Chapter Three: Tricks and Treats

Hopkins? Stan thought with a stupefied blink as the Great Hero strode towards the pair. The Shadow Evil King curled his fingers into claws as the primly dressed young man performed an elaborate bow to the parasol-bearing Heroine.

"You know my name, but I don't yet have the courtesy of knowing yours," Hopkins said in a softly accented voice.

Rosalyn was blushing deeply, yellow eyes wide, stammering a bit. "M-Me? My name is…um…"

"Rosalyn, don't say your real name, just to be safe!" Ari urged in their ears.

"Rosa…line. Rosaline." She shifted her umbrella self-consciously from shoulder to shoulder.

"Stan, if that's Hopkins, can you hide or make yourself more…human?"

"Of course I can, Slave," Stan griped quietly. He lowered his head and shook himself, nails shortening and teeth dulling from barbed fangs to mere sharp canines. His ears smoothed themselves out also, and when he straightened again, he had a considerably more mundane appearance—despite the fact that he still had the whole Aura of Evil going.

Hopkins, meanwhile, took Rosalyn's hand and kissed it, straightening with a wide grin. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rosaline. Mind if I call you Rose?"

"A-A-A-A-Anything you want!" She stuttered, turning and trying to conceal her face behind her blonde hair.

Stan roared, "Hey! Don't you think you're forgetting someone, you fat hippo?" The sky was filling with storm clouds, and a sudden shade was cast across the field.

The Great Hero arched his eyebrows. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but did you just address the young miss as a 'fat hippo'?"

"Damn straight I did."

"And who are you?" An undertone of distaste layered his voice now.

"Ignore him," Rosalyn tossed her hand apathetically. "He's just a big wannabe crook named…Samuel."

He almost snarled out that she call him Evil King Stan—(Or at least Stan)—but remembered Ari's warning about the future being screwed up if he did. Since he was relatively fond of his future, he decided to let it go. For now.

But if Hopkins is here, so is Gohma.

Stan wouldn't admit it, but he didn't like the dreamy look on Rosalyn's face as she gaped with open adoration at the (admittedly) handsomely dressed Hero Hopkins. He was sorely tempted to remove the annoying "gentleman's" head from his shoulders, but once more he was reminded of the possible impact on the future.

Swallowing his great pride, the Evil King grumbled, "Anyway, Rosaline, let's keep going to Tenel."

"Would you like me to escort you?" Hopkins inquired, pointedly ignoring Stan, much to his displeasure.

"Y-You don't have to trouble yourself for me," she assured him, fluttering her lashes like a school girl.

It's enough to make me sick! The world conspires to infuriate me.

"You heard her, you're troubled, now get out of my way!" Stan grabbed the startled Rosalyn's arm and proceeded to forcefully drag the shocked warrior down the dirt path, purposely stomping on the green grass as hard as he could.

As Hopkins's form vanished beyond a tall hillside, she dug in her heels and he came to a grudging halt. "What's your problem, you stupid Evil King?" She snapped, tearing herself from his now-reformed talons.

He willed the rest of his demon appearance into existence, gnashing his razor teeth. "The more we interact with the past—"

"I know, I know." She looked over her shoulder, her expression longing. "But it's Hopkins. Hero Hopkins, the idol of every Hero in the Hero's Club!"

"If you know the possible consequences, then shut up and walk." Stan paused, and then grinned, tapping his claws against his chin. A nasty idea formed in his head. "What, do you think your pitiful life is more important than the futures of a billion people? Huh, some Hero!"

Rosalyn bristled. "Of course it's not! I became a Hero to protect people, you stupid, stupid Evil King!" Her fists were clenched tightly and her eyes blazed. He just smirked.

"Then let's go to Tenel, and hope we don't encounter any more pompous fools along the road."

The Great Heroine merely sighed angrily and followed, but her gaze was still kind of unfocused, to Stan's increasing annoyance.

~*X*~

Ari listened to the unexpectedly stony silence between Rosalyn and Stan, frowning to himself as he and Marlene watched Kisling attempt to rebuild the Time Transformer. Big Bull was patrolling tirelessly back and forth, tail lashing, whilst Marlene just sat beside him, daydreaming perhaps of better (worse?) times.

It was late at night, according to his watch, around 12:30 AM. The wild-haired scientist seemed to assume the whole situation was his fault—it kinda was—and was laboring over his invention with a determined fervor. There was no sign of Raven, and most of the stores were closed for the night.

