The Origin Of No.19

"Humans, stripped of all emotions, make the perfect killing machine."

Dr. Ichigaki from Yu Yu Hakusho

He didn't like being inside the tank. It was very tight and confining. Not comfortable at all. But whenever he was inside something always made him sleepy. It's the same this time. He could hear some noises outside.

"Godammit!!! Do as I say! I command you..."

Then there was a crash. And a cracking sound. Like bones breaking.

"...help...Beige do something...quick..." It was the same voice, all the anger in it gone now, replaced only by terror. It was the kind of tone he liked to hear. But he didn't hear anything anymore as sleep overtook him, and he drifted off to Neverland.

*****

As far back as he could remember, he had always been teased for his looks. "Fatso" and "Retard" they called him in school. Those were the more polite ones. But he never cared. He never liked being in school. No, he has his own favorite place. It was an old tool shed just behind his house. Nobody ever goes there but him. Here, he could do as he pleased. From a broken window he could look outside. He could see the girl next door walking up and down the street, looking for her lost puppy. She's been doing that for three days now. She shouldn't have bothered, he thought, as he turned his attention to the bloody carcass on the floor. He smiled as he remembered how much fun he had with the little puppy. But it wasn't fun anymore when it stopped moving. Tomorrow he'd have to find a new toy. But first he had to endure another day of school--

He hated school. He didn't understand wy his parents made him go. But they threatened to tear down the shed if he didn't, so he complied. They'd leave him alone as long as he didn't make any trouble. He had no friends. Nobody would want to be his friend. He's fat and ugly and stupid. He's not cool like the Banana Gang. Everybody wants to be like them. They brought cigarettes and dirty magazines to school and play tricks on the teachers. They always get detention for that, but it only made even more popular. He could see them nudging each other as he walked past.

"Hey you!" He stopped in his tracks. Who, me?

"Yes you, fatso!" It was Split, the gang leader, surrounded by the three other members of the gang, Cake, Fritta and Jus. Split was actually talking to him! Wow, how cool is that?

"We like you. We want you to join our gang."

What?! He couldn't believe his ears. Him, be part of the coolest gang in school? Then nobody'd tease him anymore. They'll all want to be his friend. And he could let them in on his little hobby in the tool shed...

Split grinned wickedly. He could see the eagerness in the fat idiot's eyes.

"But first you have to do the initiation rite."

He frowned. What's that?

"Today at recess you must ask Rose to kiss you. In the hall. If she does, you're part of the gang. She said yes to all of us before."

Rose? The prettiest girl in school, kiss him? His cheeks reddened at the thought.

"We'll be waiting." With that, Split and his gang were off. He didn't see the wicked laughter in their eyes as they walked away.

When the bell for recess rang, he walked to the hall, his heart beating wildly. There seemed to be more people than usual today but he hardly noticed them. Then Rose walked by, accompanied by her two friends. He tried to steady his nerves as he walked up to her and asked shyly,"...Rose, would you...um..would you..kiss me?"

She stared at him in shock. Then her cheeks reddened in embarrassment when she realized that everybody was looking and giggling at them. She yelled at him "You stupid idiot! What made you think I'd want to kiss an ugly freak like you! Get out of my sight!" She would've said more, but her friends quickly took her away. Fear showed in their eyes when they saw the expression on his face.

He looked on as they hastily walked away. She rejected him! In front of everybody...Behind him all the kids were laughing, Split and his gang included. When he turned around, they quickly stopped and quietly moved away, leaving behind the four members of the Banana gang. Split licked his lips nervously. Maybe they shouldn't have played this trick on him. There was something in his eyes now that scared him. He cleared his throat.

"...Umm...Well, she said no, so...sorry, you can't join us."

Then the four boys walked away too, deliberately slowly as they faked a macho style. As soon as they were out of his sight, they ran for their lives. They made sure to stay out of his way for the next few days.

He was left there alone, his eyes blazing. How could she do this to him. She will pay for this.

So he waited. He knows she's got dancing lessons on Wednesday evenings and she always passes by the oak tree at the edge of the school field. And that none of her friends take dancing lessons on a Wednesday evening. Sure enough, there she was. Alone. He smiled.

CRACK!!!

Just one thump on the head and she lay on the ground, unconscious. So pretty. He stood there watching her, a block of wood on one hand. Nobody's seen them. This place is always deserted at this time of day. He grinned as he dragged her with his other hand to his favorite place. Yes, he'll be happy with his new toy.

***

"...Wh..Where am I? What happened..."

She finally woke up. Good. Now the fun will begin.

Rose found herself lying on her back in some dark place. It smelt strange in here and her head hurt. She tried to get up but found that her hands and feet were tied to some sort of pole.

