Chapter XXXIX: Murderous Intent
Welcome back, everyone! We're glad that you've returned to read again! We look forward to every review and every visitor to our story! So thank you again for coming! Now, onto the tale!
Last time, Bastion had a horrible nightmare of being murdered at his love's dark side's hand. Violet was emotionally tortured by Bastion's pain and her dark side and Annie and the rest of the gang promised to stand by her and Bastion, no matter the cost. But what will the cost be? Read on…
Disclaimer: Yeah… we don't own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. If we did, there would be more canon pairings. Anyway, we do own our OCs, this storyline and this version of the Yugi-verse.
Warning: An attempted murder takes place in this chapter. It may be intense.
And so the group agreed that the next day, Bastion would have visitors and Violet would go to the hot springs with the girls. And after class the next afternoon, it did happen. "Okay, everybody listen to Miss Fontaine. I want y'all lined up like crows on a clothesline!" Tyson instructed, getting the Ras together outside the infirmary.
Jesse was probably the only one who had understood Tyson, and he only made it worse. "You heard 'im! Like ants marchin' through a picnic!"
All of the Ras sweat-dropped. "Do you understand what the heck those two just said?" whispered one to his friend. The other shrugged.
Fortunately, second-year Ra Phil McGraw understood. "They mean line up straight!" he explained in his own Texas drawl.
The group gave a collective "oh" and lined up. "Maybe you shouldn't use an analogy next time, guys," Syrus stated, grinning sheepishly. The dreadlocked Texas Ra and the North Academy student exchanged glances and laughed. Bastion, in his bed, was sitting up comfortably to take his visitors.
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Meanwhile, Violet was back at Obelisk walking through the hall with her closest female friends. "All right! I haven't been to the Obelisk hot spring wading pools before!" Blair grinned eagerly.
The girls were headed towards the springs, wrapped up in towels since they weren't wearing any clothes. Most of them had their hair up so that it wouldn't get wet. "You're going to love it, Blair! From what Jay has told me, it's different than the guys. Ours is more...classy," Alexis explained with a grin.
"Mai Wheeler was the one who made all the suggestions on it," Annie explained, smiling. "She thought we girls should have some special treatment and pampering..."
"Uh... why is it swimsuit optional?" Blair wondered, worried about her body's appearance when stacked up against the more mature teen girls' figures.
"Because traditional Japanese hot springs are usually that way. I guess Mai wanted to keep that tradition," Echo answered, smirking.
"Anyway, it's just us girls. So there's nothing bad about it," Alexis added gently. She knew it was hard to enjoy a hot spring in the traditional way the first time, so she'd do what she could to make the young girl feel at ease.
"Okay... I'm just not used to the tradition," Blair admitted, blushing.
"It's okay, Blair," Mindy soothed. "When Jasmine and I started here, we came to the spring in our suits... a good thing too... That was the night we had the incident with Sy and Dr. Crowler..."
"That would have been embarrassing... and awkward," Alexis agreed, sweat-dropping as they finally entered the large, open, steamy room that held the spring.
"Wait a minute... what happened?!" Blair asked, eyes wide, having not heard the tale.
"I want to know, too," Echo added, blinking.
Alexis snickered. "It's pretty funny, actually..." And so she explained about the fake love letter and Syrus, and how Annie had seen Dr. Crowler. She also told about how they had "taken Syrus hostage" and forced Jaden to duel herself. "...It was the first time we really got to know each other. That's when I fell in love with him..."
Blair was smiling a bit wistfully, as first crushes can be very hard to get over. "It's hard not to fall for him, isn't it?"
Alexis laughed. "You're right. I'm just glad you have your sights set on someone else now."
"Yeah... I bring Marcel lunch almost every day. Professor Bonaparte's really nice and I've been learning French from them both!" Blair explained happily.
Annie, walking by Violet, noticed how quiet she'd been. "Violet, how are you doing?" she asked softly.
Violet had been lost in thought, and now she blinked. "H-Huh? Oh... I'm all right..."
"You sure?" she asked as they began to disrobe.
