Chapter 9 - Holy SHIT!

Vic

Woke up pretty well rested in Cassie's room. First thing I noticed, she had already left for work. Second thing was that my pants were nowhere to be found. At least I had the foresight to pack an overnight bag regardless. Now anyway, time to shower. As soon as I sat up, I found my pants…they had been chucked across the room and were hanging on the corner of Cassie's dresser. Nice. Looks like playing guitar for the ladies still works at 29. Hey! I heard that! You shut up! I didn't do it just to get girls! I wanted to learn music when I was younger and my mom was more than happy to teach me. Oh man…my mom. She would have been ecstatic to hear that I had written more of my own music rather than just keep to covers. I still remember the first song I fully learned on guitar. It was that one Daughtry song everyone else knows on guitar. Makes sense as the song is four chords and they're all easy. Funnily enough, you can play a good amount of tunes with those four chords. It's crazy. Blew my fuckin mind when I found that out. But I digress. I walked over to my bag to see a note and two 50 dollar bills on top of it. I picked the note up and blinked a few times while still in the process of waking up. It was in Cassie's neat handwriting and it read;

Vic,

Can you please go to the grocery store for me today? I need the following;

Eggs, Milk, coffee filters, bread, chicken breasts and ketchup.

I don't care what brands they are either.

Love you,

Cassie 3

P.S. I loved my song last night. Because of that, you can get a treat for yourself cause you're a good boy :)

Well alrighty then Cass. I would be glad to do that for you! I just need to uh…wash up. I did so and thankfully, Cassie's shower controls weren't the goddamn Starship Enterprise so I managed to shower no problem. Although I did drop the shampoo because I got soap in my fuckin eyes. Stepping out of the shower, I saw that it was time for a little goatee trim. My hair was fine, I liked the length it was currently at. I formed a hair trimmer and gave myself a little bit of a trim, focusing on the facial hair on my cheeks and near my neck. That process took about ten minutes and I examined the job well done in the mirror. I even picked up the beard shavings around the sink. Look at me, being a functioning adult. I left the bathroom after brushing my teeth and got dressed while singing an old song to myself.

"If you just call my name, any time at all, I'll be there," I sang to myself while making some toast with the last two pieces of bread. Then I remembered something about this song. My mom. This was the one of many songs she used to sing to me whenever I was scared as a kid. I remember her saying, "Take those words seriously my sweet boy. I will always be there for you." But…but she wasn't…she was gone. Taken from me from some cult fuck that I'm guessing abused her. I found that I was squeezing my piece of toast rather fiercely as I thought about this and it broke apart in my hand. I punched the table in anger causing my plate to jump a few inches in the air. Dammit, I missed my dad too. How he would constantly hum around the house and randomly grab my mom just to dance with her. One of my first memories is sitting at the table in my high chair with Kimi to my right and watching my parents cook, sing and dance with each other while I laughed. Kimi tells me that was the first time I said "Mama" too, so of course remembering that right now made me want to chuck the refrigerator out the window. It was apparently the birth of my nickname of "sweet boy" which absolutely no one else could call me. Ever. Even Cassie. She figured that out real quick after my mom overheard her say it to me shortly into our relationship. My mom's head had jerked in her direction with a look that plainly said "call him that again. I dare you young lady." Sweetie's fine though. I like that one. Cassie uses that one a lot and my mom often smiled whenever she heard her refer to me as such. I punched the table a second time when my mom's smiling face appeared in my mind again. That's it. I made my decision. This cult would die by my hands. I don't even care who's in it. If I saw that medallion with the glowing yellow eyes, anywhere on anyone, hell would be unleashed.

Later. At "That's Grocer."

Alright, who the hell picked this playlist?! Because fuck me is it making me want to dive head first in the lobster tank! Why the HELL is it the same songs in every store?! Goodness. Whatever, I shouldn't be here long. Now, I know what you're thinking. Am I wearing a disguise? Yeah, but I wasn't covering my entire face. Just my sunglasses. Didn't really need to as the lot outside wasn't that full anyway. Thank you lazy people who didn't want to shop at 11am for some reason! Dunno why, that's when the Wing Bar in this place usually puts the food out and yo boy is gonna get his girlfriend approved treat! Whoo! It's a good day! It's making me forget about this trash music! Oh wait, I brought my tunes! Yes! I plugged in the earbuds and pressed play on my "Out in Public" playlist on my phone. Instead of the garbage pop music of today, I was instead treated to tasty jams of my own choosing. Like the absolute certified banger "Slayer of Men" by the band Draconic Charge. I nodded my head in tune with the beat of the song as I grabbed a small cart.

