"…There sure are a lot of bones here…"
"…We can see that, Ben…I think ANYONE who isn't BLIND can see that…"
"…No need to get snippy, Rose…"
SMACK!!!!!
"OW!!!!!!!!!!!!"
As this exchange went on, Joss looked at their surroundings.
It looked like a medieval dungeon of some sort, with damp bricks and bones scattered across the floor.
Red stained the walls and ceiling, and Joss flinched back.
"Ew…"
"What?" Violet asked.
"…That's blood…EVERYWHERE…"
"…Ew…"
Mikey and Raph looked around more calmly as Elisa moved to an exit, looking out.
She signaled for them to follow, and the others did so.
They looked out at a large cylindrical room that was two floors high, them on the second, with a stone operation-like table in the center on the floor.
On said table, poor Jazz was strapped down with chains, crying as she struggled to free herself.
Joss tensed when she saw her father, uncle, aunt, cousin, and grandfather chained to the walls.
Then a robed figure moved across the floor, pulling off its hood.
It looked like a scaly dog's head, tufts of fur around the neck, and gnarled claws retracting like a cat's.
He held a long, slender blade, and Elisa moved closer to the edge.
"It's time to begin…"
He raised the blade, cutting Jazz's arm slightly, and used the blood that caught in the grooves in the metal to start drawing strange designs on the brick floor.
Raph moved forward, looking over the edge, and saw the blood markings already around Don, who had a cut on his arm.
When chanting filled the damp air, Jazz seemed to go into a seizure, as if she was holding something in…
"Get AWAY from my family!!"
A naginata blade nearly decapitated the strange creature, who paused briefly in his chanting, giving the poor seven year old a chance to catch her breath.
Violet jumped down, and struggled to break the bonds on her younger cousin.
Rose tried to help, feeling tears in her eyes as her cousin convulsed again.
Joss grabbed a spear from the walls as the three adults fought the wizard.
"Ben, go and free grandpa and Aunt Rach with this!"
Ben nodded, catching the spear.
After grabbing an ax, Joss limped towards her father and cousin.
"Dad? Dad?!"
His eyes opened slightly, and they widened in confusion.
"J-Joss?"
The ax swung, freeing his arm from its bonds.
"Are you okay?" She asked once he was free, looking worried.
"I'll be fine…get your cousin down…"
She nodded, wincing when she put too much weight on her injured leg.
"All right…"
She swung the ax, freeing Theo easily, and dropped the ax in favor of gripping her shin.
"Joss?" Leo asked worriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Just a scratch…it's nothing…" She assured, gritting her teeth as she stood up.
"JOSS!!!!!!"
She whipped around.
"BEN!!!!!"
For the first time in her life, she saw Mikey angry…and she prayed she'd never see it again…
"Don't you DARE hurt my son!!"
Nunchuks threatened to crush bone as Ben jumped away from the fight, his stomach bleeding.
The long blade glowed, and a wave of energy smashed into everyone, sending them into the walls.
"…Ow…"
Violet scrambled to her feet, running towards Jazz.
"Hold on! Don't give in, Jazz!"
She glared at the metal, when it started to melt under her palms.
'Whoa…weird…'
Her chakra was so hot…it was burning through the metal…
"Come on, Jazz. Time to get off the soul-stealing operating table…"
A sword swung at her, and she ducked just in time, kicking out.
"I won't let you steal her!"
"You have no choice in the matter…"
A dark chuckle.
"Once I kill him, the ritual will be a success…"
Her eyes widened, when she saw Joss already at her uncle's side, swinging the ax in order to free him.
Elisa was there, and caught the purple-banded turtle as he fell free.
Joss saw the blade coming before the others, and everyone was too out of it to dodge…
The blade cut through the air, and blood flew from a newly opened wound…
"JOSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!"