This is for BeBe... does this look familiar? Remember telling Rippen that someday she would have a kid that was JUST LIKE HER.... and then she would be sorry???

This scene took place after Tanken Dagger, Rippen's son, was set free after 5 days of torture, mental and physical, at the hands of the Rejects.

Rippen Dagger sighs, staring across the road to The Grind, her eyes like a corpse's as she shifts her weight on her feet. Her eyes fall onto a familiar form across the road, and she gasps, taking off like mad across the road at a sprint, she calls out, "Tank?!?!"

Tanken Darkstone limps towards the only home he'd really ever known in town, he couldn't feel his legs or his arms. He had been beaten practically everywhere, and his fingers were bleeding at the nails, or where nails should be. His eyes were swollen half shut and blackened, and so were his arms and torso. He turns his head slowly, not recognizing the voice at first. He takes it as a threat and turns, lifting up an arm to shield his face from a blow he thought would be incoming.

Rippen Dagger skids to a halt as he flinches, stopping about 10 feet from him, she shakes visibly, looking at her son so battered and torn, the tears fall heavily on her cheeks as she shakes her head. She wants so badly to reach out for him, but has been in his place before and knows it would scare him. She had no idea of his mental state, and wouldnt be surprised if he didnt even remember her, but she murmurs quietly in hopes he would recognize the first voice he had ever heard, "Tanken... its me... its Mom..."

Tanken Darkstone lowers his arm slowly and turns to look at the woman who'd claimed to be his mother. Parnell had twisted his image of her in his mind, as well as put in the seed of betrayal and doubt deep in his brain. "... Okasan? ... No.. If you were my mother... You would have rescued me.. The Reavers would have rescued me from... that.. that... Hell of a place... with those people... and the pain.. No.. you're not my mother..." He turns away from her then, trying to move closer to the wall beside him to hold himself up. He was more mentally hurt than physically hurt. He'd been beaten before... the nails were a new touch, but the beatings were always the same.

Rippen Dagger stares at her son, shaking her head, she wipes her tears off her cheeks and murmurs, "I have been looking for you for days. I offered myself in exchange... Look at my face, Tanken... this face was smashed trying to find you.... it IS me... musuko.." She doesnt move, she makes no effort to come towards him in fear of scaring him off, or causing him to do something stupid like attack her. She cries openly, her knees nearly buckling as she looked at him, "Baby, please.... you need help... you need a doctor.. "

Tanken Darkstone staggers towards the wall, more out of sheer exhaustion and hunger than pain. He holds himself up and shakes his head at his Mother's words. "... You don't think I know that? For real? I know that... I can't even see straight... but I found things out... and I know things now... You and the Reavers don't want me around... and you were hoping I was going to get killed by those Rejects... The Rejects even offered me a place with them... and I told them no... Maybe I should just tell them yes... atleast they would have looked for me..." He lifts a hand up and rests it on his forehead with a low groan. "... A week... a whole week... and you didn't find out anything? ... is it true you were too busy with this porno guy? ... Doing him and shit? Or the other Reavers? Or were you too busy with Cyrus? Or were you hoping your least favorite son would have mouthed off and gotten offed in a rank ass basement, strung up on a torture rack?!" He was angry, at the Rejects, at his family, and at himself for being caught. Tanken Darkstone wanted to hurt something, some one, as bad as he was hurting. It was just unfortunate that his mother was the first to find him.

Rippen Dagger listens to her son, his words cutting like razor blades into her flesh and she shakes her head, the anger rising in her, the outrage of the mental torture her son had endured. In fucking with his head, Parnell was fucking with her, too. He knew this hurt her more than it hurt the boy. She knew it had to have been Parn, the porn comment was the give away. But she knew how to fight it as well. It was the only thing she could think of to possibly get through to her son, so she pulled the 1911 her uncle Alco had given her when she was 16 out of her waistband and points it at her head, staring at her son with shaking hands, she would mutter, "You want in the Rejects? Is that what you want? Then lets hasten that process. You can be responsible for the death of Rippen Dagger. Hell, maybe Parnell will make you a lieutenant for it. Or would you rather," She lowers the hand gun, holding it butt first out to him, "do it yourself? Yes, Tanken. If this is what you want, I will make it so...." Rippen Dagger would sink to her knees on the pavement then, holding the gun out to him, her eyes unblinking would stare into his. Either way, he broke her heart. It didnt matter to her if she survived this, what he had said to her nearly killed her anyway.

