Chapter 43 - the newman family reunion (part 1)

"A-Ava?!" Anna yelped, running and giving her a powerful hug.
"Anna, it's me." the blonde returned the hug. "You made me skinny again."
"I'm sorry, but I..." she sobbed, "I was forced to."
"Now, now, no need to cry." the young lady rubbed her back comfortingly, "You're safe with me now."
"No we're not... Joseph, he's gonna do stuff with me! I hear him speak to the others! Please, we gotta get out of here!" the girl desperately voiced.
"Okay, okay, we are..." she eased, "Let me see if we can get out of here somehow." Ava released her and turned around to check the window, unlocking and opening it. Suddenly she knocked back and onto the bed.
"Ava!" Anna cried.
A overly feminine form crawled through, then hopped to a pose, with her right hand spread open inches in front of her face, and her left elbow bent and sticking sideways.
"I've always wanted to do a pose!" the intruder happily voiced.
"NAYAMI!" Anna jumped up and down with excitement.
"Oh shoot, I'm sorry Ava..." Nayami helped her fallen friend up, "You okay? Oh and you're skinny again!"
Ava rubbed her chest, "I am fine, thank you very much." she sarcastically said, "Where's the others?"
"Oh, they're coming," the voluptuous lady answered, just as Rebecca crawled into the room.

"Sup." Rebecca casually greeted, "Patrick chose to find another way up... Ava, you're normal now!" she commented, "Was it on purpose? Had second thoughts about being a manatee?"
"Hah, no, it's a long story." Ava replied, "Your father desperately misses you Nayami... I think you should confront him."
"As what? Vinny? Or Nayami? He's not going to take it well either way, Ava." the multicolored haired woman argued.
"I, I don't know, I've spoke to him personally, and he seems pretty genuine... He mentioned that he made a big mistake by not being a good father to you, and letting you run away."
"I see, it's hard to believe..." Nayami rubbed her arm, "But the only way to fix this is to talk to him. But first, I need to speak to my mother. She'll set the record straight, and perhaps get him to stop everything." she explained.
"I-I don't think Patrick needs to kill your dad, he can be swayed." Ava added.
"Let's hope so, because I sure don't want to deal with my family being torn apart, but if it happens, so be it."
"You really going to let your dad die?" Ava questioned seriously, "I know he's done wrong things to you, but think about it... he's your father."
"Damn it Ava, I don't want to think about that...I just want to get this all over with." A tear ran down Nayami's cheek. "Anna, turn me back now, I'll set things right. I'm sick and fucking tired of sitting back and letting things happen, especially if it leads to people getting killed. It was fun while it lasted, but seeing Patrick knock out a person or two to get us up here... I can't let things continue like this!" the curvy woman got down on her knees, awaiting Anna's healing. "Just do it, get it over with, Anna."

"O-okay..." the magical girl placed her hands on Nayami's head, transforming her back to son of Joseph.
"There. I'm back." Vinny voiced, removing the womens clothes and swapping it with a set from his own dresser. "You all can follow me, or you can stay. It's up to you. Rebecca, you should take Anna away from the mansion, Ava, you have the keys to the car?"
"I do still, you think it's' safe out there for them to leave?" the blonde asked.
"Yes. Those guards posted out in the front entrance are unconscious. I think Patrick would want Anna's safety over anything else."
"Got it." Rebecca agreed, grabbing the keys from Ava's possession, "Let's go Anna, we're getting out of here." the mermaid-human hybrid ordered, escorting the angel girl out of the room thru the window, with Vinny closing it.

The elder teen sighed, "They are going to be safe..." he looked at his own room, "Y'know, looking back at my own room... it reveals a lot about me."
"Vin-" Ava attempted to grab his attention.
"Nayami... I loved her... I loved her so much that I wanted to BE her... now look what it's' caused. It's going to be the reason why my family is going to be torn apart."
"No, Vinny, it's Joseph... he's the reason things have gotten so bad. You're not at fault."
Vinny noticed a small letter on his desktop computer, "This wasn't there before..." he mentioned before opening and reading its' contents.

"My son,

I know you're not here to read this, but perhaps I'd hope someday you'll just sneak right back in and open this letter. I haven't been the best father to you, and looking at what you've become... it's pretty evident. Looking back over the years, I regret not being the one to help you develop into a true Newman, one of prestige, power and wealth. I was too engrossed in my projects that I've lost touch with my one and only son. The only thing I want you to take from this letter, is that you're still loved by me and your mother, and we want to see you again, in one form or another. We'll have our arms open for you, Vinny, and I promise things will be different if you do.

