Woot the fourth chapter! A lot of angst and action up ahead for our two Inu's. I could totally picture Joey with Inu ears is the fun part, and Seto too but he'd have a disgruntled look on his face about it. I should make a drawing of them…I can't draw too well but hey it'll be fun. This chapter is going to be significantly longer than the rest I think.
The Way We Used To Be
He could not tell how long he lay there watching over Joey as he slept, it felt like hours and he was beginning to get tired himself. He couldn't sleep though, he was so on edge that every little noise woke him up and made him hold Joey tighter to him. Oblivious to him companions stress Joey snuggled deeper into Seto's chest and sighed. Isa had left a while ago to get them some clothes, he really hoped she would hurry back. He sniffed his shirt.
'I'm starting to smell.' He was really hoping for a shower sometime soon, and he didn't want to change back into his smelly clothes after a shower. He frowned as heavy footsteps coming up the stairs made way to his ears, he growled lightly and glared at whoever was approaching. He was a big man both in height and in terms of muscle mass. He was maybe around six feet four inches, he didn't have so many muscles that it was gross but enough to make him intimidating. He had a look of seriousness to him and he didn't hesitate for one second as he opened the cell door. Up close now Seto could see he had short black hair with a dragon tattoo that wrapped around his neck. Seto slowly sat up and sat in front of Joey, continuing to glare at the strange man.
"Kasakabi has ordered me to give you these tags, they are identification for everyone in this lab." He held out his hand and Seto reluctantly held his out, he eyed the tags and snorted.
"Dog tags?" The man nodded and walked out of the cell, closing the door and locking it.
"It is currently nine in the morning in case you were curious, I will be bringing you breakfast soon. Kasakabi also said to inform you that Isa will be returning in a couple of hours with your clothing." Seto nodded and inwardly sighed as he watched the man leave. He heard a light rumbling noise and smirked, Joey was obviously hungry. The blonde had the corner of his coat in his mouth and was chewing on it lightly, slightly drooling as he did so.
"Silly pup, wake up Joey." He lightly shook Joey and was a little miffed to find that the corner of his coat was fully gone, the fabric hanging out of Joey's mouth as he sleepily sat up. Joey blinked in a confusing manner as he took the fabric out of his mouth and looked at Seto in confusion.
"Does my coat taste good to you?" The humor was evident in his voice and Joey blushed as he looked at Seto's coat. He laughed and scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry Seto."
"Don't worry about it, someone's bringing us food in a couple of minutes, breakfast to be more exact. It's nine in the morning."
"No wonder I'm still tired." Joey yawned and stretched.
"Usually I sleep in til eleven or something." Joey's body tensed as the door creaked open and the man from before entered, this time with three trays. He had a white apron on, making his appearance a little less intimidating, but his serious expression made that not even matter. He didn't know whether to be more afraid or hungry, he blushed as his stomach rumbled again as the smell of food reached his nose. Seto smirked and stood up, giving Joey a hand. The man set the trays down on a small desk in the room and exited the cell once again.
"I will be just downstairs filling out some paperwork, if you are still hungry by the time you are done just yell and I will get more, enjoy." Seto and Joey made their way to the desk and both felt they could almost cry with joy. An arrangement of fruit was laid out on a plate as well as some scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns. To drink they had water, milk, or orange juice available to them.
"This is surprising isn't it?" Seto looked a little apprehensively at the meal.
"I kind of expected stale bread and water, or worse."
"Well remember what he said before? He needs us alive, guess he's keepin us in the best shape he can." Joey voice lightened at the end of the sentence and he frowned, he poked at the eggs with a fork.
"You think there's somethin in the food?" Seto shrugged and picked up a fork, scooping up some of the eggs. He brought it to his mouth and chewed and swallowed.
"It doesn't taste funny. Besides, you did say that he wanted us in shape. I doubt he'd do anything like that." Seto kept eating the eggs and Joey dove into the hash browns, both ate until they were full with Joey finishing most of the meal. They downed all their water and had a little bit of milk as well. As they finished Joey sat back in the seat and patted his stomach.
"Man that was great, makes me not wanna wait for lunch to come." Seto nodded as he wiped his mouth before bringing a different napkin to Joey's mouth, wiping away the remainder of his milk moustache. He mussed Joey's hair and smirked as the blonde groaned and tried to slap his hand away.
"Come here pup, we need to put these on our collars apparently." Joey eyed the tags curiously and grabbed the one with the big J on the back. On the front the words:
Ex# 155
Canis Lupus
The same thing was on Seto's tag except his had a big S on the back and he was Ex# 156. As Seto put Joey's on for him he couldn't help but grumble.
"Couldn't they have just given us a bracelet or something?" Joey fingered the tag and shrugged.
"At least the collars aren't unnecessarily tight or uncomfortable. I mean it's weird feeling somethin around my neck and all but it's not like it's made of metal or anything." Again Seto had to sigh, the collars seemed to be a kind of smooth leather. Joey excused himself and went to the bathroom, Seto ran a hand through his hair and flinched as he grazed one of the Inu ears. They were still a little sore and he had been lying on one for quite a while. He also noted that his hair felt greasy.
"This is disgusting."
"What is?" He blinked and looked up as Joey walked up and hugged him from behind.
"My hair is greasy, I hope Isa is back soon with our clothing. I feel disgusting."
"She's in the tunnels as we speak." Both turned to look at the man from earlier and Seto sighed. Joey gathered up the trays and handed them to the man as he entered the cell.
" Thank you for breakfast, it was great!" A small smile appeared on the man's face and he nodded.
