"Ugh… what happened?" Kaede groans as she returns to reality; as her vision clears, she sees Danny apparently standing on the ceiling. "Why are you on the… oh, wait… I'm the one who's hanging from the ceiling."
"And right here you'll stay until someone finds you," Danny promises. "Something tells me you'll be waiting a while."
Kaede looks at her legs; they're totally encased in rock. "So I see. I guess this means you're not staying."
"I prefer women who don't try to drug me and take advantage of me."
Kaede shrugs, an odd gesture for someone hanging upside-down. "Your loss."
Danny turns away from the pika without another word; he uses the last of the fake crystal's power to break down the wall she raised before their battle. Taking up a katana as the crystal turns to powder, he strides purposefully to the body of Hanna Skarlett; in silence, he thrusts the tip of the katana into the abdomen, slicing it open to the collar.
"It's a fake," he declares flatly as the body splits open, revealing the translucent gelatinous substance within. "As I thought, ballistics gelatin; it has the same consistency as Avalician flesh."
Rob and Maria stare at Danny in shock and disbelief. "How did you work that out?" they ask in unison.
"As I said to Xander, if Hanna was really dead, Aquila wouldn't keep it a secret," Danny explains. "He'd go to great lengths to make sure we found out; he wouldn't hide the body in the catacombs."
"I owe you an apology," Xander interjects.
"No worries," Danny assures. "We now know the truth, that's what matters."
Rob unleashes a short and violent string of expletives. "Who would play such a dirty trick on us?" he asks.
Danny steps to one side and gestures towards Kaede; she waves sheepishly from her inverted position, knowing she's in serious trouble.
Rob rises to his feet and stalks over to Kaede, a look of thunder in his eyes; Kaede shrinks as much as she can from his advance. Halting just inches from Kaede, Rob grabs two fistfuls of her blonde hair, pulling it taut; Kaede grimaces as it pulls on her scalp.
"The only reason you get to live is because she wouldn't want me to kill you," Rob states, his unnervingly quiet voice dripping with the most toxic venom. "But that doesn't mean you won't suffer for what you have done," he adds, letting go of her hair.
Rob walks away without another word; Kaede's expression turns from timidity to fear as Maria takes his place, her eyes burning with the fury of a vengeful deity. The lynx doesn't say anything; she simply stands for a moment, allowing Kaede's fear to build naturally. When she feels it's built up enough, Maria swipes her claws across Kaede's face; the pika yelps loudly as the claws cut deep. Maria then grabs the pika's ears, once again sinking her claws into the soft flesh at their base; Kaede gives her all not to scream.
"If I ever see you anywhere near the Origin Kingdoms, I will kill you where you stand," Maria whispers in promise; Kaede nods weakly in terrified understanding. "And I'm taking your weapons," the lynx adds, releasing her grip on the pika's ears; Kaede closes her eyes, trying her hardest to keep her emotions under control.
Leaving the pika to hang helplessly, Maria retrieves Kaede's tekko-kagi, handing them to Danny, who hangs them from his belt. Maria then retrieves the second katana as a replacement for her destroyed ninjato; even though the katana is curved and the sheath is not, the blade itself is narrow enough to allow it to fit the sheath without damaging it.
"I thought you didn't want a katana?" Danny asks.
"I like swords!" Maria smiles innocently in response.
Danny shrugs. "We better get moving," he suggests, checking under his torso bandages; finding the wounds inflicted by Tsubaki have been healed fully, he discards the bandages, leaving his torso bare.
"The sooner we get away from that disgusting excuse for an Avalician, the better," Rob growls.
In her cell, Hanna is pleased, though slightly conflicted; she's happy that her friends have moved one step closer to rescuing her, but she's also a little concerned at how their emotions are clouding their judgement. Please, take time to rest and gather yourselves…
In the throne room, Aquila, incandescent with rage, stands and unholsters his pistol; he shoots the entire magazine into the monitor; it dies in a shower of sparks.
In her cell, the monitor dies inexplicably; Hanna closes her eyes as a feeling of hopelessness threatens to take hold. I can't follow my friends anymore; all I can do is wait.
In the throne room, Aquila violently discards the empty firearm; it slams into the wall, landing on the floor in several pieces. "Pathetic useless Jades!" he yells to the room; his only answer is a faint echo.
Aquila closes his eyes and breathes deeply a few moments; his augmetics kick in to help level his mood. Once calm again, Aquila opens his eyes; they gravitate directly to the small bag on the desk. The Elemental Crystals… I had hoped for more time to work on integrating them with my augmetics… but the Jades are failing me spectacularly… and Serpentine lost to them already; he'll do so again…
If you want something done right, don't hire the Jade Alliance.