WARNIGS: similar or the same as previous chapters plus: non-graphic gore and torture, character death but no one I like (trying not to spoil this), slightly more graphic description of battle ground aftermath and some wounds and things that generally happen in the manga/anime anyway.

Yuu hated the world he woke up too, most of the time he hated that he had woken up at all.

All these people were always trying to cheer him up, trying to get him to stop snarling, and none of them seemed to realise that they were one of the reasons he was acting like that in the first place. He lived in a cage, and they were his jailers, and yet they seemed to think that he should be happy to be trapped and honoured by the pain they forced him to feel because it would help them save "humanity" from this "Earl" and his "Akuma".

Some days Yuu couldn't help thinking that that bastard all these people were worried about probably had the right idea. Most days he resented his regenerative ability that meant he had to keep standing back up when all he wanted to do was lay back down in the pool he crawled out of.

The world Yuu had woken up to was bright lights, loud noise, and pain. These scientists were constantly shoving him into observation rooms and shining a light on him, making him feel so exposed with the limited clothes he and the other, Alma, were allowed that left them feeling so naked when compared to those around them that covered nearly all their skin. Everything was loud, whether it be the other talking, the scientist giving orders, or his and the other's screams as their bodies were ripped apart in searing agony as they were forced to do what they were told, and in the silence as their hearts stopped had to listen to that too-calm voice as it ran through a verbal dissection of him as if he was just another object.

The only place where Yuu could relax in this new world was on the edge of his old one, in that cold and quiet room where the others still slept. Only there could he get away from the chaos, but not always the pain, and be allowed to think about what his life was like.

And the answer he always came up with was hell, and these scientists were the real demons no matter what they said.

It was where he was currently hiding, the others would be looking for him soon but for now he had time to try and sort out his thoughts, to try and dissect those around him the way they loved to do him.

One of the people he was constantly forced to associate with, one that was often on his mind, was the other one like him, Alma Karma. Alma creeped him out, and then had the audacity to wonder why. The other was always smiling, getting along with these so-called scientists that were their jailers and torturers. Yuu couldn't understand his willingness to buy into their bullshit, their shoddy explanations and excuses. Alone in this dark room surrounded by those that slept he could allow himself to wonder if Alma's acceptance was a result of having been awake longer … and broken utterly in that time.

Nothing made you more compliant than the knowledge that you where never going to escape your hell.

But it wasn't just the constant torture and death that he had to survive, and in some ways he could understand that from their point of view as he wasn't even human, that had him so uneasy lately. No, it was the whispers that these demons hadn't realised he could hear. It wasn't anything concreate, nothing definite had been said around him but that didn't mean that decisions hadn't already been made, but every now and then he would hear a comment that had his blood freezing and hoping they were just making off hand remarks that wouldn't lead anywhere.

Because Yuu's only hope right now was that he wasn't human, not anymore and possibly not ever, and he wanted to believe that these monsters would never do to a real child what they had done to him and Alma.

Several days later all of Yuu's fears where confirmed.

A nine-year-old girl by the name of Lenalee lee had just arrived, and the complex was in total upheaval as they moved her around without ever letting her loose or out of sight. It only took a few minutes for Yuu to understand what the problem is; like him she wanted to go back to sleep, back to the "before", but unlike him her own body won't stop her by recovering and dragging her back to consciousness if she tries, so they have to result to other means.

Because this girl, this tiny child, actually had the option of not waking up if she goes to sleep the right way.

And Yuu is disgusted by how much he envies her.

But he supposes, just this once, he can consider these demon's as having done something right. After all, unlike with Yuu and Alma, these people are actually trying to help her. Lenalee Lee is here because they hope that being around children her own age will help her get better, help her look forward to tomorrow and the day after, even if these people aren't really people and have barely been awake for a few months and so aren't really her age.

These bastards do have some sense, after all, as they make sure that she is only exposed to Alma and only before the synchronisation testing. They try to get Alma to succeed with Lenalee Lee the way he failed with Yuu, to make friends and help her adjust to a life she doesn't want. Yuu might not be allowed near her for fear of his violent temper, but he still sees and hears more than anyone else in this god damned facility. Pretending that you don't give a damn about anything outside of yourself has its benefits, people forget to be so guarded around you.

