The Color of Blood Chapter 12

Mongers of Pain

By Brady Bryner, Bill Shofstall, & Anthony McKinley

Cosmo Canyon, Observatory 1:34 AM June 6

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Get two specimens, dumb ass. The good doctor requires them..." Under his mask, the soldier smiled wickedly. "Now, get your dart gun ready." They slid into the room silently. Taking careful aim, a dart shot into Anthony's back. Already being asleep, it put him into a thoughtless haze. The other soldier simply grabbed Ras and put him into a small net device. Ras didn't wake though. Anthony was dragged out and also put into a thick net device. They walked past the unconscious gaurd. They loaded the two into a helicopter and took off.

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Valhalla, Laboratory 8:37 AM June 6

"What?" Anthony looked around grogilly. "What the hell is goin' on here?" Ras was quivering next to his father. "Hey! I demand to know what's goin' on!"

"Shut up! We'll be with you in a minute." He saw a young man in a white coat preparing something.

"What's going on?"

"I said shut up! Are you damn things def!?!"

"And I asked what was going on! Are you damn things def!?!"

"Listen to me you stupid ass THING... I am a scientist. Understand that? Scientist. I need you to cooperate."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll simply have you exterminated. Now shut up. We'll be testing the cub first."

"What!?! You leave my son alone!" The man picked up a recorder.

"The creatures appear to have emotion."

"Creature? Who the fuck you calling a creature? I ain't from a fucking B movie."

"Silence!"

"You touch my son I'll rip every last one of your fingers off and jam them into your spine." Meanwhile, Ras was shaking and crying into Anthony's side.

"What's happening?"

"You see that man over there?" Ras looked up and nodded while crying. "Yeah, that man is going to die."

"Why?" Ras hiccuped.

"Cause... I don't like him..."

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Valhalla, Laboratory 10:45 AM June 6

Ras was crying when they placed him back in a cage with Anthony. Anthony growled silently, narrowing his eyes at them. He laid down and kept Ras very close, muttering. "When they come back, I'll kill them all..." But he didn't. They hooked large shackles to each leg and turned on a huge device. Incredible shocks of electric shot through him. "BWAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed but found he was drowned out by the loud buzzing of the machine. It stopped and he fell onto the table. He squeezed his eyes shut. They brought Ras out for a second set of experiments. Ras was set up in a similar machine, but when it stopped, he fell down. He was barely breathing. Anthony stared in shock, then anger. The scientist looked worried though.

"Damn! He's a goner..." Anthony shook his head. "Ain't no way. We gotta get a new specimen now."

"NO!" Anthony shrieked and the shackles simply burst apart.

"Shit! Lock down the room! Kill the specimen. It's gone hostile."

Anthony leapt at him and ripped the man apart. He turned to a group of three scientist. "My son... You... You..." One shot a dart into Anthony's shoulder, but he didn't stop. They all fired darts at him. He roared and shook them out, bleeding from the different holes. "And this is what you call evolution. Being twisted. You didn't care then, as I do not now..."

"No... Stop!" Anthony tore them all apart.

"Die!" He began to eat one of them, all the cuts and burns on him sealing. He picked up Ras in his mouth and smashed through an observation window, running down the halls. Gaurds filled the ways out, firing at him. Anthony didn't flinch. He just ran, bullets tearing into him. He ran over a gaurd in front of a door, crushing his chest. He hid Ras in a small bin, and turned around. He became human and put on cloths of a soldier and threw the helmet down the hall. He picked up the gun a loaded a clip. Five gaurds ran down the hall firing at what they thought was an intruder, not an escaping specimen. Anthony made them all fall, filling them with bullets. He grabbed Ras, unconscious but breathing, and placed him into the pack on the soldier's uniform. He reloaded his gun and fired randomly around the building, killing various employees and gaurds.

"This is as far as you'll go..." A group of soldiers sorrounded him.

