Chamber X

Bodies of white rushed through the white halls. Short ones, tall ones, skinny ones, muscular ones.

"Overseer Raphael is requesting Angel Unit and Seraphim backup at Chamber X immediately. Seize subject Reed Regardius, dead or alive."

Hundreds of heavy footsteps echoed through the corridors like the sound of hail raining on the roof.

The large ruckus and announcement caught the attention of the experimentees in their rooms' hall.

"Reed Regardius?" Midas said.

"Who's that?" Venus asked.

"I don't know, I've never heard the name." Midas walked down the hall and peaked around the corner. He saw an endless stream of white bodies sprinting by.

"Subject Reed Regardius… We're not the only subjects?"

Venus followed from behind. Midas noticed him. "Whoever this Reed Regardius guy is, they sure are sending in a lot of units for him."

"He must be a handful." A seductive voice spoke from behind.

The two turned around in a sudden shock. It was a female wearing the same suit they were provided, another experimentee.

"You heard the announcement too Veronica?"

"Mhm. 'Dead or alive' they said. Must be a dangerous guy," she licked her lips.

Venus looked at her for a second, followed by a face of disgust. "Stay out of my personal space you freaky imbecile."

Veronica scoffed at this. "You're no fun Venus." She turned around and began walking back to where she came from. "Keep me updated on this Reed guy, I'm interested," she said. Veronica then disappeared into her containment room.

"That's Vidia's roommate right," Midas asked.

Venus replied. "Yeah, but I can't imagine those two imbeciles getting along. They're too different."

"Hm…" Midas ignored the thought. He turned back towards the hall that had Angel Units flooding through just earlier, but was now empty. None more passed by their view.

That must be all they're sending in, Midas thought.

"I'm gonna go to this Chamber X. I'm interested to see what's happening."

"I'm interested too." Venus tagged along.

Navigating the hallways, one phrase continued to echo through Midas' head. 'Dead or alive'.

They eventually neared Chamber X. Midas led the way seeing as he knew his way around the facility. It came with having been there the longest out of any of the six experimentees, well, now apparently seven.

Coming into the hallway that connected Chamber X, Midas suddenly felt his curiosity peak. He felt a new desire unveil through the questions that now piqued his curiosity.

Who was Reed Regardius? Was he another experimentee? I mean he was labelled as a 'subject', Midas thought. Why were so many Angel Units being sent in for him? Why is he under a 'dead or alive' sentence?

That question led Midas to deepen his thought on this so-called Reed Regardius. How valuable is he? To have so much authority sent after his head should mean he's a handful, maybe even powerful; valuable?. But if they're satisfied with the outcome of subjugating him through his own death, would that mean his life wasn't valuable enough to keep alive?

Midas struck a dilemma with his first impression. The only way he could satisfy his desire for knowledge on the situation at-hand was to see it for himself, and coming up on the entry to Chamber X, looking into the spectator window found on the outside he saw-

Blood.

Blood and bodies and blood.

So much blood, it was the first time Midas and Venus had ever seen more of one color than white. Usually everything in the facility was white, but in this very chamber, the dominating color was red.

Bodies piled up on either sides of the chamber, blood splattered about.

In the center of the room a boy stood lavished in bleeding glory. He wore the same suit that every other experimentee was provided. This made Midas and Venus stop in their tracks.

Angels continued running towards him, one by one. Each one being sent flying across the room through the boy's heavy strikes, one even came flying towards and slammed against the window Midas and Venus observed from. Blood smeared the screen.

Then came the larger-sized Seraphim to attempt in over encumbering the boy. They approached in a smarter manner than the Angel Units. Seemingly in unison, they all approached from varying angles and attempted to pounce onto him at the same time. It worked, and a pile of Seraphim toppled the boy. But the pile began pulsating, and eventually all were blown back by an overwhelming aura of fury that blasted them away.

One after another, what were supposed to be the authorizing units were being dominated by the very subject they were bestowed to kill. The boy threw them across the room, struck them dead, and even went as far as to mercilessly rip their limbs apart and break their bones.

The sight was a massacre. A complete bloodbath. Midas and Venus could only watch in awe.

His desire was filled, Midas was satisfied under that sense, but the sight he unexpectedly found exceeded his expectations a hundredfold. He knew that the sight should've brought an undesired trauma to any normal person, but he also knew he wasn't a normal person. It was subconscious, but a tiny grin edged Midas' mouth.

He looked over to Venus, expecting an attempted suppressed expression to cover his shock, but it wasn't that. Venus didn't watch in shock nor interest. He had a rather bland look. Upmost monotony; an expression unusual at the sight, but the same could be said for Midas. Still, he found this odd and interesting. What are you, Venus? Midas asked in his head.

An announcement overhead blared the halls without warning.

"Azrael. Raphael requests for your backup immediately. The Angel and Seraphim units are failing to seize the subject. Reach Chamber X and kill the subject."

Suddenly, further down the hall, a door opened, and out walked Raphael. Matthew quickly scurried behind holding his pen and paper.

"Raphael I told you not to waste any more resources from the Garden. If we kill him, we're gonna have to use another Trinity Gem."

Raphael stopped, and turned around to face the anxious reporter. He smiled.

"Matthew, do you not realize that everything happening right now are simply just controls playing into the hands of my experiment?"

Matthew looked at Raphael with worry.

