King's huge frickin' book of randomness galore:The ultimate

Retaliation

"LUCY!!!"

The screams of her husband rang through the air as a family discussion had quickly became a message. 

A message from her. 

The one who started all of this.

The reason they'd met Rocke.

Or, at least one of them.

But, she was always there. Watching. Waiting in the wings. There was no escaping her.

But there wasn't any running.

"LET GO OF HER!"

In the blink of an eye, the mild-mannered lion had lost his cool. You could taunt him, hit him, hell, damn near kill him, but what you DIDN'T do....

Was threaten his family.

And worse still...

Hurt them.

"DAMMIT....."

His eyes narrowed, fists tightening. Scott, clueless and brash as he was at times, was a brilliant tactician. No one had a plan like a Vernon had a plan, and certainly not this Vernon. It only took him three seconds to figure out the goddesses's play, and less to know he should watch his mouth. He and Grace, just as brilliant, and far more brash, knew that. But with his wife on the line, and the terrified looks on his children's faces....

"LET GO OF HER!"

Just like that, the lion's fury was unleashed, flying like a rocket at Reya, who merely tossed her head, her strange companion shooting forth himself, gigantic sword in hand, only for an arm to block him.

Grace's arm.

"Move, clueless."

Said the tall young man, or, young looking anyhow, ears pointed and knife-like, and horns the size of icesicles, he bore a ridiculous similarity to someone the female lion swore she knew....

"Make me, horny."

He only sighed.

"If you insist."

Grabbing the lion woman's arm faster than she could possibly react, he squeezed. 

Hard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

Agony filled her entire frame, the foul brute merely needing to twist to make her drop like a stone.

"Grace!"
Her own wife had called out to her, only for Grace to stick out her good arm, weakly shaking her head as she gasped, writhing as her healthy hand had been crushed under the boot of the goddess's pet, a sick, twisted pleasure seeming to be expressed in his face as he grind the bones in her hand to dust, soon nothing more than a fleshy sack of meal and loose cartilage.

"Do you see, lion? You have no power. None of you. Not a single one of you. Your all the same:Damned. Do you know WHY?"

Asked Reya, bringing Scott, who fared little better than his sister, closer to her.

"Because your a bully who thinks we give a damn about what she thinks?" He answered, staring defiantly at his captor.

She didn't seem very inspired by the spirit.

"WRONG."

"AGH!"

"Because I said so. Because I decreed it. My reasoning, you little ingrate, is stronger than your petty defiance. It's stronger than all of you. Even your foolish, selfish god. Especially him, in fact."

She made a gripping motion, both the lion and his wife feeling their breath getting scarce. A familiar feeling. 

But worse. 

Far worse.

Rocke was aiming to kill to make them fight.

To make them strong.

To see if they were willing to call themselves heroes.

But Reya....

She was doing something far else....

Her every action hissed with power.

With bitter spite.

And it was suffocating.

"How does it feel, heroes? To feel true power? To know...."

She lifted them higher.

"Your /god/ isn't going to protect you?"

SQSH!

"Wanna bet?"

The sound was sickening. 

The words were surprising.

"Agh!"

And Reya was...

bleeding.

Like boulders, Scott and Lucy fell to the ground, Reya's pet's attention shifted from Grace to the new-comer.

Or, not so new.

"I wouldn't. Seeing as...y'know..."

His thick, room-filling, gruffness of a tone was completely unserious, and entirely snippy and biting as he shifted on his heels, twirling his hand to demonstrate his point, swinging the crimson from his wings. 

"Wanna bandage? Or two? Have a feelin' they might be of some use."

He said causually, picking at the bandages frequenting his hands with an equal amount of care.

"What? Cat got your tongue? Or...."

His brown eyes turned golden, bright enough to blind a crowd.

"Are yah that un-used to this whole "fighting back" thing?"