Ringo x Randel AU Oneshots

Once a Tyrant, Always a Tyrant

The heat from the flames did little to hinder R's efforts as he climbed out of the window he had smashed.

Pain seared all over his body as the wounds slowly healed themselves, though R did not have the time to concentrate on the regeneration process in order to make it go faster.

He did not care for the deep gash that ran along his chest, nor did he care for any of the cuts or slashes that had been able to pierce through his clothing.

The cold night air stung those open wounds, but the pain did not register in R's mind. It all felt the same to him.

Slowly and with great care, R fully exited the window, only to land on the grass below with a small crunch coming from his right ankle.

If he was anything but a tyrant, R would have died within the week he and his companion had been captured and taken here.

Shaking, R lowered the body off of his shoulder, watching as it landed on its back.

R remembered as he went down the seemingly endless stairs as he carried him, avoiding the fire and falling debris as the corpses of the workers and scientists burned around them.

R had imagined the day where he could exact his revenge on the people who had set up such a life for him.

He remembered the city that he was flown into.

He remembered his orders to kill any witnesses and to retrieve something.

He remembered seeing the man when he lifted up the crashed helicopter.

As R looked down at that very same person, his hand slowly went to touch the hairless patch on the side of his head, feeling that the hole that had been drilled into it just an hour ago had already closed up.

Sighing, he lowered his hand back down.

The device that was once implanted there was used to make sure he stayed on task and didn't let any opposing thoughts appear, as well as sending him updated information.

R lowered his hat, remembering when he had cornered the man in the same building they had first encountered each other.

He remembered how, in a surprise attack, he had lunged towards the device, only for it to have been pulled out when R threw the man off of him, the device still in his grip.

Blood soaked that man's clothes, his eyes closed as if he was just sleeping.

R wished that he was.

After being freed from the company's control, R had questioned what he was supposed to do now, with the man cowering in the corner, tears running down his cheeks.

Something within him didn't want to continue the plan to kill the witness, or any witnesses for that matter.

Once they had both gotten along, albeit with lingering suspicion clear in the witness's eyes, they, along with a couple of the man's friends, had escaped the city just days before it was wiped off the map.

Of course, keeping an over 7 foot tall tyrant a secret was impossible, but R had expected worse when they were taken to a military building in secrecy.

They were allowed to live together, somewhere deep within a forest in a protected house, with people coming by twice or three times a week to make sure everything was alright.

Everything was, until a lead scientist from the company was able to track them down.

It was chaos the night they were taken.

R had been injected with a substance that had knocked him out cold, and the man whose life he had spared refused to leave his side, even when they threatened to take him too.

Despite the efforts of his friends, the man was cuffed and thrown into the black van with R, who had still been out cold.

R knelt down beside the man on the ground and carefully placed his hand on his head.

His hand was large enough to cover the top of the man's head completely, though he dare not try to tighten his grip.

R had woken up chained to a table inside the very building that was now burning behind him.

The man was tied to a chair not too far away from him, and it was clear who had woken up first.

The man had screamed and yelled as the lead scientist of the company entered the room. R knew what was going to happen.

For the first two weeks, tests and occasional beatings were carried out, the severity being determined by how much the two showed resistance.

The tests were only ever performed on R, but he couldn't stand to watch the man get beaten helplessly as several employees laughed all around them.

Then, today came.

It had been decided that R would have another device implanted in him.

In order to become what you were always meant to be, one of the employees had said.

R couldn't move as he was placed in a room with a glass pane in front of him, the man who he had saved being forced to watch.

R could do nothing but stare into the eyes of the one he loved as the drill made contact with his head.

He remembered the feeling of something metallic being inserted afterwards.

Then, he remembered nothing.

R's chest tightened as the memory once again flashed in his head.

The man, a large wound having just been formed on his neck, struggled to breath as R looked down at him, his mind twisting and turning as mysterious electrical surges and strange thoughts invaded it.

"I... I d-don't..."

The man sputtered and wrapped his bloody arms around R as he shook on his knees, his breath loud and wet.

"C-care... w-what you are... b-but..."

The man looked up at him, eyes red with tears.

R could tell by his eyes that he was dying.

"I k-know... s-somewhere in y-your... your... mind, R, y-you're s-still there..."

R had been confused by the name, only to be met with more pain in his head.

"I... I s-still... l-love y-you..."

The man coughed and his eyes grew cloudy as he quietly spoke one last time.

"P-please... R-remember w-who... y-you w-were..."

With that, the man's eyes closed, his body falling to the side.

Within a moment, everything came flooding back to R.

The device sparked and even caught fire before he had pulled it out of his own head.

After that, everything was a blur of screams, red, and pain.

R closed his eyes, pressing his head up against the man's still chest, hoping that he could hear that heartbeat, even though he knew that it had long since stopped.

Nothing but silence met his hearing.

R wrapped his hands around the body, pulling his head up as he stared at the man's face.

Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, a feeling unlike anything he had felt before forming a pit in his stomach.

The person who had shown him happiness was dead.

The person who had taught him emotions was dead.

The person who he had come to love was dead.

Randel was dead.

R's entire body shook as the feeling within him grew even greater.

Alone under the night sky, R raised his head, closed his eyes, and roared out his rage and grief, hot tears flooding down his face.