Fear fear fear amusement fear

Ace was huddled in the branch of the tree, desperately slamming his back against the trunk to try and hide his blazing white clothing.

An Eraser howled, long and full of grim satisfaction.

His muscles still ached something fierce and strong and heavy, torn apart by the endurance test. That didn't help in this horrible game of survive-or-be-killed.

There was a mutant slumped on the ground only a few feet away from the base of his tree. He had felt her, felt every inch of her emotions as she slowly bled to death over the ground.

The fierce screaming of pain and fear and horror as she clutched her torn open stomach only grew and grew and grew until suddenly-

It didn't. Like a candlelight, the mutant's life had been snuffed out.

And he had felt every second of it.

Fear fear fear

An Eraser beating slick white wings roared past him, only a few feet below his branch. Ace shut his eyes and covered his serval ears as if that would do anything against the sudden feeling of hunger hunger happiness hunger he felt. His fur was fluffed heavily up all over his body and his claws had left marks an inch deep over the wood.

Fear fear fear FEAR FEAR

A mutant screamed, and Ace felt a tear slip out of his eyes.

It wasn't meant to be like this.

What had happened to escape?

But, in a blaring noise that shrieked from above, a beep sounded over the Arena. Ace froze.

The Erasers stopped moving as well. The mutants booked it into the cover of the trees and laid there, huddling.

There were only a few left. He was on the edge of the forest, but he could see most of them. Neon and Ophia were tucked close to a tree, sucking in deep breaths. Ophia had something glimmering on her face as she bared scarlet tinted fangs. There was Loki, Felix - a few others. More than six.

No Reflex.

A voice buzzed into life, pleasant and polite and talking to a room that reeked of death. "Gather all and restrain. Gather all and restrain."

And then it clicked out of existence.

There was silence in the room once more, but it was broken by a brown furred Eraser. It cackled and stood up on all fours, fur melting away like water.

Fangs slid back into its mouth and ears shrunk and moved down. Bones snapped and crackled until they formed a man.

Ace recognized him as the lead Eraser who had taunted them.

There was a blast of amusement amusement hunger, but his face bared a taunting smirk.

"Now, little mutants who survived." His voice bordered on cooing. "There's an easy way and a hard way. Easy way? You come here and we tie you up and take you to where you need to be. We'll even let the straps be a bit looser than usual."

Erasers lined up behind him, still shifted. One grinned past a fleck of white clothing caught in its jaws.

"The hard way, however, involves you fighting and us ripping your spine out of your back. You're expendable."

There was a moment of pause in which the Eraser grinned and cracked his knuckles slowly.

Happiness fear fear hunger

And then a mutant burst out of the trees, white tail whipping everywhere. Curled shoulders and pointed ears, terrified expressions and black fur teardrop markings. Felix.

He was frozen ten feet away from the lead Eraser, back as stiff as an iron rod. "I surrender. I surrender." He babbled, voice low and desperate.

The lead Eraser cackled and thumped him over the back, making the feline mutant lurch forward. He turned and gestured to an Eraser behind him, who reached forward and grabbed Felix rather gently by the arm. He was led docily through the open door to the Arena, his tail quivering and ears flat.

"See what happens when you cooperate?" He grinned.

Someone with pale grey fur covering their whole body stepped forward, legs quivering. "What are they going to do with us?"

The Eraser snapped his teeth before playing along. "We have some ideas planned. More DNA would be interesting and some scientists have always wanted to see whether we could pull your current DNA back out of your body. Should be… intriguing." His voice rumbled like thunder on the last word, amusement happy sadness dripping off his body.

The mutant tensed but walked forward. "Don't hurt me."

There was a cackle and two more Erasers stepped forward, baring two thick leather straps.

"Of course not! We leave that up to the lab."

They were snapped in and led out, fur sticking straight out and amber eyes squeezed lightly shut.

Ace didn't move. He was frozen against the branch, shuffling his weight lower and lower to try and hide his bright white clothing.

But then the Eraser sighed. "No more? Ah well."

Three people stepped up behind him. They were in human form - two males and one female covered in tattoos. With a grin, they showed something gripped loosely in their hands.

A silver gun with a large trigger. Ace didn't breathe.

Fear fear fear fearfearfear

A rustle burst into existence as a mutant turns trip and ran deeper into the woods. Barely turning, one of the men raised his gun and shot it into the woods.

There was a thump of a body collapsing. The lead Eraser stepped back.

And then the woman with tattoos looked up at him coyly, raised her gun, and fired.

He fell from the tree and knew no more.

When he woke up, Ace knew something was wrong.

Maybe it was the joy FEAR wonder FEAR curiosity FEAR burning through his mind.

His yellow eyes snapped open to the glass.

He was in a small room, maybe five square feet and ten high. It was made of white tiles that were marred by cuts at least four inches long and half an inch deep. They looked like claw marks. But there was one different wall, made of a clear glass. Through the window showed a white room lined with other glass walls.

Mutants snarled in every one of them.

The Lab. He was here again.

No restraints were on his body but there was no escaping from the rooms they were locked in unless a whitecoat let them out. And that wasn't happening.

