Disclaimer #3 ha! gotcha didn't I? lol k The song Liminality is from the sound track of .hack//Liminality.
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Tears of Twilight
ch 21
Kaye leaned against the wall, looking out into the Dynasty. It was getting close to dusk, and as the sun was starting to set, as she looked out, she could see nothing that resembled life. All she could see was an emptiness that was so huge it matched the loneliness that was in her heart. She knew that she had to be strong, there was no choice, so then she did the only thing that she could think of, she sang. "I'll be there by your side, in the land of twilight, in your dream I will go, till we find the sunrise. You are lost in nightmare, deep in blue illusion, once more kiss to wake you up, come be mine, you are mine. I will be there seeking' for liminality, no destinations to see, I wander in quiet places so dark as eternity, I'm crying, calling your name, I'm searching for you. Dreaming in the land of the twilight, we are in the land of the twilight, deep in blue eternity, search for liminality." Kaye sang as she then sighed and let a tear flow down her cheek.
"Kento." Kaye whispered sadly.
"Kaye, what are you doing out here?" Cye asked as he and Thunder looked at her in concern. "You shouldn't have gone off by yourself."
"Ah, Cye, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I just needed some air." Kaye replied as she wiped away her tear.
"Hey, are you ok?" Thunder asked.
"Yea, I'm ok." Kaye replied.
Just as Cye was going to say something, "there you are. I was wondering where you three went off to." Talpa said as they quickly turned around and faced Talpa and Jakada.
"Where else would we be? Certainly not home with the people that we care about, you've seen to that. And besides, if we even tried to escape, we know that all you have to do to stop us is activate these stupid collars!" Kaye replied angrily as her hands were clenched at her sides.
"Enough with the talk, it's time for your test, Tiger. Now armor up." Talpa said as he looked towards her. The three looked at each other in slight confusion. Why would Talpa tell Kaye to armor up already? Kaye's eyes were set with great determination as she transformed into her armor.
Then just after she transformed, Kaye quickly punched Talpa right across his face making him throw his head to the side a little. "That's for hitting Cye earlier!" Kaye replied with much anger, "and this is for Thunder!" as she did a round house kick to Talpa's stomach making him stagger back a little bit.
"Jakada! Restrain her!" Talpa ordered as his eyes glowed red.
"I was wondering when you were going to say that." Jakada replied as he quickly grabbed for her wrist and twisted it behind her back and then took his other hand and held it against her throat. "There's that spirit again," as he lowered his head just enough to her ear and whispered, "you know how much I like it when you show your spirit." He saw that Kaye's eyes went wide as she took a quick inhale, and then he gave a low chuckle as he raised his head.
"I wasn't sure of which test to give you, Tiger, but now I know, and I know that it will make you regret striking me." Talpa said, "It's time, bring her."
"Let go, fido, I can walk myself." Kaye growled as she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"You know my real name, girl, so say it when you're talking to me." Jakada replied as he released her.
"Jackass." Kaye mumbled under her breath.
"What did you just say?" Jakada asked as his eyes started to glow red.
"I said, Jackass. What, you've got a problem with that?" Kaye shot back. Jakada didn't give her an answer, instead he grabbed Kaye by her arm and pulled her towards the throne room.
They kept on walking until, "wait, what test?" Cye asked in concern.
Talpa stopped and then looked back, "you remember Badamon, don't you Torrent?" Talpa replied with a smirk as he saw the shocked look on his face.
"No, you can't, not him!" Cye pleaded.
"My decision's been made." Talpa replied as they continued towards the throne room.
"No." Cye whispered as tears were threatening to fall.
"Cye?" Thunder asked in concern as he saw how distraught Cye was about the news. Cye looked over at Thunder, took a deep breath, and started to explain who, or in this case, what Badamon is. To say the least, when Cye was done explaining, Thunder was beyond worried.
In the throne room...
"Badamon, is everything ready?" Talpa asked as he looked over to him.
"Yes Talpa, everything is ready, just as you've requested." Badamon replied.
"Good! Now Tiger, we'll see just how spirited you'll stay after you've been in there." Talpa said as he pointed to a gateway of some kind. "Jakada!"
"It'll take a lot more than whatever you two can do to break my spirit!" Kaye replied as she glared at him.
Jakada gave a quick nod, and then grabbed onto Kaye and threw her into the opened gateway. As soon as Kaye was inside, it closed and turned into a floating ball. Kaye rolled for a bit, and then she finally made herself stop. Kaye then started to get up, and as she did she began to look around. All that she could see was snow, miles and miles of snow. "Oh great, and me with no skis." Kaye grumbled. Even though Kaye was fully armored, she could still feel the extreme cold. Just then a major blizzard started, it was so fierce that she could barely see her hands in front of her face. "Great, they're going to turn me into a human icicle." Kaye thought in annoyance.
