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"I don't understand!" Riyo cried a second time, trying to squirm her way across the floor. She was pinned down on her stomach and couldn't see much. It was even Blade's voice, and if he was an illusion, she wouldn't have imagined him saying that.

While one cat creature still had a tight grip on her arm, the other hissed and turned to Blade with fury in its red sunken eyes. Much like what had happened in the room Riyo woke up in, the creature took a leap towards him.

And that's when the bracers kicked in. She let out an almost inhuman shriek as they hit her at full power. Both of her cat minions exploded, leaving little black droplets all over the room mixed with the blood of her victims.

"This isn't over..." The man hissed as he faded out like a bad illusion.

When the bracers had done their job, a little bit of smoke fizzled up from her now burnt skin. Her arms and legs gave involuntary twitches, while her eyes stayed open, though they weren't focused on anything. She was unconscious.

Being nervous the lab techs did basically as Blade told them, they stayed back. They all seemed to pace in a circle just far enough away to prevent injury.

"What are you idiots doing?" Suto growled as he walked up to the group huddled around the pair on the ground. Pushing techs out of the way Suto walked up beside Riyo and knelt by her unconscious form. He closed her eyes only shortly after checking her vitals. At least she was still alive. Resting his bloody arm on his knee, Suto turned his gaze toward Blade finally replacing his glasses on his face. "So what do you suppose I should do with you?" Suto waved for the techs to move forward.

Hesitantly they obeyed and swarmed the two lifting Blade to his feet, a pair gently lifting Riyo off the ground. "Take the girl back to her room." Suto instructed. "Make sure she is comfortable." Looking Blade over Suto tried to decide on what the better course of action would be. "Take the boy to the morgue. Let him sit in the cold for a while. Put him in a body container."

"Y...yes Sir." The techs scrambled about to do as they were told as Suto left to go back to the main lab, a bloody trail following in his wake. He needed to look over the results of this little experiment and it could take a while.

The tech in front of Blade doubled over holding his family gemstones. His voice was a few octaves higher than normal as he merely fell on his side curling up in a fetal position. Blade's 'request', however, went ignored as the other techs carried Riyo out of the arena and back to her room.

"Come on, move it." The techs at either side of Blade tugged on his arms to get him moving. The sooner they had him in the morgue the sooner they could go back to their safe little jobs behind a desk.

"Be sure to treat any wounds," Suto instructed before he disappeared toward the main lab.

The techs who had Riyo merely nodded as they made their way back to the room she had been held in. Once inside they placed her on a gurney and went about cleaning her up and checking for wounds.

"Her wrists look burnt." One tech said as he raised her hand. It was hard to see passed the metal cuffs.

"Suto said to treat her wounds, so take them off and treat them quickly and put them back on. She's out right now anyway." The other tech replied as he busied himself with cleaning the girl's face.

Doing just that the tech took the cuffs off and set them aside. Going to the cabinets he pulled out some ointments and bandages and went to work.

The struggling was wearing them out but at least they were making progress down the hall. The morgue was a bit of a walk but hopefully they would be able to get there with little issue. It didn't seem like the boy had much strength to work with.

"Oh, there's an original idea." One tech said.

"Yeah, wish we would have thought of that," the other said.

"Suto has eyes and ears all over the place. Just a whisper of the notion can get you put in isolation or worse."

"Not to mention the people who watch our families expect regular reports from Suto. Without those reports they know to kill their targets." The other finished.

"And not everyone is against being here. Some see merit in what that mad man does."

The other nodded. "Its best just to lay low and do as your told. You'll live longer that way."

The went a bit further before taking the stairs. The further they went the colder it became until their breath was easily seen in the air. The morgue wasn't far.

---

The burns seemed to be pretty bad, so it took the tech some time to treat them and get them wrapped.

"She does have a pretty face." The other tech said. "To bad she's scary as hell."

"Are you still cleaning her face? Come on, I want to be done with this so I can leave." The other tech spat as he checked the rest of her arms for damage.

"I was just saying." The other tech shrugged. They hardly ever saw woman here and they never stayed pretty for long. He wondered how long this pretty face would last. "Besides....I don't think any of this blood is hers...."

"Riiiiiyo."

"Oh Riiiiyo."

"Wakie wakie."

The continuous taunts brought her back to a semi-conscious state. Somebody was touching her face.

'Too bad she's scary as hell.'

Her eyes fluttered open, that dull look still lingering. Her arms hurt so bad. One of them a little worse than the other from the attack on herself. "Nnnngh." She whined, fingers twitching a little. "W-where's Blade?" Her words were hard to understand. That shock had really knocked the sense out of her.

Riyo managed to snap back into reality with the realization of where they'd sent Blade. T-the morgue? But he wasn't dead! Why would they do that?

Quicker than she probably should've, Riyo sat up and attempted to stand, which only got her as far as the door. That's when she ended up falling. Naturally, she tried not to fall on her face, which landed her on one of her arms.

"GODDAMNIT!" She screamed in pain and frustration. Her head banged against the door a few times before she finally stopped. Her arms wouldn't lift. She was practically useless right now. "I don't know what to do." There was a tone of defeat in her words now. "Damnit..."

"Gah! Son of a b***h!" The tech that had been pulling let go, holding his now broken nose.

"Don't let go you idiot!" The other tech struggled to keep hold but he was getting no help from his injured comrade.

----

The two techs looked at each other for a moment at a loss for what to do. When Riyo finally lay still by the door they walked to her side and tried to collect her to bring her back to her feet, careful not to grasp her arms.

"You still need to be treated." One tech explained as he tried to lead her back to the gurney.

"Suto will be angry if you do not get treatment."

Riyo looked up at the two techs with a rather pitiful face. Like a child on the verge of tears, though none came. She didn't fight them. She simply stood with their help and returned to the gurney she'd woken up on.