Warning: Some language in this one.
Zero pinned Akane to the wall forcefully. Akane wrestled against his weight as he held her against the wall.
"Give me the keys now!" he yelled in her face. Akane tried to kick him between the legs, but he just planted his knee on her stomach.
"Bite me!" she said through her teeth, blowing a lock of hair from her face. Zero growled in his throat.
"Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way," he said. He took both of Akane's wrists in one of his big hands, pinned them above her head and dug down in her pants pockets.
"You pervert!" she screamed. "Isn't anyone going to do something?"
Kaname stood back, almost enjoying what he was watching. Ruka sat in a corner; head in her hands, feeling the uttermost guilt for letting Maria-Shizuka take Airi. The Headmaster seemed unaffected.
"Face it!" Akane said as Zero continued to search her. "She's gone! You guys try so hard to protect her but really it's hopeless. Just let her go, she's too much trouble."
Zero punched Akane in the stomach, causing her to let out a loud "oof!"
"I have a policy against hitting girls," he said lowly. "But you're more like a single-celled organism."
"Big words for a leech," Akane said, trying to catch her breath. Zero smirked and pulled Akane's van keys from her back pocket.
"Guess putting them back there wasn't the best strategy," he said, jingling the keys in her face. "I have no shame."
He let Akane go and said, "Who's coming?"
Everyone but Akane raised their hand and followed Zero down the hall. Akane stood frustrated, patting herself down. Her Red Midnight was gone.
"You bastard!" she yelled down, running after them. "Give me back my gun!"
Zero waved it behind his head playfully and everyone disappeared down the stairs. Akane pulled out a cell phone and pressed one button.
"Katsu?" she said, walking swiftly down the stairs. "Let's get the band back together. We're going hunting again."
"What's goin' on?" Akane heard Goggle's over the phone. "Katsu, is that Akane? Tell her I said hi!"
"OK, where do you want us to meet you?" asked Katsu. Akane groaned and almost yelled into the phone, "Just get Goggles to track the freakin' phone!"
And she hung up. When the engine of the van revved outside, Akane burst through the door into the frigid air and banged on the driver's seat. Zero glared at her.
"I'm driving!" she yelled through the glass. Zero shook his head and pointed with his thumb to the back seat. Kaname was already in the passenger's seat, slightly smirking, but his lips snapped back to a worried frown as he tried to sense Yuki's presence anywhere near, even smelled for her blood.
"Do we even know where we're going?" asked Akane as they sped away from the Academy.
"I think I have an idea," said Zero, clenching the steering wheel. "Ruka how did you get to the cathedral last time?"
Ruka thought for a moment and then her eyes shot wide.
"Turn left now!" she cried out. The van's wheels screeched and went up on one side as Zero made the sharp turn.
"Let's not do that again!" the Headmaster yelled from the back, squished into Ruka who was pressed against the side of the van. Akane straightened her hair and stuck her middle finger up at Zero who saw it in the mirror.
Zero recognized the road he was on as the one he took to the inn that he had stayed at for so long while trying to get a lead on Yuki's last disappearance. A quick glance in his rear view mirror, he saw Akane on the phone with someone. She suddenly yelled, "Stop!"
Zero's foot instinctively slammed on the breaks just as Hiroki appeared from the side of the road in the millions of snow flurries that stuck to his skin and gray hair. Katsu waved his hand and Goggles appeared behind him sporting a hitchhiker's thumb.
"Are you kidding?" Zero groaned as the trio went around to the back.
"Well the last rescue mission wasn't exactly permanent," said Akane. "Don't you want to finish this once and for all?"
Zero scowled and submitted, allowing Akane to open the door in the back and Katsu and Goggles climbed in. Hiroki didn't look as if he was going to fit in, so he closed the door and climbed on top, causing the ceiling to droop the lightest bit.
"Is he going to stay up there?" asked Ruka, nervously looking up.
"He has handles up there," said Goggles. "I installed them myself."
He grinned with pride, but then fell back against Akane as Zero floored the gas pedal.
