With her ears ringing from the close range gunshot, Lily fell to the ground, the shotgun clamoring against the floor with her. Her ears were ringing so loudly, she was unable to notice the crowd go from silent to a massive cheer. Grasping her neck, she coughed, struggling to catch her breath as her splotchy vision was slowly clearing back to normal.
When she could see again, Cassidy's lifeless body lay on the ground in front of her, half of his head blown off. His brain matter and blood poured out of his skull, pooling onto the ground. In a rush, she ran to the mess, coating her hands and licking as much as she could. By now, Jody and TC knew something suspicious was going on. In a quick jaunt, Jody stormed into the ring and yanked her up, his massive arm around the front of her and under her arms as he dragged her out, back upstairs.
The sounds of the cheering from below in the tombs became more distant as Lily flailed in Jody's arms, "Let go of me!" She grunted, Cassidy's blood covering her face, "I'll fucking kill you!" With a mocking chuckle at her remark, Jody threw Lily across the room upstairs, and she got up onto her feet quicker than he'd ever seen her be able to do.
He stood in a wide stance, studying her as she panted and glared his way. Raising his chin, he shook his head, "Like to see you try." He challenged. When Lily bolted towards him, she knew her only hope was to get into Jody's mind and knock him out cold. She prepared herself and leaped towards him, surprised at how someone so big and bulky could still be so insanely agile. The closest contact she'd made to him was his huge fist to her face, which wasn't exactly an ideal form of contact for her to use her powers. Seeing stars, she stumbled to the ground, completely dazed. In typical Jody fashion, he pulled her up by the scruff before she could get her balance and tossed her into the wall. She slammed against a bunch of picture frames, shattering as they fell onto the floor with her. She felt the effects of Cassidy's blood helping her, but still - Jody was a hard one to get a proper hold onto. It was getting frustrating.
As she got onto her feet as quickly as possible, Jody already swung his fists again, and Lily only barely missed them. When she tackled his legs, he hardly flinched, throwing a leg out as he kicked her off of him with little effort. She stared up at him while still on the ground, a smug grin spread across his face. It made her furious, she felt her blood boiling with rage. Suddenly, she noticed the collar of his flannel shirt spark, and there was a flame.
In shock, Lily's fury melted away as she struggled to realize that it was her that ignited the fire. Jody sniffed, smelling smoke as he turned to see the small flame on his shoulder, stumbling back as he smacked it out with his hand. His grin was gone, and his eyes were red hot, "You bitch-" He spat, barreling towards her with unrelenting force that made it too difficult for Lily to even comprehend how or what to do. When he lunged at her on the ground, she was surprised when he'd quickly stabbed her in the neck with a syringe. Quickly, she felt her muscles relaxing against her will as she began sinking further into the ground. Jody stood up, towering over her and looking down with disgust, "He turned you, huh." He stated, more than asked - a wrong assumption, but it did make sense in his perspective. It was the only logical explanation to her licking up the blood in the fight ring the way she did. With his brow scrunching, he took a breath, "Why didn't you bite any of the other fighters?" He wondered, but it wasn't like she was going to answer him even if she could as she quickly begin slipping into a dark unconsciousness.
When Lily came to, she was outside of the shed in the back of the Angelville property. The shed that housed the all-to-familiar pit she'd spent so much time in. Leaning up, Lily grabbed at her head. It was pounding. The sun wasn't any help, beaming down on her and making it hard for her eyes to adjust. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen sunlight, but it was blinding. It was likely the bit of Cassidy's blood wasn't helping her aversion to the sun, either. Lily stumbled up onto her feet, her hand catching her from falling as she grasped onto the shed at her side. Squinting her eyes, she tried to see as far as she could for a sign of Jody or TC, or anyone, really.
A figure began appearing from the brightness, but it was a good distance away.
"Lily!" A voice called, and immediately she recognized her brother's voice. "Jesse!" She called back, sparing no time to answer. Her voice was hoarse but she still yelled the loudest she could, "Jesse!" She called again, her voice breaking as she stumbled forward. Soon, she was able to collapse in his embrace, and he grasped around her head, his voice vibrating against the top of her head, "Lily, it's done." Jesse said, "It's over." Carefully, she pulled her head up to look at him. Still unable to see in the blinding light, she struggled to keep her eyes open at her brother in front of her. Jesse stared at her face, his sister's battered appearance broke his heart, "We're getting out of here."
"Tulip." Lily said, "Cassidy."
Nodding, Jesse moved his hands to his sister's arms and rubbed them, "They're fine. Tulip's in her car with all our stuff and we just got Cassidy out from where they'd had him locked in, he's with her." "Is he okay?" Lily asked, "Cassidy?" She was wondering about his state - the last she'd seen he was doing everything in his power to kill her. With a simple shake of the head, Jesse sighed, "Seems fine. Nothing some blood won't fix." He answered, assuming she was talking all physical.
