AN: Thank you again for reading and liking this story. It's a bit slow now, but it'll speed up soon. I promise. Anyway, read and enjoy.

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Wasteland

Mayfly Arc:

Chapter 3

Attention: Please evacuate the area for the loading and unloading of [K-MF-001]. Only authorized staff is permitted in the area. All other staff is advised to leave the floor or retreat to a protected zone to avoid major injury or death. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill.

Read feminine recording monotonously, the voice echoing throughout every floor and corridor of the laboratories for every person present to hear and heed to. Those unassigned to the unloading but were working the bottom floor quickly retreated to the higher floor for safety. Those on the top floor resumed their duties, disregarding the warning.

"Alpha, are we clear for unloading? Over." Ryouta spoke into the two-way radio in his hand as he paced the observation chamber, watching the small, boxy monitor which displayed the black-and-white view of the cameras installed in the lower floor which harboured K-MF-001.

The radio crackled for several seconds before a voice responded from the other side. "Yes sir. Alpha is prepping the chamber for unloading. Over." The monitored flickered and a team of five animal masked men clad in black cloaks were seen marching through the chamber towards the vault which 001 was contained within, one of them wheeling a dolly which was laced with steel chaining.

"Roger. Do not do any unnecessary harm to K-MF-001 during unloading or loading. We need him in perfect condition for the field test tomorrow. Over."

"Roger that." Ryouta secured the walky-talky in his white coat and sat down at the table alongside Tarou who was also present to observe the testing as he always did, though not remotely as flustered as his companion as he sat perfectly relaxed with his legs propped on the table.

"You need to relax, Ryouta. It is just another routine test. 001 has done a dozen of these without incident." The obese man reassured the twitchy scientist as he watched the monitor, following the team as they navigated the long, steel hallway. "The worse which might happen to 001 becomes peckish and decides to make a snack out of one of those fellows handling him. If that happens, the council will just supply us another poor bastard to replace him."

"It's not 001 I am concerned about. He's worth more than any living person on this green earth and I don't want one of those bastards breaking him." Ryouta replied, gnawing on his thumb nail as the team finally made it to the vault door and took their positions with weapons prepared as the humorous locks on the vault door were slowly undone.

"Relax, Ryouta. Oh, I know exactly what you need," Tarou heaved himself from his chair and waddled over to a cabinet that the monitor sat upon monitor. He yanked it open, revealing it to be empty of files as he withdrew instead a bottle of expensive liquor instead. He plucked two cups from the water cooler before returning to the table and laying out a cup for each of them. "I was saving this for tomorrow as celebration but I feel you could use it now." He poured them both a cup of the rich liquid, handing Ryouta his own cup and the man sipped at it, the hard alcohol strickening his mouth and throat with a refreshing burn but failing to calm him as kept an eye on the monitor.

The vault door was finally unlocked and automatically sluggishly swung outward. Once there was a considerable amount of space, the cloaked figures tossed in grenades and the screen went white for seconds straight as the flash bangs mutely exploded. When the picture returned, only two of the men remained, arms cocked to toss in more flash bangs as the rest were inside the vault, securing K-MF-001 for transportation. After a few minutes, the rest of the group finally emerged, unscathed and wheeling out the unstable experiment which had been restrained to the dolly with the unpenetrateable metal chaining and blinded with a leather mask which doubled as a muzzle. The sight of the bound man struggling made Ryouta release the breath he had been holding in and he downed his drink before requesting a refill.

K-MF-001 was transported to the testing chamber, a brightly lit and large, reinforced steel rink which the observation chamber oversaw safely from several feet off the ground. Blood stained the metal flooring and walls from past testing and a few wooden dummies had been laid out at random points around the chamber. Normally, live targets were used in testing but due to being unable to capture Iwagakure hostages for bait, the dummies had been fitted with stolen Iwagakure headbands and vests instead for illusion.

Alpha team wheeled the thrashing experiment into the stadium and once inside, proceeded with the precarious task of unraveling the man without incident. They hadn't had an incident in the last five sessions and intended of keeping that streak going. One member was positioned in the loading hallway, at the ready with the door, whilst two others loosened the chains around K-MF-001 and the remaining two were posed to retain the subject if he broke from his restraints prematurely or made a grab for one of the men.

Ryouta stood at the control panel which regulated several functions of the testing rink with his finger posed above the speaker button, ready to yell at the lot if they did anything he deemed too rough or unnecessary during his prized experiment's release. Thankfully, no excessive harm was done to the subject and once the chains were sufficiently loosened and freed of the dolly, the supplied shinobi removed the muzzle and made haste back into the safety of the hallway, the door was sealed tight behind as K-MF-001 tossed off the chains with an enraged roar. He kicked the steel bindings across the gym, they striking the metal walling with a cringing, resounding crash. He glanced around the rink, snarling at the dummies before his attention was diverted by the sound of the megaphone being switched on with a whine.

