With the Captains suffering casualties and heavy injuries on their side, all hope seemed to be lost... until Shinji Hirako appeared, along with the rest of the former Shinigami. Though the aid of the Vizards certainly helped to draw the battle in their favor, it seemed Aizen's power alone proved too much for them.
Alexei did not notice Xuan's look of astonishment in his direction. He simply remained amazed at the scientist at work. The young Russian turned and looked around the laboratory. He was intrigued by all the things that seemed to be in this place of work. He turned his attention again to the scientist who was now holding up a syringe. Blood work? That wasn't so bad.
"My my, normally my subjects aren't so eager. Do you even know why you are here?"
He confessed that he really didn't. What was he really here for? Alexei gave Szayel a sheer look of curiosity and cocked his head to the side. Finally he began to bounce rather cheerfully on the exam table. Anything was better than nothing, he supposed. After a while the mad scientist gestured towards him.
"Take off your shirt. It will only get in the way."
Shrugging, young Alexei was happy to oblige. He slipped his uniform's shirt off and dropped it to the floor beneath him. His modest muscles began to show and he really couldn't help it. He practically shined in the exam room under the light. The Russian was so pale that he was practically a ghost.
"Now hold out your arm."
Alexei did as was asked of him and felt a slight pinch as the needle went into his vein and pulled blood out. Then he looked up at Szayel and smiled slightly. He blinked a couple times and then continued to gaze at the scientist.
The boy didn't answer, aside from a tilt of his head and a curious stare. He did as he was told, which was good, but it was almost annoying how cheerful the vizard was. Adan had been that cheerful. Maybe that was why.
He held the sample of blood up to the light and squinted, registering that the boy asked, "What next, Szayel-sama?"
"Lie on your stomach," he ordered, handing the needle to Xuan. The green-eyed arrancar switched the syringe with an empty one. If the other vizard had been any indication, Szayel would be taking a sample of spinal fluid. That wouldn't be a little pinch; that would hurt.
"Why do you think you're here, Vizard?" Xuan asked with a smirk, folding his arms. His work was done; now he just had to watch. Szayel glanced at Xuan, as if he were about to reprimmand the fraccion, but he didn't. Perhaps Szayel was going to ask the same question.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Alexei shrugged and did as he was told. He put himself on the table and turned his head to the side. He looked out in the laboratory and saw Xuan putting away the syringe filled with his blood. He didn't look at Szayel but simply thought out loud.
"What's next Szayel-sama?"
"Why do you think you're here, Vizard?"
Alexei thought about it long and hard. He supposed he was a test subject. Vizards were rare and he doubted that they were easy to come by in terms of test subjects. He denied this earlier, but there was no point now. He knew that he was probably going to get something else taken out of him now. He figured it might be bone marrow or something like that.
"I'm here because Lady Jeanne captured me and offered me as a gift to Szayel-sama."
That the boy was so willing to follow orders pleased Szayel. It wasn't often that his subjects were so obedient, and he mused that he might allow the boy more respite if it continued. Might. "What's next, Szayel-sama?"
"A lumbar puncture," he replied evenly. He looked to Xuan, who moved the boy's arms so that they laid in front of his head. Waving his hand, Szayel caused a sort of cuff to emerge from the table, binding Alexei's hands. Next were the feet. Xuan didn't have to be told what he was doing; he grabbed the boy's ankles and pulled roughly.
Once again, Xuan snickered, releasing the boy's ankles. Once again, the white table seemed to shift upwards to cuff his ankles, keeping him restrained. He couldn't wriggle away this time.
"I do hope you've realized by now, but your role is as a test subject. Xuan," the espada nearly whispered as he prepared another syringe.
Once again, Xuan followed his implied orders. He fetched a tube filled with an odd, brown-colored gel and, looking none-too-pleased at doing what was previously Stour or Adan's job, applied it on the small of Alexei's back. He stepped back, watching as Szayel inserted the needle.
Unperturbed and smirking, the scientist mused, "After a marrow sample, we'll take samples with your mask, Vizard-kun."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Alexei barely knew what that was. "Lumbar" meant somewhere on his body. "Puncture" meant something was going into him and taking something out. He felt that he would seem stupid for asking, however, he kind of needed to know. And maybe Szayel-sama would like his thirst for knowledge.
"Szayel-sama, in a lumbar puncture, where is it that you stab me again? I'm not too knowledgeable on medical procedures."
He was then cuffed and stretched on the table. Szayel's assistant was quite rough with him. Frankly, Alexei didn't really notice any ill-content. If anything, he felt a little bad about it. Was he not tall enough for the table? Oh no, was he going to have to customize something for the procedure? Alexei began to feel rather anxious as he worried that he was inconveniencing his captors.
Then he heard Szayel tell Xuan to behave. Maybe Xuan was just distracted in having to work on him. Did he have better things to do? Maybe Arrancars had a lot of activities to choose from. Either way, he heard the pink-haired nerd tell him that he was a test subject.
"I know Szayel-sama. Frankly, it doesn't bother me."
"After a marrow sample, we'll take samples with your mask, Vizard-kun."
Alexei kind of frowned and decided not to speak up. He felt the intensive pinch as the needle entered his spine and removed his sample. It...hurt. Not as bad as getting impaled. But damn close. He let out a small exhale and did nothing but smile. Pain was better than being lonely. As for his hollow, he tried not to worry about that yet. Maybe he could pull one out of the hat when need be.
"Szayel-sama, in a lumbar puncture, where is it that you stab me again? I'm not too knowledgeable on medical procedures."
"The lower back," Xuan replied automatically, disappointed that the boy hadn't screamed. He had been looking forward to it, had been wondering if the boy would scream high and shrill or lower.
"Frankly, it doesn't bother me."
