Indeed, Puroko had stopped her whimpering, but it wasn't because of Amber's speech. In fact, she wasn't looking at Amber. She was looking past her at the open door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chibi stood in front of the open door to the first room he and Carrie had passed when they entered her house, trying to figure out what he seeing in there.
"Gebriel-san!" cried the little girl who seemed to be tied to her chair in there.
"Ne, Keri-chan? Why is Puroko-chan in your house?" he asked in confusion right before he was hit from behind by something that knocked him out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko and Mi-chan hid their bikes around the corner from the mansion they hoped they'd find their brother in. Mi-chan had to admit, it seemed like this was the place. The "vacant" mansion had extremely well-groomed grounds. If they didn't find Chibi here, she figured they'd at least find his kidnappers or some clue to his whereabouts.
They quickly transformed and started towards the house.
"Matte," Eryx said. "We should go through the back. It might be better than a frontal assault."
Electra nodded her agreement to the plan, though if she were alone she'd probably have just run right through the front door. Then again she tended to get knocked out doing things like that, so for today she'd follow Eryx.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Jaspy, did you come up to see me?" Amethyst asked happily, as he checked on her. She had seemed a little more worn out by the power she had used last night than she usually did after affecting someone's dreams. He didn't know what exactly she had done that had taken that extra power, but it seemed to have more or less wiped her out all day.
"Are you feeling better?" he asked with concern.
"Much, thank you."
Carnelian appeared in the opposite corner of the room. "I see you took the opportunity to get another day off," she scolded her sister. "I got the Knight here."
Jasper nodded. "Amber managed to convince Puroko to come over as well."
"Yeah, I saw. She's down there alone with the brat." She turned on him. "Why aren't you down there with her?! Not that I expect anyone to find her� or Gabriel, but if, say, Tenshi comes looking for her little sister, I don't know that Amber can face her alone. But you should be powerful enough to beat Night Angel, so go make yourself useful!"
"You don't think they'd come as a group?" Jasper asked curiously.
Amethyst shook her head. "Tenshi won't call either of the twins. And vice versa. I'm telling you, I took care of that. Trust me. Right now, their little Senshi team is falling apart."
"Good. Alright, you go help your sister," Carnelian ordered Jasper. "I'll go see if maybe we could get ourselves a little ally."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chibi opened his eyes and wondered why his head hurt so much. He tried to move but realized his hands were bound to the wall above his head. *Bondage? So that's what she's into!*
But then why�? He remembered he had seen Puroko here. Something wasn't adding up.
"Oh, are you awake, dear?" Chibi was tuning into the fact that Carrie didn't really care for him in that way, despite her seductive tone of voice.
"Ke- Keri-chan, what's going on?"
She swaggered up to him and put her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but I need to know where your allegiance is going to lie. By the way, the name is Carnelian."
"My allegiance?"
She leaned in very close to him. "Do you want to join me?" she whispered alluringly in his ear. "Or are you going to make me very, very disappointed in you?"
He tried to ignore his head, which was telling him that this was dangerous, and to listen to his libido, which was begging him to accept this as an innuendo. "What do you want from me?" he breathed.
"I just want you to join me forever on Team Eclipse. It's not so much to ask, don't you think? You do like me, don't you, Gabriel?" Her tone continued to get more bewitching as she proposed the idea.
He did. But he knew this wasn't a come on� at least not one that his conscience could accept. He let a beautiful yoma kiss him once and (his sisters said) was turned evil by it. He had jumped willingly into that mistake, but he wouldn't do it again. Something was wrong here. "Team Eclipse" didn't sound like something he should sanction. In fact, it sounded just like just the sort of group that might assault the Moon Kingdom. He might be horny as hell, but he was too smart for this too.
"Ke� Car-nil-yan, I think I need a little time before I commit to anything," he forced himself to say. "Maybe after we've dated a little longer� shown our love for each other in other ways, I could join you on your team. But I can't do it today. You understand, don't you?"
She began to sulk. "Well, when you put it that way�. Sorry, sweetie, but this relationship just isn't working out for me." Though he had suspected at this point that she might not be completely trustworthy, he still was wounded by the "breakup." Seeing his grieved expression, she continued with false sympathy, "Aww, did you think this thing was real? That I was in love with you? That's so�."
She paused, looking pensive before finishing with a laugh. "�pathetic!" She pushed herself back from him. "Face it, kid, you never had a chance with me! An older gorgeous woman like me� with a scrawny little kid like you?! Please!"
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