Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They've never been mine, and they never will be. Unless Maxwell Atoms says so, because he owns them.
AN: Obsessed4Life: Eh, sorry bro. Like I said, I just picked the niftiest sounding words I could find and used them. But please, keep writing your one-shot. Don't let my folly prevent you from creating something I know will be beautiful. :D
Crossoverfiend: Ah, thank you. Yes, my brain may be a little twisted, but it helps come up with original plots. And yes, what I had envisioned was not all there; I suppose it never will be, completely. But I'll tell what I see in my head as best as I can.
frogman: Well, I figured if I gave her blonde hair she'd be too much in description like Eris. Besides, Persephone looked really pretty as a brunette on wikipedia.
EndsVille: Aw, get well soon, friend. What exactly caused you to have such a sore?
crazyflea: Yay, you're here! Thanks for commenting, pal. Lookin' good on deviantart, there. ;)
Everyone else: Thank you very much for your kind words!
On with chapter 9! -KKBS
Chapter 9
Broxas and Decarabia shared a quick glance before diving downwards, their rewards still fighting to get loose. Persephone had asked them to be quick about killing them, to be smooth and accurate without prolonged suffering.
What did she know?
The goddess was weak, they both knew that, and were not about to let her spoil their fun. After all, once the universes were under her complete power, they would be able to glide in and take it all away when she least expected it. The brothers would play the role of her friends until she did all the work for them. The lady would never know, either, that they had secretly made the children suffer by forcing them to watch what they would do to their friends and family. Then they would be ripped apart, ever so slowly…
Mandy glared at the beast as it entered the swirling vortex with her in its clutches. She had no idea what they wanted or who had sent them, but she couldn't stand being so rudely snatched up. Her arm reached towards a pocket near the bottom or her outfit, straining to find the hourglass they had been entrusted with. The blonde's fingers found their target and she closed them around the icy glass.
Peering into the adjoined triangles, she guessed that around one fourth of the sand was gone. It had been roughly a day since they had first obtained it, meaning that they had only 72 hours to get back to Grim before impending doom broke out. Mandy held the hourglass to her tightly as familiar waves of light and color streamed past her.
Billy, on the other hand, was trying desperately not to throw up again as they sailed through. It was a losing battle.
"Huuuuuman, what the hell are you doiiing?!"
"BLEH!"
"AAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHH!"
Decarabia tottered in mid-flight, wings thrashing wildly as he tried to shake some of the chunks off of his feet.
"Brother! You're goooing to miss the exit!"
The other Jutanio paid no heed to his partners warning, too focused on the mess covering him to care.
"Get it oooooff!"
Red eyes rolled back in exasperation and sharp teeth gritted as the blue-eyed fiend finally found a solution to the problem.
"Mr. Bird thing, you're gonna drop me if you-"
Decarabia opened his scaly talon and swung his leg around, flinging the boy into the nothingness of space and time. He shot past countless realms and portals before coming to a stop directly between two greenish openings.
"My hat fell off!"
Mandy sighed in relief as he began to doggy paddle back towards his fallen cap. His progress was slow and awkward, but at least he was alright.
"My apologiessss, brother. Bodily fluids are rather disssgustssting."
Decarabia finished cleaning off the puke on his claws, and spread his wings out to their maximum length.
"Gots it! Heyyy, If you let go of me, you got to let go of Mandy too! Let her go, you creeps!"
"Seemsss as though we're dealing with an idiot. Too bad. It would be much more enjoyable if he undersssstood what we are going to do."
"But thisss one does." Broxas looked down upon the frowning girl. "Her mind is especially sharp, for a human. She can watch her friend die firrrrst."
The twins chuckled with glee. They stopped only when the blonde spoke up.
"You won't unless I let you. Which I don't plan on doing."
They paused for a moment, colors still twirling in the background, Billy still trying to paddle back to her. Then they guffawed even louder.
"Unwise of you to laugh at me."
"Ha! And what are you, little child, going to do about it?"
Mandy's face showed no emotions whatsoever; no fear, no anger, no embarrassment from the taunting. It remained so eerily placid that even the Jutanios were confused when they started intently at her face.
"Hmm? What could you posssibly do?"
Decarabia shoved his crooked beak into her face, daring her to answer. His eyes met hers, and he gasped as an eyebrow rose.
"This."
It was degrading, true, but one must do anything in their power to survive. So, the blonde grabbed hold of Broxas' scaly foot, opened her mouth, and bit down with all the force she could muster. Which was a lot.
The demon's body shuddered uncontrollably for a moment and its eyes went wide. No noise gurgled from the throat, but it felt pain. Like having a knife jabbed into your hand, and being so shocked that you can't even make a sound.
Mandy continued to bite until she could taste blood; foul, revolting blood. Her hold loosened only as the Jutanio's did.
"OFF!"
Broxas shook his leg forcefully, much like his brother had, and flung her away. She still grasped the hourglass in her hand as she hurtled through the continuum.
"Mandy! Over here!"
Billy was floating upside down a few meters away, still trying desperately to swim towards her.
"Cursssse them! Never mind the plans, just killll them now!"
The raging birds regained their senses and flapped towards them, their black, feathered bodies growing larger by the minute. They soared far faster than either of the teens could, taking huge flaps that moved them quickly through the air.
