Author's Note: Trying to keep these to a minimum, but figured I'd mention my busier schedule (more busy than before) is going to make for slower updates (of course ^_^) but I'm always writing material, and have no intention of quitting. I'm mostly writing this as a thank you for all the new people who have subscribed and thus reviewed. It really inspires me to keep going, and I don't take it for granted.


Nana awoke with a dull ringing in her head.

As hard as she tried, everything felt fuzzy, unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar. She couldn't get a sense of her surroundings and all her senses seemed to be lying to her, confusing her. She couldn't even focus on what her eyes were seeing, and for a few minutes as she remained still in her listlessness, she thought perhaps she was waking from a nightmare. Her head ached and she tried to comfort it with her hand, but for some reason she wasn't able to make her hand move over towards her head. She heard a metallic rattling and felt a growing fear rising within her, but didn't know why she was feeling it. It was like her consciousness was trying to catch up to the information her body was receiving about her environment. Suddenly, she felt a sharp stinging pain in her cheek…like someone slapping her…

…someone had just slapped her. Her focus sharpened all at once.

"Rise and shine monster."

Nana then realized why her arm wouldn't move…why she couldn't move either of her arms. She was chained to a wall…just like she used to be a long time ago. Her synthetic arms and legs had been taken off of her, and the stumps of her arms were locked into a device that kept her against the steel wall she was secured against. The height of the arm restraints were meant for a person with legs, for she half hung, half balanced on her leg stumps. It was realizing this, that made her aware of a pain in her upper arms from hanging there unconscious. She found it difficult to get her breath, and she knew if she had not at least been partially braced by what was left of her legs, she would have suffocated in her sleep. She instinctively tried to call her vectors to break the chains but something was wrong. There was a block in her mind that prevented her from calling them. A signal that scrambled her brain constantly so that her mind couldn't concentrate on the specific effort to make them work. Lastly, she noticed that she was stripped naked.

"No…no…no no no!"

Nana started to panic, knowing where she was. Tears started to fall down her face at realizing her predicament but even more because of the absolute humiliation of being stripped naked, and chained to a wall for all to see her limbless, pathetic body, and being helpless to do anything about it. Not again, she couldn't go back to this. She had finally known the happiness of being free…she couldn't do this again, she just couldn't…

Kouta…Yuka…Mayu…

and…Lucy…please don't take them away from me…please please please!

"Theeeere you go. You know what's happening now, don't you?"

She looked up and saw that man…with the ice white hair, leering down at her, a smug smirk on his face.

"I bet right about now, you're trying like hell to use those disease ridden hands of yours to break out. I bet it's all you can think about. Probably making you desperate that it's not working isn't it?"

"Please! Let me go! I didn't hurt anyone! I'd never hurt anyone! I'm a good girl!"

The man exploded into motion and slapped her harder than the last time; she tasted blood in her mouth.

"Don't you lie to me you filthy little bitch! You think I'm fuckin stupid? I know about your kind. I've seen what you do. What you ALL do. Don't go thinking your innocent routine is going to work on me. I've put bullets in sweeter faces than yours, and frankly, I think I'd be doing you a favor if I blew you away…fuckin look at you," he said with a chuckle, "you're a crippled misfit. Absolutely everything about you is useless."

His words went straight into her heart like a knife. She wanted to cover herself and hide, but she couldn't, and every time she tried to move, she wobbled and slipped around trying to keep herself upright. The man just laughed at her when she started to cry as she struggled to remain upright.

"It's like watching a retard trying to dance…shit's so fuckin great," he said between bouts of laughter, "you all deserve this you know that?"

"Why! Why are you doing this to me!"

"This right now? For fun…and it's satisfying to watch you butchers suffer like you make others suffer. But I'm here right now because I'd like to have a talk with you. I have to make my report to the commander shortly, but before I do, I'd like a few things cleared up. I thought about starting with that girl you were with, but I didn't want to miss my chance at some alone time with you. Brass generally expects you to have been roughed up anyway during your capture. I'm a bit disappointed that you went down so easily, but that's ok. I'm sure you'll dislike me enough to make this interrogation difficult. I hope you do, because it'll give me an excuse to put some bruises on you…couldn't wait to get back here with you."

She was horrified at his admission of cruelty, and even more horrified because she knew she was helpless to stop him once he started. She knew no matter what she said or did, he would find a reason to hurt her…and the look in his eyes told her that she was going to feel so much pain…

"The first thing I want to know…is where you've been harboring Lucy. She's supposed to be dead, but you girls were talking like she was still alive, and that you knew where she was."