The AC in this place hit me like a truck when I walked through the automatic doors. The place was laid out like most other grocery stores I've been in. Produce to the immediate, meat in the back, and dairy on the far left wall. Now let's see, what did Cassie need again? Let's get that stuff first before I grab my lunch. I pulled out her note from my pocket and scanned it again. Might as well get the bread and milk first. I started to make my way over there as my music changed tracks. During the fade out, I managed to catch what was playing over the PA system. It…it was the song I was singing to myself this morning. I pulled out my earbuds and listened.

"I'm here, just call my name. Anytime at all, I'll be there," Out of habit, I whispered "Mom," and…she appeared. She was floating a few inches off the ground but I know that face anywhere. I slowly made my way over to her spirit. Her smile was present, as it always was whenever I did anything. Whether it be showing her a picture I colored or running up to her for a hug after school or…or whenever I told her I loved her.

"I love you Mom," I whispered. "I...I miss you…" My mom placed her hands over her heart and beamed down at me. I knew what she meant. "I love you too my sweet boy."

"Sir?" a different voice said. I jumped and turned to see a stock clerk dressed in a blue vest standing before me.

"I'm sorry," I stammered. My mom had disappeared and the song over the PA ended.

"I asked if you needed help finding anything," they responded. "You looked rather lost."

"Oh no," I said. "The song that was playing reminded me of my mom." The stock clerk smiled.

"Well, just to let you know, the Wing Bar is half off today," they said.

"Oh word? Thanks, I was going to get some of that after I grab what my girlfriend needs," I said and waved in thanks. The clerk smiled again and walked back to their cart full of boxes. Man…that was weird. I got everything Cassie needed and did some quick math in my head. There was no way I would need 100 bucks for all of this. Might still be over 50 but whatever. Food is a necessity. I made my way over to the wing bar and filled up two buckets full of fresh from the fryer chicken wings. Plain for Cassie and spicy/BBQ for me. Man, I could not wait to get back to Cassie's cause the smell alone was making me antsy.

I was standing behind a few people in the express checkout line when I saw something catch my eye…other than the delicious and best soda ever CODE FUCKING RED (you know I grabbed me one of those bad boys). It was one of those tabloid newspaper magazine things. You know with headlines like "Her Lies EXPOSED!" and "Happy, Healthy and Ready to Mingle at 50" right? Well the one I saw said "Identity of City's Vigilante REVEALED?!" with a very blurry picture of me as Thrash. I snatched the magazine and flipped to article about me while I waited in line. It read;

"The Vibrating Vigilante's Identity CONFIRMED?!

By Morton "Mokap" Kapinski

Most of the citizens of our fair city know about the vigilante sighted at various intervals in the area. He is always described as wearing a leather jacket and either dark jeans or leather pants. Most if not all of the witnesses have differing accounts as to what his face looks like. Some have said he's clean shaven, others say he's wearing a mask and other's theorize that Thrash is actually a muscular woman. But readers, this reporter is here to let you all know that he knows exactly who the man is under the mask! It is none other than local stage and TV actor, Dante Vento Harris! I know what you're thinking. You're saying 'Mokap, that's impossible! Him, his wife and son perished in a horrible fire eight years ago!' No no friends, look at the picture of Thrash below and compare it to the picture of Dante Harris. They are identical! Dante was a known fan of thrash metal as he stated in many interviews for the local paper! It all fits! Dante faked his death along with his family and has been acting as a vigilante…Continued on page 17"

I closed the magazine and put it back once the person in front of me finished loading their items on the belt. Morton Kapinski eh? Looks like he achieved his dream of being a reporter/photographer. I remember him in high school. Little dorky, often mumbled to himself but all in all, a good kid. Morton often talked about developing a type of technology to get photos to actually move in real time while in magazines and newspapers. Hence why he called himself "Mokap" as in "Motion Capture." He had such a huge crush on Deanna Vorra, another nerdy girl with an interest in entomology. Wonder if they got together after high school. I quickly snapped a pic of the magazine and sent it to Cassie and Uncle Fujin. I got responses pretty quick. Cassie's message read, "I remember that Morton guy! Nice guy. I thought I saw him and Deanna from high school at Giuseppe's a while back." Uncle Fujin's read "Hmm, interesting. Perhaps you should give him a proper interview."

