A/N: UPDATED!
Ok, I'm back after a long hiatus to give you a new chapter!…
This is the last time I'll take so long, I promise… *Crosses fingers behind back*…
I cut a whole load of waffle out of the previous chapter so you might or might not want to check that one out before reading this one!
I want you guys to know that whilst some pretty bad stuff is happening now, in a few chapters it all straightens out into good old fluff and angst… XD
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gravity Falls!
However, I DO own the plot as well as the OCs (Major and Minor).
If I reference other people's works I will gain permission first and also give credit in the Author's Note.
WARNINGS:
This fanfic will potentially contain blood, gory details, swearing, mentions of suicide, torture, mentions of other things, etc.
OTHER:
It will also revolve around a character I created a long time ago but always hit writers' block with. She completely of my own creation, and so is her backstory. (And quite a few other characters involving her).
Please enjoy, please review!
KEY:
"Italic text within speech marks" = Cophie/Entity in someone's mind/telepathic conversation
Italic text = Past event/memory/flashback
text = Conversation happening in future/present
HER
*THUD*
*THUD*
*THUD*
The memories were hazy, flickering in and out of focus.
Unorganised and relentless.
They refused to stay still for much longer than a fraction of a second, vanishing without trace just to pop up again a few minutes later.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as if it might quell my headache or still my fluttering thoughts.
I could barely remember how I escaped.
Something about… Fire? But that made no sense… The bars had been weakened by cold and snapped by impossible force!
I blinked. The flames were gone and there was a thin layer of ice coating the bars… They had shattered, seemingly from cold… But that was ridiculous.
I had checked them everyday and the anti-freeze enchantments had been stronger than… Well, any magic I knew. If I could still do magic that is…
Besides, I couldn't use Fire Magic. I was…
What magic did I have?
I frowned, scrunching up my forehead in an attempt to remember, but nothing came.
*THUD*
*THUD*
*THUD*
My ears pricked up as I heard heavy footfalls across two corridors.
I took a sharp right turn, spinning on my heel, the baggy orange jumpsuit flapping noisily as I ran.
"Jeez, what were they thinking?!" The voice in my head muttered, observing the garish garment.
I quelled my 'inner Fashion Police' and focused on the task ahead.
This was no time to get distracted. Besides, when had I been so focused on clothes…?!
I saw a discarded mop and an overturned bucket just ahead, a silver-blue fluid spilling out across the hallway. I sped up and leapt over the abandoned items, clearing them in a single bound.
Bending my knees slightly as I landed, I immediately continued running…
"All these corridors look the same!" I found myself thinking, turning down yet another bland grey corridor…
"They REALLY need to get an Interior Decorator in here… Put some colour in to spice it up!" The voice mused.
"Great. Just great. I'm going insane." I thought, turning down yet another seemingly endless corridor that looked identical to the last.
"Nah, not quite insane."
"I'm talking to myself. That's usually No.1 on the 'Are They Going Ever-So-Slightly Bonkers?' list."
"Let me clarify. You were ALREADY insane when I showed up."
I groaned. I was having a fully-fledged conversation with a disembodied voice inside my head. Fun times.
"Hah, just kidding. You are pretty wacked-out though. You've got MAGIC!"
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" I snapped, looking frantically up and down the corridors as I came to a crossroads.
"Hilarious… Not. Might want to make a few more lefts."
I grimaced in frustration, but took the voice's advice as, really, it couldn't hurt at this point.
"So if I'm not going insane, you must be some kind of entity living in the back of my mind?"
"Ding Ding Ding! Winner, winner, chicken dinner!…"
I could practically see the grin plastered across their features.
But where had I heard that phrase before…?
"Okay, okay. So who ARE you, anyway?" I said as I made another left, the clamour of the other prisoners growing louder as I neared them.
Huh. Taking the advice was paying off.
"I'm just a… friend. I've been hanging around in the back of your head for a while, making comments, helping you out… We know each other well. For example, the answer to your question earlier is 'Water'."
" 'Scuse me?"
"Water. Water Elemental Type."
"Type? I'm not a Pokémon!"
"Eh. Whatever. Just… Do you remember me now? Seriously, we go wayyyy back."
I frowned and scrunched up my nose, trying to remember.
Flashes of memories, mental exchanges… But a name…
"Cophie." I blurted, aloud.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Short for Coppélia."