"Thank you, I am glad to have compliments." Joey's face beamed.
"You're welcome, hey uhh what's your name? Don't think I wanna call you man or dude or something the whole time."
"My name is Zeke, you are Seto and Joey right?" Joey nodded.
"I will send Isa up here the second she arrives, I'm sure you are eager to wash."
"No need Zeke, I'm already here." Zeke smiled and started walking down the stairs as Isa yelled from the bottom of the steps.
"Very well then, I will see you two at lunch." Joey waved and turned to Seto.
"He was kinda scary at first, I'm glad he's friendly."
"Zeke? He's like a giant kitten, no need to be intimidated by him." Isa sighed as she set down multiple shopping bags on the tile in front of them and smiled at them.
"Here you go, I didn't know what kind of clothes you guys preferred but I went by what you're currently wearing. There is a large dresser in that corner to put them in. I'll give you guys time to sort and choose, I'll be back later." Before he could even blink Joey was going through one of the bags, he skillfully caught a pair of black leather pants that were thrown at him.
"Those are definitely yours." Joey grinned and tossed the bag to Seto before going to another one, his grin growing wider as he pulled out multiple jeans and a belt. He turned to Seto but frowned at the look on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just weird, them buying clothes for us. I hate to sound childish but I always pictured evil scientists to be sadistic, not nice to their….subjects. I get why he's feeding us, but why would they buy us clothes?" Seto's voice grew louder at the end, his frustration and confusion evident. Joey wrapped his arms around Seto's waist and nuzzled into his chest, whining softly.
"Why don't you take your shower? It'll make you less cranky." Seto grunted and hugged Joey.
" Let's sort out the rest of the clothes, and not all of the leather pants will be going to me. I've always wanted to see you wear leather." Seto smirked as Joey blushed and whined.
"I don't think leather would work for me." Seto shoved a pair of leather pants into Joey's arms.
"At least keep one pair, and don't hog all the jeans." Still blushing, Joey went back to the bags and checked out the shirts. After they had chosen who would get what they put everything away except for a change of clothes for after their showers. Footsteps were coming up the stairs and Seto looked expectantly at the top step, unfortunately it wasn't whom they were hoping to see. Kasakabi grinned and waved.
"I trust breakfast was good? Zeke is a culinary genius. Isa is on her way back to let you take a shower Kaiba, I'm going to take Joseph with me and run some tests." Seto stood in front of Joey and glared at the man.
"Oh come now Seto, it's just some simple tests such as eyesight and sense of smell, I just want to see what the extent of the enhancements are."
"I'm not leaving him with you." Kasakabi's smile turned into a straight line, both looking into each other's eyes waiting to see who would back down first. Kasakabi's smile comes back and he looks at the two, his smile making Seto very uneasy.
"Alright then if you insist, there is another test I wish to administer. I was curious about this with the last subject, unfortunately he suffered a deathly side effect from the injection before I could even try. Follow me then, I have a more resilient area for these kinds of tests." Both reluctantly followed him down the stairs. They continued through a narrow passageway just under the stairs to come to a large room surrounded by steel walls with concrete flooring. Joey shuddered as he eyes the dried brown spot on the wall across the room. Seto's eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Kasakabi.
"What kind of test are we doing exactly?" A large man taller than Zeke entered the room and shut and locked the door behind him with a key. He was bulging with muscles and was a ghostly pale color. He looked sick but he didn't seem to pay any mind to whatever was ailing him, as he turned around both boys noticed he had the same collar they had around his neck. The only difference was his was bulkier and had a couple of metal rings on it. His stoic face made him more intimidating, it was somehow different than how Zeke looked at first. His eyes were an odd cloudy blue and his pupils were slightly slitted. He stood attentively by Kasakabi's side, staring at them.
"This is Akim, he is what you would call the muscle man around here. He is going to help us with the test today. " Akim seemed to know what Kasakabi had planned as he walked to Seto and grabbed him collar and dragged him to a wall with a short three foot chain attached to it.
"How about you explain first before starting?" Seto tried to dig his heels into the ground as he protested but Akim was pulling him along as if he weighed nothing.
"No worries, Akim know what he's doing."
"I don't care if he knows what he's doing I want to know what the hell is going Ahhh!" Seto went to his knees as a small but painful shock went through his system.
"Seto!" Joey watched as Seto slowly came out of the daze and glared at Kasakabi.
"Your manners need work Seto, starting now. You will learn to not question me and you will do what I say when I say. Please resume Akim." Akim continued to chain Joey to a wall on the opposite side of the room. Then, to Seto's complete and utter horror Akim sent a hard punch to Joey's gut. Sending him to the ground choking for breath.
"What the hell are you doing?" Seto yelled and strained against the chain, anger quickly filling his mind. His heart tore in two as Akim harshly stomped on Joey's wrist, shattering it on impact. Joey yelped and tried in vain to tug his arm away, ignoring the searing pain in his wrist and up his arm.
"I'll kill you!" Seto could feel the rage bubbling over and he began seeing red. He growled and bared his fangs and didn't even notice that he had bitten his lip as blood ran down his chin. Kasakabi smirked as he got the reaction he had hoped for, he noticed Seto's blue eyes had darkened and rage spread across his face. He nodded at Akim to continue what he was doing.
