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Description
As the all-consuming battle wore on, Cody's muscles began to burn, and her spine let out a series of sharp pops that might have felt good under other circumstances...yet the cage door stood as seemingly-immovable as before, despite the ever-increasing pressure she rammed against it. And hard as she was fighting, Bryn looked to be trying twice as fiercely, the advantage of the crowbar making his the true "spearhead" in their battle against the implacable steel prison. His face was flushed an ugly red, and she could hear his teeth grinding against one another under the sheer force of his ever-more-tightly-clenching jaw. Both of their bodies shook with the strain, as they constantly repositioned themselves, looking for the angle that would give them the tiny edge over the unfeeling, merciless metal...and finding all those efforts in vain...

Finally, Cody mumured, "Bryn, stop..." voice quavering lightly in despair. She let up on the bars, leaning back slightly, with a dismayed shake of her head.

"No," came his simple, raggedly-strained reply. If anything, he pulled harder, and Cody saw him wince in obvious pain.

"Bryn... Stop!" she insisted again, with a tone of sharp exasperation - and no small amount of concern. The flush in his face and the shuddering tension that wracked Bryn's body looked awful. And made it altogether clear to her that he was going to hurt himself if he kept it up any longer... "We can find another way... Ya can go get the police or somethin', and-"

"NO!" he blurted, voice hissing harshly through vise-tight teeth. He didn't stop...in fact pouring on more effort, more strength...though Cody - and probably Bryn himself - wouldn't have thought that an impossibility a mere heartbeat before. "I'm not...leavin'...ya here...sis... Never!" Not letting up one ounce, the struggling, striving catboy threw himself backward even farther against the crowbar, kicking a foot up against the bars of the cage themselves, and digging into the floor with the heel of his other, as if trying to push through to the dirt below.

Cody felt her heart swell with pride and gratitude toward her brave, wonderfully-stubborn brother...and with renewed confidence as well. If he wasn't giving up, she wasn't about to either. With a fierce growl, she planted her feet and threw herself forward against the bars, straining every muscle in her body until she thought it would snap...and then pouring on some more. Within moments, both twins' growls and gasps - still unconsciously muted against the possibility of being overheard by the lurking villains upstairs - wove a symphony of straining, defiant determination in the air of the crypt-like smugglers' store-room... Conscious thought faded, instinct and effort became one, until only a single impulse drove them both: They would defeat the cage. Cody would be free. And nothing in the world was going to stop that from happening.

And, finally...it did. With a distressingly-loud thump-clang!, the lock inside the cage door suddenly broke, with such startling abruptness that Bryn stumbled back and nearly fell to his backside. Probably would have, in fact, if not for raw catfolk agility and a little dumb luck. While Cody lurched a half-step forward, before catching herself and keeping the door from flinging open to produce a second jarring clap of sound, under the levering force of the crowbar and her own outward-thrusting pressure.

Without hesitation, Cody swung the door open and began to step forward, having to work hard to keep from whooping in fierce, victorious joy. Bryn let the bar slip from his hand to the floor atop the discarded gag-cloth, to help muffle the sound. Though, that was only a peripheral, instinctive consideration as he staggered forward and toward the opening cage door. Eyes welling with fiercely-grateful tears, Cody threw her arms around her brother and crushed him close, letting up a bit as she felt him wince in pain at the rough treatment of his over-stressed muscles. Admittedly, she could understand the sentiment, her own body letting her know that it was not at all happy about what she'd just put it through...

Cody let the hug linger for as long as she thought safe given their time-constraints, wanting to let her brother know how much she appreciated what he'd just done for her. Realizing all the while that the thanks wasn't needed...but feeling compelled to give it all the same. Finally, though, Bryn started to draw back, and she grinned up sheepishly...which drew a teasing hair-tousle from the grinning catboy.

"You ready to get outta here?" he growled cheerily, trademark lop-sided smirk crooking his mouth once more.

"Been ready big brother...been ready..." Cody chuckled, casting another meaningful glance around the room. And then her lips curved up in a righteously-vindictive smile. "But I think I'd like to come back real soon, if ya don't mind. With the police."

His return grin almost perfectly matched Cody's own, as he answered, "Don't mind at all..." And then the two plucky young sibling-sleuths began to make their wary, stealthy way out of the black-hearted bandits' lair. The twins weren't in the clear yet, they knew...but together, they had no doubt that they would win the day.

=== THE END ===

=================
And there ya have it, folks. Been wanting to do a "rescue series" for a while now, and have been missin' working with the twins, so when this one popped into my head the other day, I had to do it right away. Hope you had fun with it...

Cody and Bryn'll be popping up again VERY soon, in that long-delayed third Act of the story which was left off in "Revelation and Reckoning". If all goes well (*crosses fingers hopefully*) that SHOULD finally be this week, barring anything unforeseen. And, TK (and a few others) will be making the rounds too, in a variety of one-offs and mini-series as well.

Until then, take care and be well, folks!