"Damn... You know, I'd really like to stay and play shoot the dumb ass, but I really gotta go. Later ya'll." He smiled and killed the first few gaurds, and then rolled to duck the gaurds fire. He made sure he hadn't hurt Ras anymore then he already was. The gaurds kept firing, and started to accidentally shoot a window overlooking the cliff. Anthony saw the window was bullet resistant, and began to crack. He turned around and nodded, making all of the soldiers fly backwards into a wall. He threw himself through the window, down to the water below, praying he'd make it. He hit the water with heavy splash and turned back into his true form, plucking Ras from the pack and began swimming into an obscure direction, away from Valhalla. Ras woke up.

"Daddy... Am I going to...die?" Ras pulled himself up onto Anthony's shoulder and collapsed.

"No... You'll be fine..."

"But...I'm in pain... I hear something..."

"What?"

"High pitched... So loud... It hurts..."

"The cries of the Planet... Ignore them." Anthony had read then when some one was dying, they might hear the cries of the Planet clearly.

"But they say..."

"Ignore them Ras. You'll be fine... We just have to get to land and you'll be fine..."

"You're bleeding. Don't you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine. We're gonna go home Ras. Just think of something else. Don't listen." Ras didn't stop listening though. Silent tears streaked his face. He nuzzled his father's neck.

"I love you, Daddy..." Anthony began to cry as well.

"I love you, too." Ras laid down on Anthony's and nuzzled his neck more. Then Ras stopped. Anthony knew what had happened. "Daddy loves you. More then anything. I'll kill them... All of them... Every last one of the fucking bastards! They will feel my pain... I love you so much, Ras... I always will... Daddy is goin' to go get revenge."

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Cosmo Canyon, Cosmo Candle 2:34 PM July 15

Anthony sulked around the fire. "How can I? I have to get revenge. I promised him that..."

"Anthony... I'm as sad as you...but...sometimes you just can't keep all the promises you make..."

"No... I will keep this promise. I will..."

"I understand...Ranika." Anthony's real name was Ranika, but his father gave him his name in the human tongue. In turn, he named one of his sons Ranika. "Must you really go through with it?"

"Damn it! Of course! Don't you love your son?"

"Yes! Never before had I felt so blessed. And they love us... Both of them."

"Then I will have vengeance. You can help me or get in my way." She nodded.

"I know... Isn't there an easier way?"

"No... We're going to begin work for Reeve as Turks."

"But... But... They're idiots!"

"I know. Believe me, I know. No matter though. We can use the position to get a job spying in Valhalla, and while I'm there, I'm going to kill whoever ordered them to get Ras and me for experiments. Oh yeah... I'll fuck that bastard up..."

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Cetralin, Destilian 4:46 PM July 15

Nanaki looked at the message. Haktoi was behind him, staring down a long path. "My nephew... This is from my brother... We have to go... Or at least I do..."

"I'm coming with you."

"This could be dangerous..."

"Big deal. I can handle it."

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Cetralin, Rame 12 Noon July 17

Nanaki hung his head sadly after hearing Anthony's story. Reeve soon arrived to see what Anthony wanted. Reeve was startled by his request. "I... I can't just hire you! There are requirements." Anthony was in his human form, wearing his cloak with the hood down. He picked Reeve up by the neck.

"Listen to me! I could easily be one of the most powerful beings on the Planet. You will hire me, or I'll tear your goattee off and beat you to death."

"Fine fine..." Anthony dropped him. Anthony was shorter then Reeve, and was quite spindly, but was very strong. Nanaki just looked at him. He blinked or winked, Reeve couldn't tell since Nanaki had but one eye. "You're hired..." Anthony looked annoyed. "And you other three..."

"Good boy... Now go away, I'm busy." Anthony pulled the Claymore from his cloak. "All part of the job..."

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Midgar, Shinra Building 1:11 PM December 30

Anthony stood outside on a balcony, snow pouring down. Anthony, Haktoi, Kianki, and Nanaki had all moved to Midgar to pursue a new career. Ranika was asleep in Anthony's office. He commonly wore his cloak, which was warm enough to wear in the snow. Without the pollution, snow fell freely into the city before melting. Anthony was sipping wine, staring into the oddly thick cloud in the sky. He saw odd streaks of flames spiraling through the sky. Vincent walked out onto the balcony. "Hello, Anthony."

