Disclaimer/Author's Notes
: If I didn't own them for any of my other stories, it stands to reason that I still don't. ^_^ They're property of Sunrise and Bandai. Heck, even the summary is based on The Odd Couple. Ah, well. ^_^() Obviously, this is set during the second season when Seiji, Shin, and Shu are being held in the Youjakai – the Japanese version of the Dynasty.in·ter·mez·zo
n. pl. in·ter·mez·zos or in·ter·mez·zi (-s, -z) A brief entertainment between two acts of a play; an entr'acte.
~Courtesy of dictionary.com
Intermezzo
All things considered, the Youjakai dungeons were not really a pleasant place to be. What little light managed to make its way inside only served to exaggerate the shadows that loomed up from behind the boulders protruding from the rough walls. The air was stale and had a rather distasteful odor that left one with the feeling that he was better off not knowing what caused it. The only sound was an occasional splash as a drop of water trickled its way down a stalactite and hit the ground.
Actually, that wasn't quite the only sound.
"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer," Shu sang aimlessly. "Take one down, pass it around..."
Seiji gritted his teeth. "Shu, you've already established that you can count backwards from ninety-nine. Five times. I've had enough of that inane song!"
"Fine, fine," Shu grumbled.
Everything was quiet for a moment; even the water hit a lull. Seiji sighed and relaxed as much as was possible under the circumstances.
"Ninety-nine bottles of sake on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of sake..."
"SHU!"
"It's different this time!" Shu protested loudly, ready to fight for his cause.
"Give it a rest, Shu," Shin called from the other side of their prison. Shu couldn't see him, but Shin definitely sounded as if he were getting a bit cranky.
"All right already!" Shu growled, much put out. "Yeesh, can't move or anything, might as well not talk while I'm at it..."
Once again the dripping was the only sound. Well, almost. Seiji shifted, the metal plates of his armor grating against each other. He tried to move his deadened hands, rubbing against his bonds, then shifted again – this time accidentally forcing a joint in the armor the wrong way and producing a rather disconcerting screech.
"Seiji..." Shin sounded tired.
"I apologize." Seiji quit moving. For a moment.
Drip.
SCREECH!
Drip.
SCREECH!
"What is your problem?" Shu demanded, twisting around to get a look at his fidgeting companion.
"You got that idiotic song stuck in my head!" Seiji shot back irritably.
"So how is making that racket going to help?" Shin asked patiently.
"It gives me something else to think about," Seiji huffed.
"Well, knock it off, would you? Meditate or something," Shu ordered rather less patiently.
"Fine."
This time the silence lasted for several minutes.
Drip.
Drip.
SCREECH!
"SEIJI!" Now it was Shu's turn to get cranky.
"That wasn't me!" Seiji protested with wounded dignity.
"Sorry. I'm bored," Shin whined plaintively, swinging a bit as he kicked at one of the stone demon's teeth.
"Hanging here is better than our other options," Seiji advised. "Take advantage of it."
"We have other options?" Shin asked, confused.
"Certainly. We could be tortured because they need our energy, tortured to keep us from trying to focus our power and escape, tortured to put pressure on Ryo and Touma, tortured to keep the MaSho in practice, or just tortured because they're sadistic jerks who happen to like watching us suffer." Seiji smiled sardonically. "Take your pick."
Shu thought for a moment. "Do we have any that include getting out of here and trashing a few youja armies?"
Seiji shook his head. "Not unless you can convince one to wander within kicking range." The movement dislodged a lock of his hair, effectively obscuring one eye. "I knew that was going to happen eventually," he sighed, trying rather unsuccessfully to shake it away from his face with his helmet on and without the use of his hands.
There was a pause. "Well, great," Shin said finally. "Now I'm bored and depressed."
"Man!" Shu whined. "I wanna do something about this!"
"Then help me think of a plan," Seiji said calmly, deciding to accept the hair in his face as yet another proof that fate was against him and move on with his life.
"Why do you always say that?" Shu asked, sounding exasperated. "You always insist that we need a plan and we never use one!"
"And a remarkable amount of unpleasant things happen to us because of that," Seiji snapped.
"He has a good argument, you know," Shin added thoughtfully.
"We saved the world! Doesn't that mean we're doing something right?" Shu argued.
"I seem to recall one part in which we were all devoured by Arago," Seiji remarked dryly.
"Your point?"
An odd, muffled thudding suddenly filled the room. Twisting around as much as possible, Shin could just see Seiji banging his head against the back of their prison. "That's probably not good for you," he observed.
Seiji glared darkly at him. "Nothing I have done for the past year has been good for me. I see no reason to break the pattern now!"
"Oh, don't be so down. Things have to get better soon – Ryo and Touma will be here before long, you'll see!" Shin said brightly with the type of false cheer that never fails to grate on everyone's nerves.
Seiji's dour look indicated that he was not full of joyous sunshiny thoughts, but he mercifully held his tongue. "You're right," he said with an obvious effort. "For now we should try to get some rest while we can."
Shu and Shin murmured assent. The dungeon settled into a peaceful quiet for quite possibly the first time since the three had arrived.
Of course, that couldn't last.
"HUM hum hum humhumhum HUM hum hum hum... HUM hum hum humhumhum HUUUUUUM..."
"Shu...." Seiji's tone was distinctly unamused, but he spoke with great restraint. "I am trying to contact Ryo and Touma. I need to concentrate. Could you please not?"
"What happened to 'let's get some rest'?" Shu asked testily.
Seiji bristled. "Does it irritate you that I'm making an attempt to do something productive?"
"Did you have any luck?" Shin asked desperately, knowing full well how Shu would take that comment. He could already feel the beginnings of a migraine pounding relentlessly.
Unfortunately, he was drowned out by Shu's angry comment. "Oh yeah? Why don't you come over here and say that?"
"I'm open to any suggestions you may have as to how I could do that!"
"RYO!" Shin shrieked, his voice reverberating off the stone walls of the prison and making the other two wince. "TOUMA! IF YOU DON'T SAVE US SOON, I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL THEM MYSELF!"
******************************
Somewhere in the Youjakai, a white tiger was loping across an abandoned battlefield, bounding over emptied suits of armor and discarded weapons. He came to a sudden stop, glancing around anxiously. The two figures on his back raised their heads like hunting dogs that had just caught a scent. "Did you hear something?" Touma asked his companion.
"Did you?" Ryo returned, straining his ears.
There was a pause as Byakuen began to move again. "We still have time to go back and tell Nasuti that we couldn't find them," Touma said quietly.
The answer came several minutes later, so soft that Touma barely caught it. "Do you think she'd believe us?"
~Owari