'Hopefully I will get the result I have been looking for all this time.' Seto's body burned. It felt like he was in an oven, and it was getting worse. He felt like he was going to lose it, as if that damn man did anything else to Joey he was going to fucking tear him limb from limb! He watched Joey whine as pressure was still applied to his broken wrist with one foot while the other foot was brought back and slammed into his face. Something inside Seto snapped, his pupil's dilated and all of a sudden the only color he saw was red. Akim brought his leg back for another kick, when suddenly a sharp pain erupted in his calf. Kasakabi grinned and felt lightheaded from glee. Seto had broken the chain link and his fangs were imbedded in Akim's leg. Only where Seto should have standing, a large dark grey wolf stood in his place. His blue eyes locked onto Akim with a murderous look in them. His jaw was locked and he definitely was not letting go anytime soon. Clapping was soon heard and Akim turned to Kasakabi.
"Marvelous! This is the exact reaction I have been hoping to get for years! This is such a leap forward for the experiment, hopefully we can get Joseph to do the same at some point." The excitement in his voice just couldn't be contained as he stared at Seto in fascination and with a sense of pride. Akim grunted and balanced awkwardly on his left leg, as Seto was still attached to his right. He didn't seem to feel too much pain and if he did it certainly didn't show, blood continued to spill from the wound as Seto growled even louder and tightened his grip. On the floor Joey sat dumbfounded at the large wolf in front of him.
'Is that…is that really Seto?' The wolf was a dark gray, almost an ashen black and was huge! His eyes were still that brilliant blue that Joey loved so much, except now they were dark and filled with rage. The pain in his wrist surged up his arm as Akim removed his foot from it and hopped a couple of steps away from Joey. If it were a different situation the blonde might have laughed. He stayed glued to the ground though, not daring to move. Seto stayed attacked to Akim's leg even as he hopped away, the man looked to Kasakabi as if saying 'get him the hell off me.' The doctor smiled and pressed the button on Seto's collars remote. When that did nothing to phase the wolf he set it to a higher voltage, repeating the process three times until it was high enough to stun Seto and make him let go. The wolf dropped to the ground still growling in a threatening manner.
"Seto." Joey whispered as he reached out a hand to him, he carefully stood and walked slowly to the massive wolf. He sat next to him and raised his good hand to Seto's head and laid it there.
"Seto get up." He lightly shoved him and was near tears, but Seto opened his blue eyes and Joey could swear he was seeing the wolf smile. Seto sighed and slowly sat up, the fur around his collar smoking a little bit. Joey, who was still amazed at the fact that this was his boyfriend, couldn't help but stare in wonder. To his amazement Seto began reverting back to his human self, he watched as paws turned into hands and in a matter of seconds Seto was lying on the floor in all him human glory. He panted and wiped sweat off his brow.
"Wonderful work Kaiba!" Seto's eyes snapped open and he sat in front of Joey, growling and glaring at Kasakabi who just grinned.
"As a reward you two get the rest of the day off. I will have Zeke prepare something special for lunch and dinner. Isa! I need your assistance!" Akim unlocked the door and opened it just as Isa had walked in front of the door. She did a double take as her eyes landed on the boys and she gave them an apologetic look before standing in front of Kasakabi.
"What can I do for you doctor?"
"Please take these two back to their room, after their done showering if their wounds haven't already healed please put some bandages on them. Inform Zeke that we are all ready for lunch as well if you would."
"Yes doctor." She turned to the two boys and smiled sadly as Joey helped Seto stand. They followed her out quickly. Joey just wanted to get away from Akim and the doctor while Seto wanted to protect Joey. They held hands and Joey was leaning into Seto's side, trying to get as close to him as possible. They walked up the stairs and into their cell, Isa stood for a couple seconds before she sighed and walked up to them.
"So what happened?" Joey winced and brought his good hand up to where Akim had kicked him in the face, Seto patted Joey's back in a soothing manner. The brunette snorted and glared at the floor, trying to glare through the floor into room below them.
"They hurt Joey to get me mad, just to see if I could…turn into a wolf." He seemed to blush as he spoke the last few words. Isa blinked then giggled.
"I guess I am right to assume that this all doesn't seem real to you?"
"You are, I never believed in things such as vampires and werewolves and all supernatural creatures. How the hell is this even possible?" Isa shrugged and sat down at the chair near the desk.
"I really don't know, it's like something out of a bad fan fiction."
"…"
"What?"
"Nothing." He mumbled and turned to hug Joey, the blonde climbed into his lap and rested his head on Seto's chest bringing his arms around the brunette's neck.
"Well I'm going to tell Zeke were ready for lunch, why don't you guys take your showers then I'll bandage you after lunch if I need to."
"You go first Seto, I need to lie down for a little bit."
"You ok pup?" Joey smiled tiredly.
"Yea I'm just tired is all." Seto looked hesitant to leave his side but eventually stood and got out a pair of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. He noted that while they were out Isa had filled the cabinet with all sorts of shampoos and conditioners. There was also a small assortment of scented shower gels and deodorants. She had obviously had no idea to get as he continued to find more bottles of shampoo. The bathroom had sage green wallpaper and was kind of comfy. Seto looked in the mirror and grimaced. His hair was so damn oily and he had dark rings under his eyes, he felt so sweaty and gross. He didn't even wait for the water to heat up as he quickly stripped, stepped in and sighed as the water hit him. Joey waited patiently for Seto to finish showering, he closed his eyes and sighed.
"You sure you're ok?" He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Isa, her eyes held such concern as she walked over to him and raised a hand to feel his forehead.
"I think I just need to sleep a little, nothing to worry about."
"We don't know that for sure, it could be a delayed reaction to the injection." He groaned and covered his eyes with his sleeve.
"Then again given all that has happened I believe a headache would be natural." A thought clicked into Joey's head.
