Chapter 18
With Experimental Powers
Important note guys. A plot bunny attacked me in the middle of the night- also known as 3AM- whilst I was thinking about what to do for the next chapter. However, I realised that the Family that should have been in this chapter is actually suited better in a different place. So I've moved them and now we have the next Family instead. I've edited last chapter to remove the hint since it doesn't apply anymore. Once again, sorry guys.
"I need to take this one!" demands Tsunayoshi.
"Are you sure? You're not going to take Natsu with you?" asks Luce, reaching up for the object anyway.
"It has to be this one!" He was going to take it if it meant he had to hide it under his t-shirt.
"Alright, just don't lose it okay." Warns Luce. Tsunayoshi was good at losing things. He'd put it down, become interested in something else and not pick it back up.
Ever since Tsunayoshi had heard which Family they were going to visit today, he had the urge to take this object with him. He didn't know why, it was just another one of those unexplainable feelings he kept getting.
Not 20 minutes later Tsunayoshi was running down the corridors of this new Family's mansion, screaming and crying his eyes out.
Why'd they bring me here? It's scary! He thinks as he blindly keeps on running.
Everything was fine at first. It didn't look too different from anyone else's house. But then that really scary guy in orange overalls and a black gas mask had appeared and scared the living daylights out of him. Tsunayoshi screamed, turned and ran in some random direction. At one point he had fallen down some stairs and now ended up in a frighting environment with white tiles and metal doors and what he swore was blood on the floor.
He turns the corner and bumps into someone's legs. He looks up to apologise since it's polite to, only to be met by a white suited individual with a white mask, blue paper hat and blue rubber gloves on. Their eyes were hidden behind goggles. Tsunayoshi backs away in fear before screaming once more and running in a different direction.
Just as he's about to turn into a different corridor, a blood curdling scream resounds. He's definitely not going that way. Skidding to a halt, he changes direction once more. As he runs past one door, he hears a laugh. It's a very individual laugh and one that gets a reaction from the boy. He knows that laugh even though he's never heard it before. Something tells him that that room is safe. So he does the natural thing and enters it. That room was safer than the rest of the building and he didn't want to be scared any longer. At this point in time, he wanted nothing more than to be in Viper's arms, safely hidden under her cloak. Or maybe in Reborn's, with a Gun Leon protecting him too. He'd even willingly take a training day with Lal if it meant being away from this place.
He slams the door shut behind him before leaning back against it, sliding down onto the floor, bringing his knees up and crying into them.
The residents of the room are slightly shocked at the sudden entrance of the crying boy. The fact that he was crying wasn't shocking. Lots of children cried in this place. It was the fact that the boy had normal clothes on, clothes that looked brand new and weren't dirty or ripped. It was the fact that there was no slave collar around his neck. It was the fact that this facility on Mafia Row was only for top priority or highly dangerous experiments, and this boy didn't have a mark on him.
This boy was an outsider. He was free.
"Oya Oya~ What do we have here then?" The voice is deep and soothing yet playful at the same time.
"Oi, don't cry Byon" says a different voice, bouncy yet concerned.
Tsunayoshi looks up to find 4 jail cells with 4 different people in them. These people are bandaged, plasters dotting their skin. They look ragged and underfed. Tsunayoshi can't help but feel sorry for them. He sniffs and moves closer to the cages. "This place is really scary!" he admits, wiping the tears away with the cuff of his sleeve.
"Kufufufu~ Of course it is. A place like this won't be sugar and rainbows. The place certainly fits its name though" smiles one boy. It's that laugh again, the one he recognises but hasn't heard before. He looks at the boy who laughed and recognition flickers across his memory. The boy has short blue hair and a bandage covering one eye.
"Estraneo" Tsunayoshi whispers. That was the name of this Family.
"Why here?" that voice belonged to a girl and was barely above a whisper. He walks to the cell on the right of the first boy and finds the girl hugging herself tightly. Her purple hair hung long and ratty down her back, yet her amethyst eyes still sparkled with some hidden hope. She was even younger than Tsunayoshi himself.
"Verde and Vip- erh Mammon brought me here" he admits. He still doesn't even know why they brought him here. Although he suspects that he wasn't supposed to get scared and run into this part of the house.