"Tiger..Tiger." a voice said hauntingly.
"Who's there?" Kaye called out as she quickly looked around.
"Tiger..Tiger." the haunting voice repeated.
"You know what, I've been in here no longer than five minutes, and I'm already way past annoyed with you. So why don't you show yourself, and let's get this over with." Kaye replied as she got into a fighting position.
"Very well. If you insist." the voice replied as Badamon's image appeared before her.
"Usually, I don't take the incentive and attack first, but in this case I'll make an exception." Kaye said as she charged at Badamon's image. The image just hovered there as Kaye went right through it. She turned and glared at it as the image turned around. "Damn it, you're not really here, are you?"
"Very good, Tiger, but even though I'm not here, and you can't touch me, I can hurt you." Badamon replied as his eyes turned black and then he forced nether spirits that were flying around to attack her. Kaye tried to dodge, but at each pass they kept on getting faster and faster until they were nothing but blurs, and the blizzard kept on getting worse.
"Ok that's it! I've had more than enough! Tiger's rage!" Kaye said as she quickly took her bo from her back, and delivered her surekill. Just as she thought that it was going to hit a nether spirit or Badamon, it came straight back at her.
"Wha.?" Kaye's eyes went wide for a second, and then she narrowed her eyes angrily as she braced herself for the on coming attack. Kaye screamed in extreme pain as her surekill threw her back. Kaye slowly got up from the frozen tundra, and then tried to see if she could find Badamon, she swore because she couldn't see him anywhere. The cold kept on increasing by the minute, and pretty soon Kaye would be too cold to even hold her bo, let alone keep her eyes open.
"Is there a problem, my Tigress?" Jakada asked as his voice echoed through the blizzard.
"First of all, I don't have a problem, second, my name isn't Tigress, and third, there's no way that I'll ever be yours! I'd rather die first!" Kaye replied angrily as she got ready to defend herself.
"If that happened, what would your friends, your brother, and your, humpf, your lover say?" Jakada asked in amusement. Kaye stood there in shock of what Jakada just asked. That split second was all that Badamon needed to have a nether spirit possess her and then he took control over her. Kaye screamed as the nether spirit took over her body, Badamon kept on making Kaye call out her surekill making it come right back at her every single time with extreme intensity. This went on for what seemed like hours, until Kaye finally lost consciousness and the nether spirit left her body. Then Kaye's body dropped down from the floating gateway and onto the floor of the throne room, with her armor gone and her clothes torn and tattered. As well as deep wounds and severe bruising. Her body was shivering, her skin was beyond cold and pale, her eyes and lips as well as her fingertips were major blue in color for lack of circulation.
"Take her back and then get Torrent's test ready." Talpa ordered as a couple of Jakada's ninjas took her away. "Someone bring a mop and clean this place up, she bleeding everywhere."
"Oh God, Kaye," Cye exclaimed in horror as the ninjas brought her into the room. "Give her to me, now!" The ninjas gave Kaye over to Cye and then left. "Thunder..."
"Cye, hurry up, we don't have much time, get her over here!" Thunder said quickly as Cye laid her down. "Cye, get as many blankets as you can find, she's going to need them when I'm done." Cye nodded and then quickly as he could, he gathered as many as he could find while Thunder was healing her.
"Come on Kaye, come on." Cye urged as he watched in anticipation as Kaye's color was finally coming back to normal. Kaye then started to move a little. "Kaye!" She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Cye dropped down to his knees as he threw the blankets in a pile on top of her. Cye then quickly embraced her, Thunder couldn't help himself, he too dropped down and hugged her as well.
"Guys, sore, sore." Kaye said as she winced while trying to not to laugh.
"Sorry, it's just that.." Cye replied as they pulled back.
"I know Cye, I know." Kaye said with a gentle gaze. Thunder and Cye then stood back up with relief knowing that Kaye is all right. Kaye then started to sit up, but Thunder stopped her, she gave him a quizzical look.
"And what do you think that you're doing?" Thunder asked.
"What does it look like? I'm getting up." Kaye replied.
"You are not getting out of this bed. You are going to stay here and rest, you hear me?" Thunder asked.
"Yes, kimosabi." Kaye replied with a mock annoyance as she laid back down.
"You know who you just reminded me of?" Thunder asked.
"No, who?" Kaye asked.
"Flash. You know, now that I think about it, you two are close in being almost the same person...almost." Thunder replied with a smirk.
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Kaye replied as she yawned. "Actually, now that you mention it, I am kind of tired."
"Sleep well, sis." Cye said quietly as he watched her sleep.
"Torrent!" Talpa said as he appeared by the door. Cye and Thunder quickly turned around and glared angrily at Talpa.
