Note: No hobos were harmed in the making of this chapter.

Selena woke to extreme pain. She looked around, finding herself in an unfamiliar alley. "Sikes?" She called out quietly. No response. Realising she had a note in her hand, she unrolled it and began to read.

Dear Selena,

Seems everyone's abandoned you, eh?

Well, if you want to come back here, I won't let you in unless you're accompanied by Cyrus AND Syndrome. Good luck with that.

By the way, Sikes is staying here.

Have fun finding them, I heard something about Farleigh, on the other side of town.

Rylan

Selena tried to stand, but she could hardly get herself to sit up. She shouldn't have survived that blast, so it made sense as she started to remember. She got herself sitting and looked around. Nothing was working, her muscles, her sight...

She saw a small piece of rubbish lying about. She tried to move it... It did a backflip and then stayed put. "Dammit," she mumbled. It seemed that the only thing working now was her water-pipes. Tears drenched her face, making it even colder than it was.

---

Cyrus stuffed the key in the lock and twisted as hard as she could. The door clicked and she opened the door. "Well, here we are," she said to Syndrome. "This is it."

"Pity, really..." he said. "I really wanted to read another one of those Harry Potter books."

"We can get some from the store later."

"Fine..." Syndrome seemed flustered. "How long do you suppose I'll be stuck here?"

"I don't know, as long as it takes for Selena to get over the whole "trying to kill me in your dreams" ordeal. What's her problem, anyway?"

"I dunno..."

---

Selena breathed in and out, trying to find some sign of where she was. She couldn't be TOO far away from Rylan's home, after all, he wasn't at all strong. Unlike Sikes.

Dammit, Selena, stop thinking of him! her mind shouted.

She pulled herself up slowly. Every step she took was painful. Her face still fresh with tears that she should never had cried, she felt the wind against her. She looked around. She knew these alleys like the back of her hand... of course, that was now covered with blood that she hadn't had before.

Selena fell over several times before she was used to walking again, and even then, she almost fell with pain.

Selena was soon in a downtown district. "Funny, never thought Ravensburg ever had such bright lights," She muttered. It had taken her quite some time to get to where she was, it was night. She looked around at the bright flashing lights and stores still doing business. She saw a colourful banner and was drawn to it.

"COMING ATTRACTION: MAGIC SHOW IN EAST LOTUS CITY!"

"WHAT?!" Selena shouted, drawing attention to herself. Realising it, she shouted just as loud, and a much more cheerful, annoying valley-girl teenager's voice, "I LOVE MAGIC SHOWS!"

The others on the street grumbled, but she was no longer in the spotlight.

How the hell that wimp got me here...

She looked around. Even though it was dark, the streets were still bustling. No one in these parts had even heard of her... that was even better. She was going to need to be concealed to get practise…

---

Selena woke up the next morning in an alley. "Now it's time to get some practise," she said to herself. Near her was a dumpster, which a hobo was looting.

Ooh, time to play some tricks for practise!

Selena concentrated all of her energy into one thought- she wanted the old, moldy food in the poor man's hands to float.

She backed behind the dumpster so she couldn't be seen and she felt a small pull. And then it was a tremendous pain. "Ugh," she groaned in whisper. "This thing's heavy!" Suddenly, she heard screaming. "HEEEEEEEEELP!" She jumped.

Oh, shit!

She got up from her hiding spot and looked at the man, upside down by his foot.

Selena tried to flip him back, but instead got that mouldy cheese she had been going for earlier. He was still upside-down.

She finally couldn't hold on anymore, and he was dropped... on his bum, the old bum. Selena heaved a sigh of relief.

If she had accidentally killed him?

She would have been put in jail, she didn't have a way to hide here!

Shuddering at the thought, Selena walked out of the alley towards the downtown area.

Selena was out in the bright downtown area. Across the street was the main park, to her left was the pamphlet about the Magic Show in East Lotus, and to her right was a mob of people. She ran across the sidewalk and then the street- the sidewalk was most certainly more dangerous- and found a bench to sit on.