"Why are you here Isa?" She looked a little offended at the question.
"I was told to watch you guys until lunch arrived."
"No I mean why are you here with Kasakabi?" She stiffened and looked at the floor, suddenly finding it the most interesting thing in the world.
"It is a difficult situation, one I would rather not discuss at the moment."
"Will you eventually tell me?" She smiled slightly and nodded.
"Eventually I will tell you both, all I can say now is that he has something of mine." Her smile faded and both turned their attention to the door as it opened. Seto came out looking absolutely refreshed and was even smiling a bit. He chose to wear black leather pants as usual, as well as a black short-sleeved shirt with a Celtic dragon on the chest.
"You look different without your trench coat." Seto blinked and looked to his beat up coat.
"It's not like I'm going to use that one again."
"I hope you like the clothes, I went to multiple shops before finding what I thought you might like." Seto grunted and nodded.
"They are suitable." Joey rolled his eyes and smacked Seto's arm lightly.
"Would it kill ya to say thanks?"
"You know I actually think it might."
"And you call me childish? Thank you Isa we appreciate it." She laughed and nodded.
"You're welcome. You know you two bicker like a married couple." Joey's whole face went as red as a tomato and Seto smirked as he put his ruined clothed in an empty black trash bag.
"Use the shower pup, lunch will be here soon." He was still blushing as he pulled out clean clothes and a towel being mindful of his wrist, but it went away as he seemed to remember something.
"Uhh the collar isn't going to electrocute me is it?" Seto brought a hand up to his neck and he touched his collar.
"I hadn't even thought of that."
"Don't worry about that, there is a strong material that will prevent anything from leaking in. Don't worry it's already been tested." She assured Joey as he gave her an apprehensive look. She smiled as the door closed and sat back down in the chair, it was then that she noticed the bloody and dirty sheets.
"Here give me your sheets, I'll go wash them and bring us some fresh ones." Seto ripped everything off and handed it to Isa, who walked out of the cell and closed and locked the door.
"Be right back." Seto watched her disappear down the stairs until she was out of sight. He sighed and fell back onto the mattress, trying to relax for once. Being clean made that surprisingly easier, but it still didn't come easy. Even the simple noise of the key unlocking the door made him bolt up and tense. He still didn't trust Isa very much, it was hard to trust anyone in a place like this. Given what had occurred just a few minutes ago Seto felt he had the right to be on edge, his fists tightened as he thought of the pain Joey had gone through.
'He hasn't gotten in the shower yet.' Indeed Seto had yet to hear the water turn on, he got up and walked to the door and lightly knocked.
"You ok?"
"Yea, just lookin at all the scented stuff and what not." Seto barely smiled. One of the first things Seto noticed when he had Joey back home was that he absolutely loved anything scented. Candles, air fresheners, soaps, shower gels, bubble bath gels etc.
"Well hurry up I smell lunch. Can you wash your hair with one hand?" In the bathroom Joey marveled at his wrist, just a couple minutes ago he could barely even more his arm from the pain, but now. He raised his hand to the mirror and experimentally bent his wrist forward and back then rotated it, what was searing pain was now a dull ache.
"Joey?" He blinked and turned to the door.
"Yea Seto I got it." He gingerly peeled off his sweaty clothes and threw them in the corner, he sighed as the hot water turned on and he quickly hopped in. Ten minutes later Joey stepped out and wrapped the towel around his waist, he quickly dried off deciding that it would take too long to dry his hair. He got dressed in a dark blue pair of jeans that were a little baggy on him but comfortable. His shirt was black with a wolf on the chest that was stepping out from the shadows and seemed to almost be stepping out of the shirt itself. He didn't bother putting any socks on as he wanted to let his feet breathe. He looked at himself in the mirror and wasn't as surprised to see that the bruise on his face was gone as well, and that his ribs were no longer feeling sore.
"It just keeps gettin weirder an weirder." He opened the door just in time to see Isa bringing their lunch up. He inhaled deeply and almost started drooling.
"Sit down and eat, you're going to make a puddle on the floor." He didn't need to be told twice, both boys sat down and proceeded to eat until they were stuffed or in Seto's case just satisfied. Time passed very slowly as they had nothing else to do until tomorrow, so they talked and held each other until dinner. As they lay together and prepared to go to sleep, Seto watched Joey fall asleep. He would try to resist it, open his eyes a little and shake his head before closing his eyes again and repeating the process. This had come to be a favored pastime for Seto in the time he had been around the curious blonde. He knew they had to get away, but he had to wait. Wait until they were both strong enough to deal with what would happen afterwards whether it meant a success, or a failure.
'But I will not fail.' He stroked Joey's cheek with his hand. They needed to leave before they were forced to succumb to the wishes of this mad man holding them here. For the first time since they had arrived Seto allowed himself to relax and fall asleep, if he wanted to go through with this plan he was going to need all of his strength. A shrill scream woke him up a couple hours later, causing him to bolt up and look around for Joey. The blonde had unfortunately heard the earlier cries of the unfortunate victim and was already lying in the fetal position, pushing himself as close to Seto as he could. He relaxed a bit seeing that it wasn't Joey that was screaming, but flinched as the scream sounded like it was someone in the same room as them. One of the unfortunate benefits of having the enhanced hearing he figured. He hugged Joey tighter and kissed the top of his head. The screaming continued a couple of minutes before it slowly died down, though the occurrence was less than comforting. Joey whined and cuddled further into Seto in an attempt to try and go to sleep again. Seto sighed and didn't shut his eyes again for the rest of the night, as he watched over Joey again. When morning came both boys changed and nervously waited for someone to tell them what would happen today. As expected Kasakabi showed up and had brought Akim along as well, causing Joey to slightly move behind Seto. As always Kasakabi had that damn smile on his face, as Akim's expression was stoic.
