Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Number 12 ❯ Cruelty ( Chapter 4 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Gelasia Castle 
Duo discovers the gruesome reason for his capture.
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.15.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 750 | Status: Work In Progress
Duo discovers the gruesome reason for his capture.
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.15.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 750 | Status: Work In Progress
Warning: Oh so very yaoi. If you don't like yaoi, then go back! Before it's too late! Hurry, run my friend! Oh noooooo!otherwise, this fic contains 1x2, Ocx2, 3x4, Ocx4, 5 pining for 2, and 5+Zechs. There is to be a large helping of Duo torture, followed by a light serving of Quatre torture. Also, this is my very first fanfic. There is some violence in this chapter...so...yeah. Flames shall be used to roast marshmallows and hot dogs. My friends and I will gather around it at night and sing camp songs and tell each other scary stories and the like.
Disclaimer- I don't own Gundam Wing, or any of the Gundam boys. Do you think that if I owned it, I would have ever allowed Relena to exist? Or Dorothy, for that matter? In my Gundam Wing- which exists only in my twisted little mind- All the Gundam boys are angsty and constantly molestered by the Doctors and other random people. And everyone was making sex with everyone else, and having giant kink fests...Needless to say, my version of it is a little bit NC-17...
Author's note: It was brought to my attention that I'd been using power when the power was out. Lol. I hadn't even noticed. I read the review and went *Gasp!* She's right! Gomen nasai, mea culpa, everyone. I'll just say that because it's the future, certain necessities are run by emergency generators. Like fridges, the door release in front, and...elevators...hee. I'm glad this was pointed out. Like I've said before, this is my first fanfic, and I believe there's always room for improvement if you're only steered in the right direction. I'll do my best to please you! No excuses for this chapter! I got it finished before my deadline! A week and a half before! Woo!...As usual, if you are interested in knowing when I plan to update, visit my live journal. I mention the progress on each chapter in at least 80% of my posts.
Advertisements: And now to advertise. Neon Genesis Evangelion. You've heard of it. I know you have. It's probably as well known as Akira, or My Neighbor Totoro. Well, guess what! Yaoi! In episode 24 as well as the movie, there are tiny little yaoi scenes all over the place...okay, the movie is more hintings, but episode 24 IS a yaoi! Anyone who hasn't seen it needs to download/buy it. It's only 26 episodes and the movie, so it isn't as though it would take an eternity to watch, like- oh, say, any of Rumiko Takahashi's works.
Dedication: This now gets its own section...This chapter is dedicated to Nikki, who's birthday passed this month. Happy 17th Nikki! Your last year as a youth! This is also dedicated to Holly, wherever you are now...I haven't spoken to her since I posted the first chapter. She moved from Utah to...uh...someplace else. I haven't heard from her since the move. Dunno what happened to her...maybe she was abducted by the aliens?
IMPORTANT NOTE! Being that I am ahead of schedule with my fic, I am tempted to take the time to start my 4x2 PWP I've been thinking about, like, constantly. So what do you guys say? Should I write the 4x2, or should I get on to the next chapter of this fic and begin the second one later? I've also decided to pair Wufei up with Zechs. I simply can't bear the thought of putting the poor boy with a woman who is-what, ten years older than him?
~~~~
With one of the prince's arms about the younger man's waist and the other flailing for balance, the two staggered forward in a caricature of friendship until the edge of the bed caught them just under the knees and they fell. The warm flesh struggling under him decided Darvish on a new course of action and he fumbled for the ties to his captive's trousers.- Tanya Huff's, The Fire's Stone (Has nothing to do with the chapter, but this woman is my favorite author, like, ever!)
~~~~
Chapter 4
Cruelty
There were two white wolves fighting each other. One with the familiar cobalt blue eyes of his lover, the other with arrogant coal black. They tore at each other with wild abandon, their blood staining soft snowy fur. One eventually fell to the other, though Duo could not see which and the other began to feed from the fallen creature. The scene faded slowly and Duo found himself standing in a small room.
Someone tacked away at a computer, beautiful lips set into a grim line. Not Heero. This person typed with a different rhythm...and with only their index fingers. There were words on the screen, but the more Duo strained to see them, the more blurred they seemed to become.
Invisible hands were grabbing at him again, leading him away, down a bright hallway. The light did not sting his eyes, but they bothered them, so he looked away.
A girl, stained with blood, stood in one of the open doorways lining the hallway. She screamed and twisted, grabbing at her soft brown curls and shaking her head, "Don't! Leave us alone!" She screamed once more before the door slammed shut, effectively silencing her.
The hands led him to a large space, with no floor and no ceiling. In the middle lay the Throne of Corpses, where the hands bade him rest. A man in white stood off in the distance, his mouth moving at an impossible speed, but Duo could not hear him over the sound of the frightened whispers of the dead. Suddenly, the man in white was in front of him, his hands gripping Duo's shoulders, burning him. The whispers came to a halt.
"The angel who guards and keeps you shall cry in torment eternal 'fore the death of summer comes to pass."
