A/N: Sorry it took so long- You guys came up with some really creative ideas and I wanted to put them all in here- and this is what I got! Also, there will be something interesting in here... Something before the road takes the bend!

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The first thing Cub saw as the door opened was Klisper, and in his hands was a shot glass of clear liquid.

"Don't worry," he said as Cub trashed around in the Orthodontist's chair.

"It's not deadly."

"What is it?"

"A pure, concentrated shot of ethanol, an alcoholic truth serum."

"I thought truth serums were just made to scare the person enough to tell what you want to know."

"Well you'll just have to find out for yourself, now, won't you?"

And with that he shoved it down the unwilling boy's gullet.

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Klisper could see the effects immediately. It was obvious that the boy hadn't drunken anything in his life. His eyes bulged and he tried to gag it up, but it had already gone down his throat.

He knew that it had no taste, but it would have burned his tongue and it had a distinctive smell. He also knew that around 80 of taste is smell so he thought he had tasted it.

Finally Alex's face relaxed, and the boy started talking.

"Auntie will want me home soon," he drawled lazily.

"She gets annoyed if I don't come home right after school. But you know what? I don't care! She's always bossing me arooouuunddddd..."

Good sign- the voice slurring.

Then euphoria kicked in, and Alex started singing I Want it That Way by Backstreet Boys in a faulty soprano. That would have been painful enough for Klisper but then, when he was finally able to ask Alex questions (after he'd sang all of NSYNC's first album) he didn't get anything important out of the boy, except his Aunties cell phone number, which Klisper wrote down on his pad of paper dejectedly.

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Cub's head stung like 100 cattle-prods when Klisper finally showed up.

"Having a nice day, aren't you?"

Cub's only response was a groan.

"I'll make this quick. If you don't tell me what I want to know you won't eat for three days."

Cub stared at the chap in disbelief. You've already fed me food that's not fit for sewer rats, treated me worse than Scorpia ever did, Never gave me a chance to- Scorpia.

Scorpia... Somehow the word had popped into his head. He didn't know what it was, or how it had apparently treated him badly, but the information was there, behind a hazy barrier.

Apparently Klisper's well of patience had dried up.

"Fine, starve."

And with that he walked out of the door through which he had entered.

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He was in a stupor now from lack of sleep and food of any kind, though they still gave him the diluted water.

He heard a sound.

"Help!"

It was an urgent cry, that of a middle aged woman. Then it was joined with the voices of a middle aged man, and then a boy joined the chorus. They all sounded vaguely familiar.

"Help! Help! Help!"

They swirled through his delirious mind, haunting him. He knew them somehow. They were important.

"Help! Help Help!"

They began to slow down, like they couldn't fight anymore.

"Help... Help... Help..."

Then a cold voice cut through all the others.

"Tell us all you know and we'll save the others."

Klisper loomed above him.

"There's only one thing I know that I haven't told you yet," Cub said, finally giving in.

"It's just a word and I don't know what it means."

"Say it anyways."

"Scorpia."

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Klisper was jubilant. Finally, a breakthrough! His boss had said that they had picked up the wrong kid and to just drown him in a river. This would give him a chance to be with Alex longer.

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Finally they had given him something to eat! And, surprisingly, they had given him a decent meal- white mushrooms with melted cheddar on top, served with a glass of orange juice. He would have been suspicious of the nice meal if he hadn't been so hungry.

As it turned out, there was reason to be suspicious.

"You really are dumb, aren't you?" Klisper asked from behind the Orthodontists chair.

"You didn't even realize you were eating the Ivory Funnel, the poisoned fungi of the Tricholomataceae family. Also known as Clitocybe Dealbata and the Sweating Mushroom."

Cub groaned, his stomach feeling queasy.

"It should start taking effect in- oh, about 20 minutes after indigestion."

At the time the man had said, the mushroom started taking effect. First his saliva gland started producing saliva at double the regular face. Then his face broke out in cold sweat. Tears streamed down his face of their own accord.

"This can all end if you just tell me what I want to know," Klisper said invitingly.

All Cub had strength for in response was a small groan.

He was overcome with a sense of nausea, and his abdomen was in dire pain. His vision was blurring, and each breath was a great effort.

"Don't you want the antidote- atropine will do it."

He couldn't even respond this time.

"Fine. But don't worry, it should subside in a couple of hours, that is, if you don't die first."

With a grin Klisper receded back to the viewing station.

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Cub was able to speak a week after that, seeming as with his diet it had taken him longer than if they had just kidnapped him. So (of course) that's when the 'special methods' continued.

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Walker came into the room, a worried look on his face.

"Alex!" he cried, dashing to the bed.

"I had no idea they were going to do this to you!"

"It's Cub. And besides, it's not like you're fooling me. You shot me in the leg, for crying out loud!"

"They told me that there was someone after you and that the only way to save you was to get you myself!"

"Nice try. Next time get a better script writer."

"I can get you out of here! Just tell them what they want to know and I can get you out alive."

"Please, I'm weak enough as it is. Don't tax my mind more with this idiotic babble."
"They're gonna find me in a minute! Please, Al- Cub! They'll get me then! They'll make me pay for trying to help you!"

"I already remember that you're one of them," Cub said, his voice cold.

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Naturally, this had been a bluff. But the moment the words left him mouth they felt right somehow. The look on the man's face as he said this changed to a fury as complete as any Cub had ever seen before. But a moment later it was gone, and he couldn't say whether it was his foggy mind playing tricks on him again.

"They'll find me in a moment- "

"Too late." The figure of Cub's own personal torture machine darkened the doorway, guards at his back.

"No!!!" screamed the man who had been trying to help him, trying to claw his way through the guards that were quickly surrounding him. One of the men struck him on the back of the head and carried the now limp form out of the room.

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Splended acting, thought Klisper. All except that last part- that was in repayment for shooting Alex. He'd be fine though- probably.

"Now tell me- how good are you at school?

"Better when I'm actually there."

He still had just enough wit to use his dark humor.

"Do you skip often?" The man asked, ignoring the jibe.

"Only when I'm held by vicious criminals who are interrogating me for something I don't even know."

This was going to be a long day.

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Klisper stood, hands folded respectfully, in front of the Aussie-bred man who was his boss.

"I've been at him for weeks. He's apparently got amnesia or something- I can't break him."

"Then he's of no use."

"Exactly, sir."

"And neither are you." Mr. Aussie snapped his fingers and a dart came out of the darkness in the rooms left-hand corner. Klisper fell, hands clutching the base of his neck where the dart protruded, let out a strangled gurgling sound and collapsed, dead.

"Dispose of him."

The man didn't even have a hint of regret in his voice.

"Yes sir!" The man in the shadows hurriedly started dragging the corpse towards the door.

"Oh, and one more thing. Bring the Rider kid with you, I'm tired of torturing him."

"Right away, sir!

A/N: This week I will need 8 credit to update. Question counts as 1/2 of a credit. This shouldn't be hard because last chappie you got 18 credits. Please keep telling your friends because this story is nearing the climax, and then I'll probably edit a bit. Not very exciting, eh?

Question:

How would you escape if you were Alex? Note: I've already got the escape planned so, unless it's exceptionally good, none will be posted in the next story.