"Yeah, you got it!" She cheered. Then her grin faded. "Don't call me Coppélia though."
"I also happen to remember you 'shipping' me with just about EVERYONE I ever met, a lot of sarcastic commentary, and more perkiness than humanly possible…"
"Well…"
"Mmm hmm…"
I sighed.
"Where to now, then, 'Coph'?"
I found that I could almost… See… See her interacting with various items and rooms inside my mind… Weird, but kinda cool.
"ONWARDS!"
"Well, that's helpful."
"Err… MAKE A LEFT!"
"You're dreadfully fond of your lefts aren't you?"
"Whatever. Seriously, what happened to make you such an eloquent speaker?"
"I don't know! Personally, I don't think I've been speaking that poshly! And what's wrong with that?!"
"Tell that to your accent! What are you- raised by the Queen?" She smirked.
She airily brushed aside my question, exclaiming, "Ohhh… It's that thing where you adopt the… The…" She clicked her fingers, trying to remember.
"Mannerisms?" I offered, having a vague idea of where this was going.
Cophie chuckled.
"How on earth did you know? Yes, so 'mannerisms' of a character from a book you're reading… Isn't it?"
"Probably. And you are in my head…"
"WATCH OUT FOR THAT WALL!"
'Wha-"
I slammed into the stone wall, letting out a small moan.
"Thanks for the warning…" I complained, peeling myself off.
Of all the walls, it had to be one of the stone ones…
"Agh! What am I doing, wasting time like this?!" I muttered, my 'friends' coming to mind. My heart gave a painful twinge as I thought of them in THEIR clutches…
"They're fine. Trust me! It's you I'D worry about. Speaking of which, DUCK!"
I dove to the floor to see a sparking bolt of electricity soar through the airspace where my head had just been…
"RUN, FRICKIN' RUN!"
"I NEVER WOULD'VE THOUGHT OF THAT! THANKS!" I yelled sarcastically.
I high-tailed it down the next three corridors, mind racing and heart thumping… This was either going to end really well, or I was screwed.
Going by my recent luck, I was 99.9% sure it was going to be the latter.
"COPHIE! HURRY UP WITH THOSE DIRECTIONS!"
"WORKING ON IT!"
"YOU'RE NOT THE ONE RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE!"
"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO RUNS QUADRUPLE-MARATHONS FOR FUN!"
"USED TO! USED TO!"
"WELL GET USED TO RUNNING PRETTY QUICKLY OR ELSE YOU'RE DEAD!"
"THANKS! NOT!"
"Okay, okay… LEFT!"
"I swear you're making this up now…"
"Nope! Three more lefts then two rights, then straight ahead for two corridors, then two lefts!"
"I really hope you know what you're talking about…"
/ TWENTY MINUTES LATER /
I was panting furiously, beads of sweat running down my forehead…
"How… Many… More… Corridors…?" I wheezed, slowing to a jog.
"STOP!"
"Oh thank God…" I said, collapsing to my knees, gasping for breath.
I looked up and my heart dropped into my boots, the smile wiped from my face.
"Cophie."
"What?"
"WE'RE AT THE WRONG PLACE!"
"I told you, they're fine."
"Figured that out from all the HUMAN SCREAMING, EH?"
"Trust me! Anyway, you can't escape in THAT."
She eyed the orange jumpsuit disapprovingly, opening and closing a red hand-fan with gentle flicks of her wrist.
"You are such a…"
"Come on! No time to catch your breath!"
I groaned and rose to my feet until I was leaning against the open arch for balance, swaying slightly on my feet.
It was the lockers where they held the prisoner's items…
I sighed. Perhaps Cophie had a point… I would need my stuff back in order to get everyone out safely…
I looked both ways before sneaking into the room.
Inside was thousands of labelled red crates, stacked in dizzying high piles...
This was going to take a while.
Stealing back my clothes, messenger bag, rucksack, bandana, and boots proved difficult but worthwhile. I kitted up manually, once again cursing my depleted magic (so much more efficient to change with a snap of your fingers and a spark of magic)...
I cast a quick eye over the contents of the bags; all of my things seemed to be there...
I would've liked to have gone through all the hidden compartments, but I really didn't have time.
