Disclaimer: Cyborg 009 does not belong to me. I just own the OCs- so if you don't recall seeing them in the anime or Manga, they're mine.
Pain
"My head . . ." 007 groaned as he opened his eyes. He was in a cell, which was completely made of solid metal and had no apparent door. He groaned again, but his attempt to cover his eyes was halted by the fact his hands were secured behind his back. Renegade was nearby, also with her hands bound and looking just as uncomfortable. "Well, this could be better."
"Da, they could have given us a cot." Renegade grit her teeth, her visible eye closing. "Are you okay, Comrade?"
"I'm sore and have a headache, but I think I'm much better off than you." 007 had picked up on the strain in Renegade's voice- it was something he'd noticed over their travels, if Renegade was hurt or frustrated, her Russian accent would slip back into her speech, and she would revert back to the USSR habit of using 'comrade', as well as actually speak in Russian. She usually talked with unaccented English, and used more modern day slang. It was interesting to listen to, anyway.
"My head feels like Athena tried to come out of it." Renegade took several deep breathes. "I can't use my telepathy." 007 shifted closer to her, her voice had gone from pained to slightly panicked. The change worried him, because he had never seen her scared.
"Take it easy, Renegade. It's alright. You'll be able to use it when your headache goes away." She looked at him, her left eye wide. "Just breathe and focus on that, Renegade." She closed her eye and focused on breathing. 007 frowned as her breath hitched. "What's the matter with you?" He glanced around the cell when she didn't answer, and pretty quickly he realized the problem. "Why didn't you tell me you were claustrophobic?"
"Because, I'm not, not usually." 007 could only gape as tears leaked out from her eye. "As long as I have my psychic powers, I can have my mind escape the cell- I did that for the forty years or so that I was in suspended animation."
"So, with your powers blocked off, you've got nothing to combat it with." 007 watched her nod. He shifted himself forward, and contorted his arms in order to pull her against him. She stiffened a moment, but relaxed, even pressing closer. 007 decided right then that when they got out, he would never bring this up in their future arguments. Right now, he needed to get her focused on something that wasn't their predicament. "You must have seen quite a lot if you let your mind wander for that long."
"Yeah, I did. The lab we were frozen in was where Tudor's mansion was. I got to see a lot of things happen in London . . . saw some plays by tagging along with a theater goer." She took a deep breath, her focus more on the steady heartbeat that she could hear than the sudden emptiness of her thoughts. "I even saw you on stage a few times, you were really great. I think I liked your plays the best, actually."
"Really? Which ones did you see?" 007 was sort of surprised that Renegade liked plays, but quickly became more concerned with the fact she was shaking.
"I saw you as the lead in Hamlet and Othello- those were the two memorable ones, for me, and I saw you in several others as well, but I couldn't tell you the names. I kept track of you as best I could, but after awhile you just sort of disappeared." Renegade's breathing was starting to even out, and her shaking was steadily dimishing. "When I was finally thawed out, I got a chance to go to the theater once. I was surprised to see you on stage. I think it was 'Mists of London'. You were good in that too."
"You saw that?"
"Yeah, and Yes, I noticed that the other Cyborgs were fighting off the Black Ghost bugs outside. I was more focused on the play than them. I think I had to tell Tudor that I was actually spying on you in order for him to even consider letting me leave the mansion again." Renegade ducked her head, a curtain of black hair covering her face- and obscuring the slight blush. "I was a little disappointed that you never really returned to London after that, but I couldn't get much of a chance to go to watch plays anyway. Even when you were in London those two years, you didn't actually perform on the stage, so I was out of luck."
"I thought I'd try my hand at writing and directing. Writing wasn't so good, but I did direct a few plays."
"I know. But I think we both know that you would have preferred actually acting." Renegade closed her eyes. "Could you . . . Could you recite something? Anything that doesn't have to deal with cells, preferably." Renegade felt a little foolish for asking, but despite having relaxed outwardly, the panic at being in an enclosed room was still just below the surface- and it was threatening to burst out at any moment.
"But of course! Let me think a moment- I have it!" With that, he began reciting from Richard the Third. Renegade focused on the words, ignoring the cell around her and her headache- which still hadn't gone away- in order to escape her claustrophobia.