She hated herself that he had overheard. They'd all know now that Lucy was alive, and so they'd go hunting again. They'd find her…and Kouta…and Yuka. She couldn't betray them. The beast in front of her may know that Lucy was still alive, but it would not be Nana that led them to her. With all her heart, she had wanted to remain a good girl for papa and not fight with people. Why did these people make it so hard for her to keep her promise? Was it never meant to be kept?

She turned a defiant gaze on the man, and imagined how Lucy would have faced him, drawing her strength from Lucy's will. People were always hurting her…abusing her…making her sad and scared…she was sick of it…sick of not fighting back. If no one was going to let her be a good girl…

…then she was going to break her promise.

"Going to talk monster?"

Nana lifted herself up as much as her strength would allow her, and she spat in his face.

"You can go to hell! Why don't you find her yourself? Or maybe I should tell you. I'd like nothing better than for you to meet Lucy in a dark alley."

The man smiled.

"Me too."

He reached his fist back, and slammed it against her face, making the back of her head slam against the metal, causing Nana to see stars. He then aimed a second one at her stomach, tearing a grunt from her and making her swing on her chains. She wasn't sure when the punches ended, or if they did. The only thing she felt, besides tremendous pain and suffering, was grim satisfaction that she didn't give in.

After some time, the blows stopped, but she still felt the pain like she was still being hit. She started to cry, and every sob that shook her body, brought with it a new wave of agony. She felt something twisting inside of her along with a roaring flame of anger, the likes of which she had never felt before in her life. She wanted to hurt him like he was hurting her, but she was completely helpless, and her arms hurt from hanging limply from the chains. She wondered if she would ever be able to use her arms properly again.

"Make this easy on yourself monster. Just tell me where Lucy is. Please believe me when I say I will never get tired of hurting you."

Nana spat out a mouthful of blood. She supposed he was thinking that his abuse would break her. It was too late for that. Once you withstood an entire day of being torn apart in the sphere launcher room, things like fists were pretty minor. It wasn't the pain that scared her, but rather the hostility and her own humiliating situation. She tried not to let him know that his wanton cruelty scared her. She knew if he figured out what really scared her, that he would use it to dig all the way down into the center of her, and rip it out.

"I'm not…going to ask anymore…why you're doing this to me. I know you don't care if I tell you where Lucy is."

Nana raised her eyes to the man, and she felt herself slipping into that person she became ever so briefly when she fought Bando on that beach…so unfamiliar…so…

"I'm not…going to beg…you to stop…" she continued through ragged, pain filled breaths, keeping her gaze locked on his, hate burning inside of her.

"But I will…remember…every bruise…and drop…of blood…you take…from…me."

"I'm glad you have such a good memory for things like that. But I'd suggest you use it to…"

"And when I…get free…"

Nana surged against the chains, a fierce look in her eyes, and felt satisfaction when she saw him take a step back reflexively.

"I'm going…to make you…give it…all…back."

She watched a storm of emotion play behind his eyes, and realized that he was afraid. She didn't have any time to savor that triumphant revelation, for as soon as she had noticed that fear, it vanished behind a haze of anger. He surged forward again and grabbed her throat, squeezing hard. She tried to struggle against his hand as he choked her, but he was too strong.

"Bitch…you're gonna fuckin die."

"Please…" she gurgled out before she could stop herself. Her renewed fear had washed away the momentary bravery that anger had supplied her with. Once again, she was just a little girl alone in the dark with a man who was going to hurt her savagely. And there was nothing she could do to stop him.

"Yeah…that's it, I like that. Beg some more."

He grabbed a fistful of her hair, then started slapping and punching her face and chest. It didn't take long for her to start screaming.


"…but up to now…I've had nothing but my work. It was the thing that made me feel like I was worth something. Like I was a part of the world and not just passing through. Before I knew it, I missed all my chances to have anything normal in life. I regret not trying to live."

Arakawa wiped at her eyes as she poured her heart out to Ryota. She had never been able to express her feelings with anyone in her entire life. She kept needing to remind herself that this man was going to kill her as soon as her story was over. Ryota had been right, and she did discover that she had a lot more to talk about than she'd always imagined, but it was still over too soon. His own story had been long, and full of pain. He talked at length about the woman…Rika…for whom he had once loved, and devoted his entire being, so long ago. He told Arakawa how Rika had died in his arms, and her son left to his care. He had never mentioned her son's name, but only told her that he had failed the boy and let him wander away. Regret colored his tired voice.