Grabbing what I hoped were some clothes that may fit my friends, including several turtle necks, long cargo pants, and a variety of layers, I shoved the messy mountain into my small rucksack. I felt a small smile tugging at my lips as I remembered my friends' faces as I managed to fit a small house in there, years ago.
Shaking myself out of my reverie, I quickly zipped up the sides of the bag.
I'd been just about to run for the dungeons when a notepad and pen, shoved on the highest shelf, caught my eye… I reasoned that a notepad could come in handy- tinder for a fire, leaving notes, writing important things down…
Throwing a discarded shoe at the corner of the pad, I managed to get it to topple off the edge.
The pen soon followed, rolling off easily without something stopping it.
I caught both, shoving them in my bag without a second thought and taking off into a run.
Running down the grey corridor I passed cell after cell, all filled with rowdy prisoners, yelling at me to "GET A MOVE ON!"
It seemed they weren't the only ones waiting for a spark of rebellion however, as the second I turned the next corner, I ran straight into a muscled guard and 250 volts of electricity.
I was out before I hit the floor.
HIM
/ A Week Later /
The talk was finally beginning to die about the escape attempt...
From the snatches of gossip I overheard, no one had managed to escape this prison before. Since no one had tried in so long, security had gradually become lax... At least, that was how everyone explained it- the almost-escapee had got further than anyone else before, and without magic to boot.
I had craned my neck to try and catch a glimpse, a glimpse to confirm my theories, but my view was blocked by shaking fists and my hearing obstructed by the cheers and the threats echoing down the corridors...
It would've been the best time to escape, to run whilst the majority of their forces were going after her, perhaps distract a few to heighten her chances of escape...
Or at least I was pretty sure it was a 'her'. I was almost certain that the escapee was the mysterious Guardian, AKA the beat-up youth dragged past my cell... It was about three weeks ago now. That made it six weeks, two days since that fateful day when I was... Since... No. That didn't matter...
But I couldn't help but think about it.
It felt like a century, perhaps a millennium since I had seen the sun rise above the small, hick town of Gravity Falls... Since I'd seen Fiddleford... Since...
Damn it, Stanford! Keep it together!...
I rose to my feet, hands clenched into fists, glaring out of the bars.
FIGHT IT. Fight the memories.
The past doesn't matter now.
Only the present, the future…
But I couldn't keep my past out of my mind.
I'd never been able to…
I had to carve my own path, the hard path through life, thanks to... Thanks to HIM, that useless wretch I call a brother...
At least that's how Pa always saw it.
I... I honestly... No. No. This is ridiculous. He is a good-for-nothing simpleton and I know it. They all knew it.
But I had always refused to believe it.
And now I saw. I realised.
And it hurt more than anything these awful 'Villains' could devise.
So I would break out. I would think, plot, plan, and scheme... Escape because that would keep my mind busy, prevent this sentimental sap from clogging up my mind.
Because it hurt to think of him.
I would escape tomorrow night.
HER
I woke up in a new cell, slightly dazed.
I knew my name, I knew I'd been trying to rescue my friends, I remembered an icy, dark, coldness, then my escape… But that was it.
"Dammit." I said. The memories still hadn't returned.
My rucksack and messenger bag had been left at the foot of a rickety oaken bunk bed…
My eyes widened.
This cell was one heck of a step up from the last.
The cell was at least- and quite suspiciously- twice the size of my last one.
There were two bunk beds- the one on the right-hand side with my bags and another, stood on the left-hand side of the room… They even had the tiny little barred windows at their heads, all bathed in the dim, flickering glow of the broken lightbulb... Clearly they hadn't splashed out as much on the light enchantments as they did on the security...
I shivered as a sudden breeze came through the windows...
The heating charms could do with some work too.
Still sprawled on the floor, I sat up and squinted out of the window into the gloom. It was the dead of night, a week since my attempted escape judging by the position and phase of the arctic moon... Then again, this was a foreign dimension, on a foreign planet, in a foreign universe and the moon cycle could be shades different from Earth's...
I would assume it was similar to... To my homeland's though, as I could see the brief outline of Skei's Trident in the sky, and the edge of Pulo's Boarskin...
How was that even possible...?
I shook my head.
It must be an illusion, a trick albeit a simple one... We couldn't possibly be in dimension N26-8*6 Alpha…
No, we couldn't be.
Not that I wouldn't give up all the stars in Earth's skies for just one from my native dimension.
