This chapter requires a warning for violence and the death of two beloved characters and two not so beloved characters. I'm sorry, but for the sake of the story it had to be done. *No anime characters were harmed in the writing of this story.*

Daddy Dearest

"Father," Corbeau whispered, feeling as if she could not breathe. This was not the man she remembered. She backed away from him to remove his hands from her face. "Why are you here?"

"I heard that a Freak Show would be here this week. I came to investigate to see if by some miniscule chance you would be with them. The odds were in definitely in my favor. Here you are," he said, stepping toward her. He walked around her, looking her over from head to toe. "I wanted to see if you were still alive after all these years. I always knew you were stubborn and resourceful. You were supposed to be my greatest creation," Mayuri announced proudly, seizing her by the wing and jerking her ruthlessly. He immediately stopped when a pair of big hands slammed down on his shoulders and threw him to the side like a rag doll.

"Do not touch her," Kenny warned, pushing Corbeau behind him to shield her with his massive body.

Mayuri sat on the ground, stunned and unable to move momentarily from the shock of being thrown like a child's plaything. He shook his head as if to resituate his brain and unsteadily stood to his feet. He turned his attention back to his daughter who was standing beside the incredibly tall, fantastically strong man. "You were a failure. Those damn wings. A genetic defect I did not anticipate from the cocktail of genetic material given to your mother. Humans are so broken and damaged. But I made a better human, a perfect human in your sister. She became my ultimate triumph where you let me down."

"Creation? Sister? None of this makes sense," she mumbled, backing away from Kenny. "But it wasn't my fault. You made me. Made me…" She felt herself falling. Before she could hit the ground, her husband's strong arms circled her waist and held her against him. They both dropped when his knees weakened as well. To say this was unexpected or shocking could not come close to describing how it really felt.

Sajin moved to kneel down in front of the dumbstruck couple to hide them from the unwelcome stranger's view. Not being able to see them did not keep the man from talking.

"The memories you have are not real. The fact that you recall your father being a scientist is one of the few nuggets of truth in your manufactured memories. And I did sell you for money," he added casually as if he were referring to selling any random, unwanted item.

"But why?" she asked. "Why did you sell me?"

"I needed money for more research tools for experiments. Face it, in the end you were a complete failure. Other than those damned wings you were perfect. Every time I cut them off they would grow back," he heartlessly informed her. He did not care how cruel the truth was to the woman he had done these things to.

The people listening could not imagine the sadistic barbarism it took for him to purposely excise her wings or the agony she had to endure from the procedure. This man was the scary kind of crazy. He bore the kind of insanity that produced serial killers and mass murderers.

"Hey! You bastard!" Renji yelled, standing up as Sajin turned to take Corbeau into his arms. "She's not deaf or stupid. Unlike you, she has feelings. You're hurting those feelings which is pissing me off terribly."

"Who are you?" Mayuri demanded with a scowl of derision on his face as he eyed the redheaded, tattooed man.

"I'm her husband asshole and you have no right to call yourself her father. You might have genetically engineered her, but you're no father," he reprimanded the crazy man in their midst.

"Well, she was a great help to me. Where I failed with her, I created perfection in her sister," he retorted with obvious conceit and vanity.

"Oh, god," Corbeau gasped, wincing as if she had been stabbed. She had been stabbed; skewered right through the heart with that man's atrocious words. "I was a science experiment gone wrong? I'm a genetic defect of a genetic mutation? Oh, my god."

"Angel, stop it," Sajin hissed, pulling her close to his body. He felt her body shaking and knew she was crying. Soon the fur on his chest was soaked because she was crying so profusely, but she never made a sound. The psychotic scientist was droning on about how he corrected all of the mistakes he made in her DNA to make his ideal daughter Nemu. "You're not a defect. You're absolutely beautiful and perfect. Don't listen to any more of this."

"Sajin, let me go," she growled, pushing his hands away from her ears.

"No, I won't," he argued, holding on to her.

"Sajin, let – me – go," she repeated, slowly enunciating each word.

There was something dark and malicious in her voice that made him release her and move away. "Oh, Corbeau, no," he gasped when he looked at her. He had never called her by her name.

Her eyes were completely black with no white sclera showing. Her face had contorted into mask of rage that made her look as crazy as the man who called himself her father. She would not respond to anything Sajin said, easily shoving him away when he tried to hang on to her.

"Get those kids out of here! Renji, Kenny! Get the hell out of there!" Sajin yelled, pushing two of the gypsies toward a path of retreat. He could tell things were about to get bad – really, REALLY bad.

