Luthien-Ikari: Goku will appear soon… Have patience! XD And wow, you actually guessed a bit of the story!
AngelKitten23: Polyjuice potion! This is so interesting. But Lila's a really kind person, even though she's rather creepy.
ILovePierreFromSimplePlan: Action is in this chapter! Thank you for reviewing.
Rozanna: Sure, you can give me any of your fiction to read. I'd be more than happy to. Thanks for your review!
Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Saiyuki.
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Sanzo and Gojyo raced down the familiar hallway, with Lila leading the path. They came back to the elevator and pressed the button. A feeling of uncertainness overcame Gojyo as he stared at the elevator door. His heart pounded loudly within his ribcage as he thought about everything that could happen. What if they don't get out alive? What if they don't even reach Goku?
"Relax, Gojyo-kun, we will be there in no time," Lila comforted as the elevator made a 'ding' sound.
"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about!" Gojyo retorted as the elevator door swung open.
As the elevator door opened, two gun-clad men came face to face with the three. Both parties had their faces in shock and surprise and immediately drew their guns.
"M-Miss Lila, what are you doing with these people! They don't look like members of NESS to me!" The first burly man with a small goatee said loudly.
"They are new guards. Now leave us in peace before I complain to my sister!" Lila exclaimed and began to fake-cry.
"O-Oh, okay, okay, please don't complain to Lady Ami! We're sincerely apologetic! We're so sorry!" The second man said as he put down his guns.
"If you'll excuse us, we'll go attend to Miss Larissa now," The first man said again and exited the elevator with the second.
Lila heaved a sigh of relief as Sanzo and Gojyo walked into the elevator. They continued holding their guns in case of any more surprises.
"So why didn't we kill them?" Sanzo asked irritably.
"We want to lie as low as possible! You will now pass off as my new guards until I tell you to kill. Till then, keep your guns away and do not speak a word to anyone you might see." Lila commanded and pressed the button for the floor below them.
"Oh darn, now we're Lila's little pets." Gojyo snorted and commented.
"Or would you rather be dead, Gojyo?" Lila asked and shot a look his way.
Gojyo said nothing and the elevator once again opened to a new level. This time, the hallways were brightly lit with blue-white light. In the different rooms and compartments, there were rows and rows of laboratories, scientists in white cloaks and huge transparent glasses. As the three of them walked past, several people stared, but did nothing. Sanzo and Gojyo did their best not to look too amused or horrified by whatever that was going on, but it was hard not to.
As they emerged further down the corridor, the scene seemed to shift to a darker room. The bright laboratories were replaced with glass capsules, and water rushing through it constantly. Different colours ran around the water and human bodies of different shapes and sizes lay in there waiting to be awaken.
"These are the clones," Lila whispered to both the wide-eyed boys.
Sanzo and Gojyo looked at the clones in wide eyed wonder. They were all naked, those who were still growing, were even missing some body parts. It was a terrific, yet horrific experience at the same time. Gojyo peered through one of the glass capsules with what seemed to be a fully grown clone, when out of nowhere; the clone opened his eyes wide.
"UGH!" Gojyo shouted out of shock and backed away, knocking into some scientists' tools and causing a rather big commotion.
"Oh my god, you idiot," Lila exclaimed and helped Gojyo up immediately. "They'll be here to check any minute… Better leave, now!"
Gojyo got onto his feet quickly as Sanzo cursed and swore at Gojyo's foolishness. The three of them were preparing to leave the scene quickly before a voice stopped them.
"Hold it!"
That voice was vaguely familiar to Lila even though it was a male's. The voice was strong and deep, and seemed to carry a huge sense of responsibility with it. Lila turned around and immediately recognized the man in front of her and bowed deeply. Not knowing what to do, Sanzo and Gojyo bowed as well in order to keep up their performance.
"Greetings, Doctor Ryuu," Lila said to the tall, tanned bespectacled man with brown hair.
"Miss Lila…" Doctor Ryuu started with a slight tone of sarcasm in his voice. "Who are these two… minions, of yours?"
"New guards of mine, my sister assigned them to me!" Lila lied as she matched eye to eye with Doctor Ryuu.
"Not intruders… I hope?" Doctor Ryuu smirked and walked closer to examine Sanzo and Gojyo who stood still as stone.
"Just freshly cloned, Doctor Ryuu!" Lila explained and rolled her eyes out of frustration.
"Oh, really," Doctor Ryuu commented and circled Sanzo and Gojyo. "Freshly cloned till… they don't even have the NESS mark!" Doctor Ryuu exclaimed all of a sudden and pulled out Sanzo and Gojyo's bare wrists.
