Chapter 8 - I’ll save you, Villain!

"Shut up before I give you another pistol stamp on that face of yours, pretty boy." A gruffy voice with a harsh accent threatened. Metallic tasting saliva filled Cyra's mouth and he spit angrily.

"I'm not handing over the moon gem without getting what we agreed upon!" Cyra barked through his teeth. The side of his face burned and pulsed. He could feel part of his lip getting larger and it was effecting his speech. His hands felt strange and tingly too, although he didn't recall hitting anything.

"You ain't getting noth'in now shut up before I putta bullet in ya", the same man barked. He was small and husky. There was another, larger man standing behind him silently. The short one touched Cyra's temple with the cold suppressor of his pistol and snatched Cyra's laptop carrier. He removed the moon gem from it and looked it over. It glowed bright lava-red.

As the two thugs were mulling over the laptop case and questioning the awkward appearance of the stone and the authenticity, a small figure appeared from out of the shadows.

"Princess?... Is that... what are you..." Crya's words were only slightly more audible than a breath.

He could barely make out the finger Clara put to her lips as she slinked back in the darkness. "What was she doing here? And what on Earth could she possibly be plotting?"

Cyra had his own plan but it's success depended on the intelligence of his capturers, or more like lack-there-of. It was worth a shot.

"It's real" he yelled to the two puzzled men.

"Then why is it all red an' stuff then huh? The Moon gems ain't 'spose to be red. You think we're dummies or someth'n?" The small one seemed to be the only vocal one in the group. The big one stayed silent.

"And how many moon gems have you seen good Sir? If you don't believe me, just take it outside under the moonlight. It's a well known fact that an authentic moon gem will glow florescent under moonlight."

The two men looked at each other and then at the moon gem. "I'll go, you stay here with Pretty Boy. Don't let'em try anything funny!" And the chatty one took the moon gem and left. The big one glared at Cyra and crossed his arms. He raised his chin challengingly but Cyra lowered his eyes and instead examined his dirty white shoes. He frowned at them. "Ruined".

"It's nice that you have a partner that you can trust." Cyra hinted, still looking down. "Most criminals would have taken the opportunity to get in their car and leave you here while they take off with the moon gem."

The thug didn't waiver. "Crap" Cyra thought. "Jumbo here isn't as stupid as I thought. He doesn't seem to have any visible weapons; I might be able to out run him. He's not that smart if he only tied my wrists and not my feet."

There was nothing holding Cyra down to the chair he was sitting on. "Jumbo" had forgotten to tie him to the chair and Cyra was fully capable of standing at any moment. As he thought about all of this he seen the familiar petite shadow scurry out the door.

"No not that way Little Love! The guy with the gun is out there!" Cyra screamed in his head. He twisted his arms to try and free them from the zip tie.

"Hey! Stop that wiggling!" Those were the first words out of Jumbos mouth and his deep authoritarian voice surprised Cyra. He stomped over to the chair and Cyra braced himself for a punch but it never came.

A car alarm stopped the thug in his tracks.

"Was Mister Chatty Pants actually stealing the moon gem like I said? That lie was only supposed to be a distraction to get Jumbo outside... wow what a shitty partner!" Cyra thought. It seemed like Jumbo was thinking the same thing now that Cyra had planted the seed of doubt and he bolted outside.

From the same side of the room as she first emerged, Clara appeared from out of the shadows and rushed to Cyra. At this moment she looked like an absolute angel to him.

"How did you get back in, I saw you leave?"

"There's a broken window in that corner."

Cyra noticed little cuts from the glass on her usually flawless skin and it made his heart ache.

As Clara attempted to untied his hands her skin touched his and light blue spark began to materialize between them. It reminded Cyra of a plasma globe. Cyra looked concerned.

"I'll explain that later." Clara rushed, already guessing Cyra's question.

"I knew there was a "spark" between us Princess", Cyra joked with a half smile but Clara didn't waiver from her task.

"You're an idiot."

She bit down on the zip tie, her pouty lips brushing softly against Cyra's forearm. Little fireworks lite her view.

As soon as he was free he scooped Clara up in an embrace. He was so grateful he could kiss her. But there was no time for that, right now they had to escape before Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb returned.