Disclaimer: (is under a mountain of Psychology and Art homework) uuuuuh…
Thanks to:
Moonlit Sea: Ichigo: Yes, and someone is going to pay for that!
WF: Eheheh… heh? (Runs)
Twister91: WF: Careful what you say, Malachite! You're already in deep trouble for losing the baby!
Beastfire: Ichigo: I bet they'll be adorable!
Sprx: And evil! (Gets clobbered by all the females)
Astral Firefly: WF: (fell asleep at Violet's speech) zzzzzz….
Ichigo: (elbows her)
WF: (snaps awake) Banana sandwich! Huh? Oh, thanks! (Goes back to sleep)
Lazzynewtt: WF: (coughs and turns slightly pink) It depends on how old your brother is, if he's younger than you then I did absolutely nothing! (Tries to look innocent) if he's older then… well, you're too young to hear! (Blushes and hides in her box)
4Evermonkeyfan: Ichigo: Of course we don't mind! And sure, Adriana can be a godmother.
WF: In fact, can I borrow her for one of the last chapters of this story? And you can borrow Ryou, Zakuro or Ichigo if you want!
Lmann: Everyone: (groans at the bad joke)
Ryou: That deserves a thrashing!
Everyone: (starts pummelling Lmann for the joke)
Gotta Be Cruel To Be Kind
"YOU WHAT?" bellowed Antauri when he was told what had happened. "How could you be so careless? You were supposed to watching her! Now she's been kidnapped!" Malachite hung his head,
"Calm down, Antauri! You can't blame Malachite for everything, it was my fault too!" argued Petalite, stepping up for Malachite. Malachite smiled slightly at her, but he soon looked miserable again. Ichigo decided to intervene,
"Yes, dear, we can't waste time pointing fingers! We need to find out who took Zakuro and where they went" she reasoned, placing a hand on Antauri's shoulder and guiding him away from the younger monkeys.
Antauri took a deep breath and closed his eyes; he stayed like that for a few moments whilst he meditated on the problem.
"You're right, Ichigo" he said after a while, looking considerably calmer, "We can't waste any time, Zakuro may be in grave danger!" Ichigo nodded, though everyone could see the fright in her eyes. Antauri hugged her close, "We'll get her back, Ichigo. Don't worry!" he stroked the back of her head and she smiled slightly.
Just then, Gibson's voice came over the intercom,
"Everyone, I've discovered something quite disturbing! Meet me in the main room!" he called and soon they were gathered together. Every face looked pensive as Gibson placed a slide in the giant magnifier and a fingerprint came up on the large screen,
"I found this fingerprint on the note left by the kidnapper" he explained, as he tapped a few buttons. "I've tested it against every enemy we've ever encountered as well as our allies." The screen flashed as names came up with their fingerprints, none matched until he reached one. The screen flashed 'Perfect match' and everyone gasped at the name onscreen,
"Ichigo…" Malachite read faintly, he felt numb and his head seemed to turn on its own in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo looked shocked then the tears started,
"No…" she whispered, "I wouldn't steal my own daughter! That's madness!"
Gibson nodded,
"Indeed, it is. But you are not the only person we know with your exact fingerprint, are you?" he asked rhetorically. Antauri seemed to understand
"So if it is not Ichigo and the fingerprint matches hers then it must be…"
"Ryou…" Ichigo cut in, quietly. In fact she looked like she was about to collapse and Antauri held her in case she did. "No…" she whispered and then the tears she'd been holding back finally fell, "Why?"
Ryou was helping one of the new assistants clear up a mess in the salon. Being her first day, she'd been quite nervous and managed to knock over a bottle of massage oil. Ryou smiled pleasantly at the new girl, she smiled back shyly before bending her head down over her work. Ryou heard the girl giggle quietly and he rolled his eyes,
'Honestly, why does every girl I smile at seem to think I'm flirting with them?' he pondered as they worked on clearing the stain out of the floor tiles. The room was mostly silent, except for the sounds of the mops and water splashing, and Ryou had to admit he liked working here, even if he did get hit on a lot by girls.
Suddenly the peace was shattered, as a hoard of robot monkeys swarmed in and surrounded him. The girl with him screamed in fright and slipped on the slippery floor, she fell with a loud thump and he knelt to see if she was alright.
But he never got a chance to ask, because he was suddenly whisked away in a flurry of angry chattering and fur.
Ryou grunted as he was dropped rather unceremoniously on the floor, he looked up and saw the Monkey Team glaring at him as well as some faces he'd seen briefly at the party. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as they continued to glare silently; he felt a shiver run through his body at all the unblinking eyes bearing down on him. He turned away from them and saw his sister staring at him, tears in her eyes. His uncomfort seemed to vanish instantly and he rushed up to Ichigo with concern,
"Ichigo what's-" he was cut off as a black blur appeared in front of Ichigo and lashed out at him. He pulled back and felt pain in his arm; he looked down and saw three deep gashed there where Antauri's claws had dug in. He looked up again and Ichigo sobbed at the look in his eyes, swimming in those eyes which matched her own so well was a mixture of emotions. Fear, confusion, hurt and concern seemed to fight for dominance and the longer Ichigo gazed into them, the harder she found it to believe he was really the one who'd stolen her baby.