"They are the only nice ones" comes a monotone voice. Tsunayoshi has to go to the total opposite end to see this boy. All of his hair is covered in white bandages and he has a barcode branded into his cheek.
"Hmm, you've met them before?" Tsunayoshi asks, tilting his head.
"Yeah, byon. They come and do check-ups on us. Well, Mammon only goes to see those two. Verde though, he's nice. He's the only one who gives us injections to numb the pain before he starts the check-ups. The other scientists just start straight away." This was the boy in the cage next door. He had a bandage going from one cheek to the other, going over his nose too. His hair was a dirty blond and he seemed to sit on his hind legs like a dog instead of sitting cross legged.
"Are you all ill?" Tsunayoshi asks. What other reason could there be for check-ups and bandages?
All of them burst out laughing. It doesn't sound like very happy laughter though.
"Kufufu~ Kufufufu Ahfufufufu. You couldn't be farther from the truth little one." Tsunayoshi goes and stands infront of the laughing boy.
"Really? What's with all the plasters then? I only get plasters when I fall over." He rolls up one sleeve to show the plaster on his elbow. Him and gavel don't mix very well.
"Oya? You're here and don't know what happens? We are experiments." Tsunayoshi doesn't think the words and the smile match.
"Experiments?" That was what Verde called some of his work. Although that name was usually only given to work with the pretty coloured liquids he was told not to touch or drink.
Mukuro leans through the bars to ruffle Tsunayoshi's hair "So cute and so naive. Why not let us out and we can talk about it." The boy gestures behind Tsunayoshi to where a set of keys are hanging on the wall. It takes a few attempts, along with a metal box to finally reach the keys but soon he does and he lets them out.
They sit on the floor in a small circle. The gang of Experiments knew better than to try and escape. The doors only opened one way freely and that was inwards. The guards needed to enter a pin number to get back outside of the room. That did mean that their new friend was stuck in there with them as well.
"I am Mukuro. They are experimenting on me to see if it's possible for a person to remember their time in the other Paths of Reincarnation. Next to me is My Precious Chrome. She was in an accident and lost her internal organs. When her parents left her to die, Estraneo offered to take care of her. In actuality they are experimenting to see if Illusions can keep a body running or not. After all, many men are injured in battle, so if Illusions could fool the body into thinking it's fine, then they can continue to fight longer."
"Why does Vip- ah, Mammon come and see you?" After visiting the Varia, Tsunayoshi had learnt that everyone else knew her as Mammon and that she preferred it that way. So in an effort to make her happy, he called her Mammon to everyone else.
"They found out that Chrome and I have the capability to become extraordinary illusionists. Mammon is the only one able to teach us. If an illusionist isn't taught how to control their powers then they can drive themselves, or those around them, insane. And Estraneo would like to keep us whole." So Viper was doing a good thing then.
"I'm Ken, byon!" says the blond boy after the small silence. "They want to see if it's possible to utilise animal traits during battle." That would explain the way he was sitting then.
"Chikusa" says the last boy. "They are messing around in my brain to try and heighten my reflexes and body movement so I can fight better than the enemies can"
Tsunayoshi looks at each of them in shock. "They want you to fight?" he asks unbelievingly.
"Kufufu~. What a cruel world we live in, for that is exactly correct. Estraneo are experimenting on children and adults to create the best fighting force possible. We are nothing more than mutated soldiers. They don't even see us as human anymore." Mukuro scoffs. Yet his voice sounds like he's a king looking down on the world. Maybe he doesn't see himself as human either.
"Only Mammon and Verde do" inputs Chikusa
"Yep, byon. They are the only ones who are worried about us." He says with a smile. Yet that smile soon turns a growl, lips raised to show teeth. Really sharp teeth. "The others beat us and hit us if we don't do what they say."
The girl sniffs and starts to cry, remembering her horrible treatment. Mukuro picks the tiny creature up and settles her in his lap, stroking her hair. Seeing them together like that reminds Tsunayoshi of the feeling from earlier. Now he knows who this gift was for. Crawling over to the crying girl he wipes the tears away.