Tanken Darkstone gives Rippen an incredulous look as she puts the gun to her head. He feels his lip sneer as she holds the gun out for him, and he doesn't wait to take it. He limps forward a bit and snatches the pistol out of her hand and levels it at her, pressing the muzzle into the side of her head. He moves his finger to the trigger and clutches the weapon tight, staring down at her for a long moment before speaking quietly. "... Tell me why you sent me and Bella to Japan... and tell me why you only came to visit us... when you stayed here and had more kids.... then spent time with them here... Why are you shunned? Why are we hated? Why am I the least favorite? Why?"

Rippen Dagger shakes visibly, yeah... she was scared to death. Her son was insane, and had a gun to her head, but she spoke in an even tone, quiet and unwavering, "I sent you and Bella to Japan because the people that murdered your father wanted to murder you, too. And me. When he died, I lost my mind, Tank. BeBe sent me to an institution. I was there for years. When they released me, I fell in love with Mahoney. I got pregnant... and had Eiji. He was murdered before Eiji was born. Then, I got pregnant with Maddie after Stu and I started dating. I tried to get you back, Bella was sent first, since she was a girl, the Yakuza didnt care about her, they wanted you. You were the Dagger boy... they wanted you dead, too. Daiki told me you were safe there, and if I contacted you, they would track me to you. There was nothing I could do... I wanted you back, and couldnt until you were old enough to fend for yourself." She looked up at him, her eyes pleading with him to pull the trigger or let her go, "We are not shunned...There is a reason they are called 'Rejects,' Tanken. THEY are shunned, not us. Think about it..."

Tanken Darkstone feels his hand begin to shake, and he jerks a bit to keep it steady. He wouldn't pull the gun away, not yet, he still had things to say before he was either beaten or given another 'beach party'. "... Yeah..? So I had to be a Martyr? Because I'm a boy huh? Because of the bull shit choices you and that ass hole that's was suppose to be my dad did? Fuck that coward, and fuck the Yakuza... I didn't ask for any of this, it was forced on me! You tell me that their shunned? Well I would fit right in wouldn't I? You like Eiji because he kisses your ass and is too preoccupied with pussy to get into more trouble than a sexual harassment charge, and you love your little girls because their just. like. you. Me? I try to do what you do, what Daiki did and I get pegged at the bottom.. I get berrated and beaten... drowned and humilated.. Me! I get abducted and stuck alone in a pitch black hole for a week with no hope of rescue... ME! Let be known right now... I don't give a shit if you let me be a Reaver... Or if Uncle even lets me.... I'm going to return when it's my time... and I'll tell you what... I'm taking it over... The Reavers will be MY gang.. and I don't care who I have to push out of that inheriting slot to get there. And when I'm in charge? Shit like this won't happen... Understand?! I won't let anyone go through that!"

Rippen Dagger looks away from him then, closing her eyes, she presses her forehead into the barrel of the gun and shudders, "Of all my children, you alone are the one that gets it. You know the pain of growing up a pawn. And you are the one most like me. I love you more than my own life, Tanken. And if pulling that trigger will make you better, will make everything ok for you, then do it." That is all she said, and she waited for the bullet to take her from this devestation. It was, after all, what she would do.

Cyrus Botha stops dead in his tracks when he sees Tank with a gun to Rippen's head. He stares at him with a dead pan face, gripping at the hilt of his bat. It looked to him like Tank had gotten released finally, but what he was doing he couldn't figure out. The best thing he could think of was some bullshit propaganda that the Rejects fed them. He finally speaks up after hearing Rip's words, "Tank!"

Tanken Darkstone screams, pressing the muzzle into the side of her head a bit harder. "Shut up! Shut the hell up! I'm not like you at all! I'd never do that to my kids! Never! Quit jerking me around! Dramatic shit! You don't think I'll actually do it?! Well I would! I'm not weak! I'm not! Pulling the trigger won't make me better! It won't make me anything!" He stops his tirade as he hears Cyrus. He looks over at him, his two swollen eyes narrowing in a look of pure disgust and anger. He takes the gun away from Rippen's head and levels it at Cyrus now, his finger moving to cock the hammer back on Rippen's 1911. "Ah, so now you find me, huh? Not too busy oggling my mom now are you?" He was furious, but his mindstate wasn't exactly 100% all there as it was. "... I have a rap for you, Cyrus.. It goes like this... One shot, Two shot, Three shot, Four. Why don't you lay your ass on the floor? Five shot, six shot, seven shot, eight. If you don't, you and this strap'll have a date."

