Chapter Two: Yellow and Pink

Disclaimer: I don't own the show Martin Mystery. I do own Morgan (the girl in the photo) and Alexander, as well as the snake creature.

Additional Notes: It was pointed out to me before that Morgan should have had hazel eyes, not blue. That's why the few lines about blue contacts were added in this chapter.


Come please I'm calling
And oh I scream for you
Hurry I'm falling
I'm falling
Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be

NickelbackSavin' Me


The house was solemn and quiet. The party attendees had long since dispersed; their cheerful goodbyes were nothing more than faint echoes. A litter of wrapping paper and ribbons still lay around the kitchen table, with a half eaten ice cream cake, slowly congealing into a sticky puddle, still sitting on top. Several half-heartedly received presents, piled into a misshapen and disorganized pile, sat at one end of the table.

"Why are her eyes blue, Martin?"

"Dad told me that she always wore blue contacts to be different. But then, when I was born and I had the same color eyes, she stopped wearing them..."

Diana Lombard glowered at the picture of Morgan Mystery that was present on the shelf of their living room. The woman's slightly cocky, mischievously pretty smile reminded her so much of her absent step-brother's that she wanted to scream. It was only with a patience that came from living with Martin Mystery for a year that she reigned in her frustration and hurt.

"You promised," she whispered haltingly, and reaching out, she placed the picture face-down. Then, she fled into the kitchen area, where she began to briskly collect the trash that was leftover.

Today had been the day where she finally turned fourteen. She had been waiting for this day for a long time, ever since Martin suddenly began to distance himself. There had been a period of six months, back when they first met, when he had not minded hanging out with her when their parents were acting in what was a mushy fashion for them.

Despite the fact that Martin had taken great delight in teasing her at every opportunity, Diana had found herself genuinely liking her step-brother. He was unlike anyone she had ever met before, and she was both attracted to and repelled by him. Generally, the attraction won out.

But then, seemingly overnight, Martin had backed off from her, confusing her immensely. For the past year and a half, it had been like a dance, but Diana was getting tired of the steps. She wanted the Martin from before back; she just didn't know how to get him. No scientific theory that she could possibly imagine offered up a reason for his behavior. It was irritating her.

Worse, it made her want to cry, and that was perhaps the most upsetting thing of all.

Tying the sides of the garbage together, Diana hauled the bulging bag over to the backdoor. One of her scribbled theories caught her attention, and she picked it up with a sigh. She and Martin had met when she had just turned twelve. Their parents had moved in together shortly after Martin turned thirteen, when Diana was roughly twelve-and-a-half. This had been when Martin began to back off. This timeline had not helped her to come to a conclusion at all. Across the bottom of the page, she had scrawled the word 'puberty' along with several question marks.

"Stupid Martin," muttered Diana, bawling the piece of paper up. She stuffed it into the bag and dragged it outside. "Couldn't even show up for my party... I thought that since I'm older he'd tell me what was wrong... but he didn't even come after he promised..."

The cool night air brushed her damp cheeks, and, horrified, she slammed the cover down on the trash can and jammed her fists into her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was cry over him. It was like an admittance that she... that she...

The phone rang, disrupting the young teenager. She scurried across the yard into the house, half-hoping that it wouldn't be who she suspected it was. Picking up the phone, she didn't wait to get her breathing under control as she gasped a greeting into the receiver. Who was she kidding? All she wanted was to see him.

"Hey, Diana, Kitten! How are you?"

The sweeping wave of disappointment was so powerful that her throat seized, and for several minutes, she couldn't speak. It didn't seem to matter, because her father was happy to fill the silence with chatter about his travels.

Diana clutched the phone tightly and squeezed her eyes shut. Her biological father's voice brought forth the image of a man with hair the color of dark chocolate and eyes the same emerald color as her own. But it was a faint image, because she hadn't seen him for a very long time.

Alexander Lombard was a businessman who traveled somewhere new every week. He was dedicated to his work and loved setting goals that were difficult to reach. Unfortunately, this meant that often, he did not see his family for months on end, which was the eventual reason that Vivian Lombard had divorced him. Custody of Diana hadn't even been a question when she hadn't seen her father for over four years.

"– and that's why I couldn't be there, Kitten," Alexander was saying, his voice mildly apologetic. "You understand, don't you?"

"Yeah..." she croaked into the phone, swallowing hard. She didn't even know this man. Why did he bother to call her every year? "Yeah, I understand."

"Good." Now that he had her acceptance, his manner became sharp and efficient. "Is your mother there?"

"No..." Diana turned to look out the window at the moonlight covered lawn. Had that been a crash? "She and Da... she and Gerard went to drive Aunt Sierra home."

The brief slip went unnoticed, and when Alexander rang off a short time later, Diana wondered why she had bothered to correct herself. There certainly hadn't been a chance that he would comment on it – that would mean actually staying on the line to talk, something that was unheard of.

