Okay. Firstly, I have to say that I am so touched. People actually tried to write 200 word long reviews for me! I so was not expecting that. I was nearly crying I was so happy. People actually listened to (or read... whatever) what I had to say! So thank you, thank you, thank you to juicy- sweetness, Summer Angel and LiL-AnImE-LuVeR. You guys have made my day. However, I could not find a way to write you into this chapter. So you'll have to wait until the next one, okay?
Secondly, to try and answer Teeny's question, the setting is kind of a fantasy world. It's the kind of world where knights in shining armour save damsels in distress, and so on. A Disney kind of world, basically.
Chapter 5 - Making Your Getaway
The group had not taken much convincing. They were bored, not used to sitting in one place for too long. And besides that, the group had absolute faith in Matt. Anything he said, and any decisions he made, were supreme. They each set about packing up the few things that they owned. Mimi, not having anything except herself, moved from person to person, doing her best to help. She folded all of Sora and Kari's clothes for them, stacking them on the bed so they would have an easier time putting them into their packs. She retrieved every book Izzy owned and helped him organise his bag so that they all fitted. She managed to locate Tai's pack, which had gone missing under his bed about a week ago. After recovering from that disturbing task, she went on to help TK. However, somebody was already there. Matt was instructing TK how to pack his bag properly, and was at the same time folding everything to be small enough to fit. Mimi hung back, watching intently. They were so close. They both really cared about each other. She had never had a relationship like that with anybody. She envied them.
When TK's bag was packed, Matt moved on to his own. Owing to the fact that he didn't own much at all, and everybody else was just about finished, soon they were all standing in the entrance hall, waiting to leave. All their worldly possessions carefully stowed away in camping packs that sat against the wall. Mimi looked at them, that familiar guilt bubbling in the pit of her stomach. It would have taken three trucks at least to move all the belongings she had owned as a princess.
She was pulled from her thoughts as Matt spoke. "Okay guys. I think we're ready to go. Now, you all already know that there are dangers out there, especially near Mount Theisa, so I don't have to tell you to be careful." He glanced around the room at the collection of nodding heads before him. "Well then, let's head off!"
Each person except Mimi grabbed a pack and swung it onto their backs. Pulling the straps over their shoulders, they solemnly followed Matt out the door. Walking silently in a semi-circle behind Matt, who always stayed about two paces ahead, Mimi was given the distinct impression of being in a formal procession. They each had such purpose in their strides. However, after a while, this formality wore off, and they just walked casually in a great group, talking amongst themselves.
Sora and Tai were deep in discussion about something, and it was quite obvious to Mimi that they did not want to be interrupted. Mimi had to wonder whether they were just friends; there was such an intense link between the two. Kari was talking to TK, light conversation to do with whether hippopotamus babies were bigger than cow babies. Observing them with a smile on her face, Mimi was sure that she could feel the same connection between then as between Tai and Sora. Izzy was quietly kicking a loose stone along the street, and Matt... Mimi thought he looked rather lonely, up the front all by himself.
Moving up to him, she kept his pace for a while, without saying anything. Eventually, her eyes staring determinedly at her shoes, she said, "Thank you."
Matt, somewhat surprised, turned to look at her. "What for?"
Releasing her stare from her feet, she looked into his eyes. She could drown in those eyes. Fall right in and not be able to get out. The azure blue seemed never-ending. "For everything. Taking me in. Going completely out of your way to help me."
A light blush crept up Matt's neck to settle on his cheeks. "It was nothing."
A silence followed. Neither knew what to say. Finally Matt opened his mouth, meaning to ask Mimi why she had never heard of the guardians. But the question never passed his lips. Seemingly out of nowhere, eight guys all dressed in black appeared in from of them. They stood in a V shaped formation, the biggest guy in the front. He was obviously the leader of this gang. Dark black hair flopped in front of his face, partly hiding a long scar that ran from his right eyebrow and snaked down, finally fading just under his chin. He had dark, cold eyes and a malicious grin that showed oddly pointed teeth when he spoke.
