Pairings: BernardoXGian, IvanXGian, LuchinoXGian, GiulioXGian, AobaXClear, AobaXVirusXTrip, AobaXRen, AobaXKoujaku, AobaXNoiz, AobaXBakshi, VirusXTripXGian, AobaXGian

Warning: Contains minor hints of rape, violence, extreme swearing and heavy scenes of smut.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dramatical Murder or Lucky Dog 1. All rights go to the respectful owners

Chapter 22 - Territorial

Looking around at the small group that surrounded him, Luchino couldn't help but wonder how strange they must have looked to the other customers. Despite the times being futuristic what with the new cell phones out as well as the computers and technology, the people of Daivan were still just getting used to the idea of it all.

Even he had a hard time handling his own phone at times and while Bernardo proved to be quite good at reassembling these electronic devices, he was lost once the man started explaining what to do with it.

A new text message for him arrived and because he did not know how it worked just yet, he had let the messages overflow into his inbox. He checked the number on the side of it and saw that he had over twenty left unread. He only knew to push the button to open them but after some time he got annoyed with having to do it constantly and soon stopped checking them.

Bernardo had called him a few minutes ago asking why he had not answered any of the messages sent to him and he had to explain his excuses. His lone soldier who worked under him was waiting patiently in the car for them to finish while the three men already with him, were busily eating the food they had ordered.

He occasionally saw the man with braided hair, look over at Aoba every now and then but would never say anything. He got the feeling that there was more to the story than just helping out a simple young man. Luchino checked the time on his watch. They had only been there for ten minutes so far but he was feeling slightly anxious for some reason.

The ringtone of his phone rang loudly but neither Aoba or the other two were affected by it. "Yes?" Luchino asked and heard Ivan's voice on the other line. "Bernardo's done with the trash, you can see him now." The phone went dead. He laughed quietly to himself and took the last sip of his drink.

Ivan had apparently only called to tell him that he was now allowed to meet with Bernardo as it must have meant the man was done with meeting with the G.D. He slipped the cellphone back into his coat pocket on the side and pulled out a bit of money, placing it on the table.

"I'm sorry for the short time of fresh air, but Bernardo has just gotten back from the meeting. I'll need to head back to find out what all has gone down over there." He gave them an apologetic look as best he could muster and waited for Aoba to finish the last bit of the burger he was having.

Both Koujaku and Mink worked together in helping Aoba to his feet. Aoba wiped his face with a napkin and felt something grab hold of his hand. Curious, he looked down and saw Koujaku holding his hand tightly. Without so much of a warning, he was pulled along to Koujaku's pace while Mink and Luchino walked ahead with longer strides.

Koujaku must have been worried that he would get left behind somehow and was probably holding his hand out of habit from when they were kids. "Wait, Koujaku...!" But the man wasn't listening, however he did loosen his grip on his hand.

Aoba had no choice but to walk quickly despite his legs still hurting from yesterday. Never mind that, his whole body hurt from yesterday. He watched Mink get into the back of the car first and then Koujaku. He finally got to see the expression that Koujaku had. He looked like he was blushing while at the same time, angry for some reason.

"Sorry, Aoba. Are you okay?" Koujaku flashed him an embarrassed smile while he held his arms out that hinted to him that he would catch him if he would just lean closer.

Aoba braced for his body to hurt as he launched himself forward into the man's arms. Because the other two were already inside, he had to help himself get in and that was where Koujaku's arms came in handy. Once everyone was inside, the driver started the car and drove off into the hotel's direction.

Back at the hotel, Noiz and Clear were together and simply helping out the other members of the CR-5. Ren on the other hand, had been confined to a bed. At least until Aoba got back. He was fed both lunch and a snack later on in bed while Clear helped the maids of the hotel with a bit of cleaning.

Everyone was working hard at something while Noiz on the other hand, had yet to touch his computer. He had been helping Gian earlier with a bit of paper work that merely needed to be signed with a signature and according to Gian, the man was as he put it, 'too tired' to finish them off. Noiz knew it was a lie but he didn't mind finishing them off as it would give him something to do aside from waiting for the others to return.

