Lesson: Don't talk to yourself, or worse, argue with yourself because a debate is usually between two DIFFERENT people. Hmm… Multiple Personality Disorder? Now what the hell is that? One: "I don't know," Two: "I've heard that somewhere before," Three: "Look it up if you're so smart," Okay. -
Chapter FIVE
Kreuze had just finished his shower and had a bathrobe on. His mask was on the left side table, but since nobody was there with him he decided not to put it back on. After all, he wanted to enjoy the show with his naked eye.
He grabbed a can of beer from his small refrigerator and made himself comfortable on the bed. He was often alone but never lonely. He was frequently preoccupied, too, with work. He was a lieutenant, which meant that he had a great deal of responsibility over ZAFT's victory against the Naturals. He was interested solely on advancing towards the future and grasping it with minimum effort. There was nothing that could hinder that goal.
The blond waited for something to happen. He heard movement, then voices. He grabbed the remote control, pressing the Zoom button a couple of times. The camera was in night-vision mode so the picture was as clear as it would have been in the daytime. Kreuze took a long sip of the alcoholic beverage before focusing all his attention to the movie. Well, it wasn't much of a movie, but it might as well have been one, with its suspenseful moments. The amazing thing was that the only person watching… also happened to be the director.
The floor had a pool of blood slowly spreading on its surface. Big and small dots of the same liquid were splattered against the wall. Clearly, someone was heavily injured.
Athrun, the flawless one, admired his morbid masterpiece, which came in the form of Kira Yamato. The brunette was almost lifeless in his crouched position; his head was down as though defeated, his hair covered his reddened face, his right shoulder bore an open wound still oozing blood, and his chest had multiple slashes and punctures that had a wild burning effect on him. Ironically, Kira remained quiet as he waited for another round of abuse.
"Not yet complete…" murmured Athrun to himself. He went back to the darker half of the chamber. He wanted Kira to suffer, to see him break beyond repair. He couldn't understand why he had an aching desire to destroy his old friend, but he could care less because it felt extremely satisfying. It was frighteningly good, so good, in fact that it had become addicting. Athrun couldn't get enough of it.
He grabbed a long weapon and returned to the other pilot. The brown-haired boy had not yet the enough strength to move, and so he was still. In some way he was dead: physically, mentally, and emotionally. He knew that there was no use in calling for help; he was his only true companion there.
"Ready, love?" Athrun teased. Kira heard something hit the floor, and the sound seemed familiar. He slowly brought his head up, and saw what he feared the most…
A whip.
When Dr. Tashiba entered the laboratory, no one was there.
"Good," he said to himself. "Finally, I can be alone," He went to his desk. It was the most noticeable thing in that room. You would know that it was his because it always had several piles of papers on it and the trash can was always full of crumpled up notes, most of them computations and very complicated analyses. The documents on the table, however, were his apprentices' submissions for new inventions in the field of medicine like vaccines that are supposedly to be taken before landing on an unknown planet and pills that were created to relieve stress and make everyone more efficient. The poor head doctor had to check each and every proposal, just in case one of them actually made sense.
Surprisingly, not so long ago, a report from a rookie did.
It was entitled, 'The feasibility of enhancing a pilot's physical and mental competence by chemical manipulation'. Dr. Tashiba became interested at once, spending all night trying to understand how it was to be achieved. The new recruit made more than enough sense to be believable. He had explained every concept, every theory that became his basis for such an idea. He had all the chemical solutions down with their corresponding ratio with each other. He had a very well organized research, the bibliography very impressive and clean. It was a homerun for the medical team.
It had taken sixteen months just for the adjustments alone to be done. But after that, it was all smooth. Two months later and the drug was ready for use. Then again, the pilots weren't up for it, especially Athrun who believed that being a Coordinator was sufficient already. Kreuze wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer, though.
Dr. Tashiba was more than willing to cooperate with the lieutenant's plan. He had sacrificed so much for the said invention, and he wasn't going to let some punk ruin his hard work. He had to see its wondrous effects, especially because it had only been tested on animals.
"Ah…" The head doctor leaned back on his chair, a glass of red wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He took a long drag and released it, suddenly remembering the day when the plan had been carried out. A medical check-up… yeah, right. It had been an excuse to see the pilots and have them take the drug without noticing. It wasn't exactly foolproof with its obviousness, but the pilots were used to having monthly check-ups and so they couldn't have had time to detect the sudden change in their injections, not even Athrun.
"Remember to double Athrun's dosage," reminded Kreuze a few minutes before the announcement over the speakers. "He's quite strong, even for a Coordinator. He is just like that Kira Yamato. His body might be able to overcome the drug, so we have to make sure it doesn't,"
"Yes, sir," Dr. Tashiba had said yes almost instantly. He was much too excited to wait. One thing he didn't mind was Kreuze's reasons for drugging Athrun that much. Sure, he was right about the boy being powerful, but was that it, or did he have another motive?
Well, whatever it was, it was no longer important. The plan had been taken into action. There was no turning back. It was a step towards complete authority and sheer conquest over the Naturals.
Oh how wonderful it felt.
"Don't!" demanded Kira even though Athrun hadn't even taken a step towards him. "Please Athrun! Don't use that on me! I beg you!!!"
The other only giggled. "And why is that, Kira? I thought you'd love to play this game. It's called 'cowboy' and you're going to be my horse!" He gave another whip on the floor, and Kira felt goose bumps run up his arms and legs. More than anything, he didn't like the feeling of getting thrashed. Maybe it was because he had seen plenty torture movies that featured the said device, and the victims kept on howling endlessly even after they've been abused. It was never a good ending for the whipped.
"Athrun…" Kira was teary-eyed. The knife was painful, but it didn't make him cry. Only the mere sight of the whip made him weak. What more if that thing touched him? "Anything but that…"
"So you enjoyed the blade?" A smile appeared on Athrun's face. "I didn't expect you to. I thought you'd like this one better. Has it been that long since we were together?" He moved his free hand along the length of the whip, feeling its thick sharpness. "This is my favorite one to use, Kira. How could you tell me not to choose this? It's so beautiful, and so deadly," His eyes suddenly lost their color.
Are you hurt?
He lifted the whip with a steady arm.
No, I'm just afraid.
Kira watched in horror as he saw it coming towards him.
Of what? I'll protect you, remember?
A scream rushed out of his throat, echoing.
I won't let you be hurt…
It was all black…
Yes…
All of it.
- Chapter Five End -
Eeeeeeee!!! I don't know if you all understand the end part, but those lines were taken from Chapter Two. I wonder if the effect I wanted to transpire will actually work… Hmm… I just thought of it a while ago. I hope this chapter was lengthy enough. As you may have read, I've added the explanation on what Kreuze and Dr. Tashiba really did to Athrun. Mind you, that's not yet the entire story. There's more to it. Um, I have more reviews! You have no idea how happy that makes me feel!- I'm hogging the computer, but I don't give a damn, as long as you keep on supporting me! Hihi. If you want something to happen in this fanfic (e.g. more rated-R scenes), just tell me and I'll work things out. This chapter didn't contain much of it, so I'm wondering if that makes it more boring or plainly more serious. I don't know. You decide. Maybe both?
See you in Chapter Six!!! -