Love, dad."

Vinny's eyes ran like a waterfall as he finished reading the letter.
"He...He does miss me."
"I know, he's told me personally, Nay-Vinny." Ava placed her hand on his shoulder. "He mentioned that he'd reward me for your return, I'm going to take up on that offer by escorting you with me. We'll make up a story, and convince him to stop making 'Sweet Dreams', and leave people alone." she explained.
"You really think that'll happen?"
"I think so. His words seem genuine."
"What about Patrick? He's gonna kill him at first sight."
"If he hasn't reached your father yet, and we convinced Joseph to stop 'Sweet Dreams' then I'll stop him myself, with words first, then force.
"How? He's twice your size? And-"
Ava pulled out her 'Sweet Dreams's dosing pen, "I'll use this and stop him.... I'll become fat again, and I'll use my weight to push and pin him down."
"Ava, I hope it doesn't come to that... or worse, you have to hurt my dad."
"I hope so too..."
The skinny lady moved to the exit door, "Come, let's go find your mother, and we can have you talk to her first." Ava opened the door, "By the way, call me Sarah from now on. They know me by that name, and don't want any confusion."
"Got it. Sarah." Vinny stepped out first, "My mom wakes up later in the morning, she's probably in her bedroom right now."
The Newman son led Ava a few door down the hall and into a pair of double doors. He planted his ear against the door, "I think she's getting dressed... I can hear her humming." Vinny then knocked the door.
"Who is it?" the mother said through the door, "Give me a moment!" and after a minute, the double doors opened wide, revealing a curvy, mature brunette with a tank top and leggings on.
"I'm about to work out..." she stared at her son, in pure disbelief. "Vinny!?" she blurted. "I-I...is that you!?" after realizing it, the mother then hugged him tightly.
"It's me mom... I'm back." the son broke in tears, "I'm sorry for running away. I...I just couldn't handle living in a place where experiments are done to people..."
"Wha? Experiments?! People!?" her tone soured immediately, "Vinny what do you mean?...and who's this woman?"
"I...saw bad things happening, dad... he would do things to people...and they'd never be the same. That's Sarah. She found me earlier."
"I'm gonna have a word with him then, you two should come too, I never knew how bad things have gotten with his business." she released her son, "If your words are correct, then I've been lied to. I will not stand for this." she walked past the duo, heading for the stairs.

Ava's heart raced as she felt the final confrontation was about to happen. Looking at Vinny, he was equally as anxious as either of them wasn't sure how Joseph would handle his wife arguing about everything.
"Hey, Vinny's mother. What's your name?" Ava asked.
"Karah. My name is Karah. How did you get here, may I ask?"
"I was let in, then was experimented on by your husband."
"What?" the wife maliciously voiced.
"It wasn't a bad experiment. I lost over three hundred pounds... it was a weight loss one!" Ava backpedaled. "I didn't get hurt!"
"Sarah, if that's who you are, I caught my husband doing some nasty things down in his lab, stuff that would get us in trouble with the federal government. Even if it was for good reasons, I specifically told him to stop everything. But, I guess he's a big fat liar!" Karah angrily said, beginning her descent down the stairs. Ava looked through the front window to notice the Tesla was gone, Rebecca and Anna safely left the premises.
"So, what are you gonna do about it mom?" Vinny questioned.
"Give him a piece of my mind, that's what I'll do. I'll tear apart this mansion to get my way if I have to."
"Are you going to tell him to stop with what he's doing?" the son added.
"Oh I'll tell him alright, and I'll tell him that he's tearing OUR family apart because of it. I want no part of this if he wants to continue with it."
"Karah, does your husband not tell you of things?!" Ava inquired.
The mother reached the bottom step, "No, not everything as you can tell. He does his own work and keeps to himself. It's hard enough getting him out of his lab, which he's probably at right now as we speak." she moved towards the basement staircase.

"We're gonna put a stop to what he's doing then, mom?" Vinny curiously asked.
"Yes. He's the owner and proprietor of his company. If he doesn't listen to us, then I'll tell him what will happen if he doesn't care about his family."
Ava got the inclination of what the wife meant - Divorce. Judging by the way Karah spoke, the Newman family was already in disarray to begin with. The twenty three year old sighed as she knew things were about to get rough. But, a mysterious shadow caught the corner of her eye as they reached the next set of stairs. Looking behind, she noticed a muscular figure peeking around the corne