"Let's get this over with." Cye replied as he started to walk towards Talpa.
"Cye." Kaye said quietly as she frowned in her sleep.
Cye stopped and then took a quick look back, and then he went over to her and bent down and whispered, "don't worry, I'll be back, I promise." Then he stood straight up and walked over to Talpa, "well, are we going through with it or not?" Talpa looked at him, and then gave a quick nod. Then they walked silently towards the throne room.
"Alright, Torrent, armor up." Talpa said as he sat down on his throne. Cye nodded and then he quickly transformed into his armor. Then just as he transformed, a fire sphere came out of nowhere and engulfed him.
"Hey Talpa, what are you planning, a barbeque?" Cye asked as he found himself suddenly getting uncomfortably hot.
"I told you before, you are to call me father!" Talpa replied angrily as the giant fireball increased in heat.
"And I told you that I would never submit to calling you that!" Cye replied angrily.
"Foolish, boy!" Talpa said as his eyes glowed red and the color of the fireball turned from red to blue as it sent electric bolts through Cye's armor making him yell in extreme pain. Then the fireball turned from blue back to red, and then flames shot out towards Cye's body. Cye tried to recoil from the flames as much as he could without trying to get burnt. But he still got burnt by them. This changing of colors between red and blue kept on fluctuating with different intensities. The pain was a lot more intense when the fireball was blue, rather than when it was red. The intensity of the fireball matched the intensity of Talpa's anger. He knew that Cye would never call him father no matter what, but he didn't care, or did he? The heat of the fireball was starting to get to him. But Cye knew that he had to keep on fighting, he made a promise to Kaye that he would come back.
"No, I can't, I won't give up, I have to keep fighting." Cye croaked.
"Why are you still fighting me? Don't you know when to give up?" Talpa asked as he looked on with interest.
"I won't give up! I made a promise to my sister that I would come back, and I intend to keep that promise!" Cye replied.
"I'm not sure if you're being a fool, being stubborn, or what, but what I can see from here is that you and your sister have that same determined look in your eyes. But it doesn't make any difference, you will submit to me!" Talpa said as his eyes glowed even brighter.
"NEVER!" Cye yelled with conviction. Then with a sudden rush of anger, Talpa's eyes glowed extremely red, and the fireball flared, the two colors intertwined with each other, and then went into a spinning inferno. Cye yelled with extreme pain and then went unconscious. Then as soon as Talpa knew that Cye was out for the count, he made the fireball disappear. Talpa then stood up and looked over Cye, his armor gone, his clothes singed, Talpa then picked Cye up and carried him back to the room.
"Cye!" Thunder said in alarm as he saw the damaged state that he was in. Talpa laid Cye down and then walked over to the door.
"Heal him, and then in a while, I'll be back and you'll be punished for breaking the door." Talpa said as he glanced back and then walked away.
Thunder took a quick glance behind him and saw that Kaye was still out or so he thought, and then he turned his attention back to healing Cye. "Good, for once I'm glad that she's sleeping, because she shouldn't see Cye like this." Thunder said quietly.
"Like what," Kaye asked a bit groggy as she sat up. "Cye, no...no." she choked as Thunder saw that she was trying to stand so she could be by Cye's side, but every time that she got up, she fell back down again. Until finally she decided to just forget about standing and just fall towards Cye. Thunder quickly helped Kaye to kneel, she looked up and gave him a grateful smile. Thunder smiled back and then put his concentration onto healing Cye. After a few minutes, Cye's head moved from one side to the other. Kaye carefully moved his bangs out of the way. Then Cye started to open his eyes, "hey, I kept my promise. I told you that I would come back." Cye replied with a small smile.
"Yea, yea you did. You came back." Kaye whispered with a small smile as a tear came down her cheek.
"What's this for?" Cye asked as he wiped away her tear.
"I'm just happy that you're back." Kaye replied as she grabbed onto his hand.
"You know, my offer still stands about that movie of the week." Thunder said in a teasing way.
"Thunder!" the siblings replied at the same time as the three of them laughed.
"Storm, it's time for your punishment!" Talpa said as he entered the room.
"You know, the next time that you want to come in, knock on the door. Oh wait, I forgot, there is no door." Thunder replied sarcastically. Needless to say, Talpa was pretty angry with Thunder's remark.
"You're seriously testing my patients, boy." Talpa said as he was trying to keep his anger in check.
"Boy?! Boy?! I do have a name you know, and another thing, I'm not a boy, I'm almost a man. Yea ok, granted I'm only seventeen, but still I'm an adult. Or at least I think that I'll be eighteen in a couple of months, depending if I knew for sure what month this is. Considering that time goes a lot differently here than it does where we're from. But if that's the case, then I could already be a man." Thunder rambled.