Violet nodded. It was strange; she hadn't felt anything from Mary at all today. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"Okay... well, just let me know if you need something, okay?" the dark-haired girl offered as they slowly got into the hot pool.
"Okay." The girls gave a collective sigh of comfort as they sank down into the water, sitting on the benches cut into the sides of the pool.
"Oh, my... this is amazing," Blair breathed, enjoying the head.
"Hey, Echo?" Jasmine asked, "Have you ever done this before?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, a few times. I'd go with Mom to hot springs in Domino City," Echo explained, smiling as she felt the hot water unknot her tight muscles.
"That's one thing about Domino... it's a great combo of US and Japanese things... the city was founded by Japanese-Americans just after World War II," Annie said. "They'd lost almost everything during the Internment..."
Echo nodded. "Yes, not one of our country's brightest moments in history. It was the fear and paranoia..."
"Yeah... It was easy to single out people of Japanese descent.. And yet the best infantry in World War II was made up of Japanese-Americans," the dark-haired girl remembered, frowning at the injustice and smiling at the thought of those brave young men. "They decided to prove themselves and one of them went on to be a senator for Hawaii..."
"Hey, we're supposed to be relaxing, right? How about we talk about something we don't learn in school?" Alexis asked, smirking.
Annie sweat-dropped and grinned sheepishly. "I did it again... Shut up, brain!" she commanded.
"Hmmm," Violet muttered, sinking down so that her mutter turned into bubbles in the water. She was still deep in thought, wondering why Mary was being so quiet.
Blair sighed too, albeit for a different reason. "I could stay here forever," she admitted. "It's so relaxing... But we all have lives... So what's graduation like?" she asked, and soon the group was talking about enjoyable things.
Violet listened, only adding her input if asked something. After a few minutes of this conversation, she glanced up at her friends instead of staring at the water. It was perhaps a bad idea. The urge she received was so strong, that it played out in her mind's eye. Grabbing Alexis by the back of her head and shoving her down, watching the blonde struggle as her life drained away. Violet gasped in shock, which was another bad idea seeing as her mouth was still underwater. She came up, spluttering and coughing as the usual laughter filled her head.
"Violet?!" Annie exclaimed, moving close to her friend. "Violet, are you all right?!"
"Y-Yeah," Violet managed in a hoarse tone, catching her breath. "J-Just swallowed some... water, that's all..."
Annie helped her sit up and take a few slow and easy breaths. "Just relax a minute... It'll be okay..."
But Violet was worried; that image had been far too real for her liking. She decided it would be best to leave the spring before Mary got a chance to drown anyone. "Annie... can we leave? Just us? The rest of you guys can stay if you want."
"Sure, Violet, we can do that. We'll see you guys later," Annie said as she and her best friend got out of the tub and headed to the lockers to get dressed again. "I can never take more than 10 minutes in there anyway," she grinned as they got into the locker room.
Violet smiled; partly at what Annie had said, and partly because Mary's presence had strangely left once again. "Can we stop at our room, Annie? I want to get a few things since I'm still staying in the infirmary..."
Annie nodded. "Of course," she answered cheerfully. Little did she know that answer and its actions would nearly cost her her life.
And so the two girls changed back into their uniforms and headed up to the room feeling incredibly refreshed. Both were unsuspecting as they entered, Violet sighing. "It's been so long since I was in here..."
"Yeah... the suite isn't the same without you and Bastion in here," Annie answered as they headed for Violet and Bastion's bedroom. "We'll get a good bag for both of you..."
"All right. You go ahead and find a duffle bag; I want to check and see if something I left in the kitchenette is still there," Violet replied, smiling as she turned around.
"Okay," Annie answered, heading for the walk-in closet.
Violet went to the kitchenette and opened the mini-fridge, instantly grinning. "The pudding pops are still here! Bastion'll love these," she said excitedly, pulling them out. However, as Violet straightened, it was like something in her brain switched off. Everything went black, but her body remained standing.