I directed my attention back to my surroundings.
These concrete walls were also covered in scrawled messages; the rambles of the insane, tallies of the days spent here, last goodbyes, codes, warnings. All holding their own stories, their own secrets..
I turned, noticing a standing mirror covered in thousands of tiny cracks leant against the wall.
Walking over, I traced the outline of my jaw in the reflection.
"Eighteen biologically… Due to…" I struggled to remember.
A small voice whispered in my ear, "It was back when you fell from the sky…"
I jumped, and looked furtively around me.
My gaze travelled from the walls to the floor, to the bunks, the windows, the vents, and then the slate-grey door leading to the bathroom.
No-one but me.
I looked back into the mirror.
"Real age- 35,583 years old!" The disembodied voice claimed.
I sighed.
"Cophie."
"Bang on the nail!"
"You just had to try and be all mysterious didn't you? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"You're not 203,092 yet!" She snickered. "Anyway, I needed to get your attention! Your memories are acting weird… They're very skittish and faded…"
"Might be because I can't remember a thing?"
Something caught my eye, fluttering in the corner of my vision… A note was taped to the bathroom door.
I walked over and ripped it off, holding it up close; being short-sighted and unable to use magic was a pain… I grimaced and my gaze traveled to my hands; unable to use most magic, that is.
Squinting at the note, I read, "Your friends are fine… At least we assume that was what prompted you to attempt to escape your cell like that? Rather foolish in hindsight…
Don't act without caution again, Guardian, unless you want to earn them a spell in our dungeons…"
I sighed in relief, but was immediately hit by a wash of guilt; my friends were fine, but that meant someone else had been down there… Human, fragile.
I brushed aside these mixed feelings; my friends were okay and that was all that mattered.
I turned away to look back into the mirror.
I was dressed in a fern-green, stretchy top, with cut off shoulders and long sleeves; a pair of beige cargo pants, a pair of kick-ass combat boots, and a strange bandana-neck thing…
"A snood." Cophie supplied.
Behind me in the reflection- as per usual (when I am aware of her presence)- was a certain smirking Cophie, leaning on my shoulder.
Her cropped brown locks were tipped with bubble-gum pink highlights, hanging loose over her shoulders, complementing her pale blue shirt and navy jacket, the latter tied loosely around her waist.
A pair of faded blue jeans hugged her thighs and a swanky pair of black pleather ankle boots clothed her feet.
"Look who's all dressed up…!" I said, raising an eyebrow at the glittery eyeshadow.
Cophie smirked, making bunny ear gestures behind my head.
"Just 'cause you can't isn't a reason to mock my fabulousness."
"Okay, Mettaton!"
"I woke up like this, darling!"
We cracked up, our laughter contrasting sharply with the gloom of the place… My laughter at least.
Nobody ever heard hers.
Cophie never failed to bring a smile to my face... It was a shame she wasn't really here… If she wasn't just an entity living in my mind…
Well, we might've been best friends or something. She was like a sister to me, annoying at times, but we cared about each other, really.
I sighed and turned away.
Shaking my head, I reached out and seized the bronze door knob.
It was time to get back to my current task- inspecting the heck out of this cell.
On peeking into the bathroom, I realised with a tinge of disappointment that the bathroom was just as dingy as the last; limescale was spread across the tiles, mould clung to the ceiling, a flickering bulb gave very little light at all, the shower valve seemed to have been glued to cold.
I sighed, but retreated back into the main cell.
Of course it COULD have been a lot worse. It wasn't that I was complaining exactly… (Well I was) It just seemed rather suspicious. I broke out of my old cell, got caught, got re-located to a bigger cell with more furnishings and space?
"Perhaps," I mused, as I began my hunt for bugs, "Since I have seen that part of the prison, they don't want me there in case I escape again…"
I trailed off as her brain once again provided me with the more likely scenario; I was going to have a cell mate.
"It wouldn't be so bad," I reasoned aloud, "Someone to talk to, other than myself."
"And me!" Cophie added.
"You don't count." I told her.
She glowered at me but went quiet. She rolled her eyes and got out her laptop, purposefully turning the screen away from me so I couldn't see.
Cophie was always there, had always been there... Well, for quite a few centuries at least.
I felt guilty, but knew she'd just brush it off and bounce back as she always did.