~~~~
Duo came around by degrees. The first thing he became aware of was cold, followed almost immediately by the white-hot pain that traveled from his shoulder down into his chest and arm. His throat was painfully dry, which Duo found almost funny considering the rest of his body seemed to be soaking wet. 'Doesn't seem I was out too long...'
It took a moment to recall the events that had taken place what seemed like only minutes ago, took a moment for panic to set in. Violet eyes snapped open, then shut just as fast, the dim light of his surroundings all but blinding. The pounding in his head redoubled and he was almost sick from the pain in his body. 'Shit, it shouldn't hurt so much... Thinking hurts too.'
It was about this time that he realized he was moving. No, he was being moved, but he himself remained still. 'The van?' He wondered, before the surface he was lying upon gave a rough jolt, sending jarring pain racing up and down his frayed nerves. Duo waited a while, until the pain died to a steady throb before chancing to open his eyes again, one eye slitting open, then the other.
It was dark, but then, recently, everything seemed to be that way, didn't it? A violent shudder traveled the length of the boy's slight frame. Damn drafty, too.
Sitting up too quickly, Duo fell forward into the direction of the spin, landing on his injured arm, which earned a pained grunt from the braided boy. It took a while before he was willing to move again, to try again despite the agonizing pressure he was causing his shoulder by remaining in this position. He twisted, moving to push himself up with his other arm only to realize that his wrists had been cuffed together.
"Well...fuck," He muttered, his voice a little hoarse. Bracing himself, he rolled over onto his stomach and placed both bound hands flat on the slick metal floor, pushing himself up as best he could, resting the majority of his weight on his uninjured arm. When he was able, he forced his knees underneath his chest and sat up once again, leaning his back against the wall to steady himself. His palms were sticky...he turned them up to inspect them, 'Huh, blood...well, that's never cool.'
His eyes now sufficiently adjusted, he allowed his gaze to roam. There was nothing much to look at...except... except for the closely set row of steel bars across the middle of the van. And something in the shadows behind them. Grey, wrinkled skin, huge gleaming teeth, pointed ears, the eyes of a man...
Duo whimpered involuntarily and pressed his back against the immovable metal side of the van, regardless of the pain it caused. 'They stuck me in here with that...that thing! I don't want to be in here with that. Gotta get out, gotta get out...'
The creature moved, as though Duo's own motions had attracted it's attentions. It was unable to stand, it's full height far too great to allow it, but instead crawled forward to the bars.
The braided boy drew in a sharp breath, and in turn, the thing thrust it's snout between the bars, snuffling loudly. Duo froze. The snout withdrew, and a large hand slid out, groping for him. Duo brought a sock foot down, crushing it against the floor that caused the creature to give a startled yelp and jerk the limb back into the other side of the cage.
"Yeah, that's right, Mr. Hyde. You keep your hands to yourself and I'll keep mine to myself." Duo muttered darkly, barely able to suppress the violent tremble of his body.
It was about this time that Duo became aware that the van had come to a stop. He hissed, backing away from the doors, forcing himself to the middle of the van, doing his best to ignore the huffing creature only a few feet away. This was his best chance to escape. He raised himself up onto his knees, and then to a kneeling position. When they opened the doors...The protesting squeak of metal on metal made him tense. Soon...
Light rushed in to fill the darkness of the small enclosure. Duo made his move, charging out and bowling over the first man he saw, subsequentially disarming him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two more moving in to restrain him. Twisting, he went into a spinning round kick, catching one of them across the cheek bone. He heard it snap, and the man went down with an anguished howl. The other man- no, woman, blond hair pulled into a severe ponytail- hesitated momentarily, and he took this chance as an opportunity to knock the gun from her hand. It went spinning underneath the wheels of the van. He didn't stop there, landing another vicious blow to her stomach. She, too, crumpled, gasping for air. Duo ran, the only way he could see to go was a hallway, so he went for it. Vaguely, he wondered how the van even got into the room. He hadn't seen any point of entry. Then again, there really hadn't been time to get a good look around. The hallway was stark white and bright enough to bother his eyes but not enough to sting. There were a string of doors lining either side of it, but they were closed, and with his hands bound, he couldn't hope to get any of them open.
"Deja vu, anyone?" The American whispered to himself, quickly running out of breath. He couldn't see any end to the hall, but the lack of color contrast made for a suitable optical illusion. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that he wasn't even close to home free. The woman had retrieved her gun and was trailing maybe thirty feet behind him. Of course, that same glance over his shoulder nearly ran him straight into the wall that was suddenly looming in front of him. He turned, and headed down to the right. His shoulder throbbed painfully with every thudding step. The hallway was coming to an end, leading to a large noisy room, loud with the sound of beeping machines and low voices.
Duo had a brief flashback to the dream. The Throne of Corpses, the man in white.
"I can't go in there...I can't. This isn't right...gotta go back." Duo panted. coming to a stop.
The woman was on him in seconds, tackling him to the ground, struggling to pin him when he began to fight.
"Don't fight me," She growled, "You're only making this harder for yourself!"
"Actually," Duo shot back, thrusting a knee into her midriff, "I thought I was making it harder for you, too."