The others growled at him and every time he went to try and ask Ichigo what was wrong, Antauri would lash out. Ryou finally gave up and sat in silence watching Antauri. He seemed to have lost all rational thought, in fact he seemed almost primal, as he growled at the boy with his teeth bared showing vicious canines and his sharp claws ready to tear through him like butter. But his eyes told a different story, Ryou could see pain and sorrow in them, as well as the outward anger that came from them.
'What's wrong with him?' he thought, 'What could have happened that would be bad enough to cause this?'
He didn't think for long, because he heard a lower pitched growl behind him. He turned and saw another robot monkey, green this time, prowling up to him with a pair of saws instead of hands.
'That's Otto' he thought as he blanched, which was some feat for an albino, and he stood up.
As if he'd been waiting for this, the green monkey leapt at him and sliced through the air in front of him. The force alone was enough to knock Ryou back down, but the fear and shock stopped him from catching himself as he fell. His head hit the floor hard and everything swirled before him, he felt a weight on his chest and he looked up to see the monkey glaring at him. He pulled Ryou up by the shirt so they were nose to nose and bared his teeth,
"Why did you steal Zakuro?" he demanded, Ryou blinked in confusion.
"What?" he asked, looking amazed, the monkey's grip tightened and Ryou found it hard to breathe.
"You heard me!"
"What have you done with her, you monster!" cried Nova, closing in behind Otto. The others surrounded him as well, making escape impossible. But he was too confused to think about escaping.
"But, I haven't done anything with her!" he cried, "you must believe me; I haven't even seen her since the wedding!"
Antauri came forward and grabbed his face with one clawed hand, the sharp claws pierced his soft skin easily and he winced in pain.
"Liar!" Antauri hissed quietly, the word seemed to cut in further than the claws and Ryou winced from it. Antauri came so close that Ryou could feel his breath on his face, "Tell me where you've taken her! NOW!" he roared and Ryou whimpered in fright. He felt tears well up in his eyes and his body shook,
"I don't know!" he sobbed, the tears running down in little streams, "I haven't done anything, please believe me!"
"Don't lie to me!" shrieked Antauri, raising his other hand ready for the final strike. Ryou closed his eyes and braced himself,
"Antauri, wait!" Ichigo rushed forward and held Antauri's arm fast to prevent him from attacking, "I believe him!" she cried as she gently but firmly brought Antauri's hand down to his side. Antauri looked amazed,
"What?" he asked softly, then his anger seemed to flare up again, "How can you believe him? He stole our daughter!" Ichigo remained calm despite her husband's fury and she turned his face to look at Ryou,
"Look in his eyes, does that truly look like an evil minded person to you?" she asked. Antauri gazed down into Ryou's large frightened blue eyes. He could see that the boy had been telling the truth and he felt guilt replaced every ounce of fury and anger he'd had. He felt the guilt stab at his heart as he pulled his claws out of Ryou's face, causing him to wince as he watched the blood flow out slowly.
"Gibson…" he said quietly, "get Ryou to the medical room and treat him" Gibson nodded quietly and helped the boy to his feet; Ryou stumbled slightly as he followed the blue monkey but they were soon gone.
When they were gone, the others began to ponder the problem more deeply,
"How do you know Ryou's innocent?" Onyx asked and Ichigo smiled at him.
"It's a twin thing. We have a tendency to be able to tell what the other is thinking or feeling, and I could tell that Ryou was innocent and genuinely confused" she explained. The others nodded, looking slightly confused but they just accepted that it was one of those weird Ichigo things that they wouldn't understand. It went up there on the list along with her obsession with Tokyo Mew Mew and her addiction to chicken nuggets and sour cream. (Yum!)
"So now that Ryou has been proven innocent, our next question is who has managed to obtain your fingerprints? And how do we find them?" asked Antauri and the room was filled with quiet thinking.
Ryou and Gibson re-entered amid all this pondering and they too began to think. Nova rushed up to Ryou and gave him a bone crushing hug, looking worried that they may have done some invisible damage to him, Sprx snorted at her and Gibson looked mildly annoyed.
"Please, Nova, we've only just got out of the med bay! I don't want to go back in and treat Ryou for broken ribs too!" whined Gibson, sounding exasperated. Ryou shot him an apologetic look and patted the yellow monkey's head as she continued to simper over his condition.
"I thought you were over him?" muttered Sprx, looking very envious (of Ryou, not Nova). Nova looked over at him and purposely snuggled closer to Ryou's chest, causing the red monkey to growl quietly and storm over to Antauri and Ichigo. Nova chuckled as he started muttering darkly and didn't notice the dark figure behind her until it suddenly leapt.