Description
As the all-consuming battle wore on, Cody's muscles began to burn, and her spine let out a series of sharp pops that might have felt good under other circumstances...yet the cage door stood as seemingly-immovable as before, despite the ever-increasing pressure she rammed against it. And hard as she was fighting, Bryn looked to be trying twice as fiercely, the advantage of the crowbar making his the true "spearhead" in their battle against the implacable steel prison. His face was flushed an ugly red, and she could hear his teeth grinding against one another under the sheer force of his ever-more-tightly-clenching jaw. Both of their bodies shook with the strain, as they constantly repositioned themselves, looking for the angle that would give them the tiny edge over the unfeeling, merciless metal...and finding all those efforts in vain...

Finally, Cody mumured, "Bryn, stop..." voice quavering lightly in despair. She let up on the bars, leaning back slightly, with a dismayed shake of her head.

"No," came his simple, raggedly-strained reply. If anything, he pulled harder, and Cody saw him wince in obvious pain.

"Bryn... Stop!" she insisted again, with a tone of sharp exasperation - and no small amount of concern. The flush in his face and the shuddering tension that wracked Bryn's body looked awful. And made it altogether clear to her that he was going to hurt himself if he kept it up any longer... "We can find another way... Ya can go get the police or somethin', and-"

"NO!" he blurted, voice hissing harshly through vise-tight teeth. He didn't stop...in fact pouring on more effort, more strength...though Cody - and probably Bryn himself - wouldn't have thought that an impossibility a mere heartbeat before. "I'm not...leavin'...ya here...sis... Never!" Not letting up one ounce, the struggling, striving catboy threw himself backward even farther against the crowbar, kicking a foot up against the bars of the cage themselves, and digging into the floor with the heel of his other, as if trying to push through to the dirt below.

Cody felt her heart swell with pride and gratitude toward her brave, wonderfully-stubborn brother...and with renewed confidence as well. If he wasn't giving up, she wasn't about to either. With a fierce growl, she planted her feet and threw herself forward against the bars, straining every muscle in her body until she thought it would snap...and then pouring on some more. Within moments, both twins' growls and gasps - still unconsciously muted against the possibility of being overheard by the lurking villains upstairs - wove a symphony of straining, defiant determination in the air of the crypt-like smugglers' store-room... Conscious thought faded, instinct and effort became one, until only a single impulse drove them both: They would defeat the cage. Cody would be free. And nothing in the world was going to stop that from happening.

And, finally...it did. With a distressingly-loud thump-clang!, the lock inside the cage door suddenly broke, with such startling abruptness that Bryn stumbled back and nearly fell to his backside. Probably would have, in fact, if not for raw catfolk agility and a little dumb luck. While Cody lurched a half-step forward, before catching herself and keeping the door from flinging open to produce a second jarring clap of sound, under the levering force of the crowbar and her own outward-thrusting pressure.

Without hesitation, Cody swung the door open and began to step forward, having to work hard to keep from whooping in fierce, victorious joy. Bryn let the bar slip from his hand to the floor atop the discarded gag-cloth, to help muffle the sound. Though, that was only a peripheral, instinctive consideration as he staggered forward and toward the opening cage door. Eyes welling with fiercely-grateful tears, Cody threw her arms around her brother and crushed him close, letting up a bit as she felt him wince in pain at the rough treatment of his over-stressed muscles. Admittedly, she could understand the sentiment, her own body letting her know that it was not at all happy about what she'd just put it through...

Cody let the hug linger for as long as she thought safe given their time-constraints, wanting to let her brother know how much she appreciated what he'd just done for her. Realizing all the while that the thanks wasn't needed...but feeling compelled to give it all the same. Finally, though, Bryn started to draw back, and she grinned up sheepishly...which drew a teasing hair-tousle from the grinning catboy.

"You ready to get outta here?" he growled cheerily, trademark lop-sided smirk crooking his mouth once more.

"Been ready big brother...been ready..." Cody chuckled, casting another meaningful glance around the room. And then her lips curved up in a righteously-vindictive smile. "But I think I'd like to come back real soon, if ya don't mind. With the police."

His return grin almost perfectly matched Cody's own, as he answered, "Don't mind at all..." And then the two plucky young sibling-sleuths began to make their wary, stealthy way out of the black-hearted bandits' lair. The twins weren't in the clear yet, they knew...but together, they had no doubt that they would win the day.

=== THE END ===

=================
And there ya have it, folks. Been wanting to do a "rescue series" for a while now, and have been missin' working with the twins, so when this one popped into my head the other day, I had to do it right away. Hope you had fun with it...

Cody and Bryn'll be popping up again VERY soon, in that long-delayed third Act of the story which was left off in "Revelation and Reckoning". If all goes well (*crosses fingers hopefully*) that SHOULD finally be this week, barring anything unforeseen. And, TK (and a few others) will be making the rounds too, in a variety of one-offs and mini-series as well.

Until then, take care and be well, folks!