She listened to what Ryota had gone through in the intervening years; the empty battles and the empty home. Night after night of turning to alcohol to drown his sorrows, waking up almost daily with hangovers. He spoke of his yearly visits to Rika's grave, and his fruitless attempts to find meaning in his own existence; feeling that his reason for living died with Rika, and the departure of her son. His voice had held a note of acceptance rather than resignation, but she could still see the pain in his eyes; as though he were digging up Rika's grave. She had wanted to comfort him, and almost did when she remembered the gun at his hip and that she was supposed to take it at the first opportunity. She didn't want it to be over so soon. She wasn't even as afraid of dying as much as she simply wanted more time with Ryota to make the most of the feeling that was starting to develop inside of her. Something she had never felt before in her life.

"It's a sin…" he remarked sadly.

"What?"

"It's a sin that human beings should only understand the joys of life as their own lives are coming to an end. It's a cruel joke that we are made this way."

Ryota closed his eyes and lifted his face as the breeze picked up, and sighed into the wind.

"I confess I'm looking forward to my own end. It's the only way I'll ever remember why life was beautiful."

She sensed a crushing weight on his soul. She wondered if he had ever talked to anyone of these things.

"Don't talk like that…" Arakawa said quietly.

"It's only the trut…"

"I said stop it Ryota!"

She didn't want to hear anymore. His words struck a chord in her heart that brought the pain of loneliness back. He had been just as alone as she herself had been. She knew what that sounded like in a person's voice and knew how it felt in their hearts. She remembered how she felt merely talking into the radio. She had been so consumed with her work that loneliness and desolation had crept upon her without her notice. She had only been conscious of it for a matter of months. Ryota had been living it for half of his life. Watching him, hearing him…feeling his heart…it was like she bled with him when he cut himself with talk of his own death. She was suddenly, and irrationaly, angry with him. How could he do this to himself? All she wanted was a chance at life...and this man had knowingly thrown it away for years without number.

"Why don't you come with me then?" Arakawa said angrily, "if life has no joy…"

"What…"

He stirred then, suddenly remembering his unguarded weapon. Her time was up. She had to act now. With a rapid, deft movement, she yanked the pistol from Ryota's holster and took three frantic steps away from him, nearly tripping in the sand, holding him at gunpoint. She reasoned that he was probably quick enough to dodge a bullet fired under normal circumstances, especially considering she had never really handled a gun, but they were standing on sand and he would not get adequate traction to do so now. They faced each other for a few moments and Arakawa's mind raced. She hadn't really thought this part out. She had the gun and was safe for the moment, but she had no idea how she was going to escape a facility crawling with trained guards and special forces. She knew she should probably start grilling Ryota on how to escape.

"How do you feel now Ryota?" she said angrily, "remembering anything yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I just remembered that that gun is loaded with hollow point rounds. Do you know what those do?"

"They kill you, the same as any other bullet."

"But these bullets are special. They're designed to tear apart the insides of a human being. They use rounds like these on firearms in aircraft you know. To prevent bullet penetration from perhaps going through a body and piercing the hull. When it strikes a target, the bullet peels back, expanding its diameter, and proceeds to rip the innards to shreds. Some bullets wind up breaking apart slightly in the human body as the bullet enters it, flinging metal like tiny razorblades into a person's vital organs, or major veins. The pain is said to be intolerably excruciating."

Ryota took a casual step forward. Arakawa took a frantic step back, her hands shaking.

"Well Akane? Aren't you going to shoot me? Surely you know what will happen when I close the distance between us."

"Shut up!" She took another step back. She couldn't do it…she just couldn't…she knew she'd never pull off a headshot, so she'd have to shoot him in the body…grinding up his insides with…

"The safety's on Akane. It's the small switch right above the trigger. You want to flip that until you see red."

Shit!

She took another hasty couple of steps back and with shaking hands, fumbled with the safety mechanism, looking away from Ryota for a moment when she couldn't find it. When she trained her gaze back on him, she noticed that he was nearly within arm's length. She screamed and fell backwards as he grabbed for the gun and missed. Lying on the ground, she trained the gun on him again. Her legs all the way up to her thighs suddenly experienced a rush of cold as she realized the fall had made her skirt climb up above her knees and slide back to her waist, exposing herself. Modesty, however, was far from her mind as she lay still, her panic beginning to get her past the aversion to shooting him.