I placed my items on the belt and nodded in greeting at the cashier….before I nearly shit my pants. This person recognized me all right. It was Brian's younger sister. Like my buddy from high school, remember? She stared at me with her eyes the size of dinner plates.

"V…Vic?" she croaked. Her name was Daniela by the way. I kind of gave a stupid wave.

"Uh yeah, hi," I said. "L...long time no see." Again, Daniela didn't move. Not a great idea because the person behind me looked like they wanted to cause trouble.

"Hey, the fuck is the hold up," they said to her. I turned to them and gave them quite the stink eye.

"Who are you lookin at?! You gonna propose?!" they growled. Oh ok? You wanna be a dick?! Fine!

"No," I said in the Thrash voice. "But I will put you through multiple aisles if you open your mouth again. I do not care how much money you spend here either." The person's demeanor was shattered instantly and it was glorious. Their eyes shot from me to the tabloid article about me a few times. Then I got up right in their face.

"No one. Will believe you," I said and backed off (thankfully Daniela had started scanning my items). Home slice ran over to the self checkout area instead and started to frantically scan their items in order to get away from me. I turned back to Daniela and nodded.

"It's me. I survived. Keep it on the DL though," I whispered. "Yes, my sister knows. About both things."

"How?!" Daniela whispered.

"Must've happened when I was walking home from your parent's house or something," I said and suppressed a twinge of rage.

"Do…Do I tell someone?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Keep it on the DL for now. By the way, yes, I am also Thrash. How's Brian? Butthead still listening to Ride the Lightning nonstop?" I asked as I bagged my groceries. That seemed to confirm to Daniela that I was who I said I was.

"Cassie must be ecstatic," she said as I handed her the two bills. My total was just over 50 bucks. Bogus.

"That," I said and took my change. "Is an understatement. Nice seeing you Dani."

Later that night. At Johnny's House.

Right so apparently, Cassie (and by proxy, me) had been roped into house sitting for her parents while Johnny was on location on the East Coast shooting some scenes for his new movie "Timequake 3." Yeah, there are 3 of those. I think I saw the first one but the second one is a big no. I was currently sitting in the indoor jacuzzi near the indoor pool waiting for Cassie to join me. Next to me were some wings I had leftover from lunch. I looked up at the sound of footsteps and nearly dropped the wing I was eating into the warm water. Standing before me was Cassie in a light blue two piece swimsuit. She was standing there with her arms crossed and saw that she had painted her nails light green since this morning. I was told to meet her here and was given the gate key of ABACABB to let myself in. Plus, she told me to bring a bathing suit. Which I was wearing. It had the Batman symbol on it. It was AWESOME.

"Really," Cassie said and began to walk over and motioned to my plate of wings next to me on the edge of the jacuzzi.

"What, these are my water wings," I responded. Cassie rolled her eyes at my totally hilarious joke and joined me in the jacuzzi and let out a small "ooh!" of comfort when she sat on the underwater bench next to me.

"I did just order some pizza you know," she said and laid her head against me.

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed happily. "You KNOW I love it when it's pizza time!" I received a kiss.

"That's why I did it dummy," Cassie said and reached over to grab a wing. "I figured we needed some more food for movie night."

"I like the way you think Cass," I answered and scratched her head in affection. She let out a small "mmm" of happiness.

"How was your day at work?" I continued.

"Eh, same old same old. Typical oil changes and maintenance checks. I was able to work on my bike with Jim during some down time. We managed to fix it," she explained.

"Jim? Like the owner right?" I asked. Cassie nodded.

"Vic, the guy is around 60 years old and has been married to the secretary for over 30 years. They have 3 kids," Cassie said. "Relax. I love you."

"Hey, I wasn't insinuating that you liked him," I retorted.

"Yeah ok," Cassie said and rolled her eyes. She had finished her wing and put the bone back on the plate off to one side. I took the opportunity to dunk her head under the water. She resurfaced coughing a little and stared at me, her face dripping with warm water.

"Butthead!" she exclaimed and then grinned evilly.

"Oooh, I'm so scared of you," I teased. Cassie placed her hand on my shoulder…and then I felt something else on my opposite shoulder. I turned to see one of Cassie's shadow clones with their hand on my shoulder just like the real Cassie. I could even feel the grip it was placing on me. I turned back to Cassie who still had that grin. I sighed and accepted my fate. Both Cassie and Shadow Cassie dunked me in the water where I got a blurry view of her stomach and crossed legs. Hot. In both ways honestly.

