Author's Note-For the disclaimer, I only own Abby. All other characters so far are not mine. Many thanks to Kisike and Mikomi helping me write this and to Ash for beta reading. Also many thanks to the reviewers. –nodnod- I'm going to post this chapter a bit early, since I'll be gone for the weekend, but I'll be sure to have the next chapter up when I get back. So, enjoy!
Meanwhile, in the prison room, Ed blinked, looking up at the red light. "What's going on…?" he wondered.
Ezra looked up, his expectant look disappearing as he saw Theo. "Yeah... What is going on..? Why's that bastard here?"
Ed glanced over at Theo, then asked Ezra in a low voice, "Who's he..?"
Theo smirked. "What, now I'm a bastard for seeing my little sweetheart?" he mocked, nodding over at Ash. At that, the lump in Ash's cage shuddered again. "Besides, I wanted to meet the famous FullMetal Alchemist." He bent down to see eye-to-eye with Ed. "Whoever it was that made that automail was a genius. Very efficient. Tell me, who was it?"
Ed glared at the man, then looked away. "Yeah, like I'd tell you.."
Maeva smirked at Ed. "Her name is Winry," she responded.
Ed's eyes widened slightly, then glared. "Stay away from my friends!"
"Winry, huh?" Theo said, grinning at Ed's reaction. "I'll have to consider getting this girl. She probably likes automail so much, I bet she wouldn't mind if all her limbs were made of metal..."
Ed wrapped his hand around the nearest bar of his cage and tried raise himself to a stand. "You leave her alone..."
Ezra glared and stood up, his hands gripping the bars of his cage. "Leave his friends alone, you bastard. They have nothing to do with you!" he shouted.
Theo grinned. "On the contrary..." he said. He took out his scapel, touching a transmutation circle on the blade so it grew into a scythe. He swung it at Ezra's head, then stopped the tip right at his forehead and smirked. "Too bad you're Maeva's toy. It would be fun to play with you for awhile..."
Ezra's eyes narrowed as he snarled at him, "I'm no one's toy! And you don't fucking scare me you bastard! You probably can't even use that thing!"
"Why don't you ask Ash and find out?" Theo asked, nodding at Ash. The lump-which Ed could now see was a wing covering probably a girl-was watching. She had lifted her wing slightly so one maroon eye could see what was going on. She had seen Theo and was whimpering in her cage, but was too weak to move. "I think you'll find that I'm quite skilled with it if you do."
Ezra continued to glare. "You sicken me..." He stopped for a minute before spitting at him.
Theo blinked, then glared. "Brat..." he growled, digging the scythe point into Ezra's forehead, not enough to break the skull, but enough to break the skin.
Ezra winced slightly but continued to glare, his golden eyes narrowed. "Keep that thing in my forehead, bastard. I've got plenty more insults."
Maeva rolled her eyes. "Leave him, Theo, you know he's only trying to get out of his cage," she said knowingly. She walked past him towards Abby's cage.
Theo shrugged, a menacing look in his eyes as he looked down at Ezra. "Not like I couldn't control him with my clarinet..." he said.
Abby looked up, then climbed to her feet and took a few steps back as she saw Maeva approaching. "What the hell do you want..?" she demanded.
Maeva smiled at her. "We want to play." She tilted her head slightly, pulling a whip out of her lab coat. "It'll be fun."
Ezra's eyes widened. "No! Maeva! It's me you want! Not her! You stupid old hag!" he cried.
Abby tensed, clenching her fists as her mind raced to remember all the karate lessons she had taken before ending up in the lab. "If you come near me, I won't hesitate to kill you, or at least seriously hurt you," she growled.
Maeva smiled as she stuck the whip through the bars, putting it under Abby's chin, and lifting her face to look her right in the eyes. "Is that so..?"
Abby grabbed the whip and gripped it tightly, moving her head a bit so it was no longer over the whip. "Yeah. It is."
Maeva smirked and pulled her forward towards the bars. "I'm not so easily scared, little Abby." Her eyes glinted as she looked smugly at her. "You can be as intimidating as you want. It's not going to work."
Abby smirked, her green eyes cold. "Good. You should've told us earlier that you were suicidal," she said.
Maeva glanced over at Theo then bent her whip back and pressed a button hidden in the handle. "Just as you should have told us," she told the girl. She smirked as the whip whined slightly and electricity suddenly sparked off of it.
Abby yelped, jumping back and clutching her burnt hand, narrowing her eyes at Maeva. "Why you.." While it was painful, it probably wouldn't feel as bad as it did if it hadn't caught her by surprise. Probably.
Maeva pulled the whip back and smirked. Theo watched, raising an eyebrow. Her defiance was annoying. They'd have to fix that… "What did I tell you…?" he asked.
Maeva shrugged. "It was easy enough. Not even Ezra would let go so easily."
Ezra glared at her, gripping the bars of the cage. "Maeva! Leave her alone! I'm the one you want to punish!"
Maeva glanced back at him before smirking at Abby. "Oh, but Abby's had a punishment coming to her for a long time. Yours will have to wait, my dear." She looked back at him. "And even then, you're not getting anything for you little alchemist friend."
Ed twitched. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A LITTLE PIPSQUEAK THAT YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEE UNDER A MICROSCOPE?.!" He tried to flail around, but that only ended up with him falling over. "Dammit!"
Maeva glanced at Ed. "Well, now I know how to get under the Alchemist's skin."
Ed continued to twitch. Theo laughed cruelly. "I think we've figured out several ways..." he said.
Abby glared coldly back at the scientists, not saying anything. She wasn't about to give them the benefit of fear or pain. Besides, she tended to have a high tolerance level for pain; she had grown up all her life getting into fights. Not to mention that once you've had your cells and DNA genetically altered for shapeshifting, you learn how to brace yourself.