Out of panic and not knowing what to do, Lila lost her nerve and shouted loudly.
"KILL, NOW!"
Gojyo and Sanzo immediately retracted their hands and whipped out their guns to point at Doctor Ryuu's temple in inhumane speed. The doctor simply chuckled and pointed two guns at their stomachs.
"Fast reflexes, not bad… Lila, have you taken to betraying your own sister!" Doctor Ryuu asked with an evil glint in his eye.
"I have my reasons for doing whatever I'm doing!" Lila exclaimed loudly and glared angrily at the doctor. "And you, you can't live for all the harm you've been causing!"
"For me, being the head of research in cloning, I am only doing my job… And these two intruders will die, and of course you will be severely punished by your sister… While I will be tremendously rewarded!" Doctor Ryuu chuckled and edged the guns more forcefully into Sanzo and Gojyo's stomachs.
"Try it," Lila challenged.
"Don't ever doubt me," Doctor Ryuu said and fired two shots into their stomachs.
The bullets automatically bounced back, and dented the gun on impact. Doctor Ryuu, out of surprised, moved back and stared wide eyed at the three of them. Sanzo and Gojyo wasted no time and immediately pointed their guns to Doctor Ryuu's forehead.
"You dirty little… You gave them the potion!" Doctor Ryuu said angrily.
"So I did. Kill him, boys, he doesn't have bullet proof skin." Lila said quickly followed by a smirk.
"N-No… Wait, Lila… I'll go to your side! I'll help you get rid of Lady Ami! I'll help you! You know I have the best skills-,"
Two very loud gunshots were heard even before Doctor Ryuu could complete his sentence. The lifeless body fell limp onto the ground with blood sprouting out from the two wounds on his forehead. The doctor's spectacles broke on impact and cut his nose bridge. Blood was flowing freely from the wounds and it was a big mess.
"Do not start to worry; these laboratories are very sound proof. Not even an explosion can get through these sound proof walls. Now we have to take the stairs up and feed this body to Larissa," Lila explained calmly and pointed to the stairs.
"What about the blood?" Gojyo asked and pointed at the blood stains.
"You don't have to worry about that, either. It happens all the time," Lila said and started to walk off.
Sanzo held Doctor Ryuu's legs and dragged the body up the staircase. It was his first time even touching a dead body, but for the sake of their safety, and Goku's safety, he had to do it. Gojyo and Lila followed promptly and helped with the body. They quickly reached Larissa's room, and it seemed as if the two guards earlier on had left.
"You two wait here, Larissa will definitely turn carnivorous at the smell of blood." Lila instructed and opened Larissa's door.
A loud howl, sounding something like a wolf's, was heard as Larissa whiffed blood. Lila entered the room and shut the door behind her. Sanzo and Gojyo peered through the window and saw Larissa's flesh start to turn into the rotting face that the two saw when she turned cannibal.
Larissa dove into the dead body and ripped part after part of the body up. She devoured it hungrily and seemed to be thanking Lila with her grateful stare. Blood spurted onto her face as Larissa tore the arteries and veins apart, leaving a horrible and disgusting sight that Gojyo and Sanzo could no longer accept. It wasn't long before Lila exited the room, her face nonchalant as ever.
"W-What happened in there?" Gojyo asked.
"It's not as if you don't know… She's hungry, and then she eats, simple as that." Lila explained casually.
"That's just sick… I don't know how you put up with it," Sanzo remarked as he walked away from Larissa's room.
"I got used to it; it's not really a big deal." Lila said as-a-matter-of-factly as she stared at her blood stained clothes.
"How could you ever get used to something like… that?" Gojyo remarked as he peered in Larissa's window once again.
Larissa looked up from devouring the carcass, and her eyes found Gojyo's. It gave off an evil glint, seeming to remember his taste from that one bite that she took. Gojyo shuddered and backed off from the window quickly.
"You seem to enjoy scaring yourself," Lila commented as Gojyo walked towards her and Sanzo.
"I-I… She's just…" Gojyo tried to explain.
"Don't worry; most people would probably have the same reaction. But Sanzo…" Lila started as she observed Sanzo's fine features. From the perfectly hooked nose to the permanently creased forehead, she analyzed every part of his face with deep contemplation. "…I won't be surprised if you were one of us,"
Sanzo was taken aback by the comment and stared at Lila strangely. He had the strongest urge to say that he'll never be one of them, but for some odd reason, held back.
