▪ Shoot the Messenger

yap; …I know I had some sort of inspiration for the idea. Maybe it was the idea of just… shooting messengers. You know, for kicks. :D
And cha, this idea is old. And cha, I just don't bother with effort anymore. Whee~
stuff; Mira, Gus, Volt, mentioned Shadow, Mylene and Lync. Suggested Gus x Spectra (;3). Crack, likely OOCness.
…also, just pretend that the Gauntlets have, like, little keyboards. You know, like all these newfangled cellphones have. Just a…slide…thing…goddamn, I need to get in touch with technology.
disclaimer; I do not own Bakugan.

"So this is what you've been doing for the past twenty-three minutes?"

When only a squeaky wheeze answered him, Gus glanced up from his Gauntlet to glare disapprovingly at Mira; the girl was leaning against the wall, hand clutched against her heaving chest in a weak attempt to save her breath.

"You do realize," he continued, looking back at the screen with little care for her less-than-lively state, "that we have a strict training regime here? I'm sure that in the Resistance you had a more…ah, slack approach to exercise, but here at the Vexos we don't accept such foolishness. You were expected at the arena seventeen minutes ago, and now you've completely disrupted the schedule. Don't think that just because you're Master Spectra's sister you can avoid the consequences, because I will personally—"

Panting (and very uncharacteristic) snarls cut him off. " Do…do what? Sleep with him?"

He paused, surprised – not enough to accidentally say 'how did you know?' though. "Impudence is equally frowned upon, Mira."

"I-I'm sorry…" Sure enough, she looked properly abashed. That, or she was trying to employ that 'I'm a cute little girl who doesn't mean any harm, tee hee' ruse that research had shown the female race was fond of using. "Look, I really…really was on my way…to the arena…but Shadow stopped m-me, and he asked me if…if I could get a message to Mylene…said it was urgent…top secret…and her room was…just on the way…b-but then she had me send a message back, and I didn't think it'd matter if…I was just…a few minutes late…"

Gus interrupted her excuse with an outraged gasp. "It wouldn't matter? Did you not hear me when I said strict training regime? Now, how does passing around a couple of love notes account for the last…oh look, twenty-five minutes."

"Well, then Shadow sent me back, and Mylene sent me back, and then Lync stopped me and…took the message, and when he finally…gave it back, he started…going on about how…urgent it was…and had me send message to…both Shadow and Mylene…so I've just…been…"

"So you've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off?"

"…Yes, pretty much."

"Hm." Enough attention for the hateful bitch; Gus turned away from the flushed girl twiddling her thumbs nervously, slowly going through the rest of the 'urgent message' with a critical sneer. "Well…"

She perked up instantly. "You'll take care of it? Send it to everyone who needs to get it via computers? I can go make up for lost training? Or rest?"

"Are you kidding? Computers can be hacked, and this message is much too important to face such risk." With fingers dancing quickly over the small 'keyboard' and the frostily pristine smile of a smug bastard (fucking smug bastard), Gus popped the memory chip out of his Gauntlet and tossed it back to his bewildered rival. "Please make sure that it is forwarded to Shadow, Mylene, Lync, and Mitchell."

The chip bounced from hand to hand clumsily before Mira finally managed to secure it in her grip. "Wh-What? …Who's Mitchell?"

"He's the janitor, a very special person. Central part of our organization, we wouldn't be able to get by without him."

"Well…" Taking in a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, Mira scowled back at her 'fellow' Subterra brawler. "I don't see why I should be the one running around—"

"For one thing, you're the noob. All menial tasks are immediately delegated to you."

"…"

"As well," he added, grin sharpening, "I wouldn't mind showing you exactly why Master Spectra likes me more than you."

"You are a sick, perverted bastard."

-sm-

After about a quarter of an hour brooding and staring blankly at the inert girl collapsed in the middle of the hallway, Volt figured that it was probably time to do something about it. So he nudged her with his foot.

Effect was instantaneous; eyes snapping open and garbled words tumbling out of her mouth, Mira scrambled to her knees. "Yes ma'am! I…I'll get this message to Mr. Lync right away, right away!"

"I take it you weren't having a good dream."

Mira halted, glancing up with a sheepish smile. "Um…hello. Would you…would you happen to know how long I've been passed out for…?"

"Sometime over fifteen minutes."

"…Well, it was a nice nap while it lasted."

Volt grunted in reply, stooping down to help the groggy girl to her feet. "I'm sure you'll experience it again. Maybe not in a nearly abandoned corridor where any random twisted guard could chance upon you."

"Th-thanks." Steadying herself and nodding appreciatively, Mira took a few tottering steps – then stopped, turning back towards the larger boy beseechingly. "Um…would you happen to know where Mitchell is?"

Volt raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Mitchell? I think that was the gardener who was hospitalized when he attempted to kill himself by slitting his wrists with his shears. I always wondered why we had a gardener when we don't have any gardens...maybe that was why he—"

"Actually," Mira said quickly (so much for 'central part of the organization'), trying to get past the nonchalant divulgence of some poor man's situation, "Gus said he was the janitor."

"Right, Antonio was the gardener. We had a janitor named Jimmy…he actually managed to successfully kill himself, I think he stuffed a toilet brush down his throat. His replacement…Francis is his name. A good kid, one too many mishaps with the electrical outlets…"

Mira fell into a shell-shocked silence; she didn't like the sound of this string of suicidal employees. And had she ever heard so many words from Volt in so little time? "So…there's no Mitchell?"

"Nope."

"So…I've just spent five hours looking for someone who doesn't exist?"

"I'm there's a janitor named Mitchell somewhere in the world. Just not here. …But that's not what you want to hear."

Now this was a downer. With a self-pitying groan, Mira slapped a hand to her eyes and rubbed at the bags. "I can't believe it…Gus told me to deliver that message…and everyone else, they told me to…but I've wasted so much time…agh, I could just—"

"Kill yourself? You wouldn't be the first." Volt straightened his shoulders, staring at the girl stolidly. "What message was this?"

"Um…" Fingers fumbling, Mira pulled out the chip and placed it gingerly into Volt's outstretched palm; he turned it over briefly before sliding it smoothly into his Gauntlet, frown deepening.

"Mira, did you bother to read this message?"

"No, everyone kept saying it was top-secret."

He looked back up, something like pity chipping away at his flinty eyes. "You poor oblivious child. Listen, you can probably already tell that I'm really drunk right now—"

"Wh-What?"

"…Or not. In any case," he continued, flipping around his arm so that Mira could read the text flashing on the screen, "in exchange for keeping my inebriation a secret, I'll save you a lot of trouble."

Mira glanced at him, puzzled, before leaning in for a closer look –

and found her day effectively ruined.

/heYY babe! wna hookup 2nite? ;)))))

/No. I have standards.

/thn du u wana mes wit myra?

/Sometimes, you do manage to pleasantly surprise me, Shadow Prove.

/shado n milene setting n a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g~

/If you wouldn't mind, I know how we could make this more interesting…