You... are About... to Die

"Recognize that?" cackled Rory's kidnapper as he dropped him heavily in front of 'Jared's" gargantuan, ivory fountain.

"Oh yeah..." answered Rory, as he looked at the large, diamond-shaped cell made of a dark amethist-colored quartz. It was larger than the one that had held Leo, Wyatt, and himself. "It's one of those thingies..."

"Cages!" growled the villain, irritated by what he considered to be Rory's stupidity.

"Cages?" asked Rory. "Don't cages have to have bars?"

"You'd drown, idiot."

Rory looked at the fountain with ironic curiosity. "Interesting." he said. "You don't seem so concerned about that at the moment."

The villain let out an angry sigh and rolled his eyes.

Rory's bruised body lay motionless on the ground as the villain lit each of the tall torches surrounding the multi-tiered, ivory structure. The flames created a surprising amount of light.

"I hope you don't mind," said the kidnapper. "I drained the water. I thought it'd be more fun to fill it back up with you inside."

It struck Rory as odd that, for a villain, his captor was rather lacking in cruelty. At least, regarding his word-choices. "Won't that take a really long time?"

The villain ignored him.

Rory imagined the sadistic smile on his abductor's face as the man walked to the back of the fountain and turned on the water. "So, um... How long have you guys been running the underwater 'Alcatraz'?"

"Let's get one thing straight," the man loudly resounded, making his way back around. "I'm not one of those kidnappers who's stupid enough to give away his whole plot as he ties up his victims."

"Fair enough." said Rory, as his captor rolled him sharply over on his stomach, causing him to groan. "Aren't you concerned that I'll just be able to orb outta these ropes though?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't ya?" the man scoffed in return. "As you've probably figured out by now, your powers are gonna be down for quite a while; no orbing, no hypnotizing... You're basically screwed."

"I really don't wanna hurt your feelings by saying this, but I don't wanna lead you on either." said Rory, as his captor crossed and tied his wrists behind his back. "I'm sure you're a perfectly nice 'bad guy' and all, but I'm really not looking for a serious relationship right now."

"Don't flatter yourself," returned the kidnapper, as he aggressively continued his work. "Gotta hand it to ya, Ror', you're pretty witty for a guy about to be murdered."

("Ror'?" ... I wonder) "I appreciate your saying so. I'm nothing compared to my brothers though" Rory graciously replied. His voice was as open and unguarded as if talking to his closest friend. "I sometimes wish I were funnier, but I guess some of us were just meant to listen."

"Ain't you sweet!" mocked the captor. "I gotta tell ya', I'm not much for small talk." As if to intentionally violate the young man's space, The villain bent down, a little too close to his victim's ear. Rory could feel the villain's hot breath as he said, "This bein' our first date and all, I figure I oughta just put that on the table." The kidnapper practically slithered back away.

After cruelly tightening the last of the knots that bound Rory's wrists, he started to work on his legs. "So... I'll just get to the point." he said coldly. "Where's the third?"

"I've actually never met the third."

"Wasn't my question." snarled the villain. "I said, WHERE... is the third."

"I sincerely don't know." Rory said casually. "Then again, I'm not one of those captives who tells all of his secrets just so my kidnapper will take it easier on me."

Though the villain knew that the comment should have offended him, he felt strangely complemented "You just keep it up, Ror'." he forced himself to threateningly say. "I can make this last all night."

"But I just told you," Rory said innocently. "I'm not looking for a serious relationsh-"

The man smacked Rory against the cheek, straining to get a single frightened sound from Rory's voice, or at least a terrified expression on his face. "You don't seem to get what's going on here!" he said. "You.. are ABOUT... to DIE!"

Rory's eyes widened with concern. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Ya know, it's gonna take the fountain a while to fill up enough to drown me and you did a pretty good job with the ropes and all... If you wanna take a break, we can just talk for a little while."

"You really are insane, aren't you?" said the captor, wondering if he was going crazy himself. "That curse has driven you outta your (censored)ing mind."

"I guess that's fair to say." said Rory, not at all offended. "To be perfectly honest, before today, I'd forgotten what it felt like to be without it."

"Congratulations!" said the villain, grunting as he picked Rory up and dropped him facedown on the fountain's rim. "And just what makes today so damn special?"

"My brother, Wyatt, did one of the kindest things anyone's ever done for me." said Rory. "He actually took it into himself, hoping to carry it so that I would no longer have to... so that I wouldn't have to hurt anymore."

"WHAT?" shouted the villain. "You better be lying to me right now!"

"Oh, don't worry." said Rory. "I took it back from him; you've got the right brother."

The villain stared curiously at Rory, heavy with anxious concern. "Yeah well, I better." he said threateningly. "One way or another... the Ring of Nine WILL end tonight."

"I'm sorry I got you all worked up." Rory said sincerely. "I probably should've told you I still had it before I told you about Wyatt."

The villain scoffed with aggressive sarcasm. "Oh don't fret yer pretty little head." he snarled. "After all, you were too damn busy with your (censored)ing hero worship."

"Hmmm..." said Rory, as he thought to himself. "I guess you're right. I guess Wyatt is kinda my hero," he said contentedly. "But then again, in one way or another, they all are."

"Well, ain't that sweet!"

"Well," Rory backtracked, "All but one of 'em."

Glaring with unintended curiosity, the villain callously said, "Oh really", secretly hoping Rory would explain further.

"I mean, Lee's one of the most pure-hearted people I know; Tristan's one of the most thoughtful, unable to relax unless he knows everyone else is taken care of... I should mention though, he's got one heck of a long fuse, but once you've tripped it, you better duck; Dylan's absolutely brilliant, and he notices everything; Jared's as charming and good-natured as the day is long; Steve's a humanitarian genius, spending all his energy figuring out what other people need and turning himself into an absolute fool to make sure that they get it; Chris... Where do I even start? He's probably the bravest person in the history of the world... Well, he and Mom anyway."

The villain held his breath.

"But then there's Shane..." said Rory, seemingly disappointed. "Shane's an idiot. I mean, get this: Every now and then, the dork speaks with a Southern accent, and he's never so much as set foot in the south. He's got this gruff, masculine image he tries so hard to keep up, when every single one of us knows he wears flowery dresses when he's alone in his room. He's the clumsiest fighter out of all of us; we just don't have the heart to tell him that he's dead weight. What it all come down to is that, we just need him there for spells. Other than that, he's a useless moron. I mean, Shane would never have had the courage to take the curse into himself; he's too much of a weakling. Plus, even if he did, he wouldn't last 30 seconds before turning into a wining little crybaby."

"Oh YEAH?" said the villain, almost shouting, as he struggled to think up something clever to say.

Rory looked back up with satisfied smile. "I guess you can stop glamouring now."