Disclaimer: While I would love to be Akira Toriyama, Kazuki Takahashi, or Yoshihiro Togashi, I am not so I do not own the many Dragon Ball series, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or Yu Yu Hakusho.

A simple little Drabble?
A simple little rhyme?
Well let us see, my dear
What in this black pen of mine.
-Death101 – Fox version

LOCK, SHOCK, AND BARREL

Here he was again. Apologetic again. But still in trouble again. And what did he do? He was late. And why was he late? Was it because he had to get cigarettes for his mom? No. Was it because he had to track down two criminals? No. Was it because he had to save the world? No. Her boyfriend was late because he had slept in. Again. For the third time this week.

Keiko could feel her face reddening as she watched her boyfriend try to explain himself. Through her anger she heard him mention something about poker with the guys and staying up too late but she blocked it out.

"Yusuke," she asked. "Do you know what day it is today?"

He frowned. "I'm not that dumb Keiko. It's Tuesday." He started to walk away. "Now come on, Kuwabara and Kurama said they'd meet us at the restaurant."

She shook her head. Not only was he late but he also had forgotten what today was. Yusuke seemed to know he was getting into more trouble because he at least tried to look sympathetic to her anger.

"Keiko, you okay?" he asked.

She could only shake her head as she started to walk away. "Call me when you remember what day it is."

Yusuke frowned and started to follow. "But I already told you! It's Tuesday!"

"Later Yusuke," she said over her shoulder. She knew he would keep following, but she could at least ignore him.

With a sigh, she entered one of the many dressing stores on the street because she knew he hated them. The cashiers always gave him funny looks. He deserved it, she decided as she tried on a nice dress. After all, she had warned him every day for the past week about their anniversary, but did he have the brain capacity to remember? No.

She looked at girl in the mirror wearing a simple black dress. Sad brown eyes looked back under a mess of brown hair. She hadn't had time to brush it properly before their date but knew that Yusuke wouldn't notice. He never noticed anything. Taking a small comb from her purse, she started to tame her bed-head but then stopped. If she bought a witch's hat, she'd fit in outside where everyone and their sister were wearing their Halloween costumes. The American custom of dressing up and doing door to door to get candy from strangers had finally started to catch on in the major cities in Japan. She hadn't bothered to get a costume though because she figured that Yusuke would have remembered the date and made some form of arrangements, even if it was just to make her dinner at his ramen stand.

"But of course he forgot," she muttered. She looked at herself in the mirror again. The black dress was appealing to her more and more in her current mood. Finally, she convinced herself to buy it. Picking up her clothes, she went to the cashier and paid for both the dress and a witch's hat.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

"And we'll have cakes and candles and fake bats and spooky music so that everyone can dance. But none of that Thriller stuff. And we have to get matching costumes. And Monnie said she was dying her hair blue. Do you think I should dye my hair? Oh! What if we dye our hair matching colours? We could go as Fred and George! Or maybe Miroku and Sango!"

Or maybe dead and deader. Why was he dating this chick? All she ever did was talk. Did she ever pause to breathe? Oh wait. There was a pause. And on to the next social-related problem. He could have left a dummy in his place. Actually that wasn't a bad idea. Then she could poke it and when it fell over she would think that she talked him to death and then he would be free of that non-stop talking bi-

"Are you listening, Seto?"

Her glare and her hand closed around her annoying pink cell phone quickly reminded him of why he was dating her. She was scary, and more importantly, she had blackmail.

"So you want to dress up as Batman and Catwoman?" Whoever they are, he mentally added.

Her eyes lit up and there was no trace of the control-maniac she REALLY was. Too late he realized that he had just given her an idea, and it was too late to run. Her arms rose over her head, and she sprang out of her seat. Right towards him. Her arms latched around his neck in a crushing grip.

Thankfully before he lost too much oxygen the phone rang. Never in his life had he been so happy to hear the bell signalling his secretary needed him. As his 'girlfriend' moved her arms from his throat, he dove for the phone and hit the talk button.

"What?" he asked in his usual gruff voice.

"Mister Kaiba, there is a testing down on Level B that needs your attention," the phone answered.

Before his 'girlfriend' could even blink, he virtually ran for the door. As usual his secretary was waiting just outside with a clipboard and pen in hand ready to jot down anything he noticed that needed changing with the new system. They were almost at the elevator when the blackmailer reached them. "Remember 4 o'clock my house." She even had the audacity to kiss him on the check before stealing the elevator. Rather than share the elevator with her he decided to wait for the next one. While he waited he allowed himself to imagine all the things he would make that girl do when he was sure that she was no longer a threat. Before he could become too engrossed in his musings, the doors opened again and he stepped in.

His secretary followed and waited until the doors were shut to say, "So I guess I'll have to get a Batman costume for you?"

He frowned. "I don't pay you to listen through doors, Takahashi."

She smiled. "But it makes things easier doesn't it? Especially when you are trying to avoid your girlfriend."

He was silent only because the door had opened. She had not beaten him. He did have a rebuttal, but it would have to wait until they were alone and not being watched by the potential gossipers he called employees.

As they passed a group of technicians on break, he made a mental note to ban or at least limit the wearing of Halloween costumes. It wasn't that he didn't like the holiday— if you could call it that— but all of the costumes were either turning the male workers into fools or had many loose strings that could be caught in the machines.

Takahashi was watching him and made a note on her clipboard. "Maybe you should go as a devil duo as all of the workers will complain if you don't explain why you are butting in on their choice of clothing."

"I also don't pay you to read my mind," he said as he typed in the pin to open the door to the experimental part of the company. After a quick retina scan, he entered the room to see it was empty. He frowned and turned to his secretary expecting an answer. He got one.

"Excuse at 3 o'clock sharp to get away from Miss Whitefield."

His frown grew. "It's only 12:30."

"And if I waited you would be off shopping for costumes right now instead of working on your latest attempt to take the Duel Monsters community by storm."

He hated it when she did that. However, he had to admit she was right. Taking off his coat, he laid it on a chair and went over to the tools. "Come back at 3:30."

"Is thirty minutes really enough time to take a shower? … Unless you want your brown hair to be black."

He paused and then said, "3 then."

She nodded and started to walk towards the door.

"And Takahashi?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his blue eyes as a cruel smirk appeared on his face. "Change that Batman costume to a devil."

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

People were annoying, he decided as he walked through the doors to his company. He could hear them talking about how 'adorable' he looked in his suit. He had been gone over a year travelling through space with his best friend's father and the granddaughter of that father and they still thought he was adorable. Couldn't they even think of another word? It was like he hadn't even left!

