Chapter Thirty-Two: Not Exactly Painless...

Tyranna paused for a moment. "Father..." she began. As she closed her eyes to reflect on her supposed new-found gift, she heard a scream within her mind. Had Pikachu been able to see Tyranna’s eyes, he would have know that she had broken free of his power. "...thank you, but I no longer wish to be free. I wish to serve you, dear father..." she continued. Pikachu looked at his daughter puzzled. He could remember her always wanting to be free of her demon blood, what she considered her sinned half. Pikachu silently grunted, for this had just ruined his plan to get rid of Rini. Then he silently sighed. He figured if she was finally going to obey, he should take advantage of it. "Very well..." the demon smiled. "I want you to help out your cousins and sister in kidnapping Angelise." Tyranna looked up at her father. "I have a sister?" she asked, genuinely puzzled. This was the first she had heard of a sibling other than Edwin. Pikachu nodded. "Yes. I hid her away with her mother like I did with you," he explained. "If the angels were to find either of you, they would likely kill you. You more than her, for they would see you as a traitor." "Does... does she know that she is your child?" Tyranna asked, still partially confused by this sudden turn of events. "Yes she does, my child." Pikachu replied. "...may I see mother?" she asked suddenly. He looked at her for a moment. "I don’t see why not." Pikachu spoke. "Follow me, and I’ll show you where she is." Pikachu then led Tyranna to the dungeon.

"That’s Tyranna’s mother!?" Gatoris gasped in both awe and disgust. He looked at the angel in the cell. By the way her skin fit loosely upon her body, she looked like she hadn’t been fed in the last month or so. "I know what you are thinking, Gatoris..." Heretus butted in. "It’s been much longer than that since she’s had a good meal. Ever since Pikachu took me off of guarding her, and that’s been years now..." If Pikachu could treat this angel in such a manner, Gatoris pondered to himself, imagine what he does to his own child... The neglected angel hissed at the three, her pupils absent from her eyes. Heretus placed his hand through the bars, and the angel crawled to it. As she crawled closer, Gatoris could see more clearly the scars and welts that consumed her body. "Michael..." the angel spoke in a faint, raspy voice. "It’s okay, Katryin..." Heretus whispered to her. "...I’m taking good care of your child..." Gatoris clenched his fist in rage. He could not stand the thought of anyone being put through what this angel has. "She’s going to come with us, Michael," he said in a stoic manner. Heretus looked at him, half confused, half worried. "How we going to pull that off?" he asked. "Pikachu’s gonna notice if ‘is toy disappears." Gatoris’ face begin to show signs of displeasure. "I cannot let Pikachu do this to one of my kind..." he muttered through clenched teeth. Heretus then looked Gatoris in the face. "Listen. I know the story of your father, Garret..." he said in a low tone. "I’m the only reason she’s alive today. I am the only one who has fed her!" At that, he pulled out a handful of some type of grain and placed his hand back to Katryin. She hurriedly ate it, for it had been at least a week since someone had fed her. She then turned to Gatoris. "Get... Tyranna out... Forget me...." she weakly uttered. "...too late... for me..." Before Gatoris had a chance to take a swing at the cell door, the group heard footsteps coming their way...