"Hello Ishida."
Matt, even though he was tall himself, had to look up to meet this guy's eyes. "Hello Carmichael."
Mimi, who had backed off, was now standing next to Sora. "Who is that?" She asked in a whisper.
Sora leant her head towards Mimi slightly, then replied in a low voice. "Grant Carmichael. He's the leader of the gang, Dark Dragons. The others you don't have to worry about, they're just mindless thugs. A golf ball has more brainpower than the seven combined. But this guy, he's bad news."
Mimi nodded and turned her attention back to the towering guy in front of them. He was speaking again, his voice sending shivers down her spine.
"So. How are your loser gang of misfits?" His voice had a hard edge as he glanced at them one by one.
"The street rats." Kari and Tai.
"The itty bitty baby." TK.
"The cursed orphan who's forgotten how to talk." Izzy
"And how could I forget? The dumb blonde wannabe." Sora.
His stare fell upon Mimi, who tried as hard as she could to seem small and insignificant. "Ah, I see you've recruited a new member. What's she? The bimbo who left home and forgot how to get back? Still..." he scanned her up and down. "She's not bad. I think I might take her for myself."
Mimi whimpered in fright, and the rest of the group closed around her in a protective circle.
"Sorry, but you can't take her." Matt said simply, but with a bite in his tone.
The giant of a guy turned his dark eyes to Matt and gave a cold grin. "Ah. Now I see what's really going on here. She's your little pet, isn't she? Your little poodle to make jump through hoops? Well, Ishida, I'm really sorry to have to do this to you. Boys!"
He clicked his fingers and the other members of the group moved in, like a huge black wave about to crash onto them. One grabbed both Kari and Sora by the arms and tugged them into him. Wrapping his bulky arms around them, he had them effectively trapped. No matter how much they struggled, how hard Kari bit into his arm, or how much weight Sora put into stamping on his foot, they were not going to get away.
Another one grabbed Izzy. Given Izzy's quiet, placid and anti-violent nature, Mimi wasn't surprised to see him put up very little fight. He was held tightly by his upper arms, but it was only necessary to keep him away from Mimi. He put almost no effort into resisting.
TK was a different story. Though he looked sweet and innocent, he was giving his suppressor quite a hard time. He fought hard against the arms that held him, kicking the gang member hard in the shins repeatedly and biting any hand that tried to stop him. Eventually the guy had to lift him over his shoulder to put a halt to his assaults, and even then TK continued to kick him in the stomach.
Tai, being the largest in their group, needed two thugs to hold him down. He had taken on one, and could have won if the other hadn't intervened. He had fought hard, getting in a few good punches, but two on one had been too much. They had got him against the wall of a nearby building and were holding him there, hands behind his back and face pressed into the brick.
One particularly large and fierce looking brute had taken on Matt. However, he was also the slowest and seemed to be the most dim-witted. Matt was easily winning, swiftly getting in punches before the guy even had time to react. But Matt didn't see the other one. Approaching quietly from behind, Mimi didn't have time to call a warning before he had tripped Matt and knocked him to the ground. They both kept a foot on his back, pinning him to the street. Both looked extremely triumphant.
All of this was happening at once. The scene was very chaotic and confused, and Mimi was standing in the middle of it, helpless. Suddenly she realised that the leader was missing. The people attacking were his cronies. So where was he? A hand clamping around her wrist answered her question. She spun around, only to come face to face with a scar and a pair of merciless eyes.
"Hello beautiful." He said coldly, then dragged her with him into a nearby alleyway.
"Help!" was all Mimi had time to scream before his free hand was closed over her mouth.
Ooh, cliffhanger! What's going to happen to her? Review and tell me! If I don't get ten reviews I'll destroy the entire fan fiction universe. Yes, I'm sorry it had to come to that. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
