Disney owns all, I am insignificant! Yesterday was too busy for me, no matter how much I wanted to write. Hopefully, I get a couple chapters done tonight.
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Redemption – Mind Games
Shego charged forward, hands glowing, her target before her. The sudden tug that yanked her back caught her by surprise, taking her off balance and she landed hard against the wall behind her. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at her arms, feeling a sudden tightness on the wrists. Manacles were locked in place, and her fire had been extinguished. Following the chains, she found them attached to a wall, and confusion really set in.
Looking around, she saw no sign of Monkey Fist, or any of her allies. It was a dark room, the only light was that which was surrounding her. She felt panic begin to rise up, and wasn't sure what was going on. Testing the bonds, she found them firmly bound to the wall, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't ignite the fire in her hands.
She had only been struggling a few moments when a bright light flashed on her, blinding her. Squinting into the light, she could make out a table, angled slightly, a figure lying on it. Beside the table stood another figure. As the glare began to fade, her heart caught in her throat, and she began to scream!
Doctor Chaos!
The bastard who had spent days torturing and killing her boyfriend years ago, before turning his attention to her, hurting her, raping her.
The man she thought dead, the man she had killed with her own two hands, stood before her, smiling at her. On the table beside him, she saw her boyfriend Jason, struggling against his own bonds, very much alive.
"Now my dear Susan, we will see what kind of pain your young paramour can endure. This should be most interesting, don't you think?"
"Don't you dare touch him, you bastard! It's me you want! Please, let him go! I'll do whatever you want!"
Chaos just laughed, the same laugh that haunted her dreams for so long. "Of course you will my dear. When I am done, you will be more than willing to do anything I have in mind. When I am done, you will be begging me for more! Now, shall we begin? I've always been partial to starting with the feet, and working my way up."
Shego could only watch and cry as Jason's screams echoed throughout the room.
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Mego heard the word given, and wanted to move forward. But he found himself unable to move. He tried to move his feet, but couldn't. He looked up, trying to see what was going on, and saw the battle begin without him. He looked back down, trying to figure out what was holding him in place, but there was nothing there. He tried moving again, but his legs just didn't want to respond. Shrinking down, he tried moving again, hoping that a reduced size might be the answer, but again, nothing.
The fight was not going well, he could see that. He wanted to help, it hurt not to be able to help. He saw Hirotaka go down, a gaping hole in his chest. The sight made him sick to his stomach, and he redoubled his efforts. Bonnie fell next, thrown into a pillar with such velocity, it knocked down the plinth that had been standing for centuries. She did not move.
Tears were freely streaming down his face as Yori ran by him, engulfed in flames, already dead for sure, her body just not accepting it. Shego's head rolled to his feet, the rest of her body yards away, and all he could do was stare down into her cold, dead eyes. He looked over to find Ron and Monkey Fist engaged in battle, but it was obviously not going well. With a sudden motion, Monkey Fist seized the sword from his hands, and drove it through his body.
Mego screamed and closed his eyes, not wanting to see, but knew he had to look. When he did, Monkey Fist stood before him, eyes cast down on him.
"Little man, you aren't even worth my attention. You are too much of a coward for me to be bothered with. I'm sure your friends agree with me."
The voice that followed shattered his resolve. It was Shego's! "Why didn't you help us?"
He stared down in wide-eyed panic, as her face looked up at him, talking to him.
"You could have helped us!"
"Too much of a coward, always looking after himself!"
"He's so useless, he can't do anything to help anyways!"
"And now we're dead, all because of him!"
"He should be the one lying here, not us!"
"Then let's make it so. He deserves a coward's death!"
Mego felt the panic well within him, as the bodies of his companions shambled towards him, no longer unmoving. Their tortured limbs reached for him, and he felt the grip on his legs disappear.
He ran!
Their voices followed him as he ran, running until he found a building looming before him. Using all his strength, he reached for the door, yanking it open, and slamming it shut behind him, just as the reaching, grasping hands of his companions grabbed for him one last time. He breathed a sigh of relief, until he saw where he was. A morgue.
Slowly inching through the room, he looked upon the two tables before him, knowing instinctively who lay beneath them. He had made it half way across the room when the sheets lifted, and he knew for sure who lay there.
His brothers!
"Why didn't you save us, Michael?"
"He was too afraid to get hurt Will, so he left us to die!"
"Do you really think so Wendell? If so, maybe he should join us then!"
"Yes, he should join us!"
Mego screamed!
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Hirotaka found himself in a strange room that felt oddly familiar. He glanced around, trying to figure out where he was, how he had gotten there, but the room was non-descript, giving no clue as to where he was. He tried to rise to his feet, but found himself weak, too weak to do more than sit up. Looking down, he saw why. He was wearing only rags, but that wasn't what scared him. His hands were small and calloused, his legs were scrawny. He began to panic as he realized where he was, and disbelief set in. He pinched himself, but the pain felt real enough. He thought this was over, that he had escaped, but he knew that wasn't the case.
Jong Yoo prison! A North Korean internment camp for old POWs of the Korean War!
His grandparents had been captured during the war, being held in this camp their entire lives, as had his mother, who had been born here. When she had been deemed old enough, the guards began taking "liberties" with her, resulting in his birth. She had died when he was but four, taking her own life, having lived and died her entire life confined within these walls, never seeing daylight through more than a small window. When he had been just eight years old, there had been a prison break, and a couple of the prisoners had taken pity on him, taking him with them. By the time they had reached the coast, there were only three of them left, and by the time they had reached Japan, just two remained. Hirotaka had settled into an orphanage when he had arrived, and news of his story had encouraged many people to attempt to take him in. But years of prison life had affected the boy greatly, and none had been able to care for him. Not until Sensei had come to him.
