My god, I am a terrible, terrible person. I have not updated in, like, five months! I am so, so, sorry. I have been quite busy with school and all that, but that is certainly no excuse. Meanwhile, this fic has been going on for over a year, and there are only now eleven chapters. From now on, I'll try to update once a month...although July will be a bit difficult, as I'm going on vacation…:) Really sorry about the infrequent updates, thank you all for your reviews, and enjoy!

Talon was panicking. Penny was nowhere to be seen, and his father didn't even seem to bat an eyelash.

"Ha! You're pranking me, aren't you, Pretty Penny?" cried Talon out in a shaky voice. "Well, just so you know, I'm not buying it…" He wanted, needed Penny to jump out from behind the pile of nails and screws and spare parts, but there was no streak of yellow hair to be seen.

"Talon!" cried his father. "Look here!" Talon turned around to see his father kneeling over his worktable with a strange-looking contraption in his hand.

"I've finished it! We can de-robotize you now!" Talon gave his father a fake smile.

"Okay, er...so...what about Penny?" he asked, walking towards his father. "Will you be able to get a device for her?"

"Talon…" his father paused. "No. We've been over this. We don't have enough supplies. And besides, she's gone now. Nail probably took her. That duct tape patch...clever. He was just waiting for us to set foot in this open area. I can't believe we were so stupid."

"But, Dad...maybe I could look for spare parts for Penny?" asked Talon, taking a step back towards the pile.

"I think it's too late to do that now," his father whispered, looking at the sky. Talon followed his eyes and sucked in a breath.

A huge screen portraying Nail's face was displayed amidst the clouds.

"W-what?" muttered Talon, clearly confused. Nail-in-the-screen laughed.

"What's the matter, Talon? Looking for your boo?" he taunted. "Well, stop looking, 'cos she's with me." The screen switched from Nail's grinning face to a close up of Penny, who was bound, gagged, and unconscious.

"Penny!" Talon yelled. Nail-in-the-screen guffawed, clearly enjoying the scene.

"Don't worry, Talon. You'll be with her soon enough. As for you," Nail-in-the-screen snarled, gesturing to Talon's father. "I don't how or when you got out, but you'll be joining your wife soon. I can assure you." There was much hate in Nail's voice when he said this, which made Talon wonder what exactly his father did to induce so much hatred.

"Fliers! Get 'em!" cried Nail-in-the-screen. "And make sure you V-ray them both!" Talon barely had enough time to hide behind the pile of spare parts when he felt the familiar shocking pain of the V-ray branding his chest. Screaming in agony, he fell to the ground, twitching. The V-ray mark on his chest glowed.

"No, no, please, not now," mumbled Talon as he clenched his teeth to keep from howling. Pain, so much pain…

He was in a ballroom. The Grand Ballroom of his father's mansion, to be exact. The axes were dangling down from the ceiling as he danced with someone to soft violins...Penny, probably. They both held crystal glasses with some cold beverage inside them. Talon took a sip and sighed. It was lemon champagne—something Talon was sure didn't exist outside the mansion walls. When the violins stopped, however, the woman he looked at was not Penny.

It was his mother.

"Talon," she breathed, putting a hand to his cheek. "My dear child. You must hurry!" Her voice faded to a whisper as she said these last words. She let go of Talon's hands as she disappeared into a foggy darkness that encased the ballroom. Talon was alone in the darkness, now. The chandelier of axes glittered slightly, but other than that, it was entirely black.

"Hello, Talon," said a voice that slipped through his ears like syrup. Nail. The V-ray gun rested in his hands, and his breath stank of alcohol. "Are you ready?"

Nail aimed the V-ray gun at Talon and pulled the trigger.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and be ready to expect another next month, or maybe even another this month. Once again, so sorry for the choppy update schedule.

~achstar