It would be nice to have someone to talk to. Besides, how bad could it be…? Honestly, it was a Villains' prison! The prisoners would probably all be potential allies! Probably why I hadn't been allowed out of her cell to go to the canteen and whatnot.
But then again… 'The Villains' aren't exclusively enemies with good guys…
Slowly dread began to fill me and my mind flooded with all the possibilities. My heart began to hammer as the profiles flickered on and off in my mind.
Noticing the signs, I took a few deep breaths and counted down from ten.
I closed off my mind, letting myself be lost to my task...
I couldn't help but think though, think of all the dumbass things I must've done to get myself into this situation... Hazy memories, solitary confinement, organised gangs baying for my blood...
I frowned.
Gangs? Where had that come from?
Then I sighed. Right. The so-called 'Villains'...
-–-
Sweeping the room had resulted in a find of sixty-three bugs; I managed to smash them all by lifting the leg of one bunk bed and slamming it down on the tiny pieces of machinery... It was a waste, really. If I'd had my fine-tools on me, or perhaps enough magic to perform such a delicate task, perhaps I would've attempted to deconstruct them and rebuild them for my own uses... But no. My bags had been raided, all useful items confiscated.
I scowled.
I'd even gone through all the hidden compartments, unscrewing the pen ends looking for the concealed blades; twisting knobs and sliding panels, half-hoping that the blade will spring from its hidden cavity but disappointed as only a handle slides forth; slitting open 'ink capsules', scowling as I realised they had been emptied of the pre-prepared tranquilliser...
They'd really learned from the first time.
I couldn't help but smirk at the memory, an expression which soon faded as I realised the gravity of the situation I was in.
This was serious- deadly serious.
"Eh, we've survived worse you drama queen!"
"COPHIE WE COULD DIE HERE!"
HIM
I was almost ready. Just two hours, two precious hours and everything would fall into place, like a magician's painstakingly planned trick…
Finally I would be free from this cold, dark place, this limiting square of insanity.
Solitary confinement broke people stronger than me. This I knew.
Some things picked up from a book or two, a few statistics, some simple facts.
One thing I knew for sure- unless I got company in the next few days, I would start showing symptoms- paranoia, anxiety, irrational behaviour...
ArE yOu SuRe yoU DoN't eXpeRiEncE thEm aLreAdy?
A rasping chuckle echoed in the darkness.
I froze, but shook off the strange thoughts circulating my brain.
That was madness.
Just paranoia.
I was alone…
Wasn't I?
HER
With every passing moment, a new memory of them resurfaced...
I re-lived my journey with them, the crazy scrapes we got ourselves into, the insane adventures and quests...
But that was a whole other world…
I sighed and turned over to face the wall.
Maybe it was hopeless…
I lay there, lost in my thoughts, trying to drown out Cophie's nattering.
My eyes began to itch, then close…
No-one, nothing, could put off sleep forever.
Not even a Guardian.
Not even fear itself.
HIM
"Now's your chance." I thought, looking furtively up and down the corridor.
Worries and doubts rushed through my mind but I shut them all out.
If I was ever going to do it, it had to be now.
The guard turned the corner and walked right up to the bars, sneering.
"Guess what? Yo-"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence before I clumsily clobbered him on the head.
"Run." Was the first thought to come to my mind as I stared at the unconscious man, before breaking into a sprint down the hallway.
HER
I stirred.
Clanging warning bells, shouts, yelling, screeching alarms.
Abruptly I sat up, hitting my head on the top bunk.
With a groan I cautiously sat up, rubbing my head.
"What the?"
A troop of those idiots, the goons in green ran past my cell wielding large batons, sparks of electricity flying forth.
Sighing, I got up and walked over for a closer look.
Peering down the corridor, I attempted to make out the blurry figures in the distance but to no avail; being short-sighted sucked. The most I could tell was which one was the escapee- I could see the fuzzy outline of a flapping coat as the blurry figure moved.
HIM
My breaths came in short gasps and my muscles ached from overuse after neglecting physical activity for such a long period of time...
I stared around me wildly, eyes wide... I must look a sight.
I really didn't think this through enough.
My fear, my desperation, had spurred me into an early start, an insurmountable situation.
I was surrounded from all sides, surrounded by overbearingly muscled guards.
I awkwardly shuffled my feet into what I hoped resembled a fighting stance and assessed the situation once again.