That was when she pressed her thumb into the bullet wound in his shoulder. The American spasmed from the pain, temporarily blind from it, "Oh, God." Duo moaned, twisting one last time, then falling still, his body refusing to bear anymore indignities. Something sharp pierced the side of his neck and he mewled, still unable to fully take in the sensation of the lesser pain over the greater.
Then the omnipresent agony faded, the drugs flooding his system, bringing with it merciful darkness.
~~~~
Milky white breasts lay bared and heaving. The figure of the brown haired girl lay broken and bleeding, her eyes open but not seeing. Duo could hear her dying heart struggling to go on. Somewhere, an animal was screaming.
The hands had become more invasive. Their touch less business-like and more...intimate. When he began to struggle, they shoved him violently backwards into a dark pit. He fell for what seemed like an eternity, then landed abruptly in the Throne of Corpses. At least, he sort of landed. It was like one of those out-of-body experiences. His body suddenly snatching him up and holding him to the chair like a great weight.
Duo realized eventually that his eyes were closed. So he opened them... and immediately wished he hadn't. Hundreds of bodies surrounded him, in various stages of decay. Mutilated, deformed, their eyes bulging in fear, in anger, in pain. All hanging from metal hooks like pigs in a butcher's freezer, slowly swinging back and forth. These were not like his Throne of Corpses. These were not people he had killed. He was incapable of the cruelty that had been dealt to the poor, nameless souls.
The whispers started again, low, terrified, rapid words that he couldn't make out. They grew louder, not so much by sheer volume, but as though there were more joining in. Vast numbers of unseen people, until they threatened to overwhelm his senses. His eyes clenched shut. He wanted so desperately to clap his hands over his ears, to shut out the sound, but he couldn't move. His body refused to obey him.
"Stop it..." Duo couldn't even hear his own voice over the others. "Stop it." The whispering had lost all human tone. It had melded to become to become an impossible roar, similar to the sound of a waterfall. Images of the swinging bodies flashed in his mind, barraging him. 'No more. I can't take it. Please...' "STOP IT!"
~~~~
Violet eyes shot open. The light was blinding but Duo was too afraid to shut his eyes again. The dream was still too close. And he had a feeling it would stay with him for a long time.
He lay still for a while, giving himself much needed time to recover from this, the latest of his never-ending series of nightmares. They were always worse when he was alone. Heero was the only one who could keep them at bay. His heart twisted painfully. 'Heero, I need you...'
No time to wallow in self pity, especially not now that he was able to recall the recent events that had transpired when last he was awake. 'So where am I now? And how long've I been out?' Careful motions informed him that he was strapped down to something soft. A bed. His wrists were no longer cuffed together, but tied down with thick strips of what felt like leather. The same had been done to his ankles. The American flexed his muscles, testing his bonds. He'd forgotten about the bullet wound and remembered pain made him freeze... But it didn't hurt. At least, not half as badly as it had been. Then he realized he was dry. True, his hair was still slightly damp, but it- wait. Waaaiiit a minute...
Duo jerked his head up, horrified, "Why am I naked!?"
"Calm down, 02."
It was a familiar voice. Duo turned his head in the direction of it. It was the man in white from his dream, though currently, he appeared far less threatening. Sky blue eyes with a deceptively friendly twinkle looked down to meet his, framed by wire-rimmed glasses, supported by a small, pointed nose. He was past his prime, mid to late fifties, and his hair was a fine white. Pale lips were held in such a way that suggested concern. Somehow, the American knew it was an act. Well, two could play that game.
He recovered quickly, hiding the confusion and fear behind a lopsided grin, "Been a long time since I've been called that. You the head honcho here?"
The man chuckled. Duo shuddered.
"You could say that, I suppose." The man turned away and picked up a plastic clipboard, then began to examine whatever documents were held there with a severe frown, "It says here that you are only seventeen years of age, Mr. Maxwell. It is indeed quite interesting that you and your...partner- who seems to be of the same age as yourself- managed to obtain a home before you've even become legal adults. I suppose that has to deal with your position with the Preventers?"
Duo quickly grew frustrated."Never mind that. Why am I here? Who are you guys?" He snapped, pulling at his restraints once more.
The man in white looked up sharply, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose with the motion. He pushed them back up with his thumb and middle finger, "Once more, Mr. Maxwell, I must ask that you calm yourself. My staff worked very hard on removing that nasty bullet from your shoulder, and we would not want your stitches to come undone. It's amazing it did not shatter your bones."
"You haven't answered my questions." Duo growled, but fell still.
"Patience, young man." The man in white chuckled again, "Ah, but I suppose I should indulge you that much at least. It's only fair." He paused, and his tone grew more serious, "You'll be spending a great deal of time here, most likely until the end of your life span in fact, which will almost surely be cut unfortunately short, I'm afraid."
Duo Maxwell's kept his expression carefully blank of any emotion. Inside, he could barely think past the bewildered panic now whirling throughout his being. He didn't know who was creepier now; this guy, or Mr. Hyde.
