Chapter 16: Start at the Gunshot

Me has changed my penname. (Yes, I know that wasn't proper English. So sue me. Wait, can you do that?!) Why? Well, I wanted something shorter, and all that old nom de plume had going for it was alliteration, so I took a line from the chorus of the song 'Crazy Sunshine', by, guess who, that's right, the pillows! (It's supposed to be in lowercase, I learned. Actually, I've know for awhile, but never got out of the habit of capitalizing the band name.) And that line would of course be 'TightropeDancing'. Sooo… Yeah.

I really like some of the lines in the music by the pillows. If I ever get around to writing a sequel to this, it's probably going to be called 'Banana Roulette', another line out of 'Crazy Sunshine', and I'm actually writing something up (I have it all planned out, and two chapters written in a notebook somewhere! Actually, it's a binder with loose-leaf, but whatever…) called 'March of the God', which is an instrumental by the pillows, though the words 'Yes, more Right!' are repeated about eight times. All the title chapters in that are named after songs by the pillows, and I named an OC after the lead singer. Only the first name, tho'. Go figure.

Enough about the pillows, though they are awesome and Sawao Yamanaka doesn't age!

Anyways, as I hinted at before, there's going to be a sequel to this, more than likely called 'Banana Roulette'. Why's there gonna be a sequel? Mainly because I have loads of strange and unusual lines for Hyphae that I can never use in this time! And we all love Hyphae, don't we? –silence- Yeah, right. But I want to put out a few other things before I get to that…. So… Yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, aside from my OCs.

The almighteh aliens decree story time!

…………..

The car ride to the dunes was strangely silent (except for the radio the hired driver had playing, that was), due to the fact Hyphae was not mouthing off to Brago and starting a commotion. Instead, the female mamono was shaking slightly and staring out the window, in completely hushed. Hyphae had never seemed the type to scare easily. Even now, Sherry figured she wasn't, and she most definitely had some sort of strange phobia of Gatler.

Hyphae swallowed loudly, causing all in the car, excluding the driver, to stare at her. She mumbled something along the lines of how she should 'not let certain death put me down', and turned to Brago, who, knowing what came next, gave her a venomous glare.

Hyphae leaned over by Brago. "Hey," she whispered to him, "Aren't you going to confess your undying love for Sherry before you get killed?" All this got was another glare in reply. "Oh, come on..." she continued, "Since we've gotta get there early, you two will have time to make out!"

"Oh, shut the hell up!" Brago responded angrily but quietly, "Do you know how screwed up that would be at my current age?"

"Oh, so you want to kiss her, only you feel uncomfortable about it? I figured this problem might come up," said Hyphae, putting her hand to her chin as if she was actually thinking about something.

"No! Just… shut up!" Here, the two started a little fistfight, which most definitely cheered Hyphae up for the time.

Since this was all going on in whispers, the bookkeepers, who had lost interest in Hyphae's antics early on, did not hear. Instead, Amaya was teaching Sherry some hand-signals they could use, as Amaya wouldn't have time to write in the notebook during the fight, of course.

Soon, the party arrived at the Dunes. Hyphae's usual cheerful teasing of Brago ceased as the time passed. This gave the group an abnormal, uncomfortable feeling as they stood in the wooded area.

Hyphae fidgeted nervously, adjusting her hat every few seconds. She seemed to be in quite the twitchy mood.

"When we beat that ass, and I get back to normal, you sure as hell better be this afraid of me," Brago muttered to Hyphae, noting the girl's strange behavior. Sherry shot a reprimanding glance at Brago as he said this, but he pretended to ignore it.

"Nope," Hyphae responded with a big, evil-looking grin. Giving her something to talk about made her seem almost fine. "Because I know that deep down, Brago dear, I'm your best friend in the whole world and you'd never think to seriously injure me! I'll cross-dress and be the best man at your wedding for you!"

This got some pretty weird stares.

Soon, twelve thirty came along, and Gatler and his partner Stephon could be seen walking down the path to the clearing. Once again, Hyphae seemed to be freaked out.

The opposite team arrived, and without word, Gatler raised his arm, pointing at Hyphae's head.

"Maguno!"

…………..

Short chapter. Sorry.

Now, review, or I'm going to have to find another threat.