Ryota sighed, "nothing…still nothing. How utterly disappointing."

He looked away from her and she saw it as her chance to get back on her feet. She did so frantically, getting clumsily to her feet in order to keep the gun pointed at Ryota. Only after she smoothed her skirt down with one hand did Ryota once again turn to face her.

"Now…Akane…this is your chance. It is the only one you are ever going to have to take me down. If you do not, I am going to pursue you…and I will capture you."

"Please just let me go! That's all I ever wanted! I just want to get away from here!"

"We can't just run from our demons. They run faster. Nor can we elude them…they know all our favorite hiding places."

"Who are you to say that to me! What do you think you're doing huh!"

"I'm not running. Or hiding."

"No, you're doing something even worse. You're cowering!"

Ryota took a step back and for a moment, Arakawa wondered if she had actually shot him, and just hadn't heard the sound of the bullet. Ryota looked stricken as though she had shot him.

"How many years did YOU throw away Ryota! As many as I did? More?"

It was insanity to be talking about this right now. She had to escape, had to get out…but…

"You haven't even given life a chance! You're still stuck in that kitchen where Rika died! You're still living in that empty house with that bottle in your hand!"

"Akane…stop…"

"Open your eyes Ryota! You don't need death to make you see what's beautiful about life. I'm going to fight for mine, even if I have no chance of getting out of here alive. Fight for yours…"

She felt emotion welling up in her as she spoke the words to Ryota. She could see that they affected him too. He made no more attempts to close the distance between them, and merely stared at her.

"You think there's never enough time to say or do the things we need to…" Arakawa said, her voice cracking with emotion, "…well then make time."

Ryota seemed to be in a trance and softly repeated Arakawa's words, "…make time".

After another few seconds of silence, Arakawa heard Ryota's radio spring to life. It was a general communication channel for the special forces units to communicate to all of its members in the local vicinity.

"Squad 4 reporting in, requesting backup at the landing area. Got an unidentified intruder and we took some heavy fire. Don't know how many of em there are but we've got two down and another in pretty bad shape."

Another voice answered the first.

"Copy that Squad 4, this is Squad 2. We've got contact at the armory…looks like your intruders slipped past you. Think it's us that need that backup."

"Shit…10-4 Squad 2. Diverting some guys from the landing to assist. For fuck's sake don't let whoever they are get in that armory."

"A bit late for that...might want to pick up some guys on your way over here. I just heard a fucking auto shotgun going off. That's not standard S.A.T loadout for perimeter defense."

The rest was jumbled in a haze of static as Ryota reached for his radio.

"Looks like you've got problems of your own," she said with a grin.

"Looks that way," he said calmly, "I suppose I'll need to see about this."

He turned to walk away but then stopped and half turned back towards Arakawa.

"Good luck to you. If we meet again tonight, I will shoot you on sight…oh…and one more thing."

He turned to look her in the eyes. "My men were just recently ordered to take former Director Kakuzawa into custody. You were talking at the time the order went out on the radio, and I didn't want to interrupt you. Interestingly enough, we were instructed to place him within the Diclonius holding areas rather than our cell block. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

He turned his back on her.

"Pull back on the slide…it won't fire unless there's a bullet in the chamber."

He walked away from her, retrieving his radio, and began issuing commands that she could not hear. She remained still, stunned. He knew there was no bullet in the chamber…he could have taken her at any time.

She didn't wait around to discern his quizzical motives. Roughly pulling back on the slide, she turned and ran the length of the beach, knowing that if she kept moving in that direction, she'd reach the landing. If the voices on the radio spoke true, then there would be decreased security at the docks. It wasn't much, but it was her best chance to escape.

We were instructed to place him within the Diclonius holding areas…

Or…


Still seething, Ghost stalked the hallways. How dare that monster threaten him! She deserved every moment of what he had done to her. Some of the violence he could not even remember as it came to him in flashbacks; the soundtrack consisting of incomprehensible invectives over agonizing screams of pain. The memories filled him with righteousness. He had found himself back out in the hallway before he really realized it…and frankly couldn't remember if he had killed that creature in there or not. The way she was bleeding…he was pretty sure she was dead. If she wasn't, she'd be dead soon just from blood loss. Not his problem.