And then, it was if her mind came back online as her eyes turned a bloody red. A wild smirk crossed her face as she set the treats aside. Violet, now obviously Mary, quickly found what she was looking for amongst the drawers. A finely honed knife, of course. Suppressing her laughter, Mary snuck over to the doorway and pressed herself against the wall. "Annie! Can you come in here for a second?" she called, imitating Violet's voice perfectly.
Annie, still unsuspecting, straightened from her packing. "Sure, Violet, what do you need?" she called as she walked through the bedroom door into the living area, sensing no danger. Her guard was down and today, that just might be fatal.
"Oh, just your life, for starters," Mary answered in her own voice, spinning around to grab the front of Annie's blazer, lightning-fast. She grinned maniacally as she lifted the Obelisk girl off of the ground with ease and slammed her against the wall.
Annie shrieked, turning ghost-white at the sight of those demonic red eyes. "Violet! Take control!!! SOMEBODY HELP!!!" she screamed. But she knew if Mary was going to take her life, she would, and no one would get to them in time.
Mary let loose her laughter this time, twirling the knife around in her hand like an expert. "First of all, Violet isn't taking control anytime soon. Why do you think I saved my energy for most of the day and left her alone? And second, these are practically soundproof walls. Even if any other Obelisks are in their rooms, the chances of them hearing you are slim to none." She sighed and rolled her eyes in a bored fashion. "Well, now that we're done stating the obvious, I'd like to get down to business. Where would you like me to start? An arm? A leg? Perhaps an ear??" The sadistic expression on Mary's face was enough to give a soldier the shivers.
Annie, though she had faced down a vampire, was no soldier. But she knew she had to try something to get away. A year ago, she likely would've had an attack and passed out, resulting in Mary killing her without a fight. But now, she kicked out with one leg and Mary released her grip. "Violet, fight back!" Annie screamed again, trying to run, but her attacker was far too quick. Violet/Mary's hand snaked out and grabbed Annie's blazer again.
Mary frowned. "Well that was annoying." Shoving Annie roughly back against the wall, she raised the knife. "I know what we can do. Let's start with that pretty face of yours that the shrimp loves so much," Mary whispered, slowly sliding the very sharp blade across Annie's cheek. It was a deep cut, instantly staining the edge of the knife red as the same blood dripped down her cheek. Fortunately, the cut didn't go all the way through to her mouth.
Annie bit down on her lower lip. The blade felt like fire against her cheek, but she wouldn't cry out now. Her front teeth dug into her lip, drawing more blood, and if she survived this, she'd definitely have a fat lip. The blood from her lip and left cheek dripped onto the white part of the girl's uniform, heightening the ghastly look.
Mary's eyes lit up at the blood, as if it was a miner who had found the mother lode of gold. However, it also made something in Violet click, likely her hemophobia, or fear of blood. Mary's eyes widened and she pushed away from Annie, hands bloody as she clenched them into fists. "Damn it! You WILL get over this stupid fear of yours, Violet... And I WILL return to finish what I started!!"
Her eyes faded back to their normal green, and Violet stumbled a bit. Dazed, she brought a hand to her head, surprised at the wet feeling. Blinking a few times, she looked down at her hands and screamed upon sight of the blood. "WHAT DID I DO?!?!"
Annie's skin, what was not covered in blood, was now chalk-white. "V-Violet... M-Mary... came out... and... and..." Tears were flowing down her face, mixing with the blood and making her look more horrifying. She winced at the salty tears hitting her wounds, whimpering a little.
Violet shook, eyes wide and her own skin paling as she looked up at Annie. "ANNIE!!" The knife fell from her hand, clattering onto the floor. She took a step towards her, staring at the blood and feeling her stomach churn painfully. Violet gagged, and barely made it to the sink in the kitchenette to throw up her lunch.
With Violet no longer holding her up, Annie sank against the wall, trembling. But she forced herself to stay up and walk to the kitchenette. "V-Violet... please let me help," she asked, holding her friend's hair back and rubbing her back a little. "I'm... going to help you..."
