Rated T because it's this chapter. Really. I have no excuse. It just is.
[Note] It will switch to different 3rd P.O.V because well, it's filler and yet it isn't. And I can't describe in exact detail of what goes in the body because I ain't a genius xDDD
Chapter 13: Levels of Pain
"Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. "
― William S. Burroughs
A sonorous chorus screams pierced through the still silent air.
The Shinigami glanced towards the direction of the laboratory, knowing well what was happened. Every year, a batch of students would go through the change, and he could only pray that the rate of successes would be higher than the next with the constant experimentation and the funds used to improve the Genetics Change.
He knew it was wrong to experiment on humans, but the only way to fight the things that the opposing association made to create destruction. The Shinigami would love to stop such atrocities, but the human modifications had left the victims with no more will left to break.
They had nothing to lose except their lives; almost like a Kishin out to fill the hollow that had been left in their hearts. They were the weapons that the association wielded, and hesitation against them was proved futile.
He clenched his fists tightly as the outpour of negative emotion hit him, willing himself not to move from his spot. It was a terrible thing to see people walk on the tightrope of life and death – and the emotions of wanting to live brought optimism, but there was always a side of them that echoed that they wouldn't.
He hated that.
Now, all he could do was play the waiting game.
"Stein-sensei, why are we tied in a strait jacket? I don't remember the class being mentally unstable." Ox asked.
"You look mighty swell in it, Ox, seeing that you have anger problems." Maka said smoothly, smirking at bespectacled student who was trying to get out of his restraints to wring her neck.
"Well, we don't want you collapsing off the table in pain or knocking the expensive apparatus surrounding you, don't we?" The teacher replied, going round one last time to check that everything was tightened, and yet they are able to breathe.
"Any tips on how to survive this better, Sensei?" Jacqueline asked nervously.
The grey-haired scientist sighed, striding his way towards the control room which would be in charge of injecting the new genes into them straight into them at different points to ensure the fastest change possible.
"I wish there was a trick to making things easier, but even with a prepared mind, the pain always takes one by surprised. It's not a bruise or fracture; it's something that changes you fully, it reshapes the way you see things, or think of, the way your body works would be different. Such pain is unavoidable and I daresay even a being who embraces can't take it."
The students fiddled around, uncomfortable from the revelation. When Marie walked in, she gave Stein a nod to allow him to continue.
"Stay strong and survive. The fate of the new generation of meisters and weapons for Death City Association lies on you." Marie said softly, although the meanings of her words standing strong.
"The procedure will begin in a few seconds. Brace yourselves." Stein ordered, before his fingers moved swiftly on the keyboard, taking in their pulse and blood pressure, along with the vital points.
Before someone could ask another question, the machinery above them started moving, the sharp needles poised to inject.
There wasn't a warning or a signal before the machine arms striked; piercing into their skin and injecting a sliver liquid. The group took a few seconds for their body to recognize the intrusion before screams filled the air, their blood pressure and pulse rocketing upwards.
Would their body accept the change or would it reject it violently? He wondered. He had tried to insert transmitters that would tell him the process, but it didn't do much as it wasn't something that could be completely seen on the surface. It was somewhere deeper and a whole lot harder to get to.
Marie glanced at Stein with a worrisome expression before her eyes trained on the writhing line of bodies. Abrupt jerks, gut-wrenching screams and pleading for them to end their life and stop the pain. She'd love to use her wavelength of redemption to soothe them but it would hit them collectively when she had let go.
All she could do was watch them suffer and pray.
死を待つ- Awaiting Death
Meanwhile, deep under DWMA, where an occupied cell that had more than enough basic necessities, another change took place in secrecy.
The pink-haired boy couldn't help but let out a gurgled choke as the Genetic Change substance entered his bloodstream. It was an activator to a fire - not those that get put out in a jiffy or the warmness of a campfire but a blazing inferno that threatened to consume him whole.
His blood felt like it was spiking as he tried so hard to get the restraints off him, his screams coming out from his mouth involuntarily. It wasn't him getting poked, it was the air that seemed to be harassed and he could have sworn that it somehow left a dent or a hole in the metal operating table.
'Release me from the chains and use the human as a vessel. A container for power, insanity and madness is all that will remain. May he be destroyed and created anew; a contract that had been promised shall be enforced. I will live again through the stake I claim, that had been given to me graciously without conditions or demands.' Something chanted in him, and he couldn't help but feel the shivers down his spine. The blood that was pumping around him was what he could only concentrate on, because it was the only thing that told him that it was alive.
Something pulsed in him that was difficult to ignore, when another scream tore from his throat, as he felt his body go into spasms, desperate for something to vent the pain or the shock that he was feeling. He craved to be dead - but the power that he felt was growing and he wanted to reach the end.
