Author's Note: Wow, this is actually a long match. I decided to cover two countries in one for this week. Russia and England. They are major players in the Apocalypse game, remember? I love how this turned out, especially Russia's part. There will be continuation of the human experiments and the ritual with Mam. Next week, I am stuck between doing Japan and Germany. I will see how I feel next week. I will go back to Ju and America is month too. Stick around and see.

Match Twenty-Three: Sirena Mabon:

-Russia-

This happened before the sixth Gate to the Apocalypse opened in Ikebukuro.

Ivan brought in twenty homeless protect for Project Drioma. Everything about this set-up felt eerily familiar. The white walls. The blinding lights. The lab coats. Somehow, he thought of Moscow in the 1950's. He could see himself sitting on his bed. They didn't restrain him last night. They had to cut him nails and his hair. He still had the urge to die. Anything to make the voice in his head shut up.

That's when the door opened. She's back again. What was she going to do him now? She pushed her tray in front of him. She started talking to him. He couldn't make out what she was saying. But then, she picked up the biggest needle on the tray.

"Ivan? Ivan?" he asked. The tall Russian man looked up. Alisa stood, looking up at him.

"You feeling okay?" she asked. Ivan blinked for a moment.

"Oh," he said. "Don't worry about it. Let's just start the experiment."

"Right…" Alisa said. She turned to the test subjects in the white room. The woman Ivan about ran over glared at him. In truth, they were only here for the free meals and lodging. Anything to get what they needed, right?

"Begin the experiment," Alisa said over the microphone.

"Copy that," Adrik said. He turned to the twenty men and women in the room. They all varied from ages fifteen to forty-one. No one would miss them. Putin wasn't going to say anything either. As far as he knew, this experiment doesn't exist.

First came the pills. They came three colors: white, red, and purple. The test subjects hare to take the white pill for three days. Three video cameras were placed in the room, set to record at all times. Karp and Adrik would be taking notes and observing. All twenty subjects would take that little white pill around 6:00 p.m. Their meals were kept light, mostly raw and cooked vegetables. The test subjects didn't complain. They were just happy to get food.

Ivan looked at one of the trays and began to think began to that mental hospital in the 1950's. It was winter, maybe Christmas in this memory. That nurse came back into his room. She was humming a happy little Christmas jingle that morning. This would be the first time he heard her voice loud and clear.

"Good morning!" she said in a cheerful tone. "How are you doing this morning, _?" He mumbled something to her, but his own voice didn't come out so clear. The nurse didn't pay much attention to his response.

"That's good," she said as she picked up a dish covered in a metal cover. This was the first time he could see her face.

All twenty test subjects cleared the first test. No signs of negative effects. The test subjects acted normal like they had before they started this experiment. Alisa walked around with a flashlight and flashed it into their eyes.

"Everyone is still conscious and breathing," she said. "We can initiate the next phase."

"Yes," Karp said.

Next were the red pills. Same routine as before. However, there were some minor changes. The red pills had to be taken first thing in the morning for five days. The test subjects were not allowed to have any meat or oils in their diets. Other than that, everything stayed the same.

"What is the point of this experiment?" the woman Ivan nearly ran over asked when they started having out the red pills.

"Don't worry about it," Alisa said. She stuffed the pill into the woman's mouth. Alisa decided that she would have to keep a close eye on that one. When she walked out of the room, she whispered something into Adrik's ear. He nodded once and handed her the recording from last night. The woman Ivan nearly ran over shivered after the pill started to activate in her body.

Ivan's mind with back to that nurse as Alisa walked out of the room.

That nurse looked just as pale as the room he was trapped in. Her clothes always looked so clean and pressed. She never wore make-up or polish. If it wasn't for her long dark hair, he would've confused her for a ghost. Her eyes were a dull grey.

"Are you even real?" he asked.

"Excuse me?" she asked. He leaned forward with his eyes narrowed.

"Are you even real or am I imagining you?" he asked.

"Of course I am real," the nurse said. "Why wouldn't I be?" She's lying, she had to be. The nurse walked up to him with that metal tray.

"It's time for you to eat," she said. The nurse removed the cover. The food always looked the same. Bland and tasteless. He stared down at his tray. He shoved the tray away.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" he asked.

"Kill you?" the nurse asked.

"Yes!" he shouted. He probably looked like a demon in her eyes. She had no expression on her face.

"I told you, we are here to help," the nurse said.

"Lies!" he shouted. "You're all lying! You just want to kill me!" The voices started up in his head. He started breathing heavily.

"Now _, I am going to need you to calm down," she said.

"No!" he snapped. The colors started to blend together. She might have turned to run over to the emergency button. Everything was a blur from here. The last thing he could remember was lunging forward to that damned nurse.

One test subject died after the five days. He was forty-one years old. His skin was covered in black and red spots. The scratch marks on his neck and face showed that he didn't die quietly. The "official" cause of death was him choking on his own tongue. Alexander and Boris took away the body without saying a word. Two more test subjects had scratch marks on their necks and faces.

Alisa walked over, examining the other test subjects. The woman Ivan ran over was still conscious. But, she sat in the corner, trembling.

"What the fuck are you doing to us?!" she said with chattering teeth. She had small red marks the size of an American dime on her skin. Alisa shined her flashlight into the woman's eyes.

"Hm… that's really interesting," she said.

"What?" the test subject asked. Alisa turned off her flashlight. She took down a quick note and walked out of the room.

"Wait! Where are you going? Come back. Come back!" the woman pleaded. That last "come back" was drowned out by the sound of the thick steel door, closing. Aside from the oldest man dying, the two test subjects in serious pain, and five more starting to get sick to the point of vomiting and hair loss, the next phase was good to go.

