Forever Caged

Disclaimer: I don't own Ai No Kusabi nor do I make any money from this fanfic. However, I do own all the original peeps I've chosen to invade the AnK world.


Rating: NC-17


Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.


Parts: 97 of ?



~~**Forever Caged**~~




“Why have you brought us here? The last time we had a gathering like this, Sir Iason, you had convinced all of us to release our mongrels to their own devices, which landed our pets in the hospital,” Marcus said, busily trying to keep his mongrel from harassing Mikhale’s pet, Lilly.





“It wasn’t our fault,” Fidget huffed, lying trapped across Marcus’s lap. “And it’s not like anything serious happened—“





“I found you in an abandoned building, and you had been stabbed!” Marcus cut in. “In that clever little brain of yours, how is that not serious?”





The mongrel rolled his eyes. “It’s not like that’s the first time that’s happened, and it was only a little love bite between friends, that’s all.”





“So you know the man who hurt you?” Marcus asked.





Fidget frowned. “No. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”





“You called him your friend!”





“Well,” Fidget said slowly, “it’s more like we just became ‘first name bases’ friends.”





“You know his name? If so, why did you not tell me?!”





Fidget tapped his chin with his forefinger. “Weeell, I don’t actually know his name. I only know what he calls himself.”





Riki didn’t know what was funnier. Marcus’s feathers being ruffled, or the Elite seriously thinking he could have a discussion with Fidget with the expectations of getting coherent answers from the mongrel. He half expected to see the Blondie tearing out his hair with frustration—a normal occurrence when dealing with the sometimes air-headed mongrel.





He could have saved Marcus the runaround Fidget was giving the Blondie, by asking the correct questions to get the right answers from the mongrel, but wanting to know what information Fidget had first, Riki refrained from speaking. A quick glance over at Iason told Riki his Blondie knew of his plan by the slight smirk on Iason’s lips.





Thankfully, Iason did not say a word. Why? Riki hadn’t a clue, but was none the less relieved.





Riki wasn’t sure what game—other than the one they played between themselves—Iason was focusing on, but knew it wasn’t on their bet. Besides forcing him to deal with that dick, Larius, Iason had done nothing to interfere with his plans on getting his gang back out on the streets of Midas, even knowing that Midasians were disappearing off those walkways, and the possibility he could be one of those victims.





After their little bathtub drugged fuckfest, he had told Iason that his Blondies knew just about everything there was to know about why his gang was really released from Eos, and it had little to do with Rio’s punk-ass running around.





Did Iason think the others wouldn’t free my gang because of what happen at the spaceport? No, it left too many openings for Iason. His Blondie would have smoothly manipulated the others in front of him first, and he hadn’t. He also knew Iason hadn’t had the time to speak with the other Elites because of the whole blackout, something he had slept through.





“Have you considered that maybe my brother does not want to tell you who he fought with?” a calm, if not cold, voice called out.





Riki nodded in greeting to Sky as the mongrel strode in with Aisha by his side, and Riki had to give Marcus major props as the Blondie let go of Fidget, allowing the mongrel to run up to his brother after giving Aisha a cat-like hiss.





“Control your mongrel, Marcus,” Aisha all but growled.





“Control is not the issue, Aisha,” Marcus countered, “its management, or have you learned nothing from example.”





Riki whistled low when Marcus looked meaningfully at him and Iason. “He’s got a point,” Riki said under his breath to Iason.





Iason gave him a droll glance.





“The two are the same, Marcus,” Orphe said, appearing with a bloody faced V in front of him.





“What the hell happened?” Riki asked, pissed.





“Saw his royal fucking highness, Rio, in the saloon.” V grinned, and then winced when the cut on his lip split, bleeding anew.





“I do hope you did not severely injure the prince,” Iason smoothly said.





Blood beading on V’s lip, the mongrel proudly nodded. “Oh, hell yeah I did. Bitch got rushed to the emergency room after I got done with him.”





“Yes, for minor abrasions and lacerations on his back. Nothing life threatening,” Orphe said tightly. “What I want to know is what entered your mind to attack the prince.”





“I take it you didn’t give your buddies the full 4-1-1 about Rio,” Riki whispered.





Iason raised a brow. “I did mention I needed the young prince alive, did I not?”





Unbidden, the memory of Iason’s anger towards Guy, and the destruction of his once loved partner’s arm came to Riki’s mind. The Blondies would demand Rio’s blood if they knew who he really was.





“Who knows?” Riki asked.





Glacier eyes landed on Gideon—who glared at Riki from his corner with Jade. Of course Iason’s Military commander would know. The Blondie was also the one who held Jerico and Kirin in an undisclosed location.





“Why?” V shouted. “Because that prick—“





“Who the fuck cares why V attacked the guy,” Riki said, glaring at V to shut-up. “Considering you just called this dude a prince and they were in the saloon, I can only imagine what was said and why V went gunning for him. No doubt this prince was shooting off his mouth at how much better he was than V.”