Oh well in two minutes he would be able to fly out of there. Unless his secretary had caught on to his old trick. The thought of finding the old escape route locked and himself trapped was enough to make him twitch. What if he actually had to go through all those accounting books? He'd be there until he was 80! Maybe his mom had already had done them. Or was he hoping too much?

Almost dreading it, he entered his office to see a pile of blue books sitting on his desk as if he had never left. Behind him a man from accounting poked his head in.

"Mister Briefs? Your mother said to leave the books from yesterday here until you returned and we need them by noon or else everything will be behind schedule."

The words almost didn't come out as his jaw had fallen open. "Of… course…"

The man didn't seem to notice his shock because he grinned and disappeared out the door only to be replaced by his secretary. She was looking down. If he was quick, he could duck behind the pile and make it to the window. A small smirk appeared on his face. If he was quick? He had been out in space too long. There wasn't anyone on Earth who could follow his movements… except for his dad, Goten, Gohan, Goku, Piccolo, Krillen, and the other Z fighters.

Subtlety, he dashed around his desk and behind the pile of books. He sat down just in time to see the secretary glance in his direction before looking down at her daily planner. As she started going on about the things he supposedly would be doing that day, he crawled down to the floor. Inching forward he moved closer and closer to the window to his freedom. The secretary still hadn't looked up. His hand closed around the latch. It wasn't locked, was it? It couldn't be locked. They couldn't have learned their lesson.

It turned.

"Freedom here I come," he muttered as he jumped through the window. He could hear the secretary muttering to herself as he darted off through the clouds. His mother would chew him out later but it was worth it. He had missed flying through the clouds of Earth and the feel of the wind rushing through his purple hair. Now if he could only keep the bugs out of his blue eyes then the moment would be prefect. Come to think of it, if someone would stop calling his name that would make it better too.

Realizing that the voice was not going to disappear, he started to look around for the source.

"Trunks," the voice called out again.

He spotted a small speck below him that was rapidly growing bigger as it rushed towards him. It wasn't until he felt her chi that he realized who it was. "Pan, what are you doing here?" he asked once she was within talking distance.

She waited until she was flying beside him to answer. "Looking for you. Your mom is pretty mad that you ditched work like that."

He nodded. "Yeah I guess she would be. That still doesn't explain why you came looking for me though."

"I was bored and I thought that with Halloween coming up we could go costume shopping. Unless you already have one."

He flew upwards to avoid hitting a bird. "Actually I wasn't planning on getting one."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Don't you think we're a little old to go house to house for candy, Pan?"

She shook her head. "First, we have the Halloween Party tonight, and second, you're never too old to love candy, Trunks. Grandpa Goku would have said the same thing and you know it."

He nodded. "Yeah I guess."

"So are you going to go come shopping with me?"

He sighed. "I might as well but you're buying your own costume."

She grinned. "Fair enough. So what costume are you going to get?"

He shrugged and ducked to avoid another bird. "Dunno. Maybe a skeleton or something cool."

"I think I'll go as a vampire. Maybe I'll be able to scare Uncle Goten out of his wrappings."

"He's going as a mummy?"

She nodded as her chi started to increase. "Race you to the mall." The next second she had taken off leaving a shockwave in her wake. "Last one pay for the costumes."

He let her get a five second head start before increasing his aura and taking off after her. That girl had greatly underestimated him, and now she was going to owe him a costume.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

People always thought the wrong thing, Keiko decided as she made her way through town. She had ran into a few friends from school who had been glad to see that her boyfriend wasn't around. Unfortunately, they took the time it took to walk from the business section to the small park to attempt to convince her that Yusuke was bad news. As she had told them many times before, Yusuke wasn't as bad as they knew. Of course it was only natural that they would suspect him of wrongdoing because of his reputation but still. She knew what was right for her or else she would have dumped him already.

Her friends left her at the park where she wandered for a little while thinking about her relationship with Yusuke. Was he really right for her? While he was constantly late, rude, and reckless, he did have his good points. But for some reason his good points didn't make her feel any better. Maybe it was because he had remembered his poker night with the guys but not their special day.

She sighed.

To be fair it wasn't really that special. If they were married, then maybe she would be justified but they weren't. Still though they had barely any time to be alone together and enjoy it. She loved all their friends but once in a while she'd like to spend some time alone with Yusuke without anyone snickering in the background. Of course he wouldn't even realize that without her telling him. Even if she told him, he might not understand. He had saved the world with those guys at his side while she was forced to wait on the sidelines. Maybe if she had powers she could help but she didn't so she watched. And wept. And cried out in fear every time he hit the ground.

Her foot slipped out from under her, and she found herself on the ground a moment later.

I bet the others never slip accidentally, she thought as she stood and dusted herself off.

It felt weird to be jealous of three guys but she couldn't help it. She knew Yusuke cared about her but sometimes it would be nice if he showed it in a different way than he usually did.

She shook her head. If Yusuke did that, he wouldn't be Yusuke anymore. He would be Kurama, and as much as she liked the fox, she did not want to date him.

She patted herself off one more time before deciding that she should turn back and apologize to Yusuke for over-reacting. He really hadn't done anything wrong other than be Yusuke. And she could only love him for it. With a sigh, she looked up and finally took in the scenery around her. Tall, skinny, and leafless trees surrounded her while the ground underfoot was grass free.

Slowly, she turned around, straining her eyes to see anything familiar. Nothing. The dead looking trees were the only thing she could see. What had happened to the park? What had happened to the people? What had happen to her world? Had she slipped through to Demon World?

Yusuke had mentioned that humans could cross through to the Demon World, but she expected to see something moving around or at least a detector to go off. Not this dead looking landscape. How could anything live there? And if she wasn't in Demon World, where was she? Could Yusuke even find her?

Her breath was coming in small pants as her fear got the best of her. Trying to get control she patted her face.

"Okay Keiko," she said. "Calm down. You aren't getting attacked by anything so you must be safe." Talking helped. She had to think to talk normally. Thinking took her mind off her fear. "You must have passed through some sort of portal, and if you have, then Koenma knows and he'll tell Yusuke. You'll be home soon. You just have to keep calm."

Her breathing had calmed, and her fear was controllable. She was in control. She was fine. She was okay. She was—

"Welcome back, Shock."

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

"Yellow wire… I said yellow! Damn it!" Kaiba whipped the headset away from his ears as his machine failed to connect the correct wires together for the twentieth time. He would have done it himself if the wires weren't live, and he had no way of turning them off. He had wasted twenty minutes on the wiring and still needed to test the stupid thing and take a shower. As Takahashi had predicted, he had managed to get grease all over him. How? He still wasn't sure.