"To answer your question, I must first supply you with a sufficient background." The man in white began, setting the clipboard off to the side, "Approximately four months ago, the Preventers sent two of their operatives to the space colony of LXVIVV with suspicions of an underground ring of laboratories performing illegal experimentations on human beings. These two agents confirmed these suspicions by hacking into one of the labs' mainframe. From the information gathered from the various documents kept on this mainframe, they targeted and infiltrated the laboratories in rapid succession, wiping out what they believed to be the whole of this ring. But they missed one."
The man in white fell quiet, as though allowing the American to reflect, to put two and two together. Yes, Duo remembered that particular mission. It stood out in his memory mostly because of the effect it had had on Heero. By chance, Heero had run into one of the holding cells for whatever poor soul that had been kept there in the first lab they had taken. He'd killed whatever had been in there, and from then on refused to allow Duo anywhere near the rooms where they kept the subjects of the experimentation. In most cases, he killed them, and afterwards, would come out pale. But he never told Duo what they were doing in there. What he had seen. On one occasion, Duo grew so frustrated with Heero's behavior, that he had attempted to break into one of these rooms himself, while Heero was busy executing some of the more resistant scientists. Heero had caught him before he'd managed to get the door open- the locks were complicated to get past without a special card key. He'd been furious with him. It had actually frightened Duo a little.
'Don't try to look at them.' Heero had told him, eventually calming somewhat and clutching the braided pilot close to him. 'What those men have done to these people, I don't want you to see it.'
"This explains Mr. Hyde" Duo said at last, "So, what? You guys are the one we missed and you're out for blood now?"
"It isn't quite that simple," The man in white replied, suddenly dropping the friendly concern facade. He looked much more like the man of his nightmare now, blue eyes cold and dead behind the frames of his glasses, "But, yes, that is the main reason you have been brought here. You and your...lover cost us years of research, billions of dollars, you'd nearly ruined everything. Hundreds of good men and women rotting away in prison because of you! These people are the same who have made crucial advances in the field of science, in medicine-"
"Those scientists were nothing but sick, twisted bastards who ruined the lives of innocent human beings. They experimented on them. People were dying." Duo spat venomously.
"Certain sacrifices are necessary." The man in white's voice shook with anger, even as he struggled to bring his voice back down to something more calm, more factual. Duo smirked in satisfaction. At least he seemed to have pushed the right buttons. The man in white fell silent again, but this time, it was for himself, and not the captive American. When he did speak, it was again the gentle tone that he had started out with, "But that is not the sole reason you have been brought here. I assume that you have met Number 12?"
"Number who?" Duo replied, blinking. He paused, and then hazarded a guess, "You mean that bigass monster thing you got?"
The man seemed to suppress another chuckle, "Yes, that 'bigass monster thing' we have."
"What is it, anyway?" The braided boy interrupted, "I mean, how..."
"Did he come to be?" The man in white suggested. Duo nodded.
"I won't lie to you and say it was simple. Otherwise we wouldn't be so proud of him. He is our crowning achievement. The first of his kind...This project has been at work for nearly half a century. We started with an embryo, as a full grown human still exceeds our capabilities to induce any extreme changes to it's physiology. But with an embryo, we could work with a smaller number of cells, making it so much easier to twist it's genes into-"
"Twist it's genes?"
"We used the technology and knowledge that was applied in cloning as the base of our own experimentation. Starting with the embryo, we destroyed the chromosomes for any undesirable traits, then strung the remains together with bits and pieces of animal DNA. I'll admit, there were a few setbacks. He's not as intelligent as a normal human being, only about level with a chimpanzee, but that only makes him that much easier to control."
Duo's tongue swiped across his lips, "Why...would you do that?"
"Why?" The man's lips twisted in what was a parody of a smile, "Because we can... Now, if I may continue...?" The American said nothing so he went on, "As I mentioned before, you were not solely brought here on the basis of vengeance, otherwise I would only have had you killed and left your broken body someplace for Mr. Yuy to find. However, as that is the great majority of the reason you have been brought here, I can guarantee you...you will suffer as Prometheus. But I've gotten ahead of myself.
Several years ago, we began to notice that Number 12's behavior had grown erratic. While he was normally complacent and even gentle, he had grown increasingly violent, restless, unmanageable. It occurred to us that perhaps he had become lonely, that he wanted... a mate. Of course, we became excited by the prospect, as this would provide an excellent chance to see if his semen was compatible with that of a human being's. In other words, it was a chance to see if he could impregnate a woman. As we saw no real reason to be choosey as to who would take the position of his mate, we simply picked up a random girl off the streets. Number 12 seemed pleased with her, and we discovered that he could indeed create an offspring with a human female. Unfortunately, about six months later the girl died due to complications in the pregnancy, and the fetus quickly perished as well. "
Duo shut his eyes for a moment, slightly ill. How could this man talk so easily about any of this? How could he say these things as though he were... as though he were discussing the weather? How could he talk about this with pride?
"Number 12 had been more attached to his mate than we had initially assumed. Since the girl's death he has become lethargic, almost sulky really. So... I decided it best to find him a replacement. Duo Maxwell, you are that replacement."
Duo's blood ran cold, his eyes opened wide, and when he spoke, his voice came out as a cracked whisper, "What?"