A while later, the van screeched to a halt and Hiroki leaped off the front, almost landing on the hood. Everyone piled out as fast as they could. Kaname inhaled deeply; catching the scent of a dozen level E's rushing out of the underground hallways, and soon saw them appear from the cathedral doors.
"Damn it, I don't need this!" Zero said loudly, drawing out the Bloody Rose. He immediately shot one level E through the head, and then the one next to that one fell to the ground by Akane's Red Midnight.
"Truce?" she asked, pulling back the hammer. Zero nodded and shot another level E. More kept coming, and suddenly, a faint scream from underground caused everyone's blood run cold.
"Yuki!" cried Kaname. Just as Katsu nailed two vampires at the same time, Kaname pushed him aside and his eyes flashed purple for a moment. A split second of silence went by and then all the heads of the level E's exploded into bursts of sand and the bodies disintegrated into the snow they stood on.
"That made things simpler," said Akane, blowing on the tip of her gun. Zero was the first inside the cathedral, desperately looking for an entrance to the tunnels beneath him. Ruka ran past him and stopped at the altar. She overturned it and then pulled open a trap door that lay underneath it.
"Go!" she shouted. Zero leaped down, and stood clueless at the end of a hallway of doors. Akane landed next to Zero, took a look down the hall, and then muttered, "Well shit."
Zero looked around wildly; sweat breaking out on his brow. Which door?
Another scream broke through the sound of Zero's pounding heart. He followed the scream, and then broke into a sprint when the scent of blood stung his nostrils, but it wasn't Yuki's blood. A sickening horror filled his head and he pulled back the hammer of the Bloody Rose.
The scream and scent of blood came from the double door at the end. Zero kicked it open. He almost dropped his gun at the horrifying sight before him. Yuki lay unconscious on an altar, chained down by cuffs that buzzed with electricity. Her wrist sizzled as they healed up from the shock burning away her skin.
"Yu-" Zero stopped short as Maria-Shizuka turned from her previous position. Blood dribbled down her lips and her fanged grin shown through white against red. She held a white ivory knife that was also stained with blood. From behind Maria-Shizuka, a tiny, pink, limp hand stuck out a pile of bloody cloth across the tiny altar.
"Airi!" Zero choked, forcing back the urge to wretch; his finger trembled on the trigger, unable to shoot his master and creator. "You! You bitch!"
Maria-Shizuka giggled and licked up the blood around her lips. She suddenly dropped the knife and it shattered on the ground.
"Too late," she said, her eyes starting to glow red and purple. "It's all over now."
A bright flash came from her eyes and then from the chest behind her. Zero had to shield his eyes and he felt someone bump into the back of him. Akane grunted and turned away from the light. When the light faded, Zero looked up and gaped at the sight, staring into a pair of familiar eyes, one crimson, and one violet.
"Why hello Kiryu," said Rido Kuran, long fangs protruding from his wide grin. "And Kaname, my nephew! It's so good to see you!"
Zero glanced back to see Kaname frozen in his steps. Akane pointed her gun, trembling as well.
"Who's this guy?" she said, trying to hide her fear. Kaname cried out in pain as he finally spotted Airi's tiny hand protruding from the blood drenched bundle.
"Airi!" he cried. "No!"
He tried to run forward, but he suddenly froze. His limbs went stiff as did Zero's and Akane. Maria-Shizuka's eyes glowed as she stopped everyone in their tracks.
"We can't have you ruining Rido's first meal in a two years," she said lightly. She turned to Rido with a slightly pleading look on her face.
"Now my love?" she asked, touching his muscular arm lightly. Rido turned to her and gently touched her forehead. Another blinding flash filled the room just as Kaien had reached the end of the hall. The next thing he was both enchanting and horrifying.
Shizuka stood completely in her original form, as beautiful as ever. Her peach colored eyes sparkled in glee as she gazed outstretched her arm. She sighed and kissed Rido.
"Thank you my love," she said, her voice now deep and seductive. "Now you may feast."
