IX. Unraveling

The tiger-like Inhuman sat in the corner of his room thinking to himself, while Shachihoko was napping in a nearby cot. There were a few things he didn't understand, and he was glad to have this silence so he could think through things properly enough.

The first thing that came up in his mind was Monica. What number was she again? 204? Right. He wondered how she was right now, assisting Sylvan with his work. Even though Shachihoko was all better, Sylvan had insisted on keeping Monica as a helper, too, saying that he suddenly had much more work than expected and that while Monica baked the cookies, Shachihoko could run through the physical examinations. Sylvan himself would look through the results and see what needed to be done from there. Kai supposed it was nice of Sylvan to do something like this for Monica, to keep her away from being experimented with or being put in those maze fights again.

He then thought about Sylvan, about what happened earlier when he tried to see Monica and was too late. The older man looked so...Frail and frightened. Or worried. Yes, perhaps worried was the word Kai was looking for to describe the scientist. And what in the world was Sylvan thinking when he performed that physical examination on himself? Was he worried that he was becoming Inhuman or something?

Kai paused for a moment, before shaking Shachihoko awake, intent on going back to the lab as soon as possible.


"He's here." Yukino's cold voice echoed from above Shadow's grunts and growls as the two entered the lab. She handed the chains restraining Shadow's limbs to Sylvan, who led the Inhuman to the table and let him lie down, before starting the x-ray machine. "...You've been awfully quiet, Sylvan."

"This is the first time you've noticed, whenever it's just me alone in this lab with you around." Sylvan responded, glancing away from Yukino and looking at the results. "Shadow is fine, by the way. Monica should be getting some cookies for him right now."

The raven haired Commander ignored the last statement, walking over to the blond and facing him. "Oh, I've noticed it, actually. It's just that I didn't bother to comment on it until now." She responded cooly, putting her hands on her hips. "There are some things I actually need to talk to you about in private." Sylvan nodded quietly, before the two walked through another door.

Monica walked out of Sylvan's room, carrying a plate of freshly-baked cookies, just in time to see Shadow. The white-haired Inhuman looked at Monica quietly, not saying a word. "I forgot that you were next..." Monica trailed off as she walked over to the Shadow, offering the plate of cookies to the Inhuman. Shadow grabbed a few cookies in one hand and shoved them into his mouth as she continued speaking. "Huh...Where's Sylvan?"

Shadow pointed at two silhouettes from behind a nearby door, conversing with each other. Monica knew well that the room those two were in was where the blood samples of each of the Inhumans were kept for examination, for research.

"Is it true that you plan on figuring out a way to release the Inhumans from this place?" Yukino asked coldly.

"Of course not." Sylvan lied in response. "If I did, I would be thrown in the Pit, would I not? And what would you know about me, anyway, besides the fact that you either see me as some annoying cockroach or someone to use as a replacement for my father for whatever the two of you do in your spare time?"

"You-" There was the sound of breaking glass, and Sylvan let out a something that sounded like a gasp. "You-How dare you! You're so used to being around those other Inhumans, let's see you try the taste of their blood!"

"Ow! No! Dang it, Yukino, I'm telling you to-" There was a choking sound that cut off whatever Sylvan was going to say next, before a thud resounded after that. Monica and Shadow exchanged glances, before the two rushed over to the door and flung it open. Inside, broken glass vials were strewn onto the floor, with Yukino having her foot on Sylvan's head, keeping it close to the blood-splattered ground to the point that he was forced to lick the blood off the tiled floor.

"Leave him alone!" Monica shouted, pushing Yukino backwards. The Commander let out a snarl, taking out a gun, but before she could pull the trigger, everyone heard a louder growl. Monica, Shadow and Yukino paused, realizing that there was only one other creature in this room that could have made that sound besides Shadow, who hadn't uttered a word or sound at all since entering the room.

Sylvan stood quietly, one eye crimson and glaring straight at Yukino was he licked some blood off his clawed left hand.


Screams resounded as Kai and Shachihoko crawled through the air vents, and Kai quickened his pace. He swore if that was Monica screaming for help, that certainly wasn't good and he really didn't want her getting hurt by whoever or whatever it could be causing the people in the room to scream in horror.

The two smashed the air vent cover open, before dropping onto the ground of the lab and discovering the scene laid out for them.

Shadow, standing in front of Monica; Yukino, her corpse having been ripped open; and Sylvan, covered in blood and standing in a more hunched position; one of his eyes completely blood-crimson in colour and growling at Shadow.

"What in the world...?" Shachihoko started, but that was when Sylvan noticed Kai and Shachihoko and lunged at them. Kai immediately prepared to pounce at the blond, to attack, but Shadow let out a roar and tackled the older man out of the way. The two snarled, clawed and punched at each other, as if trying to kill each other.

"Stop it!" Monica shouted, rushing at the two and trying to restrain Sylvan, but the scientist just smacked her away with his arm to prevent her from getting hurt. Unfortunately, his shove was a bit rougher than he intended, and she fell backwards, onto the floor.

"Monica!" Kai ran to her side, helping her up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...But I can't say the same for Sylvan! Something's wrong, and I swear it's all Yukino's fault! She made him drink blood samples of the rest of us and this is what happened!" Monica exclaimed. "I don't get it...Was it our blood that made him like this, or maybe he actually is Inhuman, or...?"

"No time to answer that!" Shachihoko shouted as he and Shadow tried to restrain Sylvan. "C'mon, help!" Monica and Kai grabbed Sylvan's arms, and Shadow and Shachihoko grabbed his legs.

"Snap out of it, Sylvan!" Kai shouted at the older man, who continued to struggle in their grasp. "C'mon!" Sylvan let out a snarl, before suddenly throwing Monica, Kai and Shachihoko out of the way somehow and tackling Shadow to the ground again. The two wrestled with each other, snarling and hissing, and just as Shadow was about to punch Sylvan's face-

A tranquilizer dart embedded itself into his arm. Shadow stared at it in horror, before drifting into unconsciousness and collapsing onto Sylvan completely. Ryou Kuroyanagi rushed into the room, accompanied by several other security guards, and pushed Shadow's body off Sylvan, who was gasping for breath and staring up at the ceiling. As soon as Ryou entered Sylvan's line of sight, he seemed to panic more, and tried to sit up.

"Hey...It's going to be okay, Sylvan." Kuroyanagi told him, holding him closely. "It's going to be okay..."

"What about Shadow...?" Sylvan tried to speak, but he nearly collapsed completely in Kuroyanagi's arms, weak from the fighting that he wasn't aware of committing.

"He'll be going into the Pit." Yuiichi Kirisaki's voice echoed in the ruined lab, and everyone turned to face him. "He's had more than enough chances, and him going to attack you like this, Sylvan, is more than just crossing the line."

"But..." Sylvan seemed to want to say more, but he fell into unconsciousness as well. Yuiichi Kirisaki and all the security guards left, dragging Shadow behind them, except for Kuroyanagi, who continued to hold Sylvan gently.

Shachihoko, Monica and Kai exchanged grim expressions with each other, before Monica spoke up. "We should...We should get Sylvan to the infirmary. And...Clean up the lab..." She trailed off quietly. The others just simply nodded with agreement.

Things were unraveling.