"Enough! We're going, and we're going now!" Talpa replied angrily as he yanked Thunder up and pulled him along.
"Ok, ok, sheesh, no sense of humor." Thunder said as he pulled out of Talpa's hold.
"Well see if you have a sense of humor after I get done with you." Talpa replied as they left. Talpa and Thunder walked down the long corridor to a small door that when the three of them were walking around haven't seen before. Maybe it was hidden, and they never noticed it? Who knows, but Thunder had a sinking feeling that this was going to suck.
Talpa pulled down on a torch, and the door opened up revealing a small room. "Ah I see, the old hidden room trick, nice touch." Thunder said sarcastically. "So how many hidden rooms do you have in here, anyway? Probably not as many as what I have back at home..."
"Silence!" Talpa replied as he shoved Thunder inside.
"Hmm, oh yea, real roomy. You know, if you move that rack over there, and the skeleton that's haning on the chains over by that wall, it'll make the room look so much bigger." Thunder said sarcastically.
"Keep it up Storm, and you'll lose your tongue." Talpa threatened as his eyes glowed extremely red. Thunder gave a small gulp and then nodded. He knew that he probably pushed it a little too far with the room crack, so he made a mental note for himself to thank Flash for all of her sarcasm that has rubbed off on him. Just then before Thunder knew it, he found himself chained up against the wall right next to the skeleton. "Now what do you have to say Storm?" Talpa asked.
Thunder looked at Talpa and then over at the skeleton. "Do you come here often?" Thunder asked, "or do you just like to hang around?"
Talpa was so angry that he punched the skeleton so hard that he made the skull shatter. That alone made Thunder snap his attention towards Talpa. "Not so cocky now, are you?" Talpa asked with a grin as he pulled back his hand. "Now, about my door."
"You mean what use to be the door, but is now a pile of fire wood? Whoever built that door, well, he did a real lousy job. I mean the workmanship is terrible. He should have used a better kind of wood..." Thunder started to say, until Talpa yelled out in aggravation.
"Enough!" Talpa yelled as he finally summoned the ninjas.
"Oh goody, more company." Thunder said sarcastically as a ninja was putting on some kind of bracelet on Thunder. "A friend once told me that it's never a good thing to have too may accessories, and this is definitely too much, I mean the collar was good enough, but now the bracelet, I just don't know..."
"That's it! I've had it with your comments!" Talpa yelled at him angrily. He then motioned the ninjas to start the punishment. Thunder looked over at one of the ninjas, he had the exact same bracelet that he had on. Then it clicked, Thunder's eyes went wide as the other ninja held up a few different blades. The ninja that was holding the blades started to slash away at the other ninja that was wearing the bracelet. Thunder kept yelling out in pain as the ninja with the blades kept on slashing away at the ninja with the bracelet, until finally the ninja with the blades made one final swipe and the ninja with the bracelet fell to the floor.
"Bastard." Thunder said as he groaned in extreme pain. Then Thunder closed his eyes and started to glow red.
"No, I don't think so Storm. You are disallowed to heal yourself, and if I find out that you have, then you'll get even a worse punishment than the one you've endured." Talpa replied as he took off Thunder's bracelet.
"What!?" Thunder asked in disbelief.
"That's right, you heard me. If you heal yourself, then you'll get even a worse punishment or you'll friends will take your punishment for you." Talpa replied with a grin.
"You bastard!" Thunder swore angrily.
"Now who's the one that doesn't have a sense of humor?" Talpa asked with a grin.
"How long do I have not to use my healing powers on myself?" Thunder asked in a defeated tone.
"Only a day, remember it's a punishment. Now I suppose that we should get back, I'm sure that your friends are worried about you." Talpa replied as they started off back to the room.
"Thunder," Kaye said in alarm and then turned her attention over to Talpa. "Talpa, what did you do?!"
"Served him his punishment for breaking the door." Talpa replied with a smirk.
"Why you..." Kaye said angrily as she was about to go after him again.
"Kaye, don't." Thunder said as he stopped her.
"Thunder?" Kaye asked as she looked back at him in slight confusion.
"It'll be wise for you to listen to your friend, Tiger," Talpa replied, "remember Storm, of what I told you." Thunder gave a nod and then Talpa left the three alone.
"Thunder, why did you stop me?" Kaye asked as she turned around and faced him. Thunder took a deep breath and then filled them in on their little "punishment session," needless to say that Cye and Kaye were more than a little ticked about what happened.
"So Talpa told you that you can't heal yourself for one whole day? But if you do then..?" Cye asked as he was getting confirmation on what he told them.
Thunder nodded, "well then, he didn't say anything about us not treating your wounds. So let's get started ok." Kaye said as they tended to Thunder.
