The Forgotten Zodiac

By the time Kazue managed to cut the rope, Rush was too close to the edge of the barrier. He rolled onto his side, coughing, when one of the Units managed to get a hold on what was left of the rope, yanking Rush onto the other side. Once again, they simply performed a spell to bind him. They were quick in dragging him off, this time, though. Lydia just skipped back behind the Units, who were just waiting for Kazue to come onto their side of the barrier so they could capture him, too.

Kazue followed Rush, proceeding to once again try and rescue his son. He was much weaker this time, though. He was still intent on trying a rescue, however weak he may be.

The Units just cast their spell and ropes sprang out of nowhere, wrapping around Kazue. They would only grow tighter the more he struggled, of course. Rush was already out of sight as the Units had dragged him away. They had neglected to put a gag in his mouth, though. His screams echoed through the Library.

Underneath the Library, VCF stirred.

Kazue reverted, out of energy needed to transform. He hissed at the Units, struggling wildly. "Stop! Let us go!" he cried.

LSO looked over. She nudged VPS. "Did you see that?" she asked, pointing to VCF.

The Units ignored both Kazue and Rush, dragging them both away from the sanctuary. They dragged them with ease towards a small shed of some sort, throwing the both of them inside before slamming the door. There was little time to say anything before the floor dropped open, dropping Kazue and Rush down into a cage that hung from the ceiling of what appeared to be a cave.

There were a lot of things down here, most of them torture devices of sorts and the like. "Welcome to the detention room, Vessel. And Glitch." OO was waiting with his arms crossed; he was just a child, apparently, but power flowed off of him in heavy, nauseating waves. "Such a touching reunion, don't you think so? I am the Operation Overseer. In other words, I'm in charge."

Kazue hissed at OO. "Let us go!" he snapped.

((...fail. dying. brain death. dead.))

((-uses pheonix down on your brain- I forgot to reply with VPS, sorry.))

"Mm, let me think about that one. No." OO rolled his eyes, laughing. "I'm going to get rid of the Vessel first, then I'm going to have a little fun with you. Have you ever heard of the Function Tourney? Of course you haven't, it's completely secret to everyone who doesn't participate in some way. See, some people capture useless little Functions and drop them into a ring and have them battle Units. It's most fun to watch. I wonder how many Functions you'll be able to take in your current state, Glitchy."

"What?!" Rush squirmed into a sitting position. VPS had said something about functions having to be replaced a lot...

VPS looked up, having been distracted by her thoughts. "What?" She frowned, looking over at VCF as the function groaned, stirring more as though having a bad dream of some kind.

Kazue growled, scooting closer to Rush. "I won't let him lay a hand on you," he said to the boy. "I won't let anyone here harm you," he promised, even though he knew following through on these words would be near, if not, impossible.

LSO pointed again. "He's moving," she said.

Rush blinked and nodded, once again thinking about how all this wouldn't have happened if he had just died when KO and WO had tried to kill him.

"Oh, believe me, by the time I'm done, he won't matter to you at all anymore." OO chuckled. "Perhaps...oh, that's a wonderful idea. Splendid, if I do say so myself. I'll just drop both of you into the ring. Give me a few minutes to prepare things, yes? See you when I get back, and then you won't see me at all!" He laughed, walking towards the door, which led to a set of stairs apparently. Then he was gone.

"I see," VPS nodded, moving over to sit next to VCF. "Wake up, VCF..." She murmured, shaking him gently. "You have to wake up, Rush is down here, you have to send him back."

"He was screaming..." VCF mumbled, opening his eyes slightly, weakly. "Rush was screaming..."

Kazue hissed again as OO disappeared.

LSO looked at VCF. "You need to send Rush out of here, now," she said. "And while you're at it, teach some of us others how to do it as well," she said.

((I'd also like to mention that if Bermuda casts the spell of awakening on Rush while he's down in the library, the Vessel Control Operatr will be automatically set loose and that would be LOADS of fun. :T))

Rush sat back, making the cage swing a bit. "What are we going to do?" He whimpered, still very much tied up.

"Wh...what?" VCF blinked. "I...I have to be a lot closer, I can't send him back from anywhere..." He tried to sit up, but only got a few inches off the ground before his arms gave out and he dropped back down again. He shifted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small book. "You...have to be in contact for the first time, but...then it's a fifteen-foot range...the spell is there..." He held it out to them, his hand going limp again with the book in his palm.

"Alright. You stay here and rest, VCF. We'll get Rush back to his own world and start work on repairing the damage Lydia's done." AO said, nodding.

"Mind control..." VCF closed his eyes again. "I saw it...I saw everything...Lydia's po-possessed everyone, starting with KO and WO. It spread...VPS, if she gets into our heads, Rush...it'll s-spread to him..." Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes. It hurt to so much as speak. "I fought it back...s-so they tried to...to kill me..."

Kazue shook his head after straining against the /ropes/ for a while longer. "I don't know," he said. "BUt I'm working on it."

"Is there a way to snap them out of it?" LSO asked. She patted VCF's shoulder gently. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you don't die," she said reassuringly.

Rush swallowed hard. He would pull against his ropes more, but they were tightening the more he struggled. At this rate, they'd cut clean through his hands...

"I don't know..." VCF whimpered. "The Units know...try questioning one of t-them...so tired..." He opened his eyes again and smiled slightly. "Don't...don't worry about me...k-keep yourselves a-alive, I'm...I'm just a simple Function..."

Kazue offered him a reassuring smile. "Hey, it's alright. I'm here," he offered.

LSO smiled. "You guys go. I'll stay with VCF. I'm an expert when it comes to keeping things stable," she said.

"I know..." Rush sighed, nodding with a small smile. "At least...if we do die, we'll die together, right?"

"Of course you are," AO nodded. "We'll do that then, VCF. Thank you for the advice. VPS, let's go interroate some Units, shall we?"

"Right." VPS nodded, standing up. "Don't you worry, VCF, we'll get Rush back into his own body and then we'll start restoring the Library again. We'll be back before you know it."

Kazue smiled. "I'm already dead," he tried to joke. "But I assure you, I'm not going anywhere," he said.

That didn't seem to help Rush's mood at all. OO returned at this point, several Units with him now. They lowered the cage with a lever, allowing the metal 'container' to crash to the floor. They started dragging it across the floor, past the stairs and through a heavy door. "You two are going to have fun. I mean, you should, this is wonderful conditions for you two to go into battle with the SLUs. Most Functions are tortured before they're brought this way." OO chuckled, following them.

Kazue growled at OO. He looked to Rush. "I do whatever I can to ensure that you aren't hurt," he said. "When I transform, get on my back. I'll protect you," he murmured. Kazue's amber eyes then returned to glaring at OO.

Rush nodded quickly, though fear was plain in his eyes. They wouldn't last long, like this...he doubted the others would get here on time, either. They'd have to make it into the sanctuary, only to find that Rush and Kazue weren't there, and even then, Rush was pretty sure they'd have no idea about this place. We won't survive, Rush thought, trembling as he heard voices. We're going to die here...

The door was pushed open and the cage dragged through into a large room. There weren't very many people here, but all of them were being loud and roudy; assorted Systems and Operators, all placing their bets--not on who would win, but how long Rush and Kazue would last.

Kazue inched closer to Rush, as if to assure him of his protection. He glared at the crowd, growling under his breath. He wondered vaugely if they were going to be untied or not, but made plans for the latter.