7: Hey!

10: Yeah. . Hey! Story time! *sits on circle mat*

7: *looks at 10 strangely* what in the FLIPPING NAME OF FROND are you doing?

10: *pouts* don't be mean to me. I like circle mats. And it's a tradition for story time.

7: Well, traditionally stories in "story time" don't have blood, gore, evil cackling, and rape.

10: nope. Not any more. These are our stories, and they have all of these things! ;) and we aren't the typical story tellers.

7: *sighs* but, unfortunately, the original author refuses to write like us, so we must write in fanfiction (that's my version of a disclaimer and the best you guys are getting)

10: *sighs* well at least I didn't have to do it this time. *looks up at readers* of course I wrote the beginning of the first chapter. You can tell cause it's sadistic and gory. :)

7: And I wrote the surprising, evil cliffhanger at the end! MWAHAHAHAHA! (told you there would be evil cackling)

10: yes, yes. Lots of evil cackling. From you and Opal. I don't cackle evilly, though I can say some of that evil does come from me. . .I'm an evil person. *smiles* enjoy the story!

"I won't break for you."

The voice was weak, and faint, but defiant all the same.

The voice's owners torturer, the one and only "Empress" Opal Koboi, laughed wickedly. "Oh, my dear, stupid, little elf, you have already broken for me, and in more ways than one. You are quite broken physically, as anyone can see, and I am slowly wearing down your mental barriers as well. You don't stand a chance. Under my control, none of you LEP scum will last much longer. No one who opposed me will, now or whenever they show up."

She stepped forward, pressing her full body weight on Holly Short's leg, and baring her teeth in triumph when she heard it snap and Holly cry out softly in pain. "And you, Short. . You and your commander will be the first to go."

Holly squeezed her eyes closed and tilted her head up toward the ceiling, breathing deeply and trying to focus on forming a coherent thought through the pain. "You don't even have Julius yet, Opal. And you won't anytime soon."

Opal snarled, and the crack her hand meeting the elf's flesh made seemed to be exaggeratedly loud in the silence. "Wrong! Because, Short, I have you. . And since we both know you were coming away from that scrapyard with a mission, it doesn't take a genius - even though I am one - to figure out that Julius must be hiding somewhere not far away." She smiled evilly when Holly grimaced and looked away. "I'm right, aren't I?" She laughed. "I knew it."

"You are such a twisted bastard," Holly growled. "I hate you, Opal."

"Oh, I know," Opal replied. "I savor it. I hate you too. And that's what makes this all the sweeter." She looked over at the guards behind Holly and nodded. "Get rid of her."

"The chamber, Empress?" one asked, as they hoisted Holly up by the arms. She winced in pain at the jostling, but didn't speak.

"No, not yet. Just take her out to the cell block for now." Koboi turned her back then. The dismissal was clear.

Despite the seemingly grim situation, Holly felt a spark of hope. Opal's words gave her an idea. She had said 'out'. The cell block must have been a different building, which meant they had to go outside to get to it. . .

I could escape, Holly thought. It'd be painful as hell, but I could. . . But where would I go?

The answer was obvious. She hated it, hated him, but even from day one of Opal's rule she knew there was only one person who might have a chance of stopping Opal. Only another evil genius would be able to outwit this evil genius. And at this point, if she could manage to get up there, she didn't care if she had to grovel to him on her hands and knees to get him to help. She would do it. It wasn't like she had any dignity left anyways.

She was jolted from her thoughts as a rush of cold air hit her. Obviously they were out now.

She looked around through blurry eyes and saw the building they were walking towards. It was broken down and looked like it was almost in ruins, and the gray stone walls appeared to be crumbling. However, it must have been solid if Opal trusted it to hold her.

Holly closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain she knew the stunt she was planning to pull would cause her. She could only hope it would be enough, and that she could cope, because if not it would all be for nothing.

They approached the wall, and the guards turned so they wouldn't have to let her go to make it inside the ruined doorway. It presented the perfect chance, and she took it.

Swinging her body forward, she brought her legs up to the one side of the doorway and pushed with all the force she could muster. Her head cracked against the cold stone as she slid down the doorframe and pulled her arms free, rolling underneath their feet before either fairy had time to react.

They both looked to the ground where she had been seconds before, but she was already around the corner and hiding in a break in the rock building. After the goons regained their wits and followed her, she was already hidden from sight, and, assuming she had ran off, they both split up and ran in different directions in search of her.

After that she crawled out of her hiding place, keeping low to the ground, and quickly (but it seemed slow to her because of the pain) dragged herself to the scrapyard again. There she found a pair of old wings that didn't look to be in much better shape than she was, but worked, and slid them on, flying as fast as she could to the shuttle port and blasting to the surface.

She knew what she had to do.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I just do not feel comfortable leaving you alone for a month, Artemis." Butler said into the phone.

"Butler, I am going to be fine." Artemis replied, walking to the kitchen in search for something to eat.

"Why cant you just call Juliet from her house? She would be happy to come over."

"I know you are excited, old friend. But please remember why I am not there with you. Juliet is giving birth and you are going to the hospital. I wanted to stay at the manor to finish an important project."

"Right, sorry. This is just all so stressful."

"I know." The 25 year-old opened the refrigerator door, looking inside for a moment before sighing and closing the door. "Fair warning; I will be leaving the house tomorrow to get some groceries, like it or not."

"Artemis-"

"Focus on the road, Butler, and call me when you get a moment to yourself. Tell Juliet I wish that I could be there and I wish her well." Artemis interrupted before ending the call.

He rubbed his face, sleepiness setting in. It was almost midnight at the Manor, but Artemis had a new project he had started on days before. As bad as he wanted to go to bed and get some sleep, he wanted to finish a portion of it before daybreak.

Artemis was just about to climb up the white grand stairs when a very faint knock came from the front door behind him. Artemis stopped in his tracks, not sure if he heard the knock correctly or not, but it soon came again.

The young man walked to the door, opening it cautiously without looking through the peephole. When he saw what was outside, he flung open the door.