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Tears of Twilight
ch 21
Kaye leaned against the wall, looking out into the Dynasty. It was getting close to dusk, and as the sun was starting to set, as she looked out, she could see nothing that resembled life. All she could see was an emptiness that was so huge it matched the loneliness that was in her heart. She knew that she had to be strong, there was no choice, so then she did the only thing that she could think of, she sang. "I'll be there by your side, in the land of twilight, in your dream I will go, till we find the sunrise. You are lost in nightmare, deep in blue illusion, once more kiss to wake you up, come be mine, you are mine. I will be there seeking' for liminality, no destinations to see, I wander in quiet places so dark as eternity, I'm crying, calling your name, I'm searching for you. Dreaming in the land of the twilight, we are in the land of the twilight, deep in blue eternity, search for liminality." Kaye sang as she then sighed and let a tear flow down her cheek.
"Kento." Kaye whispered sadly.
"Kaye, what are you doing out here?" Cye asked as he and Thunder looked at her in concern. "You shouldn't have gone off by yourself."
"Ah, Cye, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I just needed some air." Kaye replied as she wiped away her tear.
"Hey, are you ok?" Thunder asked.
"Yea, I'm ok." Kaye replied.
Just as Cye was going to say something, "there you are. I was wondering where you three went off to." Talpa said as they quickly turned around and faced Talpa and Jakada.
"Where else would we be? Certainly not home with the people that we care about, you've seen to that. And besides, if we even tried to escape, we know that all you have to do to stop us is activate these stupid collars!" Kaye replied angrily as her hands were clenched at her sides.
"Enough with the talk, it's time for your test, Tiger. Now armor up." Talpa said as he looked towards her. The three looked at each other in slight confusion. Why would Talpa tell Kaye to armor up already? Kaye's eyes were set with great determination as she transformed into her armor.
Then just after she transformed, Kaye quickly punched Talpa right across his face making him throw his head to the side a little. "That's for hitting Cye earlier!" Kaye replied with much anger, "and this is for Thunder!" as she did a round house kick to Talpa's stomach making him stagger back a little bit.
"Jakada! Restrain her!" Talpa ordered as his eyes glowed red.
"I was wondering when you were going to say that." Jakada replied as he quickly grabbed for her wrist and twisted it behind her back and then took his other hand and held it against her throat. "There's that spirit again," as he lowered his head just enough to her ear and whispered, "you know how much I like it when you show your spirit." He saw that Kaye's eyes went wide as she took a quick inhale, and then he gave a low chuckle as he raised his head.
"I wasn't sure of which test to give you, Tiger, but now I know, and I know that it will make you regret striking me." Talpa said, "It's time, bring her."
"Let go, fido, I can walk myself." Kaye growled as she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"You know my real name, girl, so say it when you're talking to me." Jakada replied as he released her.
"Jackass." Kaye mumbled under her breath.
"What did you just say?" Jakada asked as his eyes started to glow red.
"I said, Jackass. What, you've got a problem with that?" Kaye shot back. Jakada didn't give her an answer, instead he grabbed Kaye by her arm and pulled her towards the throne room.
They kept on walking until, "wait, what test?" Cye asked in concern.
Talpa stopped and then looked back, "you remember Badamon, don't you Torrent?" Talpa replied with a smirk as he saw the shocked look on his face.
"No, you can't, not him!" Cye pleaded.
"My decision's been made." Talpa replied as they continued towards the throne room.
"No." Cye whispered as tears were threatening to fall.
"Cye?" Thunder asked in concern as he saw how distraught Cye was about the news. Cye looked over at Thunder, took a deep breath, and started to explain who, or in this case, what Badamon is. To say the least, when Cye was done explaining, Thunder was beyond worried.
In the throne room...
"Badamon, is everything ready?" Talpa asked as he looked over to him.
"Yes Talpa, everything is ready, just as you've requested." Badamon replied.
"Good! Now Tiger, we'll see just how spirited you'll stay after you've been in there." Talpa said as he pointed to a gateway of some kind. "Jakada!"
"It'll take a lot more than whatever you two can do to break my spirit!" Kaye replied as she glared at him.
Jakada gave a quick nod, and then grabbed onto Kaye and threw her into the opened gateway. As soon as Kaye was inside, it closed and turned into a floating ball. Kaye rolled for a bit, and then she finally made herself stop. Kaye then started to get up, and as she did she began to look around. All that she could see was snow, miles and miles of snow. "Oh great, and me with no skis." Kaye grumbled. Even though Kaye was fully armored, she could still feel the extreme cold. Just then a major blizzard started, it was so fierce that she could barely see her hands in front of her face. "Great, they're going to turn me into a human icicle." Kaye thought in annoyance.
