Uncle Mikey and Aunt Angela decided it would be fun to play board games, since everyone seemed to be getting tired of the TV…though they really weren't…
"Dad…stop them…" Rose begged, as Angela took out Monopoly and The Game Of Life.
"I've tried…I've tried so many times it hurts…"
She sighed overdramatically, leaning back as Monopoly was put out and the money given out.
"Can you all just kill me now?"
Angela hit her shoulder playfully, saying, "It won't be that bad! It'll be fun!"
"I have a feeling this won't end well…" Amber muttered, fidgeting herself.
As the game went on, everyone loosened up, and laughing and teasing filled the air.
"Man! When did you get so poor, hun?" Amber teased her husband, elbowing him playfully.
"Hey! I'm not as poor as Raph!"
"HEY!!"
"Come on, dad, I'm basically supporting you." Rose teased lightly, and Crystal smiled.
"Yeah, and I'm supporting Uncle Mikey."
"I'm not doing THAT badly…" Mikey weakly defended himself.
"The only one REALLY rich is Donnie." Rachelle said, smiling.
"Duh! He's smart!" Alice answered her aunt, looking at her small pile of bills.
"Anna's right behind him. Right?" Gem looked sweetly at her cousin, who looked down shyly and said, modestly, "I'm not that great at this game…"
Don sighed, seeing his shyness had infected his daughter more than it had him, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, saying, "You don't have to be ashamed of being good at something. Be proud of it, sweetheart."
She smiled shyly, saying, "I'll try…"
Rose sighed, putting her hands behind her head.
"How'd a shy girl like Anna come out of eight others that are loud, obnoxious, ANNOYING,"
She looked pointedly at Ruby.
"And childish?"
Everyone shrugged, and Ruby sighed.
"You're a child yourself, you know."
"I'm more of an adult than you!"
Ruby couldn't hold back the laughter, saying, "Are you kidding?! You throw a tantrum like a five year old!"
"I'll show YOU a tantrum!!"
Then started the wrestling, but it wasn't serious. It was more like play fighting than anything else, and even the most dim could see that the cousin's weren't really angry. In fact, it was obvious they were rather close.
When they separated in laughter, the rest of the family joining in, they all unconsciously lowered their guard. Rose fell backwards onto her back, holding her sides as she laughed.
For the first time in so long, she was relaxing.
But the moment a voice pierced through the air, cutting off the laughter, she tensed, ready to spring to her feet.
"Well, isn't this a heart-warming moment."
Rose shot up, reaching for her sai. Amber's eyes flashed an icy blue as a snarl made her tail bristle. Gem hid behind her mother, whimpering softly.
Rose grabbed her sai, only to have her father pull her behind him, his own sai in his hands.
"What are you here for now, Kane?"
Rose glared hotly, her eyes looking more like live fire than anything. Ruby looked more pissed than anyone, probably because of everything he'd already done to her family.
'If I'm supposed to be the leader, then I need to protect them…'
She pulled out her katana, and knew Crystal had already caught wind of her plan, for she snapped her fans open, the blades that popped out looking deadly.
Both girls rushed at once, too fast for their parents to stop them, and engaged in deadly combat, barely dodging and landing blows. As they were distracted, what looked like thugs flooded in, and Amber snarled savagely, making most of them stop in their tracks, and think twice about fighting her.
She pulled out her double bladed swords, and turned to her daughter.
"Stay back, sweetheart…"
Gem nodded, and Amber ran in, knocking more opponents aside then she'd ever done with her mace, and Raph would've been in there too, but Sapphire held him back, and took out her fans. As the women fought off the army, the kids tried to understand what was going on.
Ruby was smacked away, hitting the wall so hard it made a crater.
"R-RUBY!!"
Gem took a step towards her sister.
"Stay back!"
Gem froze as Ruby got up, wiping some blood from her lips.
"I'll be fine…just stay back…"
"But…"
Before Gem could say anything, Ruby was running in again. She just wouldn't stay down, and Gem felt like someone was punching her in the chest as she watched.
"RUBY!!"
She couldn't hold in the pained cry anymore, and when her sister flew into her, she caught her, falling backwards onto her butt.
"Ruby!! Ruby, wake up!! Sis!!"
She shook her unconscious sister, who was pinning her down to the ground. Crystal was held by the throat, and thrown to the floor.
"Sis!!"
Rose was too busy fighting off ten thugs to immediately run to her sister's aid, but she immediately forgot about the group when she saw him moving towards a pinned Gem, Ruby on top of her, almost like a shield. No one seemed to notice Ruby was starting to stir, for Gem was probably too terrified to realize there was fighting going on.
