Alan said, a very. Bad. Word.
I was so impressed, I momentarily forgot to be terrified.
... Definitely saving that one for a rainy day.
Before Cassandra even had a chance to start monologuing, Alan's hands resumed their task on the keyboard, rapidly typing out commands as though every second counted.
Meanwhile, in the head of Maddison Tramph, I was kicking myself for being an idiot.
Nigel hadn't shown any signs of feeling pain since we had been reunited, so it was easy to assume that whatever Cassandra had done to him at the Dance party of Doom to make him mortal required control of her satellite. Yet, here he was, in obvious pain...
So, either Nigel has been inexplicitly cured, or...
I clenched my hands painfully tight, to keep them from shaking.
Cassandra has regained control over the system.
"You know better than to touch Mommy's toys, Alan." Cassandra teased over the speakers, making my skin crawl.
Couldn't just get a normal villain, nooooo. Had to go with the crazy one that makes everything creepy.
"Can't you make this thing go any faster?" I breathed, watching the screen flicker through the options faster than I could read.
"Yea, but why rush?" Alan muttered, so bitterly I would have easily mistaken him for Alex under different circumstances. "Let me savour the Matricide..."
Cassandra tsked impatiently.
"If you're not going to listen, then I'm afraid you're going to have to go into time out."
I turned.
I couldn't help myself.
Her voice hadn't come from the speaker; this time...no...it sounded like it was in the room...
I looked up in time to see a white hand clenched down on Alan's shoulder.
...just like her.
There was a brief moment, a pause where she seemed to revel in our horror.
Alan closed his eyes, resigned, and let out a sigh.
So close.
I was on my feet, backing away in the same instant Cassandra ripped the tall boy away from the controls.
Thrown with brutal strength, Alan flew across the room. He hit the floor, sliding with the force before agilely rolling to his feet.
Cassandra stood in his place.
Red-head, sexy scientist Cassandra. Back from the dead.
The tall woman spared a glance in my direction, looking over her shoulder with a triumphant grin. Her eyes said it all.
You lose.
Alex didn't hesitate, leaping onto his Mother's back and wrapping his small arms around her neck in a chokehold.
...Can't say it didn't at least slow her down.
She took a moment to laugh.
Cassandra grabbed onto the small child, yanking him over her shoulder and slamming him down onto the ground.
"It's not nice to play rough baby." She cooed, continuing to hold him down.
Alex grunted with pain, shoving at the tall woman as she pinned him.
It was his brother who answered.
"We stopped playing a long time ago, Mother."
Alan slammed a foot into Cassandra's chest, forcing her to stumble back and off Alex.
The little boy shot to his feet, a blur of motion as he threw himself after the recovering woman.
Ducking under a swiping arm, he latched onto the flailing limb and used his whole body to twist it to the breaking point.
His expression remained frozen, even as his mother screeched.
Alan turned to us, hands on hips as his family members fought.
"Vain, as my senior pawn, I grant you permission to use my computer this one time... but if I catch you screwing around on Facebook I'll..."
"Shut up and keep her busy." Vain quickly stepped forward to take over the controls, gently nudging me so that I faced the screen once more.
Just this one time, I won't bite his fingers off for pushing me around...
Vain was nowhere near as fast as Alan on the keyboard, but he listened and followed Peri's instructions attentively, tuning out the mayhem going on behind us...
Which was already one step up from my own work ethic. It was becoming increasingly more surreal, ignoring the epic battle to do something disturbingly close to homework.
Nobody wants to watch the tech support save the day, that's why there's always a life or death battle going on in the background...
Alex cried out in pain, following an audible Snap of bone. I nearly bit through my lip in frustration.
...a little peek couldn't hurt?
"Pay attention."
I flinched guiltily.
Vain knew me far too well.
"You pay attention." I retorted, crossing my arms petulantly.
"I'm not the one getting distracted."
"What do you call this then?"
"You being a Brat."
I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth.
Well, If I wasn't distracted, I sure as Hell am now...
"Please, both of you..." Nigel whimpered, the golden-haired teen finally making his way to our side.
At least on this one thing, we could agree.
"Shut up Nigel."
Nigel shut up.