Tbc...
~~~~
Another note: Questions? Comments? Venomous snickers? My AIM is EosDaPimptress, and my address is Cody_Chaqspa@yahoo.com. Please feel free to review. Should I finish this fanfic? Should I lower my head in shame and burn it? Should I be made ruler of all creation? These things I must know! So please review as I am an attention whore! I require your delicious praise as well as helpful criticism!
Disclaimer- I don't own Gundam Wing, or any of the Gundam boys. Do you think that if I owned it, I would have ever allowed Relena to exist? Or Dorothy, for that matter? In my Gundam Wing- which exists only in my twisted little mind- All the Gundam boys are angsty and constantly molestered by the Doctors and other random people. And everyone was making sex with everyone else, and having giant kink fests...Needless to say, my version of it is a little bit NC-17...
Author's note: It was brought to my attention that I'd been using power when the power was out. Lol. I hadn't even noticed. I read the review and went *Gasp!* She's right! Gomen nasai, mea culpa, everyone. I'll just say that because it's the future, certain necessities are run by emergency generators. Like fridges, the door release in front, and...elevators...hee. I'm glad this was pointed out. Like I've said before, this is my first fanfic, and I believe there's always room for improvement if you're only steered in the right direction. I'll do my best to please you! No excuses for this chapter! I got it finished before my deadline! A week and a half before! Woo!...As usual, if you are interested in knowing when I plan to update, visit my live journal. I mention the progress on each chapter in at least 80% of my posts.
Advertisements: And now to advertise. Neon Genesis Evangelion. You've heard of it. I know you have. It's probably as well known as Akira, or My Neighbor Totoro. Well, guess what! Yaoi! In episode 24 as well as the movie, there are tiny little yaoi scenes all over the place...okay, the movie is more hintings, but episode 24 IS a yaoi! Anyone who hasn't seen it needs to download/buy it. It's only 26 episodes and the movie, so it isn't as though it would take an eternity to watch, like- oh, say, any of Rumiko Takahashi's works.
Dedication: This now gets its own section...This chapter is dedicated to Nikki, who's birthday passed this month. Happy 17th Nikki! Your last year as a youth! This is also dedicated to Holly, wherever you are now...I haven't spoken to her since I posted the first chapter. She moved from Utah to...uh...someplace else. I haven't heard from her since the move. Dunno what happened to her...maybe she was abducted by the aliens?
IMPORTANT NOTE! Being that I am ahead of schedule with my fic, I am tempted to take the time to start my 4x2 PWP I've been thinking about, like, constantly. So what do you guys say? Should I write the 4x2, or should I get on to the next chapter of this fic and begin the second one later? I've also decided to pair Wufei up with Zechs. I simply can't bear the thought of putting the poor boy with a woman who is-what, ten years older than him?
~~~~
With one of the prince's arms about the younger man's waist and the other flailing for balance, the two staggered forward in a caricature of friendship until the edge of the bed caught them just under the knees and they fell. The warm flesh struggling under him decided Darvish on a new course of action and he fumbled for the ties to his captive's trousers.- Tanya Huff's, The Fire's Stone (Has nothing to do with the chapter, but this woman is my favorite author, like, ever!)
~~~~
Chapter 4
Cruelty
There were two white wolves fighting each other. One with the familiar cobalt blue eyes of his lover, the other with arrogant coal black. They tore at each other with wild abandon, their blood staining soft snowy fur. One eventually fell to the other, though Duo could not see which and the other began to feed from the fallen creature. The scene faded slowly and Duo found himself standing in a small room.
Someone tacked away at a computer, beautiful lips set into a grim line. Not Heero. This person typed with a different rhythm...and with only their index fingers. There were words on the screen, but the more Duo strained to see them, the more blurred they seemed to become.
Invisible hands were grabbing at him again, leading him away, down a bright hallway. The light did not sting his eyes, but they bothered them, so he looked away.
A girl, stained with blood, stood in one of the open doorways lining the hallway. She screamed and twisted, grabbing at her soft brown curls and shaking her head, "Don't! Leave us alone!" She screamed once more before the door slammed shut, effectively silencing her.
The hands led him to a large space, with no floor and no ceiling. In the middle lay the Throne of Corpses, where the hands bade him rest. A man in white stood off in the distance, his mouth moving at an impossible speed, but Duo could not hear him over the sound of the frightened whispers of the dead. Suddenly, the man in white was in front of him, his hands gripping Duo's shoulders, burning him. The whispers came to a halt.
"The angel who guards and keeps you shall cry in torment eternal 'fore the death of summer comes to pass."
~~~~
Duo came around by degrees. The first thing he became aware of was cold, followed almost immediately by the white-hot pain that traveled from his shoulder down into his chest and arm. His throat was painfully dry, which Duo found almost funny considering the rest of his body seemed to be soaking wet. 'Doesn't seem I was out too long...'
It took a moment to recall the events that had taken place what seemed like only minutes ago, took a moment for panic to set in. Violet eyes snapped open, then shut just as fast, the dim light of his surroundings all but blinding. The pounding in his head redoubled and he was almost sick from the pain in his body. 'Shit, it shouldn't hurt so much... Thinking hurts too.'