"Come on, angel…you're coming with me…"
Gem whimpered, ears laid back and tail lowered as she hugged her sister's semi-conscious body. When she felt his fingers brush against her cheek, she cringed, moving back, wishing that someone would stop him.
"GET AWAY FROM MY COUSIN!!!"
A sai at his throat made him freeze, and Rose's deadly glare could've matched Amber's.
"If you touch her again, I'll do worse than cut your throat…and Ruby'll make you go through a living hell as it is…"
She forced down her own fear, and took her father's advice.
'To be truly brave…is to face your fears…'
"Cut the brave act…"
In a flash of movement too fast for her mind or eyes to catch, he disarmed her of one sai and slammed her into the wall by her wrists.
'When the HELL did THIS happen?!'
She struggled violently, ready to hit him away, when she felt his breathe on her ear, and shivered.
"What's wrong, love? Scared? Or are you just upset that you can't stop the inevitable?"
She froze, her anger boiling in her chest.
"I'm NOT afraid of you!!" she hissed, malice in her voice.
He chuckled darkly.
"Spunk…that's what I like about you…"
When she felt him free one hand and trace her jaw line, she fought to break free.
"Get your hands OFF of her!!"
Amber was bombarded by thugs, and fought viciously, trying to reach them.
"Not so tough now, eh?"
Amber's angry snarl and savage glare could've made the devil himself wet his pants and scream like a little girl.
"I'LL DO WORSE THAN CUT YOUR THROAT THIS TIME!!! I'LL PUT YOU THROUGH SO MUCH TORTURE YOU'LL BE BEGGING ME TO KILL YOU!!!"
A strange energy spun around her like a silent tornado, throwing the thugs aside.
"And I'll make sure you never come near my family again…"
She charged, moving faster than anyone had ever seen her, and her weapons clashed with savage claws, Rose scrambling away from the contact.
"Rose, move!" Amber ordered, the angry snarl still in her voice.
Rose understood immediately, and ran to her cousin.
"Come on!" she urged, practically dragging Gem away, going through a hidden tunnel in a far wall before coming out in a dark sewer tunnel. Both girls grew up in the dark sewers, and their eyes adjusted immediately to the dark light, and they ran down, making hardly any sound as their feet hit the ground.
Rose pulled out her Shell Cell, thinking of calling Aunt April and Uncle Casey, obviously not blood related relatives, but she wouldn't say that when the couple brought candy and presents. She flipped it open, ignoring the rising panic in her chest.
As she punched in the number and let it ring softly, she looked up at the pipes overhead.
"Come on." She whispered, helping Gem up before jumping up after her.
She held it to her ear, giving Gem the sign to stay quiet.
"Hello?"
"Aunt April! We have a problem."
"What is it?"
The worry in her voice was obvious, especially since she'd heard about what happened eight years ago.
"Well…Kane's kind of…back…"
"Oh God…is Gem okay?"
"She's fine. But everyone stayed to fight him while I ran with her…"
She heard Casey's voice dimly in the receiver as April explained the situation.
"Just stay safe. We're coming to help them out."
"Stay safe…"
The sincerity in her voice made April pause.
"Of course…"
They hung up, and Rose softly closed the Shell Cell.
"Just stay quiet." She whispered to her cousin.
"This is a good hiding spot, but you need to stay quiet to hide well."
Gem nodded mutely, and Rose sighed.
"It's okay…"
Rose pulled her cousin closer, giving her a somewhat comforting one-armed hug. Gem heard footsteps below, and whimpered softly, burying her face into Rose's shoulder. Rose tried to slow her racing heart, when what looked like a thunderbolt nearly hit her, breaking the pipe in front of her.
'Shit!'
Rose took hold of her cousin and jumped away before the sludge could hit them, and started running low through the pipe work, something she'd been doing since she was a child, but Gem had never done herself. When the girl tripped, falling through the pipes, she pulled Rose down with her, and both slammed into the sewer water.
"Ewwwww…" Rose complained, shaking the water from her hair.
"Rose…"
Rose turned to her cousin, pulling her up to her knees.
"…Sorry…"
"No prob, just COME ON!"
Rose stood up, pulling her cousin up, and was about to bolt when electricity hit the wall ahead of her, making fire spread like a wall before them.
"SHIT!!"
She glared at the figure behind her, and pulled out a sai.
