It wasn't every day the Arcobaleno requested the help of anyone – especially not the help of a dysfunctional group of outcasts who had once turned against their own allies. Usually, said group would refuse to lend their hands, but that changed once money – especially large sums – was brought into the equation; Mammon, the ever-greedy baby she was, never could turn down a request once cash was handed to her.
That was why Belphegor found himself walking into the abandoned building Mammon had told him to go to, having been given orders to help with the Lightning Arcobaleno's newest research experiment. He didn't know the details; just that an extremely powerful Storm flame was required to activate something within the experiment, and Verde hadn't been able to find one as strong as the blond's.
"So you've arrived."
Bel looked around at the voice and instinctively slid a knife out of his sleeve; there weren't many people he trusted, and Verde was someone who had always given him a bad vibe. "Where are you, Lightning baby?"
Verde stepped out of the shadows so that he could make his presence known. He looked the same as ever, but there was something in those eyes that Bel didn't trust; something he couldn't put his finger on, but knowing there was nothing but malicious intent awaiting him. "Right here."
"Mammon said you need my Storm flames." Bel spoke carefully as he watched for any hint of a threat; he didn't want to be here, but after Mammon had somehow convinced Xanxus to send him off…
Well, a mission was a mission, and one didn't disobey Xanxus if they wanted to live.
"Yes, your Storm flames would do perfectly for my research." His smirk widened slightly as his eyes wandered over Bel's thin frame; it would have been unnoticeable to other people, but the blond didn't miss these kinds of things; he hadn't been praised as a battle genius for nothing, after all. "If you'll just come this way, we can begin."
Bel had no intention of going anywhere so soon; he had already put himself into a position he was uncomfortable with, and he wasn't about to lower his guard and get hurt; who knew what this crazy baby had in mind for him? "What's the 'research'?"
"I'm researching the potency of flames and exactly what kind of things they can achieve. I want to measure the theory that a larger flame will unlock more potential long-term."
"And how do I fit into this?" Not moving an inch, Bel was so focused on Verde, he didn't sense the second presence in the room coming ever closer to him – and even if he did, he would never have found it anyway; not with the invisibility suit covering their body and hiding them from the teenager's awareness.
It was when Verde's smirk widened into a twisted sneer did Bel tense up and draw a handful of knives, knowing he had to get out of here while he could. However, before he could so much as aim at the Arcobaleno, he was taken by surprise at the sensation of something sharp pricking his skin, feeling much like a syringe.
Bel jumped away and searched wildly for an enemy, but when he was unable to see anyone else but Verde in the room, he knew he was at a disadvantage; how was he supposed to defend himself against an enemy he couldn't see? He winced as he felt his vision starting to fade as a surreal feeling enveloped him; raising a hand to the junction of his neck and shoulder where he had been pricked, his suspicions were confirmed when he felt a small droplet of blood roll down his neck. "What… did you do, baby…?"
Verde didn't bother answering; he simply watched as Bel collapsed to the floor in a heap with his knives scattered around his motionless body. Addressing his subordinate in the invisibility suit, he spoke in a calm manner that betrayed his intentions; Verde was anything but gentle in this moment. "Take him to our Headquarters and have him prepared for our research. Be sure to restrain him as best as possible; no doubt he will try and escape."
With that said, Verde turned around and walked back into the room he had come from. He would return back to his Headquarters and see how his newest research was coming along soon; first, he needed to make sure no one would come looking for Bel.
~~XX~~
When Bel came to an undetermined amount of time later, his vision was cloudy and he was finding it hard to move his body; his limbs felt heavy, as if there was something weighing him down. He looked to the side and blinked when he took notice of handcuffs around his wrists, with chains leading to the wall behind him. Looking at his feet, he found the same setup; was someone going to torture him for information or something…?
Bel let out a strangled cough as he vaguely recalled something about an Arcobaleno and research. His mind was too foggy to think coherently, and all he could comprehend was that he was not supposed to be here.
"B-boss…" The boy whimpered for Xanxus before he let out a shudder as he felt a burning sensation run all through his body, as if his blood had been set on fire; what had been done to him…? "Boss…"
"It's no use."
The Storm Guardian tensed at the voice that broke through his haze. He lifted his head to blink at the doorway, and he was able to make out blurry figures standing by it, but apart from that, he was too blinded to make out much more.
"Your boss doesn't know you're here. None of them do. If they ever do bother to come and look for you, they won't find you."
Bel mumbled something unintelligible, his words slurred from whatever he had been drugged with. He sighed as he dropped his head back to the mattress, finding it too hard to keep holding it up. Groaning softly at the pain coursing through him, he tugged his left arm, rattling the chain.
"What are you waiting for? Give him the last of the preparations."
Bel could do nothing to fight off the tablets that were being shoved down his throat, and he could only flinch when he felt more syringes pierce his skin. The ache in his tummy he hadn't noticed until now exuberated, and if he could, he would have curled into a ball from what he could only describe as feeling as if his insides were being ripped out of him; he wasn't articulate enough to see the large wounds on his stomach that looked as if someone had cut him open, but he could still feel it – and, hell, did it hurt.
When Bel felt someone grab his hair and yank his head up, he whimpered quietly; he couldn't make out who had gripped him, but he was slowly recognising the voice by the doorway as Verde's.
"I will come back in a few hours to see how his body is faring. As soon as he is ready, every one of you may take him as many times as you wish."
Bel wasn't coherent enough to fully grasp the meaning behind these words, but even so; he still knew that he was in for something horrible; he should have known from the second Xanxus told him to go to that building that it wouldn't be as simple as lending his Storm flames, and now, it looked as if he were about to pay the price of all their ignorance. He could only hope he was going to get out of this soon.
