This place is fuckin' creepy. Roxas shivered slightly as a weeping willow's drooping branch tickled his skin. Shit, calm down! You've gotta stay quiet no matter what. He took each step slowly, being extra careful not to alert the man he was following. He heard some sort of grumble emit from the dark figure, but shrugged it off. They soon reached a small slope and walked upwards from there. What lay beyond it was breathtaking.
"Stupid girl..." Yousuke took out a large key from his coat pocket. He walked over to the majestic gates and jiggled the padlock as he struggled to turn the ancient key. "I told her to oil these things. What did he do? NOTHING!"
Roxas retreated to a nearby bush. This is an old mansion... He lives here? And Namine, too?
Click, ching!
The padlock fell to the floor with a loud, metallic thud. Yousuke put the key back into his pocket and stomped his way into the mansion. "Frrmmmslrppkrfnkll..." he muttered on grumpily.
Now's my chance! Roxas threw away all his feelings of hesitation and made a dash for it. He had to act quickly. The sound the dry grass made beneath the soles of his sneakers weren't exactly quiet and soft. He saw Yousuke stop. Shit!
Yousuke whirled around, eyes wild. "Who's there!" he shouted. He looked around the front yard. The wind was still. No sign of any intruders. Scowling, he opened the door and entered the mansion. "Must have been my imagination." The door closed and locked.
Roxas let out a quiet, yet somewhat blatant, grunt as he stumbled out from behind a broken pillar. "Agh, my leg!" he hissed and grasped his left shin. In an attempt to escape discovery, he had to think quickly and do what came naturally to him- hide. In his haste, he aimed for the pillar. In the jump, his landing went awry. His left leg gave way and struck the ground with tremendous force. Sweat ran down the side of his face. I've gotta...get...up...
"No!!!" a blood-curling scream echoed throughout the woods. The cowering birds that hid flew from their sanctuary of the trees and into the sky.
Roxas held his breath. "Was that-"
"Stop struggling!" came Yousuke's voice. "You'll only make this worse for yourself!"
"No, stop it! Please!"
Roxas' eyes widened in grim realization. Namine! He quickly rose to his feet and rammed the door. "Stop it!" he cried. He gave it a good kick. "What ever you're doing to Namine, stop it! Stop it right NOW!"
"Son of a bitch..." was heard and followed by angry footsteps.
Crap. Roxas detached himself from the door and ran back to his hiding place. That was so stupid!
Yousuke opened the door and sniffed the air. "Whoever is out there, come on out!" He loaded the shotgun he carried. "Or else we'll have to play a little game called 'hide-an'-go-kill.'" Receiving no reply, he walked down the short steps.
"Father, stop it!" Namine came running out of the house.
Roxas, watching from behind the pillar, gasped at her appearance. She was in a torn nightgown, half-stripped. Her skin was extremely pale and her petite body was as thin as a corpse and covered in large bruises. Her once flawless, beautiful face was now full of cuts, blood, and more bruises. "Oh, no," he heard himself say.
"Father!" Namine threw herself at Yousuke, clawing at his coat. "Stop! There's no need for you to use that gun!" She knew exactly who that mysterious defender had been. The last thing she wanted was for death to find him so soon.
"How many times to do I have to tell you?" came the gunner's dark murmur. He tightened his grip on the weapon.
Namine continued to rip his coat, regardless of the warning. She opened her swollen eyes only to meet with the shotgun's metal end. It was too late to evade. The snout struck her on the brow- hard.
Roxas' curious expression fractured at the sight of blood spurting from the young girl's brow. "No.."
Yousuke watched his daughter hit the ground and then placed a boot on her. He then put the end of the shotgun under her chin and lifted it up to see her face. he let out a low whistle of sadistic admiration. "Well I'll be. You're all beaten up! Look at you! You're uglier than that whore I fuck every night downtown!"