"I hope you two slept well, I have a very important test for Joseph today. Which means, Seto, you will remain here until we return."
"No." Kasakabi grinned.
"I am afraid that you have no say in the matter, as I said yesterday." Akin walked right up to Seto and grabbed him by the collar.
"You will learn to respect me and you will do what I say." Akim dragged Seto to the other side of the room and felt for a hook that was sticking out by a little bit put of the wall. He tugged on it and a chain came out of the wall, which he clipped to Seto's collar. There was not a lack of resistance on Seto's part but it seemed futile as he was chained to the wall, leaving Joey vulnerable to the doctor. Joey seemed to be frozen in place as Akim approached him with a shorter chain, a kind of leash. When Akim began tugging on him to follow he did not move, eyes wide and frozen with fear.
"No need to be afraid Joseph this is a simple test."
'That's what you said to us yesterday.' He thought with anger.
"If he won't come then just drag him, we don't have time for this anyway." Akim grunted and dragged Joey who was looking for anything to grab onto, but it was too late. He was dragged out of the cell and stumbled down the stairs as his collar was roughly tugged on. Kasakabi smirked at Seto from outside and pulled a lever on a wall across from the cell and a buzzing noise surrounded Seto. He glared at Kasakabi and growled.
"I swear to god if you fucking hurt him I'll-"
"You'll do what? You do seem to be used to being the one in control Kaiba. However, I am in control here. What I decide to do to Joseph is none of your concern. When you manage to break the chain I suggest you stay away from the gate." Kasakabi smirked as Seto's glare deepened. He waved and walked down the stairs to the training area the two were at yesterday. He clapped his hands together and smiled at Joey, seemingly oblivious to the boys fear.
"I am sure you remember, Joseph, how Seto transformed yesterday in here yes? One of the happiest moments of my life I assure you, but what would make me even happier is if you could do the same. I believe the transformation only takes place when the subject is desperate enough, near death or watching a loved one being harmed and so on." He turned to Akim who left the room.
"I have a friend with me here, I am sure you heard him early this morning." The echo of the screams Joey heard rang through his head and he whined.
" This is experiment one forty nine and I have had him with me for a long time now, training him to help me out with what today's test is. " Akim returned with a man in his young twenties right behind him, his expression was even more stoic than Akim's was, almost as if he wasn't aware of anything around him.
"He is very obedient, does everything I tell him to. This is the level of obedience I expect from you two soon. If not, well, we shall see. Alright let's begin, Akim would you take their leashes off please?" After the chains were taken off both of them Akim and Kasakabi moved to a corner of the room and sat in the chairs there. With the snap of Kasakabi's fingers, 149's eye snapped to awareness and he flew at Joey like a bat out of hell. Joey dodged his first punch by ducking only to be kicked on the side of the head and across the room. His head hit the wall and stars were the only things in his vision, and before he knew it a fist was buried in his stomach knocking the air out of his lungs.
"Come on Joseph, your life is in danger. He'll kill you if you don't fight back." Joey whimpered and mentally glared at Kasakabi.
'I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do you jackass!' He would not dare think it out loud but he was damn well going to think it. He supposed once he was almost dead the "instinct" would kick in.
'What if I don't even have that ability? What if he really kills me? I can't die, I can't leave Seto.' He looked up just in time to see 149 leaping at him and managed to roll to the side just in time, he watched as 149's fist crashed into the steel wall and made a large dent.
"Shit." He gulped and looked around, hoping to find something that could maybe assist him. Finding nothing he cursed and jumped back, dodging another close blow. He was starting to panic, what was he supposed to do? He didn't want to hurt the guy, but so far it looked like he had no other choice. Unfortunately his hesitance cost his dearly as his legs were kicked out from beneath him, sending him painfully to the floor. He felt pressure on his legs and soon a sensation that felt like needles going into his arms. He looked up and found 149 straddling his waist, his nails were digging into Joey's arms painfully causing him to bleed. The boy bent down to Joey's arms and smirked at the sight of the blood. Joey's eyes widened as 149 began licking the blood from his arms, lapping at it like a cat drinking milk. The blood seemed to have awakened something in the boy as his eyes looked more alive with an insane wild look in them, and he grinned showing off his sharp fangs.
"Oh dear he's tasted blood, you'd better get your act together Joseph." Joey tried to unhook his arms from the claws but he couldn't seem to budge. Although he felt sorry for the guy, he really did not want to die today. He brought up the only appendage that wasn't restrained, his right leg, and swiftly kicked the other in the balls effectively releasing him. He jumped back and crouched down as 149 glared at him, his eyes had slitted like a reptiles. He opened his mouth wide and seemed to hiss as two very long fangs unfolded from within his mouth, a yellowy substance dripping from them. He lunged at Joey again with newfound anger, ripping the sleeves on his shirt and grazing his right arm with a fang.
Seto yelled in frustration, he had managed to get off the chain just as Kasakabi had predicted. He couldn't however, get out of the damn cell. When Kasakabi had left he turned on the electric wires surrounding the cell.
"What the hell is with this guy and electricity?" He nearly yelled as his frustration rapidly grew.
'I have to get to Joey now!' He slowly got up and backed away again, and ran at the cell door. He almost yelped as he threw his body at the door only to be electrocuted again.
