Chapter 19: Slight Recuperation
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"I curse the day I accepted this job," a young scientists sighed under his breath as he prepared a blood sample. Though he had little experience with what went on the bowls of the labs, anyone who worked in the top secret building knew very well their efforts contributed to the suffering of the humans they rarely saw. One in Doctor Unus' rank would need to throw away his heart to accept a promotion, for this was the time before the dog days of the recession when Tylon's experiments peaked.
"Isn't it ready yet?"
"Almost, Dr. Busuzima," he answered. He gently lay a slide cover over the miniscule treated droplet of blood and began to take it to the head scientist.
A small, haunting voice caught him off guard and caused him to drop the slide. He turned into ice, hearing what sounded like a ghost whisper, "Bu... su... zi... ma..." Solus Unus stopped being stone and he ever so slowly turned around to meet his fate and join the victims of Tylon's resident ghost. His eyes met with a dull-eyed child in a bloodstained white slip. Solus took a step back from the cadaverous youth, thinking he was, perhaps, a different legend who haunted the labs.
Busuzima, fed up with waiting, stormed toward the younger scientist. "Where is that sample, Unus?" he demanded. With a shaky finger, Solus pointed to the child. "Eh? What're you doing here, Dragon Brat?" he asked, annoyed.
"Busuzima... Your payment is late..."
"What are you babbling about, Dragon Brat?"
"What you do them... what you did to me... what you did to her... Those charges come with a price."
"Now, you're not making any-- Erk!!" The green haired man only just now had spotted the large, round openings in his neck, the sources of the streams of blood that ran down him.
With a strict hiss, he ordered Solus Unus to leave, which he did with much haste. He turned to the little messenger and said with no guilt, "I'm not responsible for what happened to your precious lovergirl. My hands are clean of her actions."
"You knew this would happen," the child gasped between desperate breaths for air, "Monster... You knew all this would happen. You planned it all. Because of what you did, I'll never leave you. My room will remain empty and you and all of you freaks will keep your noses out of my business... And you will leave the payments for me at the end of the month... And if you don't... I can always feed on your scientists, and when they are gone, I'll feed on you."
With those last words, the boy fell limply to the floor. Busuzima let out a quick breath of air. He looked at the bloody form on the floor and gently nudged it with his foot, careful not to stain his new sandals, to turn the child over so he was lying on his back. Surely enough, he was still breathing.
"'E's Pretty much done for," he mumbled, "That's a lot of blood to replace, and he's kind of useless, as he refuses to use any ninja skillz..."
Just then, he could have sworn he felt a draft raise the hairs on the back of his neck, and a leaf gently fluttered past his shoulder. It danced in the air briefly, and then came to rest on the boy's body. He gulped.
"Then again," he said loudly while scooping him up, "He's obedient and whatnot... I'd, um, better give him a blood transfusion... yup..."
As he carried the former ninja heir away, he mumbled under his breath, "If it isn't one pair of all-seeing eyes, it's the other. I'm supposed to be the boss around here..."
~~~~~~~
The red-eyed child loomed over the sleeping form and nudged him. He sat on his chest and began to open Ryu's eyes for him. He moaned and woke up to find himself in a small bed with IVs in his arm, one connected to a slowly emptying bag of blood and the other connected to water to keep him from dehydrating. The other boy did not care; he shoved the cat dancer in his mouth into Ryu's face. "Shen," he groaned, "I don't think I can play now..."
Shen pouted and then socked Ryu in the face. "Okay... Okay..." he sighed. The manmade child bounded off the bed, sprouting a white striped tail along with ears and claws. Ryu took the piece of wire by one end and wearily hung his arm over the side of the bed to make the cluster of cardboard on the other end dance and flutter like a butterfly on front of the little tiger's crimson eyes. He pounced on his fake prey and chewed on it in his mouth before letting it go to catch it again.
"Psst... Ryu!" another small voice whispered, "It's me!"
