Choice of Music: Vsya Moya Lubov - T.a.T.u; Gomenasai - T.a.T.u.

POSSIBLE MAJOR OOCNESS AHEAD! You has been warned.

Chapter 12 - Not The Heroic Type

Hazel eyes carefully watched the still beast, waiting for any sign of movement. Nothing happened; but the dark, soulless eyes kept glancing around. It looked like it was looking for a way out, or for something that it could use to escape from the deadly snares.

"It's intelligent," Jealousy stated monotnoneously. "It's figured out the kinks in my webs, and it's trying to find a way out. Stay near Vice, the others should be coming soon."

"Others?"

"The Evil Doujis and their Masters. Even the Good ones have noticed the ruckus."

Looking down, Vice's waist was still repairing itself, but the rest of his leg was nowhere to be found. 'Did it swallow his leg?' she pondered. Sudden realization of the moment dawned on her.

"Wait a minute, how come you were able to do something to it and Vice couldn't?" Kia questioned him. "That doesn't make sense."

"Two reasons," he spoke. "One, thanks to Tansen. He made me ingest something that would allow my power to increase a significant amount. Vice came here because he saw you, and he made me go to the Doctor to let him know what was happening. Two, Vice lost much of his power."

"He's weak? Why?"

"He stopped living with K not even 24 hours after you left. I'm not even sure if the pledge still exsists between them anymore. If so, it's weakened greatly since then."

"So," Kia mumbled, watching the unconscious Douji sleep, "it's my fault again." Vice's breathing had regulated again, but his eyes were still squinting with slight pain. Once in a while, his breath hitched as Kia imagined a nerve reconnecting. After that, he would resume his normal pattern.

"Where's his leg?" she asked, taking her eyes from him.

"About 3 feet from the creature."

Gently setting Vice back down, Kia stood. Staring at the beast, seeing it stare back. "I'm going to get it."

"Stay near Vice," the pink and blue Douji growled, warning her. "It would only act up again if you got close to it."

"Then keep an eye on it," she snapped. "If it attacks, it attacks." Taking a step forward, she began her walk towards the creature. Within a few steps, she passed Jealousy standing guard between them. "I'll be fine, Jeal," she whispered as she passed him.

The closer she got to it, the more it's stare intensified. No, not stare. More like a glare, more viscious and terrifying than anything she ever knew. Kia spotted the severed mechanical limb laying upon the ground, the strip of Vice's black hakama still around it.

Four feet. She only need to get a few more feet, grab the leg, and walk back. Nothing to it.

Kia took one more step, and Jealousy shouted "Freeze!" Her body obeyed, stilling itself like the placid stillness of a lake on a windless night. Hazel eyes meeting darkness. An intense staredown, one that she felt like would be the end of her if she looked away.

Taking another step, she willed herself not to blink or glance away, no matter how much her eyes hurt. Stand her ground, face it for now, even if it terrified her out of her mind.

Just a few more inches, reaching out to grab the limb. Kia moved as slowly as she could without stopping, not breaking the eye contact. And just like that, the dark eyes shifted away. She won the dominance stare.

Wrapping fingers around the leg, she silently picked it up and turned to walk away.

"Kia, run!" Jealousy shrieked, moving towards her. "It was a trap!"

After that, everything seemed to run in slow motion. Turning, Kia saw powerful jaws full of serated teeth extend around her, ready to snap her like a twig.

'Oh shit, this is it.' Fear overtaking her body, she raised her arms to her facing, knowing full well how useless that notion would be.

Nothing happened. Shaking, Kia dared to open one eye.

"Sup, runt?" she heard a gruff voice ask her. "Been a while since I saw ya, twerpette." Looking up, she could see the musclar build of the Pride Douji, Orgullo. He was leaning on his gauntlet, pressing the creature's face so hard into the cement that she could see cracks in the concrete.

Letting out a feral growl, the creature writhed underneath the Douji's grip, attempting to struggle out of its bonds. Placing both oh his gauntlets on the skull, Orgullo pushed down as hard as he could. There was a sickening crap from both the pavement and the bones, and it went limp.

"Don't be so mean now, Orgullo," a voice scolded him coolly. "It's Kia, of course. She always going to need help from us."

"Orgullo? Akira?"

"In the flesh," the prideful Douji spouted. "It ain't dead, but it's not moving."

"You took long enough," Jealousy mumbled, exhaling a sigh of relief. 'Vice would have killed us all if Kia was hurt', he continued in his mind.

"No, Palace and Mizho are still laging behind."

"When aren't they?"

"True."

Feeling a hand upon her shoulder, Kia looked up behind her to see a black wild-like afro and glasses. "Fussa?" she murmed, her statement sounding more like a question.

"Yes, Keys," the music producer said, using an old nickname for her. "Take Vice's leg to him, it will automatically start to reattach itself."

"You all don't seem like the type to go suddenly heroic," she said, her voice sounding small and weak. "But thank you. Thank you very much." Turning, Kia back towards the green Douji.

Fussa simply watched, a smirk on his face. "Who woulda' guessed?"

His waist looked more than half complete, and his lifeblood had stopped pouring out rapidly. Hers, however, had only slowed a little. The damage was more than she calculated. Setting the severed limb next to what remained of Vice's leg, she saw several wires instantly shoot out and connect themselves to the leg. After that, smaller wires sparked and fizzed, trying to reconnect.

Kia squinted her eyes, holding some of the delicate wires and reattaching themselves to what she hoped was the right half. Her mind was growing hazy, surely she shouldn't have lost that much blood? No, it had to a mix of the pain, shock, and fear she had experianced within only a short hour. So much danger, so much fear, too much too fast.

She slumped against the pavement, feeling her conscious falling into darkness.

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