"Hey."

"I have to ask you something... Why did you want this job?"

"Hmm... Well..." Anthony explained about Ras, depressing himself. "I gotta get revenge."

"Yes... I've done much of that myself..."

"Life seems to hate me... Everytime I think I could have a normal life, something goes wrong..."

"Yes, yes... Life has a way of doing that... I was a normal child, and grew to be a normal young man... But that was the end." Anthony sat on the edge of the balcony, facing out over the edge.

"I just put a lot of trust in faith now..."

"What do you mean?" Anthony shoved himself off of the balcony. Vincent looked over the edge. Anthony shot back over the edge and landed behind Vincent.

"I can do that... I know I can... Faith." He smiled.

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Shinra Building, Reeve's Office 7:45 PM January 13

"Reeve. I'd like to specialize in assassination." Anthony finally found a way to get revenge.

"Umm... Well, you'd have to be a damn good thief. Lots of sneaking around involved."

"Easy..." Over the next three weeks, Anthony trained under Lord Cait Sith, who was very excelled at thieving. Anthony soon learned many techniques and tricks to being a thief, and was sure it could help being an assassin, and he was promoted. Nanaki became a spy, and Haktoi as well. Kianki became an explosives and electrical technician. She had long enjoyed working on electronics, commonly in the observatory. Last, a new Turk, Biggs was an assassin and was assigned to Anthony to work as a team. Biggs was given all of weapons that had been made for Barret several years prior.

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Midgar, Street 9:34 PM March 1

Lord Cait handed Anthony a small package. The two were hiding in an alley. "Now, the cloak is dark enough to hide you in darkness, but far to heavy to move freely." Anthony opened the package and found a set of cloths made of dark black cloth.

"What's the cape for?"

"It'll hold lock picks and such, and if some one draws to close, pull it over your face to hide." Anthony nodded and put it on. It had shoes made of pads, a belt, a hood, and several other things made to hold things or to make him more silent or less visible.

"I know your training is over, but I got a job for you... See that house over there?" Lord Cait pointed to a large stone building.

"Yeah."

"I want you to steal a necklace made of pearls from the master bedroom on the second floor."

"How do you know this?"

"I tried to do it. I was almost caught."

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Midgar, House 12:45 AM March 2

"Hope ya'll are asleep." He jumped off the roof and grabbed a window ledge. He used a glass cutter and unlatched the window. He slipped in unseen. He was in a child's bedroom. He found the door and walked through, into the hall. He saw a man walking toward a door. He walked up behind the man and hit him, knocking him out before he could yell. Anthony heard another person coming. He hid on the first floor. A woman came down the steps and turned on the light. Anthony hid in a dark corner, covering his face, save one eye. He removed a heavy dart from his coat and threw it at the light.

The woman screamed and put her hand over her heart. "Damn... Need to fix the lights in this house." She shook her head and walked back upstairs. Anthony followed silently and followed her. She found her husband unconscious and screamed again. Anthony looked around quickly and hid back in the dark, and slid on the wall by her. He was clearly visible, but she was too frightened to notice. He snuck into the room and opened all of the drawers, getting frustrated, as he couldn't find the necklace. He threw the drawers around, until he saw it. It was hanging on a bust of the woman's head. He smiled and grabbed it and dove out the window, smashing it. He landed on his feet with little pain. He heard a car coming, and ran off into the dark, finding Lord Cait. He threw him the necklace.

"Thanks for letting me know how good I am..."

"Oh damn... What did I do?" Anthony was prepared to get revenge. Lord Cait got a headache. "I fucked up big this time..."

"That's right you did." A handsome man walked from the shadows.

"Bahamut?"

"What? I can do this too. Not like people won't notice a huge dragon walking around the city."

"Point taken."

"Well, you did mess up, but this can become a good thing or a bad thing. If he gets his revenge, he should calm down, and we can go back to stopping Chaos."

"Right... Oh well... We'll wait and see."

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