Many people rushed by, on their way to a store or their workplace. This was one of those towns where everyone could walk anywhere, and did so, apparently. Selena heard a buzzing noise. She cocked her head, trying to see where it was coming from, and then it was full out shouting. "OH GOD!" she shouted as a good 1,000 sounds came running through her at once.

She covered her ears and it did not help.

A few people stopped to stare, but most went on their busy ways. She shook her head, trying to get the voices, thoughts, memories out of her mind. She tried to concentrate it on her own thoughts, but couldn't. It was too loud...

Selena couldn't stand it anymore. She ran as fast as she could, where she was going she had no idea.

She would stop as soon as it was quiet.

She was following the sun, it was east, but she couldn't tell even that. Her own thoughts were long gone, it was everyone else's.

She was out of breath before long. The sound was a bit more quiet, but still too much to handle.

She turned several times, lost.

Damme. I wish I had a map.

Was that her thought? Well, she was louder than the rest.

She hadn't gotten very far.

She was still downtown.

She sat down on a bench again, unaware that it was a bus-stop.

The sounds going through Selena's mind kept her from thinking too much.

It was like the middle point between two radio stations where you could hear both, only about 500 times that.

Suddenly, she heard a real noise. A large bus stopped in front of her and opened the doors. She jumped for a moment. She concentrated on her thoughts...

How much does this cost?

"Fifty cents in-town, a dollar-fifty if you plan on going to Farleigh or Lotus City. 2 dollars for Lilyport, and there's no way in hell you're getting me to take you to Ravensburg," The bus driver shouted to her. "Are you gonna get on or what?" Selena jumped, she was just trying to get rid of the noise, not actually ask him.

"Yeah, sure," She shouted over the voices. She rummaged through her many pockets. Where had her money gone? "Ah, here it is!" She said, even louder. She got on the bus and paid her dues.

"Are you hard of hearing?" The driver shouted back to her as she took her seat.

"Today I am," Selena said, miserably. The sound was not as bad now, but she could hear one voice, one thought in particular. It was the driver's.

"Today you are what?" he asked.

"Erm. Going to Farleigh. Maybe you're hard of hearing." Selena covered, realising she had read a thought instead of hearing words.

The driver shook his head. "Alright. That's the next city on my route, but it's gonna take a while. So kick back."

She took out her Oliver Twist book and put it on the seat next to her. She was going to get practise somehow.

The thoughts running through her head were mostly hers, a few of them were staticy- from outside the bus- and one of them was just "Turn left here," and "keep going until Third Avenue." She then thought of a better idea.

"Do you happen to know a place where I can get playing cards?"

---

Syndrome sat cross-legged, reading the third Harry Potter book. "This one is better," he commented to no one in particular.

Cyrus looked at him strangely and picked up her sweater. "Well, fun as this is, I'm going to the store to get the last three. Just in case you finish the Goblet of Fire while I've got my back turned." She went out toward a small bookstore/gaming store.

---

Selena got off the bus. It was much, much more quiet here in Farleigh. Only a few thoughts from random people... did that make them extremely stupid, or all just deep sleepers? She walked into the store the bus driver had told her about and found her (stolen) money.

Cyrus pulled the last copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows off the shelf and was walking back to the front desk when she spotted a familar mop of dark brown hair. "...Selena?" she called cautiously.

Selena jumped about a mile. "Who the hell is that?"

"Hem hem," the checker 'coughed.' "Excuse me?"

"Excuse you," Selena said rudely, and then checked herself. There was no-one in the store besides-

"Cyrus? Seriously?"

"Dude, seriously!" Cyrus grinned. "Somebody "up there" must like us. So what happened to you? I thought you were with Rylan in Ravensburg."

"Shush!" Selena mumbled as she grabbed a deck of cards. "And try and quiet your thoughts a bit. It hurts!" She walked up to the front desk and paid for her cards.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't know. So how's it been going with Rylan? I mean, you're not in Ravensburg, so..."