Or maybe they just don't care what a trapped little experiment is likely to overhear, its not like they will ever have the chance to tell anyone.

And so, Yuu knows that Alma sits beside this girl with her hands tied to the bed and prattles about the "safe" things he can talk about and helps feed her and promises to be there tomorrow as the girl stares blankly to the side of him and responds to nothing. Yuu knows that this girl is an exorcist, that she is what they want to make them, and that she has already seen death and destruction despite her age. He knows she is to fight, and has already, that she has been through training that is less then his experiments but more than a girl her age should have to go through. Yuu knows that she's not meant to be here, that he and Alma are supposed to be top secret, and he knows that these people don't care about any of them, not really, and they just want more child soldiers in their army to fight a war that never belonged to them.

Yuu knows that despite what these people think, he would probably be the best person to help her, because Yuu can't harm a child that's already hurt, and Yuu understands more than he ever wanted to.

And then, several months later, another kid arrives, even younger than Lenalee who still isn't talking, and even more hurt than even that now broken child.

And it is everything that Yuu feared when they brought in Lenalee.

Because no matter what these people say, the child that refuses to give his name is human, and some days they treat him even worst then they do Yuu and Alma.

TAKENTAKENTAKEN

Red should have kept his damn mouth shut, or succeed better in going along with whatever they said.

Though Allen wouldn't really consider it his fault, this wasn't his world, he had no knowledge of what was normal and what was not, he was going to make mistakes and it was just unfortunate that his first one had cost him so greatly.

The part that was Red snarled and tried to bury that fragment that Mana had drawn to the surface back down in the dark where it belonged. Allen was a name on paper and a voice that sounded suspiciously like Mana that tried to show kindness to him even when it wasn't real, in the hell he had just walked into it was unneeded, Red was more useful, and neither were his name anyway so what did it matter how he referred to himself in his own head when he wouldn't say those names allowed anyway.

That's right, they didn't even bother asking his name more than once, especially after he bit a few people, he should probably get used to calling himself "San*" now anyway.

San had arrived in China a few days ago, turns out it really was another country with a different language and everything, and the first thing they had done was track down someone who spoke English and start asking questions and trying to explain why he should be happy this was his new "home" while dodging his teeth. He had paid attention long enough to come to the conclusion that these bastards were just as bad as anyone else he had ever come across connected to the church, no matter what they were preaching, and started to use his time for the more productive past time of trying to escape.

It was just bad luck that one of the first questions they had asked, while he was still paying attention, was how long he had had his innocence, and just how it behaved in the presence of Akuma.

He hadn't known what Akuma were, still didn't have an answer to what innocence was, and the fact that as far as he was concerned his left hand was just a deformity he was born with was obvious because he didn't even try to hide it, thinking he could convince these people they had the wrong person.

Turned out he was the one that was wrong.

A "miracle", an "anomaly", another "piece of the puzzle" and so many other things that set his hair on end as instincts honed from years on the streets started warning of the danger to come. Words like that were never good, they were just more words for "demon" and "freak" and normally preceded the orders to get the fire ready when spoken by the church as they prepared to "cleanse" him.

And like so many times before, those instincts had been right.

These people were no different to any other hypercritical, self-indulgent church, even if they showed it differently.

Were somehow even worst.

It started out almost okay, they continued with their explanation as to why this was where he belonged and so should just do as he was told. The explanation finally answered his questions about what innocence was, and drove home the fact that these people were insane.

It didn't help that, during the explanation, they also drove home the fact that even here with the other apostles and freaks, he still stood out as someone that defied nature and would never be considered normal, even by their extremely skewed views.

And Allen would never willingly follow a group that tried to justify throwing children to their deaths, manipulating their entire lives, in order to save a race that was already rotten to the core and showing more of just how much every day.

These people didn't deserve saving, and the other three children in this so-called facility didn't deserve the life they were being forced to live.

After the long-winded explanation that was nothing more than propaganda being spouted by brainwashed fools, things started to get a little more iffy. Those that could speak English tried to teach him Chinese, so that he could actually talk to his new "comrades", and that wouldn't have been so bad if the lessons hadn't been combined with "training" so that he could use his left arm like weapon.