Roxas turned his attention to Namine. Why won't she do anything? Fear overcame him. She did not move, her eyes were closed, and she laid on the rocky ground helpless and loose-muscled. Sh-she can't be...! He remembered himself and quickly shrank back in his hiding spot. Looking up at the demonic man, he realized just how much of a difference there was between them. In size and in strength.
"You're useless. I have no need for you anymore." Yousuke pulled out a pocketknife. "I'll rip you to shreds so your suffering will end in the heavens!" He let out a maniacal cry and brought the knife down.
Time stopped.
Roxas stood on his feet and ran for it. To intervene in any way- that was his plan. He got between the two and grabbed Namine's father by the wrists, struggling to keep the knife from descending any further. Through gritted teeth, he pushed back with all his might.
"YOU!" Yousuke's eyes flared with pure outrage.
"Get...a...way...from her!"
"Try it, kid. You're not going to stop me. I'll bring my beloved daughter to her sanctuary no matter what!" The man's expression darkened and he pushed down on the skater harder.
Roxas stumbled back a bit but immediately regained balance and kept a firm stance. I can't keep this up any longer. His eyes shifted to Namine's lifeless body on the ground. The sight of her pitiful form made him scrunch his brows. But I can't give up now. If I do...I don't think I can ever forgive myself. he felt the pressure come down on him again and braced for impact.
"That's enough!"
Huh? The spiky-haired breathed a sigh of relief when the heavy man was lifted from his hands. He looked up and was greatly taken back at the sight. "S-S-Seifer?!" he gasped in utter shock.
The bodybuilder threw Yousuke to a pillar, adding another ruin to the collection. "Get out of here!" he ordered Roxas. "We'll take care of this guy!"
We?
Fuu, Vivi, and Rai ran to Seifer's aid. They quickly surrounded Yousuke and stood in defensive stances.
Roxas understood and nodded, keeping a stern expression. "Right." Thanks, Seifer. He picked up Namine and climbed the vine-decorated walls of the mansion. "C'mmon, hang in there," he told the sleeping girl. He reached the top and jumped over it.
"NO!!" Yousuke roared and rashly stood up. He ran to the wall to catch Roxas, but instantly faced Seifer's blockade. "Out of my way, brat!"
Seifer smirked. "I don't think you're in the position to be calling me names, asshole."
"Mmf...mmf...mmf...." Roxas refrained from opening his mouth for much needed air, in fear that he may tire himself out too quickly and once again be caught in Yousuke's fatal grasp. Coming from track and field experience, he learned it best to breathe through the nose to conserve energy. He took a quick moment to check on Namine, who rode on his back. His shoulder trembled a bit. Not good. She's still out cold. And I don't have enough strength to carry her all the way to the hospit-
"Hey!" a voice called from not too far away.
Roxas didn't stop running, but he did take the time to see who the voice belonged to. When he saw that person, complete relief flooded over him. "Doc!" he responded with a wide smile and changed course.
Sephiroth stepped out of his car, walked over to meet with his former patient, and then glared at him. "I thought you promised you'd take BETTER care of yourself," he broached darkly.
"Not now...doc... She...she needs...help....BAD."
The silver-haired doctor's gaze shifted to Namine and all the color drained from his face. "My lord... What happened to this poor child?!" Seeing that Roxas was exhausted and about ready to collapse, he quickly took Namine into his own arms and held her tightly.
"Long...story...." Roxas placed his hands on his knees and panted, sweat dripping down from his chin. "Please, just...get her to the...hospital. Please!"
"Immediately." Sephiroth ran back o his car and gently seated Namine beside the driver's seat. He then ran around, jumped into the driver's seat and drove off. He knew very well that Roxas didn't mind. Seeing that he didn't argue, I can only assume that he has something else to do. Something of much more grave importance. He glanced at his rear-view mirror.
Roxas looked on as the luxurious, black car disappeared from a distance. "Take care of her," he muttered. "I'll be there as soon as I can." He wiped some sweat from his face and ran back towards the direction of the mansion.