"With Serum D, we aimed to create an unkillable killing machine. Overwhelming strength, overwhelming endurance, and on top of all that, regenerative abilities. The subject can't die, or at least that's what we hypothesize. What better way to ultimately test this claim than to have the Angel of Death himself attempt to kill him?"

Matthew remained silent.

"Now be quiet, observe, and write. That's all you're supposed to do. The tide is about to heavily change, so pay attention."

Matthew stood speechless, and watched as Raphael walked off down the hallway to eventually greet Azrael who should've been on his way to Chamber X.

But down the hall, Raphael noticed Midas and Venus who stood at the spectator's observatory window, looking his way.

"Ah Mr. Chamuel's experimentees, right?"

The two nodded.

Raphael walked over to join the two in watching the gruesome sight through the window. Reed continued to demolish the remaining Angel and Seraphim units that withered their lives away.

"Reed Regardius, you've probably never heard of him, right?"

The two looked back at Raphael. "No," Midas said.

"I always thought our group of six were the only experimentees here," Venus added on.

Raphael smiled. "That's because I keep my subject isolated. You guys have never seen him, and he probably thinks he's the only experimentee here. He doesn't even know about you others." He paused. "You see, he's an interesting individual, but his past and aggressive nature repelled the interests of the other Overseers. I'm the only one who's come to see value in him, hence why he's my subject."

Midas and Venus continued to watch the boy wreak total havoc inside Chamber X.

"The boy lived a life at the bottom, where everyone else stood over him. He was a target for humiliation, a target for abuse, a target because he was at the very bottom of the food chain. His peers, his family, and every other person in his life stepped on him."

The two listened as Raphael spoke.

"If he wanted to get through life, he needed to rise up to where these people were. But he wasn't willing to make amends with those who looked down on him. 'If you can't beat them, join them' was inapplicable in his mind. To him, to make it to the top, he had to pave his own path there. And so he did that, by killing off the people who stood over him, killing off the people who wronged him. It started with his parents. He felt the heavy flow of his own kind's blood, but it didn't end there. Domestic abuse wasn't the only thing that fueled him with bitter anger. He went on to terrorize the other peers his age, but before he could go on a full rampage, we quickly took him in."

The two were now watching Raphael with an uneasy interest as he spoke.

"Look at him, he's killed about 200 units in total by now. That consists of both Angel and Seraphim units. But as you can see, that's clearly not enough to stop him. We've been experimenting in enhancing his physical strength and endurance. Right now, he's at the very limit his body can take of the serums, especially with the newly added feature of regenerative abilities."

"Regenerative abilities?" Venus asked. Midas' interest was piqued.

"Yes, the ability to perform cell and tissue regeneration. Varying on the severity of his injury, and the time given, he can regenerate damage done to his flesh, or even his organs."

Midas felt his jaw drop. The information was frightening yet fascinating. It was intriguing yet came with an underlying feeling of uncertainty.

"How did you come to achieve that with him?" Midas curiously asked.

Raphael turned to him and smiled. "Suffering."

This confused Midas. "Suffering?"

"Through the never ending flow of suffering he's experienced, specifically by my hands and orders, he's come to create a hatred for me so strong that his body pulsates with an undiscovered lifeline of rage. It's because of this unforeseen factor, that his body is able to essentially force itself to withstand even the most grave of injuries through the excessive disposal of hormones that drive him to remain alive. The serum we've provided him only enhances the flow and efficiency of these hormones, literally giving him path to immortality. He is truly, a fighter. One that will not stop until he gets to what he wants, and that is the head of Overseer Raphael, my head."

Midas watched Reed through the glass, who's body trembled in unbearable pain that was numbed by the never ending wrath he emitted. Midas closed his eyes, and concentrated his focus. It surprised him, but within Chamber X, was an essence that blazed and overflowed so desperately and largely out of pure anger he couldn't help but gasp.

Raphael and Venus looked at him.

"What?" Venus asked.

"N-Nothing," Midas said, brushing it off.

Raphael simply smiled. "You saw it didn't you?"

Midas looked at Raphael with concern. "What?"

"You're Chamuel's experimentee. Don't think I can't have even the slightest idea of what your ability may be."

Midas didn't say anything.

"You saw it, the very manifestation of his wrath, right?"

Midas strayed his gaze and looked back into Chamber X. Reed was pummeling the last few units into the ground, painting the floor red.

Midas suddenly felt a discreet presence lurk behind him.

"You know, I've made it my personal goal to bring the most anguish on this boy possible. To make his life a living hell, to the point he can't even consider life actual living. In fact, he's already experienced death on numerous occasions. I can guarantee he finds more peace in being dead than even being alive. Yet, he has a motive to remain alive. That motive is the fact that I remain alive. Until that fact is written off as wrong, he will live on."

Midas felt his breathing become heavier.

Raphael moved in closer. "Now just earlier, I noticed you taking a passionate interest in the concept of regeneration, because you want it yourself, yes?"

Midas didn't reply.

"Now tell me," he pointed towards Reed within the chamber for Midas to see. "Knowing everything he's gone through to get to where he is now, and to become who he is now, are you truly willing to suffer the same way?"

Midas continued to remain silent.

"Just because death is normalized in his life, that doesn't make it any less traumatizing each time he dies."

Midas' blood ran cold.

"You don't wanna end up like Mr. Regardius, right?"