Genie here. I'm still writing this? I'm still writing this. I know it's been forever since I updated, but I swear I'm going to finish this eventually. Will try to update more regularly from here on out. If anyone is still reading, it would be great to hear from you (i.e. review, or feel free to drop me a PM!).
Scuzz threw the clubhouse door open using every ounce of strength in his body, the resulting crash reverberating throughout the room. Amy followed him, compliant but resolute, clutching the limp form of Rei to her chest. He was alive but still unconscious, and as Amy held him close, feeling the feeble but unwavering beat of his heart near her own, she couldn't help but imagine what it would have been like to feel that heartbeat every day of his life. To nourish him as a baby, watch him grow from a child into the strong and steadfast hamster he was now. She could have been a mother to him. She would have been, if she'd known the fate that awaited him, or thought there was any chance she could have given him a life worth living.
Amy squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back tears. She wouldn't let Scuzz see her crying, not now. She needed to be strong. For Rei.
Once inside the clubhouse, Amy lowered Rei gently into the armchair in the corner of the room. Then she turned to Scuzz, who was pacing near the door. Amy's sudden appearance and her assertion that Rei was his son had thrown him off, unsettled him. Scuzz had lost some of his former self-certainty and smugness and was markedly disconcerted. But when he saw Amy's eyes on him, he snapped to attention, lunged toward her, grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and threw her against the wall.
"Why?" he demanded, fuming.
Amy cringed as a sudden shockwave of pain cascaded down her back, and only found her voice to respond after it had dissipated.
"Why what?" she threw back at him.
"Don't play games with me," Scuzz hissed. "Why didn't you do it? You could have ended this. You had a knife to my throat. So why the fuck didn't you just run it through?"
Amy hesitated. In truth, part of her wished she had killed him. He was right, after all; she could have ended this. And oh, it would have felt so good. To feel his flesh break, watch his blood spill - finally, retribution. Vengeance for Andre, for Rei, for Boss, for anyone and everyone the bastard had ever hurt.
Amy caught herself. She shouldn't be thinking such things. Revenge, she knew, was the last resort of those with nothing else to live for, those like Scuzz himself.
"Because I'm better than that," she finally growled, allowing herself a little smirk. Scuzz wasn't having it. His grip tightened and he leaned closer until Amy could feel his breath against her face, hot, wet, livid.
"Better?!" he snarled. "Too good to kill? And where does that get you? You spare my life only to put your own and everyone else's back in the line of fire. How is that better?"
Amy sucked in a deep breath, willing back the hatred that was rising up inside her. She was determined to remain rational and composed. If she could talk Scuzz down, maybe - maybe - they could strike a deal.
"It doesn't have to be that way, Scuzz," she started. "I let you live so that we could work this out. I'm sure we can - "
"Work it out?" Scuzz spat. He narrowed his eyes, giving Amy a disparaging glare before releasing his grip on her shoulders. With a mocking shrug, he turned to Ralph and repeated Amy's words a second time. "'Work it out', she says."
Ralph humored him with a derisive grunt.
"Work. It. Out," Scuzz repeated a third time, spitting the words as if each one left a foul taste on his tongue. He turned back to Amy. His rage had subsided, and the tone of his voice had shifted from savage to sardonic. "Let me tell you something, sweetheart," he snarled. "We're not working anything out. No compromises. No arrangements. I'm getting what I came here for."
"And you can have it," Amy replied.
Scuzz regarded her with a bemused stare, waiting for her explanation.
"You want to take what Boss loves most, right?" Amy closed her eyes briefly, sighed, and then directed her gaze back at Scuzz. "Scuzz, I saw it in his eyes. He still loves me."
Scuzz was silent a moment, considering Amy's assertion. Then his lips curled in a devilish grin.
"You want me to take you instead of Bijou."
"I'm saying that if what you really want is to hurt Boss - "
"I assume you'd be willing to die in her place, then?"
Amy paused and glanced in Rei's direction. More than ever before, she suddenly had so much to live for. But what else could she say?
"Yes," she sighed.
"Ha!" Scuzz threw his head back and let out a triumphant laugh, then regarded Amy with mock pity, shaking his head. "Amethyst, my little gem. That's your problem, isn't it? Your one real weakness. The one thing that kept you from being one of my CATS."
"I don't understand - "
"You're a strong woman, you know. You've proven you can best me in a fight. But you just care too much. That's why I'm still alive, isn't it? And that's why, if I wanted it, you'd be dead in a second."
"Caring isn't weakness," Amy retorted. "Love isn't weakness."
"Love is the ultimate weakness!" Scuzz spat back, and suddenly he was on top of her again, shoving her back against the wall. "The only way to survive in this world is without empathy, without compassion, without love. How do you think I got to be as powerful as I am? Without love. Without weakness."
