Without Consent

By: Lady Kuroi Bara

Disclaimer: Like I said, it's fun to waste your time on something that passed so long ago.

And so Chapter 4 begins…

"H-hey, Yugo! Look!" Alice pointed her index finger high above her and Yugo's head. High up there was an conveniently unlit window, which looked big enough to let Alice and Yugo in at the same time. "We can enter through that window. Our only problem is how. Too bad myself or you, Yugo, do not beastorize into something with wings." Alice's brown eyes narrowed at the window. "Yugo?"

"Alice, come here. I think I found an easier way in." His voice sounded muffled, afar. Only because he was around the corner of the building. Alice wandered around the side, taking quick notice to the door in front of them. "I bet it's locked." Yugo grumbled, taking hold of the door knob and turning it with ease. Creaking, the door opened, beckoning the two to enter.

Alice cautiously stepped in, "It's dark." She murmured. Indeed, it was. Yugo walked behind her, then in front. "Yugo, can you find a light switch?"

Nodding, Yugo directed himself to one side of the wall, Alice to the other. His hand slid easily against the smooth concrete. Until he hit a square, plastic object. "Found it, I think." His finger raised slightly, pushing the small switch upwards. The light flickered once, then twice, then on it stayed.

The room was large, and forbidding. The floor was made of cold, gray stones, the walls looked as though they had merged with the floor, being made of stone itself. The light source above them was from a large, peculiar looking object. It was spherical in shape, being a shade of red. It's bright light extended, removing the blanket of darkness which cloaked the room. Opposite the side from Yugo and Alice's standpoint, there was a door. It was large in size, like every other damn thing in that room.

"Shall we?" Yugo asked, looking at the sinister door. 'I feel a breeze, but where is it coming from?' His eyes gazed across the walls, looking for any vents. Perhaps the air conditioner was on? Taking a couple of steps, Yugo could tell Alice was not following behind him, "You coming, Alice?"

"Yugo, don't you think that this was TOO easy? This has to be a trap. The doors will probably close, and the ceiling will come crashing on us, or the walls will fold themselves around us. Something's not right here. It's almost as if… we were expected." Alice's eyes analyzed everything they came across. What worried her most, was the seemingly irreproachable lamp. "Why is it that that's the only thing that seems out of place? I don't like the looks of that lamp. Yugo, let's investigate it before we go any further."

Yugo nodded, knowing Alice was onto something. "No problem. Here, I'll lift you up, and you tell me if you find anything."

¤

"Kenji, we have to get down there some how!" Uriko's voice cried softly. Her chocolate brown eyes were fixated on the morbid scene in front of her. Now that her eyes came to focus to the dark colored room, she realized just what was really in front of her.

The tank was set in the middle of the room, it's base against the floor, the top against the ceiling. At it's base, thick and thin wires covered the floor, leading out of the room through cut out holes in the wall. They seemed to be pumping in the liquid which Shina was captured in. On the right side of the tank, was what looked like a computer. Piles of papers rested on the desk next to the computer. Going across the top of the tank, were smaller wires. They entered through holes in the tank, connecting to Shina's almost nude body. The liquid which had encased her was a shade of blue. All in all, none of this looked good.

"Uriko, take this path. The one to our right." Kenji murmured, disrupting Uriko's trance on the tank and Shina. Remaining quiet, she only nodded and crawled as quietly as she could to the left. "Keep going until you cross over a vent which faces the ground." She continued to crawl before a thought struck her mind.

"Hey! How do YOU know where all the vents are? I-I mean, I do not mean to butt into anything I don't belong in, but… I'm curious." Uriko murmured, her brunette hair swaying to and fro. Silence. "Kenji?" She asked, "Kenji, I'm sorry. I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I'll stay quiet. I'm sorry." Her voice echoed, 'I'm sorry' echoing, a broken record.

"It is fine. Besides, I caught site of it easily. The vent has holes drilled into it, the blue light penetrates through the holes, therefore I saw it." Kenji said, as though it were a formula. Uriko only nodded, leading the way. She crawled over the vent Kenji had indicated earlier before, and Kenji nodded. "Thank you. Now, all we must do is break this vent open. Judging from Yugo's encounter with the last vent, it should pose no problem."

Using her finger, Uriko easily broke the screws as though they were toothpicks. "Nothing to it! Anything's possible when I'm a half-beast!"

Kenji peered through the hole, where the vent had once been. "All is clear." He murmured, "Let us move." He leapt down, his hair wavering gently as he descended. Uriko copied his move, leaping as well, landing with cat-like grace.

"Okay, we're here. Let's get to Shina now!" Uriko mumbled under her breath. Kenji nodded in agreement. "Yes, let us-"

There was a loud slam, as though a heavy door had been thrown shut. It was the door which held Shina, the door which produced the only light for Uriko and Kenji. Alone in the dark hallway, Kenji opened his mouth, "Uriko? Uriko, where are you?"

Following his voice, Uriko latched onto his long sleeved shirt, "We'll have to find a light switch." Uriko murmured, "Did you happen to notice one, Kenji?" She asked, squinting in hopes of adjusting to the sudden change in light.

