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Previously...

He was starting to wonder.

Elly wasn't the type to be late, and certainly not when she was the one who suggested the time and place for their date. Yet here Tim was, having arrived at the local coffee shop nearly an hour ago, still alone and curious why his girlfriend hadn't yet shown up to meet him. He checked his phone for the fifth time and tried not to dwell on the growing mix of concern and dread that was threatening to overwhelm his thoughts.

"No missed calls or texts..." Tim took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves before dialing Elly's number again. He dared not exhale until the other end finally picked up right before going to voicemail. Before he started to ask where she was, Elly's voice interrupted him.

"Tim, you have to hur-" Suddenly she was cut off.

"Elly? Are you okay?" The lack of reply prompted him to continue, his dread already rising. "What's wrong? Where are you?" Several tense seconds passed before he finally got a reply. One that quickly made him more uncomfortable than he'd been all day. Especially since the voice now on the other end of the call was suddenly male, completely unexpected, immediately familiar...

"Ah, wouldn't you like to know?"

And definitely the last person he wanted to hear coming from his girlfriend's phone.

"You." Tim audibly sighed, recognizing his longtime adversary. "Guessing you've got her at your lair again?"

"For the moment, yes." In contrast to Tim's exasperated tone, the one Parasyte had was much closer to friendly and cheerful. "At least until the party is over, anyway. Elly's dressed very nicely for the occasion, by the way... white definitely looks good on her."

Tim fought the urge to let his anger consume him as he heard what sounded like Elly's muffled protests in the background. "I imagine she'd prefer to miss this 'party' of yours. Not that it'll matter much, as I'll be along to crash it real soon."

"I suspected as much, but that would complicate things far more than you realize." Parasyte couldn't help but chuckle. "She's simply critical to making this party work as intended." More muffled sounds from Elly could be heard. "Ah, good point. Sorry, I really should've said 'ceremony' instead of party... thanks for catching that, my dear."

"(Ceremony?)" Tim whispered to himself, noticing something odd about Parasyte's choice of words. The two of them had frequently clashed over the years, generally involving Elly, but this time felt different to him somehow. "What's your game here?"

"You really are that clueless, aren't you?" The chuckle from earlier now unmistakably became a hearty laugh. "But hey, I really should thank you for it, since that gave me the opportunity to act first in a very important way concerning our mutual friend here... mmm, how should I show my appreciation?"

Tim's anger grew in intensity, both from Elly's captivity and being mocked this way. "Give her back and we'll call it even, how's that?"

"Yeah, afraid I can't do that. The plan's already too far along to stop now, but I'll tell you what I can give you instead. Consider it a... special memento of the event, just for you."

Tim was beyond convinced that he wasn't going to like the next several words he would hear.

"What do you think, dear Elly? Should we let him have the bridal garter, or just save him a piece of cake?"

He was proven right, not that there was any degree of satisfaction to be gained.

Elly's muffled protests and pleas for rescue were the last things Tim heard before the call abruptly disconnected. The confused glances from other people around the shop barely registered in his mind as he quickly rose to his feet and hurried out the door. No time was wasted changing into his Knighthawk uniform as soon as he was away from any surprise onlookers, then he instantly headed for the ANGRY hideout that he knew was relatively close to the city. All of this was relatively similar to actions he'd taken in the past, many times.

However, he'd never been this furious at his enemy. Kidnapping the love of his life was bad enough, but now attempting to make her a captive bride on top of that? And to further rub salt in the wound, Parasyte taunting him about moving to marry Elly before he'd built up the nerve to ask her first? Even though it was clearly a one-sided 'ceremony' that must be stopped?

Knighthawk had a feeling some finality would be brought to this feud before the day was over. Who would stand and who would fall, however, was the question to he was more than eager to find out an answer. And pity to anyone who got in his way...

*A short while later*

"Wow, a wedding! I can't wait to see it!"

"You do know we're both on guard duty, so either of us getting to see anything like that is pretty unlikely."

