Shloop: Yes, shloop. Anyway, thank you all for reviewing. :D I have no excuse for my laziness this time. Except that I was playing Kingdom Hearts II. (Which is pwnage. RLY.) And my dad supposedly "fixed" the Internet, making it freeze, naturally. Those, and I had writer's block. I seriously couldn't get what I wanted said. It probably sucks anyway. Also, if you haven't seen, I got my second flame. Check it out, it's funny.
Warnings: OOCness, Jaden x Chazz shonen-ai, drama rating, dub names, other random stuff of little importance.
Disclaimer: Kittens are adorable. Go buy some.
Chapter Twelve: Innocence
Thoughts swirled in Chazz's numb mind, none of them coherent to him. All his scattered mind could understand was that Jaden had been shot. By my own brother, damn it!
Jaden was lying on the ground, his crimson blood pouring freely from the hole in his right shoulder, staining his red blazer with a darker shade of the color, and forming a small puddle around his unconscious body - for he was not dead, not yet. His breathing was shallow, but it was there. Small streams of the crimson fluid dripped from his half-open mouth and snaked across his face, into his messy brown hair.
Jagger gave a self-satisfied smirk. "Well, one down, seven to go." He glanced at his gun and his smirk grew. "And what do you know, I have seven bullets left. And all I'll have to do is shove your bodies off the nearby cliff, you'll be impaled on the sharp rocks, and no one will be able to identify your bodies once Mother Nature takes care of the rest."
"And Jagger and I will go home, everyone will feel pity that the youngest Princeton brother has mysteriously vanished, and the authorities will never figure it out," Slade added with a matching smirk. "Not to mention the publicity we'll receive once everyone sees how very... sad... we'll be when we find out that we're never going to see our youngest brother again."
The feeling of hoplessness and despair in Chazz's heart quickly gave way to feelings of a hatred so deep it took complete control of his emotions. "You sick, heartless BASTARDS! You have NO GODDAMN RIGHT to come and hurt my friends just to get back at me! WHY THE FUCK COULDN'T YOU JUST STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY LIFE?"
Jagger's eyes glistened dangerously. "Language, Chazz. Yelling obscenities at me doesn't save your bestest pal's life."
Chazz glanced back at the bleeding brunette and swallowed the lump in his throat. Banner had removed Jaden's blazer and was now leaning over the wound, cursing softly as he realized that he didn't have his tie with him - which he could have used as a makeshift bandage - and was now attempting to tie Syrus's shredded pajama shirt around the wound to stifle the bleeding. He was the only one in the group who knew much about first aid, but they all knew that if Jaden didn't get real medical treatment immediately, he would die. No one doubted that.
"So," Jagger went on, completely oblivious to the soft sobs coming from most of the group, "who's next?"
"The midget who stabbed my eye?" Slade suggested, pointing at his swollen left eye with one hand and at Syrus with the other - the one with the gun in it. "That pen didn't have a cap on when it went into my eye."
"We shouldn't kill Chazz yet... I want to see him suffer... Oh, I got it. We could do Chazz's wanna-be lover's lover," Jagger suggested, pointing at Zane. "We meant to do him in first anyway."
Zane scarcely thought about that for more than two seconds before he discovered that he must have heard wrong. He didn't have a lover. Not that he knew of, anyway.
Crowler was crouching near Banner, trying desperately to type out a text message to Miss Fontaine, the first person he could think of who had a deep knowledge of first-aid, on his cell phone. He was almost finished when Slade noticed what he was doing. "Oh, what's this? You're sending for help? Can't have that..." He raised his gun at Crowler, who bit his lip and hit "send" - right as Slade pulled the trigger.
Letting out a gasp of pain, Crowler jerked his hand back - the cell phone in it was destroyed now, thanks to the bullet. His hand now had a large chunk of the plastic covering wedged in it, and blood was pouring out of it.
Slade sighed in exasperation. "Damn it, bad aim." He shrugged at Jagger. "Guess I'll have to aim better this time." He carefully aimed the gun at Crowler, who was too stunned to move.