He looked up at the clock. 2:45. He had fifteen to attempt to fix his machine or he could work on something else. If KaibaCorps was going to survive the traumatic economic times, it would need to branch out and make something other than toys. But not weapons. He refused to return down that path. His eyes scanned the room. His employees' projects lay scattered around the room. Most of them didn't work but others held promise. Unfortunately, all of them were game-related. He really needed to tell his employees to work on something new.

Laying on a chair beside his coat was his costume. Since it would take an hour to travel back home to the manor, he had been sure to design a working shower just off his office. It made life easier if he was working overtime and needed to clean up before a meeting. He stared at the costume for a moment, debating whether he should just give up and take an early shower or keep working. However, he still hadn't thought of anything to work on besides the wiring for his new project. He glanced at the machine behind him and felt his anger rise.

It would be safer for everyone if he took the shower.

After shutting the machine down, he grabbed his coat and costume. He paused to re-enter his pin and exited the testing room before making his way to his office. It was only a quick shower, just long enough to get rid of the grease, because he hadn't gotten around to installing a lock on the door, and Takahashi had a habit of searching the building from top to bottom when she couldn't find him.

Once dried he slipped on his usual black clothing with his devil costume over top and took a look in the mirror in his main office. For a moment, he seriously and honestly considered firing Takahashi. And not in the way he daily considered firing her. This time he was ready to grab the pen and give her ten days notice.

He looked ridiculous! The red costume was a piece of red fabric that had been tailored to make it one piece of clothing that covered you from your neck to your feet. It even had a hood with pathetic horns and the stupid forked tail!

Takahashi was done if this was her serious idea of a devil costume. He started to peel the costume off when there was a knock on the door.

For a moment he stared. No one knocked in KaibaCorps. Everyone had their own unique code used to enter rooms so there was no need to knock unless you weren't supposed to be in that area or in this case if he didn't want to see you.

The knocking continued.

Unless you were Takahashi. Her codes always seemed to deactivate weeks after he gave her a new one. He still hadn't figured out why and placed that on his to do list if the machine downstairs was still being difficult the next time he worked on it. Of course if he fired her, he wouldn't have to do that. However, as much as he hated to admit it, Takahashi had preformed far better than his previous secretaries had and there was no guarantee that he would find another capable person.

Another knock on the door reminded him of the presence on the other side of the door.

If he couldn't fire her, he could at least give her a hard time, he decided as he went and opened the door. But standing there wasn't Takahashi. Instead it was a group of men who were oddly pale and had fangs in their mouths. Inspectors, he decided as he blocked the doorway.

"Treat or Trick," they said as they held up on big bag.

He frowned. "I don't know who let you in, but I can assure you that I have no intentions of talking with you." He turned to re-enter his room. "And you are three hours too early for tricking treating."

"Now!"

He looked back in surprise just in time to see the bag they had been holding slip over his head and fall all the way to his toes. Before he could even move, the bag had been pulled and closed so that his back was on the floor. He thrashed around and cursed. Knowing that no one could leave the building without being seen and a squirming bag was sure to make someone investigate, he figured these wackoes wouldn't get too far. The only problem he would have would be living down the embarrassment of nearly being kidnapped like a little child.

But, no one saw the men leave the building or heard one say, "Lock sure has gotten heavy."

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

How did she managed to beat him? She was slower than him, and he knew she didn't take any short cuts because there weren't any to take. So how did she beat him? Was he losing his touch?

Trunks shuttered to think what his father would say if he knew that Pan, a quarter-saiyan, had beaten him, a half-saiyan, in a race.

He must just have given her too big a head start, he decided, but that didn't matter since Pan was still looking for the most expensive costume she could find. Not that she had much to pick from. Halloween was that night, and most of the good costumes had already been taken. She still tried on a lot though. First she was a biker, then she was Saiyaman, and then he lost sight of her.

He also tried on a variety of costumes but all of them were either too long, too short, too stupid, or too dull. However, he finally found a skeleton costume that looked half-way decent. It was black with white bones painted on the front and back, and he was pretty sure that he had some black shoes hiding in his closet he could wear with it.

The only question left before he bought it was, did it fit?

After getting a changing room from one of the many salespeople, he slipped into to costume. It looked a bit sillier in the mirror because of his purple hair, but if he dyed it black and paled his face, he might look a bit better. And the costume fit better than the others had so far. He looked at himself a few times before deciding he'd buy it. However, when they arrived at the mall he promised Pan that he would show her his costume choice before he bought it. Now he had to find her.

He stepped out of the change room with his real clothes in hand already searching for Pan's familiar chi. However, he quickly found himself blocked by a short man who looked more like a cone than a person. His face was horribly pale, and his mouth seemed frozen in a frown that reached his chin.

"Barrel!" he cried as he grabbed Trunk's arm. "You have to come quickly! Lock and Shock are in danger!"

He frowned. The man was clearly confused but any danger could become a bigger problem to all here on Earth. As much as he would have preferred to ignore the man, it was his duty to help. "My name isn't Barrel," he said, "but maybe I can help."

The man didn't seem to hear him but continued to drag him towards the store exit. "I'm only an elected official," the man moaned as he dragged Trunks behind him. "I can't do anything on my own."

A saleswoman started to stop them but Trunks put up a hand to stop her. "Put it on the Briefs tab," he said as he was dashed out the door. His grandmother had an account at every store in West City so the name should be familiar, he decided. Besides he had something to do.

He followed the man until they came to a stop just outside a medieval crypt that towered over the surrounding graveyard. Unsure just what the danger was, he watched as the cone shaped man hurried to the doors and opened them. The inside was dark and the smell made him reconsider helping the man.

Trying not to cover his nose, Trunks asked, "Okay so where is the danger?"

"Down there." His guide pointed down onto the crypt.

He took a step closer to the edge of the staircase. "I don't see anything." And he would have if there was anything to see, or at least sensed something.

"You have to go down there."

He shook his head. "Unless you tell me what specifically is wrong, I won't do anything. Do you know how many times my friends and I have been tricked like this?"

The man's mouth seemed to sink even lower, though Trunks couldn't see how that was possible. "But Shock and Lock!"

If the names were supposed to mean anything to him, he didn't get it. However, they sounded like the names of children and it wouldn't be fair to leave children in danger. Despite his common sense warning him it was a trap, he leaned farther down to look deeper into the crypt. He squinted and thought he saw a small light. He leaned closer and reached out with his chi.

