A/N: I LIVE!
Yes, I totally got that from Mulan. No, I'm only a bit ashamed. A Girl Worth Fighting For is playing over and over in my head.
I'll Make A Man Out of You is a close second to songs I will rip my head over if they keep running through my head like this.

Anyway, your next chapter, ladies and gentlemen! I think I got a bit carried away (over 4000 words this time)... ehehe... hehe... he... he? Friendship chapter with a tiny bit of romance if you tilt your head just right. Do I hafta tell you guys who it's between? Eh, you'll see anyway (= v =)
I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THE LAME GAME SCENES. I've never played paintball (I read as much as I could online, but that only gets me so far)... as a writer - oh no, here we go with the deep writer promises - I know I should be thorough and all, but bear with me for now? /backs away slowly I promise I'll do it better next time...
Guest reviews are answered at the bottom today ^^

DISCLAIMER: Nope. Don't own ANYTHING, as usual. Except a couple of knickknacks I blew all my money on (bad budgeting habits surface at this age in the summertime when there are no school supplies, lunch or random miscellaneous expenses that should have been part of the large tuition fee to be paid for with my cash) I own no giant commercial brand and I'm pretty sure you guys know that by now.

3 days until Teen Titans Go! airs! Are you guys as excited as I am? :D


"Stand up, and try not to bump into anything," Jen ordered, walking carefully away from the light switch.

"Who's touching my grebnaks?"

"Oops, sorry, thought that was a pillow."

"Augh! Who placed the salsa here?"

Raven rolled her eyes, floating calmly above the mess on the floor.

"Oof! Whose elbow was that?"

"Oh, was that your stomach? I thought you were Tara."

"I'm over here!"

"Who's that?"

Kori helped Toni (or at least, she thought it was Toni; it was far too dark to be sure) who had somehow fallen on the floor in a mess of potato chips and nail polish, and together they flew to Raven's side.

"Me! I'm over here!"

"Okay, whoever the hell that is, stop pretending to be me!"

Jen rubbed her temples. "Be silent!" she bellowed, eyes flashing pink.

Kori smacked a hand to her forehead. "Of course!" With that, she lit up a starbolt.

"Much better. But later, no flashlights or superpowers," Jen said. "Now stand a bit apart from each other; there will be no sticking together in this game."

Jen began examining her nails, although she couldn't see anything in the darkness. Sometimes, really, reality had to give way to style. "Once everyone splits up, I hope you remember who the Ace is."

Someone let out a squeak, but it was too short for anyone to distinguish who it was.

"The Ace, or the murderer, as I will now call her, shall go around to look for victims - any of the cards, whether you're a King or Queen or lowly 3. When the murderer finds someone alone in the room - she doesn't need to know who it is because again, everyone is vulnerable - she brushes their shoulder quietly and whispers, 'you're dead'. The victim must fall on the floor," Jen made a sweeping gesture towards the ground which was barely visible in the faint green light, "without a sound and play dead for the rest of the game.

"Alternatively, the murderer can clamp a hand over the victim's mouth to prevent any noise, before whispering 'you're dead'. Either way the victim must be silent. Hey, if you're the murderer, take note that you're free to hide your victims, if you're in that sort of mood. It's not advisable, 'cause you get a higher chance of getting caught but if you pull it off, then good for you, because it makes it harder to find a victim and you can continue your killing spree."

Kole raised a hand. "What happens if we find a victim?"

Jen glared at her. "I was getting to that. Anyway, if you find someone standing alone and silent, you can go over and whisper to them, 'are you dead?'. They can only nod or shake their heads silently. If they happen to nod, immediately the player who found them screams, 'murder in the dark!'.

"Once that's done, all the living players assemble in the room where the victim was found. Players not present are noted dead. Lights are turned on and Miss Murderer can't kill anyone anymore. The detective - that's the king, take note - sits in a chair and interrogates all the living players. Ask questions, like, 'where were you when someone yelled Murder in the Dark?' or 'who do you think is the murderer?'. After gathering enough clues she has to turn to one person and ask one question."

Jen smirked, and everyone could see that. She was obviously pleased with the dark themes involved in this game. "Ask them, 'are you the murderer?'. Answer truthfully, yada yada. Yeah. Oh, and dead people aside from the one found can be hunted for by the living players once the lights have been turned on. If you like, the person who finds most can choose the movie for tonight or something."

Rose shifted her weight around, nervous. "Um, this is a 76-room mansion. This could take forever to do, and what if we don't find someone?"