Now he found himself back there, and he wanted to cry.
Panic welled within him when the door to the room opened. The large, burly figure that entered was very familiar to him, but they only ever called him by one name. Pak!
"Well boy, that was some escape you attempted!"
"You cannot fool me. I know I escaped. I lived in Japan, I had family again, people who loved me!"
The large man just laughed. "Ah, you are delusional little man. You have never escaped. You have never had anyone love you! You will be trapped here forever! Now, let's see what we can do about ridding you of these little delusions!"
Hirotaka screamed as the big man advanced towards him.
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Yori found herself surrounded in darkness. Looking up at once was a brilliant morning, she saw the night sky laid out above her. Looking around quickly, she saw no trace of Monkey Fist, nor her companions. What she saw was a graveyard, as far as the eye could see. She immediately recognized the first two gravestones, and she found she couldn't breathe.
It was her parents.
Years before, before she could remember, they had been killed at the hands of a gang of punks who had wanted their money. It had been a dark night, or so her Grandfather had told her. They had been walking back home from the store, just out getting some milk, enjoying a quiet night. She had been asleep in the stroller when they had attacked. Her father had fought them, and had taken out two of them when he had been shot. Her mother died right after, as punishment for his actions. They ran off, leaving her in the stroller crying. Her Grandfather had come just minutes later. When she had been older, he told her how he had seen it, but hadn't been fast enough to get to them, to warn them. He never forgave himself for that.
Yori knelt down and began to cry when a flash of lightning in the sky highlighted the next grave; her Grandfather's!
Rising to her feet, she began to see the names on the other head stones. Hirotaka, Ron, Kim, Bonnie, Funaka, Riyoku…
She began to panic as she went down the lines. Everyone she knew was here, everyone she ever knew. She looked around and all she saw were graves. She was alone. No one was left but her. It was more than she could take!
Unseen by her, Monkey Fist sat on a grave behind her, laughing.
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Bonnie looked up, surprised to find herself in the school hallway, books in her arms. She looked about, trying to figure out what was going on around her. How had she gotten here?
A flash of pain drove her to her knees, as a vision swept over her. She brought her hands up to fight the pain, wincing in agony, trying not to scream. When it passed, she looked up into the eyes of the students around her. What she heard surprised her.
"God, look at that freak."
"No wonder she has no friends, she's such a spaz!"
A dozen comments rained down on her, and she knew she had to get out of there. She ran to Ron's locker, hoping he could help her, and stopped short when she saw him, standing there and laughing with Kim. In an instant, another vision struck, and she fell, dropping her books with a resounding thud. Fighting the pain, she made her way over to the two standing there.
"Ron, you have to help me!"
Ron just looked down at her. "Why would I want to help a loser like you? Kim, can you believe this girl?"
Kim just laughed, a sound that tore Bonnie's heart out. "This freak actually thinks she deserves to talk to you? Come on, let's get out of here before we find out if loser is contagious!"
Bonnie couldn't have hurt more if she had been drop kicked. Tears welled up in her eyes until she saw Tara walking down the hall. She ran up to her oldest and dearest friend, and prayed this was just a bad dream.
"Tara, something's wrong with my visions. I can't control them anymore!"
Tara slapped the hand away that Bonnie had placed on her arm. "Eww… get away from me freak!"
Tara walked away, leaving Bonnie alone in the hall as she began to cry.
Behind her, Monkey Fist stood laughing at her pain. In this case however, he was not unseen. Bonnie whirled at the sound, surprising him.
"Monkey Fist!"
Monkey Fist looked at her, confused. "How are you able to see me? None of the others can?"
"I don't know how you did this, but I'm going to stop you!"
Monkey Fist just laughed. "You cannot stop me! I have trapped you within your own minds, using your own worst fears and experiences. There is nothing you can do to me!"
"My own mind you say?" Bonnie just smiled.
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Ron hadn't taken more than a single step when he saw his friends and companions collapse to the ground. He rushed over to Bonnie, quickly checking her status, before whirling to face Monkey Fist.
"What have you done to them?"
Monkey Fist just laughed. "I have just… taken them out of the game. You know they don't belong in the middle of this. This is between you and me!"
Ron gripped the Lotus Blade tighter, sliding a finger over the energy disperser. "Fine, have it your way. I'm still going to stop you."
"I'd like to see you try, boy!"
Ron yelled, and jumped at his foe!
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Author's Notes – Yeah, I know, kind of a cop out. This huge build up to battle, and I just spend it torturing the characters. Oh well, it's going to be a very long fight, so don't worry! Besides, as I say below many times, I'm evil. I like having my fun!
I'd like to thank the following for their reviews;
MrDrP – Oh, I think I've still got a couple surprises left up my sleeve!
Mike9 – How many times do I have to tell you people? I am EVIL! Besides, even us evil individuals need to sleep sometimes! And as for your suggestion, who says it's not being considered? After all, this is probably the first time they've been able to isolate him in a non-urbanized setting. With the fight being televised, who says a little "collateral damage" isn't out of the question if the fight goes bad?
Kpultimatefan – Yup, and this was one of the few things I had planned out. The question now becomes, with the promise of a Yamanouchi story on my profile, will it be a love story, or a tale of loss?
Worker72 – Mess with my head? I'm evil, I'm already messed in the head!
mattb3671 – I'm more of a coke drinker myself. And Monkey Kong! Good name for him! As for the other replies, they made me giddy. Who knew the dark side could be so much fun! BWAHAHA!
demon-sword (formally ron-sama) – Shego's not that old. Consider the age of her brothers, I'd place her at about 23. And I do like the compassionate Ron. He has had to change quite a bit, considering what he has had to go through.
I'd also like to thank Mobius97, Matri, Aja p., and The Halfa Wannabe!