That training consisted of throwing him into highly dangerous situations in an attempt to make him so desperate for salvation that he would activate the god damn thing so that they could start teaching him how to use it. Those situations varied from people trying to attack him with guns, knives, or bare fists to throwing him into simulations of natural disasters, in the hopes that San would awaken that power in a desperate bid to survive.

These idiots didn't seem to understand that a lot of this stuff was just everyday occurrences to someone who grew up on the street.

It all failed, pathetically, but it sparked the interest in the scientist as his grievous wounds healed faster than they had any right to, not as fast as that weird Alma dude but fast enough for people to comment. When San failed to freeze to death, survived being crushed, and escaped the bush fire with only minor burns, the scientist decided that rather than "training" San's time at the facility would be better spent undergoing "examinations" so that they could understand how to help him activate his weapon better.

Those examinations were absolute hell, tests to measure his response to pain, trying to see just what was in his blood, cutting him open to see why the normal scans didn't seem to work on him. These people didn't give a damn if he screamed, just offered up empty words of comfort that meant nothing to him. So many times he suffered from fever dreams where Mana would somehow find him and save him, like he had once before when "Allen" had been caught, only to curse himself for his weakness in the harsh light of day. Always back to more tests and hiding him from the girl that looked like a corpse with the way she stared because they didn't trust him around her if he was managing to tear flesh from his captors without even the use of his innocence.

And San, always the non-human, the demon, wondered just how many times these so called "people" would make him bleed trying to get answers to secrets that where not his too keep.

TAKENTAKENTAKEN

The Earl balanced on top of his level one Akuma, Lero in his hand, as he and his family watched from the sky the Central Branch of the Black Order. It was amusing, in a way, just how oblivious they were to both the world and the danger they were currently in. Thousands upon thousands of Akuma surrounded the building in a cloud, the Noah had gathered, and Road already had several doors leading into the strong hold open and waiting to let the army in.

These people didn't stand a chance.

Mana laughed, looking fairly demonic with his Armour on. This was the central building, it was supposed to contain all exorcists that were not on missions plus any that were in training, though only those currently without a Master. His son was an exorcist, these people had taken him, this was the branch most likely to have him.

But this was also the Main Branch, it was where all the information and orders came and went from, where all the records were stored. This was the most likely place they were keeping Allen, but it wasn't guaranteed. What was guaranteed was that, if he wasn't here, then there would be information and records on where he was. Attacking this place would tell them where Allen was, if he wasn't already here, and it would show the god damned Order that they were not safe, that the Akuma were capable of striking a blow to their heart of operations.

'Remember, children are to be unharmed, leave some of the adults alive so we can question them, and please, don't destroy any of their records, information is a weapon in itself,' Mana said, his voice with a singing lilt. 'Oh, and if you run into a General, do be careful, I don't want any of my precious family getting hurt, after all.'

Several of the Noah smiled, Tyki included, at his words. Several weeks ago they wouldn't have been able to imagine the Earl stating that he cared about them, telling them to be careful. Prior to "Mana's" news about his son Allen they would have been told to get the job done and left it at that, they might have liked to think that the man cared about them, at least to the point of rather important chess pieces, but despite how he sometimes called them, none of them had actually believed they were family.

With the Noah's new determination not to let their new father figure, Mana, down the Order really didn't stand a chance. They fell on them with all their hatred of humanity and anger at being denied the opportunity to meet the one that that had made just a drastic change in the Earl possible. The battle was bloody and short, the screams rattling around the remaining ruins that had been a building just an hour before.

One hour and thirty minutes from when the order to attack was given, only twenty people from the other side were still breathing, and most of them were more than a little worst for wear. Two exorcists remained amongst that number, the rest of the fighting force left in scattered heaps of severed limbs amongst the rubble, including two generals that were now missing several vital organs. The rest of the current list of survivors were scientists and a high-ranking inspector by the name of Malcom C. Leverrier, his crow body guards spread out in pieces with the rest of the deceased.