"No, I did not. We shall find one quickly." But before Kenji could take a step, his eyes widened, "The door sounded as though it were slammed. Then… somebody other than Yugo, Alice, you and I are here. Somebody… is nearby." Uriko began to tremble, "You're scaring me, stop it." She whispered.

"I am sorry, I only wanted to state the obvious." Kenji murmured, his voice echoing through the empty hallways. The hair on the back of his neck went up, reacting to the sudden breath of air against him. "Uriko… are you breathing on the back of my neck?" He asked, feeling rather disturbed, should she say yes.

"No, I'm too short anyway."

"Then what is?" The two turned around, as though on cue, and saw a rather feminine figure standing in front of them.

"Sorry to burst in on the party." The woman murmured, "And I hate to be a party pooper, but it's time we be rid of you pesky children."

¤

"Anything strange about it, Alice?" Yugo asked. Currently, Alice was sitting on his shoulders, reaching up at the lamp. It's bright rays blinded her, but through it she saw nothing.

"Nope, nothing. I… guess I was wrong?" She tapped Yugo gently, an indicator she wanted down. "Let's go."

The two walked across the room, looking ahead at the sinister door. Yugo reached his hand out, took grasp of the handle, and tugged on it. To his and Alice's dismay, it opened easily. It made no sound as it opened.

"Be careful." Alice murmured, as Yugo took the lead and walked into the room. It was small in size now, four doors open to them. "I guess we pick one, right?"

"You couldn't be more correct."

"Wha?! Who said that?!" Alice cried. The voice which called out sounded as thought it were on a speaker. Not only that, but the voice was warped, disguising it's owner.

"Bastard! Reveal yourself at once, coward!" Yugo cried, looking for the speaker from where the voice called.

"Don't be rude. I hold lives in my hands."

'Who the hell is this?' Alice thought, 'Well, can't fight with something I cannot see.' She turned to Yugo, "Open a door. You go through one, I another."

"Alice, what? You cannot be serious? Splitting up in such a place as this! Busuzima's hideaway?" Yugo was dismayed, why had she decided such a thing? The speaker laughed at them, and there was a light 'click'. "All right, Alice. Hopefully, one of us will find Kenji and Uriko."

"Exactly." Alice walked up to the second to the last door on the right, Yugo to the first door. "See you around."

Yugo gently opened the door, walking into a world which was not his own. Alice herself, would walk into a world of dismay.

¤

"Who are you?!" Kenji cried, leaping backwards, unlatching with Uriko. "State your business!" His body ran into the wall, and Kenji knew something was going to go down.

"State my business?" The woman asked, rather provocatively, "I belong here. You are the intruder, you and that friend of yours. All of them. State YOUR business. Wait, I know. You want me to destroy you. All right."

'Where is she?! Well, if I cannot see her in this dark cover, she cannot see me, right?' Kenji could only hope his logic would work. "Huh?" A dull smack, and Kenji could feel a slap across the face. He leapt into the air, landing rather comically, trying to retain his balance.

"Ha ha! You cannot see me, my dear, but I… I can see you. Clearly. Every detail. My eyes are the best."

'Her voice, it's coming from the left!' Kenji leaned to the right, wondering if she was all that she cracked herself up to be. Maybe she was only trying to scare him? 'Wait! Uriko! Where is she?!' A kick in the abdomen, knocking him into the wall. 'High heels, huh?'

'The door is here, I know it is!' Uriko cried in her mind. 'I have to open it! Kenji, I'm sorry but please! Keep that woman distracted until I can find and open the door! Please!' Her hand slid across the walls, trying to take grasp of the handle of the door.

"You there! Girl! What are you trying to do?! Find the door? Not before I kill you fir-" Her voice was cut short, for Kenji delivered a blow to the face.

"Hurry, Uriko!" Kenji cried, using his feet to kick at the woman.

Uriko's hands slid across the door's handle, "Found it!" She cried, tugging at it with all her might. The light wrapped around, enlightening the entire hallway.

"KYAH!!" Kenji cried, delivering a final kick to the temple. The woman moaned, and fell to her knees, and onto the floor.

"Who is that, Kenji?" Uriko asked, rubbing her eyes now from the sudden transaction from dark to light. Kenji himself squinted, "I believe that's… Jenny?"

"Jenny? What's she doing here?" Uriko asked, looming over Jenny's unconscious body. "And… what's that metallic thing on the back of her neck?"

Kenji squinted, the shine of the metal reflecting the brilliance of the blue. "I'm not sure. Let's take her into the room where Shina is currently residing." Carrying Jenny was a stiff job.

Setting her in a chair, Kenji over looked the tank, "I… cannot tell what such a contraption is built for." He leaned against it, listening to the churning of the bubbles. Uriko was busily tending to Jenny.

"Strange… she neither bruised or bled." Uriko looked up, "And she's absolutely cold. Almost… like a robot." A thought hit Uriko, 'What if this IS a robot of Jenny? What if that tank extracts information from it's victims, and downloads it into a robot, turning it into a weapon? Then… if that's true… where's the real Jenny's body?!'

And so Chapter 4 draws to a close…

Robots? Has our suspected Busuzima taken his cloning expertise into robots? Or has Jenny become the subject of a cruel experiment? What will become of Alice and Yugo as they embark on their own? Who knows? You will, if you read the next chapter.

Until then, see ya.