Me: Weeeelll, we're back! Glad to see ya'll got a kick outta the Killer Clown Dimension Spectrum!
Ichigo: (Shudders at the thought) ...Damn, i hate clowns.
Me: SAME! (High-fives)
Rukia: I think you're both wusses.
Me: HEY! I don't even wanna HEAR IT from you, Ms. Complain-About-Academic-Support-For-3-Hours-Straight the other night!
Rukia: (Blinks innocently) B-But...It was awful, Mandy!
Me: Yeah, well. Welcome to my world. Sucks ass, doesn't it?
Ichigo: Yep. Just like YOUR MOM!
Me: Ohhhhh! Nice one! (Fist-bump)
Rukia: (Sweatdrops) You...DO realize he was talking about YOUR MOM, right?
Me: ...(Demonic Aura) You BASTARD! (Summons gauntlet)
Ichigo: Le-Let's not do anything too RASH, Mandy. I'm too awesome and hot with incredibly fluffy hair to die now! If i die, you have nothing to envy!
Me: WHY YOU LITTLE BITCH!
Ichigo: AAHHHHH! (Runs away in terror with me close behind, swinging gauntlet like a mad hatter)
Rukia: (Sweatdrops) Uhhh...Enjoy.
Ichigo huffed. "How was I supposed to know everyone was already here? Damn, I'm not psychic."
"Obviously. If you were, you probably wouldn't have fallen down the stairs in the first place, Strawberry."
"Renji, how the HELL did you know about- RUKIA, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO SPREAD THAT AROUND!"
Rukia shrugged innocently while Ururu tended to Ishida, finally reviving him and giving him a cold rag to put on his eyes. "Thank you," he muttered, groaning as he sat up.
Ichigo sweatdropped. "What the fuck happened to YOU?"
Uryu's temple throbbed. "Kisuke Urahara happened. Peyton owes me so damn much. Like I said when I arrived, I found some information on Iga Clan rituals and executions."
He walked over to the table on which he put his book and flipped to a page, while everyone simultaneously crowded around him.
"The Iga Clan executions tend to generally consist of barbaric, ancient means. They seem to favor tying the victim's hands and feet with rope, respectively, and pulling them with horses in four different directions."
Everyone paled at that, and Ichigo gulped. "Do you, uh...Do you think they'll try that on her?"
Uryu shook his head, and everyone sighed with relief. "Not really. They'd probably go for the sacrificial power idea."
"Which would be?" Rukia prompted.
Uryu turned about five pages before continuing. "There're several ways to sacrifice someone for power. Most usually include a dagger to the chest, cutting out their entrails, things of that nature. HOWEVER, they also want to bond her abilities with that of a Hollow or two. Not necessarily gaining her own Hollow, but a Hollow gaining Peyton, if that makes sense."
"So what does that mean?" Matsumoto asked, already sounding quite drunk.
He pointed to a rather ominous-looking object that kind of looked like a cross between the Sokyoku and a guillotine, on a shorter scale.
"They'd try to...well, to put it simply, suck the spirit ability out of her before executing her. Which means she'll be conscious and fully aware of her fate until the very end, when she's beheaded or bifurcated depending on the wishes of the Iga Clan, and bleeds to death."
The room was filled with about three main reactions. Mostly sighs, or groans, or people shaking their heads. Ichigo covered his face briefly with his hands, leaning on the table, while Nel gripped his closest hand (more like three of his fingers). "It's okay, Itsygo."
"Urahara, when can we leave?" He asked, his voice muffled due to his hands.
"As soon as Yoruichi gets back."
"And how long could that take?"
"However difficult our friend makes it to find her."
More sighs and groans. "That's just fucking fantastic," Renji muttered.
MEANWHILE...
"I...am beginning...to really hate..this place.." Peyton said through gritted teeth, as if she had ever loved this room.
She was trying to cover her ears as best as possible to avoid the loud screeching noise currently being played on constant loop from some unknown source.