"Tiger..Tiger." a voice said hauntingly.
"Who's there?" Kaye called out as she quickly looked around.
"Tiger..Tiger." the haunting voice repeated.
"You know what, I've been in here no longer than five minutes, and I'm already way past annoyed with you. So why don't you show yourself, and let's get this over with." Kaye replied as she got into a fighting position.
"Very well. If you insist." the voice replied as Badamon's image appeared before her.
"Usually, I don't take the incentive and attack first, but in this case I'll make an exception." Kaye said as she charged at Badamon's image. The image just hovered there as Kaye went right through it. She turned and glared at it as the image turned around. "Damn it, you're not really here, are you?"
"Very good, Tiger, but even though I'm not here, and you can't touch me, I can hurt you." Badamon replied as his eyes turned black and then he forced nether spirits that were flying around to attack her. Kaye tried to dodge, but at each pass they kept on getting faster and faster until they were nothing but blurs, and the blizzard kept on getting worse.
"Ok that's it! I've had more than enough! Tiger's rage!" Kaye said as she quickly took her bo from her back, and delivered her surekill. Just as she thought that it was going to hit a nether spirit or Badamon, it came straight back at her.
"Wha.?" Kaye's eyes went wide for a second, and then she narrowed her eyes angrily as she braced herself for the on coming attack. Kaye screamed in extreme pain as her surekill threw her back. Kaye slowly got up from the frozen tundra, and then tried to see if she could find Badamon, she swore because she couldn't see him anywhere. The cold kept on increasing by the minute, and pretty soon Kaye would be too cold to even hold her bo, let alone keep her eyes open.
"Is there a problem, my Tigress?" Jakada asked as his voice echoed through the blizzard.
"First of all, I don't have a problem, second, my name isn't Tigress, and third, there's no way that I'll ever be yours! I'd rather die first!" Kaye replied angrily as she got ready to defend herself.
"If that happened, what would your friends, your brother, and your, humpf, your lover say?" Jakada asked in amusement. Kaye stood there in shock of what Jakada just asked. That split second was all that Badamon needed to have a nether spirit possess her and then he took control over her. Kaye screamed as the nether spirit took over her body, Badamon kept on making Kaye call out her surekill making it come right back at her every single time with extreme intensity. This went on for what seemed like hours, until Kaye finally lost consciousness and the nether spirit left her body. Then Kaye's body dropped down from the floating gateway and onto the floor of the throne room, with her armor gone and her clothes torn and tattered. As well as deep wounds and severe bruising. Her body was shivering, her skin was beyond cold and pale, her eyes and lips as well as her fingertips were major blue in color for lack of circulation.
"Take her back and then get Torrent's test ready." Talpa ordered as a couple of Jakada's ninjas took her away. "Someone bring a mop and clean this place up, she bleeding everywhere."
"Oh God, Kaye," Cye exclaimed in horror as the ninjas brought her into the room. "Give her to me, now!" The ninjas gave Kaye over to Cye and then left. "Thunder..."
"Cye, hurry up, we don't have much time, get her over here!" Thunder said quickly as Cye laid her down. "Cye, get as many blankets as you can find, she's going to need them when I'm done." Cye nodded and then quickly as he could, he gathered as many as he could find while Thunder was healing her.
"Come on Kaye, come on." Cye urged as he watched in anticipation as Kaye's color was finally coming back to normal. Kaye then started to move a little. "Kaye!" She slowly opened her eyes and saw that Cye dropped down to his knees as he threw the blankets in a pile on top of her. Cye then quickly embraced her, Thunder couldn't help himself, he too dropped down and hugged her as well.
"Guys, sore, sore." Kaye said as she winced while trying to not to laugh.
"Sorry, it's just that.." Cye replied as they pulled back.
"I know Cye, I know." Kaye said with a gentle gaze. Thunder and Cye then stood back up with relief knowing that Kaye is all right. Kaye then started to sit up, but Thunder stopped her, she gave him a quizzical look.
"And what do you think that you're doing?" Thunder asked.
"What does it look like? I'm getting up." Kaye replied.
"You are not getting out of this bed. You are going to stay here and rest, you hear me?" Thunder asked.
"Yes, kimosabi." Kaye replied with a mock annoyance as she laid back down.
"You know who you just reminded me of?" Thunder asked.
"No, who?" Kaye asked.
"Flash. You know, now that I think about it, you two are close in being almost the same person...almost." Thunder replied with a smirk.
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Kaye replied as she yawned. "Actually, now that you mention it, I am kind of tired."
"Sleep well, sis." Cye said quietly as he watched her sleep.
"Torrent!" Talpa said as he appeared by the door. Cye and Thunder quickly turned around and glared angrily at Talpa.