Another crash and a muffled yowl brought her closer to the windows. She surveyed the space with a puzzled look, seeking out the source of the noise. Was an animal trying to get into the garbage again? Her lovely eyes located the reason.

"Get back!" Martin Mystery yelled, waving a knife at a... what was that? It towered a good six feet over the blonde fourteen-year-old, scale-covered with a tail covered in five-inch long spikes, and a mouthful of gleaming teeth rusted copper brown that snapped dangerously close...

Diana suddenly recalled the natural act of breathing, and she drew in a sharp breath. It exploded out of her in a shriek of shocked fear that seemed to freeze a stunned Martin as the – snake? – reared back, a hissing sort of howl of pain escaping its mouth.

The screen door swung open against the house with such force that several paint chips flecked away. Diana stumbled outside on legs that didn't seem to want to work anymore as Martin spun around, gawking at her.

The snake recovered and lashed out, enraged. Martin leapt backwards with a choked cry as Diana's analytical mind processed the situation. For a second time, she released a ringing yell, but this time with purpose. As the creature flinched, the high-pitched sound its un-doing, Martin jumped forward with his hand outstretched.

"Ha-ha," he said victoriously, approaching the corpse of the snake. He stood over it, looking oddly triumphant. "No snake gets the best of Martin Mystery – "

"Get away!" Diana seized the back of his shirt and dragged him backwards as the snake twitched, then sprang forward. Missing its target, the creature fell heavily to the ground and did not move again.

Martin, hazel eyes enormous, looked from it to his step–sister. "How... did you know it would do that?"

"That's how most people get bitten by snakes," muttered Diana, flexing her fingers. She sensed people entering the yard, but she lacked the strength to lift her head and see where they were coming from. It was only when two identical boots stopped in front of her that she looked up.

The woman in front of her was calmly beautiful, with close-cropped raven black hair and deep sea-green eyes. Her skin was pale, with the only visible blemish being a tiny mole above her lavender-frosted mouth. She looked very much the imposing, authoritive figure as she stared down at Diana with folded arms.

"Diana Lombard?" At Diana's nod, the woman continued, "My name is M.O.M. I am the boss of an organization called the Centre. We investigate paranormal occurrences with the help of our agents. Your step–brother, Martin Mystery, is one of our agents-in-training. After seeing your performance here tonight, we would like to extend an invitation to you to become Martin's partner."

Diana gave the woman a blank look, then searched for Martin. She found him standing by two people dressed in white. Eyes narrowing as she recalled just why she had been feeling the way she had earlier, she stood up and directed a positively chilling look towards M.O.M.

"Would you excuse me for a second?" she asked sweetly, the pieces falling into place. The puzzle was complete. "Martin Mystery!"

Living with his step–sister for as long as he had had given Martin a dire appreciation for both her mood-swings and the strength she could put into her fist when he really pissed her off. He cringed ever so slightly as the girl stalked over to him, her eyes flashing.

"Uh... hey, Di," he offered after a pause.

Reaching him, Diana halted. She took a good long look into his eyes, searching them for something. Whatever she failed to find pushed her over the edge, for she didn't hesitate in slapping him across the face as hard as she could.

Martin's head snapped to the side with the force of her strike. As the world came back into focus, he spotted the limp helium balloons dangling from the mailbox. His heart found a new home in his stomach as he turned back in time to see the door slam.

"Agent Mystery," said M.O.M. after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I know," Martin replied, curling his hand around something in his pocket. "Just... wait a minute, okay?"

He hurried into the house, climbing the stairs three at a time. Outside of Diana's door, he stopped to listen. He couldn't hear anything from inside, but that didn't mean she wasn't in there. Making a swift decision, Martin set a tiny box down in front of her door and tapped on the wood gently.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said softly, "but I'd like it if you were my partner. Happy birthday, Diana."

Inside the room, Diana lay on her bed with her face buried in the pillow. Long after her step–brother's footsteps had retreated, she remained still. Only when the sound of her parents' car arriving came in through her window did she move. She went over to the door and opened it slowly after taking a deep breath. Her feelings were in a confused muddle as she stepped into the hallway. Her foot hit something and she glanced down, startled.

The small box was covered in shiny silver paper with an adorable lilac ribbon. Touched, she instinctively unwrapped the box, then pulled the top off. Two lavender hair clips, one decorated with a warm yellow star, the other with a blush pink flower, were revealed to her softening gaze.

"Martin..." Sighing, Diana retreated into her room. Standing before her vanity, she pulled her ribbon out of her hair, then brushed the long auburn locks. Then, she pinned several strands back with the clips and smiled at her reflection.

Martin Mystery could be a real insensitive jerk sometimes, she thought. In the next few weeks, she would make him suffer for missing her party and for withholding his actions at the Center. But, of course, all this wouldn't matter because in the end, she would accept the job offer. Someone had to be present to make sure that he behaved himself. It would be an irritating job, but Diana knew that she would be happy to do it.


I know that this wasn't the continuance some of you may have been expecting, but I like picking out the important scenes, as if someone is looking through a photo album. Please review. .