Rippen Dagger's eyes fly open at the sound of Cy's voice and she holds her breath, but doesnt move until the gun is pulled back from her head. She looks up to see Tank point the gun at Cy, and she launches off her knees, throwing herself into his legs. The boy was weak, almost as weak as she was, and she hoped to knock him to the ground. If she was successful, her next move would be to attempt to wrestle the gun from his hands as she shouted, "That was not the deal, Tanken... me! You come after ME! This is not his fault!"

Cyrus Botha growls as Rip tries to keep the gun pointed at her, "Rip get the fuck off him! Let him point that gun at me!" he moves forward now to grab for Rippen and if he was succesfull he would throw her off of Tank, "You need to fucking straighten yourself out and act like a mother! He wants to be a man, we will see how much of a man he really is... cuz honestly Tank I think your a fucking pussy!" He yells out as he attempts to throw Rippen off of Tank.

Tanken Darkstone growls as he see's his mom moving forward for him, he turns back to Cyrus and squeezes the trigger one time as he's knocked over, the bullet flying wildly in some random direction as he falls the the floor, the pistol clacking against the pavement and skidding a few feet behind him.

Rippen Dagger feels her body lifted off Tank, and she is sent backwards sharply by Cy, landing a few feet away. She feels the wind knocked out of her, and she lays there, not knowing what else to do, as she hears the gunfire. SHe squeezes her eyes shut, the memory flooding her brain of walking down the street, two infants in the stroller and him, looking down at her, smiling.... then a gunshot, and it was all gone. She screams and rolls over, clutching at the pavement to scramble to her feet as she cries out, "Please, God! Make this go away!"

Cyrus Botha keeps his eyes on Tank as Rip is easily thrown off. He would deal with her after he was done withTank. He winces as the gun goes off, but not feeling any pain he keeps moving forward, reaching over for the pistol and bending over on top of Tank. "You heard me Tank, your a pussy. Thats all there is to it. You bitch and complain about how you have it so hard, who the fuck doesn't? We all do! You don't see us crying like little putas out here like you are though, do you?! You wanna be a man.. all I see when I look at you is a little baby.. grow the fuck up and prove your a man.. cut the act of how your mother hates you the most, cuz I don't give a shit, my mother hated me, she was a junkie, I raised myself!" He would start to yell and ramble into Tank's face, fed up with all of this bullshit. The anger that has been building up inside of him was about to be unleashed onto Tank and Rip. He had been standing on the side for too long with this battle.

Tanken Darkstone tries to grab the pistol again before Cyrus looms over him. He stares up at him with blackened eyes and grits his teeth. "I'm a pussy? I'm not the one that was too afraid of the Rejects to rescue me.... And your mom was a junkie? And you're selling that shit? What does that make you, bitch?" He sits up as quick as he can and throws a punch at Cyrus, wanting to hit him as hard as he could manage with the week of prologued beatings and starvation. He wanted a man? Well, he'd lay him out like a tired one.

Rippen Dagger scrambles to her feet and sways, placing her hands over her ears, simply wanting to block all of this out, she squeezes her eyes shut and trembles, not wanting the two most important men in her life to kill each other, but knowing this had to happen.

Cyrus Botha licked at the inside of his lip as a cut was fromed from Tank's punch. He grinned slightly as the kid was finally showing some backbone, he cocked his own arm back and threw a punch full force at the kid, he was beyond the point of pissed now and was gonna teach Tank a lesson in manhood, whethere the kid realized that or not.

Tanken Darkstone sits up a bit more, focused on attacking Cyrus now. The man that was apparently going to marry his mom, the guy that'd been boning his mom. No that he cared about all that right now, he was more focued on the fact his manhood had been insulted when he'd just withstood a week of beatings and years of uncle Luke's beach parties. He cocks his arm back for another punch but is cut short by a swift pop the the side of the head, sending him reeling back to the concrete. He brings his hands up to grip his head, attempting to sit up again but gets lightheaded and lies back down with an annoyed groan.

Cyrus Botha shakes his arm to attempt to get Rip off of him, he bends over to grab the pistol now and spit out some blood. His eyes staying focused on Tank, "Thats right, he's just a boy, maybe he should get that in his thick little head... he's gotta quit all this bitching about how no one cares for him.." he turns his head back torwards Rip now, "And you need to learn how to step up and be a mother. Your the fucking adult here, on your knees and shit, pleading to him.... you need to grow the fuck up and keep him in line.." he turns to spit out some more blood and place the pistol in the back of his waistband before anyone seen it. "If this is how your gonna be a mother RIp, I take that shit back about wanting you to be the mother of my kids..."