"What do you think is going ON? You make it sound absolutely different than what it is," Selena said. "You know what, don't answer that. I hear enough thoughts as it is, I don't need you to speak any more of them." She waited for Cyrus to buy the books and they left the store.

"Well... I don't know!" Cyrus stated, disregarding Selena's 'don't answer that' statement. "That's why I'm asking. I want to know why you're here."

"Okay. First off, it's not a relationship. So don't make it sound like one," Selena growled, a bit ticked. "Secondly, ever since you two left, Rylan went psycho on us- Sikes and I, that is- and threw me out. To East Lotus. Using his own muscle. That I didn't even think he had." She shook her head. "Sikes is still there," she said. She should never have let herself get attatched to Sikes. He was an asshole, after all, he killed- erm, was going to kill- his own prostitute. That loved him.

"Why did he throw you out?" Cyrus looked puzzled.

"My usefulness had run short. My plan- my damned plan, foiled by SYNDROME of all people, the one HE wanted to bring- was falling apart so he took it upon himself," Selena growled.

She wrapped her coat tight, a very cold wind blew. It was becoming winter, bit by bit.

"Well..." Cyrus paused. "From what he told me about what happened, he had a dream that he was chasing me around in, and you got mad because there was an intent to kill, but it was just a dream and you flipped out anyway. So he left."

"He was trying to kill you over a cookie."

"But it was a dream... and he's not that irrational in the real world." Cyrus didn't seem even slightly bothered by it.

"It was over a stupid cookie!" She shouted. "A damned cookie that didn't even matter!" Selena shook her head. She had lost everything, including her mind. A tear ran down her cheek. "It's so stupid, someone would kill over a COOKIE."

"But it was a DREAM!" Cyrus yelled back. "I've killed people in my dreams over less, hell, I've killed people IN REAL LIFE over less!"

Selena watched the stoplight turn from red to green. She shook her head, vivid memories, from cookies to christmas lights, all going through her mind, as well as images of murder on the streets.

"Look, I'd better be going. I've got a magic show to practise for."

Cyrus sighed. "Look, if you need a place to stay, you can stay at my house, but I'm going to warn you that Syndrome's there."

Selena shuddered. She'd rather bring them back so she could see Sikes soon... "Do you have an empty room? Or, for that matter, a floor?"

"I have an empty room and a floor." Cyrus laughed. "You can come whenever you want."

"You know, I would never do this unless that "Someone up there," that you mentioned to before made me," Selena said. "Syndrome better not be a pain in the ass."

"Oh, trust me, he will be. You just made an offer too good to refuse, I think."

Selena blinked. She heard what Cyrus was thinking and was no longer confused.

Seriously, she just made an offer too good to refuse for one of the authors. He's going to be sooooo irritable…

Selena laughed.

---

Cyrus knocked. "You'd better not be dressing, Syn, we're coming in."

"We?" Syndrome inquired as Cyrus entered.

"Erm.. yeah," Selena said, peeking in through the door like a little child over a tall counter.

"Well! Look what the cat dragged in!" Syndrome sneered. "I thought you hated us."

Her head was buzzing with words, she almost missed what Syndrome had said.

"Erm. Not both of you... besides. I need a place to stay."

"Well, you realize you'll have to put up with me, all the time. And should you intrude into my dreams again-" he grinned sadistically- "I'll shoot you on sight with an Uzi."

"A WHAT?" Selena screamed.

"An Uzi. It's a submachine gun. Submachine guns have the cartridge of a pistol and the automatic fire of a machine gun. The multiple gaping wounds you'll have are just to be thorough. I really don't like it when you're in my dreams."

"Well, EXCUSE me! I had no choice that last time. I don't even know how the hell that happened- I was out. The first time, I was trying to wake you up! And, mind you, you sleep like a ROCK." Selena growled.

"I'm still going to shoot you."

"OKAY, I HEAR YOU!" Selena clapped her hands over her ears. Of course, this didn't help...

What's with her?