The Millennium Earl stood before the remains of the Black Order central building in all his armoured glory, a stack of documents at his feet that would, hopefully, point him in the right direction to find his son, and looked down on the filth that had the guts to call themselves human after all the sins they had committed. Behind him his family stood, Sheril manipulating his strings so that the pests couldn't move and make a nuisance of themselves. Tyki, Road, and surprisingly Skin gathered around and unsuccessfully tried to comfort the three children that had been found hidden away in the labs. Lulu bell, Tryde and Mercym stood between the children and the Earl himself, standing at the ready for when the order to remove the last of the filth from existence was finally given.

None of them were happy about what they had found in those labs, the three children already surrounded by bodies that were way too small that had been cut up and preserved in jars, children that themselves showed scars from the experiments that these scientists were conducting to try and boost their fighting force. The children were not even exorcists, these so-called people wouldn't risk their apostles like that, they just had the misfortune of being related to one or another, making their blood useful.

'Weellll, Leverrier, we have a few questions regarding your operations, especially what you have been doing to a couple of child exorcists, and you seem like just the person to answer them,' The Earl said in that childish, lilting, voice that was, in reality, just another way to mock the man before him. Allen hadn't been at this Facility, and given the state of the children that had been Mana wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. They had files, and one of them was sure to say something, but there were so many, and time was of the essence.

The man snarled, causing more blood to trickle from his split lip down his chin, and spat a loose tooth on the ground in a bloody mess before responding. 'You'll get nothing from me, Millennium Earl, I might be considered a devil by many, but you are the real evil of this world and I still have my pride as a human. I don't care what scum you get to follow you, they're all just freaks and traitors and one day you will all get what you deserve.'

'Road,' the Earl said after a beat of silence, 'take the children somewhere safe, they don't need to see what's going to happen next, they have been through enough already.

'It seems,' the man continued when Road had returned from her side mission, 'that I need to teach you to be careful about what you say about my precious family. Maybe the lesson will also convince you to answer the question.'

For the next few hours Leverrier screamed, before words and information finally made their way through the noise, and Tyki put the creature out of its misery with another bloody hand through its chest.

'We have what we came for, feel free to get rid of the rest.' The comment was off hand, but the Noah could see the barely contained fury even through the Earl's Armor.

'What did you do to the children?' one the scientist, someone that appeared to be of Chinese descent, called out as the first of the scientist started dying.

'Huh?' Tryde sneered at the man as he casually broke someone's neck.

'What did you do to the children?' the man asked again, only the tiniest hint of fear in his voice.

No one answered him, he was an inferior human, but at least one of the Noah felt her curiosity rise.

'Earl,' Road practically sang as she skipped closer to the scientist, 'let me play with this one.'

And the body of Komui Lee went limp as his mind fell into blackness, a blackness that faded into his worst nightmare.

What felt like an eternity later, he woke, gasping for breath with a scream on the tip of his tongue, one he had to choke back as he noticed the bodies of those that surrounded him and realised he really was the only one still alive.

'Congratulations, human, you've impressed me,' coming from the Earl it didn't sound anywhere near as much of a compliment as it should have. 'And as a prize for having done so, I'll help you get back what the Order took.'

Komui stared at the insane clown before him, his mind going blank.

'This wasn't a random attack; like you, the Order took something from me, something that does not belong to them. I am offering you a chance, just one, to come with me and I will help you find your sister and let the both of you walk away from this war in one piece, both your lives intact. You don't really have any attachment to these people, do you? You just want to save your sister from being alone, from having to suffer thinking that she is the only one left. Come with me, and I will free you both from these pathetic chains of hypocrisy that this place preaches.'

He shouldn't, he knew that he shouldn't, but in the end Komui Lee couldn't help but reach up and take that offered hand on that field covered in death. Take it and follow the devil towards the gates of hell.

'Sheryl,' the Earl murmured as they started to walk through the door back to the Arch to look through the files and plan their next attack, 'I'm sure I can trust you to find someone suitable to look after those three children? With your connections it should be possible to make sure they are seen to properly.'

Sheryl didn't say anything, but everyone there knew that you would as was asked, even he as one of the more sadistic Noah wasn't heartless.

* San as in Three, as in the third experimental non-human, the person who gave it to him is a bastard