Chapter 27

A/N: Heyo, I is back, I is~!! ^^ Anywho, lot's has happened since last chapter…for one thing, I rewrote Chapter One, in case you didn't notice.

Anyways, I think there was something else I was to mention…huh…well, you should all know that my current singing GOD is Anthony Head Stewart. Because he is GOD. Yes. And I now have a fondness for Paris Hilton. I used to be neutral about her…now I kinda like her…ish…JUST BECAUSE I CAN.

HA.

Also; I say I fail at making Bartie a jerk in this opening scene. Wynnie told me otherwise. I say that Wynnie is biased. I say that I am also biased. What says you?

Disclaimer: I does not own Bakugan. Total win on my part. I do own Zynnie and Bartie. And Wynnie…well, mostly owned by herself. I do get artistic license, though. And then the jokes Wynnie tells…I don't think either of us own them, but they were suggested by the real Wynnie. ^^

"You don't have the right to exist."

Each word fell sharply and quietly, like a dagger patiently tapping along brittle stone, leaving behind a small echo that was swallowed quickly by silence. They froze as the last word left Bartie's mouth, flat with finality.

Only a few seconds passed before a whisper answered that harsh statement, empty but for sardonic hostility. "Really now? And you've decreed yourself the one to decide such a thing?"

"I didn't decide it. It was always that way." Bartie still refused to look at the other boy, just as Masquerade refused to look at him, instead choosing to shift his eyes above the head of mussed-up black hair. This proud stillness was sanctioned, and neither of them would be the first to break it. Bartie closed his eyes. "I mean, it's not like you were born the proper way."

"Now, are you being discriminative? I would have thought that your many years and experiences would have given you a more open mind. I feel victimized."

"It's not discrimination when the so-called victim is a bastard. Isn't this your second time helping to see a world dominated? And all in your short lifetime, too. That ought to say something about your character."

There was a clear sneer in Masquerade's voice. "And you have no negative qualities in your character whatsoever?"

"I find that my flaws are downplayed by my charming personality and caring heart." Bartie grinned, almost dizzy with pleasure despite himself. A rough laugh rolled out of his throat. "You see, I actually have a heart. Unlike you. By the way, what are you exactly? A spirit, a ghost, soul? Silly idea that would be. Someone with a soul shouldn't be trying to hurt the brats that forgave him."

He was starting to enter the corny stages of his little speech; no matter, no one was really going to know or care. He doubted the other boy was going to point it out at this moment.

In fact, Masquerade didn't point anything out. Bartie was left with a shivering silence, strangely meek without wretched pleads and shrieks cleaving their way through the air, as he could remember on countless occasions. He wondered how long it would be before Zyllina grew bored with her new pets, and he would be subjected to those screams again.

"Let me put it to you this way, kid. I mean, if you are a kid. You look like one, but then again you also look like a guy. And hey, your gender is admittedly arguable…" Great, now he starting to ramble. Sighing, Bartie stuffed his left hand into the pockets of his jeans, the other holding the bag Zyllina had shoved onto him. His fingers immediately found a loose strand to fiddle with. Looks like he'd have to get new jeans. "You're an idiot."

No answer. But no echo of footsteps retreating in self-righteousness, either. So he could continue to make his little speech, oh goody. Or not. In all honestly, he had no idea if what he had to say was of any worth. His eyes opened – half-lidded – and looked up idly, wandering over the worn stone of the ceiling.

"Do you realize how easy you are to control? First your precious 'Master Naga', now 'Lady Zyllina'. It's like you're lost without someone to tell you what to do. It makes me sick."

"And you?" Bartie could sense the wavering restraint in Masquerade's voice, eager to defend and put the older boy in his place, salvage the pride he had left to him. "Hypocritical, the way you talk as though following her is some sort of foul sin while you…"

"It is a sin. The worst." His gaze flickered from the ceiling to a candle over to his right; the blue flame twisted and snarled before straightening out once more in a steady ribbon.

Masquerade scoffed behind him; faux confidence. "And that supports your argument that I'm an idiot how…?"

"She's my sister." Three words. Three completely useless words. Their blood wasn't thick enough to overlook this contemptible situation. "It's not like I can let her go at this crazy scheme of hers alone. She's my –" Stop right there, because there was no way he could explain it. Irritably, Bartie tugged the stray strand in his pocket again; now it was just making him mad. To think that he of all people was wearing such cheap clothing. "I made my choices. At least I wasn't born a sinner."