"Dammit!" He slammed the floor with his hands and glared at the stairs. He promised Joey he would be safe with him, that he was going to take care of him and he wouldn't let anybody hurt him ever again! He was miserably failing at keeping promises lately. Seto squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists.
"I can't give up, I promised him!" He once again got up, stood back and rammed the door.
Joey panted, he had been dodging 149 for almost ten minutes. While he wasn't exhausted he was starting to get careless with him movements, having more than enough close calls for comfort.
'His fangs are too long, his reflexes are too good I can't even land a punch! He's too damn quick.' The worst had yet to come apparently, as 149 seemed to almost disappear before his very eyes. Only to re-appear behind him, Joey yelped and sank to his knees as those long fangs dug into his shoulder.
"Hmmm you'd better fetch Isa, tell her we'll be needing some anti-venom. I suppose I should have had her do that beforehand. Oh! Do tell her it's a Neurotoxin venom!"
"Venom?" He hadn't even realized he had said it out loud as he had barely even whispered it, yes Kasakabi seemed to have heard.
"Yes venom. He was given the snake gene, one of my first experiments you could say. I didn't expect him to actually develop venom glands but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I did after all give him the genes from a Cape Cobra. I do find their hoods to be extraordinary. I suppose that's all we can do for now, we will just have to try later won't we?" Joey whined as 149 extracted his fangs from his shoulder and backed away to go stand by Kasakabi. A pins and needles sensation began to slowly spread throughout his body making him hug his arms around his body. Minutes passed by and Akim returned.
"Isa said she will have the anti-venom ready as soon as she can, but it will take a while. She wants us to bring him to the infirmary."
"Very well, you take him. I will put 149 away." Joey suddenly felt very drowsy, he lay on his side and sighed. Even as he was being picked up he did not protest for he didn't seem to have the energy. His eyelids began to droop as they passed the stairs to the cell and turned left into a small infirmary where Isa was waiting.
"Set him down quickly." By now Joey had begun to sweat profusely and his pupils were now dialated.
"Joey? Joey sweetie I need you to tell me what's going on." She knew what was going on, she knew all about venom. She just didn't know what his particular symptoms were. She could see his pupils and his eyelids drooping, signaling the venom had begun its attack on his nervous system. He turned his attention to her and almost looked confused and disoriented. He brought a hand up to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut as a whimper escaped him.
"What's wrong Joey? I need you to tell me."
"Chest….tight." She nodded and grabbed a towel that she ran under cool water, came back and set it on his forehead. Unfortunately until the anti-venom was done there was nothing she could do, she wasn't too worried as she noticed they had both acquired the expected healing abilities. She had no idea how potent the venom would be though, from a normal snake she would know what to expect. Joey slowly brought a hand to his mouth and paled. Isa grabbed a bucket just in time as Joey started vomiting. She held the bucket with one hand and rubbed his back with the other in an attempt to comfort him. He dry heaved a couple of times before falling back onto the bed, breathing heavily.
"Done?" She didn't receive an answer but kept the bucket close by just in case. She wiped off any vomit around his mouth and went to fill up a paper cup with water.
"Here, drink this." He weakly turned his head away, his throat was sore and he didn't want to drink anything at the moment. She sighed and brought a hand behind his back and propped him up against the headboard.
"Drink it, I'm not going to stop pestering you until you do." Joey slowly turned his head back, she smiled and brought the cup to his lips. She frowned when he tried swallowing, only to choke and spit it up. Tears formed at his eyes and he closed them.
'Shit.' She was starting to get nervous, she didn't even hear Kasakabi walk in and shut the door.
"How is Joseph Isa?"
"Oh! Doctor you surprised me."
"My apologies."
"I'm starting to worry, his nervous system is already being assaulted and he's started having trouble swallowing. His pupils are dilated and Hypotension is setting in, he could go into shock."
"I see, his healing ability should be taking care of the venom shouldn't it?"
"The healing ability is different for everyone, even it was strong the venom itself is probably stronger. If you don't mind me asking doctor, why would you take out 149 when we did no tests on him?" Kasakabi smiled.
"I was curious, I am also very anxious to see if Joseph has the ability to transform as Seto did yesterday. It would be a breakthrough." Isa did not meet his eyes the entire time they talked. Instead she kept her eyes on Joey and took his blood pressure. She went to the back for a minute and came back with an IV bag and stand. She hooked him up to the fluids and wet the rag on his forehead again. By the time she came back and put the rag on his head again he had started to have trouble breathing.
'Respiratory muscle paralyses.' She heavily sat down in the chair beside the bed and held Joey's hand and whispered comforting words.
"How long until the anti-venom is ready Isa?" She sighed and shook her head.
"Not for another hour or two, he should be okay though I think."
"Well then, I'm going to speak to Kaiba. Make him aware of the situation."
"You sure that's a good idea?"
"It'll be fine, I turned the electric fence on."
"Seto?" Joey spoke in a weak voice and lazily moved his head around, looking for Seto.
"Seto's not here Joey, the doctor is going to speak with him." Joey whined and looked at her with sad half lidded eyes.
"I want Seto." Isa turned to look at Kasakabi who shook his head. She sighed and looked back at him sadly.
"I'm sorry Sweetie Seto can't come down here now. You'll be fine though ok?" He shook his head and closed his eyes as tears fell down his cheeks, his hand gripped his abdomen.
"It hurts."
"I know, I'll get a pain killer alright? Just hang in there."