Even after she was finished, Violet's body shook and she had to grip the counter as she straightened. Her hands left bloody smears on it as she did so, and she turned tear-filled eyes back towards her friend. "Annie... I hurt you... And I don't even remember doing it... I... I can't.. you're in danger..." she stammered, trying to pull herself together.
"I don't care... I'll face the danger... You're my best friend," Annie stated through her own tears. "I'll be all right..."
"No, you won't! I.. I can't stay here... I might hurt someone else, or... or worse!" Violet pushed off of the counter and made for the door, mind set on getting as far away from everyone as possible.
Annie tried to run after her... "Violet! No!" But she sank to her knees, dizzy from the pain and the loss and smell of her own blood. "Don't run!" she cried weakly.
Violet stopped momentarily, hand on the doorknob. "I... I'm sorry, Annie... I'm sorry that I hurt you and that I'm too weak to fight it!!" She opened the door and ran, not paying attention to the blood on her hands and face. 'I'll go to the abandoned dorm. No one goes there... She can't hurt anyone there,' she thought.
"Violet!" Annie cried out one last time before involuntarily surrendering to the blackness at the edge of her vision. She sank to the carpet unconscious. She awoke not quite an hour later, to her fiancé's voice.
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About half an hour after Mary attacked Annie and Violet ran from the scene, Alexis, Blair, Echo, Mindy and Jasmine emerged from the women's hot spring locker room dressed and refreshed. "That was really nice," Blair said with a calm smile.
"Oh, yeah... and no worries about tackle Marco Polo," Jasmine smirked at Alexis. She still remembered nearly three years ago when they'd first sat in the springs and Alexis had theorized about the guys and tackle Marco Polo.
Alexis smirked back. "I'm glad. This was for pure relaxation, girls. Leave the guys to their fun. I'm just wondering why Violet and Annie left so early..." There was a hint of worry in her tone as she spoke this last part.
Mindy looked thoughtful at this. "Hmmm... maybe they were both tired and just didn't want to say anything. Violet's worried about Bastion and Annie's been at the infirmary as much as she can be. We'll see them back there. That's where they were supposed to go, right?"
Echo nodded. "They were just going to stop by their room to get some things. They should be at the infirmary by now. I wouldn't be surprised if we found them both sleeping when we get there," she replied with a wry grin.
And so they didn't worry. The five young women walked casually to the main building to see the line of students wanting to visit Bastion. "Wow, they're still coming," Blair observed, stunned.
"Yeah... And he thought no one respected him," Jasmine murmured.
Alexis couldn't help but smile. "Maybe this will help him. He needs all of the 'good vibes', as Belowski would put it, that he can get."
They looked in on the Ra in his cubicle at the end of the infirmary, and he was dozing off. "All right, everyone," Miss Fontaine said to the onlookers, "many of you have study sessions to get to. When Bastion wakes up, you guys can come back," she concluded. A chorus of soft moans rang through the infirmary.
The girls couldn't help but laugh a little as the remaining Ras grudgingly left the infirmary. Alexis went over to Miss Fontaine, looking around for sight of their two friends. "Miss Fontaine, did Violet and Annie get back okay? They left the spring early."
Miss Fontaine looked up. "No, they aren't back yet, girls. I thought they were with you..."
Jaden and Syrus emerged from Atticus and Chazz's cubicles to hear this. "Hey, girls, babe... what's up?" the Slifer asked. Alexis told him. "Yeah, they should be here... Violet wouldn't be away from Bastion, unless she and Annie were tired and took a nap or something... Would they have called?" he asked Sy.
Syrus frowned. "Annie would have called to tell us they were staying there... Maybe we should call them... just to check where they are," he answered, worried.
"Okay... I'll try Violet and you try Annie." Jaden pulled his PDA from his pocket and punched the button for Violet's PDA. It rang. "Come on, Violet, answer!" he muttered.
Meanwhile, said teenager was making her way through the thick woods of Duel Academy Island, having calmed a little since she first ran. Blood still coated her hands and clothes, and though it was dried, she desperately wished to wash the crusty stuff off. Every accidental glance at it made her stomach churn with guilt and disgust. And then, her PDA rang, and she jumped in shock.