How dull. Xuan scowled, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms.
"You most likely will develop a migraine or naseua, which will fade after several hours. If you experience a symptom unrelated to the two, inform me," He drawled as he removed the needle, and retrieved another one without moving very far. "Right, or left..."
Xuan approached again, not needing to be told, and applied more of the antiseptic gel to a spot on the boy's right hip, shifting his hakama downwards so it wouldn't get in the way. Szayel pushed in the syringe, twisting until he reached the marrow. It was a quick draw, and the sample he needed was small. He estimated that the boy would require up to a day's worth of recovery after the spinal tap if he was to be in top form.
Szayel did not need him in top form, and could heal him much faster if he wished. The boy would receive however much time was spent studying the samples collected. First, however, Szayel wanted to take samples of the boy's mask. He set his hand on the lab table, and the cuffs on his wrists and left ankle removed themselves and shrank back into the ivory white of the table. It would allow the boy to sit up, but not to move.
"Draw your mask."
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
"You most likely will develop a migraine or naseua, which will fade after several hours. If you experience a symptom unrelated to the two, inform me."
Alexei simply nodded. He could already feel the migraine coming on. It made it kind of hard to see and the lights became really intense for some reason. He didn't want to hear even his own voice right now. Every little sound seemed to amplify to the point that the young Shinigami thought he was going to have a panic attack.
He turned and sat up after his restraints were removed (excluding the one on his right ankle.) The Russian boy looked around at Szayel and Xuan. His head began to pound ferociously in his skull. He began to shake his head and didn't want to vomit. No, he wouldn't vomit. Nope...he had no control over it. He threw himself to his right side and vomited onto the floor. He sat up pitifully and looked at Szayel once more.
"Sorry Szayel-sama. I can clean that up if you would like." He rubbed his head and closed his eyes. This alleviated his migraine somewhat but it still pounded in his head.
"Draw your mask."
He shook his head wearily. Alexei didn't have a buffer anymore and didn't realize that he might be best served to lie about it but he couldn't.
"Sorry Szayel-sama. I thought Lady Jeanne told you, I can't summon it willingly."
"Damn straight you can't! I'm not taking over to help your little suck-up fest Alexei. So sorry...NOT!"
The vizard nodded, and sat up. He was pale to begin with, but he somehow managed to look worse. Szayel watched indifferently as the boy started to shake his head, merely perking a brow. He narrowed his eyes and stepped back in disgust when the boy vomited.
"That's disgusting," hissed the white-haired arrancar.
"My floors," Szayel seethed, tensing. Blood got on the floors frequently, but to vomit so soon after having samples taken? Perhaps he got up too quickly. Yes, it was the boy's fault. He should have known not to get up so quickly if the nausea was already setting in.
The boy apologized, rubbing his head and closing his eyes. "Sorry, Szayel-sama. I can clean that up if you would like."
"No. Stop stalling and draw your mask," he ordered. "Xuan will take care of it."
The aforementioned arrancar scowled as he walked to one end of the room, retrieving a mop. He set to work on cleaning, which would not take long.
"Sorry Szayel-sama," the boy apologized again, "I thought Lady Jeanne told you, I can't summon it willingly."
Rather than getting angry, at least, outwardly, Szayel smiled. It was an excuse to, ah, break in the new toy. Most likely he would let Xuan do it. "Is that so? The last one, oh, what was her name? Kaki-kun? She could summon her mask, and she was less than half your age. I'm not inclined to believe you."
Xuan had already finished cleaning, and smirked into his shoulder as he returned the mop and bucket. He started to snicker at the thought that the little girl might have been more capable than this one. "Hehehe..."
"Alexei-kun, if you are in fact telling the truth," Szayel crooned, "Then I do hope that you learn how quickly."
Xuan stepped towards the boy, smirking as if he knew what Szayel would ask of him.
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.
Alexei shot an apologetic glance towards Xuan as he legitimately felt bad for causing the Arrancar such misfortune. He was perfectly willing to have cleaned it himself but Szayel was not going to let him it seemed. The young Russian did not know that Szayel would get extremely upset about the fact that he could not summon his mask. He looked back at Szayel and felts horrible. He had messed up his floor.
He listened to Szayel talk of the past Vizard and how she was much younger than him but could summon her mask. That was kind of hurtful. However, Alexei supposed that the Arrancar was just upset by this recent news. Jeanne really should have prepared Szayel for this. Then again, perhaps it had just slipped her mind. Alexei was just too damn nice to blame anybody.
He did not hear Xuan's chuckle but did hear what Szayel said. Alexei cocked his head curiously at the stronger Arrancar. He really couldn't imagine what he meant. Fortunately, the more knowledgeable Hollow, did.
”Use your head,” Xuan laughed, looking to Szayel. His master said nothing, and so he continued. ”Did you think that we would shrug our shoulders and be complacent?”
”Xuan,” Szayel finally said in an admonishing tone. Xuan understood what it meant; it meant that he wasn’t to continue. With a snort, Xuan stuffed his hands into his pockets and waited for Szayel to give the order. It came as no surprise to Xuan that the door to the laboratory opened, or that Szayel began to walk through. That the cuffs on the boy’s ankle was removed, even less so. Xuan stepped forward, grabbing for the boy’s shoulder so he could lead him out, staying between the boy and his zanpakuto the entire time.
Xuan’s style of dealing with test subjects was quite different from Szayel’s. The former was much less excitable, calmer, which was good. An excited test subject was often a difficult test subject. Xuan, however, couldn’t help it. He had waited patiently to see the boy squirmed, and he hadn’t yet. ”Come on, you wouldn’t want to keep Granz waiting.”
Character List "Let's eat, Grandma!" "Let's eat Grandma!" Commas save lives.