If we win, someone needs to erect a statue of that very act, because Nigel's sacrifice probably just saved the planet.
Really, if there was ever going to be a moment to tell Nigel how much I really appreciate him, now would be that moment... I mean, I could wait until we're officially dead... but that would mean visiting him in animal heaven...
Screw it. Open the flood gates and let the love flow forth.
"Nigel, I reserve the right to retract this statement if at any point it looks like we might not die horribly... but you were probably the best pet I ever had."
God. I hate being mushy.
"Maddison..." Overwhelmed with all the affection, Nigel brushed his fingertips against my back in place of the words he couldn't form.
"Don't let it get to your head. Your only competition was Mr Twinkle."
Nigel choked on what sounded suspiciously like a sob.
Cry, Baby.
Vain remained silent throughout the entire exchange. Probably too busy doing important stuff like saving the world to waste time on sentimentality.
"...You're just lucky that petty and insecure is my type." I muttered, not really putting a lot of thought into it.
Until his hands missed a beat... and I realised that almost sounded like me admitting that I actually like...
"Well, this is adorable."
Cassandra's voice was followed by Nigel's startled cry.
"Buuuut, I think I'll put a stop to it now."
A weight hit my back, slamming me face down into the metal below.
That's it. I officially hate my life.
Winded, I looked up to find a well-manicured hand crushing me...Nigel gone...And Cassandra wrapped around Vain in a way that hurt my delicate sensibilities.
I hissed in outrage, struggling with all my might to get out from under her hand and rip her head off.
"If you touch him, you creepy...GET YOUR HAND OUT FROM UNDER THERE!" I screeched, well and truly out of my mind with rage when I saw her hand reach into his pants and...
Pull out the gun.
Oh. She was just disarming him. Phew...
"So close." She giggled, reaching out, gun still in hand, to run her finger along the keyboard. "just a few commands to go..."Her nail tapped teasingly with every word. "Oh well."
"Yea, well...you're gonna wish we had succeeded when I'm done with you." I fumed, too angry to really care If my mouthing off really had any effect. "Your death just became substantially slower and more painful Lady!"
A terrible fate really. To be beaten to death by someone a fraction of your size...
Voice made flat by the overactivity of nanotechnology in his system, Alex struggled to protest. "Stop..."
"Just be quiet and behave like a good boy Alex." Cassandra dismissed her child with a flippant wave of the gun. "And maybe mommy will put your leg back together again. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Delightful.
"Now, Vain. Vain, Vain ,Vain. You're a clever boy, aren't you?" She sighed, ignoring my squirming to press her face closer to the shorter boys ear. " So I can't understand why you keep up the pretence of trying to defeat me! When we both know, your only option here is to...lets put it like this..."
Her voice dropped to a teasing whisper.
"Salvage what you can from the wreckage."
Vain's expression remained stony as Cassandra snuggled her face into his shoulder.
"I'm willing to negotiate." He announced calmly, keeping his gazed focused away from me.
"Don't you dare..." I started to protest, only to have the air crushed out of me.
Where are Alan and Alex? Heck, I'd settle for a measly Nigel at this point...
"This is the only offer boy. Take it..." Cassandra cocked the gun sharply to the side, pointing at someone I couldn't see. "Or I cut my losses."
Vain nodded as much as he could with a pervert rubbing at his neck.
"I'm listening."
"Don't worry," Cassandra smirked. "It's not so different from my last proposition."
You've done this before...?!
"I keep what is mine. You become my apprentice. I'll let her..." Cassandra pressed down especially hard, causing me to gasp. "...live. I'll even throw in the Joker, pro bono...you know why?"
Her pretty face twisted into a sneer.
"Because of this little stunt, I have to do damage control, which means making sure neither of them have any memory of this place."
The hand wrapped around me, lifting me up and raising me to eye level.
"Maddison Tramph and Nigel Fleming are going to experience some negative side effect of the nanotechnology. Severe memory loss that can only be attributed to their participation in the Shrink Program."
Oh. I see how it is. Killing us just wasn't good enough.
Vain met my gaze.
She just had to go and get creative.
"I going to wipe her mind clean, reset her back to the very first moment she stepped foot inside the Hill for the first time." Her smile grew.
"Two years ago."