Any had heard enough. Scuzz clearly wasn't about to accept her offer. She was done being rational and composed.
"I know your weakness," she asserted, grinning.
"Really?" Scuzz laughed, releasing her and crossing his arms in front of him. "Try me."
Without hesitation, Amy grabbed Scuzz by the shoulders and gave him a sharp, swift kick - right where it hurt the most.
Scuzz let out a gasp and doubled over in pain, crumpling to the floor. Mitch, who was leaning against the door with his arms crossed, let out an impulsive laugh, then bit his lip to staunch any further outbursts.
"What are you laughing about?" Scuzz demanded between pained gasps. "Get her! Lock her up, I don't care, just get her out of my sight!"
Amy had returned to Rei's side and was pulling him into her arms when Mitch grabbed her. She didn't resist as he dragged both of them toward Boss' room, but smiled broadly as she passed Scuzz, who was clambering awkwardly to his feet, still grimacing. He looked as though he wanted to rip her apart, but the pain prevented him from making any sudden moves. Instead, he called again to Mitch.
"Bring the prisoners out here," he commanded. "I have a message for Boss."
"Right away," Mitch replied. Ralph, Chez, and Rock had already removed the pile of furniture that had been used to barricade the door to Boss' room. Mitch pulled the door open and shoved Amy forward brusqely, then motioned to Hamtaro and Oxnard, who had been listening to Amy and Scuzz's conversation silently from within. Oxnard was shaking. Hamtaro was trying his best to look defiant, his shoulders heaving as he drew deep, stabilizing breaths.
"You two. Out. Now." Mitch pointed back toward Scuzz.
"You can't tell us what to do!" Hamtaro protested, but Oxnard was already slinking out the door past Mitch. Hamtaro glanced at Amy, recognizing her as an ally. She returned his gaze with a soft, apologetic expression, then shook her head, at a loss for any words that might help to explain or ease the situation.
Once Hamtaro and Oxnard were both on the other side, Mitch slammed the door behind them, then leaned back against it. Scuzz, recovered from the blow Amy had delivered, was surveying his prisoners, smirking.
"Been trying to escape, have we?" He was eyeing Hamtaro's right shoulder, where a bruise was forming after his repeated attempts to force the door open. Hamtaro instinctively raised his left paw to his shoulder, covering the darkening flesh.
"I don't know who you are," he stammered, locking eyes with Scuzz, "but you can't keep us here. You're not going to win. Boss will be coming back soon, and he - "
"Glad you brought that up," Scuzz interjected. "In fact, that's exactly what I'm hoping for, and exactly why I called you out here." He paused for a moment, glancing at Oxnard.
Oxnard noticed Scuzz's narrowed eyes pointing in his direction and looked away, still shaking. He was making a valiant effort to compose himself, but still no words came.
"You must be the strong, silent type, eh?" Scuzz smirked. "No, strong is probably a bit of an exaggeration, wouldn't you say, Chubs?"
"His name is Oxnard!" Hamtaro shouted. His paws were balled into fists, his shoulders still heaving with each breath he took.
"Gee, thanks, Red," Scuzz replied with mock sincerity. "I'll remember that later when I'm slitting his throat."
Oxnard yelped, the color draining from his face.
"No!" Hamtaro shouted, throwing himself in front of Oxnard, his arms raised to his sides in a protective stance. "I won't let you touch him!"
"Then listen closely," Scuzz hissed, leaning forward and grabbing Hamtaro by the fur of his chest. "Since you appear to be the more verbose of the two of you - not to mention you look like you can probably run faster - you've just secured the position of my personal messenger."
"What do you mean?"
"When I say 'go'," Scuzz sneered, "you're going to high-tail it out of here as fast as your paws can carry you, find Boss, and tell him this: if he's not back here by sundown tonight, with Bijou, heads will roll. Starting with his." With the paw that wasn't clutching a handful of Hamtaro's fur, Scuzz unsheathed his blade and jabbed it toward Oxnard for emphasis.
"Why Bijou?" Hamtaro pleaded. "What do you want with her?"
"No time for questions," Scuzz replied. "Now go!" With that, he released Hamtaro and shoved him in the direction of the clubhouse door.
"Hamtaro," Oxnard cried, turning to follow him, but Scuzz was quick to come between them.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm, not you," Scuzz reprimanded, raising his blade to Oxnard's throat. "You're my bargaining chip. You'll be staying right here."
"Hamtaro," Oxnard repeated, shrinking back from Scuzz and his blade. "Don't - you can't - "
Hamtaro looked back at him, his stomach in knots, searching for some way to allay the fear and desperation in Oxnard's eyes. Finding no words to ease the pain, he turned and, with tears streaming down his face, fled the clubhouse. His only thought, besides the lingering image of Oxnard's terrified expression as he left him behind, was of finding Boss.