M shook her head at W, her fellow ANGRY agent and the closest thing she had - though she would never admit it - to a best friend. They were always paired up when on duty, even if their personalities were polar opposites. Generally preferring to take her job seriously, the blonde was less than thrilled to be partnered with the laid-back brunette and had repeatedly put in requests for reassignment. To her chagrin M had been turned down every time. Direct attempts to make her case directly to Parasyte in person had brought no success, as M had so far not managed to get past his executive assistant's desk to even try.

"That damn Cricket," M mumbled to herself. "At this point I'm convinced she's doing this just to annoy me."

"Hmm? Did you say something?" W asked her partner, still in the same cheerful mood as always.

"...forget it." Instead of forcing a conversation that which she wasn't in the mood to have, M just sighed. "Let's just keep an eye out for intruders until our shifts end." She wouldn't blame anyone for assuming the frown on her face would be a clear sign that the conversation was now over. After all, most normal people were observant enough to pick up on such obvious visual clues, right?

"I wonder if there'll be any wedding cake left from the reception. Or at least something fancy that we can snack on later would be nice, wouldn't it? As long as we don't have to clean up after everyone leaves. Oooh, I wonder who's gonna catch the bouquet?"

M sighed again as W kept cheerfully spouting off random thoughts. Clearly she was not like most people, or at least the 'normal' ones. Yet despite near constant irritation over what increasingly felt like a permanent combination here, M knew that deep down she had difficulty truly hating W for being the way she was. At the very least it kept the possibility of boredom every day extremely low, if nothing else.

"(Someone had to keep her out of trouble... may as well be somebody who can actually put up with her, I guess.)"

Suddenly what sounded like a commotion down the hallways to their left filled the air. M and W both glanced that direction in time to see one of the posted agents fly through the air as if he'd been violently thrown off balance. Gripping the stun baton in her hands tightly, M mentally psyched herself up for battle as the shouting got louder and louder...

To Be Continued

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Description
Previously...

He was starting to wonder.

Elly wasn't the type to be late, and certainly not when she was the one who suggested the time and place for their date. Yet here Tim was, having arrived at the local coffee shop nearly an hour ago, still alone and curious why his girlfriend hadn't yet shown up to meet him. He checked his phone for the fifth time and tried not to dwell on the growing mix of concern and dread that was threatening to overwhelm his thoughts.

"No missed calls or texts..." Tim took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves before dialing Elly's number again. He dared not exhale until the other end finally picked up right before going to voicemail. Before he started to ask where she was, Elly's voice interrupted him.

"Tim, you have to hur-" Suddenly she was cut off.

"Elly? Are you okay?" The lack of reply prompted him to continue, his dread already rising. "What's wrong? Where are you?" Several tense seconds passed before he finally got a reply. One that quickly made him more uncomfortable than he'd been all day. Especially since the voice now on the other end of the call was suddenly male, completely unexpected, immediately familiar...

"Ah, wouldn't you like to know?"

And definitely the last person he wanted to hear coming from his girlfriend's phone.

"You." Tim audibly sighed, recognizing his longtime adversary. "Guessing you've got her at your lair again?"

"For the moment, yes." In contrast to Tim's exasperated tone, the one Parasyte had was much closer to friendly and cheerful. "At least until the party is over, anyway. Elly's dressed very nicely for the occasion, by the way... white definitely looks good on her."

Tim fought the urge to let his anger consume him as he heard what sounded like Elly's muffled protests in the background. "I imagine she'd prefer to miss this 'party' of yours. Not that it'll matter much, as I'll be along to crash it real soon."

"I suspected as much, but that would complicate things far more than you realize." Parasyte couldn't help but chuckle. "She's simply critical to making this party work as intended." More muffled sounds from Elly could be heard. "Ah, good point. Sorry, I really should've said 'ceremony' instead of party... thanks for catching that, my dear."