"Hey now Chrome, don't cry. Everything will be alright. Look I'm going to give this to you. You can hug it whenever you get scared. You've just got to be brave alright." The girl sniffs and looks at him with watery eyes. He hands over the object he's been holding all this time. It was an owl cuddly toy. Mainly snow white, it also had black on its wing tips and on the tips of its tail. He laughs and smiles as he hands it over. Chrome looks at the smiling boy in shock, awed by the power of his smile. She makes a faint effort to smile too.
"Mukurowl" she whispers. Tsunayoshi makes a questioning noise in the back of his throat. Chrome takes the toy and hugs it tight, whilst moving closer to Mukuro at the same time. "Name, Mukurowl"
Tsunayoshi laughs as Mukuro hugs Chrome tighter "That's a great name. I have a Lion and I named him Natsu. I'll bring him next time."
"Heh, If there's ever a next time" mumbles Ken, looking down and away.
Tsunayoshi stands and stomps over to Ken, hands on his hips. How could he talk like that? "Of course there's going to be a next time!" he shouts.
Ken looks up, a hopeless look of reality in his eyes. "Yeah right. We could be dead before you come again"
Tsunayoshi grits his teeth and puts his hands on Ken's shoulders, griping tightly and shaking sense into the boy. "I won't let that happen! I'll talk to Verde and he'll make sure you guys are alright!" Verde wouldn't let anything bad happen to them, he was sure of it. Verde might be crazy, he wasn't called the Mad Scientist for nothing, but he was still human. Tsunayoshi was sure he could persuade Verde to save these people. "If he won't then I'll save you!"
All four people in the room freeze in shock. He would do… what for them? Ken looks up into warm brown eyes. "Why would you do that for us? We're just a group of dangerous experiments. We could kill you without you noticing."
Tsunayoshi smiles. "Because you are my friends"
They were… his friends?
Ken leaps up and tackles Tsunayoshi to the ground before licking his face "Friends, byon!" A small friendly wrestling match ensues until Ken stops and hisses, holding one of the bandaged areas. "Ouch". Tsunayoshi immediately climbs off Ken and runs his hands over the area hoping to take the pain away. "hehe, it's fine byon, just over stretched."
"Tsunayoshi" The shout is faint but Tsunayoshi would recognise it anywhere.
"Verde! I'm in here!" he shouts.
He can hear running footsteps before the door is thrown open. Forgetting himself for a moment, Verde picks the boy up and hugs him before checking for injuries "Thank goodness, I thought they had gotten you" Tsunayoshi can see the panic in Verde's eyes, something he has never seen before. Verde has always looked calm, even when experiments went wrong. Seeing that the boy is alright, Verde quickly puts his back down again and resumes his attitude of superiority.
Viper isn't far behind Verde, rushing into the room too and crouching to be on his level. "Are you alright Tsunayoshi?" she asks. Tsunayoshi takes one look towards his friends before bursting out into tears and hugging the psychic.
"It's not fair!" he cries, gripping her robe tighter "Why are they being looked after like that?" Viper takes a look up to see who Tsunayoshi is talking about and finds two of her students and the other two boys who are always with them. Chrome and Mukuro were very good students actually. Even though Chrome could barely talk since she was so young, Viper could communicate through her illusions and easily show her what to do and what was going wrong. Mukuro was interested in getting better for Chrome's sake so he could do a better job with her internal organs.
Watery doe eyes look up towards Verde "Please! Save them!" he cries. Verde is torn, he really wants to make Tsunayoshi stop crying since it was pulling at his heart. He had realised long ago that Tsunayoshi was one of the only people able to invoke emotions in him, and in some of the others, and no longer tried to fight the feeling. However he also knew how dangerous some of these experiments were. He didn't know if he could keep them alive.
"Tsunayoshi, I don't know…" he starts. Small hands latch onto his leg, nail digging in harshly due to their determination, not due to wanting to harm Verde.
One fist beats gently against his leg as Tsunayoshi continues to cry. "Verde, please. Look after my friends. I don't want them to disappear."
Sighing, he turns around to take their charts off the wall. Really, the things this boy made him do. Flicking through them Verde's brows furrow in concentration and worry. They were all far too along in their experiments to stop now. Not continuing would harm them more that trying to complete it would. Stopping now would kill them. Attempting to finish the experiment might kill them. Looking at the children in question, he could see that they would rather take the risk and continue on living than to die.
For the crying boy attacked to his leg, for the only person in the world he cares about, he would try.