It was about this time that he realized he was moving. No, he was being moved, but he himself remained still. 'The van?' He wondered, before the surface he was lying upon gave a rough jolt, sending jarring pain racing up and down his frayed nerves. Duo waited a while, until the pain died to a steady throb before chancing to open his eyes again, one eye slitting open, then the other.
It was dark, but then, recently, everything seemed to be that way, didn't it? A violent shudder traveled the length of the boy's slight frame. Damn drafty, too.
Sitting up too quickly, Duo fell forward into the direction of the spin, landing on his injured arm, which earned a pained grunt from the braided boy. It took a while before he was willing to move again, to try again despite the agonizing pressure he was causing his shoulder by remaining in this position. He twisted, moving to push himself up with his other arm only to realize that his wrists had been cuffed together.
"Well...fuck," He muttered, his voice a little hoarse. Bracing himself, he rolled over onto his stomach and placed both bound hands flat on the slick metal floor, pushing himself up as best he could, resting the majority of his weight on his uninjured arm. When he was able, he forced his knees underneath his chest and sat up once again, leaning his back against the wall to steady himself. His palms were sticky...he turned them up to inspect them, 'Huh, blood...well, that's never cool.'
His eyes now sufficiently adjusted, he allowed his gaze to roam. There was nothing much to look at...except... except for the closely set row of steel bars across the middle of the van. And something in the shadows behind them. Grey, wrinkled skin, huge gleaming teeth, pointed ears, the eyes of a man...
Duo whimpered involuntarily and pressed his back against the immovable metal side of the van, regardless of the pain it caused. 'They stuck me in here with that...that thing! I don't want to be in here with that. Gotta get out, gotta get out...'
The creature moved, as though Duo's own motions had attracted it's attentions. It was unable to stand, it's full height far too great to allow it, but instead crawled forward to the bars.
The braided boy drew in a sharp breath, and in turn, the thing thrust it's snout between the bars, snuffling loudly. Duo froze. The snout withdrew, and a large hand slid out, groping for him. Duo brought a sock foot down, crushing it against the floor that caused the creature to give a startled yelp and jerk the limb back into the other side of the cage.
"Yeah, that's right, Mr. Hyde. You keep your hands to yourself and I'll keep mine to myself." Duo muttered darkly, barely able to suppress the violent tremble of his body.
It was about this time that Duo became aware that the van had come to a stop. He hissed, backing away from the doors, forcing himself to the middle of the van, doing his best to ignore the huffing creature only a few feet away. This was his best chance to escape. He raised himself up onto his knees, and then to a kneeling position. When they opened the doors...The protesting squeak of metal on metal made him tense. Soon...
Light rushed in to fill the darkness of the small enclosure. Duo made his move, charging out and bowling over the first man he saw, subsequentially disarming him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two more moving in to restrain him. Twisting, he went into a spinning round kick, catching one of them across the cheek bone. He heard it snap, and the man went down with an anguished howl. The other man- no, woman, blond hair pulled into a severe ponytail- hesitated momentarily, and he took this chance as an opportunity to knock the gun from her hand. It went spinning underneath the wheels of the van. He didn't stop there, landing another vicious blow to her stomach. She, too, crumpled, gasping for air. Duo ran, the only way he could see to go was a hallway, so he went for it. Vaguely, he wondered how the van even got into the room. He hadn't seen any point of entry. Then again, there really hadn't been time to get a good look around. The hallway was stark white and bright enough to bother his eyes but not enough to sting. There were a string of doors lining either side of it, but they were closed, and with his hands bound, he couldn't hope to get any of them open.
"Deja vu, anyone?" The American whispered to himself, quickly running out of breath. He couldn't see any end to the hall, but the lack of color contrast made for a suitable optical illusion. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that he wasn't even close to home free. The woman had retrieved her gun and was trailing maybe thirty feet behind him. Of course, that same glance over his shoulder nearly ran him straight into the wall that was suddenly looming in front of him. He turned, and headed down to the right. His shoulder throbbed painfully with every thudding step. The hallway was coming to an end, leading to a large noisy room, loud with the sound of beeping machines and low voices.
Duo had a brief flashback to the dream. The Throne of Corpses, the man in white.
"I can't go in there...I can't. This isn't right...gotta go back." Duo panted. coming to a stop.
The woman was on him in seconds, tackling him to the ground, struggling to pin him when he began to fight.
"Don't fight me," She growled, "You're only making this harder for yourself!"
"Actually," Duo shot back, thrusting a knee into her midriff, "I thought I was making it harder for you, too."
That was when she pressed her thumb into the bullet wound in his shoulder. The American spasmed from the pain, temporarily blind from it, "Oh, God." Duo moaned, twisting one last time, then falling still, his body refusing to bear anymore indignities. Something sharp pierced the side of his neck and he mewled, still unable to fully take in the sensation of the lesser pain over the greater.
Then the omnipresent agony faded, the drugs flooding his system, bringing with it merciful darkness.