_ _
To say the sight that greeted Kasakabi amused him was putting it lightly. In fact anyone passing by might have laughed or given him a strange look. Seto was kneeling on the ground breathing heavily, as if he had just run a marathon. His brown hair, which was neat before was now kind of frizzy and was lightly smoking, his clothing was a little charred around the edges as well.
"I did tell you to stay away from the bars didn't I?" Seto's glare was immediately directed at him and he shakily got to his feet and moved as close to the bars as he could without getting himself shocked again.
"Where is Joey?"
"He is currently with Isa in the infirmary, I am sorry to say the test didn't go as planned. Some things got out of hand but it shall be fixed soon."
"What did you do to him?" Kasakabi smiled and shook his head.
"I didn't lay one finger on the boy."
"Bullshit!"
"I'd watch your mouth if I were you Seto, but if you must know an old experiment of mine had some play time with Joseph. He got over stimulated and played a little too rough. It is being taken of though so don't worry your pretty head."
"As if I could stop worrying about him when he's left alone with you." Kasakabi smiled and turned to leave but paused at the top of the steps.
"I do suggest, Kaiba, that you leave any thought of escape out of your mind. I have seen many come here with the kind of determination you possess, only to have it end in tragedy. In the distant future everything you ever held dear will be destroyed, the world will be in ruins and trapped in an everlasting twilight." Seto blinked with wide eyes, the world was going to end?
"You two should be grateful actually, I have saved you from certain death. Life here will not be as luxurious as it was when you had your freedom, but isn't the fact that you are alive good enough?"
"Things may not look promising now with the way you are being treated, but I guarantee you that when I am sure I have your full allegiance life will get better." The way the man changed his attitude from annoyed and uncaring to soft and reassuring was a little disorienting.
"As touching and reassuring as your little speech was, my trust in you has not increased in the slightest."
"Hmm what a shame, I do hope you'll consider behaving for both your sake and Josephs." Seto stared at his back as he descended down the stairs.
'What a clichéd thing to mention, he wants to destroy the world.' Seto snorted and looked at the ground in contemplation.
'Why would he be saving our lives if he wants to destroy the world? Wouldn't we die as well? Unless he plans to shoot us into space or something, that seems highly unlikely though.' He groaned and lay on the floor on his back and hit his head against the floor.
"Why does everything have to be so complicated?"
-
Kasakabi frowned as he walked into the infirmary, Joey's condition has noticeably worsened. He checked his watch and grunted in annoyance, a little less than an hour remained until the anti-venom would be ready.
"How is he Isa?" He knew he didn't have to ask but he felt he needed to make his presence known. As Isa turned to face him he saw the concern and panic in her eyes.
"He started having trouble breathing before you left and it's gotten worse, his heart rate is decreasing and he has a fever. If he's going to make it through this his healing is going to have to get in gear quickly."
"Is there no way the process of creating the anti-venom can be hurried along?" She shook her head and quickly wet a towel and wiped his face and neck with it, wiping away the cold sweat.
"Keep him alive Isa, he is very valuable. It would be a shame to lose such a successful experiment." The way he spoke of Joey as if he were not even human made her irritated. She checked that the IV was still in his hand before changing the bags and putting a new full one in its place. Joey's eyes were now almost closed and she could barely see the warm brown eyes. She sighed and wiped away the saliva that dripped out of his mouth, his complication with swallowing had lead to excess production of saliva. He whined as he tried to swallow and squeezed his eyes shut. Unfortunately the pain reliever she had given him hadn't done much, she wasn't even sure it had done anything. She looked behind her to see Kasakabi still standing by the door frowning, staring at Joey as if in contemplation.
"Doctor? I need to check on the anti-venom, would you stay here with him for a couple of minutes?" She was a little hesitant to leave Joey in the doctor's care, but he had to be watched, and she needed to check on the injection.
"Of course, go ahead." She looked back to Joey once more before exiting through the door. She came back a few minutes later and was relieved to see Kasakabi had not moved from his spot by the door, he looked at her expectantly.
"Around half an hour more and it will be done. I know you said we need to…show them their place here. I think it would help him to have Seto here until the injection though. He doesn't exactly trust me as much and if he starts hyperventilating from panic I don't think he would calm down."
"They need to learn that they cannot constantly be with each other."
"I know that, but every time they are separated it's only to hurt the other. How will they learn to not worry about being separated when they know they are going to get hurt?" Kasakabi snorted and glared at the cell Seto was in.
"It is better to be feared than loved Isa, you have been here for a while now. I have yet to see you change your attitude about this subject. Remember why you are here?" She flinched and looked at the ground.
"How could I forget doctor?"
"Then I suggest you keep that in mind, I hope your attitude changes soon. I have given you years, lots of time but still no change. We wouldn't want to have an old friend of mine pay a visit to your family now would we?" Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her teeth.
"No, you won't have to."
"Let's hope not." The next ten minutes were spent trying to keep Joey hydrated and breathing. His breaths were very erratic and sometimes it didn't even look like he was breathing causing Isa to panic and check for a pulse. She checked the clock on the wall and asked Kasakabi to watch him again.
"It's done!"
"Ah very good Isa." It was a large amount but hopefully it wasn't too late, he already looked half dead. He winced a little as the needle went in but after a couple of minutes he seemed to be more aware by just a little bit. He didn't get any worse after five minutes and his heart rate began to slightly pick up.
"I think he's in the clear now. I'll do more research about 149's venom and make more anti-venom ahead of time in case of other…mishaps. Would it be alright to ask Zeke to watch him while I do so?" Kasakabi nodded and turned to walk out the door.