It was not as though he had nothing to do but was actually waiting on someone back on the island to get back to him about some info that he needed from the collapsed tower or at least any news of what was happening near and around it. Although the paper work took him an hour to finish, he was glad it only took that long and he was now sitting and staring at a blank screen of one of his coils.

He had seen Clear darting around on the floor he was on but was soon gone again, having been called by one of the maids. Despite the android looking extremely happy to be doing things and seeming cheerful as before, Noiz knew he must have been anxious and bored on the inside.

Because Aoba was not here at the moment, they were both feeling the same way. Bored. But this was a good time for Noiz to continue working on a strategy of getting the device in Aoba's body out so that he could study the programming they used on it. If he was able to rewire it so that it only tracked their location in reverse, he was hoping it would lead them to their unknown hiding spot.

But they would have to wait a bit longer as he did not want to blow their cover just yet. He knew they must have been watching the scanner just to see if he really was here or not and whether he moved or not would make no difference to them. As long as Aoba was within the city, they would not move until they were assured they would have him back.

This made it more difficult for him to figure out a way to hack the system of the device without having them run away just as quickly. He wanted to be able to find them after doing this and of course wanted revenge against them. A message soon popped up on the screen while he was off in thought.

'Just another loser that I didn't need...' Noiz thought as he read the message over again before deleting it. It had been an occurring thing these days and was nothing new to him. The older members of his gang, Ruff Rabbit, were all basically sending him their letters of resignation.

Because Usui was no longer around and the Rhyme battles were growing less and less, the remaining Rhyme groupies had grown bored of being in his group. Noiz didn't mind this though as he had found the newer gang-wannabes were more excited than the older members and he would just find a simple replacement for the man he just lost.

He made a connection with one of the rabbit cubes he had left behind on the island. It was a currently scanning for allmates around the area of the collapsed tower while at the same time, recording imagery to send back to Noiz. It was now hopping alongside of an abandoned alleyway. The images came in once every five seconds so it was as though he were watching a mini movie of the area.

The cube stopped once it came to the end of the hallway and managed to turn itself around to go back out the way it came in. He was looking for anything out of the ordinary as a demolished building would prove to be the best hideout for the leftover members of Morphine.

Another message came for him on the coil and he clicked it right away. Upon reading it, he noticed who it was sent from. Aoba's grandmother. Although the name was jumbled to obviously hide her real name and location, he was sure it was her as he had investigated her background through some leftover computers that had not bee totally damaged.

She had used a sort of pen-name during her time at under Toue but had stopped using it since the time she took care of Aoba. But then if she was sending him a message now, who was to say it was actually her?

He scanned the message from his coil with his other coil, testing to see if it had any sort of viruses attached to it. Once it was cleared of anything unwanted, he re-read it just to make sure he was seeing this right.

'So I finally got through to you, did I? Took me a few weeks to get this message along without those damn nosy-bodies catching it.

When I first heard about Aoba...well you should know I wasn't expecting that. If you somehow come across him, tell him

to go back to the old house after everything's been taken care of.

. . .

It's rather crowded in here with all these Morphine morons

watching our every move. I was only able to get this out through

Yoshie's pet allmate, Clara. Me and a few other older members

of the team of scientists are being held underneath Mizuki's

Tattoo Parlor. You should stop by at Yoshie's place first and

get Clara to show you the way.

Just tell Aoba...not worry about some old lady and

worry about himself!'

The message was short but it provided Noiz with most of what he needed. To know that Tae was alive and still kicking was good news but it did not clear up the objective behind kidnapping her and the older scientists. Although he could have sent a message out to all the members of Ruff Rabbit, it would have meant blowing their own cover an of course would certainly mean that both Virus and Trip would catch wind of their current base being raided.

Seeing as it would make sense that it was either him or Mink who might have found it, this would cause the twins to leave the city or act irrational and would try to take Aoba by force.

Either scenario would have resulted in despair for them. He saved the message into a separate folder and would show it to Aoba alone in his room once he came back. It was a serious message but he felt that it was best left seen for Aoba alone.

He instructed the cubes in the surrounding area of the tower to cease their search and to head back to Aoba's house where he had originally sent them. Now that he knew where their main hideout was, it was only down to the matter of finding out where the twins were staying.

After some time of getting all the cubes together at the house, he powered them down should Virus and Trip have any extra allmates that he did not know about. Noiz leaned back in the chair he was on. He pondered about whether to see what Bernardo was up to as the man had just gotten back from the G.D meeting.