"Cronos..?"
"Yeah," he grinned, tiptoeing through the door, "If Ganesha sees me out now, I'm in biiiig trouble. He keeps on saying it's dangerous ever since he lost some stupid parchment... Oh, hi, Bitey! I didn't see you there!"
"Bitey" stopped playing at once and glared at him, growling. The prince ignored him entirely. "I heard he got you, Ryu. What happened?"
"I don't remember much," he whispered so only he could hear, "I just remember that it was night and I felt him moving, so I stayed completely still. He grabbed me from behind, picked me up, and then bit me. After that, it's all a blank... But I think I heard a lot of whispering..."
"Creepy... So you don't remember freaking out Dr. Unus?"
"Dr. Unus?"
"Yeah! He was telling everyone about the the creepy little kid. He said you looked possessed. I guess that guy nearly drank you dry so he could hypnotize you. You almost died!"
Shen stood up and said matter-of-factly, "Ryu can't die. He's my caretaker."
Cronos blinked. "Hey, you can talk!"
"Shen was programmed with speech last week," the ex-ninja informed them, "They also aged him a little."
"Now that you mention it, he does look a little older," he noted before walking up to Shen. "So, I guess now you can communicate a bit more normally now, right Bitey? Ouch! He bit me again! What's your problem, y'little shit?"
"Shenlong, please behave," Ryu pleaded in vain from under the covers. Shen's chin-length hair flew back when he lunged forward to engage in one of many all-too-frequent scraps with the prince.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cronos impatiently paced back and forth on front of the couch where Uriko nervously sat. His head bowed and his face in a stern grimace, he tread so that he might have eventually worn a hole in the rug. Uriko's mind raced and her insides curdled with apprehension.
"Uriko," Cronos finally asked, "How long has this been happening? How long has he been like this?"
"For the past few days he's been different. I don't know what did this to him."
"So... He shows his true colors when jealousy strikes him," Cronos declared, "I never thought I'd see such foul actions from that boy."
Uriko looked downwards. Was she really the cause of his sudden change? She was so distressed over the sudden disappearance of the shy boy she knew. She wanted him back so badly. Taking care of him and teaching him made her feel so warm inside. Who was this rude and angry Bakuryu in his body who was so focused on her?
Was Kenji that focused on her?
True, he had barely known her. Had he felt strongly for her in such a short time that it changed him?
"Kenji," she whispered to herself, now desperately wishing to do something for him. She was paying no attention to Cronos, who was now standing kneeling directly on front of her. He placed a hand on her head and leaned forward a kiss. His love moved her head back to avoid the contact. He cooed, "Sweet Uriko, do you love me?"
She stared back at him, completely silent. She could not allow any word to escape her mouth.
".... Kitten...." He sighed sadly, "You've been with him while back was turned?"
"No!"
Cronos stood with a hurt look on his face. "I know I should not trust a woman who even so much as appears to be unfaithful... But I know you are genuine, my kitten. You are confused because of him... and it is up to me to set things right," he declared as he moved to head for the door. Uriko lunged forward.
"Cronos!" she exclaimed, extending one hand.
The prince turned around once more to her and asked, "That creep... doesn't have your heart, does he?"
"No," she told him. The young man smiled slightly and left. Uriko clutched at her chest and felt her insides protest. No, she told herself, she had no love for whatever now possessed him that called itself Bakuryu, but she now clearly saw that her heart ached for the reluctant ninja.
~~~~~~~~~~
So what are you going to do now?
"Shut up," Bakuryu whispered with a quick jerk of his head. His arms crossed, he hunched over as he sat on a beam hidden in the shadows of pipes and supports high above the floor. He loomed over what he felt to be his territory and tried to banish the voice from his mind.
That wench will pay, his mind growled.
Oh? You want to harm her?
He answered, She led me on. That girl has the nerve to refuse me and she choose that stupid prince over me.
So you hate her.
