The doctor looked at where number one should have been, if she was still human.
"What made Rose sell his soul to that devil woman? What does he get out of this? Betraying his own brother?! Tell me number one! What are they going to do to Rose!?" Izu was by now highly upset with the evenings activities and he had no patience for games.
__________________
"Ms. Byrd...?" Rose looked at the door, highly confused. "Wha....what just happened?"
"Chance plays the cards, Izu. Rose merely
had a good hand, and he's played the game as he thought fit.
Thus far, his choice has saved a life."
The lights flickered again, revealing the black cape #1 always
wore, and behind it, a figure slumped against the wall.
"And now, doctor, I am dealing you a new hand. You too
have a choice, you and Mori. Will you take the chance or
abandon all hope? I shall take my leave now, and you...
you take care of my gift. I removed the genetic inhibitor."
#1 was gone by the time the lights came back up and the car
jerked back into motion. But in her stead, the enigmatic being
had indeed left something behind. The hazy bundle which had
appeared with #1 was not a object... No, the sheet wrapped figure
was breathing, if only shallowly.
Izu picked up Shiki and shaked him gently.
"Cmon Shiki, wake up." what did she do to him? he thought, arriving at the floor they needed to get off at.
"Mori, take Shiki back to your room. Set him where Rose goes, he won't be back tonight. I need to run my rotations." He hurried off, leaving a drunk Mori with a sheeted Shiki.
_____________________
"Did they see us Ms. Byrd?" By now Rose was back to being pleasently drunk, and slightly confused.
"Was there a party? I like parties....with candy and drinking and booze...." Rose laughed.
"Booze sounds like nose! But with more ooooo!"
Patting him gently on the head, Reena retrieved
the pillow and handed it back to him. The sofa was a mess, as
was the carpet below it. She'd have someone clean it
tomorrow. Right now... right now it was time she got in bed.
"Mori and Izu just don't want to party. You're free to do as you
please, Rose. I however will be in my bed."
_____________________________________
"Mori...."
The shaking was making him feel sicker than he already felt.
That... that woman had forced him to remember everything,
not just the horrors he had performed but his loyalty to the
B.A. over his sister, his hate for the others, everything. He
just wanted to be alone, but Mori's presence was helping. It
was helping to relieve the other pain.
#1 had explained it as removing the dam that was holding him
back. She had said that with it gone he could stay as he was...
No more hypnotizing, no more waking up after years of being
someone else. So he had agreed to it...
Had he known the side-effects before he wouldn't have. But had
he known, he would have gone back to being Byrd's dog...
True, he had bartered for his soul but the pain he was it... It
wouldn't subside, she told him it never would. This pain was the
burden he had traded his soul for, he would bear it forever.
And even now it was working; he could feel Mori's power even
though there was no skin contact. It was a warm feeling, like
the doctor's... Nothing like #1's.
"Mori... Please stop shaking me, I'm gonna throw
up if you keep at it...
He'd wished he could open his eyes and smile at his friend
again, but somehow he knew he couldn't... Who knew what
would happen if he tried.
"Shiki!" Mori hugged his friend, "Are you alright? You just...appeared in the elevator....it was so cool! Why won't you look at me Shiki?" Mori had repressed the idea that Rose could be working for Byrd, and his drunken mind was much more interested in what Shiki was doing. He looked down at Shiki and broke out laughing, curling up on the floor from it.
"NEKKID!!! Shiki!" He couldn't stop his laughing, as much as he wanted to.
"Shiki's NEKKID!!!! NAKED SHIKI ON THE LOOSE!" He flung open the door, yelling to everyone.
Just then someone not to happy had walked past and glared in at Shiki. Without even going in his presence was known.
"Byrd's dog, and one of the flighty birds here to chirp again. You reak of alcohol." Avery had had his mind wiped by 1, not remembering their encounter. he did remember he needed to talk to Shiki about something, but looking at the naked Shiki on the bed he decided to not question him tonight. Holding on to the IV rack Avery looked questioningly at Mori.
"You learn something every day. The dog shacks up with the bird. Interesting."