It irked Riki at how accepting the Blondies found his lies. But what pissed him off was Iason did nothing to help keep Rio’s true identity a secret. All his Elite did was smile.





“Anyway,” Riki said standing, “how about I take my gang to my ‘office’ and leave you guys alone to talk.” Jerking his head, Riki made his way to the balcony.





“Violet,” Orphe called softly.





Riki stopped and watched as, growling, V quickly grabbed the Blondie behind the neck, and pulled his head down to plant a hard possessive kiss on Orphe’s lips. Stepping back, V looked at his friends and simply said, “Mine.”





The lot of them just stared at V for a while. Then Sky gave a chuckle, followed by a giggle from Jade and Lilly.





Fidget grinned evilly. “Uuu! V and Orphe sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby—oomph!”





Sighing, Riki stepped between Marcus and V when the violet-haired mongrel socked Fidget in the gut to stop his singing. “He’s fine, Marcus. Fidget just needs some fresh air.”

oOoOoOo




Iason watched at the young men shoved each other out the glass doors, following Riki. His plans were all running smoothly. He had not lied when he said Riki would win their little wager. While he would have loved to play, the timing could not have been worse.





The group watched with aspiration as Marcus and Orphe’s mongrels fought out on the landing before Aisha broke the silence, “Where are Raoul and Gabriel?” he asked, seating himself next to Marcus.





“I have already spoken to Raoul,” Iason said. “He has other matters to attend to, so he will not be joining us. Whatever we discus, I will inform him, as well as, Gabriel.”





“And I am assuming Gabriel has taken his pet to see a physician. The young ex-Furniture had the misfortune of stepping between V and the captured prince, and was injured,” replied Orphe.





“Regardless of their absence,” Mikhale said, “why have you called this meeting, Sir Iason?”





His chin rested on his steepled fingers, Iason said, “I’m sure you all felt it, did you not? That slight surge of energy that had passed through us a couple hours ago.”





Iason was met with silence.





“She is back.” Iason looked every Blondie in the eye. “Jupiter has remained silent with me. Has she contacted any of you?”





“Out of all of us,” Orphe said, “the only one Jupiter would appear in front of is you, Sir Iason.”





The fact that Jupiter had not contacted him the moment she ‘woke’ did not sit well with Iason. Given the time Jupiter had completely withdrew her presence, he had expected the AI to appear before him and demand information not noted in the network.





“We also cannot ignore the significance of Jupiter’s disappearance,” Aisha said, “the same second our mongrels lost consciousness after being crippled with pain.”





“I’m sure you all came to the same conclusion as I,” replied Iason. “Jupiter has somehow linked herself with Riki and the others. How? Raoul is working on answering that question as we speak.”





“And how long will Raoul continue “working” on this problem of ours?” Mikhale asked.





Iason stared at the Blondie a second longer than one would consider ‘polite’ before answering, “Until I am satisfied with his discovery, Mikhale.”





Mikhale smiled. “I’m sure you will not mind if I inquire about Raoul’s progress directly from the Blondie himself, will you? After all, Riki is not the only one to have been targeted by Jupiter.”





“It’s clear Jupiter is targeting more than just Riki,” Orphe said. “Looking back, Riki should have been removed the moment he crossed Eos’s threshold. This can be said to all the mongrels we brought in.”





“I believe Mikhale’s interest in Raoul’s findings go beyond our own,” Iason replied, recalling the conversation he and Mikhale had during the time of their lovers absence off world.





Mikhale had revealed Lilly to be an unsanctioned experiment. Those types of things were not uncommon, but what if Jupiter had somehow been connected to the creation of Mikhale’s pet’s life?





What if, by chance, one of her little pet scientists had been the one to smuggle the sample of DNA to pet laboratory, against orders, and when that project proved to bring light to their betrayal, they had called Mikhale with an anonymous tip with the expectation that all the pets, including Lilly, and scientists would be destroyed.





“No more than anyone else in this room, Sir Iason,” Mikhale said smoothly.





“Of course.” Iason smiled, deciding to let the matter go for now. “I brought you all here today, because there is a matter of allowing Riki and his motley crew back out on the streets—“





“Absolutely not!”





Iason’s brows rose at Orphe’s outburst. “I’m sure you are aware of the true reason why I allowed Riki, and convinced the rest of you, to let your mongrels out of Eos, are you not?”





As the Blondie looked at one another, Iason smiled. “So you do, and yet said nothing to me?”





“What is said between Violet and I are private,” Orphe stated. “I also did not believe the information important enough to report.”





“Did you now?” Iason said quietly, not that he had not expected Orphe to respond as he had. Riki and he had a long conversation during their drugged throes of passion, about the possibility—correct possibility—of his mongrel crew revealing the true reason they were allowed out of Eos. And, of course, later Riki had confirmed that the mongrels had.





