Dark is the Night - English Version

Chapter 8 - Doctor Psycho

Talon and Penny were on their way to Dr. Claw's prison cells, their hands tied behind their backs with zip ties and their mouths taped shut. For Penny, the fact that her hands were tied also meant that she couldn't open her codex, meaning no way of alarming Chief Quimby. She and Talon were entirely at Dr. Claw's mercy, and that was what terrified her the most.

All of a sudden, the MAD agents stopped moving. Penny and Talon could see a door opening, but it looked less like the door of a normal apartment, but more like a metal door, belonging to a prison cell. Next thing they knew, they were thrown through the opened door to the ground, following which the door was closed again.

"You are a fool if you think you can defy me, Talon!" they heard Dr. Claw's voice echoing through the hallway as he approached the cell. Talon wanted to say something, tell him how insane he was, tell him that he was not going to get away with that, but his mouth was covered up.

"Now listen, Talon! You will do what I say, or else my MAD agents are going to have some, let's just say, fun with your little girlfriend. You wouldn't want that, would you?" the MAD leader threatened.

Talon was horrified when he heard that. His uncle knew about his feelings for Penny, and that thought scared him. He had already been used to beating and humiliation for himself as punishment, but now, his uncle also had the option to let her suffer as punishment, and Talon couldn't let that happen.

"I warn you Talon! I have a gut feeling they won't be gentle! So make your choice now!" Dr. Claw pressured his nephew.

A cold shiver ran down Talon's spine as he realized that his uncle was not messing around. He obviously knew that he was evil, but never in his life would he have assumed him to be that heartless and cruel. He couldn't believe that his uncle would allow his MAD agents to have their way with Penny against her will, he didn't want to believe that Dr. Claw would have no problem with them forcing themselves upon her.

Seeing that he had no option left, he nodded his head, signalling his submission. By now, he had absolutely no feelings other than hatred, disgust and disappointment left for his uncle, but he knew he had to follow his orders if he wanted to protect Penny.

"Hah, I knew it!" the MAD leader laughed. "You will never best your master! And you should know better than to even try!"

And with that, Dr. Claw and the MAD agents exited the prison corridor, leaving Penny and Talon alone in their cell.

As the MAD agents disappeared, Talon felt like he had fallen into a black hole. Half an hour ago, he was on his way to finally be free from his uncle's constant torture and tyranny. Now, he had lost everything. Even if he did somehow manage to free himself and Penny, he didn't even know if she could ever forgive him after he had almost strangled her to death. But even during that moment, he still managed to hold back his tears. He didn't want her to see him as some weak little crybaby. That was the last thing he wanted to happen now.

Looking at her, he saw an expression of fear, but also a bit of empathy on her face. Almost as if she tried to calm him down while at the same time also trying to think of a way to get out of this cell.

As he tried to keep his composure, an idea suddenly struck his head. His eyes shifted from her face to her hands, tied behind her, and he began crawling towards them. At first, Penny had no idea what he was trying to do, but she soon understood his plan and managed to turn around, now lying face down. Eventually, she could feel the tape covering his mouth with her fingers. Despite her restraints, she managed to tear it off his mouth in just a single swift motion.

"Thank you, Penny. It feels good to be able to speak freely again," he joked around. "Don't worry, I have a plan. I'm going to use my teeth to tighten your zip ties, that will make it easier for you to break them. Once your hands are free, you can tear the tape off your mouth."

The blonde tried to speak, but only managed to let out a groan due to the tape on her mouth, which he took as a yes. He began tightening her ties using his teeth, creating more and more tension. Once it became basically impossible to tighten her ties any further, his teeth let go of them. With one swift motion, Penny managed to break the zip ties and free her hands. With her hands now free, she easily managed to remove her mouth tape, allowing her too to and speak again.

Once free, she immediately wrapped his arms around him and hold him tight in her embrace. "Thank you for your help, Talon. I don't know what I would've done without you," she said as she freed him from his zip ties.

Once Talon was finally able to move his hands freely again, he turned towards Penny and rested his right hand on her left shoulder. "Penny," he began, "I'm sorry for what had happened, and for what I almost did to you. I'm sorry you even got involved in this mess between me and my uncle in the first place. You don't have to forgive me if you can't do that, I don't blame you. But I promise you, I will find a way to get you out of here."

As he looked to the ground, she wrapped her arms around him again and pressed her head against his chest. "Talon, I love you. Did you already forget?" she said as she looked into his eyes, a smile on her face, covered in tears of joy. "I could never be mad at you for something that isn't even your fault. You were under the influence of this nasty little mind control device, don't you remember?"

Tears of relief and joy welled in Talon's eyes as he realized she was not mad at him at all. Slowly, they leaned in, their lips meeting in a tender, heartfelt kiss, a symbol of their unbroken bond and a testament to their unwavering love amidst the chaos surrounding them.

"Don't worry Penny, I won't let my uncle hurt you. We'll find a way out of here, I promise," he said as their lips were forced to seperate for air. Talon was now more determined than ever before to fight - and to protect.