Tugging at the sheets, though he knew he shouldn't,
Shiki finally managed the escape from it. Eye's still tightly shut,
he managed to scoot himself of the side of the bed and away from
the twin. Mori really did reek, it didn't take a pro to tell that he'd
been drinking. Hugging the wall, Shiki, who was actually clad in the
t-shirt and trunks he had been wearing when abducted, felt around
blindly in search of a chair.
"Mori... I am not naked. And as funny as you might find
that thought, I'd prefer you didn't scream your head off about it.
Avvi.... I can't feel you, so I guess they have you drugged up.
Can you help me? I can't seem to find a chair..."
"What are you? the blind prophet? Find your own chair...and never call me that name. You lost the right to a long time ago. " Avery looked at the fumbling Shiki and finally gave in, helping him to a chair.
Mori laughed at Shiki closing his eyes. "MARCO!!!" He didn't quite get the seriousness of the situation.
"Avery and Shiki sittin in a tree...!" He walked off, down the hall singing that.
"Should I even ask what you did to him dog?"
"I have my eyes closed, do I not?
You do not want to open my eyes right now, Avery."
He grumbled inaudibly as Mori stumbled past, obviously mocking
Shiki. This was going to be a very long night if Izu didn't get back soon.
"He's drunk, Avvie. Don't know why or how in Hell he got stuff
to drink, but I could use some myself. Mori, sit down and shutt up!"
Mori obeyed, lying down in his bed and stifling any further laughter out of fear of Byrd.
Avery continued to glare at Shiki. "I told you not to call me that did I not?" he said, mocking Shiki's grammar.
"Now....open your eyes Shiki. You said it yourself, I'm harmless. I want to see what you're hiding. Do it Shiki...come on...you too afraid? hmm? Dog of Byrd submitting to us 'lesser experiments'?"He laughed weakly.
Izu was about half way done with his rotations and pacing back and forthe about what 1 had said...and why she gave him Shiki.
"No..."
He wouldn't do it... He might have more control over the actual
illusion, but he couldn't control who it affected. #1 had said it
eye contact wasn't necessary anymore... But then she'd also
said his illusions would be more like reality than ever before....
If he could make the others happy, put them in a hypnosis so
deep that it seemed really, why not do it?
But he knew the answer to that....
"It's wrong... To live in an illusion when reality is
too horrible. You can't always lie to yourself..."
A dull bitter tasted filled Shiki's mouth as
Avery's skin made contact. Even on drugs Avery's power
was present and as hyper sensitive as Shiki was now, it hurt.
No... Not just hurt, it burned.
He had to make it stop... He could feel the pain building up.
"Avery!"
Crying out in pain, Shiki unconsciously opened his eyes and
found that both of his former friends had collapse.
"No... I didn't mean too... Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"
Avery looked down at himself, now without his IV tray but the feeling of his sickness welling up was not present either.
"Mm....Shiki made me better." He said as he pulled back his hair and actually smiled.
"Rose!" Mori hugged his twin. Rose gave Mori the look of 'I'm sorry' and they sat down on the bed.
"We can leave now...Byrd won't be bothering any of us again." Rose smiled at Mori.
Mori beamed, he couldn't wait to actually see the sun again.
"Grab Shiki Avery, we're taking off!" Avery complied and they left to find an exit. Once they found an exit, the guards were too afraid to try anything, they went off in search of food and shelter.
"It's so...bright." Mused Avery, as he set Shiki down on the forest floor.
"Do you think theyll follow Rose?" Mori looked troubled.
"nah, I took care of it." Rose smiled, pulling back his twin's hair into a ponytail.
Life was good for once.
He'd tried the method that used to work. Shut down
thought in each part of his brain for a brief second, efficiently cutting
the connection between their minds. But it hadn't worked.
After a while he had attempted to wake up Mori, as he was closer, but
had given up on after a few tries, the boy was giggling madly and
the smell of alcohol was more than overwhelming. It made Shiki,
who had never drunk in his life, feel like his stomach was turning.
With no way of waking up Mori and too afraid to open his eyes again,
Shiki stumbled blindly across the room until he fell over Avery. His
fall carried him not over the younger boy, but on top of him so that
his knee collided painfully with Avery's stomach.
"Shit..."
Kneeling by where Avery's head might be, Shiki shook the other boy
hard enough that his skull made a dull crack as it hit the floor.
"Please snap out of it, please!"