Chazz stood up and moved quickly in the path of the gun, facing Slade with an unreadable expression on his face. "Just kill me and let them go."
Slade laughed. "They know too much, dearest brother. We have no choice but to kill you all."
"There's always a choice," Chazz replied.
"You're so naive," Jagger spat. "Have you listened to yourself lately? You're turning into him." He nodded at the dying boy on the ground behind Chazz. "What are you going to say next, that revenge isn't the answer? That we should settle our differences in a duel? Hate to break it to you, bro, but life's more than just a game."
"Your casual disregard for human life makes me wonder if you really believe that," Chazz said softly. "But I will agree with you on one point. Dueling will solve nothing." He looked back at Jaden, who was now paler than Death himself and let out a low breath. "But I can think of one thing that will."
"What's that?" Slade demanded.
Chazz smiled grimly. "Killing you."
Swiftly, he lunged at Slade, whose eyes widened in surprise, and tackled him to the ground. The gun flew from Slade's hand and landed several feet away in the bushes near a tree. Jagger turned, surprised, but he was too far away to help, and he didn't want to risk shooting at Chazz for fear of hitting Slade, and he was afraid to start walking toward the two for fear that Chazz's friends could catch him off guard, so he had no choice but to watch the spectacle unraveling before his eyes. Slade landed flat on his back, and Chazz landed on top of him. Breathing hard, Chazz looked with sick satisfaction into Slade's eyes. "How's it feel to be on the bottom, bastard?" He slapped Slade hard across the face. "That's for what you did to me when I was young." He nailed a fist in to Slade's nose, effectively shattering the bone. "That's for what you did to me when I didn't meet your requirements." He followed through with a hard slam against his brother's mouth. He felt his brother's jaw break and stopped punching. "And that was for what you've done to my friends."
"Chazz, stop!" Alexis cried. "You'll kill him-"
"Good," Chazz snarled. "This bastard deserves it."
"You're not a murderer, Chazz," Syrus whispered.
"No, he may not be, but I will have no regret killing Chazz-" It was Jagger's turn to lunge at Chazz. Chazz was in a bad position, so he grunted in pain as Jagger knocked him off Slade's body. Jagger landed on top of Chazz this time and pinned Chazz's arms against his body. "This does feel familiar," he sneered. It was his turn to slap Chazz across the face. "You don't disrespect your elder brothers, you little jackass." He took a handful of Chazz's hair and whipped his head back roughly. "You'll regret trying to kill us, Chazz."
"The only thing I regret is that I never killed you sooner," Chazz whispered breathlessly.
"Chazz-" Alexis took two steps toward him before Jagger slammed the barrel of the gun against Chazz's head. "Come any closer, any of you, and I'll shoot him," Jagger spat.
Alexis froze. "How can you do this?" She looked at Jaden again. Banner had wrapped the arm to the best of his ability, and was now helplessly wiping blood off the boy's mouth. Slade was lying unconscious on the ground near the struggling brothers, blood falling from his nose and mouth. So much suffering... and for what?
"When you reach a position as high as mine and Slade's, you have to prove that you're able to kill to keep it," Jagger said stiffly. "After Jaden beat Chazz, we were mocked. And now we'll gain the respect of the high society back."
"Is your own brother's life worth the respect of society?" Zane asked quietly.
"Any day," Jagger said dangerously.
Atticus hadn't been listening to the conversation. He had his eyes on the gun that had flown from Slade's hand when Chazz had tackled him. It was lying about ten yards away - not far at all. If Jagger would keep his gaze away from him, he could get to it. Then Jagger's single advantage would be lost, and they could get Jaden up to the school quickly.
I owe them that much, seeing how this is mostly my fault... he mused. Okay... just... run. Run fast. NOW!
He took a deep breath and went into an all-out sprint. Jagger looked up and saw the boy just as Atticus snatched the gun up and dove behind the tree it had been under.
"Oh, clever, clever," Jagger said with a bone-chilling laugh. "Planning on shooting me first? Go ahead. I doubt you've ever shot someone before. Trust me, the first time is tough." He grinned. "But I'd reconsider." He gestured at Chazz, who was still at the mercy of the gun and breathing heavily. "Your aim might be even two inches off and you could hit Chazz here. You want to risk that, pretty boy?"