"Choices? You say it comes down to choice and birth?" He was struggling more to stay aloof; Bartie took this as a sign of impending victory. "Don't you remember that I made the choice to join Zyllina?"

No you didn't.

"Maybe I should put it a different way." This was starting to get too far…no, it wasn't far enough. Not enough to convey everything he meant. "Maybe we should go back to what I originally said. You don't have the right to exist. You being around means nothing but trouble to the world. You're incapable of humanity. Moreover, you really annoy me. Is that clear enough for you?"

Do you understand…?

"Hmm?"

She could feel the strings being plucked, the shudder in the air, the burn of resentful hearts, and the brim of her overly large hat flopped as she tilted her head up to the ceiling, closing her eyes briefly to the magnificence of the empty hallways. The tip of her mouth turned downwards as yelps that melted into caws and a furious snarl struck her somewhere, deep in her chest…

It was almost saddening, how he was still so unwittingly useful.

Shimmery black separated and lengthened, fading into a pearly white hand as Bartie absentmindedly snatched at the small fluff of a feather, tuning out the ring of flurried footsteps. As his fingers closed into his palm the feather slipped through the cracks and twirled through the air as it continued it's buoyant float downwards, to his mild annoyance.

His cheek was throbbing; lucky bastard had managed to land a punch before Bartie had time to shift into the safety of fowl form. He abandoned his pursuit of the feather to touch the stinging jaw with a scowl.

"Way to flip out," he muttered into empty space, wishing the younger boy had stuck around longer. Bitterly, he prayed a plague would befall the stupid blonde. Damn blonde…blonde really was a horrible hair colour.

He glanced to the side, directing his ire towards the crumpled bag that had been flung away in the brief scuffle. Mumbling out curses, he leaned forward and scooped it up.

The footsteps had disappeared now; no doubt the little jerk was back at his lovely sister's side, whining and carrying on about how nasty mean old Bartie was…

Damn. Clearly, Bartie couldn't hope to follow after Masquerade and back to his sister without suffering severe physical and psychological trauma; it was best to not to do anything more to piss Zyllina off. With a long-suffering sigh and the air of a gallant soldier marching stoically to his own death, Bartie turned and trudged down the hall. Best to just get this over with.

"So this duck walks into a bar and asks the bartender…"

Runo groaned loudly, giving Wynnie a sideways glare; the other girl took no notice of it.

"—'you got any grapes?'. And the bartender says, 'No, we don't have any grapes, please leave'. The duck leaves and comes back the next day and asks the bartender, 'Got any grapes?'."

Runo groaned again as she reached for another useless knob, in some futile hope that Wynnie would be alerted to her displeasure with the attempts to liven up the atmosphere. However, Wynnie did not become who she is today by taking such hints.

"And the bartender says, 'No, I told you yesterday, we don't have any grapes! Go away!'. So the duck leaves and comes back the next day saying, 'You got any grapes?'. Then the bartender says, 'I already told you, we don't have any grapes! You ask that again, and I'll nail your feet to the floor!' So the duck leaves…"

Julie started humming; a new strategy to tune out Wynnie? Certainly not one Runo appreciated, if her growl meant anything. Wynnie continued with her joke, trailing behind the group as her hands flew through the air, as though trying to draw the scene out for them.

"…And comes back saying, 'You got any nails?'. Bartender says, 'No'. And the duck says, '…Got any grapes?'."

"HA!"

Marucho squeaked and lurched forward when Dan suddenly burst into laughter beside him; he was awarded with a medley of irritated or confused stares as Wynnie's grin widened.

"See~? The stupid boy thinks my joke was funny! Hey, hey~." She bounced up, poking Dan in the shoulder as his chuckles died down. "Why did the dragon cross the road?"

Shun and Runo rolled their eyes simultaneously, still persisting with their fruitless search for a corporeal doorknob as Alice glanced at the two worriedly. Julie had given up on trying doors a while go, instead resorting to just drifting along and checking her nails as Marucho hurried to her side to escape Dan's company.

"I dunno…why?"

"Because the chicken joke wasn't invented yet~!"

"When do you think they're gonna, like, get over these jokes?" Julie asked, an unusual tone of boredom in her voice as the Wynnie and Dan broke into another peal of guffaws.

"Why did the monkey fall out of the tree~?"

Runo looked back at Dan, who was grinning like a fool. "…Not for a while I think."

"Why?"

"Because it was dead~!"

"Alice." Runo looked at the other girl beseechingly. "Can I kill them?"

"Um…you probably shouldn't."