"Ryooooooouuuu!" it squealed, knocking Nova flying and taking her place. Nova leapt up to fight off this new threat and saw that it was, in fact, Jet. She was now in Nova's spot, snuggling and drooling over the teenaged boy, and purring too. Nova felt a vein in her temple pulsate and she stomped over to the bishounen-napper. (Bishounen means 'pretty boy' in Japanese)
"Hey, Jet!" she cried, trying to pull Jet off, "That's my place!" she tried her hardest but couldn't pry the monkey off, who seemed to have glued herself to Ryou. Nova growled and ground her teeth in frustration,
"If you keep doing that, you'll wreck your teeth" she said casually, without looking away from Ryou and she smirked, "Besides, why would he want an old hag like you, when he could have a beautiful young monkey like me?" she posed to prove her point, winking at Ryou and he blushed.
'How do I get into these messes?' he cried mentally as the black and white monkey nuzzled his chest again, Nova's eye twitched and the vein started to grow.
"Old hag am I?" she cried hysterically, "I'll show you, old hag!" and with that, she leapt onto Jet and the two started scrapping.
Antauri tried to block out the noise but it seemed to get louder the more he tried not to listen and he felt a vein on his temple begin to pulsate as well.
"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!" he suddenly bellowed and everyone froze, the black monkey panted slightly and grabbed the pair that'd been fighting only moments before. "Look, neither of you is helping with the real matter at hand and squabbling over a boy is truly a pathetic waste of time and energy!" he turned to Jet; eyes narrowed menacingly, "Jet, you're already married and have a kid!" Nova stuck her tongue out at Jet before Antauri turned on her, "And you already have a boyfriend and you also know that Ryou is gay! I hardly think he appreciates you two treating him like a sex toy!" the two females blushed and bowed their heads. "Now, apologise!"
"Sorry" they both mumbled, looking at the floor and twiddling their fingers. Antauri humphed at them and stalked away, leaving them to look embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Petalite had left the mayhem on the main room and was searching for Malachite. She'd seen him leave and had followed him, she stopped and listened. She could hear someone playing a guitar, she followed the sound and it led her to Malachite's bedroom. She opened the door and saw Malachite sitting on his bed, happily playing.
"Malachite" she cried, "what are you doing? The others are all trying to find Zakuro, yet you're just sitting around doing nothing!" Petalite watched as he looked up at her and she saw that he looked positively ecstatic about Zakuro's disappearance,
"Of course" he replied, "now that that thing isn't around anymore, I don't have to worry about my things getting broken or everyone cooing over every dumb thing she does, or being against me all because she's 'just a baby'!" he had a mad glint in his eye, "Don't you see? I'm free again!" he leapt up and laughed madly. Petalite looked unimpressed,
"So you're glad that someone stole her away and now she's sitting somewhere alone and scared?" asked Petalite, Malachite stopped his cheering and actually looked a little guilty.
"Well, there's no need to put it like that! Besides that thing got what she deserved!" argued Malachite, crossing his arms, "She was always getting away with breaking my things and throwing things at me, now she's getting her just desserts! Karma rules, baby!" Petalite slapped him across the face,
"Listen to yourself! How can you be so heartless? Zakuro could be injured or worse and all you care about is being the centre of attention again! Don't you remember what you were like before she came along? You'd constantly annoy Antauri and get him in trouble, now you're getting the same! If anyone here deserves their just desserts it's you! You jerk!" Malachite watched her pant as she finished and he actually looked shocked. Then he looked thoughtful, was Petalite right? He thought back to when Ichigo and Antauri were looking after him, all the pranks he pulled on Antauri then he'd run off to Ichigo and cry, all just to get Antauri in trouble for his amusement. Heck, he even ruined Antauri's proposal to Ichigo because he was bored! Petalite was right, he was a jerk.
Petalite watched as Malachite seemed to make his decision; he looked up at her with a determined expression and grabbed her hand,
"Petalite…" he started, "you're right. I'm sorry for being such a jerk before, can you forgive me?" Petalite smiled at him,
"Of course!" she said chirpily.
Malachite's POV (Why? Because I can!)
We smiled at each other and then I felt a force pulling me closer to her, our faces were getting nearer and nearer. Any closer and we'd-
"Malachite!" the sudden cry shook us awake and we both jumped apart, blushing. My mum ran in and she looked slightly beat up, "there you two are! C'mon Gibson thinks he's located Zakuro!" and with that we all ran to the spaceships.
'Dammit!' I thought, 'the kid ain't even here, and she annoys me!'
Five… pages long. My God. But at least the chapter's done! Next chapter, we find out who took Zakuro and why! And I'm gonna write another fic soon, called 'Fairy Tale Fun!' But for now, review peeps!