The killer's gaze faltered a moment. No... no I don't, he quickly thought as his thoughts raced for a second.
But did you not declare you hate everyone?
"Shut up!" he began to say aloud, "She's... different."
You're different.
"Shut up!"
I can't. Anyway, what are you going to do?
I'm going to take her, of course.
How? It's clear you don't know what you're doing.
I won't let her get away this time.
So you remember? Or maybe you still only know hate and deception?
I want her.
Why?
I... I just do...
His gaze lowered and his tensed muscled began to relax. He wanted that girl for his own so badly. A small bit of warmth grew in his chest and he wondered what it meant.
Then, he heard footstep from underneath him. "You," he hissed before descending from his perch. With almost no sound at all, he appeared right on front of the prince. Cronos took a step back, but he tried to contain his surprise and hide it behind a cool posture. "I've been looking for you," he told him.
"What do you want?" Bakuryu responded curtly, shifting his weight on his back leg to give himself a somewhat more lithe and slinky appearance. He ran one hand through his hair, which once again stood atop his head. Now, the locks were tamed so they framed his face and leaned towards the back of his head. He had now completely rejected the colors of his clan, and he instead chose to wear black, deep blue, and blood red. Much more brief armor with a burnt yellow tint decorated his left shoulder, arms, and shins. It also made up the elaborate belt at his waist, adorned with a dragon's toothed mouth. Tight black spandex hugged his chest, showing off every one of the lean, yet very well toned muscles underneath. He once again wore a long red scarf loosely wrapped around his neck with a long section trailing behind him.
He merely narrowed his eyes and calmly started, "You stupid, spoiled, undeserving, conceited, over dramatic, flamboyant..."
"What?! Hey, I thought we were friends, Ryu!"
"Be quiet. You are an obstacle," he muttered, raising a paw of gleaming claws. Cronos barely registered the assault. He merely leaned back a little and the attack penetrated him and he heard Uriko's voice shriek the name, "Kenji!"
The sound, catching him off guard, had caused the ninja to merely draw shallow gashes across his chest. Cronos hissed in pain.
"Uriko?" the two of them called. The prince had not realized she had followed him. "Kitten," he cried, "It's not safe here!"
"Kenji, what are you doing?"
"Uriko... Look what you made me do..." he whispered, changing his paw back into a bloodstained human hand, "I didn't kill him."
"K-kill?!" Cronos stuttered, "What the hell? You're my friend!"
Uriko grabbed his wrist to pull him towards her. "I thought you said you didn't like killing!" He roughly tugged his hand from her grasp and lightly painted his face with the red on his fingertips. A light grin curled his lips. "The sight of blood," he sighed, "Excites me..."
~~~~~~~~~
Fox senses tingling!
The assassin stood abruptly, slamming his palms on the table. "Someone is stealing my lines!"
~~~~~~~~~
Uriko and Cronos both stared at him. "What did you say?"
He grinned slyly. "I'm dangerous, kitty cat..." he purred with a sexy gleam in his eye.
"Wha... Excuse me, but I'm the only one who does the cat-related nicknames!" Cronos complained, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Now listen here," the other male started to say, but he was cut off by a cry of "There he is!"
Standing in the doorway were Shenlong and the man who had assaulted Kenji and Uriko the night they became lost. "Shit..." the brown-haired boy hissed. The two men marched up to the boy and snatched him up by the arms. Shenlong took a quick whiff and declared, "So you've been stealing my hair oil!"
"And that's my mascara!" the blond cried.
"And I'm the one who does the psycho bloody face paint!"
"No, that's my act," Fox objected.
"No, it's mine!"
"The sight of blood excites me, you dimwit!"
"Whatever. The point is, he stole it!"
"That's right! We have to teach him a lesson."
The ninja looked at the two of them frantically and then began a desperate struggle to try and squirm out of their grasps, but they managed to restrain the fish out of water. The two of them dragged him, kicking and wriggling like a trapped animal, out the door to an area unknown.
