo was a horrible mix of too-dumb-to-function and too-smart-for-his-own-good. It was as though, from the moment the two of them met eyes, Heiwajima Shizuo knew everything about Orihara Izaya. Behind that narrow smile, raven hair, and lanky schoolboy body, the strongest man in Ikebukuro saw the beast within instantly, and he didn't like what he saw.
Izaya dragged his nails across the cold window again, checking his phone.
It had always infuriated him, actually. He loves humans, truly and completely. He loved knowing exactly what they were thinking. He loved being completely inside them, manipulating them, /owning them/. There was only one that he didn't own. Only one whose actions surprised him every time. That wretched monster, that barely-human, that unbreakable Heiwajima Shizuo. Unbreakable body, unbreakable spirit.
But he knew. Oh, he knew very well that no human was unbreakable. Heiwajima Shizuo might be mostly a monster, but there was still something innately human in him. Izaya spent many years passively studying the beast, roiling with hatred. And now, at last, he was convinced that he knew exactly how to break the monster into a thousand pieces, from the inside out.
The screen of his cell phone lit up, winking in the darkness, at last. Lifting the rectangle to his cheek, Izaya struggled to contain his excitement. "What is it? Did you finally get what I asked you for?"
"Y-yeah," a quavering, gruff voice, cracking like a teenager's but rough from years of booze and drugs, said despondently. "I mean, it took enough tranquilizer to knock out an elephant, but we got him and tied him up just like you asked."
"Ahh, good! You kept me waiting long enough. I was beginning to worry that you were dead!"
There was a long pause, an awkward chuckle. "Nah, we just did what you said and it was fine. Caught him alone at a vending machine and hit him right in the back. He tried to throw it at us, but we kept hitting him until he dropped. T-that means you'll give me those pictures, right?"
Izaya's delicate white fingers trailed over his desk. Two identical sets of pictures lay there, beside two envelopes. One, unaddressed, meant to be delivered to this man on the phone. The other, addressed to his wife. "Of course! The evidence of your little scandal will be waiting for you at the location we discussed, tomorrow night. In the meantime, leave the key under the mat and find your way out. I expect you to be gone by the time I get there."
When Shizuo awoke, it was to the uncomfortable sensation of having something hard and rubbery pressed into his face, and being unable to see. He blinked several times, trying to clear the fog from his brain. As the haze worked its way out, the strangest scene began to paint itself around him.
He was lying on his back, on something soft and cushiony, like a bed. This was slightly unusual, as the last thing he remembered, he was reaching to grab a soda from the vending machine in the alley behind Cinema Rosa, across from Russia Sushi. Secondly, he could not move his arms and legs. This was even more concerning, as he could feel every inch of his body painfully well- enough to comprehend that his wrists were fastened above his head in tight shackles, and his ankles gripped by the same cold metal, with his legs spread. Lastly, the cool rubber grinding against his cheek was unmistakably the bottom of a hard black shoe with a slight heel.
Shizuo grunted, straining against his bonds. with all of his might. The metal groaned, but it did not so much as bend. The owner of the shoe cackled, and removed the heel from his face.
"Finally awake, Shizu-chan? You really kept me waiting! You've been out for three hours. It's nearly midnight." The cold, sensual coo came from above him. Orihara Izaya loomed over Heiwajima Shizuo, tall and dark, horrible and ugly contempt oozing from every orifice.
"F-Flea...!" The word came out as a slur, muffled by a heavy tongue and a foggy head. Shizuo lurched, thrashing against his bonds and arching his back, but could not gain an inch.
"Oh, do you like your chains? They were made especially for you. Maraging Steel coated with a thin layer of Graphene! I spared no expense. These shackles are practically unbreakable. It would take more than a few feeble tugs to set you loose."
/What are you doing? Unchain me, you sick bastard, so I can beat the shit out of you!/
Heiwajima Shizuo would have said this, and much more, had a wave of nausea not come over him at that moment. He gasped for air and gulped desperately, holding back the urge to vomit for fear of only coating himself in his own sick. Instead of words, he resigned to unleashing a rabid roar, bucking and fighting. Bruises began to form on his wrists and ankles as he jostled around in his shackles, but they refused to give.
Izaya took the opportunity to snap a collar around his neck. He leaped back, spinning out of the way of the foaming blond beast, and palmed a small remote. /Click./
A torrent of electric agony rushed through Shizuo's body, beginning at his neck and spreading outward, resonating through his bindings with an electric hum. Entire body frozen, racked with a pain unlike that of a broken bone or pierced flesh- his very nerves on fire and every muscle contracted, Shizuo's back arched and his eyes rolled back. The agony stopped as quickly as it began, and he flopped limply onto the bedsheets, panting.
"To be safe, I invested in getting a custom shock collar made especially for you." Izaya spun the remote in his hand, running his thumb across the soft rubber button. "The voltage had to be altered, but it wasn't difficult to modify. Oh, did I mention that Graphene is an especially good conductor?"
...Shizuo eyed the remote like a wild animal, a line of spit working its way down the side of his mouth, his teeth clenched in fury. Izaya's thumb passed slowly across his cheek, wiping the moisture away. The blond beast had the urge to bite him- snap the fingers right off with his teeth and spit them out like twigs, but as his kidnapper continued to talk, he did nothing but growl desperately.
"You know, Shizu-chan, most modern shock collars for dogs are actually very humane. They use more of a muscle stimulant rather than a powerful electric charge. The base is that if you get a dog's attention, you can redirect them from an unwanted behavior." He chuckled darkly. "This isn't like that. This is pure, paralyzing electrical charge, and it'll hurt you."
"What do you want, shithead?" Shizuo spat.
"I'm getting there, Shizu-chan, if only you'll let me." The black soled shoe swung over him, planting itself below Shizuo's belly button, just above the edge of his pants. Izaya forced his weight forward onto the hard stomach, and tapped the button of the remote, sending quick, sharp, electrical shocks running through the collar in pulsing succession.
As every muscle of Shizuo's body tensed with pain, Orihara Izaya's cold, cruel laugh rang out and rebounded off the walls of the torture chamber. "I finally figured out what it is I hate about you, Shizu-chan! You refuse to bow down to anyone. You refuse to fear me. And that's simply no good! How am I ever supposed to take over this city, with you running around getting in my way and chasing me like some dumb dog after a cat? That's where this collar comes in handy!"
Orihara Izaya leaned over Heiwajima Shizuo, and as their eyes connected, a cold chill ran through Shizuo's body. Fear- the monster of Ikebukuro. He had felt it many times before, when overcome by his strength, but he had never felt it like this before. He had never felt the fear of being helpless and weak. "Tonight, I'm finally going to make Shizu-chan my bitch."