He couldn't feel anything… He couldn't feel anything.

He started to pull back, ready to confront the being without chi behind him when he felt himself shoved from behind. His feet slipped out from underneath him, and he felt himself tumble into the darkness below.

He had lost his touch.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

How did a person's energy suddenly disappear off the face of the Earth?

Yusuke had asked Kurama that question hours ago when Keiko's energy had suddenly disappeared. The answer hadn't been reassuring and he refused to believe the fox. Keiko was not dead. She had not died the one time he wasn't physically watching her. There was no way that she could have been killed.

After she had told him to take a hike and went into the dress store, he had decided to find the guys and tell them that if Keiko asked, he had met them at the restaurant at noon. He also contacted her dad and told him the surprise anniversary gift for two was off at least until he had figured out how to get Keiko to come with him to the restaurant. While he was walking, he kept tabs on her energy so that he wouldn't have to look very hard when he went to talk to her again after she had calmed down.

In fact he was on his way to try to convince her to forgive him when her energy had suddenly vanished. He had rushed to the spot in the park where he had last sensed her expecting to see something. Instead all he found was nothing. No demon energy. No blood (which was a good thing in hindsight). And no Keiko.

And when he asked Kurama, all the bastard has said was, "The only way I know is for the person to die."

But there wasn't any blood or a body so where the hell was she?

He would be pulling out his black hair if he hadn't worked so hard to get it gelled just right for today. However, he didn't hold back the worst of his brown-eyed glares so he wasn't surprised when people ran when they saw him coming. All except for one chick who looked just as worried as he was as she sat down on a park bench. Maybe she knew something.

Deciding to ask her, Yusuke started to walk towards her.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

"August," Takahashi muttered under her breath as she climbed the many stairs between Level C in the second building and the back parking lot. "Why couldn't he have picked August to go missing?" She shook her head, which caused one of the many hair pins holding her black hair in a neat bun to come loose. For the past five minutes, his 'girlfriend' Ms. Whitefield had been badgering her, demanding to know where he was and why he was late. Knowing that his company and very reputation were on the line, Takahashi had lied and said that he had been kidnapped. However, as she searched she wondered if that had been the case.

He wasn't on Level B in the main building when she came to remind him of the time. And he wasn't in his office either although the shower had been used. Thinking that he might be looking for her so he could terminate her contact, she decided to stay in the office until he had returned and hopefully calmed down. However, when he hadn't appeared for an hour, she had started to worry. She was about to go look for him when the first call came from Ms. Whitefield. To keep her busy, Takahashi lied and said that he was running late. After hanging up, she went to find Mr. Kaiba. Rather than alert the company that its C.E.O was missing, she rushed throughout the building looking for him. Nothing. She tried his cell and found it in his office with his coat. That was then the second call from his girlfriend had come in, demanding to know what was taking him.

This time she had lied and said that his car wasn't working and that he would be arriving soon before hanging up. Rushing to her car, she took a careful look around the parking lot. His red Ferrari Enzo was still parked in his spot. However, it didn't mean that he was still in the main building. Starting to really worry, she drove to the second building that KaibaCorps was using for highly hazardous experiments. After she was finished searching with no luck, she had started to make her way back to her car when Ms. Pain-in-the-Rear had called again, and talked non-stop for five minutes about how annoyed she was getting and how the party was going to be ruined if Mr. Kaiba didn't hurry up.

Finally sick of being nice, Takahashi exploded and said, "I don't have a clue where he is, alright!"

That of course set Ms. Whitefield off. "What do you mean you don't know where he is! You're his secretary! Don't you stalk him or something!"

Struggling to regain her composure, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry about my outburst, but I honestly do not know where Mr. Kaiba is at this present moment, and he's probably gotten himself kidnapped by men with more guns than brains."

A wail of horror came from the other side but she continued speaking. "But do not worry. I am currently looking into matter along with police help, and as soon as we have found him and deemed him fit, I will call you and you will be able to speak to him, is that alright?"

Dial-tone was her only reply, and she continued on her way back to the car. Working with the police? She wouldn't just be fired if she contacted the police. She'd be killed. The police meant press coverage, and something as big as "Kidnapped C.E.O" was sure to be on the front page, which was not something Mr. Kaiba wanted. So she was on her own searching for her pain-in-the-neck boss in the last places left to look. The usual hideouts for thugs. First stop was the park, she decided.

But when she arrived at the park she realized what a stupid move it was. Any kidnapper was going to demand money for the release of her boss so they would be calling the office to make demands. And she was nowhere near the office.

Her legs were killing her so she sat down on a park bench and put her head in her hands. She knew that tears were starting to appear from the corners of her green eyes, but she ignored them. Not even ten years on the job and now this. Why was it at every good job she had something stupid happened? First, the fire at the bakery where she kept the books. Next, the murder of the owner of the shopping mart. Then there was the accusation of seduction of a doctor at the hospital. And finally, the fraud at the other company she had previously worked at. Now she had her boss go missing. And she actually liked him— as a boss. He was harsh but fair. He paid well. He didn't try to make her do stupid things like the doctor or her other boss. And he was actually sane! But of course, he had to go missing. Why did life hate her?

She was barely aware when someone stood in front of her. "Hey, did you see a chick with brown hair and brown eyes come by here?" the person asked.

Pushing away the tears, she looked up and shook her head. "And I guess you haven't seen my boss either." Her worry turned to annoyance at the sound of her voice. It was pathetic and shaking as if she was about to cry. But she wasn't! She wasn't going to start crying just because another job had gone stupid!

The guy just shrugged and said, "What's he look like?"

"Tall, brown hair, blue eyes. Probably scowling at anything that moves."

He shook his head. "Nope."

She sighed and said, "What's her name?"

"Who?"

"The girl you are looking for."

"Oh." He looked around as if he thought he would see her. "Keiko."

"Does she have a cell?"

His face lit up. "Oh yeah!" He turned to her. "Hey do you have-"

She held out her phone. "Go for it. Maybe one of us will have some luck."

Without even pausing to say thank you, he grabbed the phone and dialled. A moment later, he gave the phone back with a mutter of, "Damn, she's not in range."

Takahashi nodded and felt sympathy for the guy who wasn't having any better luck. "Maybe if we work together our luck will be enough to find one person."

He stared at her. "What?"

Her face flushed when she realized she had spoken aloud. "Sorry. I was just thinking that maybe if we looked together we might find one of the people we are looking for. After all, if Keiko walks by on the side of the street you aren't watching, alone you wouldn't see her."