Jen waved a hand dismissively. "Tough luck."

Raven stared at her oddly, and Jen relented. "Alright, alright, we'll limit the playing to the ground floor and the first floor."

"Didn't know you were British," Jade said with a grin.

"Never said I was," Jen said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Where I come from, we call it the first floor and the second floor."

Toni laughed. "C'mere, those are fighting words! If I could see past my nose in this darkness I'd come up with a comprehensive list of why you gotta respect the Brits and their lingo!"

Jade also laughed, her hand pressed to her forehead in mock horror. "No! Not a comprehensive list! Anything but that!"

Jen coughed, barely stifling a laugh herself. "...the game?"

The sorceress nodded at Kori, who let her green energy dissolve.


Wally crept along carefully, keeping an eye out for the color blue.

Once the spot was deemed clear, he motioned for Vic to follow his lead.

"W-What was that?" Vic whispered shakily.

"What was what?" Wally whispered back, peering into a tree trunk.

"Something was moving."

"Where?"

"In the bushes."

"Maybe it's just Cracker."

"Seriously, dude. We should go check it out."

"Chill, man. It was just Isaiah."

Vic rolled his human eye, and he cocked his paintball gun. "I'm checking it out."

"You're thinking too much," Wally muttered, brushing through a bit of foliage.

They heard a faint scream. "Man down!"

"Shoot. They got Garth," Vic said, hanging his head in respect. "He was a good man."

Wally hit Vic upside the head. "Save the mourning for later; if they got Garth, then that means-"

He was narrowly missed by a paintball. "Shoot, my aim must be getting rusty," Gar said, smirking.

"Won't miss this time," he added, pulling the trigger.

"I thought we were friends, Gar!" Wally called, running but being careful not to turn on the speed. "You were-" he hastily cocked his own gun "-my brother!"

"Nothing personal, dude," Gar said, glancing warily over his shoulder.

"Ow!" the changeling suddenly cried. Vic laughed.

"Good thing my aim isn't rusty."

Gar cringed as he lay on the floor. He coughed. "See you in hell, guys. You're no match for-" he started into a coughing fit, and his head fell back on the ground.

Wally nodded at Vic. He held his fist up. "Thanks for saving my ass."

Vic nodded solemnly, returning the fist bump. "It's what I do."

They heard a rather nasty curse yelled. "That was Roy," Gar said helpfully.

Vic kicked him lightly in the side. "You're supposed to be dead."

Richard smirked. Target in sight. "Say goodbye, Rudolph," he muttered, eyeing his victim through bits of leaves in a rather large bush. He shifted in position, and his knee brushed against something.

"Ahh!"

They screamed at the same time. Isaiah cursed inwardly. Panicking, he fired the gun. Richard instinctively got up and delivered a swift kick, but he was too late.

Isaiah cheered. It had hit its mark. "Right in the bread basket!"

"This isn't over," Richard vowed, before falling to the ground.

"Oh, but I think it is," Isaiah said with a smirk. He rolled Richard's body over and moved in position. Three down and one to go.

Wally tugged Vic's arm. "We gotta keep moving."

"Booyah! Flag in sight," Vic cheered, pointing at the white flag planted in the middle of the road. "Just a bit mo-"

Vic fell to the ground, frothing at the mouth. Wally looked down at him in horror. "Vic! Vic! Talk to me! Vic!" He fell to his knees, howling.

He waved his fist in the air. "I will avenge you, Vic!"


"Okay, let's play this ga-"

Jen cut off, and she scrunched up her face. Kori formed another starbolt, in fear that something had happened to Jen.

"What's wrong?" Karen asked.

Jen waved a hand dismissively. "It's nothing. Just my 'stupid boy' senses tingling. Wally's probably doing something very, very stupid."

Tara smirked. "And why exactly do you have Wally senses?"

"Stupid boy senses," Jen corrected, face flush. "Not just Wally."

"Then why did you assume it was Wally?" Kori asked innocently, a huge grin on her face as well. Raven glanced at her. Wasn't Wally her...?

"Let's just play the damn game," Jen muttered, and everyone laughed.

Kori let the energy dissolve again, and finally the room was devoured by total silence.

Karen crept along the wall, feeling ahead of her for any objects prone to noise. She pressed her hands against the cold surface of what she assumed to be a door, patted it and found the knob. She carefully opened it, and slipped inside.

"Ack!"

A distinctly female voice yelped, and Karen nearly hit the ceiling in surprise.

"Are you d-dead?" Karen asked.

