Wow, has it really been a week? Time passes so quickly . . .
Too lazy to remember if I had anything to tell you besides that I sort of liked the way this came out. Don't know.
Thanks to gamer girl247, Cupcake-Ninja-Platypus, BJXCBFOREVER, and CherryCreamSauce for the reviews :)
Disclaimer: Don't own, of course. If you wanted to get me an early birthday present, however, I certainly wouldn't object. *Hint, hint*
6. Torture (035)
"Not going to talk, hm?" Their kidnapper asks, a tinge of sadistic joy wrapped into his voice. When neither answers, he calls: "Oh, boys!" Anti-Cosmo can hear a door open, footsteps, a door closing, and then . . . silence. The covers are removed from his and Anti-Wanda's heads, and he glances around quickly. He cannot see his wand, but can feel its presence coming from somewhere near the drawer to his right. He can also feel Anti-Wanda's eyes on him, and he turns his head to her and gives her what he hopes is a reassuring look.
"What is it you want from us, particularly?" He asks, feeling bold enough to let himself sound annoyed instead of frightened (which he would never admit to, not even to himself. Anti-Cosmo Cosma is scared of nothing).
The men laugh a little, and the lead one replies nonchalantly. "Just the combination to your safe," he smirks.
Anti-Cosmo raises a brow. "Which one? I have more than one safe, you know."
"Which one, he says. The one containing your money of course!" He says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Which to him, it might be. What an idiot; doesn't he know there are better things in my castle besides money?
The leader of the anti-fairies narrows his eyes. "And why in the blazes would I tell you the combination?" He asks, mildly confused.
It doesn't make sense; the way the corner of the kidnapper's mouth twitches upwards, his high-pitched whistle, the way he looks at Anti-Cosmo as if he knows exactly how to break him.
None of it makes sense until he sees the bathtub.
His eyes widen instantly, then flick to Anti-Wanda who is oblivious to the implications a bathtub brings and back to the ringleader of the kidnappers.
"It is going to take a little more than some water to get me to tell you the combination," he lies smoothly, through his teeth as only he can do. Only Anti-Wanda will be able to pick up the slight tremor in his voice.
"In that case, we'll start with you anyway," comes the annoyed reply. The two men who brought the bathtub walk over to Anti-Wanda, and, ignoring her small whimper of protest, pick her up by the arms.
They lead her over to the bathtub, and a half worried, half confused Anti-Cosmo asks: "I do believe you said that you were starting with me?"
The man smiles, revealing crooked yellow teeth, and walks to stand right in front of Anti-Cosmo. "We are."
He barely gets a moment to think before Anti-Wanda is shoved under, letting a loud shriek escape her lips.
"Anti-Wanda! Stop! Let her go!" Anti-Cosmo yells, attempting to slide his hands free from their bonds.
The kidnappers' leader keeps his back turned to Anti-Wanda, and continues to talk in such a way that one might think he was speaking about a particularly nice piece of lamb he had for dinner that night before: "You see, dear Anti-Cosmo, everyone's weaknesses are with the ones they love. So we take that, and . . . well, see how long they last when someone they care about is shoved underwater repeatedly and without mercy."
"You'll drown her!" Anti-Cosmo continues to yell, ignoring the leader.
"Do you want us to stop?" The man asks softly, though there is nothing gentle about his voice.
Fleetingly, Anti-Cosmo thinks about being sarcastic. "Yes!"
"Then tell us the combination." He says, nonchalantly pulling a cigarette from his pocket.
Anti-Cosmo's voice is dangerously low when he replies. "Take her out. Now." He growls, feeling tense.
"Tell us the combination."
It's been close to a minute, and Anti-Cosmo knows that Anti-Wanda's struggles are getting weaker by the second. "Take her out, and I'll tell you the combination."
The man frowns for a second, (which feels like an eternity to Anti-Cosmo) but then snaps his fingers twice, and Anti-Wanda is lifted from the tub, gasping. The men set her back on the floor, behind the bathtub.
"What's the combo?" He asks gruffly, staring daggers at the anti-fairies' leader.
Anti-Cosmo hesitates for a moment, and thinks about giving false numbers. "Twenty-four," he finally splutters out. "Twenty-four, eighty-two, five. That's the combination."
The three kidnappers glance at each other, and shrug. "That's good enough for me. C'mon boys, we got ourselves a safe to break open!" Then, because they aren't very smart, they poof from the room, and leave Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda alone.
"Anti-Wanda?" He calls softly to the quiet whimpers coming from behind the bathtub. He begins to sort of crawl his way over to her, worried about what he might find.
When he gets to the bathtub, he crawls his way over to his wife, who is curled into a tiny ball, trembling.