He frowned but eventually nodded. "Well we might as well get moving then. I'm Yusuke by the way."

She smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Takahashi, Naomi."

He just nodded and for some reason, Takahashi felt that her chances of finding her boss had just increased greatly.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

Loser. Creep. Deserter. Leaving a little girl like her alone in that huge store and forcing her to pay for her own costume when she had clearly won the race. She'd show him when she found him… Or rather if she found him. Since Trunks had vanished from the store, Pan hadn't been able to sense his energy anywhere. She had clashed with an unfamiliar energy that was far more powerful, but it didn't seem interested in fighting so she let it go. There had been a lot of those energies flying around lately, she thought offhand before resetting her mind to finding Trunks. When she had finally made her way back with her costume to check on Trunks, he hadn't been where she left him. Thinking that he might have moved on to look at some other costumes, she reached out with her chi to find him in the store. Nothing.

Already realizing what was happening, Pan went and paid for her costume by herself before walking out of the store and into the mall where she headed for an exit. She flew home and dropped off her costume before resuming her search of Trunks. Unfortunately, she wasn't as powerful as the other Z fighters so she was forced to fly around and search West City a little bit at a time. When she couldn't sense him from the air, she considered the fact that he might have shielded his energy so she wouldn't be able to sense him.

With no other choice, she started to look for him the non-fighter way, walking around shouting his name. Even if he was hiding, he would have twitched or something when he heard her voice, because she was scary angry!

Taking a break, she sat down on the sidewalk and brushed some of her black hair out of her eyes. Trunks was so dead when she found him. She might have spared him if he had just showed himself, but now she was mad. She was tired. And she was not looking forward to explaining to her parents where she had been all that time. She sighed. At least he was missing on Earth and not some alien planet, she decided as she stood. Dusting herself off, she started off again but she only waked three blocks when voices came from her left. It looked like a couple fighting, as it was a woman and a man fighting. Although as Pan stopped to listen, she realized they weren't a couple.

The woman was shouting, "Well I can't help it if I don't have a clue what Keiko really looks like! You just said brown hair and brown eyes."

The man glared and said, "I also said she was wearing a blue dress. That girl was wearing red!"

"Well forgive me if I'm a bit scattered brain because I'm trying to keep an eye out for two people. One of whom I've never met!"

"Well why don't you go look for your boss on your own then?"

"I already tried that and it didn't work!"

The man's aura lashed out, but the woman didn't seem to notice as she listened to his rebuttal. Pan noticed though and realized he was a fighter. Maybe he could find Trunks! After all, he seemed to have more power and better control than she did. Running over, she tapped them on the shoulder.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"What?" the man asked while the woman said, "Yes?"

Pan would have flinched under the deathly glare the man had but she was facing the woman. "I couldn't help overhearing," she said, "but it appears you two are missing someone?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, why? Did one of your friends go missing?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He has purple hair and blue eyes."

The woman stared. "You mean you're the friend of Briefs, Trunks?"

Pan nodded while the man shook his head.

"Okay now this is getting stupid," he said. "You're telling me that not only is one C.E.O missing but two and are so is my girlfriend?"

The woman frowned. "Well maybe it's related. After all, people don't just vanish into air." She paused. "What does your girlfriend do for a living?"

The man glanced in her direction. "You sure your boss didn't just get tired of your attitude and leave, Takahashi?"

She glared at him. "If that was the problem, he could have just fired me! Something weird has happened, and I want to know what! The video tapes at the company showed him there one second and gone the next! How do you explain that, Yusuke?"

He shook his head and turned to Pan. "So I'm guessing you want to join our group since you came over here?"

She grinned. "Well six eyes are better than four."

Takahashi nodded and pulled out her keys. "Well we might want to try the graveyard next. With luck we'll find some sort of clue."

Pan frowned as she started to follow Takahashi and Yusuke. "Why the graveyard?"

Takahashi pointed to Yusuke. "Because he has a hunch. Apparently, he heard a psychic talking about feeling huge vibes from the place before Keiko went missing, and at this point, I'll willing to try anything."

Pan frowned and wondered what Trunks would be doing in a graveyard, but she got into the car and sighed as Yusuke and Takahashi started to argue again.

Oh, how Trunks was going to pay for making her go through this.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

Later, when she was home and not running from a coven of witches and ghouls and who knew what else, she would promise never to walk anywhere without paying attention to the scenery around her. For now, she would keep running as the mob kept following her. They kept calling out to her saying, "Wait up Shock!" as if they had mistaken her for someone else.

Once she tripped, but she quickly got to her feet and kept running. A small part of her noticed that the trees were thinning and that a town had appeared on the horizon. It also noticed when she ran into the town, but the bigger part of her was preoccupied with the thought of all the monsters she had thought were actually fictional were chasing her.

Her breaths were coming out in small pants, and her lungs were burning as she ran through the winding streets of the town. Just as she was entering the town square where all the streets meet around a fountain, she tripped. This time she stayed down. She was too tired to go anywhere, and tears of fear were coming from her eyes. She could handle knowing demons were real because of her friends at her side, but this was too much.

The mob caught up, and a witch ran a warty hand through Keiko's hair. "You've grown so much Shock. Why don't you remember us?" she asked.

Keiko could only shake her head as no words could be formed with her panting breath.

Suddenly a huge commotion came from another entrance to the square. Three vampires were dragging a huge red sack that appeared to be cursing and thrashing around very wildly.

"Is that…?" one of the ghouls asked.

The vampires nodded with a grin on their faces. "Lock sure has gotten heavy, but we brought him back."

They placed the sack on the ground and untied it. It took a moment for the person inside the sack to find his way out but when he did, Keiko almost felt safer with the monsters. His glare was like looking into Hell.

"Where the hell am I?" he demanded to know.

A clown on a unicycle circled him with a ghastly grin on his face. "Halloween Town silly. Remember me? The clown with the tear-away face?"

It was clear from that look on the man's fact that he didn't remember. The clown didn't seem to mind because he grinned. Keiko wouldn't believe what happened next. The clown reached up, grabbed his red, rubber nose and pulled his face off. The only thing left behind was a hole in his head where his face had been. She could feel herself becoming hysterical, but the man in the devil costume only continued glaring.

The monsters all shook their heads. "So he doesn't remember either?" the witch who had patted Keiko asked.

The vampires nodded. "Not yet but soon he will. Once Barrel is back they all will remember, and everyone will be safe in Halloween Town again."