This had a VERY low success rate… Ridiculously low. FATALLY low.
Oh what I would've done to have had my foolish and ever-so-brave brother by my side right now...
That numbskull was always better at the physical things than me, won all his matches without fail... I had withdrawn from the boxing club, pursuing a different kind of knowledge...
"Oh dear, dear, God, if you are up there, PLEASE help me now..." I prayed, despite abandoning all religious beliefs years prior to this whole mess; I was fully prepared to pray to whatever deity I could if it would help me now...
Apart from one 'deity', that is...
I scowled involuntarily, lost in thought.
This was a mistake.
They closed in as I let my guard down…
I snapped back and I raised my fists, clumsily shielding my face.
After realising I was barely a threat to them, they began jeering each other in a tongue foreign to my own, clearly entertaining the thought of some fun…
A giant, burly one, double my height and skin darker than the blackest night, dotted with enormous orange spots stepped forwards, throwing his weapon behind him.
The others did the same, each so differently coloured... If I had my Journal perhaps I would document the strange anomalies of their bodily structures, the varying skin tones from sunset orange to navy blue to toxic green...
Extraordinary, but not exactly helping.
I shook myself out of my thoughts, frantically summoning every scrap of knowledge concerning combat that I had ever gained... I was going to need it all...
HER
I muttered curses under my breath- with all the shouting I could barely concentrate on the sound, the sounds of a struggle, let alone the actual figures themselves.
I jumped at every gunshot, cringed at the cries of pain.
Clearly the escaped prisoner was not practised in combat, only clear in the basic theory of it, judging by his poor stance and weak attempts at attack and defence...
Suddenly there was a sickening *CRACK* and I couldn't help but wince; broken bones were no trifling matter.
Silently, I prayed that perhaps, maybe just this once, Fate would truly smile on me...
No, I daren't even think of it.
Entertaining such foolish hopes after 21 centuries would get me nowhere good and nowhere fast.
Moments later, as if to confirm this, I heard brief shouts of, "He's been contained!" and a loud groan.
I sighed and turned away, contemplating staring moodily out of the window at the snow-crowned peaks... Even if they were just an illusion.
The robotic voice announced over the crackling speakers, "Prisoner 616 contained. Repeat. Prisoner 616 contained. Return to your stations."
I heard loud groans and shuffling footsteps... A few light ones thrown in, clearly the more rebellious of the guards sneaking off to catch a break...
Security had grown lax. The guards from this place in the year Beta 600 would never have dared to step out of formation, let alone engage with a prisoner in a fight or leave whilst on duty...
The recruitment policies had relaxed too. A few hundred years ago, there would've only been the strongest and the fittest employed to guard the most feared enemies of 'The Villains'…
L- That's me, by the way.
F- Don't you think they've gathered that by now? Besides, you're neglecting the more important parts of this story...
L- You come in soon! Be patient!
C- Says you! *Smirks*
"AGAINST THE WALL, GUARDIAN!"
I jumped, startled.
In my momentary lapse of concentration, I had failed to notice them walk up to my cell.
A blue-uniformed guard (clearly high ranked from the uniform colour and the many stars pinned to his front) was standing at the cell door, dragging behind him a young human male by his coat collar.
Slowly and cautiously, as not to cause alarm, I complied, raising my hands in the air...
I grimaced at the loud grating noise of the cell door being opened; it sounded like a cat's claws being raked down a chalkboard.
My ears twitched as I heard the guard dump the human in the cell, followed by the grating, heavy retreating footsteps, and finally, silence.
I turned and stared at the disheveled man groaning on the floor, weighing up my options.
Eventually I strode over and held out my hand.
"Hey, I'm Lilly" I said.
He turned over to face me and stared at my outstretched hand with wild eyes, as if expecting it to explode. After a minute or so of him staring, I arched an eyebrow.
Reluctantly, he reached out and accepted the help.
With a grunt, I managed to pull him to his feet- boy, he was heavy.
He grimaced in pain, but, after a quick check of his aura, I determined that nothing was broken, only strained from sudden overuse...
He must've gotten a lucky shot in... I hope he socked that smarmy blond one right in the nose; that bloodsucker has been getting on my nerves for too damn long.
A/N:
Okay, I swear this is the LAST TIME I change these chapters...
At least for 6 months.
Probably.
Please review!