Finally came the purple pill. The test subjects had to take this pill every four hours for eight days. They were only allowed to drink milk daily. No food was allowed. The woman that Ivan ran over looked up at Alisa on day three with bags under her eyes.

"Why are you doing this to us?" she asked. Alisa didn't even answer her as she forced another pill into her mouth. Alisa and her team had a way to make sure that every pill was swallowed and not spat out. Karp and Adrik kept close watch on them after all. Alisa would have one of her assistants walk around and check for any sticky pills on the floor.

The whole time Ivan watched them. He had his eyes on the woman that he ran over. He could see her pain etched into her face. She clutched her stomach as if she was about to give birth. The woman had her eyes squeezed shut. Was she crying?

Ivan's mind went back to the 1950's.

He bit on his hand. Blood covered the floor. He didn't mean to kill her. It just happened. She was trying to poison him. He had to defend himself. They would understand, wouldn't they?

No they won't.

His eyes darted around the room. The white walls became a monster on their own. It felt like the whole room was closing in on him. Those voices came back.

Murderer.

You didn't have to kill that girl.

"She's trying to poison me."

Was she really though?

He paused. "I… I… I…"

You really did mess up.

They won't let you go for this.

You can't escape from this.

It's over for you.

He bit on his hand so hard that it started to bleed. His whole body started shaking. He turned to look around in his white-walled prison. The monster had its mouth, waiting to swallow him. He drew his knees to his chest.

"What should I do?"

You know what to do.

His eyes opened wide. They probably shouldn't have left the bottom sheet from the bed. He wouldn't be found until the next day. The nurse would be the one to find him.

Only eight test subjects were still alive. Two of them had completely broken limbs. Another choked on his tongue. The rest had their organs just stop. Not a single drop of blood on their bodies or on the floor or walls. They just dropped dead with their eyes opened. The woman that Ivan about ran over was sitting in the corner, biting on her hand. Her eyes looked glassed over. Alisa shined her light in them.

"You people are evil," the woman muttered with chattering teeth. Alisa turned off her flashlight and clicked on her radio.

"Experiment is complete," she said. "We can move onto part two of Project Drioma."

"Copy that," Adrik said through the airwaves. "Take the remaining subjects to the green room."

"Yes, sir," Alisa said. The bodies were covered up and taken away. Karp and Alexander hauled away the living test subjects. The woman that Ivan nearly ran over passively resisted as they took her out of the room. Her eyes met with Ivan's for a brief moment as she passed by him. Ivan could see the fire in her eyes before they took her away. He saw a little bit of himself in her.

For this, she had to survive and evolve.

-England-

This happened after the sixth Gate to the Apocalypse opened in Ikebukuro.

The festival began tonight. Allison opened the front door. She closed her eyes and smiled as she felt the cool wind blew on her face.

"It's time," she said. Allison turned and walked back into the flat. She made her way into the living room. The smell of sage floated through the rooms. Allison could feel the moss at her toes. All of her daughters were dressed in long white see-through gowns. They had no shoes on their feet. Their wreathes were made of dried roses and irises. Allison clapped her hands together.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked.

"Yes," the nightcomers said. Their mother headed into the living room. All of the women follow her. Arthur sat at the TV in the living room.

The table has silver on the table. Allison and her daughters sit around waiting for the feast before the ritual can begin. Their mother holds up her silver chalice of red wine.

"To the pending new world!" she said.

"Hail, hail!" her daughters said. Hecate and Lucy smiled as they drank up. Allison took off her ruby necklace and dropped it into her chalice.

"Tonight, we celebrate the coming of the new world by waking the beast of England!" she shouted.

"Hail, hail!" her daughters shouted.

"We will start by stabbing the heart of the white beast!" Allison shouted. She rose to her feet with the silver knife in her hand. Her daughters looked up when they heard wheels rolling into the room. A ghostly woman was pushing a cart with a fleshy white heart that looked drained of blood. Her daughters began softly chanting. Allison closed her eyes and hold out the night.

"Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light!" she chanted. "Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light! Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light! Great lord of the darkness, taketh thine dagger and cut the ties to the light!" The supreme opened her eyes and the knife started to heat up and glow.

"Long live the new world!" she yelled.

Stab!

The knife went deep into the white flesh. The squish sound rang in her ears. Allison kept her hand to the handle and started chanting again. The blade slowly went in deeper.

Meanwhile, Arthur could feel a sharp pain in his chest. An invisible knife went into his heart. The Englishman couldn't scream or even gasp. Chains started wrapping around his body. Tears ran down his cheeks.

Help… me…

Allison stuck up two fingers in the air. "I cut the ties to the light! Plunge into the darkness!" She drops her fingers to her side.

Arthur let out a voiceless scream.

The supreme yanked out the knife. She wiped the sweat away from her forehead.

"It's done," Allison said. She sat back down at the head of the table.

"Now, we can eat," the supreme said. Her daughters cheered. The maid rolled away the flesh as it turned back and started to crumble. Another maid rolls out another cart of food. Everyone ate their dinner. Chatter filled the dining room. It looked like an end-of summer dinner of meat and roasted vegetables. Allison smiled over her red wine.

Suddenly, the room went silent as footsteps walked into the dining room.

Arthur stood in the doorway. His eyes looked dead with a vacant smile on his face. Allison held out her arms.

"Welcome, dear Arthur," she greeted him. "So glad that you could join us. Come, take a seat. We have been expecting you." The Englishman walked over to the table as if in a daze. He took his seat at the other end of the table. Allison smiled as sipped her wine.

After dinner, the second ritual would take place.