Chapter 3: Life, Torture, Discoveries, & Death

Where was I? I felt weird…like I was floating or something. Did someone drug me or did that hit to the back of the head kill me?

I twitched. Something was definitely wrong. But what was it? I needed to open up my eyes.

It took a moment, but I managed to open them slightly. Everything was distorted.

My eyes snapped open when I realized I was under water.

There was a mask over my face. Cool air was following from it so I could breathe. I had on shorts and my tank top. My wrists were bound together over my head and my feet were cuffed to the floor.

My hair occasionally floated into my vision as I tried to look outside the tube I was in. There were figures in white lab coats walking around. They had to be scientists.

Was I in a correctional facility?

I froze.

Or was I at the city center? I sure hopped not. I never wanted to be back here. Not since last time.

"Ahhh. I see you're finally awake."

I looked around franticly. Where did that voice come from!?

"Relax. I'm standing right in front of you. We put earplugs in so we could talk to you."

I growled from my mask," Where am I?"

"You're still in No. 6, if that's what you're asking my dear. Now, where is your brother? And the missing VC?"

I snorted," Do you really expect me to answer you? Besides, even if I did know, I wouldn't sell them out."

The man sighed," I was afraid of this. It looks like we have to do this the hard way."

Before I could ask what he was talking about, I got the greatest shock of my life. Several hundred volts of electricity were released into the water I was in. I thrashed around so violently that my ankles and wrists were cut from the restraints. The water was slowly turning red.

I slumped when the shock stopped. My ears were ringing so I couldn't tell if the guy was talking to me or not.

I was in pain again. But it wasn't from an electric shock. It was something different. I felt like my blood was burning. I screamed so hard that the mask detached. Instantly, I was chocking on water. Alarms were going off outside my tube. Doctors were running around everywhere as if they were in a panic.

I began to panic. What was going on? Was I dying?

My eye lids slipped shut.

Rat…Shion…help…

xXxXxXxXxXx

"We were discouraged from reading any of the classics", Shion stated angrily at Rat who had insulted his reading skills.

"Yea, yea", Rat muttered. He was drying his hair with a towel on his bed.

Shion moved to put the book down when he remembered something," My mom would always read to Takeo and I when we were little…Takeo loved books…especially this one about a prince and a town…."

"The Lonely Prince by Oscar Wilde." Rat stood as he started to 'act' out a part from the book," Give what you must to the poor! My precious ruby, my sapphires, my gold leaf, oh…haha."

Rat started to tie up his hair," A story of hypocrisy and complacency for humans you know nothing of real tragedy. Sounds like its right up your ally, isn't it?"

"Takeo would read it out loud like that all the time", Shion said quietly. "She said I could learn a thing or two from the hidden message the story had."

The two fell silent. They had yet to talk about Takeo since they saw her shot. Neither of them knew if she was alive or not. Rat had a feeling that she didn't make it, but he couldn't tell Shion that.

'Rat. Take care of my brother or I'll haunt your ass!'

Why would she trust him to watch other Shion? Why trust him at all?

"Go wash up. You still smell like sewer". Rat teased the male twin.

"Alright", he said absentmindedly. Rat watched as Shion left to go do as he was told. This left the escaped criminal alone to think. He had a lot on his mind. Mainly it was about Takeo, and it frustrated him to no end. Why did her sacrifice to save him and Shion hurt him?

Shion didn't take long and was back fairly quickly. By that time, rat was laying down with a book in his hands. But the question Shion asked him caused more frustration.

"You want to contact your mom", Rat asked in disbelief.

"She's probably worried about me. And someone needs to tell her about Takeo-"

"You're going to break you know that? Memories, regrets, and your past, too much extra baggage and you'll break eventually. And you'll break your mom. Forget about her and Takeo."

"And why would I do that?"

"They're dangerous", Rat stated. "You threw away your No. 6 ID because it was dangerous. The same goes with any lingering attachments you may feel. Those attachments can cripple you, before you even realize it!"

Shion looked down in pain,"…So I should forget everything?"

"Forget everything", Rat confirmed sternly.

"Then how about you?"

"Me?"

Shion stated," You risked your life to save me. That contradicts what you just said! And what about Takeo? She risked her life for me and you!"

The criminal slammed his book shut, stood, and grasped Shion by the collar of his shirt," You have a nasty streak. Do you not remember that you and your sister saved my life once? I returned the favor. End of story."

Shion paused long enough to look up at Rat," Hey, you're right. You are taller than I am now."

"Man", Rat said as he released the male twin," must you be such an airhead?"

Shion sighed before patting a rat that crawled up onto his shoulder. Rat started to explain how they were robots that he used to be his eyes and ears inside the city. They were working on searching for No. 6's weak spot.

"Weak spot?...Rat! Have you been investigating No. 6 this entire time? Have you noticed anything abnormal!?"

"Like what?"

"Anything kinda weird involving bees."

"Hey now, that would be your specialty", Rat stated as he climbed back onto his bed before pausing. "Hey Shion, what's wrong with your hands?"