Anti-Cosmo's heart clenches at the sight, and he places a hand on her back. She flinches, and he feels bad, but then he scoops her up because he just can't stand to watch her lay on the cold floor, and it's just not fair that she had to suffer for him when it should be the other way around because he's always been the stronger one, and he just can't take the look on her face because it makes him feel so very guilty that she's getting hurt because of him.
She curls into his chest, and clings to his jacket. He places a hand behind her head, and begins to rub her soaked hair soothingly. "Shhhh," he whispers, slowly untangling the blue strands. "You're alright. I'm here now; you're alright."
After a few minutes, she loosens her vice-like grip on his jacket, and looks up at him with shiny eyes. "Ya shouldn'ta told 'im the combin- combin- thing." She mumbles, setting her head back on his chest.
"I wasn't going to let them hurt you, if that's what you're suggesting." He argues gently.
"Ya still shouldn'ta done it!" She says, and he grabs her face in his hands and tilts her chin up with a finger.
"Listen to me, Anti-Wanda. I don't care that they have the code to my safe, no matter how much money may be inside. You are much more important than money. Or world domination, for that matter. Money I can make back, or if it comes to it I'm sure I can find more . . . creative ways to earn. You, however, are priceless and irreplaceable." He lets his lips pass over hers for a moment, inhaling her comforting scent.
He stands, holding her bridal-style, and walks over to the drawer containing his wand. He tugs on it once. Locked. Damn it.
At that very moment, the three stooges (as Anti-Cosmo has decided to name them) poof back into the room, each sporting an angry scowl.
"You gave us the wrong combo!" The leader yells, annoyed. "And how did you get out of your restraints?"
Anti-Cosmo smirks despite the fact that he doesn't have anything to defend him or his wife if the kidnappers attack. "You really need to work on your knot-tying skills." He gently sets Anti-Wanda down, and holds her in place behind him.
For a moment, both parties stare at each other, each expecting the other to make the first move. Then the kidnappers' leader glances behind him. "What are you waiting for? Go get them!"
The kidnappers may have numbers, but they aren't fuelled by anything near as powerful as the anger Anti-Cosmo is. He tries to deal with them in the most non-lethal way he can for Anti-Wanda's sake, (because if her eyes weren't watching he wouldn't hesitate to tear them limb from limb; very, very slowly) but he cannot help himself from inflicting pain, and lots of it.
When the two thugs lay on the ground, unconscious, only then does their leader realise the deep hole he's dug for himself. He smiles nervously at the furious male across from him, and begins to quietly search for some way to get out of there. Unfortunately for him, his wand isn't anywhere near him. "So, uh, how're your plans for the next Friday the 13th coming along? Heh, uh," he slowly begins to back away.
Anti-Cosmo whips out his wand, and immediately turns him into a cockroach. One he enjoys grinding into the cold stone floor, hearing the satisfying crackles of its shell breaking.
Suddenly, just as he's about to turn back to Anti-Wanda and poof the two of them home, the ground begins to shake beneath him. "What the devil?" He whips around.
He's turned in time to see the earth spilt open, separating him and his wife from each other. He calls to her, but his voice is lost among the raging rumbles of the earth.
He cannot fathom why this sudden earthquake has happened, nevermind process the fact that the ground has spilt again, this time beneath Anti-Wanda's feet.
He is powerless to do anything but watch as she loses her footing and tumbles into the black abyss below.
He jolts upright in bed, panting, brow slick with sweat. It takes a moment, but he realises that it was all a dream. A terrible, horrifying nightmare. He glances to his left just to check: yes, she's still there. Still asleep, completely unaware of her spouse's distress.
After a minute or two, his breath is finally steady. He lays back down and attempts sleep, but something isn't right. He turns over. No, still not right. Maybe he if lies on his back? Hm, no. What if . . .?
He carefully wraps his arms around Anti-Wanda's torso, rests his head on her shoulder, and immediately feels comforted. Yes, this is much, much better.
He closes his eyes once more, and sleep finally surrounds him, sending him peaceful dreams of ruling more than just the anti-fairies and their world.
In every dream, she never leaves his side for more than a minute.
(1704 words) Don't even ask where this came from.
Okay, so there were a few hints that something wasn't quite right in there (besides AC and AW getting captured, because I'm sure that mastermind has more than a few booby-traps set up ;) )
1. Hand bonds came off inexplicably.
2. Said he was a man but he has a wand (okay, that was kind of a cheap shot, I admit).
3. Wand was in a locked drawer.
4. Anti-Wanda has wings, she could've floated above the crack.
Yep, lazy today, so I'll just ask kindly for reviews because I love them. Y'know. Make my day and all that stuff.