"Let's get this over with." Cye replied as he started to walk towards Talpa.
"Cye." Kaye said quietly as she frowned in her sleep.
Cye stopped and then took a quick look back, and then he went over to her and bent down and whispered, "don't worry, I'll be back, I promise." Then he stood straight up and walked over to Talpa, "well, are we going through with it or not?" Talpa looked at him, and then gave a quick nod. Then they walked silently towards the throne room.
"Alright, Torrent, armor up." Talpa said as he sat down on his throne. Cye nodded and then he quickly transformed into his armor. Then just as he transformed, a fire sphere came out of nowhere and engulfed him.
"Hey Talpa, what are you planning, a barbeque?" Cye asked as he found himself suddenly getting uncomfortably hot.
"I told you before, you are to call me father!" Talpa replied angrily as the giant fireball increased in heat.
"And I told you that I would never submit to calling you that!" Cye replied angrily.
"Foolish, boy!" Talpa said as his eyes glowed red and the color of the fireball turned from red to blue as it sent electric bolts through Cye's armor making him yell in extreme pain. Then the fireball turned from blue back to red, and then flames shot out towards Cye's body. Cye tried to recoil from the flames as much as he could without trying to get burnt. But he still got burnt by them. This changing of colors between red and blue kept on fluctuating with different intensities. The pain was a lot more intense when the fireball was blue, rather than when it was red. The intensity of the fireball matched the intensity of Talpa's anger. He knew that Cye would never call him father no matter what, but he didn't care, or did he? The heat of the fireball was starting to get to him. But Cye knew that he had to keep on fighting, he made a promise to Kaye that he would come back.
"No, I can't, I won't give up, I have to keep fighting." Cye croaked.
"Why are you still fighting me? Don't you know when to give up?" Talpa asked as he looked on with interest.
"I won't give up! I made a promise to my sister that I would come back, and I intend to keep that promise!" Cye replied.
"I'm not sure if you're being a fool, being stubborn, or what, but what I can see from here is that you and your sister have that same determined look in your eyes. But it doesn't make any difference, you will submit to me!" Talpa said as his eyes glowed even brighter.
"NEVER!" Cye yelled with conviction. Then with a sudden rush of anger, Talpa's eyes glowed extremely red, and the fireball flared, the two colors intertwined with each other, and then went into a spinning inferno. Cye yelled with extreme pain and then went unconscious. Then as soon as Talpa knew that Cye was out for the count, he made the fireball disappear. Talpa then stood up and looked over Cye, his armor gone, his clothes singed, Talpa then picked Cye up and carried him back to the room.
"Cye!" Thunder said in alarm as he saw the damaged state that he was in. Talpa laid Cye down and then walked over to the door.
"Heal him, and then in a while, I'll be back and you'll be punished for breaking the door." Talpa said as he glanced back and then walked away.
Thunder took a quick glance behind him and saw that Kaye was still out or so he thought, and then he turned his attention back to healing Cye. "Good, for once I'm glad that she's sleeping, because she shouldn't see Cye like this." Thunder said quietly.
"Like what," Kaye asked a bit groggy as she sat up. "Cye, no...no." she choked as Thunder saw that she was trying to stand so she could be by Cye's side, but every time that she got up, she fell back down again. Until finally she decided to just forget about standing and just fall towards Cye. Thunder quickly helped Kaye to kneel, she looked up and gave him a grateful smile. Thunder smiled back and then put his concentration onto healing Cye. After a few minutes, Cye's head moved from one side to the other. Kaye carefully moved his bangs out of the way. Then Cye started to open his eyes, "hey, I kept my promise. I told you that I would come back." Cye replied with a small smile.
"Yea, yea you did. You came back." Kaye whispered with a small smile as a tear came down her cheek.
"What's this for?" Cye asked as he wiped away her tear.
"I'm just happy that you're back." Kaye replied as she grabbed onto his hand.
"You know, my offer still stands about that movie of the week." Thunder said in a teasing way.
"Thunder!" the siblings replied at the same time as the three of them laughed.
"Storm, it's time for your punishment!" Talpa said as he entered the room.
"You know, the next time that you want to come in, knock on the door. Oh wait, I forgot, there is no door." Thunder replied sarcastically. Needless to say, Talpa was pretty angry with Thunder's remark.
"You're seriously testing my patients, boy." Talpa said as he was trying to keep his anger in check.
"Boy?! Boy?! I do have a name you know, and another thing, I'm not a boy, I'm almost a man. Yea ok, granted I'm only seventeen, but still I'm an adult. Or at least I think that I'll be eighteen in a couple of months, depending if I knew for sure what month this is. Considering that time goes a lot differently here than it does where we're from. But if that's the case, then I could already be a man." Thunder rambled.