If she had not been the creature she was, he would have raped her. He would have done it until she died from it. Even knowing what she was, the urge to brutalize her was nearly stronger than his fear of being infected. He wasn't sure exactly if screwing one of those demons was enough to poison the blood, but he didn't really want to find out. It was enough that his hands were soaked in her blood. He had decided not to wash them as he walked to the other girl's cell. He wanted her to see the blood on his hands and be terrified. It would make the interrogation much easier. He would have loved nothing more at this moment than to have some concrete information on how he could find Bando. He was going to get that information one way or the fucking other. And if she made it difficult…with the fury still surging through him…

…well…this one was just human, therefore no risk of infection. How unfortunate for her.

He stepped into a room with a single florescent blub, casting light which darkened at the edges of the room. The room was sparse, having only a table, and two chairs. The other girl was there, awake now. That was good. She had time to sit alone, pondering her situation, and working up a healthy dread. He didn't really want the interrogation with this one to be difficult. He couldn't have given a damn about Lucy really. THIS was what he was really interested in; saving the best for last.

She visually recoiled as he walked into the room…and she hadn't even seen his hands yet…good.

"How's the lip?" he said to her with a chuckle, staring at the blood that had dried on her chin during her capture.

"What did you do with Nana! Where's Nana!"

"Is that her name? Good to know. Anyway, as for 'Nana'…I brought her with me."

He held his hands up to the light, still partially wet with fresh blood. Two drops fell to the table; Ghost smirked.

"Oh my…oh my god…oh my god what did you do to her!"

"I'd be less worried about that, and more worried about what's going to happen to you."

"Oh Nana…please be ok…please be ok!"

The girl started crying and struggling against the handcuffs that held her securely to the floor bolted chair. Ghost reached out and snatched the girl's chin in his hand, smearing blood all over her face.

"Shut…the fuck up."

"How could you! How could you hurt her like that! She never did anything to anyone!"

"Have you seen her kill?"

"What? Nana would never hurt anyone!"

"Really? So that toe tag I've got downstairs didn't happen? Nana didn't splatter him all over a wall with a public trash container? Oh I get it. It was dark right? Couldn't see?"

"She wouldn't!"

"She DID you stupid shit! This," he held up his hands, "was payback for the guy I lost…a damn fine soldier and a good man that your monster friend turned into a mangled heap. His family can't even have an open casket funeral."

"No…you're lying…"

"I can see it in your eyes girl…you know I'm telling the truth."

Ghost let it sink in, and watched the girl's face transform from disbelief, to anguish. She cried silently with eyes wide and stricken. He knew that would do the trick. In truth, he didn't even know the dead man's name. Ghost was pretty sure he at least had a wife…or maybe he didn't, he couldn't really remember at the moment.

"Tell you what…what's your name?"

"M…Mayu," she said, her voice trembling, tears streaming down her face.

"Tell you what Mayu. I need your help with something. If you help me, I'll release you. You'll be given a sedative and blindfolded, then dropped off in a random part of the city. You understand if we don't just deliver you straight home. We hadn't really planned on picking you up anyway. Just protocol."

She nodded blankly.

"I'm looking for a few people. Really bad guys that need to be brought in. One of them I think has taken advantage of you. Guy's name is Bando. I know you know him."

He saw her eyes flash with fear, but then something…fierce…protective. She visibly closed herself off from him. That was fine. He'd try it the easy way first, and when she resisted…playtime.

"I don't know what Bando told you Mayu, but he used to work with us. He's done the same things I've done to Diclonius like your friend Nana. He's done even worse things than that. Killed children…innocents. We've been looking for him for quite some time now. His murderous rampages just got out of control. He killed a doctor who had just finished saving his life and giving him cybernetic replacements for his missing body parts. You may not like me, but trust me Mayu…this guy's worse."

Nothing, the girl wouldn't even look at him.

"You don't know what you're getting into with him. He's dangerous. He belongs in a cell to answer for his many crimes. You owe it to his victims to turn him over to us. They deserve justice."

He could see the internal conflict within her…unfortunately, it seemed that regardless, her heels were dug in. She wasn't going to tell him anything…

…yet

"Alright, if you're not ready to talk about that, perhaps you can tell me about Lucy? I already got it out of that butcher friend of yours that she was living with you."

"She…she said that?"

She hadn't of course, but the ruse worked. He could see it in her face…he nailed it.

"There's no use denying that you were harboring Lucy. Let me tell you, the crimes of Bando and your monster friend in the other cell pale in comparison to what Lucy has done. There are literally hundreds of dead bodies to her name. She's been rouge for over a year and there's no telling what kind of death she's been causing since then. If not Bando, we absolutely must get that one off the streets. Even now she could be tearing someone apart. Mayu…do the right thing here. Lives depend on you right now."