The woman glared at her. "Most certainly not. Although I must ask why you are in the staff's quarters during our resting hour."

Karen blushed, although it was not visible in the darkness. "Sorry," she murmured, before making a hasty exit.

Jen moved stealthily. Darkness was her element. She let a small grin appear on her face. She'd be damned if she let herself get caught. Her catlike eyes widened to let in more light, and she found the door leading to the main hall.

Her silhouette moved quickly, barely visible by the moonlight. She had to find a good hiding place to sit out the game in.

Kori, on the other hand, floated along carefully. She wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do, and frankly, she didn't care if she won or not. Although the prospect of dying, albeit figuratively, seemed frightening.

She fought to scream as a hand clamped over her mouth. "You're dead," the murderer whispered, and Kori sighed in defeat. What a drag. Now she had to wait until someone found her.

Her green eyes swept over her surroundings and she realized she had made it up a staircase to somewhere around the first floor.

...this was going to be a long wait.

Rose was nervous. Very, very nervous. She tiptoed across a hallway to the left of the common room - or was it the right? She wasn't sure anymore. Oh, dear.

But if she was lost, then the murderer couldn't get her. Right?

Right, she confirmed to herself. She was not going to die tonight.

She stumbled across a set of stairs. Maybe it was a safe idea to go up?

Toni wasn't going to admit it, but she was scared out of her wits. So scared, in fact, that she'd slipped on a power inhibitor bracelet her mother had given her before she set off to Jump City; in fear that if someone startled her she would greet them with a fist of plasma, albeit involuntarily.

She sighed. She did miss her mumsy. Winter break was coming up soon, though, and she perked up at the thought of going out of town for a couple of days to see mum in New Zealand.

A hand clamped over her mouth and she felt her heart skip a beat in shock.

"You're dead," the murderer said simply, before scampering off to find a new victim. Toni inwardly cursed. She was glad that she wore the inhibitor now.

Kole smirked uncharacteristically. This game would be easy. She knew this house like the back of her hand, and it would be a cinch to retreat in one of the guest rooms.

Although... the darkness made it a bit trickier... but nonetheless Kole believed she had the advantage. She expertly maneuvered through corridors and random doors before finding herself in her aunt's master bedroom. Auntie had gone out to a small party immediately after Kole told her about her friends staying over. Kole rolled her eyes at the thought as she laid on the bed, under the covers, and perfectly still. Fine. She wouldn't miss her aunt too much, anyway.

She sighed, and waited for someone to yell 'murder in the dark!' already.

"Are you dead?" Tara asked warily.

She had been walking around aimlessly in the east wing when she came across someone standing perfectly still. So she did the logical thing and jumped at the chance to win this game.

To her surprise the girl shook her head, and suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth. "No, but you are." The girl grinned with teeth that could be seen even in the dark. "You're dead."

Tara swore. That was cheap.

But... she probably would have done the same thing.


Wally was aware that Cracker was following him through the foliage. He appreciated the backup. It had been a wise move to use the Slow Wolf play.

His index finger hovered over the trigger of his paintball gun. When Joey showed himself - and he was sure that he would - boy, would he be in for a surprise!

He was so painfully close to the flag. A few more steps and-

The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking was heard, and Wally gulped. Where was he?

Perhaps he was in one of the trees? Underground? Right behind him, maybe?

Wally had successfully scared himself, and he turned around, ready to elbow the mute boy in the face.

When he turned around and saw nothing, he sighed in relief. He turned back to face the flag and his victory.

He did not expect to see Joseph standing there all friendly-like, waving at him even.

"Arg!" he yelled in surprise. He scrambled to pull the trigger, but too late. Joey had pulled a fast one and hit him right in the thigh. He moaned in pain, coughing for good measure.

"Cracker... you're... our last hope," he choked out, before having a spasm, then finally laying dead on the ground.

Joseph chuckled silently at the display. He blindly reached for the flag, but was surprised that his hand came in contact with nothing but air. He frowned.

The boy turned around and to his relief, he was just a bit off in aim.

He yelped in surprise as he was tackled by a slightly warm Isaiah. "Screw the system!" he cried, rolling on the floor with Joey. He suddenly scrambled to reach the flag.

Joey laughed and pulled on the pyrokinetic's leg, back to his spot, before moving to grab the flag himself. "No!" Isaiah howled, before tackling Joey again. He successfully pinned the shorter boy down, and, muttering a 'nothing personal', he plucked the flag out of the ground.

"Game's over, boys," he called out happily. Joey grinned widely.

'Good game', he signed.