Basically, the redhead lacked anything to do. Epros and Linda had retrieved the items from the Gear Tower out in the Addashi Desert, but apparently they ended up getting a bit sidetracked when the Teen Idol insisted that they both go spend a night in the hotel in Triste instead of making the wearisome trip all the way to Tenel.

Ari frowned, drumming his fingers against his pants, and was quite startled when Rosalyn called his name over their earphones.

"Huh?" He replied distractedly, still thinking about Raven and her rather unsettling threat to break Kisling.

"Stan's asleep, is everyone else?"

He shook his head, then remembered she couldn't see him and spoke aloud. "Nope."

"…Tell me when they are, okay?"

Perplexed, he murmured an okay and waited for time to pass. Everything seemed to move unnaturally slow, and he smiled a bit, remembering his previous crush on the Great Hero Rosalyn, before he had met Marlene. Now, she was more of a big sister to him instead of a love interest…

It was roughly two in the morning, and that's when Ari practically ordered everyone to get some rest. They'd need someone to guard Kisling and the Time Transformer though, so he sent Big Bull with the scientist to sleep in his room—on the floor, naturally.

"You'll get some rest yourself?" Marlene asked quietly, touching his arm with the tips of her fingers.

"Yeah, sure. Later."

She snorted. "I mean it. Come get me if you want a break, or I'll just stay up with you next time and we can die of insomnia together."

"Charming, really." Ari's sardonic remark was lost on the girl however, and she swept out of the room with her usual royal air.

He waited another half hour just to be sure that everyone was asleep (Epros and Linda had long since retired) before addressing Rosalyn. "Okay, what's up?"

"You know the idiot and I met Hero Hopkins today, right?"

"Mmhmm."

A lengthy interval without words. "Will the future be too screwed up if I talked to him some more?"

Ari was surprised. "Why would you do that?"

"He's my idol! Since I was little! Ari, I don't know who you look up to, but imagine meeting some fairy tale princess for real!"

"I did," he pointed out, thinking only of Marlene at that instant.

Static ruffled the connection momentarily as she sighed. "Okay, fair enough. But really, could I?"

"Shouldn't you be asking Kisling this?"

"I trust your common sense more."

He rubbed at his eyes and leaned back, focusing on an obscure corner in the ceiling. "This has the potential to be some huge time paradox. The future becomes messed up if you touch the past, but we're already in the future and technically we should have corrupted the past beforehand, but we couldn't have done anything without…but you get what I'm saying, right?"

Rosalyn's short patience kicked in again. "Can I or can't I?"

"I…guess? Just don't overdo it, don't mention the future, and try to sound like you're from the last generation, okay?"

Genuine joy touched her voice. "Alright, thanks Ari!"

"What, got a crush?" Ari chuckled to himself, twirling his sword absently.

"O-Of course not!"

"That's right, you like Stan." He was stunned by how silent she went all of a sudden, and he feared that their connection had been severed. His playful smile vanished.

Then: "Don't be ridiculous," she huffed. "Good night, Ari."

"Uh huh. You too." When everything went silent, the boy continued his guard duty, mulling over her words. Ari wasn't a fool, not anymore, and his quick mind made the conclusion that it was a little more than adoration that was driving Rosalyn.

At the same time, he didn't have to ponder long over how quiet she had gone when he mentioned her possible interest for the Evil King.

What a silly woman sometimes, Ari mused.

~*300 Years Later*~

Stan, meanwhile, bided his time until Rosalyn had gotten back into her bed from staring out the window at the ancient Tenel Inn. They had the same room, but notably with separate sleeping quarters. The structure was just like the one found in present-day Tenel, and he found that rather sad.

What mindless peasants, never updating a single plank of rotten wood!

He drew his nails across the headboard, watching the shavings curl inwards, grinning to himself as the "Hero" complained under her breath about his "idiocy". Hilariously, she was already asleep and was just muttering to herself. Not even fully conscious.

He only did things like this because it irritated her, and that was reason enough. Still...he started dwelling over the things that Ari had said to Rosalyn, and he wondered if the flame in his chest directed at Hopkins was because he just hated the stupid guy or because…he was jealous of him.

Jealous? Me? For what?

Author's Note: This story has such atrocious amounts of Writer's Block that it's not even funny. Regardless, here it is, and sorry for the shortness...