As he spoke, he noticed her staring at his bloody hands.

"So what's it going to be?"

She looked up at him, misery in her eyes.

"Am I evil too?"

"What's that?"

"I love Nana…Lucy…and Bando…am I evil because I want to protect them?"

Ghost forced a comforting smile on his face. At least he hoped it would appear comforting.

"Of course not…you're just a kid. You didn't know about these monsters and they got you all twisted up in their lies. But everything's going to be fine now. We know how to handle them, and we can put a stop to their evil. All you have to do is point me in evil's direction, and I will stamp it out. You have my word on that…Mayu."

She seemed to be resigning herself…good…good. She cried a few more tears and then ruthlessly collected herself to level a steady, albeit watery, gaze upon him.

"Ok…"

"Good girl Mayu. Where do I find the evil bastard?"

"He's in the room with me…some sick animal who's got my best friend's blood all over his hands and thinks I'm stupid enough to believe he's a hero."

He cruelly grabbed fistfuls of Mayu's shirt and shoved her painfully against the chair, rage flashing in his eyes.

"Couldn't do it the easy way could you? Just want to keep protecting those animals huh? Helping them kill? An accomplice to slaughter? You want to know what I do to those predators!"

He grabbed a key off of his belt and unhooked one of the cuffs, lifting her up, and slamming her face down on the table, pushing his crotch against her backside.

"NOOOOOO!" she screamed desperately.

"You know what? I don't think you have a visceral understanding of what it means to be helpless in the face of violence you can't fight back against. Maybe when I'm finished with you, you'll understand a little about what those people went through before they died."

"HELP ME! PLEASE GOD SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"You know, I think I like you more than Nana. You beg so much better."

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled hard, while crushing her shoulder with his other hand, making Mayu scream louder than ever before. She drew back another breath, screaming again as she sobbed.

"Oh yeah…I'm gonna…"

The radio at his hip suddenly came to life.

"Sergeant Rin…this is Commander Ryota. Report in."

Fuck…of course he would call now. He put a hand over Mayu's mouth as he retrieved the radio.

"This is Ghost, go ahead sir."

"Have the captives provided anything useful sergeant?"

"I'm working on it commander."

"Well I need you to put that on hold for the moment. We have a situation at the perimeter, possible breach. And I just tried raising a guard team inside to report in, but there's no response. I've diverted a squad to search the area, but I want you on this personally. Something's fishy about this…there's no way the intruders could have gotten far enough inside yet to have taken out the guard team, if that is indeed what has happened to them."

"Possible infiltrator? Perhaps the commotion outside was just a distraction."

"My thinking precisely, but an infiltrator suggests an objective of sabotage or information theft. I don't have to tell you how catastrophic that would be if either of those things occurred here. The missing squad would have been in your area. They were escorting former Director Kakuzawa to a cell in the containment facilities."

"Former Director Kakuzawa? What the hell happened here sir?"

"I'll debrief you when the situation's under control. Get down there and find out what happened. Don't alert the facility unless you make contact with any intruder. No reason to know we're already hunting."

"Copy that sir…I'll find the bastard. I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't Katsuo. Watch your back."

"10-4, Ghost out."

He looked down at the girl again, who was trembling violently, terror in her eyes. Perhaps this was a good thing. She had gotten a taste of what was to come if she was uncooperative, and she would have plenty of time to think about that while he was taking care of this business with the missing guard team. He needed to get to work. Ryota had radioed him personally; he had to take this seriously.

Hastily, he grabbed her wrist which still had the handcuffs on it, and latched it to the table leg, which was bolted to the floor as well.

"Don't get too comfortable down there, I'll be back soon. For your sake, you'd best have some better answers to my questions."

She didn't look up at him or answer, but sank to the floor. She continued to tremble, gazing off in a random direction with unseeing eyes. He left the room and locked it behind him, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. He really hadn't expected resistance from the girl, or the Diclonius either for that matter. Most of the young test subjects he had executed or extracted information out of had been rather weak willed for vicious murderers. Just one of those strange ironies of life.