She could swim into the portal beside her, and be home free. Or she could risk her life trying to get to Billy. She remembered Broxas' words:
'She can watch her friend die firrrrst.'
No. She wasn't about to let them kill her companion, unless she gave them permission. And that wasn't about to happen anytime soon.
"M-m-Mandy, help!"
The redhead looked over to see the beasts looming towards him, talons outstretched and ready to pierce flesh. Mandy cursed him silently for moving so far away, but still edged her way towards his flailing arms.
"Move, and the pain will be greaterrrrr!"
The blonde didn't listen to their foolish calls, and reached out to her friend. She grabbed his hand and held it tight as the Jutanios closed in. With a final kick of her leg, she and the idiot were sucked into the green vortex.
Not fast enough, though, to avoid being grazed by the claws.
"UUhh…"
Billy uttered only a short gasp as one nail hit his back, right before being sucked in. His body fell limp for a moment, and the familiar brightness drained from his eyes.
"Billy?"
As forcefully as being hit by a bulldozer, the demons collided with their bodies and pushed them farther in, barely missing the entrance themselves.
The two were spit out onto a hot surface, Broxas and Decarabia shrieking at them from behind.
"Billy, are you alright?" Her voice was, for once, tainted with distress as they landed on the earth.
His back was sticky and red, and a large gash tore down his striped shirt. Which, one might add, was no longer white.
"Damn it."
The redhead lay on the ground beside her unmoving, only gasping once or twice every few seconds. He had hurt himself before on numerous occasions, and was even fond of whacking himself when he was bored. But never had he experienced a slice like what was open upon his back.
Blood was pumping profusely from the wound, threatening to make him dizzy and staining the cloth overtop of it. It soaked into the ground but didn't leave a mark, as the dirt beneath them was already a dark crimson color.
The blonde touched his shoulder gently, trying to get some kind of reaction from him. He shuddered, but did not speak a word.
"C'mon, swine, if we don't move those monsters are going to catch up with us. They're probably entering the portal right now."
Her eyes darted between him and the vortex, and she was again faced with a decision.
Leave now, and hide from the winged menaces. Or stay, help her friend, and possibly get caught.
"You are going to give me every penny of your allowance from now 'till you move out, Billy. You owe me so much for this."
Mandy placed her hands under his arms, and looked around. The environment they were now in seemed almost prehistoric, with tall palms and vast jungle spread out before them. A large volcano could be seen in the far distance, its head just poking above the treetops. It would have looked a lot like the Amazon, if not for the absurd paints that complimented everything within the world.
The ground was red, the sky was a blurry yellow, and the sun was the queerest shade of orange imaginable. Even the plants were all wrong, speckled purple and blue in places where they should have been green. It was as if some maniacal artist had decided to simply forget about the natural order of things and splash colorants wherever he pleased.
The blonde was disturbed by the incorrect use of colors, but wasn't particularly interested in investigating the matter at that exact moment. Mandy was never one to waste time accomplishing something, especially during an important situation.
She dragged her friend over to a nearby shrub, and set him down behind it. Billy seemed to be reviving, but she couldn't be sure. All she could tell by looking at him was that the bleeding hadn't stopped, and almost all the blush was gone from his cheeks. The teen sighed wearily and crouched down beside the redhead.
"Don't make a sound, don't move, and don't annoy me more than you already have." She whispered to the fallen figure. "Honestly, the things I do for you, I have no idea wh…"
She fell short of her sentence as another rip formed maybe 20 or 30 meters away, opening up to reveal that the twins were still hot on their trail. Their wings and nostrils flared in anger as they landed on the ground, shaking the earth as they did so. The one with red eyes put one talon forward and sniffed the air for a moment. Whispering something to his brother, they began to chuckle.
"Weee know where you are, childreeeen."
"Our nostrilsss are rich with the stench of your flessssh. You can hide nothing from ussss. Not even the sweet smell of fear."
Sweat ran down Mandy's forehead as she heard this. The sun above her had sunk halfway beneath the surface, but still produced enough light that they could find her and him easily enough. If they knew where to look.
Another talon came foreword, followed by a huge black body. Feathers ruffled and teeth bared as the bird locked onto her scent.
"There, in the bushhhh. Make it nice and slow. This might be our last kill, for a while. Force her to watch, if you pleassssse."
Broxas made a slight courtesy, as if to let his sibling have the first go; as if it were a privilege. Mandy gaped when they began to move closer towards them.
There was no point in hiding, she decided. They would have as much luck if they came right out in the open and fought for their lives. Besides, it seemed cowardly to simply wait and see what would happen, instead of having the nerve to fend for one's self.
"Fine, then. Come and get me."
Mandy stood up from behind the bush, revealing herself although they had already known where she was.
"We smelll blood, as well. Guess your friennnnd got a little knick, eh? Hehehe."
They shared another laugh, positively giddy from the excitement of the hunt.
"Wait, Broxas? What'ssss that?"
Blue irises focused on something behind his brother, and past the girl. She was confused for a moment, before feeling hot breath on her neck and a putrid odor reach her nose. From somewhere under her, Billy mumbled.
"Oooh….my head. Ehhh? Mandy, is what I'm seeing a dream? 'Cause mom said dinosaurs went all X stink-ed a gillion years ago. Please, I wanna dream about giant rubber ducks, not giant lizard things."