"What's with me? Earlier I woke up WITH NO FUCKING POWERS. I tried to steal something from a hobo? I lifted the dude up instead. I can hear everything, I used to be able to tune it out, it HURTS, Sikes is still with Rylan, he doesn't give a damn about me even though I saved his fucking life, my PLAN AND POWERS HAVE BOTH GONE TO HELL because SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A GOOD PLOTLINE-"

She attempted to throw the brick-doorstop at Syndrome.

"HEY! Don't blame me for what Ashley thought would be a good idea! Dani writes me, it wasn't her idea!" The brick missed and went through a wall.

"Wait..." Syndrome glanced behind him.

"Starting there..." he started, pointing to the wall on the right with the door, "and counting in a counter-clockwise fashion... that's the fourth wall... You just broke the fourth wall, Selena."

"Oh, I've already done!" Selena said, exasperated. "Now, are you going to let me in? Or do I need to replace the wall, first?"

"Nah. I think it might get some abuse... You can come in, I guess."

Cyrus kicked the "fourth" wall for good measure.

Why is it that everyone has a better house than I do? Selena thought, hoping that it was to herself.

She couldn't control what she heard, and she obviously couldn't control what was sent...

It wasn't quite as big as Rylan's, but that didn't matter much. It was still more than the little run-down shack she had back in Ravensburg.

Selena stood there. She felt rather nervous, though she didn't know why.

Oh.

Wait.

That's what it was... She was standing in Cyrus's home where Syndrome and Cyrus had been living, and she was supposed to bring them back.

She slapped herself mentally, and then pulled out her deck of cards.

"I don't assume either of you would be willing to help me with my powers, would you?"

"Would you scream if I said yes?"

"Yes, you ARE willing, or yes, you AREN'T?"

"I'm asking if you'd scream if I said yes, I was willing to help you."

Selena screamed.

"I didn't say I was, I was just asking." Syndrome laughed.

"Well," Selena said, catching herself. "Now you know." She made a face.

Asshole.

"I suppose since you were charitable enough to let me laugh at you... I'll help if you really, really need it. And you'll owe me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll owe you. Whatever," Selena sat down on the couch, and fanned out the cards. "Pick a card, any card. Just not this one." She pushed out a random card.

"Okay," Syndrome replied with a grin, and picked a different card.

Huh. Jack of Hearts. Isn't that ironic.

He actually held the Nine of Diamonds.

Dammit, he was supposed to pick that card!

"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me," he said with a laugh.

"Damn you." She saw two cards before her- a Jack of Hearts, and a Nine of Diamonds.

"You forget, I"m smarter than you."

"No need to flaunt, most people are," Selena snapped. "Not much of a victory. Now put your card back in the deck."

Syndrome smirked and pushed the card back into the deck.

"Now... lemme see here..." Selena said.

She imagined the Nine of Diamonds floating up in the air...

And up went the Jack of Hearts.

"What the fuck, that wasn't the one I was meaning to put up!" Selena cursed. "Oh well. Is that your card?"

"Nope. Not even close."

"Then-" Selena went through the deck by hand after placing the Jack off to the side and found the nine of diamonds. "This is it."

"Well, you have me there. But you're a telepath, that's not fair."

"I'm a telepath that is missing most of her powers. Well. They're at baby-level."

"Cyrus would have to go through the whole deck before figuring out what card it was. 'Is this your card? Is this your card?' Fifty-one times. And then she'd throw away the last one, thinking you were lying, and it'd be your card."

Selena laughed a bit.

How to get them to Ravensburg..?

"There's no way in hell I'm going back."

Selena jumped.

"Dammit! That was supposed to be a THOUGHT!"

"I could hear it, loud and clear," Syndrome replied with a grin.

"If it makes you feel better, I couldn't," Cyrus added.

"You probably have that damned glove on, then." Selena growled.

"I modified it, it doesn't do that anymore. I can't read your thoughts. You just suck at keeping them in your own mind right now."

"You both HAVE to come back," Selena groaned. "I don't even have a plan!"