"When you know for sure he is going to remain stable put him back in the cell. Don't want to keep Kaiba waiting too long or he'll go insane." She was a little shocked by the suggestion but didn't ask questions, Zeke soon came and took a seat next to Joey while Isa headed to the lab.
_ _
Seto tapped his fingers against the desk impatiently, he was so fucking anxious. He didn't know if Joey was ok, what if he was being hurt right now while he was just sitting there? He growled and slammed his hand against the wood. It had been too long since Kasakabi had stopped by, maybe an hour. At least that's what it felt like. If everything were taken care of as the doctor had said, then wouldn't Joey have been back by now? Footsteps coming up the stairs had him on his feet in a second and as close to the cell door as he could get. His eyes narrowed and he growled as Akim appeared at the top with a limp Joey in his arms, Kasakabi right behind him with a smile on his face. He turned off the electricity but took the controller for Seto's collar out of his pocket. The door was unlocked and Seto had grabbed Joey out of Akim's arms so quickly the man hadn't even noticed and blinked down at his empty arms. He carefully set Joey on the bed and stood in front of him while glaring at the two. Kasakabi grinned and held his hands up.
"He's fine Kaiba, recovering quite well actually. It's nine in the morning so I will have Zeke make you breakfast, no doubt after this ordeal you must be starving." The door was shut and this time the electricity was not turned on, Seto stayed in front of Joey until both men had gone from sight. He turned to Joey and frowned while combing his hand through the blonde's sweaty hair.
"Joey?" Tired brown eyes opened half way and looked at Seto with confusion.
"He's pretty disoriented still, I wouldn't expect him to be able to talk for at least another hour." His frown deepened and Isa entered the cell for a check up.
"What happened to him?" She sighed jotted down notes.
"Kasakabi had a venomous experiment fight against him, only he had no idea that he possessed any venom. I had no anti-venom so I was worried for a bit but he pulled through just fine. He's stable now so you don't have to worry." Seto said nothing but continued to stare at Joey with worry.
"Will he be able to eat?"
"I think so yea, but probably only soft food. He might still be having trouble swallowing. I'll tell Zeke to fix some soup." Seto nodded and kissed Joey's forehead, pulling him closer to his body. Isa left with a small smile on her face, the bond those two had really warmed her heart. It was hard to be stern with them as Kasakabi wanted her to. Seto carefully crawled into bed with Joey, pulling him close to him.
"I failed to protect you, you got hurt because of me." He murmured and put his forehead to Joeys. He slowly fell asleep next to the blonde, hugging him close protecting him even in his sleep. As Isa walked up the stairs she smiled at the sight.
'I'll bring food when they wake up.' She walked back down the stairs and returned the food, hoping she wouldn't have to witness what she did today ever again. She was becoming attached to them, feeling protective of them. She checked her watch and returned to the lab.
"Hopefully things will get better soon." She couldn't have guessed the events yet to come, and they certainly weren't for the better.
Oiy this was much longer than the other chapters and I didn't want to stop there, but it's late and my wrist hurts. I had a friend read the part where Joey was suffering from the venom and she said I made Joey sound like a wuss. Believe me I didn't, any kind of venom is very painful and I was going by info I found on the internet on Neurotoxic venom.
Drooping eyelids (Ptosis). This occurs as the venom begins to paralyse the nerves which are then unable to communicate effectively to corresponding muscles. The "lesser" muscles are the first to be affected. In the case of Ptosis the levator and Mullers muscles (the muscles that control the eyelid), no longer respond due to the venoms' attack of the nervous system.
Abdominal pain. *
Speech becomes affected usually within 20 minutes after a bite. This is often extremely frustrating as the victim is still concious but is unable to communicate effectively.
Nausea and vomiting. *
Difficulty swallowing (Dysphagia). The nerves responsible for the "swallowing" action (glossopharyngeal, vagus, and hypoglossal nerves) are unable to function properly which leads to throat constriction. This is extremly painful.
* Increased salivation (saliva facilitates swallowing). This usually concides with dysphagia. The inability to swallow leads to an excessive production of saliva.
* Increased sweating. Sweating is controlled by the Sympathetic nervous system and is primarily a thermoregulatory mechanism. Because the neurotoxic venom neutralises the nervous system the body gets so called "mixed signals". As a result of this a victim usually experiences increased sweating.
Hallucination and confusion.
* Tachycardia (increased heart rate), or Brachycardia (decreased heart rate). There are two nerve systems that regulate heart rate (Parasympathetic, and sympathetic nerves) along with two sets of chemicals called adrenergic and cholinergic. These bind to receptors which can either raise or lower heart rate, and control blood pressure.
* Respiratory muscle paralyses. This occurs when the thoracic diaphragm no longer contracts and relaxes. The contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm alters the volume and air pressure inside which contributes to the process of breathing (respiration). This is extremely serious and usually starts developing between 1-3 hours after envenomation. * Oxygen deficiency in the tissue leads to the victim experiencing restlessness.
There were a lot more symptoms but I didn't want to make him suffer from ALL of them, and they are able to recover quickly because of their healing abilities. Sounds lame I know but if you don't like it then don't read the freaking story. I own Akim, Isa, Kasakabi and Zeke so far. I don't want to take too many things off of the Twilight New Moon movie, but when I say their huge I mean huge like in themovie. Also when They transform think of how they looked in the movie when they did, because I can't explain things like that very well. I was very happy with how they looked in the movie, I like underworld and all but I like werewolves that actually turn into actual wolves :P So yea review please but NO FLAMES!