And then Markus appeared, slowly walking down the row with his ever-present clipboard in hand.

He paused at the one next to him, eyebrow raised. Ace could hear him talking through the non-soundproofed glass.

"She was a failed experiment, wasn't she? Used the wrong amount of DNA and made her too deadly. Well, it's as good of a time as any to fix that. Get Brenner working on something to counteract those marks."

Another spike of fear.

Markus moved on and looked inside the next glass. Ace hissed furiously at him.

"Oh, it's the empath. We'll be testing that quite a lot in the coming days, don't you worry."

He tapped a finger against the glass, musing aloud. "Though truly, what haven't we done? You've felt mutants die, felt them hurt, felt them win. What use do we have for an empath? They're of no use except for as an-" amazement happy

Markus froze and then hummed something. He pressed a buzzer on the edge of his clipboard, and within a minute a whitecoat bounded up to him.

"Fit SH02 with an electrical collar, start with a beginning voltage. Get it in with no troubles and add in claw covers. Don't muzzle him. Then get him in the room with KBNZMB03. Find a chained chair or something. He can't get out."

They nodded and ran off, barking orders to people he could not see.

But he was too petrified to even try and think.

Why did Markus want him? Why was being an empath suddenly useful?

Markus moved, humming softly a gentle tune. And then an Eraser matched up to the glass, furry paw pressing to something on the left side.

The glass began to open. And his floor dropped beneath him.

In a second, he was five feet under the ground and the Eraser was looking in. With one impossible strong arm, it reached down and grabbed him by the back of his clothing. It hauled him up, hissing and scratching and attacking the arm with everything his claws could give.

And then it snapped something cold around his neck and clicked a button.

Electricity shrieked through his veins, frying everything it touched. He screamed and fell limp, even as the voltage cut out. A buzz burned in the back of his ears.

The Eraser closed covers over his hands and feet and picked him, furry arms tight over his shoulders to stop him from moving. But he couldn't have if he wanted.

His fur was sticking out straight on end and his mind still hummed with the crackle of lightning.

He had never had a collar before.

The Eraser walked out of the Lab, but he barely noticed.

At least until he was in a different room, one he had never seen before.

It was made of a grey material he couldn't recognize. There was a table, one made of some sort of metal. There were three chairs, two on one side and one on the other. There were chains on two of the chairs.

Ace finally started to struggle when the Eraser walked closer to the table.

But the second it reached for the button, he snapped into stillness and didn't move. He didn't even dare to breathe too loud. The Eraser set him down on the chair and instantly clicked his wrists and ankles into restraints.

And then he left, and Ace was strapped to a chained chair with a button on the table. It was a simple thing, a grey on a darker grey pad. Maybe the size of his palm.

His chair was bolted to the ground, as he soon found out.

The door burst open and a man with a clipboard walked through. Markus.

He shot a dark smirk at Ace as he settled into the chair next to him, wrapping his hand around the button and setting it just within sight. His fingers danced along the top.

Ace didn't think he should rightfully be conscious with how much he was holding his breath.

Smugness happy curiosity

The door on the other side of the room clicked open and exposed a fighting mutant. Green and blue wings. Pitch black scales. Hacked off hair.

Loki.

Two Erasers managed to get her in the room, pinning her down to the other chained chair. Her wings were bound behind her back, strapped down almost painfully against her shoulders. Covers were over her entire arms and there was a muzzle around her mouth.

And then she was chained down, her muzzle ripped off, and the Erasers left.

Her eyes instantly snapped to Ace. "What are you doing here?" She hissed, voice more worried than angry.

Fear

"KBNZMB03. I've been told that you are the little leader of the escaped mutants."

Loki growled low in her throat, feathers bristling over her back.

"Are there any more still out there?"

"No," she snapped out, narrowing her eyes and baring her fangs. They extended out of her mouth, sharp and deadly.

Markus didn't even flinch. "SH02. Is she lying?"

He froze.

Fear fear anxious scared fear anxious nervous

Loki stared at him, eyes strong but scared. She didn't move, shoulders shaking.

Markus' hands danced over the button.

Ace steeled himself. "She's lying."

…

I'm not dead?

Sorry sorry sorry! I was busy. It's NaNoWriMo, I started a new fic, and life is getting in the way. Also, school.

But hey! Everyone else was captured and they're in the Lab. Ace is getting used by Markus for his empath skills and is being forced to tell whether mutants lying. I wonder how Loki will react…

Only I know! Or maybe you, if you tell me an awesome idea and I add it in.

Because after all, it's that what SYOC stories are for? Gimme some ideas!

But hey! Do you guys like this chapter? I'm a bit iffy on it, but I still enjoy writing this. We should see Ace becoming a bit like a servant to the whitecoats, a lot like Felix. Also, I think that either next chapter or the one after that, we should see some more Ophia and Neon.

And I want a mutation to see if we can get them together.

Also, who do you think Markus was talking to in the cage next to Ace? Tell me in the reviews!

Anyway! Please read and review!

Frost OUT!