Maeva looked at Theo. "Well then, we should probably get to work."
Ezra's eyes widen even further as he tried to shake the bars loose. "Leave her the fuck alone, you stupid old hag!"
Abby focused-not an easy thing to do, being A.D.D. Especially considering what was going on now. She didn't know if she could do this-she hadn't tried yet. But now was probably as good of a time as any. The coloration in her eyes, skin, and hair began to swirl, then take on the black and red colors of the room. She began to blend in with the background, like a chameleon. The only thing giving her away was her clothes, but like this, at least she could perhaps avoid them seeing her limbs, giving them less of a chance to catch her.
Maeva glanced at her, then looked at Theo. "Theo.." she started.
Theo transmuted his scythe back into a scalpel and took out his clarinet. Abby's eyes widened.
"Shit...!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands over her ears as he raised the instrument to his lips and began to play.
Ed frowned. What the…? Why did his head feel strange all of a sudden…? He felt almost…tired… His eyelids drooped about halfway, his eyes blank.
Ezra suddenly stopped shaking the bars of his cage, his eyes, half open, staring blankly in front of him, his arms falling limp at his sides. Apparently, whatever was effecting Edward was also taking effect on the other boy, as well.
Maeva smirked as she glanced around at them.
Meanwhile, Tsuki rolled her eyes, sitting up with her hands firmly over her cat ears. "For the love of god, could you please shut that thing up?" When nobody seemed to take notice of her request, she began to look for something to throw at Theo, despite the fact that she knew it would probably get her in trouble.
Maeva finally gave a glance at Tsuki, but then merely rolled her eyes and pulled a syringe out of her pocket, glancing at Theo. Theo also glanced over at Tsuki, then rolled his eyes as well and continued to play. They both knew that there was nothing nearby that would be effective, unless she wanted to start throwing her own clothes.
Maeva moved over behind Abby's cage and attached the syringe to her whip. Abby had just about figured her plan, though. She turned, keeping an eye on Maeva. She would be fine dealing with Theo so long as she kept her hands over her ears. It was Maeva she was wary about for now.
Maeva smiled, before starting to put the whip into the cage. Abby's eyes widened and she began to back away to the other side of the cage. Great. She hated needles. Those were among her few fears, though probably one of the weakest ones.
Maeva grinned at her fear. "Come now, Abby. Come a little closer." She stuck the needle further into the cage towards her.
The redhead backed away, glaring. "Go to hell," she snapped. Her eyes widened when her back suddenly hit the wall of the cage. "Oh no..." she whispered. Maeva suddenly pressed the needle at her, towards her arm. Abby winced as the needle pierced her arm and tried to jerk it back. "No!" she shouted. Maeva pushed towards her again, pushing the liquid into her arm and pulled the needle back, smirking.
The young shapeshifther took a step forward, clenching her fists as her vision began to blur and her body suddenly felt quite heavy. Her knees buckled. "Damn it..." she whispered before her collapsing to the floor. Maeva smiled and looked at Theo, nodding. Theo lowered his clarinet and opened the cage, walking in to pick up her limp form.
Maeva smiled. "We'll have to do this more often. Maybe then she'll be easier to get hold of."
Theo straightened, the young girl in his arms. "We just need to hire more guards and get them off their lazy asses to do their jobs," he said. "Budget cuts, you know?"
Maeva laughed. "Less money, for more work."
Ed was one of the first to snap out of hit. He shook his head, trying to clear the fuzzy blanket over his mind. "What the.." he muttered. His focus began to return and he looked over. "Hey! Put her down, you monsters!" he shouted.
Maeva glanced over him. "Shut up, pipsqueak."
Ed glared. "Quit it with the short jokes already and just let her go! She didn't even say anything while we were arguing with you-she hasn't done anything to deserve whatever you're planning!"
Ezra blinked, his eyes returning to normal as he looked up. His eyes widened when he saw Theo holding Abby. "Hey! Let her go!"
Maeva smiled a mysterious smile. She looked at Theo and nodded towards the door. "We'll see you boys later."
Ed glared. "Hey!" he yelled. "Don't just ignore me!" He clenched his fists, feeling totally helpless. A feeling he wasn't used to, and a feeling that he disliked very much.
Theo nodded and glanced at Ed. "Don't worry, kid. You'll have your turn," he said as he walked out. Maeva glanced back at the boys and then walked after him.
"MAEVA!" Ezra shouted after her, but was only met with the slamming of the door and darkness. He cursed and gripped the bars before falling back and hitting the back of his head against the barred cage wall. "Dammit!" He continued to hit his head against the bars. "Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit!"
Ed watched, frowning with worry. He tried focusing his mind on finding a way out, but his worry was getting in the way. He growled in frustration. Finally he sighed, looking up at the ceiling and frowning. Al...Hughes...and you, colonel bastard...please find us and get here soon... he thought.
Author's Note-Hm.. Like I said, I may not be able to post over the weekend, so if not, I'll try to on either Monday or Tuesday. –nodnod- Thanks for all the reviews by the way. And now to respond…
Crazyanimefreak15-You'll see… -evil grin-
Sweet Elixir-You think so, too? Mikomi and I knew it wouldn't be long before Ezra started getting fans, lol…
Crimson Crystals-Heheh, because cliff hangers are always fun and evil. –grin-
Ash the Twisted-I forgot to change it before posting. –smiles and sweatdrops- I'll be sure to scan the next chapter more thoroughly…
Nonesofar-Depends. Sometimes the prisoners go long periods of time before getting anything to eat. But you'll see.