After looking at the man in the sack, Keiko wasn't so sure. He looked like Hiei on a bad day, and Keiko had seen that Hiei could do when angered, so what could this man do if he looked as scary as that?

Before she could find out, yet another yell came from the final street to the square. A young man tumbled down the street until he crashed into the man in the sack. While the two tried to sort themselves out, a cone shaped man rushed into the square. In front of Keiko's eyes, his head turned 180 degrees and became a tan smiling face.

"Wonderful job everyone," he said. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel have been returned. Now all is right in Halloween Town."

"I thought you said that people were in danger!"

Everyone looked to where the young man and man in the sack had collided to see the young man on his feet and… Was his hair turning blonde? Keiko blinked. No, his hair was still purple. Was the stress getting to her?

A werewolf turned to the cone man and growled, "I thought you said that they would remember if we brought them all together."

The man's head turned a sickening 180 to become a pale, frowning face. "Don't look at me," he said. "I'm only an elected official."

A small, fat child whose eyes had been sewn shut stumbled towards Keiko causing her to scramble towards the two normal human beings. The child didn't seem to notice her terror because it pointed to her and said, "Maybe the doctor's new machine can help."

She felt like she was going to throw up as the man who seemed to be in charge turned back to the tan, smiling face. "Of course! Doctor Finklestein's new invention is sure to help!"

As the host of monsters turned back to face the group of humans, Keiko felt a grip on her shoulder that reminded her of Yusuke.

"Right now our only chance to escape is to play along," said the purple haired man.

Behind her the other man scoffed. "You do what you want."

What she wanted to do was run but her legs wouldn't— couldn't move. She was almost like a doll as a monster (tenderly?) gripped her elbow and led her towards a house where insane cackles floated out the windows.

Frightened beyond sanity, the only thing Keiko could think of was a sentence. A promise that Yusuke would always protect her. As her legs were forced into motion, she couldn't help but think, "Where are you, Yusuke?"

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

Of all the things that could have gone wrong today, the last thing Kaiba would have ever suspected was being mistaken for a person named Lock and being brought to an asylum where the inmates had taken over. After all, where else could he be? An actual place named Halloween Town?

He felt his jaw clench as he flexed his hands while considering his options. He couldn't fight them all off, and he had no way of contacting anyone because his cell was back in his office. Feeling his face fall into a snarl, he spared a look at his two fellow captives. The other man appeared to be a fighter judging by the way he held himself and the way his eyes were constantly moving. It was as if he was preparing for an attack. A good ally, he decided. The girl, however, was useless. She was so terrified that her body was completely tense and rigid. Obviously not the type who would normally find herself in danger.

As they rang the door bell that sounded more like a church bell, he considered making a break for it but he didn't. Monsters were packed like sardines behind him. Also if he ran there was no guarantee that the other captives would escape, and that was the last thing he wanted on his slowly-reforming conscience. Finally, he would have no idea where he was going, and he could wander into worse trouble. Not all the nutcases here could be as nice as the ones currently dragging them off to see a doctor. However, an unknown danger might be better than what he was going to experience inside at the doctor's hands. From the overall look of the house and feel of the town, he would say that they were being handed over to a mad scientist.

Maybe when they first saw the doctor, he could rush him and get pass. While the monsters were distracted they could run deeper into the house and hide. While the idea of playing a deadly game of hide and seek so they could escape was not appealing, it was better than being used as a guinea pig.

As a bald man in a wheelchair rolled towards them, the werewolf grabbed his shoulder. The grip was painful and too strong to escape. They must have known his plans somehow.

To his right, he saw the other man was also being half by a monster with snake-like fingers while the girl made no attempt to escape. Shock, he decided. That was the only explanation for her behaviour since the girl did nothing but stare straight ahead with dull eyes.

With almost childish trust, she allowed herself to be sat down on a chair that looked too much like an electric chair for his taste. He started to thrash again as they forced him to sit, but as they chained him down and placed the bowl like hat on his head he realized he was trapped. No human being could break the chains. However, the other man seemed to be testing the chains. He pulled at them and frowned. It was almost as if the man thought he could break them. But he couldn't, could he?

Before he could wonder the doctor threw a switch and volts of electricity coursed through his body. However, instead of pain, he felt weightless and his view went black. He hadn't passed out through because he was still aware of the sound of the monsters talking around him. However, the voices were fading and he slowly noticed a white light growing brighter around him. It grew until he could see that he was surrounded by white walls with green chairs resting against them like waiting room.

Did death have a waiting room?

He wasn't sure but he started to walk forward. As he did, he had a sense of déjà vu. The white walls and green chairs seemed familiar.

Movement in the far corner caught his eye and he looked over to see a small boy and a man sitting on chairs. The boy was swinging his legs over the edge of the chair with a bored frown on his face. Meanwhile, the man sat with his head in his hands.

"Dad," asked the little boy as he turned to face the man. "How much longer until we see mom and the baby?"

The man pulled his head out of his hands so he could look into the little boy's eyes. His blue eyes made Kaiba gasp and take a step back.

Not again! He was not falling back into his memories and then someone else's again!

He turned and started to make his away down the hall but the man's voice echoed behind him.

"Soon," the man said. "Soon."

Liar.

When he took another step, the white walls vanished and were replaced by a classroom where the boy was playing chess with a man in a red suit.

"Checkmate," the boy said. "Now you have to adopt my brother and me."

Kaiba shook his head. What was that doctor hoping to achieve by making him relive these memories? Noah had already tried to break him this way but it hadn't worked. So what chance did the doctor think he'd have?

He walked through many more painful memories until he reached a truly frightening one, but this time he was forced to relive it. The sensation of having his soul ripped out by the Seal of Orichalcos was one of the few truly scary moments in his life. Every second seemed like an hour as his tired soul was cut away from his body. The experience was made worse by knowing that an ancient monster was going to use his soul's energy as food and that he wouldn't be able to return to life. He'd be leaving his brother like his mother left them or worse, his brother would join him soon.

When the memory faded, he was kneeling on the floor in the darkness. He didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid. Not of what the doctor was doing but of what was coming next. There was one last section of his memory the scientist could use, and there no doubt in his mind what was coming next. He could already see the golden gleam of the ancient sands in the distance. Any second now, he would be seeing memories that were not his.

He braced himself and waited.

Nothing. The sand vanished, and he found himself staring into the faces of the monsters who had forced him into this hellish device. But his body felt weak, and he was tired so he didn't fight when they picked him up and carried him. To where he did not know. All he wanted to do was sleep. And forget.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

When he awoke, the first thing Trunks did was check his pulse. He was still breathing. His heart was still beating. He was alive! Never before in his life had he been so happy to be alive. However, he supposed seeing all of your and others' near-death experiences and reliving a few of them would make anyone thankful for life.

