"Is everyone else good?" Owen watched as Mina spoke into the earpiece, "Lumi, are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine, love. I'll explain later. Bella and I are changed and we're back in the main plaza," Lumina responded and sounded even more invigorated.
Owen pushed the button as well, saying, "Mina and I are changed, the scientists are knocked out. We're past the plaza and heading towards the main building. We found a Level 3 access card on one of the scientists so we're good to go. Fenix, Leon, what's going on for you guys?"
There was a moment of silence, "Leon? Fenix?" Mina asked again, her voice showing a little bit of worry now that the two boys had not responded, "Are you two alright?"
After a moment, there was heavy breathing for a moment as Leon spoke, "We're good, we're alright, don't worry. Things just got complicated really quickly. Let's just say we had the brilliant plan that since most of the scientists are at the headquarters, we could just follow them there and grab two…It was much harder than expected."
"What did we say about no unnecessary risks?!" Lumina said frantically, sounding stressed, "Why is it that every time we have a plan, it's always you two that go off script?!"
Bella looked concerned, "Now that I think about it, was it a good idea to pair them together?" She asked.
"Absolutely not, it was a terrible idea," Owen said, shaking his head and wishing he could glare at his best friends, "Why we let the two of them go together, I have absolutely no clue, but I swear to God. Both of you better not get into any more trouble."
Fenix laughed, "Yes, yes, guapo, we get it."
"Gross, stop flirting right in front of me, ugh, I hate that I know Spanish," Leon fake gagged.
"At least I'm not the one sleeping in my best friend's sister's—" Fenix was cut off by the sound of his mouth being covered.
Leon laughed both nervously and threateningly at the same time, "Fenix better shut his fucking mouth before I leave him here to fend for himself."
"...Please don't, I know he's annoying but I just got him back," Bella said concernedly, "Anyways, are you both…Did you guys knock out a couple of scientists?"
There was a moment of silence before Fenix spoke up, "Uh, yeah…I'd say we knocked out a bit more than a couple of scientists, though."
"...How many?" Lumina asked.
Leon laughed nervously again, "Um. We didn't really count…I just tranquilized them as they came at us."
Mina stopped walking at that and Owen almost bumped into her, "Hold up, you have a fucking tranquilizer?" She asked, "Who the fuck allowed that team to be the one with the tranquilizer?"
Owen sighed, "Think about Mina, who would be the ones who'd probably need a tranquilizer the most?"
"Ah. Actually, that makes a lot of sense," Mina sighed, "Just…Don't tranquilize each other again, please. We don't need that right now."
They could practically hear Fenix rolling his eyes, "Come on, Mina, that was two years ago. Can we move on from that?" He asked.
"No, no, I'm on Mina's side with this one," Owen said, "You don't get to move on until you can prove that you can use a tranquilizer without immediately using it on each other."
"Well, we're both still conscious now, aren't we?" Leon asked, "Anyways, we're both good, we're the closest to the headquarters. Fenix and I are going to head in to get a head start. Seeing as we currently have the least amount of access cards, we've got to find a way to get some more."
Lumina sighed, "Alright, both of you, be careful."
"Always are," Fenix replied.
"No, you both never are, which is why we're all concerned. If either of you gets hurt, I'll drag you both from Hell and kill you myself," Owen muttered.
Fenix made an offended noise, "Wow, even my own boyfriend thinks I'm going to Hell, I'm being attacked on all sides."
"Alright, all of you shut up and get to work, we've spent too much time just talking. Leon and Fenix, get inside the building. Mina and Owen, I think you two are closer to the building than us so try to get in there as well. Lumina and I will make our way there as quickly as we can," Bella said.
"Yes, Ma'am," Leon said, and his smile could be heard as he responded.
There was a sigh, "Leon, stop flirting with my sister in front of me."
"You know what, I'm sorry, looks like this will not be the time where you learn to trust me with a tranquilizer," Leon said, sounding as though he was smiling through gritted teeth.
Owen turned to look at Mina who simply shook her head, seeming exhausted already, "Let's just…Let's go, Owen. Maybe if we meet up with them, we can stop them from murdering each other."