He peered down at her and grinned dumbly. With her hands and feet tied to the legs of the inverted table where she lay, she made an 'X' shape on the floor. Her eyes finally adjusted to the dark, she saw him and gasped in terror. In his hand he held a knife. It was dirty, stained with something dark, what exactly, she didn't wish to know. Nevertheless, it gleamed menacingly.

"Please..." she pleaded. "Let me go. I'm sorry I yelled at you the other day. I didn't mean i.."

She screamed in pain as he got on top of her and thrusted.

Yes. That's it. Scream. Scream all you want. Nobody's gonna hear you. Scream. Louder.

He liked the sound. It made him excited. He wanted to hear more. He thrusted again. And again. He grinned as he looked into her her terrified eyes and heard her pitiful screams slowly turned to sobs and whimpers as the thing went in and out of her. He didn't know how long he kept going, time seemed to lose all meaning as it always did when he had fun. As it was, she was finally silent, her eyes glazed and lifeless.

Damn. The game was over much too soon. He got up and looked done at the bloody figure on the floor. She was pretty. Especially when she screamed. He bent down and kissed her dead lips. He sighed. Now he'll have to clean up the mess. He picked up the bloody knife.

The next day, the whole town was searching for the missing girl. The police went to his school to ask when anybody's last seen her. He just went about his own business as usual. The police even wen to his house and questioned hs parents. They didn't know anything. They never knew about anything about what he was doing. The police asked to see the shed so he showed them. They won't find anything in there. No, he always cleans up after playing. His mother had taught him that.

They never found her body. But Rose's parents were convinced that he killed her. He was put in jail. But he didn't stay there long. They moved him to a special kind of hospital where doctors showed him silly pictures and asked him silly questions and asked him to do silly things. Nobody ever visited him, except for one old man with long wild white hair who called himself Dr.Gero. He always comes by to talk to him. Sometimes he would just go there and watched him for hours. Gero seemed to like him. He didn't know why. Nobody's ever liked him before.

One day Dr.Gero took him away to his lab. There he introduced him to his assistant, a skinny young man with thick glasses called Beige. Beige seemed to be scared of the doctor. He jumped when Gero called for him and he obeyed everything Gero said, never daring to question him. They asked him to lie dow on a bed in the lab. Then he could feel a needle in his arm and his vision blurred as he began ot lose consciousness.

He woke up screaming in pain. He thrashed in the bed, struggling with the restraints but couldn't break them. Every time he did that they drugged him again. Sometimes they didn't. They just let him scream in agony while they poked sharp things inside his head and his body. Eventually, he started to not mind the pain. He's grown to like it, even. Time passed. His 'treatment' was going well. He knew that because Dr.Gero was so proud of him. "My first successful experiment," he called him. Beige, however, didn't seem to share the doctor's feelings. He always looked uneasy whenever he was around him and he always kept out of his way as much as he could.

While his treatment was going on, he noticed that Dr.Gero had other subjects too. Sometimes, while he was sleeping, he could hear screams of pain when the doctor and his assistant were working. One night he woke up to see a young man scream as Dr.Gero cut open his chest. The young man had black, shoulder length hair. On the bed beside him there was another figure lying unconscious. It was a girl. She had a similar hairstyle to the young man, except that her hair was blonde. She was pretty--

Gero noticed that he was being watched. He turned around.

"No.19? What are you doing here? Go back to sleep."

He obeyed. Why would he protest? He wordlessly returned to his containment tank and let Beige close it from the outside. His name was No.19 now. He had no memories of any other name or of his life before Gero. He's not bothered by that. Why should he be? He closed his eyes and let the familiar smell of the gas take him to sleep.

*****

No.19 woke up when his tank was opened to see Gero's face peering at him. There was something different about the doctor.

"Dr.Gero..." Beige was a few feet behind him.

Gero didn't turn around. "Gero is gone. I am No.20," he said.

"No.19, get up," he commanded.

No.19 got up and got out of his his tank. He could feel something different about himself too. He looked at his hands. There were holes on his palms. No.20 smiled.

"You noticed the new addition. Good. Now let's test it."

Beige felt uneasy. The doctor was up to something. That day, after No.17 had attacked him, he had Beige turn himself into a cyborg. One with powers just like No.19. Now he called himself No.20 and reactivated No.19. Beige's eyes opened wide in shock as No.19 moved toward him and put his hand on his mouth. He could feel his life being sucked out, and then, nothing.

No.19 let the dead scientist fall on the floor. He looked at his palms, then at No.20. "That's not enough. I want more."

"And you will get more. Much, much more." No.20 smiled an evil smile. The time for revenge has come.

"No.19, it's time for your first mission."

Note:
I borrowed the above quote from YuYu Hakusho. Dr. Ichigaki and the quote belong to Yoshihiro Togashi and are used here without permission. All other characters except for #17, #18, #19 and Dr. Gero/#20 are created by me.

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