"With pleasure," Rido replied, licking his lips. Zero struggled to move, forced to watch Rido approach Yuki, who still lay unconscious on the altar. Suddenly, Shizuka's head snapped back and blood spurted from the back of her head. Everyone fell to the ground as their limbs loosened and glancing back, Akane saw Katsu quickly reload his rifle. Hiroki dashed down the hall, knocking over a flower vase with his hulking mass. He pulled Akane to her feet and then Shizuka stood up again, the bullet still in her head.
"I suppose you forgot that my head has to be off!" she said, cackling. She dug her nails into her forehead and pulled out the bullet.
"Will someone shoot them in the dman heart!" cried Akane, trying to reload her pistol. Rido was distracted for a moment by Shizuka's injury, but realized the urgency of the situation and his eyes flashed. Zero's gun began to burn red hot in his hands and he dropped it quickly.
"Kaname do something!" Zero cried. Kaname was frozen at the sight of his uncle.
"I can't!" he said. "He's my master. I can't kill him."
Hiroki drew his enormous sword and charged. The force of Rido's mental command caused Hiroki to fly back and hit the wall just above the door.
"He's too powerful!" said Kaien, trying to wake Hiroki up from falling unconscious. They all looked up in fear as Rido began to laugh at their weak attempt to defeat him once more.
Yuki felt herself swimming in a sea of pain. Electric shocks surrounded her and all the while she knew her daughter was dying. She heard thunder crash above her and her blood boiled against her weakness.
Wake up, she ordered herself. Wake up!
Her eyes fluttered open. Her wrists and ankles were sore from healing back up and she began to pick out blurred figures. A messy tuft of silver hair gave her hope, but then she inhaled a familiar scent.
Uncle Rido!
Then the stench of blood caught in her nose and she limply turned her head to see tiny droplets of blood tricking down Airi's arm and dripping off her tiny fingers. Yuki's eyes snapped open and immediate tears began spilling over. Sudden rage filled her blood and the ground began to tremble.
"No." Her voice shook as she spoke. "No!"
She screamed as loud as she could, a piercing shriek that sent everyone to their knees clutching at the itching ears, even Rido, who was now shocked to see his niece awake. The altar beneath Yuki began to crack, and then the ground, and then the walls. Shizuka screamed in pain. Her fingertips started to shrivel away into sand and she exclaimed, "No, no this can't be happening!"
She glanced at Rido. The locks of his hair turned into dust and sand, spilling to the ground. He looked back at his lover in accusation and pain.
"What is this?" he demanded, reaching out for her, but then his hands began to shrivel away as well.
"No!" Shizuka screamed, the rest of her body dissolving into a pile of sand. The single bell that adorned her kimono clinked to the ground and jingled a bit before it lay still on the marble floor. Rido cried out in pain and then exploded in a burst of sand.
"Yuki," Zero groaned, still clutching his ears. "Yuki!"
He rose to his feet and fell at the altar, taking a hold of the chains that still imprisoned Yuki. The shocks sent pain spiraling up his spine but he ignored it, tugging the first one free. Yuki stopped screaming, and as soon as her right arm was free, reached over towards Airi.
"My baby!" she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Airi, Airi!"
Kaien stopped Kaname as he was about to go towards the small table Airi laid on. He went up to inspect her himself and suddenly averted his gaze.
"Oh god," he said, his voice trembling violently. He slid to his knees and began to cry for his granddaughter.
"No," Yuki whispered. "Father, no!"
Kaien covered his face with one hand and nodded. Zero freed Yuki's other arm and pulled her into his arms to let her cry. She sobbed violently and dug her nails into Zero's arms. There was a huge pain in her chest where it felt as if someone had ripped out her heart and thrown it into the fires of hell. A few tears leaked from Zero's eyes as well.
Even Kaname began to cry into Ruka's shoulder at the sight of Kaien wrapping up his daughter's tiny body so it was well concealed from Yuki's eyes.
Akane and her team stood silently in respect for the family who had just lost one of the most precious additions to their family, almost as quickly as they had welcomed her.
We were too late, Akane thought, letting a single tear escape her eyes.
A/N: Wow this is the second chapter (though not the same story) I've written in a row designed to make you cry. Ok, before you guys get so incredibally mad at me I had planned this from the beginning. And I'm still not finished by the way.