Pretty boy?
He might have been flattered if a curvy blond seventeen-year-old girl had called him a pretty boy, but to be called a pretty boy by a creepy man in his twenties? That's where he drew the line.
"So, I'm surprised you haven't killed us all yet," Atticus said conversationally, not moving from his spot behind the tree. "I guess it's true what they say, then. All the incompetent villains just brag about their insidious schemes and don't actually do anything."
"Shut up you little-"
"I will take over the world, bwahahaha!" Atticus mocked, sliding down so he was lying on his stomach - still out of sight behind the tree. "First I will tell you all about my evil plans, then I shall kill you! Dearest Jagger, you told us we were all going to die ten minutes ago, and what? We're still alive. Say much for your skills as an evil guy? Not much, methinks."
In spite of the situation, Syrus and Crowler both let out weak laughs and Alexis shook her head in exasperation. "That moron's going to get himself murdered one of these days," she muttered. "I hope he knows what he's doing... And I hope he does it quickly..."
"I told you to shut up!" Jagger screamed, shooting at the tree.
One...
"Missed me," Atticus said in a sing-song voice. "Who has bad aim? I'm behind a tree. Can't hit a tree? Oh, that's right... your flashlight is lying on the ground, it's hard to see."
"Damn you-" Jagger shot again.
Two...
"Missed again, good sir, I don't think it's because of the dark this time, either. Might I suggest getting glasses?"
"Die, damn it!" Again.
Three... should be enough...
"Alexis has better aim than you do," Atticus said. "And she's not as stupid."
"What?" Jagger demanded sharply.
"See, you just wasted three bullets. Now how are you going to kill us all? You're down to three bullets and I have the second gun, the one with more bullets in it."
"I'll take it from you!" Jagger yelled. "And then I'll shoot you in the leg and leave you to die."
Atticus made a mock noise of shock. "Silly me! How could I have forgotten that I have a gun with bullets in it that you might try to take from me?" He aimed the gun skyward. "Let's see how many bullets it has in it." He shot it at the sky until it clicked, signaling that it was empty. "Only five? How sad. One would think that it's a good idea to fill a gun up with as many bullets as will fit."
"Atticus, you're a retard, I hope you know that," Chazz choked out from beneath Jagger's tightened grip on his throat.
"I see what he's doing," Zane murmured to Alexis and Syrus. "He's distracting Jagger's attention away from us. We should go-"
Alexis shook her head. "He's my brother, I'm not leaving him here. You guys go and I'll help Atticus hold the Princetons off. I think Slade's coming around, so you have to hurry."
"Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah - can't touch this," Atticus sang, chucking a few sticks and rocks at a very infuriated Jagger every time the man approached the tree.
Zane sighed. "Make sure he doesn't get brutally murdered, okay?"
Alexis nodded. "Hurry!" she whispered.
Making sure that the elder Rhodes sibling was keeping Jagger occupied, Banner and Crowler gently picked up the pale boy on the ground and began to sidle toward the dark forest. Syrus and Zane followed silently, leaving Alexis and her brother in the dark clearing, alone with two very homicidal maniacs and one very mentally exhausted teenager.
Noting that Slade was stirring, Alexis kicked him in the face - hard. Satisfied that he was going to stay down for at least ten minutes more, she turned her attention to Jagger.
---
The unlikely group of students and teachers hurried through the woods, stumbling over uprooted tree trunks, sticks, and what they figured was possibly a gas main. The mere fact that a gas main was above ground unnerved Professor Banner, but they pressed on - they had other matters to attend to. The boy in Banner's arms was now not only pale and emaciated, but he had stopped breathing.
He would be dead within minutes. There was no way they could reach the school in time.
---To Be Continued---
Argh, 'tis sucky. I didn't even read it through again. Sorry for how rushed it more than likely was. One chapter to go. And then I'm going to start my Kingdom Hearts fic, because it has snatched my very soul. Curse the Japanese and their overly addicting video games and anime.