It was always quiet until it wasn't. Always peaceful until it wasn't. The doctor knew it was coming without even looking to his side. He knew that now he was in for a wave of irritation and quite possibly pain. Why had he agreed to work here again? Sure enough, only a second after that very thought crossed his mind, the door far to the right of him, was kicked in with such force, the metal object simple gave up and hung loosely from it's hinges.
"Can't you enter a door normally?" The man calling himself Creator sighed his question. "You literally leave a trail of broken doors behind you."
"So, this is what's become of you." Mahan mocked, his face split by a menacing grin as he ignored the man's comment. The light of his hair rustling as he walked by an air puffing vent in the wall at his side, he neared the doctor. The dark blonde's company tore his eyes from the water tank he had been so infatuated with and locked them on the nearing subject.
"What are you talking about, Subject 202?" Nerov countered, his voice displaying the same venom. Both the men resided in Nerov's lab at that very moment, one scorn over his boredom, the other mesmerized by the younger boy floating around inside the liquid filled capsule hanging from the wall.
"Why do you spend your days rotting away in here? Is it because of 101?" The thought seemed to amuse Mahan even more, as the red head's face twisted into an expression of disgust.
"It has nothing to do with Neel!" Nerov sneered, unable to control his tone of voice.
"Neel? Since when do you refer us by first name?" Mahan asked, his smirk remaining, yet his eyes portraying confusion.
Nerov knew he had revealed more than he was comfortable with, which is why he turned away from Subject 202 and continued watching the clearly defeated teen within the tanker. Neel's foot had been unsalvageable and he would most likely not walk normally again. It pained Nerov slightly, thoughts of how he could have done more, how he could maybe have saved his foot if he just.. He didn't know why he felt that way particularly, it was the first time he had gotten this close to a test subject.
"Oh I get it, it's because of your son, isn't it?" Mahan teased again, making Nerov flinch.
"W-What are you-!" Nerov started, but got cut off.
"Yeah, 101 was the only one who got to learn of your real name!" 202 continued, enjoying the doctor's reactions. "What, you wanted to feel like a father once more?"
"Stop.." It was barely a whisper.
"You regret what happened with your son, don't you?" Mahan laughed, having found a source of amusement.
"How you do you know?!" The doctor was slightly panicking. That was supposed to be his secret and his alone. He had tried very hard to get over it and succeeding in forgetting it a little bit, but having Mahan tear the wounds up again, made all the horrible memories come flooding back.
"The master was in a very talkative mood this morning, so I simply asked about my so mysterious 'Creator'" Mahan explained, enjoying the ravishing feeling of tormenting the doctor.
"You had no right!" Nerov yelled, anger washing up inside him. "I gave you your powers and I can just as easily take them away!" This statement seemed to rile Mahan, he had no intentions of giving up his powers.
"You seem to have forgotten dear 'Creator', that I'm the one with the powers and you're weak, so I'd advise you to not pick a fight with me." Mahan spoke as controlled as he could manage.
They were at each other's throats almost immediately after and only succeeded in glaring at the other before the abused door got slightly pushed aside. A very nervous looking man stood in the door's frame, watching the horrors play out. Neither Mahan nor Nerov seemed willing to back away, but having an audience to their little squabble didn't seem like a preferable option either, so they both sighed in defeat and backed off.
"You have business here?" Creator asked the newcomer, who stuttered and trembled at the very thought of speaking. On a closer look, Nerov noticed that the man was merely a teenager at best and the boy seemed to be a foot soldier. The kid's brown hair was giving off a red-ish shine, possibly from the hallway lights. Nerov knew this boy hadn't passed as a test subject, as he was either to weak for the procedure or simply already a mage to begin with. Either way, he resided at the bottom of Codename's social food chain and wasn't even in anybody's interest.
"T-The ma-master wants to s-see you." He spoke with a weak voice, unable to bring any power into his statement do to his fear. Nerov wondered for a slight moment why the boy seemed so afraid.
"Very well, come with me." Nerov said quickly, watching as the fright on the teen's face became more imminent.
"I have no idea why the boss favors you so much." Subject 202 let slip and bumped into the doctor's shoulder as he passed by. The dirty blond disappeared through the broken door, passing the shaking boy, who in the process stumbled backwards and out of his way.
"Are you coming?" The doctor asked the boy as he had made his way to the bruised door, sending a death glare at Mahan's retreating back.
"Y-Yes Sir." The kid stuttered and skipped to Nerov's heels, making sure not to walk beside the doctor like an equal. A clear sign of inferiority. Poor kid, he had probably been brainwashed for life.
It didn't take them awfully long to reach the master's chamber and the boy's fear only grew with each step. Nerov knew how the teen felt, he himself felt intimidated by the master's very presence and he held quite a high position. He could only imagine how a low ranking kid would feel at the moment.
"Master Vandettos, you summoned me?" The doctor once again spoke to the massive iron door, where it opened only seconds later. Nerov gave the boy a sign to follow as he stepped inside. The room looked the same as always, the same giant fish tanker at the north wall, the same throne-like chair in the middle of the room, the same ominous feeling radiating from the man standing by the tanker, his hands joined on his back.
"Ah Nerov, nice of you to join me." Vandettos spoke, his voice oddly amused. The master seemed ignorant of the teen's presence in the room and therefore did not spare him a look as he turned around to look at his subordinate.
"Always Sir, you wish something of me?" Nerov bowed slightly, his voice humble. The boy followed suit and bowed too, though much deeper then the doctor.
"Yes yes, I've thought about our situation and I think it's time to set phase one into action." Vandettos said, a smile plastered on his face.