"I got another good one! What do you get when you change a cow into a cat?!"

Dan's eyes lit up eagerly. "What?"

"A…cat!"

All cheer and mirth disappeared off Dan's face as Wynnie was left to slap her knees and bend over in laughter by herself. "I don't get it."

"Aw man, I totally crack myself up, ain't I the funniest person ev-what did you say?"

Dan blinked as Wynnie's voice went flat and she straightened up, red eyes dead as they trained upon his face stonily. "I don't get it…?"

"I HATE YOU!"

He stumbled back, mouth sagging open and hands up in defense as Wynnie's shriek echoed through the hall, forcing the other Brawlers to stop and turn around in alarm. The girl took a menacing step towards him.

"How the hellion do you NOT get it?! THE COW CHANGED INTO A CAT! IT'S THAT EFFING SIMPLE!"

"Well…" Dan frowned, fingers curling into fists. "It was a stupid joke! All of them were stupid!"

Wynnie gasped, hands flying up to her mouth. She stared at him silently for a moment, loathing twisted into her features. "I…I can't believe it! For a moment earlier, I had actually thought you were worth considering to be an actual human being! That there might actually be a bit of coolness in you! But noooo! You turn out to really be the piece of crap that I thought you were before! SO YOU KNOW WHAT?!"

Dan scowled stubbornly, crossing his arms in defiance to her anger. "What?!"

The fist that came flying at his face should have been enough of an answer; the words that swiftly followed said fist were just to make sure he fully understood. "YOU SUCK!"

"Ngh…!" Dan's hand flew to his throbbing nose as he stumbled backwards into a door, crying out again as he bounced off. Wynnie grinned smugly as Runo threw in a supportive cheer. "Dammit, my back!! That hurt, you bi--!!" He tripped over his own words as he whirled around. "The knob! It stabbed me in the back!"

A shocked silence – a very short-lived silence.

"Get out of the way!" Runo shoved the boy out of the way, quickly grabbing the handle; her fingers wrapped around it firmly. "Yes! We're finally getting somewhere!"

Alice moved to step beside Runo; Shun's hand stopped her with a light touch on the shoulder. She twisted her head around, just in time to catch his suspicious frown.

"I don't think…"

"No." Runo glared at him severely, hand refusing to let go of the handle. "You are not going to be a pessimist. I don't care if Psycho Witch wants us to go through this door for her own evil purposes. We're going to be damn frickin' grateful we finally have a door to go through. Okay? So just shut up."

Shun raised an eyebrow, but otherwise remained silent.

"Good."

"Ooh, this is so exciting~!" Bubbliness restored, Julie hovered around Runo in anticipation. "I totally say we take bets on what's gonna be behind it! I say it's a bunny~!"

"A carnivorous bunny~!" Wynnie chimed in, cackling as Runo gave the two an exasperated look. "With a fluffy chainsaw! And a parrot friend named Edwin!"

"Er…maybe…" Marucho shuffled his feet uncertainly as Julie and Wynnie began babbling out more genius ideas. "We should try to think of some sort of defense…?"

"Who cares about defense?" Brimming with triumphant bravado, Dan flicked Marucho in the back of the head. "We have no idea what's gonna be behind there…"

"Um, Dan? That would be the point…"

"A carnivorous bunny with a fluffy chainsaw and a parrot friend named Edwin!"

"So I say we just go in there and take whatever she throws at us!" Dan finished, blowing off Marucho and Wynnie's interruption as he pushed Runo out of the way, taking over the most revered job.

The dramatic opening of this new, mysterious door.

Dan lurched forward just as he twisted the knob and the door swung open as he fell through, Runo's fist following the back of his head. "You jerk, what was that for?!"

Wynnie popped around Runo, smile mischievous. "Yeah! You stupid jerk!" Her foot connecting with his spine did not help Dan in his effort to regain his balance.

"Victory to us~!" Wynnie happily kicked Dan's side as he plopped down onto the floor face-first, swearing violently. She stuck her tongue out at him, hands on her hips as she stood in the doorway, the rest of the Brawlers at her back. "Ooh, stupid little Kuso thinks he's got a potty mouth? I'll show you what a potty mouth is, you fu—BARTIE-KUN~?!"

Alice's heart stopped for a moment; her mouth went dry as Wynnie dove forward and out of their way, this was just another trap, they needed to stop being so rash, and now they could all see inside –

"Maskyyyyyy. What did Bartie say to you?"

