Bloodbath

Chapter 18

It had started to rain by now, and Takuya and Courtney decided to take shelter near the cemetary. There was a set of steps, and at the top was a small temple. They figured standing under it was their best bet.

"God, it's friggen cold," Courtney complained, hugging herself.

Takuya sighed, pulling his jacket off. "Here, you can borrow mine."

Courtney grinned. "Thanks Taki!"

Takuya nodded as the girl grabbed it and quickly shrugged it on.

"Hope the rain let's up soon," he said quietly. "Zoe is out there somewhere."

Courtney's eyes rolled at the sound of Zoe's name. "We'll find her."

At the beach

"What did you just say, kid?!" Bando bellowed.

Tommy backed up, regretting what he had just said. "Nothing........"

Bando grabbed Tommy by the collar of his shirt and lifted him into the air. "Tell me where the fuck the girl is. Now! And if you lie to me, I'll blow your brains out."

"I don't know," he cried out. "My brother told me that there was someone like that at his school-"

Still holding Tommy in the air by one hand, Bando used his other to smack him across the face. "What do you take me as? An idiot?! Just because you're a kid, it doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."

Desperate, Tommy pulled the card out of his pocket and held it out.

"What are you doing?" The soldier sneered.

"I'm in trouble, and you told me that if I need help, I should call you. Or was that a lie?" Tommy coughed, struggling to free himself. "You owe me a favor. So you can pay me back by letting me go."

Bando growled, dropping the boy. "I better not see you again. Next time, you won't get out of it so easy."

Tommy simply ran, adrenaline pumping through his system. He signalled for Wanta to follow, and continued back to the city.

Bando glared after him for a few moments, then continued his hunt for Zoe. "Little bastard..........."

Back at the cemetary

"Damn, that was quick." Takuya looked at the sky, the rain clouds quickly disappearing. "Now we can look for Zoe again."

As the two began to descend the steps, Courtney pretended to slip, causing Takuya to catch her. They didn't notice Zoe at the bottom of the steps, staring straight at them.

Zoe looked down, a memory flashing through her mind. It was a nine year-old boy, crying. He looked like Takuya and was covered in blood.

"Zoe!"

The blond's head snapped up as Takuya happily ran down the steps to her. He took her into a tight embrace.

"I missed you so much! Are you okay? What happened?"

Hurt by the view of Takuya holding onto Courtney, she backed away.

"Did you?" She asked icily.

Takuya blinked, confused. "When did you remember how to talk?"

Just then Courtney came up behind Takuya, grasping his hand. She had a satisfied smile on her face, as if she had won a war.

Zoe's eyes narrowed and she used one of her vectors to go around Courtney and shove her. Courtney screamed and fell to the ground with a thud.

Takuya sighed, pulling her up. "Be careful. It's wet out."

Courtney began to cry. "I didn't fall. Something pushed me!"

The brunette chuckled. "Courtney, nothing pushed you. Just try to be more careful next time." He gave her pat on the head.

Another memory flashed through Zoe's head. This one showed Takuya and Courtney. They were both children and Courtney was crying. Takuya was giving her pat on the head and told her that everything would be fine. As quickly as the image had come, it was gone.

The blond began to walk away, not wanting to be around them anymore.

"Where are you going?" Takuya ran up behind her, grabbing onto her hand.

Zoe jerked it away. "I remember everything, so I'm going home."

"Zoe, you know damn well that you have no place to go back to," Takuya almost begged. "Please, come with us. It's your home now."

Just then Zoe began to cry. "I don't deserve to be with you, Takuya! I don't even have the right to come near you....."

Takuya frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Takuya, there's something I have to tell you." She hesitated for a moment, then continued. "You see, ten years ago-" Zoe was cut off by an excrutiating pain in her head. She screamed, holding onto it.

"Zoe, are you okay?" Takuya took her into his arms as she began to sink to the ground. "What's the matter?"

Zoe felt as though her brain was melting in her skull, and could almost feeling it sizzling. She continued to scream, until finally the pain subsided. Takuya felt her go limp in his arms.

"Zoe?" He shook her. "Zoe, wake up."

The blond's eyes slowly opened. She looked around, everything hazy and disoriented.

"She's just faking it......" Courtney muttered.

"Dammit, Courtney. Shut up." Takuya brushed a strand of hair out of Zoe's face. "Are you okay? Can you remember anything?"

Zoe blinked, then smiled. "Hug!"

Takuya sighed. "Guess you're back to way you were."

He helped her stand up, then wrapped his arms around her. "We're gonna go home now, okay?"

Zoe snuggled her face into his chest. "Takuya hug!"

Takuya laughed. "God, you're so cute........."

"Hello! Remember me?!" Courtney practically ripped them apart. "We found her, so let's go already. Jeez!"

"Alright, let's go." Takuya took Zoe's hand and led her back to his house, Courtney close behind staring daggers at them.

At the beach

The girl slowly opened her eyes, finding herself lying in the sand. What had happened? Where was she? And how did she get there?

She looked over and saw a bag, as well as a tiny metal pod with a speaker on it.

"Where am I?" She asked aloud.

Just then, a voice came from the pod.

"Nana? Can you hear me?"

Nana's eyes went wide, recognizing the voice. "Papa?! What's going on? How did I get here?"

"Nana, Director Kakuzawa ordered me to have you killed, but I choose a different alternative. You didn't deserve it, so I helped you escape. In case you haven't noticed, I fitted you with new artificial limbs."

Shocked, Nana looked down to see that she now had arms and legs. Tears of joy ran down her face.

"Thank you so much, Papa! How do they work?" She asked.

"Because I had to quickly get you out, I wasn't able to take the time to program them to help you. Instead, they are designed so that your vectors can help you control them. They will take time to get used to, but it'll get easier for you after awhile," Kurama said. "I can't stay on this for too long, so I'm going to explain things as fast as I can," Kurama said.

"Okay," Nana nervously replied. "What am I supposed to do?"

"In the bag there are some clothes, as well as enough money to help you get by for quite awhile. If you start to run out, call me and I will send you more. Other than that, please refrain from contacting me. I will call you every so often to check up on you," he told her. "I want you to get as far away as possible. When things cool down a bit, I will come and get you."

"Alright, I'll do as you say." Nana was terrified, as she knew nothing of the real world. She had never been out to experience it.

"And one more thing," Kurama said. "I don't want you to try to find Zoe. Don't fight with anyone and just get out of this area."

Nana nodded, although he wouldn't have been able to see it. "I understand."

"I must go now, Nana. Please, get as far away as possible, and if you're a good girl I will come for you as soon as I can. Goodbye."

Nana sniffled. "Goodbye, Papa," she said sadly. "I promise I'll be good."

The pod went dead a moment later. She stared at it, then concentrated on using her vectors to help her stand. Although it was shaky, she managed to do it well enough. She put the pod into the bag, then carefully slung it on her back.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her from behind. She yelped in surprise, then came face to face with a very angry-looking man.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I'll ask the questions here!" Bando snapped. "Why do you have horns coming out of your head?"

She swallowed. "I....uh-"

Bando clicked the safety off his gun and pointed at her. "Be careful what you say. Your life depends on your answer."

jeez, everyone's running into this dude today. so yeah, takuya found zoe, zoe was about to tell him something important but then reverted back to her child-like persona, nana is alive and well (the stuff she was injected with only put her to sleep). and she also has artificial limbs so now she's just like new....only clumsier -_- but it's better than nothing.......and last but not least, courtney is still a bitch (big shocker) hope you liked this chapter