The rats didn't like it either, they were scurrying around and squeaking angrily, which wasn't helping her ears any.
"You know, I could really use a shower!" She shouted to no one in particular.
Peyton must've been starting to lose her mind. She must have to be stupid enough to march over to the door, kicking away the random rats, and pounding on it as if complaining to an apartment tenant about their noise level.
"DID YOU HEAR ME, YOU DOUCHEBAGS? I NEED...A DAMN SHOWER! I'VE GOT GREASY HAIR AND BODY ODOR IN HERE!"
...Then again, after twelve- almost thirteen- days without meeting your hygienic needs, you'd probably lose your mind too.
After more pounding and screeching about her puberty needs, the door swung open, almost knocking her in the face.
"THANK you- GAH!" She sputtered and coughed as a high-powered hose sprayed her full-on, actually knocking her back and making her slide into the wall.
After a few moments, it was shut off, and douche from the corner smirked. "You redheads really need to learn to keep your mouth shut."
And with that said, he laughed and slammed the door. Peyton coughed, spitting out some water, temple throbbing.
...Well, so much for her clothes. The hose had sprayed so hard that her shirt had started to fray.
So now she was soaked, cold, her skin was tingling and starting to burn, she was lonely, she had rat bites, she still had a head injury, and...she hadn't had sex in...forever.
As in...FOREVER.
FOOOOORRREEEEVVVEEERRRR.
If SHE couldn't last this long, she shuddered at the thought of how well Ichigo was handling it. Unless, y'know, he cheated on her.
But like that'd happen. He valued his life enough to know that would be the single hugest mistake he could possibly make.
...Plus, she was awesome. "AwesomeSAUCE," Peyton corrected to herself before starting to laugh.
She must've laughed for at least a half-hour, laughed out all her stress, and fear, and self-disgust at her filthiness, and her pain, her doubts.
Laughed it all off until her stomach hurt and she had to lay down, falling asleep in no time.
Because she had finally realized that she could either laugh about it, or cry about it. And really, which one do you think she preferred?
MEANWHILE...
"This is so not fair...This is SO not fair...We could be gone. We could be saving her RIGHT NOW. I could be kicking major Iga Clan ass RIGHT NOW. I could be earning myself some Hot Rescue Sex RIGHT...NOW. But can I? HELL NO. Because HAT-AND-CLOGS decided to torture me some more with...this...damn...WAITING! THIS IS SO NOT FAIR!" Ichigo ranted.
Toshiro and Rukia sighed tiredly, reading about the Iga Clan (Toshiro) and coloring more Chappies (Rukia) at Urahara's table.
"Stop the damn pacing, before you pass out. Then you REALLY can't do any of the stuff you mentioned, Ichigo," Rukia scolded.
He huffed and made a big show of sitting down, flopping onto the floor and crossing his legs exaggeratedly.
Toshiro sweatdropped. "You know...You COULD be reading up on the Iga Clan and learning more about their torture devices and tactics."
"Why the hell would I torture myself like that?"
"Because then you'd know how to destroy them."
He and Toshiro had a mini-stare-off, and finally, he sighed before grabbing the thinnest book off of Uryu's surprisingly huge stack of Iga Clan research.
"...You SUCK. You and your goddamn logic."
FIVE MINUTES LATER...
They were all very silent. The only sound was Rukia's scribbling and Toshiro and Ichigo occasionally turning pages.
Speaking of turning pages, Ichigo didn't know how many more disturbing information he could take.
Every time he read about a new torture device, he thought of Peyton being hooked up to it and screaming in pain.
And then, even when he read some stuff that basically told him point-blank how to best destroy it, Ichigo would only picture not making it in time, and her mutilated body, and how she must've felt when she died knowing that he hadn't been there.
To make matters worse, Rukia suddenly looked up from her drawing. "Toshiro, from what you've read so far, what do you think would be the worst possible torture device they could use on her? Besides the one Uryu mentioned they'd most likely use."