I resurfaced seconds later and coughed a little bit myself. Then Cassie kissed me. She tasted like BBQ sauce but her lips were still incredibly soft.

"We're even," she said and then high fived her shadow clone before it disappeared. I looked over to see two stray wing bones sinking to the bottom of the pool. Bugger. Quickly fished those out and placed them on the floor near the plate that still had a good amount of chicken on it.

"Hey, I have a question," Cassie asked. I pulled my wet hair out of my face and placed my arm around her.

"What?" I asked.

"What did you used to call yourself when you were writing stupid country songs to make fun of the genre? It was bugging the shit out of me today," she asked. I furrowed my brow trying to think while Cassie grabbed a non wet wing and nibbled on it. That's when I remembered.

"Ranch Dressin'," I said in an over the top western accent and pretended to tip my invisible cowboy hat. "I believe my non-existent backup band was called 'The Chicken Wings'." Cassie giggled.

"Yes! I remember now!" she said and reached for the nearby remote. That's when the doorbell rang. Cassie and I exchanged a glance.

"Wow, that was fast," I said and climbed out of the jacuzzi. "You pay by card?" Cassie nodded.

"Tipped online too," she said. She still looked confused though. I pulled on my sleeveless shirt as the doorbell rang again.

"Yeah yeah, I'm on my way," I said in a loud voice. I walked to the door and opened it expecting to see the pizza guy. Instead I caught a very short glimpse of a group of people standing outside before the one in the front delivered quite the spin kick to my stomach. I found myself flying backwards down the hallway and smashed on the floor while Cassie shrieked. Winded a little bit, I managed to get to my feet to see that no less than eight people had forced their way into Johnny's house. One of them, the one who kicked me, looked as though they were the leader. I guessed female judging by the physique. I could see strands of dark red hair peeking out from their hood. The person spoke.

"Well, well, well, Mr. Harris," they said. Voice sounded female, so I will refer to them as such.

"Who's askin," I said and heard Cassie join me. Dammit Cassie! Not the time!

"And Cage's daughter!" the female leader said. "Perfect!"

"Who the fuck are you?" Cassie demanded. Knew why. This leader woman was looking me up and down and Cassie wanted to mark her territory. She didn't need to. I'm not really into red heads all that much. The woman lowered her hood and Cassie and I laid our eyes on a caucasian woman with dark red hair and a scar across her eye.

"Kira," she said wickedly. "I know who you are, Mr. Harris. You can either come quietly or we can beat the shit out of you both until you cooperate."

"Tempting, but that's a yikes hard pass from me," I said and raised my hands in defense. The cultits plus Kira laughed.

"Fine then. This will be fun, beating you two into a pulp. It'll be an easy victory. Flawless even," Kira taunted.

Before I could answer, one of the other cultists gagged loudly as a blade pierced their throat. The body fell forward with a thud and behind it stood my uncle in a jacket and some black jeans wearing a look I have never seen on his face before. Pure. Unadulterated. Rage. I'll admit, I nearly crapped myself until I saw his rage wasn't directed at me.

"You. Are horribly misinformed," Uncle Fujin said in a voice positively dripping with malice. Cassie and I exchanged looks of concern.

"YOU!" Kira shouted and took her attention away from Cassie and I. I went to assist my uncle but he glared at me and shook his head before motioning to Cassie. I didn't object. Apparently, this was his fight. Wonder if he knew this Kira woman judging by the intense stare down he was giving her. Nothing happened for a few seconds and then one of the cultists moved and, for the first time ever, I saw my uncle in action. Have you ever felt the wind move effortlessly through a room from window to window or saw a stream of water run through a forest with nothing obstructing its path? That was currently the scene I was witnessing with Cassie frozen in awe beside me. Uncle Fujin had his sword on his back and kept his right hand on the hilt as he dodged every single one of the cultists' strikes as if he was the wind himself. His eyes didn't even leave Kira's. Then I watched him front flip over one of the cultists and slice their head off with one motion, did a forward roll as he landed on the ground and then sliced the legs off another attacking cultist before bringing the blade down on their neck. Uncle Fujin left the blade sticking out of the dead cultist's neck and then I watched him throw up some ninjutsu-like hand signs. He threw them out so fucking fast I couldn't even describe to you what they looked like. What I can tell you was that a wind blade cut some charging cultists in half and he used strong gusts to toss others away. Then Uncle Fujin spin kicked another and brought down his foot in an axe kick which in turn splattered the cultist's face all over Johnny's hardwood floor. One of the few remaining cultists then pulled out a fucking gun and started blasting. Cassie shrieked and I pulled up a wind barrier before shielding her behind me. I needn't have bothered. Uncle Fujin used the wind it self to wrench the guy's entire fucking arm off. Quicker than my eye could follow, Uncle Fujin unloaded and completely dismantled the firearm with one hand while blocking aggressive and strong looking attacks with little effort with the other. Then, he retrieved his sword, performed two slashing attacks ending with a stab on another cultist. The blade pierced right through the guy's stomach and his body was then kicked away and fell to pieces. The remaining cultists charged Uncle Fujin all at once but all my uncle did was sheathe his sword on his back and hold his hands against his chest with one palm facing the ceiling and the other at the wall. Right before the cultists were about to tackle my uncle, he released blades of air at them. The blades went in straight lines away from Uncle Fujin and I noticed that there were none aimed at where Cassie and I were standing. The cultists fell apart in gooey squelchy chunks but Kira had managed to dodge. Uncle Fujin opened his eyes and laid them on Kira again. Oh, by the way, that whole thing happened in less than 5 minutes. Fuck.