"What???" Cathy Mackenzie shouted. "Alma was a kind, yet restless, spirit who came to comfort me and Garrett," Angelina explained. "Do you realize who she was the spirit of?" Cathy spoke. Angelina nodded. "The wife of Cornelius Hargrove, founder of this town." she answered. Cathy just shook her head. "We’ve been talking to a ghost all this time..." she muttered. Angelina smiled down upon her daughter sleeping in her crib. "Your house is on the site of the original Deadwood Mine, which is where she died." Angelina explained. Cathy remembered reading about Alma Hargrove’s death at the town’s Coal Museum. She was running the mine shortly after her husband had died, and she decided to pay a visit to the mine. Unfortunately, there was a tragic mine explosion that day that killed 75 workers, and she was with those workers at the time. "Why would she have come to you?" Cathy pondered aloud. "I can understand Garrett, but not you..." "She had a young child that died shortly after birth..." Angelina began to explain. "For some reason, she felt the need to see that it didn’t happen to Angelise..." "I didn’t realize how strange my brother’s friends were..." Cathy said in awe. "I understand that father..." Tyranna said to Pikachu, "but why did my mother have to be an angel? It means I am stuck with their cursed blood..." Deep inside, Tyranna cringed when she said that. She didn’t truly believe that, but she felt that she must go along with her father in order to find a way to save Rini from Pikachu. "Shit happens" was all Pikachu replied. "Look at it this way..." he then said. "Katryin was a loyal spy for me, so I rewarded her with you." Tyranna immediately knew her father was lying. She knew that Katryin was kidnapped and brainwashed by him. As the two walked, they spotted Heretus holding Gatoris and Cory by their arms. "And where are you going with my special prisoners?" Pikachu asked of him. "I was going to have some fun with them, Lord Pikachu..." he replied. He then jerked Gatoris’ arm, causing him to wince in pain. "Fine, fine..." Pikachu sighed. "I want Cory back when you’re done with her. As for Gatoris..." Heretus had a feeling what Pikachu wanted done with him: "Go ahead and kill him." "As you wish, Lord Pikachu..." Heretus grinned coyly then started to lead Cory and Gatoris off. "Wait up, Michael..." Tyranna spoke. She then looked to Pikachu. "Can I take mother home with me?" she pleaded, leaning against the evil one. "You can consider it my birthday present..." Pikachu looked at his daughter. His ebony eyes, usually darker than a black hole, showed a silver color for a moment. Tyranna smiled inside, knowing what had just happened: her true father’s soul had found an opening to show itself. "Yes dear," he smiled. "I think Katryin would make an excellent pet for you..." Deep within her soul, Tyranna felt sick about this whole charade, especially referring to her own mother as a pet. Katryin crawled to Pikachu with no visible emotion. "Katryin..." he spoke to her. "You’re now Tyranna’s pet. I want you to obey her like you have me." Katryin whispered "yes, master..." then crawled to Tyranna. "Stand up, mother..." Tyranna said in a semi-sweet voice. Katryin did as asked, and stood up. Her flesh sagged from her bones greatly, and her welts, scars and bruises became more prominent. "You’re looking particularly healthy today, mother..." Tyranna continued in the same tone. Deep inside of her, the rage began to build. Rini’s spirit kept Tyranna’s anger in check, though. They both wanted to vomit at what Pikachu had done to Katryin. "If you say so, mistress..." Katryin spoke solemnly. Tyranna’s spirit began to cry deep inside of her at the sound of her mother referring to her own child like that. "Michael," Tyranna spoke, "take my mother home with you, and wait for me." Heretus caught a gleam in her eye that eluded Pikachu’s vision. "Yes, my love..." he bowed and took Katryin’s chains. "Go with Michael now..." Tyranna whispered into her mother’s ear. She nodded and followed Heretus and the others out of the dungeon. Tyranna then turned back to her father. "Now father..." she began, "tell me what you want me to do with my sister and cousins again?" Pikachu began to explain his plan to kidnap Angelise... "You’ve got a visitor, Angelina..." Mina called from the living room. "Your friend Setsuna’s here..." Angelina shook her head and held back a laugh. She then began to ponder why Setsuna was visiting her. "Hello, Angelina..." Setsuna said from the doorway. When Angelina looked her in the eye, she knew that she had come because of Angelise. She then noticed Setsuna’s feet. "You didn’t have to take your shoes off," Angelina sighed. "It’s not the custom around here." "Sorry..." Setsuna blushed. "How’s Angelise doing?" she asked. "Sleeping like the angel she is..." Angelina smiled as she looked into her daughter’s crib. She was right, Angelise was sleeping peacefully.

Setsuna placed the briefcase that she was carrying down on a table lightly. She then opened it, revealing a ludicrous amount of money. "This is..." Setsuna began before Angelina stood up. "I refuse to take any of it..." she spoke softly. "...For Angelise..." Setsuna finished, sighing. "I understand your pride, Angie..." Setsuna started, and then paused after she became unsure on how to continue. She then knew what she wanted to say. "At least let me take care of her school costs when she gets older." Angelina looked down at her daughter again. "She could afford to go to any college she desired." Setsuna added. "That, and she could go to the finest high sch…" "She’s going to go to Deadwood..." Angelina butted in. "Garrett would have wanted her to go there, too." She then began to feel her hands for no apparent reason. She stopped when she got to her ring finger, feeling how it was bare. "My baby’s going to think of me as some kind of slut when she grows up..." Angelina began to whisper. "I can’t lie to her and say that I was married to her father, then she find out different..." Setsuna gave her a hug as she cried. "It’s okay..." Setsuna spoke gently. "Angelise will not think of you like that..." "Perhaps you’re right," Angelina sighed. "Maybe I’m being self-conscious."

