Hello everyone, it's MysteriouslyMystery! Lately, I've had rather a lot of writer's block, so I haven't been able to update She Drowns In The Memories (SDITM) or Even In Death. The new chapters will likely be up by Sunday though. Sorry...
Anyway, I've put a poll on my profile asking which pairing I should do a story for next, seeing as there are just not enough stories for them. I'll get around to all of them, I'm just wondering what order to do them in, so if you could vote that would be helpful. ^^
Back to this story... I wrote it 1-and-a-half years ago, edited it, and well here are the results. Hope you enjoy! (By the way, this does not count for the SpectraxGus option on my poll, I'll write another one for that. XD)

Chapter 1

As it crashed down, the seemingly everlasting rain hit all passersby mercilessly upon their heads. It had been raining nonstop for the past two days, and most people had confined themselves to their houses, exiting only to walk the dog or to nab some groceries. Gus sat alone on a crate, staring out the window at the persistent raindrops, watching them race one another on the glass. He felt slightly silly, sitting in a storage house in a foreign dimension with nothing better to do than stare at the rain. Tapping his fingers on the window sill, he let his mind wonder off to New Vestroia. For the umpteenth time he considered everything- Dan and his annoying friends, Prince Hydron, the brawls he'd fought, the Vexos, and finally… Master Spectra.

Where was he? Why hadn't he returned yet? Did something happen? Perhaps Spectra had been hit by a bus... No, I mustn't think that, Gus told himself. I'd know if something happened to him, you sense these things. Maybe Spectra had found a way to return to New Vestroia! That'd be it. He found a way back, and is probably home right now, trying to get him, Gus, home as well. Definitely. They'd both be back soon. Just a few more minutes. Maybe ten.

-MEANWHILE-

Spectra walked down the street, so lost in thought that he was oblivious to the rain. He wondered how he would ever return home once Dan and friends finally teamed up with him. Remembering that Alice had somehow teleported to their location, he was led to ponder how she did it. A thought occurred to him, a thought he rather liked. If he could somehow find Alice and convince her that Dan had joined him, she would probably listen to him straightaway, unnaturally (as Spectra thought) kind as she was. Revising the plan in his head, he smirked, pleased with himself.

A mother with three children clustered underneath a giant umbrella passing caught Spectra's attention. The youngest, a girl of about five years old, goggled at Spectra through wide eyes.

"Mommy, look! Is he a superhero?" she asked her mother, indicating Spectra. Her mother took a brief glance at him and then replied.

"No sweetie, he's not. Come on, Daddy's waiting at home." But the girl didn't listen. She stood still and stared at Spectra. Her brother, looking no older than thirteen, took her hand.

"Come on Amy, it's not nice to stare at people."

"Yeah Amy, listen to him. We're going. I'm sick of this stupid rain." her sister (Spectra guessed her as about 9 years old) said, winking to Amy. Spectra was reminded forcibly of Lync.

As the family disappeared around the corner, Spectra thought of Mira. The young boy and his sister Amy had given him a strong feel of déja-vù. Had they been younger, Mira would also have stared at peculiar-looking people, and he, Keith, would have pulled her along without much difficulty (Mira rather thought of her brother as a superman of some kind).

Suddenly Spectra remembered that Gus had been alone this whole tome. Smiling to himself, Spectra imagined his minion's worried expression, so lost without his master. He wondered why Gus followed him so. Perhaps he shared Mira's views on his master. Somehow, Spectra couldn't seem to understand why they admired him so much.

Just as Spectra wanted to turn the usual left, he saw that there was a river there. Looking around, he saw that he had long since left the city and was walking in the middle of nowhere, leading him to wonder how long he'd been out. Probably no more than thirty minutes or so.

-BACK TO GUS-

It wasn't just a few minutes. Dusk approached, with still no sign of Master Spectra. Gus would have loved to run outside and look for him, but he knew that his master would be furious if Gus wasn't 'home' when he got there. Tired of sitting still, Gus stood up and paced all about the place. He tugged at his hair, kicked around an empty juice carton, counted the crates, and twitched about in almost every other possible way. Eventually his footsteps led him to the door, where he stared at the thick curtains of rain. The sky was dark gray because of all the rainclouds, but in the distance the setting sun was just visible. It had sunk quite a bit. Feeling slightly queasy, Gus sat on a nearby crate, wondering whether it really was possible to feel "sick with worry". Concern written across his forehead, he gazed unseeingly into the distance. The same one question bugged him constantly, gnawed at his conscious mind: Where was Spectra?