Uriko blinked in confusion and then started to follow. Cronos lightly grabbed her arm to stop her. She looked at the door way, and then at his face. She stayed in silence and stillness for a moment, and then broke away from him to run to Kenji.
The girl sped through hallways, following the noises of confrontation. Shouts and footsteps became much more increasingly louder just before she saw the captive running right in her direction. He looked up at her and barely stopped a second in snatching her up by the waist. Shenlong and Fox burst into the hallway too see nothing and hear only a slight yelp, the only sign of anyone ever being there.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Uurrgh!"
Marvel growled her frustration and silent obscenities at the rude interruption of her concentration. Practically knocking the table over, she violently rose from her seat and stormed towards the door with such force that the neighbors downstairs would think a three hundred pound man had recently moved in. "What do you want?" she roared. Two seconds later came a meek and barely audible, "Um... I guess Miss Gado isn't home. Let's go..." Another voice pestered, "Yugo, I'm not leaving until I get some info, understand?"
"Yeah... yeah..."
Marvel opened the door a crack and hissed, "Look, I'm really busy right now, so if you don't mind... Scram!"
Alice stepped forward and pushed the door, fighting the stronger woman's hold, so it would open further. "Just a minute! Mr. Long didn't send us all the way here just to-" She had been cut off by the sudden presence of Marvel's hand clasped over her mouth.
"You fool! Don't you know the walls have ears?" the woman growled, "Come in before you say something you'll regret." She rushed the two of them in and raced on front of them before they could explore any of her apartment. "So... You say a 'Mr. Long' sent you? Who is this 'Long?' Can you prove this?"
Alice dug into her pocket and retrieved the slip of paper Long had given them. Not only did it have Marvel's address, but a short message indecipherable to Alice and her partner. Jannu snorted and, with a small smile on her face, read aloud, "Tigers do not sire puppy-dogs." She laughed and stored it away in her own pocket. "How sweet," she chuckled sarcastically, "That's Long for you. So... What's your story?"
The two introduced themselves to her and explained their problems, to which she openly expressed her frustration with Long's stubbornness whenever she asked his support for her cause. "Oooh, he really pisses me off!" she hissed through tightly clenched teeth, "Dad... Long... I can't get anything done around here with those thick-headed muscle-packed weirdoes." She thrust a fist into the wall, adding to the impressive collection of cracks already in the dingy paint.
Both Yugo and Alice let out a quick "Eeep" before taking a cautious step back. Marvel, gripping her fist in an open palm, turned and gave Yugo a dark look. "You're not a thick-headed muscle-packed weirdo, are you? 'cause you look like the rest of 'em." Yugo shook his head in the negative with such force that he might have given himself whiplash.
"Wait a minute... Ohgami? You're Yuji Ohgami's son, aren't you?"
Yugo nodded and Marvel continued to say, "Do you remember me? Daddy used to bring me to your house all the time when Mr. Ohgami was still alive."
Yugo looked up to the ceiling for a moment and sighed, "I was pretty young back then... Say, I do remember Pop ditching me with you while he and Gado did stuff... I remember! You had that poofy pink dress and that long curly hair tied up in that great big bow-"
"It must have been a different girl," she interrupted in a grim and commanding voice.
"You kept on killing Loopy with Mr. Bear..." he whined.
"Loopy was weak."
"Could we get to the point, you two?" Alice reminded them.
"Right." She motioned towards the table she had been hiding from their view and explained, "To make a long story short, Tylon is pretty much protected in one way or another against most of the claims we can make against them. Also, we don't know much about the actual complex. To get Tylon with the law or with some sort of attack would require inside info, which is rather hard to come by."