Again, he forced the nonchalant smile on his face as Zyllina leaned forward in her throne, gazing at him with a mixture of pleading and fury in her eyes. "Milady, it's nothing of concern. He was just being an…idiot. Were you not watching us?"

Zyllina sighed, glancing at the crystal orb sitting on its spindly table beside her. Tiny figures moved around within the thick glass in a cluster. "No…I was listening to Wynnie tell the kiddies some jokes. She knows a lot of good ones…"

"Really now? What kind of jokes?"

She turned back to him with a glare. "No changing the subject. I need to know if my brother was being rude to you, I need to know how, and I need to know how to punish him." Her anger fell away for a moment with another sigh. "It's hard, you know. He's been stupid so many times, it's almost impossible to keep track of it all…ah! They found the door~!"

So much for not changing the subject; Zyllina's head snapped back around to the ball excitedly as her hand waved elegantly in the air. Wisps of smoke twisted from her fingers, before vanishing.

"Now, brother~," she purred as Masquerade drifted a bit closer, peering at the orb in interest. "Don't let me down~."

Runo's confused statement seemed to be the most appropriate for the sight they were greeted with.

"Why do you have intestines on your head?"

"Not intestines." Bartie yanked at the brim of his hat and tugged at the polyester collar of his rumpled, reddish shirt. He scowled as the Brawlers continued to stare at him with incredulous expressions; more appropriately, they were staring at the twisted jumble of pink tubes that swayed on top of his hat. "They're supposed to be slides."

Dan snorted as he clambered to his feet. He winced as he stepped forward, the other's following behind him cautiously. "Yeah right. They're totally intestines, you sick freak."

"They're slid – ow! Wynnie, let go of my leg!"

The girl refused to obey, even as Bartie staggered back as far as he could with her anchoring his foot down. The furthest he got was the half-slide it took to stand before one of the "slides". "Bartie-kun~, you're hot even wearing such pathetically ugly clothes~."

"I don't need you to tell me that!"

"She's, like, got a point." Julie frowned at the two, pouting as Bartie tried to shake Wynnie off furiously. "You look like one of those, like, fast-food restaurant workers or something…"

"Actually," Bartie grunted, rapping the top of Wynnie's head before gesturing over his shoulder; two gaping, circular holes ringed with thick, dull blue plastic stared out from behind him, like two huge, darkly callous eyes, "I think Zynnie was going for 'amusement park worker'. Hence the slides. Not intestines."

"What? But, like, why slides?"

Bartie diverted his attention away from the frothing Wynnie for a moment, quirking his eyebrow at the girl. "Because there are slides. They have slides at amusement parks. Zynnie has a sick sense of humour that I am unable to understand. That's why."

"…I totally don't get it. For serious, slides?"

"Whatev-WYNNIE, NOT THE ANKLE! NOT THE FRIGGIN' ANKLE!!"

"But it tastes so goooood~. You know you like it…omnomnom…"

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up a bit." Dan scratched his head, eyeing the two tunnels in bewilderment. "What's the actual point of the slides? Are we supposed to be scared? …Do they lead to the intestines of some weird animal?"

"Intestines of some weird animal?!" Wynnie's head jerked away from Bartie's ankle and his prying hands, smile unfurling across her face. "Oh my goodness, Bartie-kun, you got me weird animal intestines? You're too sweet~."

"…Smooth, man, real smooth." Bartie glowered at the younger boy as Wynnie purred, nuzzling his knee. "There are no intestines. Like I said before, Zynnie has a sick sense of humour and is a complete ditz who totally rips off ideas."

Something brushed against Alice's cheek; an amused coo, the whisper of a breeze, a cool and swift shadow. Brother, I take offense to that.

Alice's hand leapt to her cheek, fingertips quivering as she touched the skin. A small grey form fluttered through the air, landing delicately on Bartie's shoulder; tiny ruby eyes, beady and glowing, blinked back at them as slender wings stretched out one last time before settling comfortably into the bird's sides.

It was…curious. Alice wondered as to how it could look so fragile and fleeting, ready to fade away into the air at any moment. It was only when the tip of one of its little feet curled away into the air did she realize; it was made of smoke.

Bartie glanced at the bird irritably out of the corner of his eye. "Well, seeing as my intention was to offend…"

The bird's shape trembled, a chuckle ringing in their ears. Brother, I don't need to hear anymore of your imbecility and attempts at wit~. It would be nice if you simply, oh, I don't know…explain what they are to do now~?