Uncle Fujin glared at Kira with that look of venom again and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and crossed his other arm in front of his chest with two fingers pointing upward. I looked at Cassie who I saw was looking at me in fear.

"Did you know he could do that?" she whispered. I shook my head and took her trembling hand.

"They told me you were dead!" Kira growled and started to circle my uncle like a wolf. Uncle Fujin followed her in the opposite direction.

"Surprise," he snarled back. Man, I haven't heard him this angry since he caught me sneaking back in from being Thrash early on in my "career." Dude made me do yard work all the next day as punishment.

"What do you want with him? Was Kimi not enough?" Uncle Fujin growled. Wait…Kimi? WHAT DID THIS KIRA FUCK DO WITH MY SISTER?! I went to move but Uncle Fujin snarled "No nephew. She is mine." Kira glanced back at me and smirked.

"You view him as your son don't you windbag? Trying to replace his real dad aren't you? How did you feel when your precious older sister died by our glorious leader's hand. Does wittle Fujin miss his big sister Lauren," Kira taunted. That was a terrible move and even I knew it. Because Uncle Fujin had moved like a hurricane force wind. Kira was barely able to block his slice with two butterfly knives she pulled from shoulder holsters.

"You do not speak of her," Uncle Fujin snarled through gritted teeth. "NEVER!" Then I watched Uncle Fujin engage Kira in one of the fastest and fiercest sword fights I had ever witnessed. This was not going to be a fight to incapacitate, oh no. This was 100% a fight to the death. I felt Cassie squeeze my hand every time Uncle Fujin barely parried a lethal strike. I watched him and Kira perform various acrobatics from running along the walls, lightning quick disarming maneuvers and even a sucker punch or two (courtesy of Uncle Fujin that is). After about ten minutes of nonstop blade clangs, Uncle Fujin got the upper hand. He rolled under a sloppy high attack and countered with a slash of his own which connected. I saw red blood gush from the cut he just made across Kira's chest. But Uncle Fujin wasn't done, he spun counterclockwise and did a rising strike that sent him and Kira towards the ceiling. While still in the air, he did another three strike combo before he sheathed his sword (still midair by the way), grabbed her bleeding body, turned upside down and they both started to corkscrew towards the ground. I heard bones break and flesh rip as Kira's spine exploded when she and Uncle Fujin hit the ground with Kira's head taking the full force of the maneuver. Uncle Fujin lept back in the air and landed on the ground facing us in a ninja-like pose. Kira was still alive somehow as I could hear her croaking "R…ek…R…ek…" Uncle Fujin walked over to her, pulled out his sword once more and said "Stay away from my nephew. Scum," before stabbing her in the spine, ending her life. "Flawless Victory," he added and pulled the blade vertically, slicing Kira in half from the stomach up.

Before Cassie and I found out that we had the ability to move and speak, Uncle Fujin wiped the blood from his sword in the crook of his arm and sheathed it. Then he performed those rapid hand movements again and I felt and saw gale force winds transport the bodies out of Johnny's foyer. It got all the chunky parts but left the pools of blood. I had a silent argument with Cassie as to who should speak first. I lost.

"Uncle," I asked tentatively. Uncle Fujin, still with his back to me, held up his finger and took deep breaths. Bet you he was trying to calm down. He was rather angry. Eventually, he turned to face me and Cassie and I could see that his mood returned to normal.