"Oh, damn!" Renji and Kenny yelled in unison when they saw her running toward them. Her intended target was Mayuri, but they were in the way. They soon remedied that by separating as they ran toward her. She passed by them so fast a small breeze blew over them when she was past them.

"There's my girl! I knew you still had it in you!" the insane cretin bellowed. He opened his arms wide for her as she darted toward him.

Corbeau unleashed a hellish screech that brought to mind the pterodactyl and what it might have sounded like. She vaulted from the ground ten feet in front of him and landed on his shoulders knocking him down to the ground and onto his back. She settled on his chest to peer down at him with her sinister and malicious completely black eyes.

"Do you intend to kill me?" he panted, almost orgasmic at this point he was so excited by her display. Apparently this was one of her defects that had remained dormant until his appearance. Whether he had purposely created this response, no one knew but him. What was obvious was his thrilled reaction to the exhibition of her strength.

"Renji! What the hell is going on?" Sajin demanded, grabbing the distressed man by the shoulders.

"I don't know! I've never seen anything like this! I've seen her mad before but this…this…" he was at a total loss for words as he looked at his wife sitting on the man's chest like a bird perches on a wire.

"This is scary as hell is what this is!" Kenpachi exclaimed, his one good eye huge and round as he stared at the unbelievable spectacle before him.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you, Father," she demanded, her voice dripping with loathing for the man beneath her feet.

"Go ahead, kill me," he urged, staring at her.

"No. I'm not a monster like you," she growled between her clenched teeth.

"Oh? Would you like a mirror? I beg to differ, my darling. You're a monster because I made you a monster. Look around you! Look at the people you're with! As they say birds of a feather flock together," he stated caustically, glaring at her as if he were attempting to determine how to kill her before she killed him. He was completely unashamed of the derogatory and mocking use of the adage.

"I'm not the monstrosity, you crackpot, you are. You're reprehensible and revolting. You create something imperfect and despise your creation because you made a mistake. You are the failure! Not me. Why should I let you live to destroy something else? Or worse yet make another abomination?" she inquired, waiting for an answer.

"Corbeau, no!" Renji yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders. He jumped back when she turned and made an awful squawking sound that hurt his ears. "You're not a killer. Stop this. I love you. Allete needs you. I need you. Please, baby."

Corbeau stopped, blinking at him. The black receded to her pupil, and she appeared to be in her right mind again. She took her husband's outstretched hand, and he pulled her off of the psychotic man's chest.

"A baby? You had a baby! You were supposed to be sterile, incapable of procreation. What have you done?" Mayuri inquired, getting to his feet. He brushed off his robes and glared her. "I can't believe you were so reckless as to make another defect like you."

"Nobody ever said we couldn't kill him," Kenny remarked running toward the psycho clown. He had enough of the evil man. Sajin growled and snarled, dropping to all fours to join the hunt.

"No, you can't!" Mayuri protested, holding up his hand. He turned to run making it into the woods just as the wolfman leaped toward him and disappeared into the bushes.

A pitiful scream rang through the air along with a terrible growling and the horrid sound of flesh ripping. Kenny disappeared into the trees as well and his bellowing echoed into the clearing where Renji and Corbeau stood. A howl split the air along with more blood curdling screams from the obviously dying man.

"SAJIN, NO!" she screamed, attempting to get out of Renji's arms to rush to him.

Renji put his hands over Corbeau's ears to keep her from hearing the awful growls and screams of horror and suffering while he led her away. He took her to where the gypsies and Rangiku were hiding with the children. He watched as his wife carefully took their frightened, screaming daughter into her hands to pull her close and comfort her. His heart was beating at a frantic pace and it was hard to breathe as he recalled her frightening appearance when she had attacked that man. He hoped he never saw that part of her again.

No one felt like performing in the show that night, but they could not cancel. They already had a full house and would have to do a second show for all of the people standing around outside and the new ones constantly arriving.

Everyone shied away from Kenpachi and Sajin, keeping their distance and averting their gazes whenever one of them would walk by. Only Yachiru and Corbeau would acknowledge their presence. They did not ask any questions about what had happened to Mayuri. The man had disappeared as quickly as he had appeared so no one bothered to admit he ever existed at all in their world.

By the time the two shows had ended, everyone was exhausted and ready to go to bed. Renji had just returned to the RV and put his arms around his wife when the distinct sound of shots from a high powered rifle reverberated through the night.

"Sajin!" Corbeau exclaimed, nearly falling down the steps in her haste to get out of the RV.

"Corbeau, wait!" he yelled after her.