"That would be much easier without this hat here to distract them, dear sister…"

"He's, like, right." Julie tilted to her head, unfazed by the appearance of the bird. "I mean, it's so geeky and creepy –"

Ha.

"– but he still looks so hot."

Bartie's scowl was replaced with a smirk. "Ha. Finally, someone who can see me for what I truly am, despite what I am forced to wear. Thank you, Julie. It's nice to meet someone of your remarkable insight."

"Like, anytime~."

"Bartie-kun~, what about me?" Wynnie looked up eagerly, squeezing his leg tighter. "Remember what I said earlier? I think you're hot no matter what you wear! Especially if that's nothing!"

The smirk tightened, and the corner of Bartie's mouth twitched as the bird scoffed in disgust. "Moving on. Which of you kiddies wants to play in the slides?"

"You're forgetting something." Alice stared in bemusement at Shun's back as he smoothly stepped in front of her. "An explanation. Do you really expect us to –" Shun struggled with the next incredulity-tinted words, before relenting. "– go down these slides without knowing the point of them?"

"Of course not. To expect that would mean I expect time to be saved. And to be honest, time saving does not seem to be happening lately." Bartie gave up on freeing himself from the girl latched around his leg, instead linking his fingers behind his head. "You sure you want to know?"

Shun nodded stoically.

"Of course." Runo crossed her arms in agreement with the young ninja. "Most of us here aren't idiots." She glanced pointedly at a sulky Dan and grinning Julie.

"At least you're accurate, Pigtails." Bartie sighed and twisted his neck around to glance idly at the slides as the bird shifted around on his shoulder. "Well, one leads to danger."

"Oooooh, danger." Recovering from the previous slights to his pride, Dan puffed up his chest and grinned scornfully. "Like we've never faced that before. What kind of danger? A couple of –" He faltered for a moment. "– pissed off turtles?"
"…Seriously, stupid boy?" Wynnie snorted in disdain as Runo slapped Dan in the shoulder in disbelief. "Turtles? Just plain turtles? At least go with an evil version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who've gone days without a hit of pizza sauce."

Dan rubbed his shoulder, indignant. "Shut up, it was the best I could come up with on short noti–"

"Actually, I think it was once some mutated turtles." Bartie tapped his chin thoughtfully as Dan fell silent in surprise. "Carnivorous snapping turtles. Another time we went with a pool of boxed jellyfish…the classic shrinking-oh-my-god-I'm-gonna-be-squished room…a screwed up Teletubbies set…"

If Alice weren't quite so nice, she would have beat Runo to the next remark. "What the hell?"

I like to switch things around occasionally, the bird sniffed. Constantly having the same thing gets boring.

"Of course, it could also lead to safety," Bartie continued. "You know, a nice, empty landing where you can rest up before the next game."

"And the other slide?" Shun nodded towards both openings. "Where would it lead to?"

A mischievous smile and an unconcerned shrug were two of three things that answered Shun. The third followed them casually. "Nowhere."

"Ooh, so that's the one that's safe?" Julie clapped her hands together. "Okay, so we, like, got a fifty-fifty chance or something…"

She was cut off by a derisive laugh from Bartie. "Julie, your insight can't let us down now. This slide is anything but safe."

"Anything but?" Alice took an uncertain step forward, ignoring the warning glance Shun gave her over his shoulder. "What do you mean –" Her voice trailed off uncertainly for a second. "Oh…nowhere."

"Exactly." Bartie flashed her a quick smile, bobbing his head up and down. "Zynnie likes to steal ideas from books, you see. Zynnie has no idea as to the definition of originality."

Brother… The bird hopped up and down on his shoulder crossly. Are you making fun of my slides?

"Sister, how am I not making fun of your slides?"

Just because you can't comprehend the sheer psychological depth of these slides…

"You stole it from a Goosebumps book or something like that. What kind of psychological depth is there in those besides 'adults suck'?"

As if I would read something as trite as Goosebumps.

"Oh, but you do. I've caught you in the act."

Lies!

Runo coughed sharply and raised her eyebrows at her friends as boy and bird erupted into a fiery fit of squabbles, their attention entirely diverted from their prey. "Think we can use this opportunity to get the hell out of here?"

Click.

"… I dunno." Julie shrugged as everyone else turned around abruptly, looking at the fastened door aghast. "I mean, the door just shut all by itself. And like, I've seen that kind of stuff on TV, and the door, like, normally likes by itself too…so yeah. I bet it's, like, locked."

"I think that would be an accurate notion," Marucho said weakly, small shoulders hunched as he glanced wide-eyed at the slides.

