Chapter Eleven: Fear

"Akihiko!" Hiroki barked, his shotgun aimed in every direction. "What's going on?!"

Seeing their surroundings bathed in metal, Nowaki beckoned to his lover and they raced over to one of the doors to try and break through it, but were immediately stopped as a hissing sound reached their ears. A bright yellow gas burst through tubes in the ceilings and descended. It hit Beta and Delta first, and they found their lungs constricted as the gas seeped in with their breath, reducing them to fits of violent coughing.

"Hiroki!" Akihiko yelled, covering his mouth with his sleeve. But this did little to stop him from inhaling the noxious fumes.

The two teens were paralyzed in terror, Shinobu clinging to Miyagi with shaking hands and Misaki staring blankly at the gas and steel, his mind unable to comprehend either. But the teen was suddenly knocked off his feet as a boot flew out and kicked his ankles, dropping him with a heavy grunt. The teen had no idea who had tripped him, but as he lifted his tearing eyes he found it much easier to breathe. The gas didn't completely drift to the floor and the air down there was mostly clear.

But the others weren't so fortunate. Hiroki and Nowaki found their strong bodies turned to lead as they tried to catch their breath and break through the doors. Miyagi and Akihiko staggered against the walls as well, just trying to stay on their feet as Shinobu unclasped his grip and slid

limply to the floor, his eyes glazed and dilated.

Even as the gas began to dissipate, the six men could barely see each other through their irritated eyes and coughing fits. And even if they could, they had no way of talking to each other and their strength had dried.

And all of a sudden, one of the steel doors opened and a platoon of armed black-clad soldiers marched through, headed by two men of tall stature and frightening aura, one clad in a expensively tailored suit, the other in a pure white lab coat.

A blood-curdling sob left Shinobu's throat as he saw the newcomers, and Misaki was horrified at the terror in his eyes. Who were these men?

"Fucking bastards!" Hiroki choked out, shakily trying to aim his shotgun. But his knees gave out and he fell to the floor, his breath ragged but his eyes blazing in hate.

The man in the suit eyed them with calculating eyes and grunted.

"A little gas and they drop like flies, doctor. We anticipated so much more." He said, devoid of all emotion.

"Indeed," The one in the lab coat smirked. "But then again, puppets can't accomplish much when they try to hold their own strings. How amusing. It was too easy to predict their actions."

"A breach through the sewer system of the secondary base in order to hack our mainframe. Predictable at best."

"But a little ingenious for getting past the security system. I'll enjoy finding out their exact route. But in the end, all that effort…for naught."

Hiroki gritted his teeth and with all his strength managed to lift his gun, aiming for the man's head. But his action was countered by the nearest soldiers stepping forward and pointing their firearms at all six of them. Still, Hiroki didn't drop his guard, knowing it was a bluff. They were too valuable to shoot all at once.

"Uhh…" A low groan came from the fourth's right. Hiroki's eyes flickered over and widened in horror as he saw Akihiko's stiff body fall to the ground, a trickle of saliva coming from between his lips as spasms racked his form.

"Drop your weapons number four," The emotionless man commanded as a soldier circled around and put the gun barrel against the head of silver hair. "Or I'll kill him."

Misaki watched the scene in terror, but was shocked to his core as Hiroki took both his guns and ka bar and tossed them against the wall in willing defeat. Hiroki balled his empty hands into fists, his eyes full of resolve to save Alpha's life but anguish at having to give up his chance for revenge.

"What a beautiful display of friendship," The doctor chuckled. "It's disgusting, but that look of hellfire in your eyes is as refreshing as ever Delta."

"You sick fuck," Hiroki spat. "You haven't even begun to see my fire yet."

"Indeed," the doctor said. "I'd love to strap you to my table again and see just how much your rage could burn through. At least until I'd have to get that brain of yours under control with a few medications. You have such a good memory it's a headache."

"Even so, he was one of the more successful experiments," The suit cut in dryly. "Unlike that failure over there." His black eyes nodded in the direction of Akihiko, who was clutching at his throat as if he were choking.

"Akihiko!" Hiroki yelled as his friend's eyes began to roll back. The doctor chuckled again.

"You were right Mr. President. TXV606, such a simple synthetic chemical and he's all but dead. Even if he was a failure, his induced allergy worked just like we hoped."

"A necessary precaution," The FMA President replied. "Akihiko was always obstinate. I predicted he'd go on a worthless tirade like this. Maybe now in death he'll finally learn his lesson."