“Such loyalty,” Iason mused. To think his brethren had come so far, stepping out of the cage Jupiter had constructed around them was monumental.





“Our loyalty to the Syndicate goes without saying,” Marcus growled, misunderstanding Iason’s comment as sarcasm. “Do not question where we stand when we all know where you would, if it had been Riki. The matters of our lovers are not the same as our duty to Tanagura, and all of Amoi.”





“I see your views from before have changed,” his delight causing his brothers to shift uncomfortably in their seats. “Not too long ago, such a statement would have had all of you at arms, ready to eliminate the person who uttered such traitorous words. After all, if you are not a hundred percent with us”—Iason sneered—“then you are against us.”





“Our world changed because of you, because of what you said when this whole thing started. Words you gently cultivated within us,” Mikhale quietly replied.





Iason smiled. “I merely planted a seed. It was you who nourished it, and allowed it to grow.”





“You planned this,” Aisha said, in more wonder than accusation.





“When have we not known Iason to act without a plan,” Orphe tsked with disgust.





“You set us up,” Marcus hissed.





“I did?” Iason looked around the room. “Did I bring the mongrels here? Did I pair them up with you or force you to become intimate with them? You chose your path, not I. I whispered the possibilities, yes, but all of you, of your own freewill, acted on your own desires.





“And is it not wondrous?” Iason asked, leaning back. “The ability to think and make decisions about your own life, and who you’ll share it with? To have broken the chains Jupiter bound you with?”





“A small act of rebellion against our creator is one thing,” Orphe harshly whispered, “but you are talking about treason! We could all be—“





“Be what?” Iason calmly asked. “We are the power of Amoi. Jupiter’s absence and our quick actions without her here to guide us have proven to our brethren, and the people, that we are capable of flourishing without her.”





“Jupiter will always hold a special place within us,” Gideon said, finally speaking, “but who among is willing to go back to who we once were? Will you, Sir Orphe, relinquish your mongrel? Or you, Sir Marcus?”





“I’m sure I speak for all of us, when I say no,” replied Mikhale. “Which brings us back to Marcus’s earlier question; why have you brought us all here today?”





“As some of you know,” Iason began, “Riki and his band were in Midas for more than to seek out the assassin sent out to kill one of our own. A situation has come to light of mongrels disappearing. Some are discovered dead, and some are never found again.”





“And this matters to us? Why?” Marcus asked.





“Normally it would not,” Iason replied. “What happens in Ceres does not necessarily concern us. However, after a brief investigation, I discovered the oddities of the murders… a professional oddity.”





“Meaning what?” Orphe asked.





“The mongrels were butchered with a skilled hand. The bodies showed precise incisions and clean amputations only a surgeon of ‘elite’ class could possess.” Iason sighed. “And this killer has begun to abduct Midas citizens.”





“So Riki was sent out to locate this psychopath?” Mikhale asked, angered. “This is the reason why Lilly risked his well being by entering Ceres? To help your mongrel capture this killer?”





“You may not have known all the answers,” Iason coldly replied, “but you knew your pet was out there for more than what you were told. You made the decision to allow him to continue.”





“This is different,” Aisha said. “It was one thing see Sky fighting against a pack of wild dogs, but if you are correct and one of us is out there doing these things…”





“I found Keita that night covered in blood…” Marcus whispered, “and you expect me to send him back out? Knowing his reckless little self would be out there actively seeking danger? More so than he already does?”





“Amazing is it not?” Iason smiled. “To be brought down to our knees by creatures we once sneered in disgust at. Us, Tanagura Elites, engineered for perfection, falling in love. A word that held no meaning, an emotion we once deemed a weakness and exploited.





“But heed my words of caution,” Iason said, his smile fading from his lips. “I fight my need to break Riki every minute of every day, to hold him tightly by my side so that he can never leave. I almost succeeded once and it nearly cost us our lives. We call them our pets, but they are a far cry to the dull-eyed dolls we once were proud to parade around.





“They need stimulation above what we can give them. Even if it means letting them walk into danger…” Iason looked out toward the balcony, gazing softly at his black-haired beauty. “We also are still in a sensitive position. To bring to light the fact we had a killer on the loose would shake the pillars we have yet to fully stabilize, and nothing can happen to jeopardize that. Nothing.”





“Until we can guaranty our superiority amongst our peers, Lilly will still be in danger,” Mikhale whispered.





“Not our superiority,” Iason replied. “Being who we are, we already have that.”





“Then what?” Aisha asked.





Iason looked each Blondie in the eye. “Once everyone on Amoi—including our Elite brothers—shrinks back in fear of us, when the mere thought of going against us, or those we love, strikes terror in their hearts, then we can do anything.”





TBC…