Toshiro made a clicking noise with his tongue in thought before answering slowly. "Hmm...It's hard to say...There're so many disturbing ones."
"Like what?"
"Well, there's this one where they stick a hot poker against your skin in the main areas of the body so that eventually it all peels off in one rush, causing the raw flesh underneath to be exposed to the harsh air and slowly kill the victim."
Ichigo clenched his jaw as the damn Captain continued.
"And then...There's this ONE called Tean Zu, where the victim's fingers are placed on a flat surface. Wooden sticks are placed between the fingers, connected by strings. When a victim refuses to talk or deliver information to the torturer, they tighten the string a bit more causing the tables to crush the fingers one...by...one," he added ominously.
Ichigo felt the blood drain from his face, but no one else seemed to notice.
"AND THEN...there's this one called the Brass Coffin, where they lock the victim in a coffin made of brass and hang it vertically directly above a fire, burning them alive."
It was about that point that Ichigo heard roaring in his ears, and Nel suddenly said, "Itsygo, Nel tinks you look a bit gween."
Toshiro and Rukia looked over at him, right as he nearly keeled over. He managed to grip the table just in time, clenching his jaw and glaring at Toshiro.
"THE HELL'S YOUR DEAL, MENTIONING ALL THAT STUFF! WHAT IF THEY DO THAT TO HER?"
Rukia sighed. "Ichigo, there's no way they'd do that. They want her spirit energy to be in the best possible condition. Which means, they'd probably just keep her in the solitude with the conditions Yoruichi mentioned."
Toshiro nodded slowly. "Yes...And then, the day before or day of her execution, they'd probably give her the best possible amenities. To ensure her spirit energy is at its peak when they kill her."
"You mean ATTEMPT to kill her. But there's no way they're gonna succeed," Ichigo informed them matter-of-factly.
They nodded quickly, and Rukia sighed. "I remember the days before my execution. I just hope she hasn't been going through the same emotions..."
Ichigo waved them off. "Nah. She's the toughest girl I know. She's probably just rolling with the punches and waiting for us to save her RIGHT NOW..."
MEANWHILE, HOURS LATER...
"Ichigoooo, Rukiaaa, Toshiroo...Matsumotooo, Reeenji...Neeeelll...CHUCK NORRIS? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GUY-UY-UYYYYS?" Peyton sobbed, rocking back and forth.
"THIRTEEN DAYS! WAIT, NO, FOURTEEN! FOURTEEN DAYS! AND YOU'RE STILL NOT HERE? ..." She sobbed some more, simultaneously kicking away a rat trying to naw on her foot.
"Yeah, bitch, you better run!" Peyton snapped at the rat.
Yep, she'd lost her mind. She'd officially lost her mind.
"I know they sensed me. I know they did. I know because of how jerky Ichigo moved, how jerky they all moved. They know where I am. Why aren't they coming for me? WHY AREN'T THEY COMING?" She screeched at no one in particular, breaking off into more pathetic sobs.
Peyton flopped back down onto her bed, staring up at the high ceiling as the high-pitched noises continued on their stupid loop track.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS? WHAT DO YOU WAAAAANT? LEMME GO HOME! I WANNA GO HOME! I WANNA TAKE A SHOWER! A REAL SHOWER! I WANT FOOD WITHOUT MAGGOTS IN IT! I WANT WATER THAT'S NOT BEING SPRAYED IN MY FACE, OR KICKED OVER! I WANT CLEAN CLOTHES! I WANT MY BED! I...I..."
Suddenly, Nanaw's teasing flashed into her mind, and she screamed out "I...WANT...MY HUNK MUFFI-I-IIIINNNN! God...DAMMIT!"
She punched the wall angrily while sobbing some more, making a crack, and she suddenly stopped her pathetic mental breakdown to stare at it.
"It's...It's a crack..."
She looked down at her hand and summoned spirit energy, watching it crackle and tingle in her palm, on the tips of her fingers.
Peyton smirked triumphantly, slowly curling her hand into a fist. "I...am OUTTA HERE, bitches."