Author's Notes:

Hello, sorry if this isn't what you were expecting. I decided to do this chapter solely for the plot, and to help you understand more about Igneous and just what kind of situation Pinkamena is in. Please, tell me if you see any errors, such as grammar, spelling, plot holes, or added on/left off letters.

After she was subdued and taken back to the main base, Pinkamena was given almost immediate treatment from the best doctors and nurses they had; Igneous made sure of that. Any and all injuries she had were cleaned out, stitched up, and left to heal. Though, she wouldn’t have the time to heal.

When the head of the medical team reported to Igneous that they had done all they could, and all she needed now was time, he dismissed the doctor and went to his office; he had a lot to think about. She had already proven what she was capable of, but they needed more than that. It was going to take more than simple survival skills; she needed to prove how much she could take, she needed to prove her endurance.

His office was a small one, the door being a well-crafted mahogany wood, with many carvings of various signs. Swirls around the corners, lines going down the edges, a circle around the knob, and many other things. He didn’t request this; he was a more plain and classic person. The door had belonged to the previous leader, who requested the door to be crafted like that. It wasn't his taste, but he didn't specifically dislike it.

He opened the door and walked in, looking around his office. Coming in, there was a desk in the middle. Made of the same kind of wood as the door, but without the signs. It had a laptop on top of it, for all the outside sources and media outlets. There were a pencil cup and a lamp on the left of the laptop, the cup having three sharpened pencils in it.

To the right of that, was a simple picture frame. In it, was a picture of a family, two years prior. Though what was strange about it, was Inkie and Blinkie had red marks on their faces. Igneous had done this when he got the news they failed. He didn’t have a funeral for them, as it would raise too many questions, and he didn’t care enough for them to have one.

Behind the desk, were three drawers on each side. They were made to hold papers and documents, and other various things. The chair behind the desk was also wood, except it was made of oak, instead of mahogany. It was painted black; it was Igneous's favorite color. To the left of the room, was a bookshelf that took the entire wall. Covered top to bottom with books, Igneous had more free time than he liked. Luckily, he liked to read.

Some of the books were stories or myths; others were personal journals of the previous leaders of The Syndicate. He hasn’t read every book and personal journal, though, he does intend to. On the right side of the room, were three rows of televisions. Igneous had trust issues; you get those kinds of things in a life like this. So, he decided to have cameras put in every single room in the headquarters, even the bathrooms.

The cameras were made very well, and well placed, not even he knows where they are. He told the ones who put them in to make them hidden and make sure they have view of the entire room. They’re always on, and always recording. Each camera has two pairs of batteries in them and a battery charger. So while one pair is being used, the other is charging. When the pair that is being used runs low, they switch out. Basically, the cameras are almost on, except when the batteries switch out. But, the time in between that switch is three seconds, no one could get through a room that quick.

But he wasn’t focused on the screens, or on the books, or on anything really. No, he had more pressing matters. He walked over to his desk and sat down, putting the laptop into one of the drawers. Then, he opened a different drawer, pulling out a file. The file had nothing on it; only he would know what it was. Each file had a special mark on it that Igneous had put there so he would know which file was which. This file had the top right corner slightly bent, anyone trying to steal it would think it was just a regular file, but he knew better.

Recently, a problem had risen in The Syndicate. It had started with a criminal being shot while he was robbing a store, his name was Jason Tunes. He had been robbing convenience stores for a month, killing anyone who didn’t cooperate or tried to play the hero. The Syndicate didn’t help or stop him, as any criminals not allied with them were considered neutral, and The Syndicate only helped allies.

This case was widely known, both by the police station and the citizens. But Jason was smart enough to wear a mask and gloves, and used a different gun every time, so, it was hard to get any evidence against him. But some had suspected it was him and tried to interrogate him. Many believed it was him, but there was still no evidence.