"001," Ryouta spoke into the microphone, K-MF-001 briefly acknowledging his creator at the mention of his subject number. "This is your last test before your field test tomorrow. Mind giving us a show?" His only reply was the excessive drooling seeping from the experiment's snarling jowls.

Ryouta observed from behind the safety glass of the chamber whilst Tarou watched the monitor, both sipping their drinks. K-MF-001 paced about liked a caged tiger for several seconds, circling the wooden dummies and instantly Ryouta became uneasy again. Normally, the man did not hesitate upon attacking the bait, tearing it to unidentifiably shreds within a span of seconds. Instead, the ebony-haired male resumed his leisurely stalk of the targets, almost disregarding them as he emitted a bored yawn and scratched the lettering inked into his face. His Mayfly hadn't even been activated yet.

Ryouta looked back at Tarou nervously, grasping his foam cup tightly. "This is not being recorded for the council's viewing, is it?"

"Of course not." Tarou dismissed, itching his second chin. "We have already been approved to proceed with the field test. The council requires no more evidence. Maybe 001 isn't interested because this is the first test without live targets?" Perhaps.

Ryouta returned his viewing to his experiment which had no longer taken interest in the dummies and was fiddling with the stained white jumpsuit he was dressed in. The scientist activated the microphone again. "001 were you not clear on your instructions?" He shouted though this time he was not spared a reaction as K-MF-001 seemed more interested in the devouring of his clothing as he chewed on the zipper. "001!"

"No need to yell at the dumb animal, Ryouta. Here, allow me to try something." Ryouta freely allowed his boss to take over as Tarou strolled to the control panel, distracting himself with his generous drink.

"Alpha," Tarou spoke into his own two-way. "K-MF-001 seems to refuse to cooperate. Would mind escorting him back to his chambers? Over."

"Roger."

"Tarou-sama," Ryouta gasped, leaping to Tarou's side. "This is 001's last test. I would recommend that we-" But his pleas were hushed as Tarou held up a thick hand, interrupting him as the door to the testing chamber was reopened. K-MF-001's attention was immediately stolen from his plastic snack as he turned towards the soldiers, snarling lowly and naked flesh between his shoulder blades began to bulge and swell at the approaching threat as the full fleet marched in, prepared to restrain him once more. Suddenly, a heavy hammering echoed throughout the chamber. The five men froze in their tracks and ever so slowly, turned their sights around. Their only exit had been locked shut behind them.

Ryouta's startled gaze settled on Tarou, the man's fat finger pressed down on the button which controlled the main unloading door and that could only be opened from the other side. He had locked them in with K-MF-001 without a second's hesitation.

"Tarou-sama…" The scientist whispered, realizing what his employer had just done. He had just potentially abolished a decade's worth of work and broken the council's trust in a single swoop.

An inhumane screech caused him to return his attention back to the testing chamber and he saw K-MF-001, fists clenched and crooked canines bared, his Mayfly having finally been activated and a grand Rafflesia flower bloomed from the flesh his back, its thick petals uncurling like velvety tendrils. Ryouta was unsure whom he was more concerned about at the moment.

As K-MF-001 took a step towards the trapped shinobi, the hardened assassins steeled themselves for the fight of their lives. After another imposing step, one of the men threw a flash bang to distort him as the others charged in and the rink filled with blinding light an instant later which made Ryouta wince and shield his watering green orbs. His ears rung from trauma but through it, he could hear the muffled shrieking of K-MF-001 as well as crashing and the popping of more flash bangs. K-MF-001's death seemed sealed, until a human scream rang out, followed shortly by another, and another, and it was obvious the abomination had garnered the upper hand on his opponents. Ryouta rubbed his eyes and blinked them rapidly, attempting to regain his sight and witness the chaos which was ensuing below when something smashed into the safety glass before them, making him flinch and gag. It was a severed arm. The limb glided down the glass, smearing it with thick, dark blood before it tumbled to the floor.

Finally having restored a portion of sight, Ryouta turned to peer past the blood stained glass but it proved fruitless as the chamber was fogged with a pink mist, a byproduct of K-MF-001's Mayfly. The screaming died down, dissolving into wet gurgling as the airborne poison took its effect and after several tense seconds, the mist thinned. The chamber was in shambles. Blood and organic substance painted the walls and enough force had been driven into them to actually dent the foot-thick steel. Bodies littered the floor, only one being considered in a single piece as the other's had had limbs torn off and one even decapitated.

