My Dirty Little Secret

Secret Sixty-Nine: Phantom

Farlan and Isabel stared at the chair before them. A male they had never met before just sat, smiling, with a black stuffed dog next to him. The two had never seen this room before and were a bit distraught by it. The dog weirded them out most of all.

"Who are you? Why are we here?" they asked in unison. The man didn't say a word, just continued to examine them with his eyes. He crossed his legs and rested his head on his hand.

"Oh? So you two are the twerps assigned to me?" the stranger laughed, "I can't believe I have such weak ones! How am I ever supposed to do my job? Or, watch you do yours that is," Farlan clenched his fist while Isabel gritted her teeth. They knew the system of The Basement, they knew they couldn't say anything to the higher-ups or they'd be injected, with more of the drug. More drug means more insanity. More insanity means they might actually end up as Titans.

"So tell me, are you two supposed to be lovers?" the man pointed to the matching red strings around their wrists. Isabel grabbed her sleeve and attempted to hide it, she looked at the ground embarrassed. Farlan didn't react in any way, he just wondered what this guy was plotting.

The man stood up, the two flinched. His gloved hands reached behind his vest. He revealed a gun, their mouths dropped in awe. They recognized that gun and their terror only increased.

Phantom.

The legend had been spread around in The Basement. Over and over again they heard the rumors. He was supposed to be the best of the best. Or the worst of the worst, depends on whose side you are on. The man played with the gun in his hand. He walked closer to them, the two were tempted to take a step back, but Farlan held Isabel's hand, telling her not to move.

The man was only a few steps away. He pointed the gun, directly at Isabel, smiling, "love is a weakness. You'll die here if you keep this up, I'm doing you a favor," his finger hovered over the trigger. Isabel didn't move, she couldn't, her body was frozen in terror. Would she really have to die like this?

Farlan attempted to punch the man, but the man's free hand grabbed his. He kicked the back of Farlan's leg and made him kneel on the ground. His face no longer having the smile but showing his true darkness. The man grabbed Farlan's hair and jerked his head back, Farlan's eyes widened at the face. If he was afraid before, now he was terrified.

"There are two things you need to know if we are to 'work' together," the man said, his voice cold. Isabel wanted to do something to help but she didn't know where to start. 

"One: don't let your 'love affair' distract you from the real issues," he said, "Two: if you don't do everything I say you'll die," the man let go of Farlan's hair and placed his gun back behind his vest. Isabel instinctively ran to Farlan, hugging him, assuring herself he was alright. She glared at this stranger, anger filling her being. 

"You're a monster," she spat.

"Yes," he reverted back to how they had first found him, smiling with hidden evil, "I am," clapping his hands together he pressed a brick on the wall. A trap door opened up, the three of them fell into the darkness.

"Do you love birds know, why this gang was called 'The Basement'," he asked as the couple screamed. They fell into the pit that never-ended, until it did. Farlan and Isabel landed in a chair, chained to it, how this happened, the two didn't know. 

The man stood there, the dim lighting shined revealing tons of lab equipment. The man walked over to a table and grabbed a needle.

"W-what are you g-going to do with that?" Farlan tried to keep his voice level.

"What am I going to do?" the needle had contents the both knew well. How could they forget that? The drug. Filling another needle with the liquid he walked over to them, "inject you of course."

"We didn't do anything wrong. Please. Don't do this," Isabel begged, "we'll do whatever you want! We promise!" their faces of terror only made the man laugh. He leaned down in front of their faces, so close they noticed a beauty-mark under his eye. This individual was attractive despite his terrible personality.

"There was a basement, underneath the house of a man named 'Grisha'" he paused, holding both needles next to the necks of the two. If they struggled, the man would cut their necks. If they didn't, they risked being injected with the drug that would only make their mental conditions worse, "he did experiments messing with the human mind and developed the drug, the very same drug that turns people into what you call 'Titans.'"

The man injected the two, they screamed, louder than they ever had before, shaking, trying to break free from the chains that bound them. Injection complete. The stranger took a few steps back, allowing them to experience their panic attack.

"Congratulations," he clapped as he watched the two, "you have successfully proved to me that you two are complete idiots. This will be troublesome," the man held a hand to his chin, closing his eyes and thinking. The two stared confused. Why wasn't the drug working? They didn't feel any different, it was weird, was this not the drug? 

"Now, we can get down to business. As you've probably suspected, I'm Phantom. And we," he pointed to the door and two individuals walked in. One female, one male, both wearing lab-coats, "are going to make a cure for the drug."

"My name is Hanji," the female smiled, "this is my husband Lenny," she pointed, "what he injected you with is the immunity we've been working on. It should last at least a day. We need you to go into the Titan's prison and get a sample of their blood," she smiled.

Farlan and Isabel stared at each other. The chains unlocked, allowing them to stand up. 

"So what do you say? It's either now, or you might actually become monsters," Phantom grinned. 

"Is a cure really possible?" their eyes lit up with hope. Maybe they could go back to a normal life eventually. Maybe they could apologize to Levi.

"Don't underestimate the powers of a mad scientist," the married couple hi-fived grinning.