Suddenly, an idea struck her.

Thanks, Ashley!

"Scratch that. I do now."

"It's a plan.. that I don't think even YOU could refuse. But first- is there anyone outside that might hear us?" Selena looked at the hole-in-the-wall.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Ask the authors! You can contact them through the hole in the fourth wall."

Selena walked over to the wall and leaned out. "Is anyone out there?"

Selena looked around. Nothing...

"How much do you guys like fire...?" Selena asked, walking back to the middle of the room, speaking in a hushed voice.

"I LOVE FIRE!" screamed Cyrus. Syndrome nodded his agreement.

"Shush, Cyrus. Not so loud," Selena said, pointing at the giant hole. "There's still a chance."

"That's a hole in the FOURTH wall, Selena. Only the readers can hear us through a hole in the fourth wall."

"Well, excuse me for being genre blind. Anyway. Here's what's going to happen. Recently, I heard that there was going to be a Miss Universe pageant in Main Lotus," she started.

"I am NOT going to anything like that," Cyrus and Syndrome responded simultaneously.

"Shush, shush. You don't have to see any of it. What we're doing, strictly speaking, is... well... making the show come alive, yes, alive. Only not. What I plan on doing takes all of us- yes, when I say all, I mean all. Even Bill and Rylan, though they got rid of me. Even... a new friend. That book that I stole from my mother's, Inkheart? It's got a villain with... a burning passion." Selena continued in a somewhat mysterious manner.

"A burning passion for what?" Cyrus asked.

"Probably burning things," Syndrome replied. "Since Selena would never say something that didn't have a direct correlation with what she was talking about."

Selena nodded, and then took a quick double-take. "HEY! What're you going on about?!" She shook her head.

"Anyway. We're going to set fire to the Universe Pageant, and everyone who attends will BURN. It's going to take a lot of work, especially more practise for me, but everyone uses their strengths. First, Syndrome. You're going to need to find out the security measures, what the building can do. Then, once we have a good idea of what we're getting ourselves into, Rylan will take control of any and all guards around this place and put them to a good deep sleep, or kill them, whichever works the best. Sikes, being a murderous bully, will quickly change into one of the guards's outfit. Syndrome, if there's any way we could get the doors to lock but be able to get Cyrus, who will make the crowd think they aren't on fire when Basta sets the match, you'll need to do so. Sikes will murder anyone who tries to come in after the doors are locked. I will serve as a... walkie talkie system, so to speak, in case something unexpected happens."

She paused for a moment, and then asked, "How does that sound?"

Syndrome blinked. "Well, if I hadn't known it was Ashley's idea, I would've said "I didn't think you were capable of that kind of rational thought." And it's still pretty amazing. You've covered all the angles I could see... of course we'll have to analyze it and any flaws that may arise, but..."

Selena growled at Syndrome. "She would've given it to you if she didn't think I was capable, thanks."

"But I'm not a main character, now am I? Plus, I'm from a fanfiction, that wouldn't be quite fair."

Selena shook her head. This is what she got when she read a genre-savvy super-genius into this world.

"Of course it is, and thanks for the compliment."

"Damme," she muttered. "Still need some work."

Selena yawned. When had she slept last? Was it really less than 12 hours ago?

"Oi, what time is it...?"

Cyrus glanced at the clock.

"6:57."

"Holy shit! I'm usually just waking about now… Damn Rylan and Sikes..." Selena rubbed her eyes. "How to get myself back on schedule here...?"

She looked about the house from where she was standing. "Where do you least mind me sleeping?"

"There's a room upstairs, the one that doesn't have the floor covered by various random papers or half-finished inventions."

"Okay," Selena said, and after her first step towards the stairs she promptly fainted.

Cyrus glanced at Syndrome, who rolled his eyes. "You couldn't just carry her?"

"You have zero-point energy! Why the hell would I want to do that?"

Syndrome glared, and Cyrus kicked him. "Fine!" He began to move Selena upstairs with his zero-point energy.