"Enough! We're going, and we're going now!" Talpa replied angrily as he yanked Thunder up and pulled him along.
"Ok, ok, sheesh, no sense of humor." Thunder said as he pulled out of Talpa's hold.
"Well see if you have a sense of humor after I get done with you." Talpa replied as they left. Talpa and Thunder walked down the long corridor to a small door that when the three of them were walking around haven't seen before. Maybe it was hidden, and they never noticed it? Who knows, but Thunder had a sinking feeling that this was going to suck.
Talpa pulled down on a torch, and the door opened up revealing a small room. "Ah I see, the old hidden room trick, nice touch." Thunder said sarcastically. "So how many hidden rooms do you have in here, anyway? Probably not as many as what I have back at home..."
"Silence!" Talpa replied as he shoved Thunder inside.
"Hmm, oh yea, real roomy. You know, if you move that rack over there, and the skeleton that's haning on the chains over by that wall, it'll make the room look so much bigger." Thunder said sarcastically.
"Keep it up Storm, and you'll lose your tongue." Talpa threatened as his eyes glowed extremely red. Thunder gave a small gulp and then nodded. He knew that he probably pushed it a little too far with the room crack, so he made a mental note for himself to thank Flash for all of her sarcasm that has rubbed off on him. Just then before Thunder knew it, he found himself chained up against the wall right next to the skeleton. "Now what do you have to say Storm?" Talpa asked.
Thunder looked at Talpa and then over at the skeleton. "Do you come here often?" Thunder asked, "or do you just like to hang around?"
Talpa was so angry that he punched the skeleton so hard that he made the skull shatter. That alone made Thunder snap his attention towards Talpa. "Not so cocky now, are you?" Talpa asked with a grin as he pulled back his hand. "Now, about my door."
"You mean what use to be the door, but is now a pile of fire wood? Whoever built that door, well, he did a real lousy job. I mean the workmanship is terrible. He should have used a better kind of wood..." Thunder started to say, until Talpa yelled out in aggravation.
"Enough!" Talpa yelled as he finally summoned the ninjas.
"Oh goody, more company." Thunder said sarcastically as a ninja was putting on some kind of bracelet on Thunder. "A friend once told me that it's never a good thing to have too may accessories, and this is definitely too much, I mean the collar was good enough, but now the bracelet, I just don't know..."
"That's it! I've had it with your comments!" Talpa yelled at him angrily. He then motioned the ninjas to start the punishment. Thunder looked over at one of the ninjas, he had the exact same bracelet that he had on. Then it clicked, Thunder's eyes went wide as the other ninja held up a few different blades. The ninja that was holding the blades started to slash away at the other ninja that was wearing the bracelet. Thunder kept yelling out in pain as the ninja with the blades kept on slashing away at the ninja with the bracelet, until finally the ninja with the blades made one final swipe and the ninja with the bracelet fell to the floor.
"Bastard." Thunder said as he groaned in extreme pain. Then Thunder closed his eyes and started to glow red.
"No, I don't think so Storm. You are disallowed to heal yourself, and if I find out that you have, then you'll get even a worse punishment than the one you've endured." Talpa replied as he took off Thunder's bracelet.
"What!?" Thunder asked in disbelief.
"That's right, you heard me. If you heal yourself, then you'll get even a worse punishment or you'll friends will take your punishment for you." Talpa replied with a grin.
"You bastard!" Thunder swore angrily.
"Now who's the one that doesn't have a sense of humor?" Talpa asked with a grin.
"How long do I have not to use my healing powers on myself?" Thunder asked in a defeated tone.
"Only a day, remember it's a punishment. Now I suppose that we should get back, I'm sure that your friends are worried about you." Talpa replied as they started off back to the room.
"Thunder," Kaye said in alarm and then turned her attention over to Talpa. "Talpa, what did you do?!"
"Served him his punishment for breaking the door." Talpa replied with a smirk.
"Why you..." Kaye said angrily as she was about to go after him again.
"Kaye, don't." Thunder said as he stopped her.
"Thunder?" Kaye asked as she looked back at him in slight confusion.
"It'll be wise for you to listen to your friend, Tiger," Talpa replied, "remember Storm, of what I told you." Thunder gave a nod and then Talpa left the three alone.
"Thunder, why did you stop me?" Kaye asked as she turned around and faced him. Thunder took a deep breath and then filled them in on their little "punishment session," needless to say that Cye and Kaye were more than a little ticked about what happened.
"So Talpa told you that you can't heal yourself for one whole day? But if you do then..?" Cye asked as he was getting confirmation on what he told them.
Thunder nodded, "well then, he didn't say anything about us not treating your wounds. So let's get started ok." Kaye said as they tended to Thunder.