Alice strolled over to the desk and started to flip through the multicolored pile to get a look at them for herself while the other woman explained the situation in a little more detail. Most of them might as well have been in a completely different language. Deciding she could try to make some sense out of them later, she decided to skip them. Her eyes then fell on something completely different that looked like a picture out of a history textbook. Instead of yet another document printed on goldenrod or puce paper, this was a thick sheet of parchment worn by the ages. "To my grandson as he nears manhood and the throne," she whispered to herself before taking a quick glance at the date, which told her the young grandson must have had grandchildren of his own by now, and then continuing, "I fear our legend will be lost in these changing times, so hide this well and pass it on to your own son as he matures, whether or not there is still a Calminjina then..."
"Calminjina?" Alice wondered aloud. "That used to be United Nation of Zoanthropes way back when," the blonde told her, "Of course, the country is still mostly unknown. It used to be the zoanthropes' best kept secret for most of history. Don't ask me about it now, though. We can barely get any news, good or bad, whatsoever dealing with that place. Tylon has kept the crown prince, one of my connections, here most of his life, so even he can't tell me."
"Do you think this could be important?" Alice asked her.
"It's just a lot o' superstition if you ask me. Too vague for my taste. Something about the crown prince's inheritance and lots of magicy shit... or something... Anyway, if you two want to help anybody, there's plenty of brainstorming and researching to do. I was preferring someone with connections, but you two are better than nothing, I guess. I'll see if we can get more info."
"Is it three allready?!" Yugo yelped when he finally saw a clock, "I have a match today! I'd better leave you two before my manager bites my head off..."
Both of their attentions were caught by the stereotypical sound of the readying of a firearm. Marvel seemed to pull a semi-automatic weapon from nowhere. "You're not going anywhere with what you know. I suggest you make yourselves comfortable."
~~~~~~~~~~
She had held her eyes shut most of the ride, only opening them to see blurring colors of scenery flying past. Finally, the ride stopped, and she was retrieved from underneath the ninja's arm and placed on cold, dusty metal. When Uriko put her arms on the "floor" for support, she found she was seated on a beam barely wider than she was. She backed up against the wall, realizing there was little place to run, unless she wanted to jump off and kill herself.
"Kenji..." she whined.
"Bakuryu," he corrected in an annoyed tone. Despite the lack of light, Uriko managed to make out a forming black eye and scattered scuff marks on his face. He advanced on her, crawling on top of her so his face was just above hers.
"Why do you insist on putting me in this position?" Uriko squeaked as he shifted his weight so he was on top of her. He gripped the sides of her arms and she turned her head away and cringed.
"Just get it over with, okay?"
Instead, he shifted his weight uneasily, but did nothing else for next few seconds. Uriko turned back to him to find a very frustrated face. "Umm... Aren't you going to pin me down and ravish me... or something?" she asked in a sheepish tone. He completely caught her off guard when he suddenly forced her flat against the beam with his body. He cupped her left cheek in his right hand and whispered, "What do you want from me?"
"I'd like you stop being an idiot!" she blurted out in anger before being reprimanded with a strike across the face.
"No! You want something from me, just as I want something from you."
She glared at him nervously.
"You... you... I'm drawn to you. As the summer bugs fly into fire, I inevitably shall be killed by you."
"Woah, who's killing who here?"
He gazed into her eyes with a sad look in his own. "If I can't have you... I'll die... You won't let me have you, so I..."
"Please!" she laughed, "You're not going to die if you don't have your way with me!"
"My mind... I'll lose my mind completely..."
She nearly made a quick comment about him already being insane, but she stopped herself and stared into his face a moment. Was she, by any chance, looking at the Young Dragon, or, perhaps, Kenji?
Whoever he was, the then proceeded to wrap his arms around her and rest his head over her shoulder. "I need you," he whispered into her ear, "Because I'll die without you."
"... Kenji...?"
The gentle caress of long ago immediately returned to the harsh grip she had known recently. The sadness in his voice melted back to anger. "Bakuryu," he firmly told her, "My name is Bakuryu."
"Is Kenji dead then?" she demanded, "Because there is something I want from you, and that's Kenji!"