Tanken Darkstone was ready to call it an evening.. he was dizzy, starving and in pain... that was until she called him a boy. He grumbles and begins to push himself to his feet, the fact Cyrus talked about having yet MORE kids with his mom only drove him more. He manages to get back to his feet, moving towards Cyrus to throw another wild punch at him... well.. more like falling towards cyrus, already on his way back to the ground after throwing the punch.

Rippen Dagger stumbles back as Cy shakes her off, losing her balance, she would stagger back into the street. She blinks hard at his statement, then looks between the two of them, watching Cy take the gun, and Tanken fall forward after trying to hit Cy. She reaches down for the ring on her finger, her voice surprisingly calm despite the utter devestation she felt at that moment. The very last shred of what kept her going through the nightmare of the last week was gone, and as she pulled the ring off her finger, she stared at the ground... ashamed, hurt, and completely destroyed.

Cyrus Botha is struck in the shoulder by Tank's punch and watches as the kid goes down. He shakes his head now, breathing heavily. He was tearing himself up on the inside for saying that to Rip, he didn't really mean it, but he was trying to get through somehow. He bends down to try and pick Tank up, "Alright thats enough..." looking up to watch as Rip pulls the ring off her finger. He stares at her for a few minutes, "Rip you take that ring off your finger and you will just prove everything that I have just said right now.. your not a kid, grow up and deal with this..."

Tanken Darkstone tries to resist as Cyrus hefts him back up off the pavement, but stops, resting against him. He was just too tired to keep going at this point. "Fucking get off me... punk ass... I don't need shit.. I survived with your help.. " He brings his arm up to smack his fist into his chest weakly before settling down again.

Rippen Dagger holds the ring in her hand, clutching it as if it were some kind of life line to reality as she stares at Cy, she points to her son, leaning against him weakly as her eyes feel with tears, "What do you want from me, Cy? You want me to just let you deal with this? You can't.. you arent his father. You said it yourself. I am doing the best I can here, man... " SHe looks to Tanken, her eyes blaze with anger as she grits her teeth, "Tanken Daiki Dagger, shut the fuck up now. I have had enough." and she turns back to Cy, her anger welling up and boiling over, "If you think, for one god damned minute, that I am gonna let you go that easy, you son of a bitch, then you best get the fuck off my corner. I love you, you asshole!" She shrieks, shoving the ring back on her finger, "YOu are fucking stuck with me, and him and the rest of my kids until the day you die, so you best fucking deal with THAT!"

Cyrus Botha sighs in releif as Rippen finally seems to get herself together. He reaches out to pull her towards him and Tank, "I love you too Rippen. I just want you to realize what you are doing when you let your own kid put a gun to your head. Your the adult, not him, show that to him.." after saying this he reaches out to put a hand out on Tank's shoulder, trying to talk to him too, "And Tank, you need to know your mother loves your more than anything in this world. Your all she talks about, and I had to hold her back from her giving her own life over to get you away from them... I know you might not understand it right now, but she was ready to die for you, if thats not love I don't know what is...."

Tanken Darkstone shrugs away Cyrus's hand. He was still not in the mindstate of accepting what was happening. "You're tired of it? That makes both of us..." He moves away from both of them and staggers back a few steps, shaking his head. "I understand that you all could have done SOMETHING to help me... not just that shit.. you didn't put forth the effort and I know where that puts me... Just know where that puts you too.." He brings a bloodied hand up to hold the side of his head and turns to wander away. To where, he had no idea, to somewhere he could eat and sleep alone.
Christian Margetts is Online
Chamber Sideways nodded as she explained the cell phone deal, not really getting the whole thing about "tap" but figured he just wouldn't ask, leaning in closer to her, just enough so that her boobies were touching him and it made him all warm and fuzzy inside, "I think I could make some arrangements.." He stared very bluntly down into her cleavage, "You know this is a nice shirt, I bet it looks even better on the floor."
Rippen Dagger moves towards Cy as he pulls her forward, but her body is rigid. If there was one thing that the Daggers held on to, it was anger. And she was pissed. At herself, at Cy, at Tanken, and pretty much anyone else that she ever met in her life. But mainly, she was pissed at her mom. Rippen was simply going through the motions of being a mother, the way her own mom had been, and didnt even realize it. She growls at Tanken as she stands with Cy, her eyes staring at him, "Go home. I will talk with you when I get there." She shakes violently, her whole body livid down to the cells that made her form, and she refused to look at Cy. She herad what he said, and it made sense, but right then, it was the only thing she could think to do... she gave of herself, again... to her son. Rippen cut her nose off to spite her face all the time, it was her sacrifice, a life time of pennance for being the pawn Tanken was now.
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Cyrus Botha sighs again as Tank begins to walk off, with Rip only telling him to just go home. He knew the kid wasn't gonna listen, and the kid had damn good reason too. He doesn't have the discipline he should from his mother and he would continue to walk all over her. Cy was done now though, he wouldn't open his mouth again, he said what they needed to be told and wether they listened or not he couldn't help. He was done with it now.

