Tessa and Joseph slowly made their way home, avoiding any routs that would give them away to the populous. They arrived at the door with their masks in hand, flashing their dark eyes at Ben and giving the passphrase. "Nothing but death to feed us and our cause."
"I think I know why I didn't do so well." Joseph said to his sister.
"And why is that, pray tell?" Tessa replied.
"I forgot to tie my lucky handkerchief to my wrist. You know it helps me guide my shots better." he said, brandishing a black, gray, white and purple striped hankie from his pocket.
"Do you really believe in that?"
"It's the last thing my father gave me, and the last thing I remember of him. And it will guide me, just as he would have if he were here." He tied it around his wrist, showing his pride in the symbol that it represents. They step into the elevator and ride it down to the lab area, sitting on the floor to rest on the way down.
"I'd have to say, that was the toughest fight we've had in a while. But still, it was lacking something." Tessa looked at Joseph, who was half asleep.
"Being impaled fourty seven times by multiple attackers at the same time? Or getting one of our arms detached and having to get it sewn back on by one of the lab techs?" Joseph replied jokingly.
"A bit of both." She replied, laughing. "I'd almost forgotten about those ones. But none of them left us this tired."
"I guess we're a bit out of shape then."
"Yeah, I guess so." The elevator door opened, as they finished their conversation, and they both got up, entering the laboratory floor.
"Welcome ghouls to the laboratory and medical center." A lab tech said as they entered the facility. "I will be leading you to where the director has asked you to be."
"Where is Dr. Bellaire?" Joseph asked him.
"She is not present at the moment. She is busy with something important and cannot be bothered." The tech replied hurriedly. "Now, if you'll follow me please."
"Heads and Tails!" A shout came from behind the tech, causing him to give an annoyed sigh. "I'm so happy you've come here to visit." A woman walked up to them and hugged them tightly.
"Ow, let go. We're wounded." the sibling said, in pain.
"Whoops. I'm sorry, I'm just so excited to see you both." Dr. Bellaire said. "Where are you headed.
"They are headed to the experimental wing of the floor, but the director has specified that you do not leave your lab area while your tests are going." The tech said, annoyed at her presence in the situation.
"Well we're taking a break right now so I can take them there." The doctor replied.
"But the Director was very specific."
"The director can go screw himself. These two will be under my charge from now on. You can leave now." Her voice was laced with anger. The tech grunted angrily at her and walked away, he knew too well not to defy her direct word, even if the director's instructions conflicted with them. She smiled as he walked away and turned to the two ghouls. "Let's get moving then." She lead them across the room and through an unfamiliar hallway.
"Why does the director want us to go here?" Tessa asked.
"Hell if I know. Probably to see what we have discovered here." Dr. Bellaire replied.
"And what is it that you've discovered?" Joseph asked.
"A ghoul disease." The doctor said, opening a door marked 'Ghoul studies'. They all stepped in and were greeted by an energetic, elderly man.
"Ah, Joseph and Tessa. How much I've heard about you. And Doctor Bellaire, I thought the Director told you to stay at your lab." He smiled as they walked in.
"You know me. I have no reason to listen to a word he says. Besides, I've taken care of these two since they first arrived here." Dr. Bellaire smiled back at him. "So what are you supposed to show them?"
"The first Ghoul disease we have ever recorded that does not correlate to any diseases that affect humans." He said, walking to a microscope and peering into the lens. "This disease affects the metabolism and digestive systems of a ghoul, causing them to work faster than usual. At the same time, it affects the brain's ability to tell if the ghoul is full or not. This causes the ghoul to have increased energy in short bursts, but at the same time, lessen their stamina and cause them to always feel hungry."
"That sounds awful." Tessa said, "Is there any cure for it?"
"Not that I can tell, no." But one way to lessen the effects of it is to eat exclusively ghoul meat, since your bodies need a lot of Rc cells. This makes the effects of always being hungry lessen to only being hungry every few hours."
"That still sounds awful." Joseph says. "How did you come across this?"
"Well, when you brought back a shred of clothing from that cannibal ghoul, I took it upon myself to analyze his blood, seeing as the only mutant ghouls we've been able to test are you plus a couple more. And in the process, I found an abnormality and ran it through a couple of tests."
"Who did you use for these tests." Tessa asked.
"No one. I used ghoul rats to test it." The man replied.
"Wait, ghoul rats? I thought the only ghouls were human like." Joseph said, worry evident in his voice.
"Yes, well, we grafted ghoul DNA into rat fetuses and allowed the mother rat to eat human meat. and those rats gave birth to ghoul rats." The doctor seemed proud of this fact, but the siblings couldn't help but be disgusted at it.
"Why would you do such a thing? It's just awful." Tessa said angrily.
"Actually, it saves you and other ghouls in our facility from being the test subjects. It's more manageable and safe than using a full sized ghoul for these things." The man reasoned.
"Well it's still disgusting. Thank you for your research, but I don't think either of us will be back here again." Joseph nodded at the man and walked out with his sister and Dr. Bellaire.
"How could they do this? This is a crime against nature!" Tessa screamed as they walked down the halls.
"Many people think that your race is a crime against nature Tessa. They don't see it as doing anything other than progressing our knowledge of you." Dr. Bellaire stated. "Oh, by the way, he's back."
"He is?" Joseph quickly turned his head to look at her. "How long has he been back?"
"He just got here. I can guess that he's exhausted from so long a trip." She replied.
A man dressed in a leather jacket and jeans walks out of an alleyway and into the street. He brushes his long golden hair out of his eyes and puts on a pair of sunglasses. He puts a cigarette into his mouth and lights it, the smell of burning coffee fills the area. A car horn goes off right before he is flung in the air by a speeding sedan. It crashes into a wall as he lands on his feet behind the wreckage.
The man walked up to the car and opened the door. "You shouldn't have done that you know." He said to the thug driving. His voice laced with a foreboding danger. "Now you'll die here. Any last words?" The driver only looked at him in shock as nine tails came from the man's back and impaled him into the seat. The mysterious man left a small device in the pocket of the thug driver's shirt and opened the trunk to find several bags of money inside.
"Woohoo. You made out with a big bust didn't you? Well I guess I'll just take this to the facility and be on my way. Don't worry, they'll pick you up sooner or later." He picks up all of the bags with his tails and walks into another alley to a door. He knocked and a man flashed dark eyes at him.
"What does the world have to offer?" Ben asked.
"Nothing but death to feed me and our cause." The mysterious ghoul replied.
"Welcome back Fox." Ben said, opening the door.
"There's no need to welcome me. Now where's the dynamic duo." Fox said, dropping the bags just inside the door. "I've got a couple surprises for them."