"An invisible string for a struggling puppet," The doctor breathed. "But now that the strings are cut, he'll make a lovely, lifeless doll—"

"How dare you…" A weak but firm voice snapped. The two men looked over at Nowaki, who had managed to stand on both his feet, though his eyes were full of pain.

"How dare you say such things!" He barked. "Puppets? Dolls? You think were nothing more than chess pieces that you can move whenever you want! We're human beings! And if a god doesn't rain justice upon you and this place then I swear before him that these humans will!"

For the first time, the doctor's musing expression firmed in annoyance.

"You ceased to be human beings the moment I cut you open." He snorted. "I think I'll use you for parts Beta, your body is strong, but your brain is soft as mush. I'll put you through the grinder with Alpha."

"He will be incinerated doctor, I want every scrap of him gone, not preserved." The President cut in. "Or his defiance will spread like a plague."

"Pity," The doctor sighed. "A brain is a terrible thing to waste."

The suit looked at his watch and turned on his heel, not giving any of the super humans so much as a glance.

"Other than that, do what you want with them doctor Korovin*," The President said as he walked out. "They are failed experiments. Salvage them for parts or make sure they never defy us again. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal," Korovin smiled, his maniacal eyes finally drifting down to the floor where Shinobu was. "Why my little poppet, I hardly noticed you down there."

A strangled gasp came from the teen's throat, his eyes dripping tears of fear and his entire body shaking.

"Dear Epsilon," Korovin cooed. "You were to be such a magnificent creation. A real shape shifter, capable of so many things… before these wastes of DNA pulled you from my lab. But no matter, I'll have you rebuilt in no time, and I can take some pleasure in slicing up the ones who took you from me."

Shinobu cried out in terror and grasped Miyagi's arms as the third felt for him, the two kneeling on the floor and weakly clinging to each other. Korovin clicked his tongue impatiently.

"Come now pet, we have work to do. And maybe if we have time we can play a little…"

"No!" Shinobu screamed, his face contorted in horror. Korovin's thin lips curled in glee, and his eyes slid over to Misaki.

"It's been so long since I've been able to play Epsilon, and Digamma was swept from my claws so fast I was never able to introduce myself… it delights me that such a tight little body harbors such potential and power…"

Misaki felt his own body begin to quiver as the man's eyes touched every crevice of him, and he gasped as a brief flicker of a memory flashed through his mind. One of bright light, half hidden by the shadow of a figure holding a glittering scalpel…

He understood now. This man was a monster.

"NO!" Shinobu wailed as Korovin began walking towards him with soldiers flanking. "Don't let him take me Miyagi! DON'T LET HIM TAKE ME!"

The third gritted his teeth and clutched the teen tightly, not letting go even when he felt a gun barrel at his jaw. Korovin sighed impatiently and grabbed Shinobu's wrist, only to jump back as Miyagi's taser shot out and nearly touched him.

"How impertinent!" The doctor spat, signaling to the soldiers. One of them shoved the butt of his gun into Miyagi's back and the third fell heavily to the floor, where he received several sharp kicks to the ribs that left him panting for air.

"MIYAGI!" Shinobu screeched as Korovin hauled him away. "MIYAGI HELP ME! MIYAGI!"

"Shinobu…" Miyagi choked out desperately. Misaki was only a few inches away, but too paralyzed to speak or do anything as the blonde teen's screams shook him to his core.

"Digamma…"

Misaki looked over at Miyagi, and was horrified to see a trickle of blood come from the man's mouth.

"Misaki…" Miyagi said in the quietest of whispers. "1…8…5…7…6…3…4…"

"What?" The teen choked out before the third's body went limp.

"MIYAGI!" Shinobu screamed again as he tried to fight away. "MIYAGI!"

Tears welled in Misaki's eyes as he saw Gamma's bloody face and heard Shinobu's screams in his ears. Beta and Delta could barely stand. Alpha was dying. And for the tinniest moment, Miyagi's bloody face turned into Takahiro's…

"Stop it…STOP! STOP! STOP IT!" Misaki screamed, clamping his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes. "STOOOP!"

Not a moment later, a profound silence took over and the teen shakily opened his eyes, his mouth simultaneously dropping as he realized that…everything had.

Hello guys and happy halloween!...tomorrow. I guess this kinda counts as a scary update. But thank you all for your reviews! I know my correspondence has been crap lately but it truly, truly makes my day. Hope you guys keep enjoying because writing this is just so fun to write!

...and by fun I mean riveting. I'm no sadist.

Happy Halloooooween!

TBF101

* Dr. Korovin is an original character created by my lover dog Cerberus Revised from her stories "The Uke Flu" and "Days Without Sun," and is being used with permission.