~~~~
Milky white breasts lay bared and heaving. The figure of the brown haired girl lay broken and bleeding, her eyes open but not seeing. Duo could hear her dying heart struggling to go on. Somewhere, an animal was screaming.
The hands had become more invasive. Their touch less business-like and more...intimate. When he began to struggle, they shoved him violently backwards into a dark pit. He fell for what seemed like an eternity, then landed abruptly in the Throne of Corpses. At least, he sort of landed. It was like one of those out-of-body experiences. His body suddenly snatching him up and holding him to the chair like a great weight.
Duo realized eventually that his eyes were closed. So he opened them... and immediately wished he hadn't. Hundreds of bodies surrounded him, in various stages of decay. Mutilated, deformed, their eyes bulging in fear, in anger, in pain. All hanging from metal hooks like pigs in a butcher's freezer, slowly swinging back and forth. These were not like his Throne of Corpses. These were not people he had killed. He was incapable of the cruelty that had been dealt to the poor, nameless souls.
The whispers started again, low, terrified, rapid words that he couldn't make out. They grew louder, not so much by sheer volume, but as though there were more joining in. Vast numbers of unseen people, until they threatened to overwhelm his senses. His eyes clenched shut. He wanted so desperately to clap his hands over his ears, to shut out the sound, but he couldn't move. His body refused to obey him.
"Stop it..." Duo couldn't even hear his own voice over the others. "Stop it." The whispering had lost all human tone. It had melded to become to become an impossible roar, similar to the sound of a waterfall. Images of the swinging bodies flashed in his mind, barraging him. 'No more. I can't take it. Please...' "STOP IT!"
~~~~
Violet eyes shot open. The light was blinding but Duo was too afraid to shut his eyes again. The dream was still too close. And he had a feeling it would stay with him for a long time.
He lay still for a while, giving himself much needed time to recover from this, the latest of his never-ending series of nightmares. They were always worse when he was alone. Heero was the only one who could keep them at bay. His heart twisted painfully. 'Heero, I need you...'
No time to wallow in self pity, especially not now that he was able to recall the recent events that had transpired when last he was awake. 'So where am I now? And how long've I been out?' Careful motions informed him that he was strapped down to something soft. A bed. His wrists were no longer cuffed together, but tied down with thick strips of what felt like leather. The same had been done to his ankles. The American flexed his muscles, testing his bonds. He'd forgotten about the bullet wound and remembered pain made him freeze... But it didn't hurt. At least, not half as badly as it had been. Then he realized he was dry. True, his hair was still slightly damp, but it- wait. Waaaiiit a minute...
Duo jerked his head up, horrified, "Why am I naked!?"
"Calm down, 02."
It was a familiar voice. Duo turned his head in the direction of it. It was the man in white from his dream, though currently, he appeared far less threatening. Sky blue eyes with a deceptively friendly twinkle looked down to meet his, framed by wire-rimmed glasses, supported by a small, pointed nose. He was past his prime, mid to late fifties, and his hair was a fine white. Pale lips were held in such a way that suggested concern. Somehow, the American knew it was an act. Well, two could play that game.
He recovered quickly, hiding the confusion and fear behind a lopsided grin, "Been a long time since I've been called that. You the head honcho here?"
The man chuckled. Duo shuddered.
"You could say that, I suppose." The man turned away and picked up a plastic clipboard, then began to examine whatever documents were held there with a severe frown, "It says here that you are only seventeen years of age, Mr. Maxwell. It is indeed quite interesting that you and your...partner- who seems to be of the same age as yourself- managed to obtain a home before you've even become legal adults. I suppose that has to deal with your position with the Preventers?"
Duo quickly grew frustrated."Never mind that. Why am I here? Who are you guys?" He snapped, pulling at his restraints once more.
The man in white looked up sharply, his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose with the motion. He pushed them back up with his thumb and middle finger, "Once more, Mr. Maxwell, I must ask that you calm yourself. My staff worked very hard on removing that nasty bullet from your shoulder, and we would not want your stitches to come undone. It's amazing it did not shatter your bones."
"You haven't answered my questions." Duo growled, but fell still.
"Patience, young man." The man in white chuckled again, "Ah, but I suppose I should indulge you that much at least. It's only fair." He paused, and his tone grew more serious, "You'll be spending a great deal of time here, most likely until the end of your life span in fact, which will almost surely be cut unfortunately short, I'm afraid."
Duo Maxwell's kept his expression carefully blank of any emotion. Inside, he could barely think past the bewildered panic now whirling throughout his being. He didn't know who was creepier now; this guy, or Mr. Hyde.
"To answer your question, I must first supply you with a sufficient background." The man in white began, setting the clipboard off to the side, "Approximately four months ago, the Preventers sent two of their operatives to the space colony of LXVIVV with suspicions of an underground ring of laboratories performing illegal experimentations on human beings. These two agents confirmed these suspicions by hacking into one of the labs' mainframe. From the information gathered from the various documents kept on this mainframe, they targeted and infiltrated the laboratories in rapid succession, wiping out what they believed to be the whole of this ring. But they missed one."