007 glanced at her as he continued to recite, worry etching his features but not finding its way into his voice. He and Renegade didn't get along very well, and that was mostly because he didn't trust the former Hades Operative. She had proven to be a loyal companion, though, and he highly doubted she knew what was going on either.
Neither needed to voice the suspicion that Hades had captured them, it was the most likely scenario and reason for them to be captured.
Several floors above the cell holding 007 and Renegade, a conference was being held. A man and a woman were seated at one end of a conference table, and a large screen was on the other.
"So, you have the aptly named Renegade, and the Cyborg prototype 007. Have you any plans for what you'll do with them?" The screen just showed the back of a chair, and the voice that came through was computerized so it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female.
"We were calling to ask you that- our strengths lay in bio-terrorism and economic sabotage, we have had very little to do with Cyborgs and robotics." The woman was dressed in a gray business suit with a skirt, her red-blonde hair pulled in a severe bun. "We can hold them and keep them from using their powers, but there is very little else that we can do."
"Indeed, Mrs. Ceres, I was well aware of that when I ordered you to capture those two. I trust the town was taken care of?"
"The package was left. If the others do come, they will be very quickly incapacitated." She nodded, uncaring that she had helped destroy an entire town.
"And as for your two guests, I must confess, we have no interest in them."
"I'd like to experiment with the Shapeshifter, if I'm allowed." The man spoke up, absently straightening his lab coat. He had a few gray streaks in his brown hair. "His unique ability could be useful with my new serum."
"Of course, Dr. Carnor." The computerized voice spoke in amusement. "Now, Mrs. Ceres, surely you can figure something to do with Renegade, as Hades couldn't control her and clearly is incapable of even holding her for long."
" . . . Perhaps I can, at that." The woman nodded, already thinking. "She is a psychic, you say?"
"Yes, Dr. Gamo even worked on her, before she was transferred to a new project."
"Then perhaps there is a use I can get from her . . . or at least study." The woman frowned. "How long before Hades is capable of operation once more?"
"Not too long, but patience is a virtue we must observe. I will await your report on your progress on the other Cyborgs as well." Then the screen went blank, leaving the two alone in the conference room.
"This is a fine mess. First Black Ghost gets destroyed, now Hades is crippled, so us in Pandora must step up." Mrs. Ceres scowled. "We are not meant for combating those cyborgs like Hades and Black Ghost."
"But failure is not an option, and perhaps that was the mistake of the others- they actively attacked and taunted the Cyborgs, perhaps a subtler approach is needed. The trap for them has been set and already sprung, and we have two of them at our mercy. We just need to make sure that they don't get a chance to attack us guns blazing." Dr. Carnor sat back, a hand going through his hair. "What are you going to do with that Renegade?"
"I'll just use her as a battery for our spy computer."
"That will kill her."
"It would kill a human psychic, yes, but this girl is a cyborg. They replaced most of her body with metal and circuitry, so she'll last longer." Mrs. Ceres stood, calmly collecting the portfolio in front of her. "Besides, we have little use for a psychic."
"I suppose you wouldn't give her to me for experimentation." The look Dr. Carnor received could have frozen Lava. "Not *that* kind of experimentation, I promise! I want to work on a serum that only targets psychics."
"I'll consider it. If you'll excuse me." It was a statement, not a question as she turned on her heels and walked out. Carnor sighed and ran a hand through his hair again.
"Geeze, have one affair with a lab assistant in the lab and you're branded for life." He muttered, before smiling. "Well, I'll have start testing 007 right now. The more baseline data I have the better." Carnor stood and left the conference room, heading for the lab. "I wonder how the Cyborgs like my disease?" The thought made him burst out laughing, his laughter echoing of the walls as he headed to his lab.
And here are the two kingpins of Pandora. Can you tell they're both insane?
Sorry for the lack of updates, had a lovely case writer's block on this story, and ended up outlining the third story instead.
Some fleshing out of Renegade's character as well as her and 007's sort-of relationship in this chapter, next chapter is back with the cyborgs, then introducing a new/old character. No idea when that chapter will be up, though.
Random Note: Not sure what to make of Re: Cyborg- Interesting animation and fight sequences, but not too sure of the plot.