One day, while Jason was robbing a gas station, he was shot. Not by the cashier or someone shopping there, none of them even had a gun on them when he was shot. No one seemed to have even heard the shot, the only indication he was shot was a bullet hole in between his eyes, it was a clean shot. The bullet had been found; it was on the other side of the store, it had apparently gone straight through him and hit a wall.

The bullet had come from a sniper, which would explain the lack of a gunshot. What was strange about it though, was the bullet itself. It was taken back to forensics, but they didn’t come up with anything. Apparently, the bullet didn’t belong to any sniper rifle; it wasn’t even shaped like any kind of sniper rifle bullet they had seen before. Then, it got even stranger when they couldn’t find any gunpowder residue, if it weren't for the range, there would have been nothing indicating it was even a sniper rifle that it was shot from.

The most common theory about who shot Jason was that one of the police officers who was investigating him, had truly believed it was him. But frustrated that due to not having enough evidence, they weren’t able to arrest him. So, the officer had decided to take matters into their own hands. They had taken a sniper rifle from the police station and followed Jason until he was caught in the middle of robbing, and was shot. And the bullet was strange because the officer had bought it from somewhere else, as a way to not get caught.

This theory was believed by many, and it even went to the point to where the police stations that were looking into the case began an investigation, and what they found debunked the theory. Every officer that had believed Jason to be the suspect had been accounted for at the time of the shooting, all sniper rifles had been found and checked, and none had any signs of recent use. They even went as far as to check every officer's recent purchase history, and while some things did raise questions, none were out of the country purchases.

This case would have been forgotten, falling into the rest of the many cold cases if it hadn’t continued. Criminal after criminal had been killed in the same way, no gunshot, an untraceable bullet, and no suspects. Whoever had been doing this was killing criminals daily, rarely having any connections to each other. After the fifth one, the NYPD had opened a case into it, calling it The Silent Killer case, that’s what the mysterious sniper was nicknamed.

The Silent Killer was good at more than just sniping; they were good at staying hidden too. The cops had checked every building around the areas the criminals were shot at, even checking some that were out of the range of possibility. But, there was no trace anyone had shot from any of the buildings, and none of the residents heard any gunshots. Either this person was ex-military, or taught extremely well.

This case had started a month ago and was continuing to this day. Originally, Igneous nor the rest of The Syndicate wanted to get involved with this case. Whenever someone in The Syndicate committed a crime, it was always organized and planned out beforehand. Most of the time, the crime is committed flawlessly, no one is caught, or even suspected of. But on those infrequent occasions, where one or more of them is caught, it’s considered a failure to the entirety of The Syndicate, and a hit to their reputation.

But, everyone here is well disciplined, and don’t say anything. The only real bad thing out of failing is losing a few members; no information is given. Sadly though, The Syndicate wasn’t the only big organization in New York. They were definitely the biggest, but there were many others that could be a threat if enemies. But, the reason they were now involved in the case, or more particularly who, was The Apple Family.

What started off as one of their old relatives committing crimes, either for money or other reasons, evolved into something else. They were now one of the biggest organizations out there, and they weren’t happy. Apparently, some of their guys, or as they like to call them, ‘Apples.’ Were killed for whatever crimes they had committed, or been committing at the time they were shot. And Applejack, their leader, had suspected The Syndicate.

It made sense; The Silent killer was effective and untraceable, something The Syndicate specialized in. And The Syndicate was impressed, whoever this sniper was, they wanted them. It took a lot of convincing, and nearly some bloodshed, but Igneous managed to convince her it wasn’t them. But, that didn’t make her any less angry, in fact, it seemed to make her even angrier. She wanted to kill whoever it was that was killing them, and now that she didn’t have a suspect, it infuriated her.

She wanted a target, someone to put all the blame on, and she was looking at them for one. She said that if she didn’t find out who The Silent Killer was, that she’d assume it was them, and declare war. Usually, he would have killed her right then and there for making such a statement. But, that would have assured war, and he couldn’t have that, not now. Yes, they would win. But not without casualties, and such a war would most definitely risk exposure. But. He also couldn’t go to war for a different reason, Pinkamena.