He left the room he was in and made his way back down the hall to the phone room. He knocked a few times. "Come in." It was Bernardo's voice. Noiz opened the door with the handle and walked in.

"If you were going to ask about the meeting, I gave them our 'terms'." The man said with a smile. Gian, who had been sleeping on one of the couches, stirred in his sleep as he drooled from the corner of his mouth.

Noiz sat down quietly on the other couch. "An insider has found their main hideout. I know where it is but we can't act just yet." Although he had been sitting close enough to wake Gian, the man was not at all bothered by his voice.

"The way you're saying it sounds like it's far out of our own reach..." Noiz kept silent. He hadn't meant for it to sound like he was telling them to give up and that they would just go home.

"Only thing to do is to find those bastards and get the device out of Aoba. If my team was to storm their main house, they'll be alerted of our presence and if I know them well enough...they'll take Aoba by force."

This time it was Bernardo who remained silent and was looking at his watch every now and again. He let out a frustrated sigh and stood up from the desk of his telephone room. "Luchino should be driving them back now, let's go meet them shall we?" As though trying to lift his spirits up, Bernardo urged Noiz out of the room, leaving Gian behind to snooze.

Once they were both out of the room, Bernardo took in a large breath of air. "You shouldn't be smoking if you're going to run out of breath so fast." Noiz explained to him. Surprised by the sudden suggestion, he took a minute before saying what was on his mind.

"Doing businesses like this...I'm more surprised by the fact that I didn't start early." He smirked mischievously at Noiz and put a hand on his back, pushing him along again until they reached the elevator.

When the elevator reached the bottom floor of the hotel lobby, they saw Clear resting nearby on the floor next to the front desk. His hair was more messier than it should have been and his eyes were closed when they reached him.

"I almost feel bad for him. The maids here probably never seen a guest helping them before." Bernardo stated as he looked around while men in their flashy suits flew around like bugs buzzing around each other.

Clear opened his eyes and sprung up from the floor in a hurry, making Bernardo jump back a bit in shock. "Master's back!" Noiz and Bernardo watched as the man danced around them and then rushed outside of the hotel's doors. Noiz looked back at Bernardo and explained the man's situation and what he really was. Although Noiz thought the man would look at him funny after hearing about Clear's story and how he was actually an android with high-grade technology built to look human, Bernardo was taking this rather well.

"I see so your side of the world has already developed such feats? If we had those around here...I'm sure the whole city would be a grave site because of it..." He casually looked around but Noiz could see the worried look that the man was displaying on his face.

A few minutes later, Clear and Aoba walked inside the hotel with Koujaku and Mink trailing behind them. Even though Aoba looked well enough to walk on his own, he still seemed a bit sore looking from the way he was holding his side as he walked with Clear in one arm.

"I'll leave the older brats to you." Noiz said and walked towards both Aoba and Clear and handed out his hand to Aoba.

Clear gripped tightly on Aoba's arm and would not let go at first but after getting pulled on the shoulder a bit by Koujaku, he returned to his senses and let go of the man. "It'll only take a few seconds." Noiz started walking off down an empty hallway of the hotel for some privacy and was obviously telling Aoba to follow him.

Aoba did so and left Clear, Mink and Koujaku behind. 'It really must be important for him to need privacy or something.' Aoba thought as he stopped just a few ways away from where Noiz had stopped.

He watched the man pull out his own coil and direct the screen's display at him so that he could see what it was that was being shown. His heart sank when he started reading bits of the middle paragraph of the message. His grandmother had finally made contact with them. Tears started swelling from his eyes and were now staining the carpet with each drop.

He wiped the back of his sleeve across his eyes so that he could continue reading. His eyes were already turning bloodshot red from the constant rubbing and Noiz soon offered him a new handkerchief that he had in his pocket. But Aoba kept reading without accepting the napkin and slowed his tears to a near-stop once he read along the sentences of her being held with a few others.

"Noiz..." The man knew what he wanted to say to him but he couldn't allow him to say it at the moment as they had no idea when the G.D. would make a move. Plus there was the device in Aoba's body that had yet to be dealt with.

