Disclaimer: Shotaro Ishinomori's, not mine.
Notes: I was insane enough to sign up for Cyborg 009 for the fanfic100 challenge on LiveJournal. For those of you who have trouble drawing conclusions (like me), this means I'll be writing one hundred Cyborg 009 fics. Yeah, I know. Anyways, the prompt was 'if'. Enjoy. Or not.
If he hadn't, he would have been his father's science experiment for the rest of his life.
If he hadn't, he would have eventually died in some senseless brawl, losing the lifelong struggle for survival in the hellhole he lived in.
If he hadn't, she would have lived out her life in poverty and misery, chasing after some foolish girl's dream.
If he hadn't, he would have lost his life as well as his lover and their dreams.
If he hadn't, he would have worked and worked until even his body gave out, trying to earn a honest living while the people who had raised him sold out their land and themselves.
If he hadn't, he would have died a pauper.
If he hadn't, he would have finally succeeded in drinking himself to death.
If he hadn't, he would have been one more casualty in a rich man's war.
If he hadn't, he would have been convicted of a murder he didn't commit.
A lifetime ago, he would remind himself of these nine good reasons each time he picked up the scalpel, because it made what he was doing to them seem less horrible, maybe even almost justified.
Now, it only reminded him of what a fool he had been.