Before she could specify her concern for Cassidy, Lily felt her stomach turn, "Jody-" Lily said. Jesse nodded and answered quickly, "I took care of him. And TC." Jesse assured his sister. With her eyes lowering slightly, Lily wondered about their grandmother. Her brother could practically read her mind, "I was about to take care of her, til I thought maybe you'd have either something to do or say, or... I don't know." There was a moment while Lily's mind raced. Jesse sighed, "Didn't want to not give you the chance."
"Don't do anything yet." Lily said, "I need to see Cassidy first." With his brow crinkling, Jesse turned his head slightly, "Why? What happened?" With a heavy huff, Lily pulled one of her hands up and ran it through her knotted hair, "In the Tombs, I saw him in there, and he wasn't right. Tried to kill me." "Wait-" Jesse said, "They had you fighting in the Tombs?" His heart sunk even more, feeling so awful for his sister to go through what she did. Nodding her head, Lily sighed, "I don't want gran'ma dead until I know he's fine."
Jesse nodded, "Already used Genesis to get her to let go of all the shit she had on anyone. Including all of us." Lily lifted her hand to look at her palm, the dark mark still there. Her eyes shifted to Jesse, who already had his on display for her, "Don't know why it's still there." He shrugged, "But soon she'll be dead anyway, so it won't matter."
"Genesis?" Lily asked, staring into her brothers eyes. He nodded. She had about a million questions, but they had a few other things that were more important, "C'mon" Jesse said, his arm around his sister as he helped her begin the walk towards Tulip's car, "Tell me what we can get you to help." He said. With a weak chuckle, Lily leaned against her brother at her side, slowly making their way, "I'm starving. I smell like shit. I'm sore as Hell." Lily groaned, arching her back as she tried to slowly stretch her tense muscles after being crumpled up in the pit again. As they turned the corner around the house, Cassidy of course had heard them coming. Eagerly on his feet as he began making his way towards them, an umbrella popping up above him as he left the shaded driveway.
Lily couldn't help but be a bit weary at the sight of Cassidy. As he quickly approached her, Jesse felt his sister tense up instinctually, her feet dragging to a stop. The closer he got, the more she realized he seemed fine. He didn't have any shades on his face, and immediately she recognized his eyes weren't anything like they were the last time she'd seen him in the Tombs. She was also relieved to see his head was whole again. When Lily didn't reciprocate the same level of energy, Cassidy looked concerned, slowing his steps a bit as he approached her. Jesse still held onto his sister, studying Cassidy's face before his eyes moved to his sister at his side, trying to read if things were okay. If they hadn't been okay, Lily thought, she'd already be dead by now.
"Wot's goin' on?" Cassidy asked, clearly realizing something was off with her as he kept a short distance away.
Lily kept her arm around Jesse, shaking her head at Cassidy in front of them, "The Tombs.." Lily said, "You don't remember?" With his brow lowering, Cassidy blinked a few times, his lips spreading into a thin line, "No." He said, "Don't remember much past when that fok Jody hauled us back 'ere.. but Jesse seems to think they had me really goin' at it down there, though. All sorts of money. Turned out I was a real attraction." When he chuckled and Lily still didn't react, Cassidy felt his heart begin to sink, realizing there was something he was missing. "Wot don't I remember?" He asked somberly.
"They made me go down there, too." Lily said, "Threw us in the ring together." Jesse carefully read Cassidy's face, and saw the clear heartbreak that consumed him.
"I hurt you." He stated more than asked.
Lily sighed, relieved that Cassidy was back to who he was, and even a little more relieved he didn't remember how brutal he'd been to her in the Tombs, "A little bit." She watched his eyes get even more red with sadness, "But," She continued, "I shot you in the head, nearly blew the whole thing off. Then I just ate some of your blown out brains and I was alright." Jesse couldn't help but cringe at the thought, his eyes shifting from his sister to Cassidy as his stomach turned and his mouth twisted in a cringe. Cassidy let out a halfhearted laugh through his nose, and finally, Jesse felt his sister's grasp around him release as she threw her arms around Cassidy. He grabbed her, wanting to squeeze her, but he could feel how sore and weak she was, so he refrained in fear of snapping her in half.
"Alright." Jesse huffed, his head spinning from the weirdness of the situation, but relieved nonetheless, "We need to deal with gran'ma, burn this place to the ground and get a move on." He urged. "You comin'?" He asked Lily.
She studied the Angelville house for a moment before shaking her head at him, "No. But I would like to help put this hellhole up in flames." With a smirk, Jesse nodded, walking to the door of the house as Lily and Cassidy made their way to Tulip's car.