Aoba sank down to the floor sloppily hurting his knees as he did this. Noiz crouched down close to Aoba but didn't say anything. Aoba himself probably already knew that there wasn't much to be done at this time. "Your grandma was the last piece of the puzzle for us. We only need a few days more to come up with the manpower and to sniff them out of hiding." Noiz calmly took Aoba's hands and pulled him up off the floor.

They began to walk toward the entrance of the hotel when a searing pain shot through Aoba's head like a knife cutting into his brain. The pain was equal to that of someone roughly pulling his hair and was now reminding him of the many times that Virus and Trip had done it.

Although he could feel it every time someone touched or pulled his hair, it could be no worse than what he was feeling right now. He crumpled to the floor in agony while he held his head with both hands. Noiz was able to pick him up quickly to carry him to a secluded room before anyone could notice the awkward cries of a young man.

If they were to cause a scene now, there would be no telling what could happen. Aoba knocked over a few empty buckets on the floor while trying to endure some of the pain at least for a little while. "This isn't...one of my usual spells..." Was all Aoba could muster and once again, clutched at his head from the pain.

Noiz could only sit next to Aoba and hold onto him to try and at least calm the man down with some sort of comfort as he went through this. Having known what pain felt like for the first time, he was still a newbie at such a thing and was still not properly used to the feeling. To hear Aoba screaming like this gave Noiz goosebumps for the first time in his life. Being scared had never been something he was known for so this was a first for him.

"I'll have to speed this up...I'm sorry, Aoba. But can you endure it for just a little longer?" Aoba could barely see the man but he could hear how worried the man sounded in his ears.

Without thinking he nodded and then blanked out. Clear suddenly barged into the small janitor-type closet they had gone in and was breathing heavily like he had felt everything that Aoba felt. "Master! I can't hear his voice anymore...what did you do?" Clear asked Noiz as he shoved the man away from Aoba and held the collapsed man in his arms.

Noiz stood still and remained silent. Denying anything would have gotten him nowhere easily and especially with a robotic man who thought he was human. Soon both Mink and Koujaku were now in the room after also running what seemed to be them running after Clear.

Once they saw the state Aoba was in, Koujaku had lost his mind. "Noiz! I knew it, we can't ever trust you with Aoba...this whole time while we're out fighting for him, all you're doing is sitting behind a camera and watching them!"

Noiz clicked his tongue out of anger and turned his back to them. 'Shouldn't it be the other way around?' Noiz thought bitterly but bit back his reply and said something else in turn.

"Without the proper manpower, we don't have anything but the word of Aoba's grandmother. Who also happens to be in captivity herself. Right now, I'm still waiting on your men to get things ready." Noiz was now turned around and staring directly at Mink as he said this.

"I'm surprised they even listened to you." Mink said. Koujaku looked from the fallen Aoba to Noiz and then to Mink.

Noiz had on the same face that he had when Koujaku first met him. A face that showed little interest in those around him as though the world did not exist. "This charade with you is over. I'm taking Aoba back to the island where Clear and I will find his grandmother and you'll leave him alone from here on."

This made both Mink and Clear look at Koujaku in surprise. "But then..." Clear was about to say but stopped halfway. He wanted to say something about the twins and how were they supposed to stop them if they were to go back to the island.

He ran his fingers through Aoba's hair slowly and gently. He stopped abruptly once Noiz started to speak.

"Are you all really listening to yourselves? You are all sounding like the same idiots from three years ago. I told you there's a device in his body that no matter where he wants to go, those two will track him and find him anyways." Noiz brought out his coil and finally showed them the message from Aoba's grandmother.

"In case you're not aware, Rib-tease, we're running on borrowed time. Thanks to his grandma for giving the pill to Clear, she helped stave the problem off while we come up with a better plan than what you just said. My guys are already working on a way to break into the place where his grandma and the scientists are."

Noiz then showed them the map he had gotten from one of his team members just a few minutes after getting the message from Tae. It was a map of Mizuki's tattoo shop and if Koujaku was looking at it right, it was a hidden base beneath the shop.

"Our job is to wait for Mink's men and then I can safely take out the tracking device, hack it with my own programs and find them so that we can take them out once and for all. If we're going to do it your way, leave me out of it so that I won't be blamed if Aoba really does die on your watch."