-CONCURRENTLY-

Almost there, just a few more streets, Spectra told himself. By now he really was almost there, but he had been away for quite a while. Darkness was slowly filling the sky, and the rain was starting to subside into a minor drizzle. Replacing it was an icy breeze, which sent a shiver down Spectra´s spine. Cold as it was, the wind had him wishing he were back home in Vestal, dry and warm, with Gus at his side, blabbering away about their newest plans. Gus… Why did the thought of Gus being on his own in the darkness bother him so? Perhaps it was because Gus could act so … hopeless whenever Spectra wasn't around. It was kind of sweet, in a weird and slightly creepy sort of way. Spectra smiled to himself. His most loyal follower was always there beside him, doing him every tiny favor, no matter how dumb it was. Kinda strange, the way he obeys me, thought Spectra, Almost as though I have a remote control for him.

The dark buildings rose behind Spectra, tall and gloomy, but they received none of his attention. All he cared about was getting back into the storage house, where Gus would be waiting for him.

-GUS AGAIN-

Just when Gus had had enough and got up to go and look for his master, he saw a figure approaching his location.

"Master?" he asked, stepping outside cautiously. No reply.

"Master, is that you?" he tried again, but still to no reply. The figure drew nearer slowly, walking in a straight line towards him. Gus paced forwards tentatively.

"Master Spectra?" he nervously called, stepping away from the warehouse. The figure halted abruptly, and suddenly Gus sensed that there was something horribly wrong. Again he called to his master, approaching the figure against his instincts.

"Master, what's-" Gus began, but he didn't finish his sentence. Something hard whacked the back of his head, and as he fell forwards he realized that this wasn't right, and seconds before passing out he identified the figure.

"Gus? Gus, I'm back!" Spectra shouted. Dusk had fallen by now, and the whole sky was lit up in vivid colors- striking orange, lemon yellow, deep purple, shock pink, even blood red. A smirk still lingered on his face as he drew nearer to the warehouse they used as a momentary home. All was silent, which was rather unusual- normally Gus would come running whenever he heard Spectra calling him. Immediately recognizing that something must be awfully wrong, he mutely crept around to the very edge of the container and held his breath, listening. Sure enough, the sound of voices soon met his ears.

"Tell me where he is!" a familiar voice shouted.

"Never. Y-you'll have to k-kill me f-first." Though it shook and trembled, Spectra's eyes widened as he recognized Gus's voice.

"Ah well. If you're here, he must be, too. I guess we'll just have to wait." As hard as he tried, Spectra couldn't seem to place the voice.

"M-master Spectra will never f-fall for your s-stupid tricks!" Gus cried.

"Shut him up, will you?" the unplaceable voice ordered. Something hit Gus, who let out a cry of pain before falling silent. Somebody else laughed.

"How's it feel to be so helpless without master?" a new voice mocked. Shadow Prove! Spectra grinded his teeth in fury as he realized who was speaking.

"SHUT UP!" Gus yelled desperately. Slam! Spectra was sure Shadow had just punched Gus.

"Bad lapdog. Sit!" Shadow mocked, laughing hard.

"Shadow, get it together. We need the bait to stay conscious so his precious master will come." the only female amongst the Vexos said.

"You always have to ruin my fun." Shadow whined.

"You can have your stupid fun when Spectra arrives."

"NO! You're going n-nowhere near M-Master Spectra!" objected Gus.

"Put a cork in it, weasel." Shadow laughed, punching Gus again. Having had enough of it, Spectra came up with a plot quickly when he spotted several crates piling up to the roof of the storage house. Climbing up, he tried to remember who the third person had been. Maybe Volt? Or Lync? No, Volt would have said something dumb and Lync's voice was rather easy to recognise. Maybe it was some Resistance member? No, Mira wouldn't team up with the Vexos and besides, she and most of her allies were back home in New Vestroia… Except Alice and friends, who were way over in Moscow. So who was it?

Once on the roof, Spectra climbed over quietly to where the small cluster of people was. Shadow Prove was on the verge of whacking Gus again. Spectra jumped and landed directly in front of Gus, catching Shadow's fist before it could do more damage.

"Let him be."

"Well, look who finally decided to join the party!" Shadow said, his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he laughed at his own joke.

"Master!" Gus choked.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Spectra Phantom." Turning towards the sound of the voice, Spectra' expression became horrified as the person it belonged to smirked at him.

"Hydron?"

Yeah, it's probably not what you expected, but I'll get to the more romantic part later... This is the first boyxboy pairing I've ever written, so no flames please, and I'm going to try to update ALL my stories soon. Don't forget to vote on my poll! :D