Violet shakily pulled it out, reading the caller ID and seeing Jaden's name. She bit her bottom lip, debating whether or not to answer, when there was a sudden blow to her mind. She gasped and stumbled, reaching up to clutch her head as her eyes flashed from green to red and back again. "N-No... you can't... I won't... let you," Violet whimpered, and with a cry of frustration and desperation she threw the PDA to the ground. Tears brimmed her eyes as she began running again, not looking back. "I'm sorry, guys..."
Back at the infirmary, Jaden groaned as the PDA went to voice mail. "This is Violet Haverbrook. Leave a message or the evil bunnies will sacrifice you to their giant chocolate idol!"
"Dang... she's not answering," he muttered. At the same time, Sy dialed his fiancée's number.
"Come on, Annie... pick up..." Syrus muttered, really worried now. "It's ringing..."
Meanwhile, Annie Hanson lay on her side in the living area of the suite. Blood splotches were on the light carpet and there was still fresh blood dripping slowly from the deep wound on her cheek and on her lower lip. Her PDA lay on the table next to the couch, but she could not hear it. Instead she lay in the painless unconsciousness, unaware of anything in that sweet blackness.
Syrus's eyes widened as Annie's PDA went to voicemail as well. "This is Annie Hanson. Leave your name and a message and I'll get back to you at the speed of light!"
His frown deepened as he hit the "END" button on his PDA, looking up at the others fearfully. "She didn't answer..."
"Maybe we should go check on 'em," Jaden offered thoughtfully. "I mean, Annie would wake up, most of the time, right?"
Syrus nodded. "She would. I doubt she's tired enough to be in a deep sleep... I say we go check on them too."
"Okay... Lex, can you come with us?"
"Yeah, I'll come. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this," she admitted.
The three teenagers left the infirmary quickly, racing to the Obelisk girls' dorm. When they reached the third floor, it was eerily quiet. Most of the students were elsewhere or in their rooms studying. As they approached the suite, Jaden's eyes went wide. "The door's open... and..." The red stain in a hand shape stood out strongly against the white-painted wood. "Oh please, God, no," he half-prayed, heart sinking figuratively to his red boots.
Alexis silently gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth. "Oh… oh, no," she whispered, eyes wide.
Syrus, who had been behind the two, frowned deeply at their reactions and moved around to the front so that he could see. When his silver eyes caught sight of the bloody handle, they widened to near inhuman size. "No... no, no... ANNIE!!!" he yelled fearfully. Syrus didn't hesitate; he ran forward and into the room, shoving the door out of his way. He came to an abrupt halt and nearly tripped, however, once he had stepped inside. "Oh my God," he whispered almost inaudibly.
The room had many blood stains. There was blood on a white wall, splotched on the carpet and lying on the floor, on her left side in a blood-spattered uniform, was Annie. Her skin was very pale and her face appeared swollen. "Oh, man!" Jaden shouted. "VIOLET, WHERE ARE YOU?!" He charged to the two bedrooms and bathrooms, into the closets and then headed into the kitchenette, which of course was nasty thanks to the melting pudding pops and what Violet had deposited in the sink. "Someone got sick in here... Must've been Violet... I'm going to call Miss Fontaine," he said, getting calmer, knowing that panic would not serve now.
Syrus was kneeling beside Annie, carefully pulling her head into his lap. "Annie... Annie, come on... wake up..." he said loudly. He knew that she was alive, for her chest was rising and falling with the steady breathing of unconsciousness. Alexis had gone to one of the bathrooms to get a wet washcloth as Jaden dialed Miss Fontaine.
The Slifer shivered as he dialed. He got in contact with the nurse and she told him to bring Annie if she was strong enough to be moved. He hung up and moved to check Annie's still-unconscious form. "No other wounds on her... If there were... she'd have been dead by now... This is all from her cheek... and... oh, she must've tried not to cry out... But... where's Violet?" he wondered.