Since he was the first to awake, he was also the first to see that he and his fellow prisoners were no longer at the doctor's house. Instead they were laid out in various parts of what seemed to be a small black room. The girl was resting on the couch while the other man and he were on the floor. He rose to his feet slowly as his limbs all felt like lead. Whatever the machine was designed to do, it sure was thorough. He hadn't felt this close to death in a little while. He made his way to the window and looked out. Tree branches surrounded the window, and when he looked down he noticed that the walls of the room seemed to be resting on them.

So they were in a tree house, he thought. Was it to keep them from escaping? Or another attempt to convince the trio that they were Lock, Shock, and Barrel?

His fellow captives still hadn't moved, and he started to wonder if they were still breathing. If the machine had done so much damage to him, a half-saiyan, then what could it do to a normal human. After reassuring himself that they were still alive, he started to explore the room. He discovered a smaller, almost closet like space behind a curtain that was filled to the roof with various weapons. Swords, spears, maces, bear traps, a cannon. You name it and it was probably in that room. But there was also a bath tub. Try as he might, Trunks could not think of a situation where one would need all those weapons on hand while taking a bath. The fact that the bath was not hooked up to pipes made it even odder. Deciding to leave everything be, he close the curtain. Behind a coffin shaped door he found a toilet, and to the far end of the room a small pipe. Again, he could not figure out the reason for such an object and decided to continue his exploration.

As he entered a small bedroom with a three-level bunk bed, he wondered who lived in the tree house. The beds were only big enough for children, but no sane person would leave three children alone with a room full weapons. However, he couldn't really say that the town's people were sane.

When he found nothing else in the bedroom other than scorpions under the bed, he made his way back to the main room to see the full-humans awake and moving. The other man was testing the windows and doors to see if they would open. From the looks of things and the sounds of his curses, they didn't. Ignoring him, Trunks went over to the woman and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Before her eyes had been glassy with shock, now they were glassy with tears. She wiped them away and nodded. "I will be, I think."

He did his best to put an encouraging smile on his face, which wasn't very hard he found. "I'm Trunks."

She smiled. "Keiko."

A huge crash caused them to turn their attention to the other man as he threw a chair at the door. "Damn it!" he shouted.

Trunks frowned. If one of them lost it, it would be very easy for them to kill everyone else. His eyes glanced at the curtain. Had the devil looked in there already?

Keiko didn't seem to notice but she did stand up and say, "You might as well stop. You're only going to tire yourself out."

The man's face turned into a snarl as he said, "And I suppose you would rather stay here and wait for the town's next brilliant idea to 'make us remember who we are'?"

"Of course not but tiring yourself to the point of exhaustion isn't going to help anything."

He rolled his eyes. "And I suppose you have an idea of how to escape?"

Keiko faltered and the man nodded as he turned back to the door. Both of them could see how tired he was, but Keiko was the only one to try to stop him. Trunks was content to watch because he felt it would be wiser to let the guy push himself until he collapsed so that he wouldn't do anything stupid like point a cannon at the door.

Keiko, on the other hand, continued to try to convince him to calm down. Finally, he said, "Be useful and just stare at the wall until something happens."

The slap stunned both men. The man in the devil costume seemed to stare as if no one had ever slapped him before. Trunks stared because he didn't think the girl would do something that rash. He barely even heard her tell the other man to calm down, get a hold of himself, and that fighting with her was only going to make things worse.

Trunks couldn't see how things could get worse, but he admired her ability to speak her mind while the other man glared at her. If he had been in her place, he would be running, and he could probably beat that guy up with one finger.

The man was about to start a rebuttal when Trunks intervened and stepped between the two. "What's your name?"

The man blinked. "Kaiba," he replied eventually.

Trunks nodded. "Okay Kaiba, we need to come up with a plan that doesn't involve smashing down doors with chairs."

Kaiba glared at him, and Trunks was surprised when he saw a bit of chi appear but it wasn't as bright as a mini-sun like his or the other Z fighters. This man's energy was dark and surrounded the man, not just his fists. However, Kaiba did nothing with his chi, and it quickly vanished making Trunks wonder just what sort of man he was locked in a tree house with.

Taking his silence as a statement of acceptance, Keiko said, "Why don't we just make it look like we aren't here and when they enter the tree house we lock them in?"

Kaiba shook his head. "That only works in the movies."

"It worked just fine with Botan and I used it to escape a group of hypnotized people bent on killing me."

Sensing another fight, Trunks attempted to intervene once more. "Okay so there's one plan. What's another?"

Kaiba shrugged. "We take something heavy and throw it at them when they open the door. With enough force, it should cause them to fall backwards off the tree and onto anyone below. With the door open we will be able to escape and from this height see what direction we need to go to avoid the town." He looked over Trunks' shoulder to Keiko. "And if that is too barbaric for you, you'd better think of another plan."

Keiko shook her head surprising both males. "I don't have a problem with that."

Hating to ruin such a good plan, Trunks still spoke. "But what would we use? The couch won't fit out the door, and the tub would be too awkward."

Kaiba frowned. "What tub?"

Too late Trunks remembered that the tub was in the room with the weapons that Kaiba hadn't found yet. Unable to back down, he said, "The one behind the curtain."

Before Trunks could say anything else, Kaiba went behind the curtain. A second later, he reappeared weapon-less. "We could always push them," he said.

"And get dragged down with them?"

Kaiba shrugged. "They'd soften the landing at least."

"But would it be enough?"

Before Kaiba could reply, Keiko pointed to the door where the knob was turning. They had ran out of time and now the monsters were back. But it wasn't a monster who walked through the doorway. It was a young lady who had the appearance of a rag doll. She gasped as she noticed the three prisoners. "Oh dear. I knew Jack shouldn't have left the mayor in charge."

She took another few steps into the room. "I'm sorry about all this. The town's people often get carried away. I'm Sally." She held out a hand for them to shake but only Keiko did. Behind her three… children dressed as a witch, a devil, and a skeleton scampered through the door.

They took one look at the adults in the room before tumbling to the floor laughing.

"Those idiots thought you were us?" the devil laughed.

"That tall, stupid one does look like you though, Lock," the skeleton laughed and did not seem to notice when the devil's laugher paused and Kaiba fitted his glare on the child.

The witch laughed and pointed at Keiko, but her words were covered by her crackles.

Sally ignored the three and continued to speak. "As you can see there has been a great misunderstanding."