"(Ceremony?)" Tim whispered to himself, noticing something odd about Parasyte's choice of words. The two of them had frequently clashed over the years, generally involving Elly, but this time felt different to him somehow. "What's your game here?"

"You really are that clueless, aren't you?" The chuckle from earlier now unmistakably became a hearty laugh. "But hey, I really should thank you for it, since that gave me the opportunity to act first in a very important way concerning our mutual friend here... mmm, how should I show my appreciation?"

Tim's anger grew in intensity, both from Elly's captivity and being mocked this way. "Give her back and we'll call it even, how's that?"

"Yeah, afraid I can't do that. The plan's already too far along to stop now, but I'll tell you what I can give you instead. Consider it a... special memento of the event, just for you."

Tim was beyond convinced that he wasn't going to like the next several words he would hear.

"What do you think, dear Elly? Should we let him have the bridal garter, or just save him a piece of cake?"

He was proven right, not that there was any degree of satisfaction to be gained.

Elly's muffled protests and pleas for rescue were the last things Tim heard before the call abruptly disconnected. The confused glances from other people around the shop barely registered in his mind as he quickly rose to his feet and hurried out the door. No time was wasted changing into his Knighthawk uniform as soon as he was away from any surprise onlookers, then he instantly headed for the ANGRY hideout that he knew was relatively close to the city. All of this was relatively similar to actions he'd taken in the past, many times.

However, he'd never been this furious at his enemy. Kidnapping the love of his life was bad enough, but now attempting to make her a captive bride on top of that? And to further rub salt in the wound, Parasyte taunting him about moving to marry Elly before he'd built up the nerve to ask her first? Even though it was clearly a one-sided 'ceremony' that must be stopped?

Knighthawk had a feeling some finality would be brought to this feud before the day was over. Who would stand and who would fall, however, was the question to he was more than eager to find out an answer. And pity to anyone who got in his way...

*A short while later*

"Wow, a wedding! I can't wait to see it!"

"You do know we're both on guard duty, so either of us getting to see anything like that is pretty unlikely."

M shook her head at W, her fellow ANGRY agent and the closest thing she had - though she would never admit it - to a best friend. They were always paired up when on duty, even if their personalities were polar opposites. Generally preferring to take her job seriously, the blonde was less than thrilled to be partnered with the laid-back brunette and had repeatedly put in requests for reassignment. To her chagrin M had been turned down every time. Direct attempts to make her case directly to Parasyte in person had brought no success, as M had so far not managed to get past his executive assistant's desk to even try.

"That damn Cricket," M mumbled to herself. "At this point I'm convinced she's doing this just to annoy me."

"Hmm? Did you say something?" W asked her partner, still in the same cheerful mood as always.

"...forget it." Instead of forcing a conversation that which she wasn't in the mood to have, M just sighed. "Let's just keep an eye out for intruders until our shifts end." She wouldn't blame anyone for assuming the frown on her face would be a clear sign that the conversation was now over. After all, most normal people were observant enough to pick up on such obvious visual clues, right?

"I wonder if there'll be any wedding cake left from the reception. Or at least something fancy that we can snack on later would be nice, wouldn't it? As long as we don't have to clean up after everyone leaves. Oooh, I wonder who's gonna catch the bouquet?"

M sighed again as W kept cheerfully spouting off random thoughts. Clearly she was not like most people, or at least the 'normal' ones. Yet despite near constant irritation over what increasingly felt like a permanent combination here, M knew that deep down she had difficulty truly hating W for being the way she was. At the very least it kept the possibility of boredom every day extremely low, if nothing else.

"(Someone had to keep her out of trouble... may as well be somebody who can actually put up with her, I guess.)"

Suddenly what sounded like a commotion down the hallways to their left filled the air. M and W both glanced that direction in time to see one of the posted agents fly through the air as if he'd been violently thrown off balance. Gripping the stun baton in her hands tightly, M mentally psyched herself up for battle as the shouting got louder and louder...

To Be Continued

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