"Renji! There's no time! He's in trouble! Get some help!" she screamed, running as hard as she could toward his trailer.

More shots split the cool spring night air along with a plaintive howl. A woman's mournful scream reverberated through the air completely shredding Corbeau's last nerve and nearly her sanity. She was close enough to see Retsu standing over Sajin's body with her hands up in a surrender position. The silhouetted figure in front of the helpless woman pulled up the rifle pointing it at Retsu who had no weapon and no defense. The killer turned and ran before she could see anything more than a shadowy figure.

"NO, NO!" Corbeau screamed, attempting to run faster. The sound of the shot rang through the air and she watched in abject terror and despair as Retsu's body dropped onto Sajin's. "No, God, no, please," she begged in a semblance of prayer. She slid to a stop in front of their trailer where their two still bodies lay in the dim light of a gas lantern.

When Renji arrived on the scene, Corbeau had knelt down by the two people pulling Sajin's head into her lap while she stroked Retsu's blood spattered face. The woman had given up everything to be with the half wolf. In the end, she even gave up her life to be with him.

"Renji, get Hana, please," she implored him, staring up at him with tears flowing down her face. Her hands and lap were covered with blood, and she continued to stroke the faces of her two dear friends.

"Corbeau, it's too late," he mumbled, barely above a whisper.

"No, it can't be. Hana! Hana!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Everyone began to slowly appear at the site staring at the dead couple and the crying woman who held them and stroked them as if willing them to come back to life. Hana pushed through the crowd, dropping to his knees beside her. With tears in his eyes, he felt for pulses and checked the wounds. The shots had been instantly fatal hitting each of them in the heart.

"Hana, you've got to help them. Please," she begged, but he shook his head. "But they can't be dead! They can't be! Hana, please!"

"Corbeau, they're gone!" he yelled in her face, shaking her roughly by the shoulders. She was distraught and so was he, but she had to face the terrible truth: they were dead.

Don Kanonji appeared, kneeling down beside the both of them. No one had ever seen that man cry or show much of any emotion so they were all surprised when he began weeping. Agonizing wails and sobs followed while the dark haired young man held the woman with the wings. Her wings opened up and moved around the two men in an effort to offer them some kind of support during their mourning. Sniffing and sobbing started sweeping through the whole crowd as the horrified stupefaction wore off to the realization of what happened.

"Did anyone see who did this?" Don Kanonji yelled. No answer but the anguished cries of the sorrowful individuals. "Did anybody see anything at all?"

"I did!" Kenpachi yelled appearing in front of them before Corbeau could answer. He dropped the woman he held by the collar on the ground. Apparently, she had a tragic accident that ended with a broken neck. He held the rifle in his hand.

Corbeau stared down at the wolfman stroking his face. She assumed the other dead woman was Nemu, the one Mayuri had referred to has her sister – her perfect sister. She couldn't look at the body because she was close to her breaking point. At this time, she would rather grieve over a friend she loved than to be upset by the stranger who killed him. Tears streamed down her face in a constant flow that seemed to have no end. Her trembling fingers touched Retsu's pale cold face and a loud sob escaped her. They were dead. How could they be dead?

Renji stood in front of her barring her view of Nemu. His wife had endured enough for the day. He listened to Don Kanonji as he pitilessly ordered Ikkaku and Kenny to take the bodies of Mayuri and Nemu to the forest to burn them. Those two deserved to burn in hell but since they could not deliver them there personally, a hidden fire in the woods without mourners and without acknowledgement would have to do.

"Sajin and Retsu deserve a celebration for their lives. Everyone! You have until dawn to say your good byes. Then we will give them a proper good-bye together," Don Kanonji announced with a disturbingly calm deliberateness. "Kenny, Ikkaku, have the funeral pyre ready by dawn for them. We will conduct a Native American death ceremony to send them back to the great spirit in the sky."

"Why are you doing this?" Renji inquired, pulling Don Kanonji away from Corbeau and the crowd waiting to say their farewells. He did not want them to hear the conversation he was about to have with the man.

"Renji, I have to do this. I've got to protect my family at all costs. What do you think will happen if the local authorities find all the bodies? Retsu and Sajin will become science experiments, Sajin in particular. They will blame someone for this. What chance do any of us stand? Don't forget what we are," Kanonji reminded him.

"We're not monsters," he growled in response, his hands forming fists by his sides.

"No, but they are." The man patted him on the shoulder before he walked away.

Renji looked at his wife who was still crying and slowly rocking back and forth to comfort herself. She understood. She understood perfectly the evil within so called 'normal' human beings.