"Kimi is safe at home with Kurtis Vic. You need not worry," Uncle Fujin answered and walked over to the pair of us. Cassie immediately hugged him. Uncle Fujin, while surprised, returned the hug and smiled at me. I opened my mouth to say thanks but Cassie instead grabbed me and made me hug my uncle. He smelled like he always did. Like what you would think an ocean breeze at sunset would smell like…mixed with a little bit of blood. I felt Uncle Fujin pat me on the back and I returned the gesture.

"Thanks Uncle," I said. He let go of me and still had his comforting smile on his face.

"I figured they were coming here, but I didn't expect you both to be here. That is why I got so angry," he explained. "I would not lose my nephew and my other favorite student to this cult."

"Oh, so you were tracking them again?" Caisse asked. Uncle Fujin nodded.

"Indeed," he said. "After their failed attack to apprehend your father the other night, they figured that…kuso yarō…and her 'elite' team was well suited for the task as I overheard them saying," he explained. I wanted to ask what he meant by "was Kimi not enough," but Uncle Fujin, as usual, read my expression.

"When your sister was still an infant, Kira managed to find out where your parents lived. This was before the home you grew up in. She snuck in and stole your sister out of her crib, intending to present her to Jarek to use a leverage to get your mother to cooperate with his demands as he too figured out where she lived. Your father happened to be coming back from the bathroom and attempted to stop her but she had already escaped with Kimi. Within the hour, your parents and I were scouring the city for Kira until I eventually cornered her after hearing the faint cries of my niece on the winds. I stalled Kira and rescued Kimi. Your parents arrived shortly after where I saw the full rage of your mother become unleashed for the first time in a long time. It was the first time Dante had ever seen what Hikari could do. She used a white hot beam of light to give Kira that scar and she fled. Hikari was so afraid that Dante would leave her after seeing what she could do but instead, he embraced both her and his daughter," Uncle Fujin explained. He directed that last sentence at Cassie by the way. I meanwhile was almost apoplectic with fury. These fucking bastards had stolen a baby from their parents?! Nope! I don't fucking think so! I'm taking this cult down. I felt Cassie's hands on my shoulders and that calmed my rage.

"Does…does Kimi know about that?" I asked. Uncle Fujin nodded.

"I told her about it shortly after the cult resurfaced. She and Kurtis are looking into their associates as well as known members. I even told her about the various times she and I interacted when she was younger. Vic, you do not have to do this alone. Trust me. You need us," Uncle Fujin said. Cassie squeezed my hand again. I looked over at her and saw the determination in her eyes. Seeing her being this willing to avenge my mom and dad just made me love her more. She smiled at me and kissed my hand a few times.

"Now, I believe I am interrupting a rather fun date night between you two and…oh dear. It appears I have accidentally knocked a plate of chicken wings into the jacuzzi. But that seems to not be a problem," he said and pointed to the door behind us. Standing there was the guy from It's ALWAYS Pizza Time standing there with wide eyes and two large pizzas in his hand.

"Uh…uh…" he stammered. Uncle Fujin walked over, took the pizzas and placed them on the table nearby.

"I will handle him. I was on the way to the movies anyway for a date when I sensed these, as you say, bozos. You should be alright for the rest of the evening. I have your father's friend Kenshi stationed nearby Miss Cage. Call him if you need any more assistance but again, I believe you are all ok. Now where's my…ah! Yes! There they are!" Uncle Fujin pulled out a slightly squashed box of Raisinets from his jacket, opened it and ate one. He smiled at the two of us and began speaking to the delivery guy as he closed the door to the house.

"This man out here thinks Raisinets are good…" I mumbled. Cassie and I exchanged glances again before she realized that I was pretty much half naked and used another shadow clone to push me into her arms.

"Mine," she said and kissed me on the mouth. "I saw how bad you wanted to help, but you did the right thing."

"Cass," I interjected. She continued kissing me on the neck. "We gotta clean up the mess in the jacuzzi and the blood on the floor." Cassie pouted.

"Then cuddles?" she asked. "Pwease?" I nodded. We got to work. Cassie's clones helped exponentially and eventually I found myself cuddling with Cassie with her hand going up and down my bare chest in the jacuzzi while watching movies.

I kept going over one thing in my mind the whole night though. Never ever make my uncle that angry at me or anyone else I care about. Because holy. Fucking. Shit.