Nerov seemed disturbed by this news and immediately began voicing reasons against such an action. "But sir, we're not ready! We've barely marked any of our targets and we wouldn't have even slightly enough energy as we need to-" The doctor quickly got cut off.
"I think now is a perfect time to run a test on our brand new weapon, don't you think so?" The master was still smiling, but his voice portrayed a clear dislike of the defiance.
"But Master-!"
"Do I detect my orders being ignored by my most trusted comrade, how sad, I wish it wasn't so." Vandettos faked a depressed sigh and held a hand to his heart. "Whatever shall I do, now I must continue on my own!"
"No Master, I simply meant-!" Cut off again, Nerov held his tongue.
"I know what you meant dear Nerov, I simply don't care much about your opinion on the matter, are we clear?" He spoke with the amused tone once again.
"I.. Yes Sir." The doctor gave up on arguing with the master as it would most likely get him into trouble.
"I think you forget who saved you from your misery back in the day. I also think you forget that you're indebted to me, am I right?" Vandettos asked, well aware that Nerov flinched at his words. The doctor was clearly angry, at least enough for him to lose his temper and speak up.
"And you go and tell that to everybody, don't you?! Subject 202 clearly finds my pain rather amusing, you do too don't you? I have told you countless times that I don't want to talk about my past, but you apparently think that trampling all over my memories and feelings is more important than our actual purpose! Damn you!" Nerov realized his mistake seconds after his outburst, so he quickly bowed and spoke again calmly. "Forgive me Master, I did not mean it."
The boy at the doctor's side stared mortified between the two men, sweat forming on his forehead.
"Oh I think you did and I'm not a forgiving man." The master's voice was deadly and it hit Nerov as lightning, quick and painful. "But, on the other hand, I still need you."
Nerov visibly relaxed in his bowing stance. The thought of the master still needing him was a comforting one. As long as he was needed, he wouldn't be killed.
"You do seem to have forgotten something though." Those simple words got Nerov's heart jumping to his throat and he looked up at his master.
"Yes master?" Nerov was both curious and afraid at once, what came next definitely wouldn't be good.
"I hold enough power to kill you in an instance and don't think I won't just because you're needed, I'll find another way to achieve my goal if it should come to that." Vandettos was amused again, seeing the fear in Nerov's eyes gave him a thrill he only felt when he was about to kill someone.
Nerov didn't answer, but his head fell down into his bowing stance once again.
"I can make every object in this room into a weapon that'll attack you at my command." The master stated and as soon as the words had escaped his lips, Nerov heard a muffled scream at his side. The red head spun around, only for his eyes to land on the boy who was being mercilessly held and beaten by metal snakes. The iron grid underneath his feet had come to life and bound itself around his head, over his mouth, successfully half-muting the kid. The helpless teen cried out in pain as yet another hit came to his abdomen, making his torso bend oddly inwards.
Nerov was mortified by what he was witnessing and it clicked in his brain, that the master was most likely behind this cruel attack.
"I can make the air turn poisonous and watch you die slow and painfully." The master's voice rung somewhere behind the doctor, who's eyes widened when the clear oxygen around the boy turned a venomous purple. The metal snakes released the boy, who fell to the ground and landed on his knees. He immediately began coughing and placed both his hands on his throat gasping for clean air, none of which came to him. Tears had begun flowing from the boy's eyes, as he drooled on the floor do to his wide open mouth. It was clear torture, yet Nerov didn't dare speak, well knowing he himself could be next. He did however clench his eyes shut, turning his head away from the scene. The sound of the boy's breathless cries would probably haunt him forever.
"And," The master's confident voice chimed. The purple smoke vanished, giving the boy some much needed air. The kid got on his knees again, having found new strength from the newly obtained oxygen. His brown eyes showed pure fear, as he turned to look the the master. He lifted his hands in surrender, while the tears still flooded from his wide eyes. Nerov was surprised when the boy spoke, "Please.. Please don't." It came out as a sob as his shaking hands was still being hold up in defeat. The words were clearly directed at the master, as Nerov was quite sure the kid didn't even notice him in the room anymore.
"I can make every and any organ in your body attack itself the most brutal way possible." The master finished and his voice dripped with finality.
A sickening splatting sound came from the boy's body and he immediately spit up blood in his mouth. Within seconds the teen's eyes had turned dim and he fell lifeless to the ground, his corps flattening out on his stomach.
Nerov felt sick. He had just witnessed something he would never forget. He kept silent as Vandettos' footsteps drew near.
"I trust we've come to an understanding, am I right?" Nerov knew the master was at least a few feet from him, but his voice sounded right in his ear, deadly as ever. Nerov didn't trust the stability of his voice, so he proceeded with nodding.
"Activate M.O.D. immediately." The master's voice held none of his previous amusement, therefore his order was absolute.
"Y-Yes Master." The doctor's voice sounded weak, but he didn't mind at the moment. He made for the door, set on getting away from the monster in the room, a monster who's black spiky hair seemed just too sharp, who's dark eye's seemed to glow red at that moment.
"Oh and," Nerov froze when the man spoke again. The master looked down at the boy's body with disgust. "Clean this up."
Hey, what's up?
I know, It was shorter this time and I'm sorry, but I too had other plans for this chapter. It just didn't seem right to hold anything back from you. I had this chapter ready for uploading and I didn't wanna keep it from you guys, since you do so much waiting on my account. If you are disappointed, I completely understand.
You'll have to wait and see what happens at fairy tail a little longer, I'm writing in full speed at the moment :)
Don't you guys think it's gonna be an awesome anime year? :D So much stuff that needs watching this year!
Oh well, I had my dark and gloomy mood on in this chapter, as most of you will notice :)
Please leave a review, I long for your thoughts!
See ya next chapter!
Sigi-san out!