Alexis returned with the washcloth and handed it to Syrus as she joined the two boys on the floor beside their friend. "Well... if there was blood on the door, she must've left. Question is... is she Violet right now... or Mary?" Alexis asked quietly as Syrus began wiping away some of the crusted blood on Annie's face.
"I'd guess Mary," Jaden murmured as Annie moaned weakly at her fiancé's touch.
"Annie!! Annie, please wake up!" Syrus pleaded, holding her head in his lap. By now her cut had stopped bleeding and crusted over a little bit, along with her lip. But there was a small puddle of blood soaked into the carpet and drips of it were on her white uniform blazer.
Her eyes opened slowly. "H-honey?" And then she remembered what had happened as the smell of blood assaulted her nostrils. "Where's Violet?!" she yelped, and then whimpered as her cheek pulled and started bleeding slowly again. "She's... she's in trouble..."
"Annie, take it easy," Jaden tried, Alexis kneeling with him. "It looks like a house of horrors in here!"
"We only got here a few minutes ago, Annie. We found you unconscious... What happened?" Alexis asked, placing a damp washcloth to the cut and pressing down.
Annie shivered weakly. "Violet... Mary took over and... got me... it wasn't Violet," she moaned. "She... wanted to kill me... but Violet...stopped her..."
The three teens exchanged worried glances. "Annie... where's Violet now?" Syrus asked, brushing a few bloodied bangs out of her face. If Mary managed to take over again, anyone she ran into would be in trouble.
"I...I don't know... she said she needed to get away from people so she wouldn't hurt anybody... Oooh," she groaned, stomach feeling queasy.
"We have to do something," Jaden groaned, putting on a pair of rubber gloves from the suite's medical kit and wiping the worst of the blood from Annie's face. "And you're gonna need stitches, Annie..."
Alexis pulled out her PDA. "I'll call the guys. Should I call the teachers, too?"
"I don't know... If they need to call out an alert, it could be bad," Syrus muttered.
"I...I can wait," Annie tried to say, but then her stomach twisted.
Jaden quickly grabbed a nearby waste basket and the bloody girl threw up into it. "You can't wait," he countered, worried. She was as pale as a pie crust, and he could tell she might be going into shock.
"Come on, Annie. We'll take you to the infirmary and then we can think of what to do about Violet," Syrus agreed, carefully lifting her into his arms.
Alexis nodded. "I'll call the guys and tell them to meet us at the infirmary on the way there."
Annie shivered, hating that her body wasn't cooperating. "Violet'll get in trouble..."
"Annie, the teachers know it wasn't her fault. They'll be worried about where she is too... Right, Jay?" Syrus asked, standing and keeping Annie securely in his arms.
"Yeah... though if Mary kills somebody, it'll be Violet's DNA on the crime scene," Jaden groaned.
"Well, we just have to trust that Violet won't let that happen. I mean, she stopped Mary when she was trying to kill Annie, right? And plus, if she was trying to get away from everyone... maybe she won't run into anyone else," Alexis said thoughtfully as they headed out of the room.
"Man, I hope not," Jaden sighed, praying like heck that Mary didn't take over. Annie, meanwhile, laid her head weakly against Syrus's chest, unable to do anything else as Jaden and Alexis began to dial their friends.
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In the infirmary, Miss Fontaine was waiting with disinfectant and stitches. "Oh, my goodness... Annie... we'll get you patched up... Why did she go at your face?" she asked, cleaning the wounds out as the girl sat in a comfortable chair.
"She... she wanted to make me ugly," Annie murmured, bearing the pain that had to come.
Syrus frowned. "Well, Annie... Even if you need stitches, you still look beautiful to me... You always will," he stated truthfully.
Annie looked up at him as Miss Fontaine filled a syringe with a numbing agent. "I know... because you don't care how I look..."
Syrus took her hand, smiling a little and nodding. "I'll stay here with you, Annie..."
Miss Fontaine made the injection and started to stitch. It took a few minutes, but she was through quickly. "The scar will fade in time, Annie... how does it feel?"