"I think we should go look for Goku now," Sanzo said and looked away from everyone. He was starting to get self conscious and that wasn't something that he liked very much.
Lila once again led the way as they went back to the stairway. They ran down the steps quickly, with their heavy guns slamming against their bodies.
"You know that this is the last level, right?" Lila asked before she allowed them to exit the door from the stairway.
"Well yeah… This is how far the elevator can bring us, so I suppose…" Gojyo answered and scratched his head.
"You're wrong. From this corridor onwards, behind this door, there will be a room where an extra stairs is provided; for Lady Ami's room only. Once you go through this door, you're not allowed to turn back, and you're going to have to fight your way through. Do you get me?" Lila explained thoroughly.
"Wait, if guns can't kill the bulletproof guards, then what can?" Sanzo asked after much contemplation.
"Knives, or if you're lucky enough, a bullet through their temple. That's the only place that isn't bulletproof, and it includes you in this category as well, so you better be careful. They won't attack me as they have electronic visors that differs NESS members and intruders, so you have to take care of yourselves, then. And I warn you, these guards are fast." Lila explained once again.
Both boys nodded their head and Lila swung the door open. They were immediately introduced to a whole new environment filled with enemies. The guards guarding that level were obviously not amused by intruders and immediately surrounded them promptly as their visor equipment analyzed the two strangers. Sanzo and Gojyo did not even need a killing command from Lila before starting up their guns and firing it at every guard they see. Some guards, wearing green uniforms, didn't have bulletproof skin; and were eliminated easily. However, guards that were wearing black uniform were almost up to Sanzo and Gojyo's skill level.
"Sanzo, look out!" Gojyo cried out as a black guard jumped up into the air behind Sanzo, weaving a huge axe, attempting to slice Sanzo into two.
Sanzo quickly avoided the attack and shot a green guard that was sneaking up behind Gojyo. The pair was now back to back, panting heavily as the enemies kept coming.
"You look out!" Sanzo said and rushed forward to a black guard and kicked him down onto the ground.
Gojyo defended himself from a trio of black guards as he slipped out a jack knife and speedily slipped behind one of the three and cut his throat. The other two guards quickly caught on and soon enough, one of the guards pinned Gojyo down with his heavy weight. However, thanks to the liquid that Lila gave, Gojyo easily lifted up the guard, threw him onto the other black guard and rushed forward to shoot two bullets in each of their temples.
Sanzo and Gojyo quickly disposed of their enemies, and soon enough after almost twenty minutes of fighting, Sanzo and Gojyo slumped against the wall, panting heavily. They looked at each other and gave a thumb up sign before wiping sweat off their foreheads.
Lila emerged from a corner creepily, giving the boys a clap of praise.
"Congratulations boys, you wiped out most of the guards of this level." Lila said as her pink lips curved into a slight smile.
"Y-Yeah, and it was pretty easy, too!" Gojyo commented and grinned as he lifted up a gun and punched into the air as a sign of victory.
"Baka, you underestimate NESS! It was only easy because they were not prepared for intruders with your skills. They didn't know about the potion I gave you, or the fights would have been much tougher." Lila scolded and rolled her eyes.
The hallway was now empty, with blood staining the floors and the smell of death lingering in the air. It seemed as if Sanzo and Gojyo were now ruthless murderers infiltrating a science laboratory.
"Now, let us proceed towards Lady Ami's room, shall we?" Lila asked and led the way for both boys.
"Are there going to be more fights? I think I'm bleeding somewhere," Gojyo asked innocently.
Lila and Sanzo both turned around to look at Gojyo's pale face. He gave a slight smile, and then passed out onto the ground, his palm pierced with a small dart.
"We must get him into a lab quickly!" Lila exclaimed anxiously.
Sanzo was in shock as he stared at his partner's now-limp body. Gojyo had been poisoned by a dart one of the black guards had.
"I dragged him into this mess…" Sanzo started to blame himself.
"Baka, carry him, now! We have no time to waste!" Lila scolded angrily as she plucked out the dart from Gojyo's palm. Beads of sweat were dripping down her forehead.
"Y-Yes," Sanzo replied and proceeded to do as Lila said.
With that, the two of them entered one of the now-empty laboratories and had a new battle to fight. This time, to save Gojyo's life.
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I apologize for this taking so long! I've been extremely busy, once again. But no worries! Busy period is now over, so I will quickly finish up this story! Reviews are very appreciated! If you have the time to read, I'm sure you have a minute to review.