He didn’t want to take any risk while she was still in the middle of the test, especially if he’s uncertain whether or not she’ll pass. If he were to go to war and die while she was still in the test, and she was to fail, Maud would have to take his place. If that were to happen, then The Syndicate would fall in on itself. He couldn’t have that; there was too much at stake. So, he accepted her deal and began to look into the case.

For the last two weeks, while Pinkamena was still in phase one of the test, he was gathering information. Criminals, ex-military, possible sniper rifles, the schedule of the killings, anything and everything that was connected to the case was in this folder. Slowly, he opened the folder, mentally preparing himself for the countless headaches he’s about to have.

The second he was about to open it fully, the head doctor he had dismissed earlier ran into his room. He shut the folder and put it back in the drawer immediately, not wanting to risk anyone knowing what he’s working on. Igneous was about to beat him for just rushing into his office, but then he saw the look on his face, and knew whatever reason he had rushed in, was important.

The head doctor was a white male, in his mid-thirties, his name was Melvin Haines. He had short brown hair, which was flat and spiked forward. Like most doctors, he wore clear white glasses. He had a pointy nose under them, which is why he usually didn’t have to push them back up. He always wore a black shirt with matching jeans, with the signature lab coat most doctors wear. His face was scrunched up, with his eyebrows both curved down at the spot in between them. His eyes were wide with shock and worry, panic was written all over his face. Igneous would allow this intrusion, as there was obviously an important reason for it.

“What is it, doctor?”

Igneous said calmly, as he laid his elbows on the desk, intertwining his hands and leaving them in front of him. Before speaking, the doctor quickly shut the door behind him, not wanting to alert anyone. As soon as he did, he looked at Igneous, trying to calm himself down.

“I-it’s Pinkamena! She’s waking up!”

Igneous's calm demeanor fell for a second, as shock filled his eyes. But, being the leader he is, he made sure to appear calm. This was surprising, the drug that was injected into her was supposed to keep her knocked out for seven hours, it’s only been four. She shouldn’t be waking up, not yet. It was possible to build an immunity to the drug to the point where it doesn’t affect that person anymore, but not so soon. He had to act quick, if she woke up and tried to break free, then they’d have to subdue her. And any injury to her lowers her chance of surviving the test, and that wouldn’t be good.

“Then inject her with more, she only needs to be asleep for a few more hours, then phase two can start.”

The doctor seemed to get even more surprised, both of them knew the consequences of using the drug again so soon.

“But if I do that, she might-

“I know! Just do it!”

He didn’t yell at him, he just loudly talked to him with anger in his voice. Yes, the drug was effective, but it had a catch. If the drug is used on the same person twice within twenty-four hours, it’ll increase the nervous system. Which means you'll be far more sensitive, to both pleasure and pain. A pinch would feel like someone was stabbing you with a butter knife. A spider bite would feel like a bunch of maggots are digging into your skin.

This side effect is said to drive a person insane from the immense amount of pain if it doesn’t kill you. Though it does make it feel worse, the injury itself doesn’t increase any. While the pinch may feel horrible, it’s still just a pinch, and won’t kill; it’s basically the body over exaggerating. Before Melvin could protest again, Igneous gave him a look that said,’ this isn’t negotiable.’

Then, he walked out, opening and closing the door behind him. Then, Igneous opened the drawer and pulled out the folder, resuming what he was going to do in the first place. As he opened the folder and began reading, he had a huge smile on his face. But, this wasn’t a happy smile, this was the same smile he gave Pinkamena before he left. That had been fake; it was just a scare tactic. But, this was genuine, he was smiling at his own realization.

He had not only made phase two ten times harder for her but now, she was guaranteed to be broken by the end of it. The effects may only last five hours after waking up, but it’s going to be the most excruciating five hours of her life. This wouldn’t just test her limits of endurance; this would make her skyrocket through them. It’s a good thing sanity isn’t a requirement, because she wouldn’t be when the test is over.