"Gem, jump and keep running…"
"B-But…"
"GO!" Rose hissed, and Gem obeyed, jumping over the flames with all the skill she possessed, and kept running.
Rose pulled out her other sai, twirling them expertly.
'I'll hold him off…he won't get Gem if I can still breathe…'
"Staying behind, love? I was actually expecting that…"
"Shut the hell up before I cut out your vocal cords, Kane."
Her voice was calm yet deadly, not a combination she used often, but when she did, even her father ran for cover.
She looked at the blades of her sai almost thoughtfully, and tightened her grip. She felt her training kick in as he went to attack her, and stabbed him in the arm before jumping over him, kicking him in the side.
She tried to stay ahead, remembering Ruby's words after having seen her dance.
'If you can imagine dancing while fighting or doing katas, you'll be able to move more fluidly.'
She tried, she really tried sinking into that inner peace she loved so much about dancing, but it wasn't working.
'Why can't it be simple?!'
He hit her into a wall, and her back made a crater as it hit the wall.
"Owww…"
She got up slowly, her knees buckling slightly. She moved slower than before, and got hit on the arm, smashing into some pipes.
"Damn…"
She got up, looking at the 'battlefield'.
'At least they'll know where we were…'
She got up again, feeling a bruise forming on the back of her right arm, where she'd hit the pipe. She was about to charge when he appeared behind her.
"Time to sleep, love…"
'No!!'
But she couldn't fight the darkness, and crumpled to the floor.
'Dad…daddy…'
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Gem couldn't help but feel she should go back, but her frantic legs, pumping with adrenaline, refused to stop. She soon hit what looked like a dead end, but she immediately found the crevice in the wall she could fit into to get to the other side. As she wriggled through, she heard those footsteps again, and her ears lowered.
'No! Rose!'
She went through, and started running, putting her hands on her double-bladed swords.
"Where are you going in such a hurry, angel?"
A hand grabbed her wrist, and she panicked, her instincts kicking in. A sharp snarl and bristling tail accompanied claws and five cuts on Kane's cheek. She jumped back, holding her blades tight.
"Well, it looks like you've grown claws, kitten…"
The snarl was from the hidden wolf pride she couldn't hold back, the pride that made her snarl and fight and detest most felines. (Klunk's an exception, even to the pups and Asuka)
"Where's Rose?"
"She's fine…for now…"
She couldn't help that her blood boiled over, and her eyes swirled into an icy blue.
"I'm sick of this!!"
Her savage temper rarely ever showed itself, but NO ONE had ever pushed her so far.
"If the only way to stop this is to kill you, then I'll do it!!"
She may not look it, but she was a deadly fighter when she had the heart to hurt someone, and BOY, did she want to hurt the demon god before her. All her frustration, all her rage, everything she'd ever bottled up and hid behind smiles and feigned happiness, flowed through her body like adrenaline, making her heart race and her legs and arms move faster than she remembered.
It seemed to surprise the demon god as well, though he still overpowered her.
'Where are the others? Mommy? Daddy?'
She could almost imagine seeing her whole family rushing in to help her, but…it just wasn't going to happen…
"Night, angel…"
Darkness…cold…
'Ruby…'
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Shadows were rushing through the tunnels, searching, listening, looking…but they found nothing. One shadow stopped, and picked up two sai.
"No…"
He held them close, as if maybe they'd tell him where their owner was taken…but it was hopeless…futile…but he couldn't help but hope…
"Raph…"
He looked up at Amber, who looked just as worried as him, and felt guilty at the cut on her jaw line, running from next to her left eye and down to her chin.
"Come on…Asuka, pick up her scent…"
Asuka dutifully obeyed, and Raph stood up.
"We'll get them back…"
Amber smiled weakly.
"Has big sister ever lied before?"
He tried to smile at the joke…he really did…but he couldn't find it in himself…even for her…If she wasn't the oldest, she'd probably have broken down in either tears or rage by now, and destroyed half the city to find her daughter…and they both knew it…
'Maybe at least ONE of them got away…'
Raph hoped, looking at the craters and broken pipes. They kept going, when they reached what looked like a dead end. Amber squeezed through an opening, and looked surprised at what was before her.
'Gem…'
She looked at the 'battlefield' before her, her daughter's scent making her relax, but the scent mingling with it made her snarl in rage.
"THE BASTURD!!!"
She smashed the floor with her fists, but anger was soon replaced by tears as she lifted up her daughter's weapons.
'I'll get you back, hun…I won't let anything happen to you…I promise…'