Rippen Dagger finally looks up to Cy, and for the first time, she looks at him with total and all consuming fear. No one, in her whole life, had ever hurt her so badly, and it only meant that she loved him more than anyone she had ever known. She looked up at him with fear, sadness, and dread, not knowing what to say. She looks down shaking her head as she says the only thing she could think of at this moment, "I'm sorry... I'll just go." With that, she turns to walk towards the one place in the city she knew no body would find her, except Cy.

Cyrus Botha spins around towards Rip as she starts to walk off, he lets his arms hang at his sides, "Rippen.. come here" he calls out and points his finger down to the spot right in front of him.

Rippen Dagger stops, sighing deeply. She had hoped to get away before he could continue his tirade about her being a terrible mother, and for Rippen, it was like being told she was a horrible person. She turns and looks to Cy, her hands shaking as she starts to plead with him, "Please, Cyrus... cant you see I've had enough? I dont want to hear you tell me Im awful, I dont want to be a bad mother... but I cant help it! I feel bad enough they have to go through this. I did this for them!" and she waved her hand about the street, indicating The Grind, the Reavers, everything she had worked for in the last 16 years of her life.

Cyrus Botha inhales a deep breath of air, exhaling slowly. He looks to her, in her eyes, feeling the anger, sadness, hurt, everything that she was going through. He didn't mean to have it unfold like that, or be so harsh on her, but in his mind it had to be done. Plus he had a lot of anger bottled up inside him that needed to be let loose. "Thats not what I was going to say Rip... wanted to tell you something else.. but go ahead, you wanna leave then go for it..."

Rippen Dagger folds her arms over her chest, as if protecting her heart from further assault as she closes her eyes, half regretting what she was about to say, "No, just say it." She opens her eyes, bloodshot and numb as she looks at him. He had hurt her, and her defenses were up. "Just say it... "

Cyrus Botha reaches out to try and place a hand on her cheek, if she let him he would speak to her very calmly, very seriously. "Rippen. I love you so much. You are everything to me, you know that. I got crzy and said something that I did not mean to say to you at all. I do want you to be the mother of my kids..."

Rippen Dagger flinches as he raises a hand, half expecting his palm across her face, but settles when he simply touches her, and it was as if the world had been lifted off her shoulders. She closed her eyes, the tears finally coming to her as she listens to him, but she shakes her head, "Its ok, you're right. I am a terrible mother. I do love you, too." Rippen opens her eyes and looks up at him, as serious as he was, she would whisper, "I couldnt be the mother to your children, Cy. Look what I've done to my own kids...."

Cyrus Botha shakes his head, leaning forward to try and kiss her. "Baby, you can too. Like I told you, there is nobody else int he world that I would want to be, but you. We all make mistakes, it's correcting those mistakes that seperates us from other people."

Rippen Dagger nods, not really sure what to say. The very idea of having a baby right now terrified her. She leans forward into Cy, kissing him back softly as she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her exhausted and broken body to his as she fought off a wave of nausea brought on by the fact that she hadn't used cocaine in 24 hours. She was deep in the throes of withdrawl, and couldnt even find the courage to tell him that. But she did as she always did, and her mother's voice played in her head the last thing she had said to Rippen before she went to jail, 'Your spirit and will is like titanium, you are stronger than anyone I have ever known.' She nods into his chest, not saying a word, simply wanting to be close to him, and know that it sucked now, but someday, maybe, she could make him proud.

Cyrus Botha sighed as she leaned into him. He raised his hands to wrap them around her and clutch onto her gently. He stayed quiet for a little while, enjoying the moments of silence with his fiance. He didn't want to let go and only wanted to help her in everyway he could. He couldn't care fore anyone more at this point. "Babe lets go home.."

Rippen Dagger nods silently as she turns away from him, walking slowly towards home, it would be the longest walk of her life as the events of the night played over in her mind. Her whole body hurt, her heart hurt, her head spun and the physical pain it had caused was almost overwhelming. She stopped in the road and held out her hand to him as she waited for him to catch up.