Isaiah raised a hand. Joseph understood and shared a quick high-five.

"Fraternizing with the enemy," Gar said, shaking his head in disappointment, having already recovered from his earlier death.

"Just 'cause you're acting friendly doesn't mean you're worming out of giving the red team our rightful prize," Wally called from his spot on the ground, and Vic kicked him in the side.

"He's just kidding," Vic said to Joseph, who nodded in understanding.

Richard sighed. "Guess you won fair and square."

"Booyah! No tofu pizza tonight! I'm ordering the meat fiesta!" Vic cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

Gar looked at him, horror stricken. "So this was your incentive to win? To deprive me of my tofu and to brutally eat innocent animals?"

Isaiah rolled his eyes. "Whatever conspiracy theory you come up with, Gar, it won't matter 'cause you're still chipping in to buy the four of us pizza." They laughed at Gar's indignant expression.

"I'm glad that my early death wasn't in vain," Garth joked, sparing a sideways glance at Isaiah, who also chuckled.

"Now," Richard began, already heading for the exit, "let's go upstairs and get us that pizza."

"'Us'?" Gar asked hopefully.

Richard rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Yes, 'us'. If we're going to be ordering pizza might as well include ourselves." At Gar's happy expression, Richard smirked. "That's 'cause you're paying."

Immediately the changeling was crestfallen. "What? What happened to chipping in?"

"It came and went with the wind," Roy put in.

"Hope you brought your wallet, grass stain, 'cause we're gonna be ordering two pizzas each!" Vic declared.

"You guys are mean," Gar moaned, suddenly not in a hurry to get up to Bruce's main house.

"We may be mean now but in a few minutes we'll be mean on a full stomach," Richard said, grinning.


Rose sighed. Now, she admitted, she was seriously, hopelessly lost in Kole's mansion. She kept walking up the hallway of the second floor until she spotted a turn-off.

She was very surprised to see someone standing there silently.

"A-Are you dead?" Rose whispered from a good distance.

The figure nodded her head violently, apparently desperate to end the game.

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed happily, clasping her hands. She did it! She would win this thing!

The girl in front of her glared at her.

"Oh, right. Hehe."

Rose stopped for a moment to prepare her voice. They were on the second floor, after all.

"MURDER IN THE DARK!" she shrieked with all her might. Her voice continued to echo down the hallway. Rose rubbed her throat. Never again was she going to do that.

"Didn't know you had it in you to scream like that, Rose," a voice that was distinctly Kori's said good-naturedly. She even made a show of rubbing her ears and Rose laughed, turning a bit red.

Rose extended her hand. "Let's go down."

Kori shook her head. "Someone should stay here so everyone knows where to go. Do you remember the path you took here?"

"Um, no..." Rose said shyly, and Kori giggled.

"No matter. Just take note... this one looks like a guest room. Go look for Jen and the others and tell them to meet you in the east wing of the second floor and look for me in one of the guest rooms. I'll be fine," Kori said with a reassuring grin on her face.

"What about me?" Rose protested before being pushed out of the room by Kori.

The door was promptly slammed shut, and Rose sighed. She got into gear and ran down the hallway, turning around again, and going straight until she saw a staircase she could use.

"...guys?" Rose called out, hesitant. Why hadn't they come up yet? Was her screaming not loud enough?

"Where's the murderer?" a forceful voice demanded. In the background she could hear police sirens wailing and a crowd of people in night robes started to gather around the house.

Rose groaned. People were far too gullible.

"Rose! Where's Kori?" Jen hissed from a doorway.

Rose, still surprised and not trusting her mouth to speak, used a finger to point up.

"Oh, okay... we'll go for her later. Come in," Jen said, side-stepping and gesturing to the room where most of the girls were gathered.

Rose nodded in thanks, and the door was closed.

"So," she began once she reached the other side, "what's going on?"

"What does it look like, love?" Toni said a bit sarcastically. "Kole's house is surrounded by cops who think there's been an actual murder in the dark."

"Kole is outside doing damage control," Jade cut in before Rose could ask anything.

"The game is off," Jen said.

Karen rolled her eyes. "That goes without saying. This was a bust," she said a tad sadly. Toni suddenly stood up.

"Hey, hey, we won't have any of that! We got two nights and two days left! We are going to enjoy this smoko and we're going to participate in the greatest slumber party in the very long list of slumber parties!"

"What is it with you and lists?" Jade said, laughing in between words.

Toni playfully chucked a pillow at her. "I happen to like lists."


"Hello?"