"That is an understatement," Kaiba replied causing Trunks to elbow him.

"Three days ago Lock, Shock, and Barrel went missing so Jack and I went to find them. The town was also worried though and decided to find the children themselves. Unfortunately, they crossed through to your side and took the first witch, devil, and skeleton they saw, believing you to be those three." She motioned to the children still rounding around on the floor.

"And I suppose that the town didn't notice we looked a bit old?" Trunks asked. He was confused as to how such a basic fact could be so easily overlooked.

Sally shrugged. "Odd things happen to us when we leave our town. However, I hope you can forgive them. They are good people."

Good people who kidnapped three innocent people, terrified them, and forced them to relive some of the most painful moments of their lives. However, Trunks still nodded with Keiko while Kaiba just looked off.

Sally smiled and motioned to the door. "We'd better get you home before anyone noticed you're missing."

But as Trunks stepped out into the fresh, haunted air, he was well aware it was too late. Pan's energy was coming in loud and clear. He was so dead when she found him.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

Even though their group was still miles out of town, Keiko could already hear Yusuke shouting. Although she couldn't make out the words, she was pretty sure that they were something along the lines of, "Tell me what I want to know and I won't kill you or destroy your city." As they entered the city she saw that she was right. In the middle of the square where she had met Trunks and Kaiba stood Yusuke as well as a female teenager and a woman. In fact, as they were entering the courtyard, Yusuke was shouting, "Everyone in this place is dead if I don't see Keiko in the next three seconds!"

In front of him a tall skeleton in a black suit was waving his hands saying, "Please calm down sir. Sally will be back with your friend soon. And I'm sure that no harm has come to her."

Other than reliving nearly being turned into a demon by Hiei and the Dark Tournament all over again. But Keiko pushed those thoughts out of her head. Yusuke had come for her, and that was what mattered.

Yusuke was about to start shouting again when she called him name. He half-turned to face her before she grabbed him a dead-grip hug. Tears had started to come from her eyes again but this time they were of relief.

Over her head, the skeleton smiled. "See? No harm done."

Yusuke frowned as he wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Are you nuts? This afternoon she was ready to dump me, and now she is hugging me and crying! What did you do to her!"

No one answered him but Keiko didn't mind. One day she'd tell him. But not now. She was too happy. Because no matter where she went. No matter how mad she was at him. Yusuke would always, Always come for her.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

Even though the reunion between Keiko and Yusuke was touching, Kaiba was more focused on his secretary. It wasn't because he missed her or was thankful that he wouldn't be the only one having nightmares about this night for years to come. It was because the werewolf was attempting to talk to her, but his habit of flashing his fangs made it hard for Takahashi to talk back. She did seem to be politely turning the monster down as he started saying something about how she made, "wounds ooze and flesh crawl," before flashing his fangs again.

Kaiba was about to step forward to put an end to the nonsense when Takahashi spotted him. For a moment, she looked like she was torn between murdering him and being glad he was alive.

He was caught completely unaware by the hug, and they nearly fell over since Takahashi had launched herself at him. When the monster had moved on, she quickly let go and took many steps away.

"Sorry. I just thought that… the monster and…" She pulled on her shirt before coughing slightly and resuming her usual matter, although she did avoid his eye… Or was he seeing things? "There is no way Ms. Whitefield is going to believe me when I tell her where I found you so can you call her when you are deemed fit?"

He frowned. "What?"

She was definitely avoiding his eyes. Maybe if he stopped glaring at her, she would look up. "She kept calling because you were late so I told her you were missing and she hung up on me."

There had better been more to that story or else he was going to have to fire her. "Did you call the newspapers to block any story that she would tell them?"

Takahashi's face fell, but she didn't try to justify herself by saying, "I was busy looking for you." Not that saying or not saying that would help her. It was just nice to see a change. However, the press was probably all over the fact that he had been missing by now and as brilliant a secretary as she was, he was going to have to fire her. In the world of big business, it only takes one mistake for things to come crashing down. And if he didn't fire her, people would start wondering why because the last secretary was fired for the same reason. Then that wondering would lead to gossip that would lead to tabloids, which was not something either of them needed. Especially her.

He rubbed his eyes. "You do realize I have to fire you now."

She nodded. "Can I make one last phone call then?"

"To who?"

"Your lawyer."

He frowned. "Why would you need to talk to him?"

"Because before this all started, I asked him to see if he could find anything out about Ms. Whitefield's family. Apparently they have a grudge with the Kaibas."

He nodded. His informants had already told him this when Whitefield had first shown up at his door with the blackmail. "Your point?"

"Well it just so happens that Whitefield was incorrect in her assuming that you were kidnapped when you were really in Level B working on your newest attempt to take the Duel Monsters world by storm."

"While my secretary searched high and low for me?"

She smiled slightly. "I do have a bad habit of not seeing what is in front of me."

He nodded and started to lead her to the edge of the square. So he wasn't going to fire her this time, but the next time she screwed up she was gone… Just like the other 666 times he had said that.

*Lock*Shock*And*Barrel*

Never before had Trunks seen Pan so mad. Her chi was lashing out, but her body language said it all. Her arms were crossed over her chest. Her eyes were narrowed in a glare, and her mouth was stuck in a frown. He was dead… if he couldn't easily out fly her and out fight her of course. Although, after spending a year in space with her had given her plenty of blackmail that he would be a fool to forget about. Hopefully Pan had forgotten. Or was he hoping too much?

As he approached her, he waited for her rant. After all, he had been gone for at least two hours, and she probably had her rant all planned out by now. But she was silent. An odd thing for Pan. Was she feeling okay? Or did the people of Halloween Town do something to her too?

Suddenly she moved a hand and pointed across herself to the humans beside them. All she said was, "Don't expect a hug from me."

A light smile came to his face. "Didn't even cross my mind."

Turning on her heel, Pan said, "And you owe me a costume by the way." But when she looked over her shoulder she was smiling. "Now let's get home before the party ends without us."

He nodded and quickly raced after her. His experience in Halloween Town had taught and re-taught him many things. First, life is precious. Second, don't leave go anywhere alone because you will get into trouble. And third, never follow strangers.

A/N: Did YOU find the HIDDEN message? And, second best oneshot I've ever written! Actually on some levels I like this one more than Twisted Logic. The Keiko and Yusuke bit was cute, and it was fun to write with characters that I rarely use. And I apologize for Kaiba and Trunks. I haven't watched either anime in a while so their characters may be off. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Happy Halloween!
-Death 101 – Fox Version