A realm without light, a world that lacked everything saved for the screams of the those unfortunate enough to fall into its grasp.
'This is it.' Tatsu thought to himself, sobbing internally. 'So this is how I die, falling into the nothingness of the void and slowing losing my sanity as I unravel from the very being.'
No matter which direction he looked, there was only darkness that greeted him. The half-blood was surprised to even hear his own voice at this point when the light of the floor he fell through long disappeared.
'Sorry mom. Sorry dad. Even though I had so much to live for, your son is gon-'
"BWAK!" The dramatic soliloquy of Tatsu was interrupted as he inadvertently cried out in pain at the sudden impact of his landing. The half-blood sat up weirdly as a cat and swivelled his head left and right in surprise, finding himself in one piece.
The trip through the darkness was surprisingly short. Tatsu half-expected to continue falling in the darkness for long enough to have time feel like centuries but instead it was a brief, albeit frightening, fifteen seconds.
The length of time equates to a distance that should have killed him, according to his maths lesson back in middle school... Or perhaps not as he was never particularly interested in mathematics. At the very least, it should have been enough to break bones and ruptured organs if he landed with his pliable and aerodynamic cat-body according to the random video he saw years ago.
Instead, he found himself alive and well in... Wherever he is.
Standing up on all fours, Tatsu examined his surroundings as he checked that yes, the floor should have killed him as it was made of polished stone, the smooth surface faintly reflected his image as the-
'Light!' The cat immediately glanced at the fluorescent lights more fitting in modern decor. It was then that he noticed, whenever he is right now? It definitely did not match the rest of the shrine.
At all.
~~~
Normally, I'd only have to be nearby when the researchers had to poke and prod one of my heads. Close enough to minimise time wasted when replacing them when they dispelled but distanced enough so I wouldn't be bothered when they do pop from the abuse.
And yet, because of the new albeit temporary additions to the usual round of coats and glasses, rather than standing in the neighboring room or by one of the corners where I wouldn't have to be physically in anybody's way, my words from earlier have jinx me.
"Another." One of the pencil pushers demanded. Demanded. Me?
Peace, Kizuki... Violence would not get you anywhere.
...Yet.
Keeping to a stone mask of a pokerface, I spewed out more smoke from the crack of my neck and made another head while their machines scanned the phenomenon.
At some point of the night, the new guys decided it would be just as enlightening to study the mechanics of my quirk and rolled out machines to compile data.
Fat load of good that did.
When the handheld scanners of their failed to get any result, they pulled out the bigger machines that would have made more sense to use on other machines. Even when those failed to get what they wanted, they kept them around anyway while they resorted to the old method of gathering data: with their own two eyes.
The group of egos and receding hairlines settle into smaller groups and became absorbed in their mumblings of hypotheses and scribbling or typing of what they think they understood.
If nothing else, I would have admired their state of focus to end up lost in their own little worlds.
I would pity these people but they're the ones who are actively messing with my heads so I say waste their time more. Instead of actually getting something productive done, I'm stuck being the guinea pig of the day.
Annoying.
Just because I couldn't indulge in a rightful pummeling doesn't mean that I couldn't partake in a little petty vengeance.
Science and the supernatural couldn't get along that well. It would take the effort of an Uber obsessed super genius to make any sort of progress in that regard or some sort of mad scientist with a penchant for magic.
And none of these idiots fit that criteria.
~~~
Tatsu found himself at a loss in more ways the one. Even if the interior design of the place he winded up in was more modern than the rest of the shrine didn't make it any less confusing.
The corridors and passages were just as confusing as the ones before. Or rather, they became more of a headache as the floor and walls became very identical to each other. Before, he at least had the patterns of decay and rot to differentiate between the areas so he could find his way but none of those were present here.
Truth be told, he is starting get a little worried now as he couldn't just backtrack his way out like he used to. Nekomata do not have the ability to fly and he couldn't possibly climb back out from where he fell through.
The only way forward is through an unfamiliar area with unknown factors, a risk he had to take.
And yet still lady luck has judged that she wasn't quite done with him. Tatsu had explored for no more than half a minute when he encountered the first obstacle in his path.
Crawling on the ground was a plain yellow shirt. It was of modern make, of normal fabrics and that's where familiarity decided to take a break. Crisscrossing across it's surface were very red and very living veins, pumping lifeblood that should have sustained another, more biological, creature as it spilled the vital liquid and marked the trailer it left. Most disgusting of it all was what the cat saw peeking through neck of the shirt, one that should have been obvious with the silhouette.
A heart, most probably human from the size, was beating in irregular rhythms.
Tatsu stared wide-eyed at the piece of clothing, not moving as the thing slowly shuffled its way. The cat silently gave the thing a wide berth as it passed him and only took his eyes off once it turned a corner.
As the half-blood blinked his felines eyes at the trail of blood that was left behind, he snapped his gaze to where it lead- to where it came from, and sighed a deep and tired breath before marching onwards to the next suprise.
~~~
As they say; Curiosity kills the cat.
Not even half an hour after they wheeled in the bigger machines and decided to stick to eyeballing and scribbling, one of the younger researchers, mister four-eyed freckles decided that he wasn't satisfied with just the other heads and wanted a closer look on my main head.
I refused, obviously.
However, it seemed that not everyone read the memo that I was not, in fact, an actual lab rat and is subjected to actual rights as a person. He might have been one of the people who are so used to disregarding life and ethics during the tenure of his career as he acted as if he didn't hear my answer.
In a surprising moment of self-control on my part when I calmly and slowly tried to explain that I refuse to do as he said, the guy was adamant about his decision being correct on the basis that his standing as a researcher and mine being the test subject made him the one on higher authority.
Absolutely wrong by the way as I am also a researcher here.
Well, part-timer technically but the point still stands.
My constant refusals despite the increasing infuriation lead the four-eyes into raising his voice and taking the attention of the other people in the room.
Those guys tried to be calm him down with logic and wisdom in their own flat, cynical way. However, at that point I guess it became less about who was right and more about his wounded pride as sir freckles stomped towards me with his body slightly leaning forward and arms straight by his side like in one of those old cartoons.
Seemingly giving up on stopping the confrontation, the old farts just shook their heads and turned back to discussing among themselves even as I began calmly giving promises of swift retribution towards four-eyes to which he also ignored.
And just like I've declared, as soon as the bundle of pride attempted to swipe my own head, I promptly decked him hard flat across the floor, unconscious and possibly concussed.
One hit was all it took to summon the sweet silence of disbelief.
I know that I'd get into trouble for knocking him out, but man did that feel good.
~~~
Tatsu was tempted to revert to his more humanoid form as the scent of iron and gore was simply to much for his feline sense of smell. Ultimately however, the half-blood decided against it as he remembered that his own luck has taken a turn for the worse in recent times. He could not risk exposing himself for the sake of convenience when deep behind enemy lines.
He kept his eyes peeled for any more of those things that he might cross his path as he already encountered a handful more of them when he followed the trail of blood.
He was able to take the correct path in finding their origin by taking in which bloodtrail was the freshest among the others. A point that added to his decision on staying as a cat, much to his chagrin.
A part of his mind kept warming him of how much of a bad idea it was go where the source of those things are but considering he's stuck down here, he doesn't really have much of a choice. Tatsu rationalized that whichever room they came from wouldn't have to be too far from an exit, or at the very least, other people he could follow towards it.
Find a door to escape through might be the top priority but he'll take his chances and have gathering information as the second.