"My face is numb," the girl answered truthfully. The shot had deadened the left cheek, and so Annie could feel nothing.
"Okay... your lip doesn't need stitches, but don't eat anything too salty this evening," the nurse stated. "You're a very lucky young lady. If that had gone through to your mouth, you'd be on an IV for your dinner." Annie nodded, knowing that possibility all too well.
And then there was a knock on the infirmary door; the others had arrived, but weren't sure if they should come in from what Jaden and Alexis had told them. "Jay, is Miss Fontaine finished yet?" Jesse called through the door.
"Annie, are you okay?" Jaden asked. Annie nodded, gripping Sy's hand. "Yeah, c'mon in, Jess!" he called back.
The door opened and the rest of the gang entered, expressions a mixture of worry and fear. "Annie, are you all right?" Echo asked for them all, frowning.
"Yeah... just... shaken up... I've got to find Violet... She's so upset," the girl said, worried, getting up from the chair the nurse had her in.
Syrus stood with her. "Annie, don't push yourself. We'll find her..."
Annie shook her head. "I have to... she needs me..."
Syrus nodded. "We know. But we need to think about where she could have gone. We can't just go searching blindly...the island's huge."
"Hmmm... the old lab or the Horakhty dorm might be places she'd run," Jaden mused. "It makes sense..."
"Well, the Horakhty dorm's closer, so let's start there," Alexis agreed.
"But before we go, we need to be prepared. If Mary has taken over again, she'll be really dangerous," Jim stated.
"Yeah," Adrian agreed, eyes serious. "Sid's staying with Mom... Otherwise, he'd be following me and Echo..."
Axel was already thinking through his personal arsenal. "We might need a taser..."
"No... that'll hurt her," Annie groaned.
"Annie, we may not have a choice here," Adrian countered.
"A taser would likely be the least painful defense weapon we have," Echo added. "And it would stun her long enough that we could get her under control."
"But... Mary'll use that," Annie answered, worried.
"Whaddya mean, Annie?" Jesse asked, confused.
"Mary's feeding her what Darkness did... that we hate her and that she'll be alone in the end," the girl moaned softly. "There has to be another way to get her under control..."
"Annie... there may not be another way," Axel tried, as gently as he could. "And that'll just knock her out..."
"She'll understand that we only did it to help her and so that no one else would get hurt. We'll explain that to her," Syrus added, squeezing Annie's hand reassuringly.
Annie shivered. "Okay... but it can't be all of us going in there... That'll scare her..."
"Well, why don't we all go? But when we get to the dorm, only a few of us will go in," Alexis offered. That way they would still have back-up.
"Okay... sounds good," Annie answered, and then realized something. Her uniform still made her look like something out of a horror film. "I... think I need to change..."
Alexis smiled. "I thought you'd say that. So I asked Mindy and Jasmine to bring down a spare uniform for you."
"Thanks," Annie stated gratefully, taking the proffered uniform and heading to the bathroom. She was changed in a few minutes, and she and the able-bodied members of the group headed out.
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Meanwhile, Violet had spent the hour and a half that she was alone exploring the Horakhty dorm's first floor. She now sighed as she sat on a dusty old bed in one of the rooms, the only light coming through the boarded-up window. Violet knew they would come looking for her, and she decided she'd handle that problem when it arrived. For now, she was forced to deal with Mary on her own.
Said person's reflection appeared in an old, cracked mirror on the opposite wall, arms crossed over her chest. "I had her right where I wanted her. Why did you have to go and stop me?" she growled angrily.
Violet glared at her. "Because I told you, I want you to stop hurting my friends. They don't deserve to die."
"Ha! Says you. You don't know what I know."
"And just what do you know?!" Violet stood, fists clenched in anger.
"More than you. For instance, I know it's useless to fight me. I'm going to end up taking over anyway... and soon it'll be for good..."
"You're wrong!"
"Ha ha, we'll see about that...."
It seems that Mary and Violet are now fighting for control. What will the confrontation with the group lead to? Will Violet be saved? Find out next time in "Showdown." Until next time, please read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!