"...On second thought..." Pikachu spoke after telling his plan to Tyranna, "why don’t you go home and make sure your new pet gets adjusted properly." Tyranna started to pout on the outside, but cheer on the inside. "Anyway, they should be wrapping up about now." Tyranna acted dejected as she went to follow Heretus and the others. As soon as she exited, one of the demon Senshi crawled into the dungeon. "Father..." she muttered, covered in her own blood. "We...we..." Pikachu rushed to her with sincere concern. He then picked his child up and held her close. "Tell me what happened, my dear child..." he whispered. "Tell me who hurt my dear Lita..." As Pikachu held her, Lita began to feel her body heal. The wound on her chest began to close. "Nova joined with Jessica..." she began, on the verge of crying. "The bitch killed them..." As Pikachu tried to comfort his daughter, he had an idea. "I have something I want you to do..." he whispered in an evil tone. "I want you to flush the impurity from your sister..." Lita then screamed "she is not my sister! She is mazou, the Unforgiven... I am your only true child, father..." Pikachu smiled. "If you cleanse her, she will be your true sister." he falsely explained. "Deliver her soul to me, and I will make her pure." Lita smiled. "A true sister..." she giddily whispered to herself. "And while you’re at it," Pikachu added, "Kill Heretus. He’s beginning to develop a ...rebellious air." "No problem," Lita said happily. "I always thought Heretus was an asshole. He liked to spoil my fun." Lita then walked to where she felt the two may be. "You want me to do what, miss Bradford?" a man asked. The Sedgewick County courthouse was rather empty, as it usually was on Saturdays. "I want to be legally married to Garrett Mackenzie..." she sighed. "Only problem is, he’s already passed on." Angelina then looked at Angelise as she slept in her arms. "I don’t want our child to think that she was an accident produced out of wedlock..." "I wish I could help," the judge sighed, "but seeing how Mr. Mackenzie is deceased, I cannot..." Angelina then placed Angelise on the judge’s desk. "Make sure my angel gets a good home..." she sighed, beginning to cry. She then proceeded to leave. As the judge looked at Angelise, a tear came to his eye. "Wait, miss Bradford..." the he pleaded. "I want you to know I’m staking my professional reputation on this.." A small smile began to envelop Angelina’s face. "Your child... there’s something about her that makes me want to do this for her and you." The smile widened as Angelina walked back to the judge. "Now all we need is someone to forge Mr. Mackenzie’s signature." Angelina then pulled a rubber stamp out of her purse. "I thought he was silly and/or lazy for getting this..." she smiled, "but it finally came in handy."

"According to this document..." the judge began, "You were legally married to Mr. Garrett Mackenzie on September 17th, 1999, the day before he died." "Thank you, your honor..." Angelina’s smile continued to grow. "If anything happens because of this document, I will be the one to take the fall," the judge added. "...but I feel it is worth it for your peace of mind, Mrs. Mackenzie..." Angelina then felt her hand again, feeling a ring on the once-bare finger. It was originally her mother’s wedding ring, but Mina had agreed to let her daughter borrow it until she got one of her own. "By powers not even vested in me..." the judge began to joke, "I pronounced you and Mr. Mackenzie man and wife over a year ago."

"You have got to be kidding me..." Gatoris said as she stared in awe at Pikachu's cathedral. "I know..." Heretus sighed. "His ego is bigger than this place, though." "...but the only way to where we need to go is through here..." Tyranna said, joining up with them. "We need to get to one of the only people who can get me out of little Usagi's body again and free the demon that's taking hold of my mother..." As they walked through the cathedral, a figure appeared at the altar. Gatoris mumbled under his breath. "So... you're trying to escape, mazou?" Lita hissed. Tyranna started to run at the demon Senshi, but Heretus put his arm out to stop her. "Let me take care of her..." Tyranna grabbed Heretus’ sword from his back and growled "No, I can deal with my own sister." Gatoris rolled his eyes. "Who the hell does Pikachu think he is, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins?" he blurted out. Everybody, even Cory, ignored the outburst. "No, Tyranna..." Heretus groaned. "Get out of here. Free yourself and your mother. I’ll catch up with ye..." Heretus then reclaimed his sword. Tyranna reluctantly ran to a corridor. Gatoris grabbed Cory and Katryin just as Heretus lunged for Lita. The last he saw of the two, they had taken a plunge through the stained-glass window depicting the scene of Fusaichi, the fusion of the worlds (the event that created the modern world and destroyed the ancient Cetra world.) Gatoris then ran after Tyranna. "In here, and we’ll be safe..." she spoke. Gatoris the looked at the star-shaped portal and groaned. If there was one dimension he disliked more than Usagi’s....