They had only kept walking for a little bit before Owen froze, as his eyes landed on the face of one of the scientists walking around.
Immediately, in his mind, there were flashes of a white room, machines, restraints holding him down, and people in white jackets, and he could barely keep himself from making a sound of distress. Thankfully, he didn't need to make a noise for Mina to notice something was wrong, "What is it?" She asked quietly, leaning down close to him so he could whisper to her.
"...Those scientists. The ones heading into that building. I recognize them," He said lowly, trying to control his breathing.
Mina's eyes widened for a moment, "You don't mean…"
"Yeah, they…They experimented on me," Owen said, grimacing. Both of them were silent for a moment, seemingly letting it settle in.
Mina gritted her teeth, "I'll kill them. I'll do it with my bare hands."
"I want to as well, but how would we get away with that? Wouldn't it be attracting too much attention?" Owen asked.
"Listen to me, Owen," Mina said, putting her hands on his shoulders, "What if they have access cards? All of them? We would have to get the cards from them, and who can blame us if we just happened to go a bit overboard and make those bastards go silent?"
Owen seemed to catch onto what Mina was saying. Honestly, he couldn't really find a reason to deny her, which to be fair, he wasn't looking too hard for a reason to argue against her, "...Alright, fine, you're right. We just need to be careful about it, there's four of them."
Mina hummed as they turned, changing their direction to follow the scientists, "Yes, but no guards," She pointed out, "Should be an easy kill. Our usual weapons are too large for a quick kill like this, you've got a quick blade or something?"
"Yeah, I've got a blade. You?" Owen asked back, lowering his voice as they caught up to the scientists, still following at a distance. As they watched the four scientists turn into a small building, Mina grinned a little bit.
"I've got a dagger. Let's go. Remember, no matter how many people are in that building, just go in and go for the throat if they're scientists. If not, knock them out as quickly as you can," She said quietly and carefully pushed the door open.
Inside the dimly lit room, there were six scientists that turned to look at them, two more seemed to have already been in the room. They seemed shocked to see normal civilians there, and that moment of surprise and hesitation was all Mina and Owen needed. Leaping over the couch, Mina grabbed one of the scientists by the head and slammed him down against the ground, pressing her knee on his chest and causing him to wheeze. With no hesitation, she drew her dagger and slashed his throat, the man falling silent immediately after.
Owen had gone for one of the men who was standing up first, kicking his legs out from under him and causing the scientist to trip and fall. He didn't wait to stab the blade into the man's neck and pull it up quickly, looking for his next target.
"Mina," He called out, as the woman finished slicing the throat of another scientist, "Leave that one for last," He pointed to a man who was simply cowering in the corner, trying to edge his way towards the exit.
The older woman hesitated before killing the next scientist, grabbing the white labcoat and ripping it off of him before stabbing him twice, once in the stomach and once in the throat. The man choked on his blood for a few moments before he fell unresponsive. She grabbed another lab coat which was surprisingly clean off of another dead body. As she did, she turned to see Owen had finished off the second scientist he'd gone after.
Which meant there was only one left.
Owen watched the remaining man try to reach the door and simply smirked, walking over and grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt, dragging him back into the dark room, and throwing him on the ground, hard enough that the breath was knocked out of him.
"I'll let you take care of this one," Mina said, sitting on the couch in front of the man as Owen took a step closer to the man. The man whimpered, edging away.
The younger boy laughed softly, but there was no doubt that it was a dangerous laugh, "You're so scared of me, it's adorable…You don't even know who I am yet, do you?" He asked, kicking the man in the stomach, his eyes flashing as he heard the man groan.
"Please, please, let me go. I don't know who you are, I—I'll give you whatever you want," The man got on his knees and begged.
Mina laughed, "It's really pathetic, isn't it? He got knocked around a little bit and now, he's on his knees, begging you to spare his life. Weak, isn't he? These are the kind of people the White Lotus has, huh?"