The man in white fell quiet, as though allowing the American to reflect, to put two and two together. Yes, Duo remembered that particular mission. It stood out in his memory mostly because of the effect it had had on Heero. By chance, Heero had run into one of the holding cells for whatever poor soul that had been kept there in the first lab they had taken. He'd killed whatever had been in there, and from then on refused to allow Duo anywhere near the rooms where they kept the subjects of the experimentation. In most cases, he killed them, and afterwards, would come out pale. But he never told Duo what they were doing in there. What he had seen. On one occasion, Duo grew so frustrated with Heero's behavior, that he had attempted to break into one of these rooms himself, while Heero was busy executing some of the more resistant scientists. Heero had caught him before he'd managed to get the door open- the locks were complicated to get past without a special card key. He'd been furious with him. It had actually frightened Duo a little.
'Don't try to look at them.' Heero had told him, eventually calming somewhat and clutching the braided pilot close to him. 'What those men have done to these people, I don't want you to see it.'
"This explains Mr. Hyde" Duo said at last, "So, what? You guys are the one we missed and you're out for blood now?"
"It isn't quite that simple," The man in white replied, suddenly dropping the friendly concern facade. He looked much more like the man of his nightmare now, blue eyes cold and dead behind the frames of his glasses, "But, yes, that is the main reason you have been brought here. You and your...lover cost us years of research, billions of dollars, you'd nearly ruined everything. Hundreds of good men and women rotting away in prison because of you! These people are the same who have made crucial advances in the field of science, in medicine-"
"Those scientists were nothing but sick, twisted bastards who ruined the lives of innocent human beings. They experimented on them. People were dying." Duo spat venomously.
"Certain sacrifices are necessary." The man in white's voice shook with anger, even as he struggled to bring his voice back down to something more calm, more factual. Duo smirked in satisfaction. At least he seemed to have pushed the right buttons. The man in white fell silent again, but this time, it was for himself, and not the captive American. When he did speak, it was again the gentle tone that he had started out with, "But that is not the sole reason you have been brought here. I assume that you have met Number 12?"
"Number who?" Duo replied, blinking. He paused, and then hazarded a guess, "You mean that bigass monster thing you got?"
The man seemed to suppress another chuckle, "Yes, that 'bigass monster thing' we have."
"What is it, anyway?" The braided boy interrupted, "I mean, how..."
"Did he come to be?" The man in white suggested. Duo nodded.
"I won't lie to you and say it was simple. Otherwise we wouldn't be so proud of him. He is our crowning achievement. The first of his kind...This project has been at work for nearly half a century. We started with an embryo, as a full grown human still exceeds our capabilities to induce any extreme changes to it's physiology. But with an embryo, we could work with a smaller number of cells, making it so much easier to twist it's genes into-"
"Twist it's genes?"
"We used the technology and knowledge that was applied in cloning as the base of our own experimentation. Starting with the embryo, we destroyed the chromosomes for any undesirable traits, then strung the remains together with bits and pieces of animal DNA. I'll admit, there were a few setbacks. He's not as intelligent as a normal human being, only about level with a chimpanzee, but that only makes him that much easier to control."
Duo's tongue swiped across his lips, "Why...would you do that?"
"Why?" The man's lips twisted in what was a parody of a smile, "Because we can... Now, if I may continue...?" The American said nothing so he went on, "As I mentioned before, you were not solely brought here on the basis of vengeance, otherwise I would only have had you killed and left your broken body someplace for Mr. Yuy to find. However, as that is the great majority of the reason you have been brought here, I can guarantee you...you will suffer as Prometheus. But I've gotten ahead of myself.
Several years ago, we began to notice that Number 12's behavior had grown erratic. While he was normally complacent and even gentle, he had grown increasingly violent, restless, unmanageable. It occurred to us that perhaps he had become lonely, that he wanted... a mate. Of course, we became excited by the prospect, as this would provide an excellent chance to see if his semen was compatible with that of a human being's. In other words, it was a chance to see if he could impregnate a woman. As we saw no real reason to be choosey as to who would take the position of his mate, we simply picked up a random girl off the streets. Number 12 seemed pleased with her, and we discovered that he could indeed create an offspring with a human female. Unfortunately, about six months later the girl died due to complications in the pregnancy, and the fetus quickly perished as well. "
Duo shut his eyes for a moment, slightly ill. How could this man talk so easily about any of this? How could he say these things as though he were... as though he were discussing the weather? How could he talk about this with pride?
"Number 12 had been more attached to his mate than we had initially assumed. Since the girl's death he has become lethargic, almost sulky really. So... I decided it best to find him a replacement. Duo Maxwell, you are that replacement."
Duo's blood ran cold, his eyes opened wide, and when he spoke, his voice came out as a cracked whisper, "What?"
Tbc...
~~~~
Another note: Questions? Comments? Venomous snickers? My AIM is EosDaPimptress, and my address is Cody_Chaqspa@yahoo.com. Please feel free to review. Should I finish this fanfic? Should I lower my head in shame and burn it? Should I be made ruler of all creation? These things I must know! So please review as I am an attention whore! I require your delicious praise as well as helpful criticism!