He lifted them up to exam them only to find those horrid black marks. Shion's eyes widened in fear as he gasped. He grabbed the back of his neck to check if what he feared was there. The bump confirmed it. He was infected with the same parasitic bees that killed his co-worker.

Pain began to course through him. It felt as if his blood was on fire. Grabbing his neck, he screamed in pain. Rat sat up with wide eyes at the boy. He called his name as Shion backed into one of the book shelves. Books fell down from the impact.

"Hey! What's wrong", Rat asked as he knelt by the male twin. Shion was curled up in pain. "SHION!"

"M-my neck", he managed to yell out.

"Your neck?" Rat looked at the place where the parasitic bee was resting under the skin. It was turning black as if the skin was rotting away to nothing.

"C-cut it off of me!"

"We don't have any anesthetics here-"

"I don't care! Just hurry", Shion screamed.

Very quickly, Rat got the medical kit and had Shion on his bed. Rat grabbed the knife to cut the thing off Shions' neck.

"I'll cut it off you. Hold on."

Shion suddenly felt as if someone had stabbed him in the head. He screamed loudly as he grabbed it and thrashed around in pain. Rat stared, dumfounded at the sight.

'What is this!?...'

xXxXxXxXxXx

I screamed again as I convulsived against the table restraints. They had me face down. Several doctors were on top of me in an attempt to get me to stop moving.

"SHION", I screamed. "PLEASE! SHION HELP ME!"

"Restrain her", a man yelled. "We need to get the specimen stabilized!"

Tears were streaming down my face through the pain. Several doctors suddenly gasped. I had no clue at the time, but a strange pink scar formed. It seemed to wrap around my body like a snake.

"SHION!"

"Get a sedative!"

One of the doctors managed to pin down my head and another straddle me from behind. I heard the sound of a knife or scalpel being opened. It wasn't long until I felt the sharp blade pierce my skin. More pain radiated from the spot.

"MAKE IT STOP! RAT! MAKE IT STOP", I screamed. No one, including myself, realized that I called for the criminal instead of my twin.

"RAT!"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Rat was standing on one of the hills by his home. Shion was sleeping.

The criminal looked towards the wall of the city," What's going on over there? Just you wait No. 6, I will expose the hidden infection within."

The wind blew sharply, causing his hair and clothes to thrash.

A frown crossed his face as he recalled the conversation he was having with Shion before the little incident. He said that Takeo had risked her life for not only Shion, her brother, but him. Why?

Why would she risk her life for him and entrust the safety of her twin to him? She owned him nothing. It didn't make sense. Just like it didn't make sense why those two had saved him four years ago during the typhoon.

Something was different about Takeo. It was the thing that made her more able to be a survivor than her brother. But what was it? She never did tell him like she said. But then again they were all a little too busy running for their lives.

Rat looked at the city once more before he turned to head back to his home and check on Shion. When he did, he was to find what changes occurred. Red eyes, white hair, and a pink snake-like scar around his body.

xXxXxXxXxXx

I opened my eyes slowly. I was…alive? But how? I felt like I was dying earlier…

"So I see that you've survived and have awoken my dear."

I glared coldly at the blurred figure beyond my watery prison.

My throat burned, probably from all the screaming I did. I wasn't going to talk. Especially to anyone from No. 6.

"It's quite interesting that you survived at all. Every other test subject died with-in seconds. You seem to have a natural antidote in your blood. Be thankful for that."

I looked away and closed my eyes. I wanted out. I wanted to see Shion and Rat- Rat…was he taking care of Shion like I asked, well demanded, of him? He had no reason to, but would he for my sake?

"There were a few side effects however." I looked up at this," Your hair turned white, eyes turned red, and you have a pink scar that wraps around your body like a snake. It's quite interesting yet alluring at the same time."

Well…I've been wanting to change my look a little anyway. Now, all I have to do is get out of here. Where ever 'here' is anyway. Hmmm…

I tugged at my restraints and had to stop myself from gasping. From some reason they seemed lose. I could break free easy if I wanted! Now it was just about the timing…

xXxXxXxXxXx

Shion sat on the couch in shock as Rat told him what he knew. But, for some reason he sounded happy that the people of No. 6 would be dying because of the parasitic bees. Rat moved to sit on the table in front of Shion.

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad", he set a hand on the shorter boys' shoulder. "You were one of the people living in that awful place."

"I just don't understand all this inside outside business."

"Of course not, because you never tried to understand. You accepted information given to you without question. You lived in ignorance, arrogance, and bliss. I can only pity you. But No. 6 has dumped you, you'll never have the chance to jump back in."

Shion closed his eyes," You kinda sound like Takeo…"

This surprised Rat," Huh? What do you mean?"

"She would always caution me to be careful when I would head off to work. Always saying that something wasn't right and I should always be on my guard. I guess that's why we drifted apart so much. It started after you left four years ago. Seeing and meeting you caused something in her to awaken. I don't know what it was. But she's been really cautious ever since. It was almost like she wanted nothing more than to disappear…" He opened his eyes to look at Rat's surprised face," She knew something was wrong."