"You just want to use him," Bakuryu insisted.
"If you're so sure that's all I do, then why do you want me?"
He averted his eyes and said nothing. Uriko placed one hand on his shoulder. "Kenji," she told him, "I think we both know this isn't the way it's supposed to work. We need to stick together the way we used to."
His gaze softened noticably. "The way we... used to..." he repeated.
Uriko nodded slowly with a gentle smile on her face. She strained to be as soothing as possible, and she could see the fiery Bakuryu peeling away to reveal bits and pieces of the boy she and Yugo had come to know and love.
He looked down with an upset look in his eyes and firmly stated, "I don't want to be controlled anymore."
Uriko chirped, "You don't have to if you really don't want to." Smiling sweetly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in so his head lightly nuzzled her just over her heart. I must be nuts, Uriko chuckled to herself as she stroked his hair, Then again, it feels rather nice The other teenager liked this act and he moved in closer, clutching at her shirt like a small child with tightly clenched fists.
"We need to get out of here," she sighed.
"There is no way to leave Tylon."
"There's gotta be a way. We'll find it, and we'll leave together."
Looking up at her, he whispered, "Promise?"
"Yeah, it's our promise..."
"Just the two of us?"
Uriko fell silent and the ninja looked at her curiously. She explained, "I suppose it's the only way anybody would get out alive... You know, I think Cronos has been up to something..."
"Cronos," he growled, the fire returning to his eyes. The girl became worried when she saw that familiar rage.
"No... The two of us. Only us," he ordered before snatching her up by her waist once more and beginning another flight. This time, it was very short and she could feel it was headed right the floor beneath their perch. It took Uriko a few clenched up moments before she could regain her posture. "Kenji!" she scolded, but he was nowhere to be seen. She took a quick look around from where she sat to find a barely lit section of the lab very unfamiliar to her. In the dark, she could make out strange pieces of equipment, both large and small, haphazardly placed in random locations. This place was, in short, a mess.
"Kenji...?" she called out quietly. She found it very difficult to get herself to raise her voice, for she felt she was being watched. Unless her mind was playing tricks on her, she could have sworn she heard a voice. Taking hesitant steps, Uriko took a quick look around while she told herself she was trying to find a way out without getting herself into a mess. If she ever had disbelief in vibrations, any doubt was now shattered, as she could feel something pulling her in despite her instincts' protests. Something was calling to her, telling her to come closer still.
She finally came to some sort of wall, if it could be called such, that looked like pipes, bars, and metal refuse compacted into a barrier that bowed outwards. Without thinking, her hand reached out to touch it.
A wave, like a sudden electric current, passed through her. She immediately pulled away her fingers before they actually made contact. Something felt frighteningly powerful and also very familiar somehow. She did not like this at all. She finally let her sense take over to let herself run. She did not even stop to think what passages might lead where; she just wanted to get back "home," as she was starting to think of Cronos' place and parts of the labs. Her mind went further than that and she thought of the Clan of the Soil and Kenji, and then Big Brother Yugo's apartment, and then her own home, which now seemed so foreign. A part of her hoped that when she stopped running, she would be back in her own room, with school books and clothes scattered all over the floor, and with a furry little rodent waiting for her.
~~~~~~~~~~
"He took her away!" he cried, "He took my kitten!"
The image of Shina in the tiny screen of his cellular phone looked particularly annoyed. "Prince... back to the subject..."
"I've been too lazy... I haven't put my claim on her... Yes, that's what I need to do..."
"Earth to Cronos..."
"Huh?" the prince voiced, "Were you talking about something important?"
She heaved a huge sigh. "Nothing..." she breathed. Meanwhile, in the edge of the screen behind her, a face was trying to be shown.
"Help! She's holding us at gunpoint!" a scarred man managed to yell into the camera.
Cronos blinked at seeing her turn her head and yell, "Shaddup and get back in yer seats..."