"I'll see what I can do. I'll try to get them to give me permission to continue the experiments under my guidance. They have a better chance of survival if I look after them." He turns to the children, eyes hard. "You all know that I will have to finish the experiments. You are all too far gone to revert back to normal." The children look between each other for a moment, taking that in. Finally Ken smiles up at Verde.
"Of course, these powers will be cool!" The others all agree. They were young enough to be able to adapt around them and live a relatively normal life. They'd be like super heroes.
"Your lessons can wait until after then" adds in Viper, taking to the illusionists.
"Thank you Verde!" beams Tsunayoshi before running over to Chrome and stroking her hair "See, everything's going to be fine. I promise. You've got me and Mukuro and Ken and Chikusa and Verde and Mammon and we're all going to look after you. So smile for me Chrome!" Chrome gives a hesitant smile before hugging the owl tighter once more.
"Kufufufu~ What an interesting boy you are. Being able to control them like this." And his eyes flick up to the two adults in the room "But thank you, for trying to save my comrades. I'm sure we'll get to know each other very well in the future" A plan was already beginning to formulate in Mukuro's mind. A plan that involved that cute boy becoming his. A plan where he finally got his sweet revenge. He was sure that Tsunayoshi would be a key tool for his arsenal.
"Quick get back in" hisses Viper, feeling the presence of the other Scientists coming closer to their location. The four on the ground quickly scrabble up and run into their cages. Being found outside resulted in one very harsh beating and torture. If they were to survive the experiments, they would need to be in top physical shape, meaning they'd have to follow the rules and not give reasons for their keepers to beat them anymore. The doors clank shut before the scientists arrive. When they do arrive, they find Verde re-wrapping Ken's bandages and Viper in the middle of another lesson, Tsunayoshi sat in her lap.
"Viper, I think it's time to take Tsunayoshi home. I need to discuss some things with the Estraneo Boss" says Verde finishing up, talking before the scientists can speak. Viper nods her head, Tsunayoshi waves at them and they both leave the premises.
As soon as Tsunayoshi gets home, he runs down the path, flings open the door with a loud bang and runs into the living room. Spotting the person he's looking for, he runs forwards and flings himself into the man's lap before curling up. Fon always made Tsunayoshi feel calm. Colonnello did too, but he wasn't here right now. And not that he'd ever tell the woman, but Lal could at times too, when she wasn't acting all army like. Fon didn't say anything, he just let the boy calm himself down. He knew where they had gone today so he just let Tsunayoshi do what he wanted; it must have been scary for the poor boy if he had gone underground by accident.
At the dinner table after Viper explained what happened, Colonnello pats the boy on the head since Tsunayoshi was sitting on his lap, and smiles at him "Tomorrow, you're going to a really happy place. You'll like the kids there. One of them is just like you but a lot shyer." Tsunayoshi sounded happy about that. It's be nice to go somewhere nice again. The Varia and Estrano had been scary.
I know that the timeline concerning Chrome is a little off, but it was either this or to ignore her totally. As you should be able to tell, the experiments are only half done, so Mukuro can't escape by force yet.
I think this chapter is cute and sweet in a sad and endearing way. Rather than being sugary cute, it's sweet cute since Tsunayoshi is trying to protect them all.
The reason Colonnello and Lal calm Tsunayoshi down is due to their Tranquility Rain Flames. And Fon because... well, he's Fon who is always calm and happy.
And I've finally posted that new Reborn fic I was talking about earlier. Like I said, the main character is someone who you would least expect it to be: LEON!
The fic is all about how Leon and Reborn become best buds. It's called The Fight Between Leon and Reborn. Here's a summary for you all.
Summary: Reborn hated Leon. He hated Leon and everything the green Chameleon represented, since Leon is only another reminder of the Curse. Yet all Leon wants is to be accepted. So Leon will fight with everything he has to be accepted by his new master. Reborn on the other hand, not only has to deal with seeing that horrible Chameleon every day, but he also has to get used to his new body. But slowly over time, they become the perfect partners.
So I hope you all enjoy that one too. It was an idea that was in my head for ages so I just had to write it down. The first chapter is just setting the story up really.
I'll see you all next time.
Phantom Hitman 1412
First Published 26 April 2012