Avery awoke with a jolt. "What the hell?!" he held his head, feeling to make sure it wasn't bleeding. He looked at Shiki and pushed him, hard.
"You gave me paradise then took it away! What is wrong with you?! I could touch!I could be around people without them wearing hazmat suits! Just....take me back there Shiki! Please!" For as long as he could remember he was an untouchable, and for that brief moment while he was hypnotised he was actually a normal human being. Now he was a freak again....a freak with a headache.
"What do you want Shiki? You have my attention. Speak before I give you a headache."
Mori's giggles soon turned to laughs and tears welled up in his eyes. "Rose look! Disneyland!"He laughed harder, writhing about the floor.
Just that brush of skin contact almost had
Shiki emptying his stomach. Avery was pissed, and an angry
Avery meant raging plague. He might not be capable of doing
damage, but just the spike in power had disabled Shiki.
Every part of him felt like it was burning, and now that he
was closer to the door he could sense almost every person in
hall, left alone the building. The next door neighbor was using
hydrokinesis to get water from the tap, Rori was clawing at his door,
Mattie was awake somewhere and was unconsciously channeling
her mind control on a hamster, Elliot was training in
a room somewhere above...
Getting to his feet with the intention of moving away from the
door, Shiki unsteadily stumbled backwards and into the wall.
Grasping his head with his hands, he tried to block everything out.
He just had to hang on for a bit, had to deal with his ability
and the overwhelm amount of knowledge just a little longer.
Just until he got Mori out of this...
"Make it stop... please... before I hurt him again...
I can only control it for so long. The moment I lose
concentration, the moment I feel pain, it will be a
nightmare for him, for you."
"What did you do to yourself?" Avery could tell that this Shiki was the one he had known all those years back. But why he had appeared and why he wanted Avery's help was beyond him.
"If it helps he seems to like it." Was all he could think to say. He set his concentration on trying to calm himself down. He turned the valve on his IV so more drugs would go through, and soon he was almost in a vegi state. His glassed over eyes looked at Shiki.
"Shiki" He smiled. Looking vaguely at him.
Avery was not one to know how to work medical stuff, and he had overdosed himself.
Izu came back and looked around, highly confused. Mori was still laughing, but Avery had arrived. More suprising than that, Avery was smiling and happy to see Shiki.
He surmised Avery was really drugged up.
"Shiki...Shiki what's wrong?"the doc was worried when he saw that Shiki looked about to puke.
"What happened? Come on Shiki, tell me."
"Izuchan!" Avery laughed quietly
He could feel warmth amidst all the chaos, not
Mori... Mori was completely out of it... Izu? Maybe... Oh please let it
be him.
"Izu..."
Eyes still firmly shut, Shiki turned his head towards the voice.
It had to be Izu. He was the only other one who might come in here.
"Izu, make the voices stop please... Wait... Wake Mori up first.
Then I need you to sedate me. Don't ask questions... Not yet..."[/i]
Izu looked confusedly at the scene then went about the tasks Shiki asked. Once he was able to wake the drunk Mori up Izu set up an IV on Shiki. Not so much as Avery but enough to supress his powers. Then he tightened the nozzle on Avery's so he wouldn't be a vegi.
"Now, you wanna tell me what happened Shiki?" Izu plopped down in a chair, exhausted by the evening's activities.
__________________
Rose looked down at his wrists where Mori had cut himself, and Rose as well, in hopes of saving Shiki. He excused himself from Ms. Byrd's company and stumbled to the evevator, taking it down to what he hoped was a quiet room with Mori in it. He needed to talk to his twin, to explain what happened, how it was to benefit Mori. Instead he found a very full room, filled with people he didn't want to have to explain himself to.
Calmed now, Shiki lay back against the wall and sighed.
The sedative running through his system dulled the pain and lessened
the extent of his abilities. Truth be told, he'd prefer not to rely upon
drugs. If he became dependent he'd turn out like Avery and the IV
cart. No... He'd have to find some way to live without them.
"Do you know anything about the genetic inhibitor?"
Everything was still swirling in his mind's eye. He could practically
see the others as they moved about their rooms, could feel and
taste and hear their powers at work. But it slowed now, not so much
a whirlwind of information as a heavy rain.