You've always been jealous of the fact that I am infinitely more literate than you are!

"I'm not the one who reads picture books!"

They aren't picture books! I was translating pictographs, dammit!

"Well then, what are we going to do?" For once, the hard determination in Runo's eyes betrayed her; her look towards the slides revealed the twist of contempt and aggravated caution. "I mean…we don't even have a fifty-fifty chance for safety if the one slide doesn't lead to safety. And I don't think that going down the Slide that Never Ends would be much of a picnic…should we split up or something? That way, someone has a chance to—"

"No."

The bickering of the siblings became nothing more than fuzzy background noise as, one by one, the Brawlers turned towards Alice – fingers curled into trembling fists and eyes like hardened amber.

"We can't split up. That's the worse thing we cou—" A sudden halt; Alice forced another breath down her throat, just enough so that her croak of a voice could be heard. "—we could do."

Runo opened her mouth; whether or not she meant to agree or argue the point, no one ever had the chance to find out.

"Alice is right!" Marucho's glasses were very close to flying across the room, what with the vigor that he nodded with. "We…we'll have a much better chance if we all stay together! A-and we can't just leave some of us…some of us…for dead."

"Exactly!" Dan's whoop was accompanied with the smack of a fist into a palm. "It's all or nothing! Nothing is splitting us up!"

Ex-cuse me.

Dan jumped in surprise as the irritable chirp swooped by his ear; the bird was attempted to stab at his ear with its beak. Such a deed was, unfortunately, nigh impossible with such a metaphysical form. With a huff, it drew back and hovered in place, condescending eyes glaring.

In case you didn't notice, reprobates, my brother and I are trying to have a discussion. It would nice if you all shut up with your insignificant chatter as I try to work past Bartie's asininity.

"Hypocrite, you all me 'asinine' or whatever? I know how to use a calculator."

Well, it's not like I need a calculator anyways. You're the one who can't do such simple equations in your head. And no more of your whining~. The bird returned its attention to the gang as Bartie grumbled. Now, kiddies~, which unfortunate fate will chance allow you~?

"BITE ME!"

Really, they couldn't expect much more from Dan; with a battle cry and a flying fist, the boy rushed towards the bird. Flesh swiped through the elegant smoky curls, and they withered into the air. Bartie stepped back instinctively, Wynnie squeaking and clambering off of his leg as roughly a hundred pounds of recklessness barreled towards them.

"Dan!"

Voices weren't enough to stop the inevitable; neither were these petty steps forward that Alice took. Blue and silver and blonde rushed ahead, blurred together as two surprised yelps were engulfed by the black hole.

"Ooh…" Wynnie crouched by the edge of the slide, leaning back as bluesilverblonde shoved and hurried frantically towards their vanished friend. "I nearly got Stupid Boy cooties on me…that would be bad, bad, ba—BARTIE-KUN! Bartie-kun is getting Stupid Boy cooties on him! Nu!"

It was only then that she realized, when her muscles sprung back into action; as one, two, three, four figures leapt in, only half a thought for the imminent danger. They were going down.

"Alice…!"

There was no time to waste on Shun's rationalities, if they were even going to be that; his wrist was in her hand, and her adherent spirit easily carried him away.

"Oh my." Zyllina tapped her chin, eyes smoldering as the image of her brother in the pearly orb winked out of existence and words sharp. "Silly Danny took my brother with him. Now I have to get Bartie back…that's a bit difficult, without dragging out the kiddies as well…"

There was no response to her fretful musings; his hands just hung loosely at his sides, and his indifferent, solemn gaze watched as a wide-brimmed hat – perched lop-sided on the head of some small, hidden figure – followed, with deliberate calm, the disappearing end of Shun's shirt.

A/N: …I did iiiiiit. :D Lookie here, I actually finished the chappie~! Aren't you all ridiculously proud of me?

Aaaaand, now I will ruin that pride. Some of you hopefully already know about this from my profile; this story is gonna be on temporary hiatus until I get all the rewrites done. :3 Hee?

Also, there's a new bit of news on my profile concerning Math and Love to Hate You; if you've read/are reading either one of those stories, please refer to my super-duper Important Announcement section immediately~.

…Sparkle~

Also; CRITIQUE. HARSHLY. I finished this chapter up some time after ten pm, so it's definitely not in the best shape…however, I be too much of a brat to take an extra day or two for any extravagant editing. So feel free to point out any errors, redundancies, and so on so that I can fix them~.