"Oof!" Seifer grunted as his elbows and knees scraped the rough-edged stones. He rolled away as a knife plunged down on the dirt and made its mark on the grass. Damn! This guy is tougher than I thought!
Yousuke pulled the knife out and cackled. "Fool! You can't beat me! I'm stronger than you!"
Seifer looked around. Fuu was unconscious but not severely hurt. Vivi and Rai had their hands full in trying to break out of the vines Yousuke had wrapped them with. He was on his own. Shit.
"Not so fast!" Roxas ran into the battlefield, his breathing heavy. "You have to deal with ME now," he challenged.
Yousuke's evil grin widened at this. "My pleasure," he purred and prowled towards Roxas.
"Roxas!" Seifer shouted. "Get away from him- he's dangerous! I can handle him!" He stood up shakily and ran after Yousuke. "That's as far as you go, old man!" He grabbed the dark-haired man's free arm and wrestled him to the ground. After successfully knocking the weapon away, he wrapped his muscular arm around Yousuke's neck.
"Seifer!" Roxas stepped forward to help the struggling teen. But he stopped when he saw Yousuke cease in his movements. "..."
Seifer gave one last grunt of triumph and stood up. "He had no chance against me," he boasted, flexing his now-sore arm. "Check these babies out. There's just no way he could have taken me on and won. Moron."
Roxas rolled his eyes and frowned. "Why did you-"
"Help you?" Seifer interrupted. "You know the reason already, Roxas." He gave the flabbergasted skater a piercing look and went over to check on his friends.
He still freaks me out. Roxas shivered a little. "Well...uh...I'll be going then," he said and ran back into the woods, headed for the hospital.
Sephiroth flipped through his notebook and recorded some things down. "Nurse, how is she?"
"Not at all well, doctor. Her brain activity is hard to read at the moment and her heart rate is abnormally high. No part of her body is responding to our treatments! Doctor, if she goes on like this, she'll-"
"We will have none of that!" Sephiroth snapped. He didn't want to hear it. He wasn't about ready to give up on a patient well-treasured by another person. "She'll come through, you hear me?!"
The nurse flinched. "Y-yes, doctor. Please, forgive me."
The doctor walked over to Namine's side and studied the data on her monitor. He bit his lower lip, pulled out a needle, and filled it with some sort of clear substance. He then took Namine's arm and injected her wrist with it. The liquid slowly vanished from the needle and soon it was completely gone.
Namine reacted violently. She let out a cry of pain and arched her back. "Aaah!" she screamed.
Sephiroth held her down with all his strength. C'mmon...work...WORK!
Namine's breathing hitched and her eyes widened dramatically. She was still unconscious, but her eyes were wide open from the sudden invasion of the unknown chemicals that entered her body. With a pain-felt breath, she closed her eyes and laid back in bed.
The monitor's beating returned to a normal rhythm. Sephiroth sighed and released Namine's arms. "She has stabilized," he informed the staff. "All she needs now is to rest easy. And all we can do is wait." Inside, he felt like slicing his throat open for telling such a fib.
A nurse gave a confused look. "Wait for what, doctor?"
"Wait for-"
"Hey! No! You can't go in there! Hey!!"
The door flew open and in came Roxas. His clothes and hair were in complete disarray and more sweat ran down his dirt-covered face. Apparently, he had fallen a lot along the way.
A security guard came in after him, yelling at the top of his lungs, "Kid, you had better get of here or else you're going to be in a lot of trouble!"
Sephiroth put a hand up. "It's okay- he's with me."
Roxas glanced back and watched the security guard leave him grudgingly. About time. He was annoying. He turned his attention back to the doctor. "So...how is she?" he asked anxiously. He felt his heart jump when he saw Sephiroth's expression sadden. "What?"
Sephiroth shook his head in dismay. "Roxas..."