"You're right, Mina," Owen said, spinning the knife in his hand, "In fact, he's so scared when he doesn't even know who I am. Do you think I should tell him? How scared do you think he'd be if I told him?" Without waiting for an answer, he leaned down, close to them, grinning when he flinched, "I was five when you began to torture me, and I was eight when you took out my eye for your 'research'. You made me forget my entire childhood, my family, my brothers," He gritted out, "And you kept me locked up in that goddamn place for years before you decided that I was a lost cause and planned to kill me. It's only thanks to Mirabella and Fenix that I'm alive now."
Realization and recognition slowly came into the man's eyes, "...You…You're subject 34, aren't you?" He said shakily, inching back until his back hit the wall, "You're him, aren't you?"
"Correct answer," Owen smiled, "Now that you know who I am, I wonder how scared you must be. Six years of hell, and now I have you trapped here, and you can't do anything. You're helpless, small, you're trapped," He grinned, "Now, you know how it feels."
Mina hummed, "While I wish you could take your time on this, we do have to get going soon, Owen," She reminded him, "We can't slow down the others. I'll be waiting outside to make sure no one comes inside, once you're done, check if he has an access card, alright?" She asked. Owen nodded, and with that, she got up and left the small building.
And when the muffled screaming began, she pretended she didn't hear it, secretly reveling in the sound of the man suffering.
It was only a couple of minutes later that Owen stepped out, his white lab coat not on him anymore. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Mina handed him one of the labcoats that hadn't been splattered with blood. As he tugged it on, she asked, "Did you kill him?"
Owen nodded silently.
"Did he suffer?"
A pause. And then, another nod.
"Good," Mina said, reaching over to fix the collar on the coat.
"...Does it make me a bad person? That I was happy that he suffered?" Owen asked softly.
Mina hummed, "I think we've gotten past the point of whether we're good people or not. We're all just…Hurt. And maybe, others might think we're bad people for letting things like this get to us but in the end, it's your choice. Some people are deserving of mercy, yes. But not everyone. And we're in a time of war, where sometimes, we may have to do bad things to keep the people we love safe. So, I think the concept of being a good or bad person doesn't matter anymore."
Owen sighed, "...You're right. Man, you always give such good advice."
"I know I do," Mina ruffled his hair, and they began walking, "Besides, would it make you feel better if I told you that whatever you did to hurt that man, Kaedan probably would have done one hundred times worse? Like, if he was willing to become a public enemy and be disowned for telling the truth about what happened to you, then I can't imagine what he'd do to the people who hurt you."
"Wait, what? Public enemy? I mean, I knew he went against our parents' wishes to try and find me but…" Owen seemed surprised at this.
Mina looked at him, "Oh, did he not tell you?" She asked, "When he found out about what your parents did, he threatened to go public with the information. Your parents pushed back and threatened to strip him of all monetary assets, disown him, and label him as a public enemy. That was actually how Kaedan and Xander met. Your brother, Wyran, was friends with Xander. He realized that a way for Kaedan to release the information and still keep everything he had would have been to win a legal case. Xander was one of the best lawyers he knew. Honestly, if all the other things with the White Lotus and Wyran's brother didn't happen, Kaedan might have actually won. After finding out how your parents were involved with the White Lotus and how deeply they were involved in what happened to you, and then hearing that you had died…Kaedan decided that winning the case wasn't enough."
Owen looked at her, his eyes filled with awe, "He…He took down Sector 1 for me?" He asked softly.
"Partly, yes. You were definitely the root of his reason, but I do think it was also for himself and Wyran. The fact that your parents were associated with the people who got Wyran killed was enough of a motive. If only he had known what his mother did back then…" Mina said, "Kaedan wasn't really treated the best either, especially by your mother. I think it was cathartic for him, and he doesn't regret it."
"I didn't realize…" Owen murmured softly.
Mina smiled a little, "Well when we finish what we came here to do and get out of here, you can ask him yourself," She said.
Owen nodded, before he perked up, "Oh, the access cards!"
"Oh?"
"No level 4 access cards on any of the bodies."
"Damn. Well, at least we got rid of some trash in the process," Mina shrugged, "On we go!"
"...You scare me, Mina."