'Takeo…you knew too?'

Rat was surprised, probably for one of the few times in his life.

"-I want to know all of the facts!"

"How can you say that stuff straight faced? Come with me."

If Shion really wanted to know the gruesome details of it, then he was going to show him. He wouldn't survive without realizing what was really going on.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Pulling one hand from the restraint, I quickly punched the glass in front of me. Several cracks appeared from the impact. I punched it again, twice. The glass finally shattered. The water gushed out, taking all the broken glass with it.

I ripped the mask off my face and pulled out of the remaining restraints. Alarms were being sounded all over the building. I didn't have much time.

A few doctors rushed in through an opening door.

"Stop!"

I ran past machines and tables towards an air vent. If I could get inside, then I could crawl my way towards an exit. There was more yelling behind me.

I noticed that the vent was locked shut by screws. Grabbing a microscope, I threw it at the vent. It hit it with a BANG and the weak metal broke away.

"STOP HER! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!"

I drove headfirst into the vent. It was a straight shot down so I quickly found myself falling.

I used my hand to flip myself around. If I had fallen head fist, I would've broken my neck. However, there was pain radiating from all of my finger tips. When I landed, I took a look. All four of my finger nails had been ripped off. Blood was slowly dripping from them.

I gritted my teeth; there was no time for this!

I began crawling towards a light source. When I reached it, I used my left foot to kick it open. It took almost a dozen before the vent cover popped off.

I slipped out and began limping down a hallway. The bottom of my foot was shredded and I was leaving a trail of bloody foot prints.

"STOP!" I spun around to see three men armed," FREEZE OR WE'LL SHOOT!"

I got in a defensive stance and motioned with two fingers for them to try and stop me. They began firing. I dodged to the left. Jumping up, I landed on my hands, pushed off, and kicked a guy in the chest. His gun went skidding to the right. I lunged for it.

Once it was in my grasp I rolled out of the way as more bullets were fired. I got to my feet and started running. More gunfire followed after me.

Right before I turned the corner, a bullet pierced my right shoulder. With a cry, I nearly stumbled. I pushed past the pain and continued running as fast as I could.

"STOP!"

I turned to fire at the three pursuers. I hit one in the knee and the other in the shoulder. One kept coming after me. It was the same one I had kicked to take his gun.

I turned another corner. Up ahead I spotted a garbage chute. Bingo!

Dropping the gun, I sprinted towards my exit. Everything was going by in a blurr and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. Everything seemed to slow down as I neared the chute.

I slammed into it and pulled open the door. I dove inside right as another shot was fired. Pain blossomed over my abdomen. My body was too high off adrenaline to really notice it.

I landed on my back on garbage. It stunk like something had died.

I stumbled around to find the access door. It took me a few minutes but I found it.

It was dark outside but I could see due to the moon.

There had to be some way I could get outside of No. 6. I needed to reach the West Block. That was my best chance to finding Rat and Shion.

…the river! Every river leads out of the city. I could just swim right into the West District!

xXxXxXxXxXx

Dog Keeper was walking around the waste land beyond the hotel. Shion and Rat had just left and she needed to clear her head. It was unlike Rat to actually save someone.

Dog Keeper looked up when one of her dogs whined. She hurried up to see what was wrong. The German Sheppard was sitting by the river. Something was on the shore. When the Dog Keeper got closer she realized it was a body!

She skidded down the rest of the hill towards it. Once she reached it, she knelt down. Dog Keeper flipped the body over. It was a girl about her age, maybe a little older. Her white hair and pale skin was splattered with mud and dark blood.

The girl moaned softly and opened her eyes a little. They blinked, allowing the Dog Keeper to see the girl's red eyes. She slumped back into the mud. Dog Keeper checked for a pulse. It was there; faint, but there none the less.

She whistled loudly. The high pitched sound echoed across the bare landscape. Quickly, several of her dogs showed up. The were panting happily, but at the sight of their master with the injured girl, they quickly became sober. By using the dogs as support, Dog Keeper managed to get the girl back to the hotel and in a room.

She began to clean her up and found that there were several wounds. Two of them were bullet wounds. The most concerning one was around her abdomen. The blood was gushing out at a steady pace and showed no sign of stopping. It amazed Dog Kkeeper that th girl had surived this long.

"She looks like she's been to hell and back", Dog Keeper told herself.

Dog Keeper winced and covered her mouth with a hand when she saw the girls' own hand. The finger nails on that hand had been ripped right off. It wasn't clean either. The skin above was split and peeled badly.

"Jesus…"

Dog Keeper doubted that the girl would survive through the night with the injuries. They all had a great chance of becoming infected because of the river water.

Dog Keeper sat back to look at the girl she had saved. For some reason, she looked familiar. The Dog Keeper shrugged it off and continued to patch up the girl.

Hey guys! Another update from yours truly. I loved the reviews I recieved and decided to update. I gave you guys a cliffhanger last time and I know how much you guys hate those. I hate them... Please review :)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but Takeo!

Remember: Peace, Love, & Chicken Grease. NewtB00 out bros.