Walking across the hall, he stepped into a restroom and walked to the sink. Washing the blood off of his hands he looked up to see himself in the mirror. He could see flecks of blood on his cheeks and forehead, and merely stared at them as the water ran over his hands. It brought back too many terrible memories, when he was just little Katsuo in the middle of a burning rural town. By some wretched twist of fate, a handful of Diclonius came of age there over the course of a month. No one had any idea what they were dealing with, and no one knew what started the violence, but once it started, it swept through every corner of his home. His days and nights were filled with blood soaked corpses, screaming victims, and roaring fires from the fruitless attempts to slow the monsters down. It was ever after referred to as The Outbreak, and Ghost had found that fitting, being the result of diseased monsters. As far as he knew, he had been the only survivor; running and hiding from the creatures that played in the ghost town day and night as if they had not just slaughtered every man, woman, and child. He hadn't been sure how many of the creatures there were, and to his young mind, they might as well have been as numerous as all the imagined legions of things that ever went bump in the night. Escape was impossible.

He had also survived because he could see those serpent's fangs coiling out from them like modern day Gorgons. He was able to stay out of their reach and survived for just over a week, slipping on blood, crawling over corpses, scavenging for whatever he could find while staying out of sight. He had been near dead when He appeared…

Katsuo had seen him like an avenging angel in the midst of a curtain of fire and smoke, the breeze gently tossing his long dark hair. Two pistols were gripped tightly in his hands, his body tensed and coiled like a wild predator, preparing to strike as he held one gun in the air and began to fire. The sound of the gunfire was powerful and mesmerizing, filling young Katsuo with adrenaline. When the man had run out of bullets, he brought his arm down smoothly, releasing the empty magazine and slamming in a fresh one, then stood there. Little by little, the monsters began to slither out of the darkness of the ruined buildings. Katsuo had wanted to shout at the lone man, and warn him of what was going to happen to him, but he was afraid, and could not make his voice work. Katsuo instead watched him, drawing strength from his indomitable form. As they had come, laughing with their wretched, childlike voices, the man exploded into motion. With precision and speed he began firing his weapons at random spots surrounding the approaching children and he saw the creatures deflecting the bullets. The man seemed to anticipate where they would concentrate their defenses, using two or three shots to distract, and the forth always struck home, splattering their brains or punching ghastly holes in their small bodies.

Some of the children that got near him suddenly erupted in flames that seemed to rise at their feet in a hellish explosion, as if the devil were calling them home. Ghost had later understood them to have been napalm traps.

The creatures seemed to understand, after over half of them died, that they were in mortal danger of this Archangel with flaming swords of lead and steel. They had tried to run, but they could not…his judgment finding them with the flash of a gun barrel. And then…it was over. The dead avenged, and the echoes of the cleansing gunfire fading into the countryside.

Katsuo had not remembered leaving his shelter to stand in the ruined town square, but there he was, standing in the presence of the warrior who had ended The Outbreak single-handedly. He had turned to regard Katsuo at that moment, his movements slow and deliberate. He could see a sadness in those hard eyes that went all the way through to the soul.

"All dead?" he asked simply. Kutsuo had nodded, tears in his eyes at remembering how they had torn through his home and murdered his family. Watching this man though, he wiped his eyes ruthlessly and forced down his grief. How could he dare show such weakness in the face of the warrior? He remembered how his strength and skill had made Katsuo feel powerful just watching him smite the monsters in his path.

"I'll be ok…I can get by on my own," Katsuo had said, trying to appear brave. It wasn't all feigned, after all, he did survive in that hell alone for all that time. His words seemed to have a profound effect on his rescuer, who looked away, guilt staining his eyes.

"Not again…" he whispered, more to himself, "won't turn my back again."

"I want to know how you did that…" Katsuo had said, interrupting the man, "I want to be strong like that…I don't want to be afraid of monsters anymore."

"Everyone, the brave and cowardly alike, has a monster they fear," he said, "and it doesn't care if you're afraid."

He wasn't sure what the man was talking about, and just wrote it off.

"Come on kid…this place is a ghost town. It is not for the living to dwell with the dead."

A ghost town…and he was one of its Ghosts.

"What's your name?" Katsuo had asked.

"I am Ryota…"

His eyes snapped back into focus as he threw water onto his face, washing away the blood, and the portal to his memories. He couldn't waste anymore time, Ryota was counting on him. He had to sort this thing out, and then finish his interrogation of the two girls. He would return to Ryota in glory, having tracked down the long lost, wayward test subject Lucy. He would also bring down Bando…the so called "top agent" who had disgraced himself so completely. He, Ghost, would settle that score once and for all. He was the one who deserved to succeed Ryota; his every waking moment being devoted to shaping himself into a weapon that monsters would fear.