Power was unlimited; and those that know how to manipulate were the winners in the world. It sounded eerily familiar and then it reminded him of the many values that Medusa Gorgon had tried to implant in him.
Crona swore that the blood spiking wasn't only happen internally, as he could feel holes from where his wrists were, a hollow of what should have been metal, and the slight clutters onto the ground confirmed it.
The inner being in him cackled as he felt the intrusion into the deeper part of his vessel begun. The boy was weak due to him as they could not match easily, however, whatever science that had been injected into the boy would make it smoother.
He would be the new figure the world feared – but not as menacing due to the coward his bearer was. Perhaps a few lessons would shape him into what he was meant to become, he thought, not caring if he was in pain.
There was nothing he couldn't regenerate in the situation and he would ensure that the boy would survive. Just a little bit more…. And the procession would be complete.
The inner being sighed in content as he felt himself coarse through the pink-haired boy's human blood that was soon to be tainted by his liquefied form.
A few days later…..
Maka could almost be sure that the pain gradually lessened after its peak. She knew the scales of pain right down to the decimals with the amount that she had been through, and the change was no longer making her heart beat thunderously in her chest, it slowly lessened; as if her heart had gotten used to it.
She would explain the different ways of how the pain affected her with her new set of colorful vocabulary, but the most excruciating part was feeling her brain seemingly trying to get out with her skull as the substance intruded her personal thoughts.
She couldn't even think – it wasn't a remote possibility when it was like thousands of acupunctures prodding straight into her brain; rather, shoving it into her like hot branding irons that was meant to sent her spiraling into despair.
Suddenly, the pain just stopped completely.
Opening her jade green eyes, she stared in wonder. Perhaps it seemed like everything was clearer, but she had never felt more…. Light-headed, as if simplistic things were no longer domineering most of her brain.
"I see that you've managed to get through the change with surprising ease, seeing that you're the first." A low monotonous voice filtered through her ears, making her turn her head slightly towards her teacher.
"The first?" She asked in surprise.
Stein nodded slightly, assessing the ash-blonde girl lying before him. She had almost beaten the fastest record of going through the change, which were a 46 hours, 23 minutes and 5 seconds which he held.
Short by 2 hours, but an impressive feat nonetheless.
"Indeed. How do you feel?"
She cocked her head slightly, thinking of the right words to use. "Stabilized I suppose. No random pains anywhere which I presume are good signs."
Before he could reply, she squinted her eyes, speaking again. "Although I do see something glowering sapphire blue circle surrounding you. It's weird, but it looks like your personality, with stitches around it."
Stein's eyes widened slightly, before jotting down the notes: 'Early Manifestation of Soul Perception.'
Maka gazed around her, seeing the same soul-like figure looming from the chest, but spiking up and down like it was trying to reform a new shape. 'No,' she corrected herself. 'Rather something is trying to break out of its shell.'
Glancing back at the grey-haired scientist that was looking at her curiously, she sent him a quizzical look, ready for an explanation. Her theory of clarity was certainly correct; she had not noticed more scarring around his face and neck, rather the huge prominent stitches that ran across his face.
"You have a unique soul developed Miss Albarn. We could work on that in the new future." He murmured, seeing the babyish wing-like structure sprouting out of the soul that the green-eyed student carried.
He beckoned her forward into a test lab, giving Marie a signal to alert him if anything was to happen to the rest. "We shall assess you further, to see your aptitude."
Maka nodded, curious to see what she would become. She watched as Stein moved around with grace, configuring everything needed, before requesting for some of her blood. He administered it under her file, before inspecting the blood sample closely.
He smiled slightly in delight as he compared the prime factors of a meister's soul, and additional traits like Soul Perception ability. He compared it to Azusa's and his closely, frowning as it seemed like a mixture of both.
'She will probably have some advanced technique that neither me nor Azusa has. However, nothing explains her abnormal shape of a soul. Hopefully there will not be any side effects that will affect her performance negatively.'
He spun around, pasting something on her vest.
Maka smiled widely as she saw the tag. 'MAKA ALBARN. MEISTER, E.A.T. CLASS'.
"Congratulations, Maka Albarn. You've made it pass the Genetic Change; I'll look forward to seeing you in class. I absolutely do not condone someone being late."
I wrote this is a few snippets and I decided to retain it by not connecting anything. It jumps around I know and I seriously need someone to be like my personal reminder and tell me to get my shit together and write out the next chapters of my fanfictions ._. Well enough of my rant.
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Read my other stories like: SoulxMaka Love is Complicated, Mysterious Changes, To Trust, Different, Sated Craved Saved and One Word Prompt!
Woah, that was a long list. Till next time!
By the genetic change, I command you to come back!