K-MF-001 stood in the midst of the carnage, unharmed except for bleeding lacerations where kunai and senbon had been embedded in various spots on his body and bruises, his jumpsuit a deep red from the blood soaked into the fabric. The Rafflesia sprouted from his back twitched, the red and purple speckled flower emptying the last of its potent essence before it crumpled and wilted away, melting away back into the experiment's pale skin. He proceeded to carelessly pluck out the weapons embedded in his body, unflinching as some of the wounds were torn open farther and split more blood, when something caught his eye.

One of the serviceman had survived the carnage, though hardly, and was weakly dragging himself away from the berserk man, leaving a wet trail of blood from the stump where his leg had once been. K-MF-001 ignored the remainder of the blades jutting from his skin stalked the owl-masked man like a cat playing with its prey, following him about the chamber. Cornered, the dying man halted against a wall and in one last feeble attempt, tossed a handful of senbon at the monster. The experiment made no attempt to dodge the needles as they lodged themselves into his scarred face, one narrowly missing one of his red orbs and he screeched, more so in vocalized anger rather than pain. He thrashed his head about, freeing a few of the sharp needles before screaming again and lunging onto the shinobi. The injured solider echoed the scream with his own of a higher pitch as the subject's wide jowls clamped onto his skull, crushing the bone like glass. The man kicked and screamed as his neck proceeded to be angled at an impossible shape and shattered with a dull series of popping to which he became deathly limp, his yelling silenced forever. K-MF-001 jerked the dead victim's head about until the tender flesh of the neck ruptured and he yanked the entire head free from the corpse, a good portion of the spine slithering out along with. He tossed the unwanted skull aside before hungrily devouring the freshly warm carcass. The head bounced a few feet before rolling to a stop and the bird-like mask falling off, revealing the man's face, frozen eternally with a pure petrification.

"Well then, I would say that was without a doubt K-MF-001's most successful test. The Mayfly is a fearful thing, isn't it? Imagine the field test when he'll have the ability to phase about." Tarou chirped, unbothered by the massacre as he walked back to the table, refilling his cup with more alcohol as celebration. Ryouta swallowed thickly, averting his eyes from his experiment happily enjoying his meal below and sighed. He felt a slight guilt for the poor men which had just been fed to the abomination, but his pride as a scientist and of K-MF-001 brought an unspoken was relief it was them which lay dead and not his years of hard work. Yet, he felt the slightest bit sick, the first time in several tests and the deaths of many human targets, including children. He dismissed it as anxiety and not his long dead conscious creeping back.

"I'll write a letter to council apologizing for the misfortune which those fellows met." Tarou explained simply as Ryouta rejoined him, pouring himself another drink also to soothe his queasy stomach. "After tomorrow, I'm sure they will forgive a few deaths. K-MF-001 is worth an army of them. What were they again? Stem? Branch? Something silly as that."

"How are we going to escort K-MF-001 back to his vault though, Tarou-sama?" Ryouta asked quietly after a moment of silence, eyeing the monitor as K-MF-001 grew bored of his current meal and lumbered over to another body to chew upon. In the background, Ryouta could hear the wet ripping of flesh as the experiment ate. He poured himself another shot.

"Oh pity, did not think of that." Tarou said, though his tone did not betray any of his apparent 'pity'. "Hmm…well, I'll just gather together some of our staff to do it. After tomorrow, we'll have no need for them when the project is handed over to the council." Ryouta merely nodded, not daring to question which staff Tarou considered expendable enough for the task. Hopefully, it wasn't him since after tomorrow, his position would be in jeopardy as well. Luckily, he would be transferred. "Are you aware if Kiyoshi has returned from his break?"

The question interrupted the ebony-haired man's thoughts. "Kiyoshi? Uhh…not that I know of. He should return tomorrow. If not then the day after."

Tarou clicked his tongue. "Pity. I'll have to find someone else to move 001 then." He sipped his drink, perfectly calmly so. "You're free to leave Ryouta, no need for you at the moment. Might I suggest rehearsing a speech for the council? I'm positive they'll want to congratulate you personally for your assistance in purging Kusagakure of those Iwagakure rats."

Ryouta only nodded. He swallowed down the rest of his drink, supplying his boss a brief thank you before gladly leaving the observation room and his deranged employer behind. He prayed for whoever Tarou decided to lock in the same room as K-MF-001.

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AN: This is my last pre-written chapter so after this, I'm going to have write them out now so they will take a tad longer to be posted but they'll still be posted, I promise. Thank you for reading and please, review, I'd love to hear what people think of this story so far even if it is weird and a bit slow for now.