Filled with righteous pride, he walked out of the restroom, unfastening the guard around the pistol he wore on his belt. Passing by the Diclonius containment area he turned his head to look down one of the hallways, looking for signs of the missing guard team. Passing it, he turned back straight ahead…

"What the fuck!" he shouted in disbelief, his body momentarily frozen in shock…what he was seeing couldn't be real.

It was her…Lucy…the rouge Diclonius. Right there in front of him plain as day. He'd seen the pictures enough times, read her bio…he just…couldn't…believe it. He violently ripped his radio from the belt.

"Security alert! Lock down the facility! There's an intruder…it's her…Lu…"

He saw the vectors lash out, but he was still in shock and the attack came so fast he could not react. For a fraction of a second, he saw his life flash before his eyes as death was only a millisecond away. With a blow that felt like four sledgehammers slamming into him all at once, he was lifted off of his feet by the blunt strike, and carried down the hall, landing hard.

"Fuck!" he shouted as he ripped his pistol out of the holster. He saw her standing there like she was contemplating something. Stupid bitch…

He started firing at her, expecting her to try and deflect the tungsten bullets like a fool. She wouldn't even have time to feel surprised when they punched through her vectors and painted the walls with her brain matter. To his shock, he saw her do exactly that, pushing away two before the third grazed her arm, making her cry out in pain. The sound emboldened him and he stood up to get a better aim, but she was already running down the hall like a coward.

That's right monster…ready or not…here I come.

He took aim as he walked and started shooting. He noticed her jerky movements as the bullets hammered into her back, but they were just not piercing skin. He dropped to one knee and took careful aim, going for the headshot. Even if she slowed this one down, it would still drop her long enough for him to reload, close the distance, and finish her. It could even knock her out, which would actually be even better.

She was just about to turn the corner, but it was too late. He had her and his bullet would fly straight. He always kept up with his weapon's maintenance. She was finished…

He pulled the trigger…and heard the click.

Lucy rounded the corner and disappeared.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK GODDAMNIT MOTHERFUCKER!"

He released the empty magazine, and threw it violently against the wall. He could chase her, but by the time he got around the corner, he'd lose her again. It didn't matter though and he wouldn't need to waste his time and energy running around chasing her. The direction she was going wouldn't lead her to any exits. In fact, she was actually about to run headlong into even more concentrated security. If she was stupid enough to stumble into Alpha Sector, she'd be shot down before she could turn around to run the other way. What he could do in the meantime, was finish his alert. Retrieving his radio, he set it to the general frequency.

"This is Sergeant Rin of Ghost Squad. All units and security forces please be advised, we have a perimeter breach in the Institute sublevels. The intruder has been identified as the rouge Diclonius Queen Lucy. All security and S.A.T personnel switch to tungsten munitions…"

He thought about Kakuzawa's order to bring the Diclonius creatures back alive…

…well he was just arrested. Guess that made all previous orders null and void…

"Any squads encountering Lucy are hereby ordered to shoot on sight. I repeat, shoot to kill."

He didn't think Ryota would object. After all, Ryota had been the one that dispatched the S.A.T reinforcements a year ago that were supposed to return with Lucy's corpse, and instead had been annihilated. They all were dying for payback.

"This is Commander Ryota," the voice barked from the radio…could he have been wrong? Was Ryota about to countermand his order?

"All members of Ghost Squad, detach from your units and assemble at the executive offices. The security situation is getting out of control, priority number one is the evacuation of the VIPs. I repeat, Ghost Squad, report to the executive offices and assist in the evacuation of the board of directors."

Good…get the blue bloods out of the way so he could hunt without restraints. In truth, he wanted to disobey that order and start hunting now, but with the facility on alert, all the ways off the island would be locked down. There was no escape…Lucy wasn't going anywhere except in a body bag.

"Copy that commander, we'll be there. Ghost Squad! Get your shit wired and let's go!"

He put away the radio and reloaded his pistol. As he started walking he noticed the test subject enclosure hallway door was open. Stopping for a moment he saw a flashing red light blinking above one of the doors in the poorly lit hallway, which he knew meant there was a malfunction in the chamber's restraining capsule…

…no time to worry about that. Besides, as far as he knew, there wasn't anyone in there. They were taking Kakuzawa there right? But he never made it. Probably just got left unlocked expecting him to be there soon and it never got locked back up. As the distant alarm began to sound, and he walked away, he swore he heard what sounded like glass shattering somewhere down that dark hallway…