With that said, Noiz calmly walked out of the room. Both Clear and Mink were silent while Koujaku was clearly seething from the current dispute. Unknown to them however, Aoba's hands were slightly twitching and his eyes were slowly opening. His soft, light brown eyes were now a powerful golden color. Aoba had reawakened.

Aoba slowly sat up from being held in Clear's lap and sat still for some time until Koujaku expressed his concern for him. "Aoba!" Koujaku rushed to his side without hesitation while Mink stayed where he was. "What did Noiz do to you?" Aoba remained quiet and lifted his head so that they could see his face.

He smiled when Clear backed away from him in lightning speed and stood up unsteadily. "That's...not master!" Koujaku watched Clear readying himself in a battle-like stance.

"It's not possible, that side of him was gone and he said he-"

"-got rid of me, right?" The man using Aoba's voice, cut Koujaku off from finishing the sentence.

Mink did not look surprised at all and neither did Clear. Did that mean it was just him left in the dark until the time was too late? Koujaku slowly got up. "Sly Blue." Mink finally spoke.

Aoba laughed hysterically. "I'm known by a lot with that name but I have a true name. One that doesn't matter for the time being since it means nothing right now." He continued to smile at them.

"I guess me coming out means something big must have happened to the kid for him to rely on me again. Or it's the weird drugs I've been on lately." He chuckled and brushed a hand through his hair.

"You know how long I had to wait for the brat to stop screaming so that I might be able to come out to play with Virus and Trip? Those poor souls, day in and day out, raping the poor kid just so they could meet me. On top of that...feeding me useless drugs just so I could come out some day. Well they got their wish. But you guys looks a little upset."

He was taunting them openly. Mink stepped forward. "If you knew then you could have come out any time then and helped him out. So why come out now?" Koujaku agreed with the man. If the body that he was occupying was in such agony and pain, why was he not coming out until today?

Sly let out a sigh. "What did Aoba tell you guys when the tower collapsed? That I was finally gone and disappeared?" When they did not respond to the question, he asked them again.

"Must mean he didn't trust you guys enough to tell you my real name. Desire. May sound a bit un-anti-hero-like but it is what it is. And with such a name, I desire things that Aoba desires. What he wants, is what I want too. Now I'm not saying that them raping us is what I wanted the kid to go through but...a part of me just wanted a tiny bit of revenge."

"You bastard!" Koujaku was now gripping the handle of the sword that was tied to his back.

"Feisty temper. I'm touched. Where was all that passion when you were out like a rooster plucking the ground when you were looking for Aoba. While you were sleeping peacefully in a warm bed, we were stuck with a very annoying snake hissing in our ears while getting sucked off. I would tell you the rest of the story but I've got a couple of guys to find." Sly then walked out of the room as though the pain that affected Aoba had not bothered him at all.

Neither of them were able to move and it felt as though time had just stopped for them. The man known as Sly Blue from the Rhyme games on Midorijima Island, was now back in Aoba's body, taking over once more but what his own purpose was, nobody knew.

A/N: This overlapped the 3,500 word limit I wanted but oh well, this is turning out scary, eh!?

Been thinking long and hard on having the guy pop out because that was what the drugs were being used for when Virus and Trip were giving him the drugs during their intimate moments (well what other moments are there..?)

And obviously the reason why no one moved against him...do I need to say it? Mink, although he is a badass in the game and anime, he is actually afraid of Desire. Or just really really hates him, either way he feels like he can't mess with him.

Kind of like Koujaku who will hesitate because he can't attack someone he really loves and someone who has been his friend. And Clear, well...yandere amirite?

But yea, Noiz only knew about the tracking device, he never knew there was a drug in the system because it was basically out of his system from the time he was found by CR-5 to the time that Noiz checked him out. Normal doctors from the Daivan city couldn't pick up on this since it would be a drug and medicine unknown to them.

So just to clear up some things on that in case anyone is wondering why they couldn't have used some sort of medicine for Aoba, remember, Desire is part of him as another half so therefore, harder to get rid of compared to a normal illness.

Like if this was possible, Virus and Trip would not just simply take his memories away but heal him as well if they were able to do such a thing (not that they would..)

Sorry, long story short, Aoba is gone for a while and Sly is out to play!