"Hello, Charl- oh, hey, it's you guys again," the boy on the phone said dryly. "Same as last time?"

Richard chuckled nervously. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that the pizza guy knew them. "Yeah, same as last time."

"Same address?"

"Same address."

"Okay," the boy said shortly. "Your order will be there in fifteen minutes and all that crap. I- wait a minute."

There was a faint buzzing on the other line. A louder buzzing. Then there was a click as the pizza guy picked up the phone again.

"Boss man's asking if you want some coupons or something," the pizza guy explained.

Richard blinked. "Um, no thanks?"

"Alright," he replied. "Change for 100 bucks again?"

"Exact amount," Richard said absently.

"Sure thing."

Click.

Richard gently placed the phone back in the cradle and turned to Gar. "Okay, you've got fifteen minutes to scrape up enough cash to pay for our pizzas."

"Do you think it's too late to run home and beg Rita for money?"

Richard rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you do, as long as you fork over the $83.75, Gar."

Green eyes flickered to Richard's pocket. "You don't care?"

"I don't care," Richard repeated.

"So..." the changeling stretched the word, "...you won't care even if I do... this?"

Without warning his hand shot out and grabbed Richard's wallet. He morphed into a cheetah and began to make a dash for it.

"Hurrk!" He returned to human form, lying on the floor.

Richard rolled his eyes and plucked the wallet from Gar's hand, tucking it back in the back pocket. "Sorry, did I forget to tell you that I keep my wallet on a stainless steel chain?"

Gar glared at him. "You forgot."

"Ten minutes!" Wally called from the living room couch.

"Crap," Gar muttered. He loudened his voice and stood up. "Does anyone have eighty-one dollars here?"

"What happened to the two dollars and seventy-five cents?" Garth asked skeptically.

"I got that covered," Gar said with a grin.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Whoopee. Add another dollar and you can go buy yourself a friend," he said sarcastically. Garth hit him upside the head.

"Be polite."

The archer stuck his tongue out defiantly.

Luckily for him Gar was too preoccupied to notice.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man," Gar chanted, pacing around Bruce's plush carpet that was starting to have permanent foot-sized indents. "What am I gonna do? You guys are assholes. We're a team and you're making me pay!"

"You died first," Roy said flatly.

"And I pick up the tab all the time," Richard said in his defense.

"But that's 'cause we love you and the considerably bigger allowance Bruce gives you every week!" Gar said, giving him his best look of pure innocence. For good measure, he turned into a small, fluffy kitten. "Meowr meow meowrr, rowl!"

Richard averted his eyes. "Oh no no no no, you're not doing that to me again!"

Gar persisted and didn't stop his look.

"No way, Gar."

He started licking his paw, still keeping his eyes wide and open.

"..."

"Meow meow."

"...damn you and your kitten form."

"Meow meowrr meow!" Gar purred happily, hopping on the couch and returning to human form.

Richard sighed and grabbed a hundred dollar bill from his wallet. "The friends I keep..."

"You know you love us," Wally chimed, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning.

The boy wonder rolled his eyes and headed for the door. "If you say so."

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To get the pizza," Richard answered calmly.

"But the guy hasn't rung the bell ye-"

Ding dong!

"Your detective skills are creepy," Isaiah commented.

Richard shrugged and opened the door. "Hey."

"Um, hello sir!" the pizza guy from earlier in the night said. "Your usual order - three cheese pizzas, one meat fiesta, one veggie special, one sardine and anchovies, two pepperoni and two all toppings!"

'Not to be rude, but two times is a bit too early to be calling it our usual,' Joseph signed. The pizza guy stared at him, obviously not well-versed in sign language. Garth waved it off and smiled kindly.

"Thanks for delivering," he said, taking the ten boxes from the guy.

"Change for a hundred dollars," he muttered, fishing around for coins. "Gee, sir, you said you'd give the exact amount."

Richard blinked. "I did?"

The pizza guy nodded.

"Oh. Er, um... let me check..."

"I got the two dollars and seventy five cents!" Gar called.

Vic rolled his eyes. "Real helpful."

Richard checked his wallet for any bills smaller than one hundred. "Um..."

"Rich people," Wally said, shaking his head in mock-disappointment. Richard glared.

"I got thirty," Isaiah said hesitantly.

"I can cover the fifty," Roy relented.

"Oh! I have an extra dollar!" Gar exclaimed happily.

Richard smiled at them and handed the money to the delivery boy. "Thanks!"

"Okay... have a nice night, sir!" the boy said politely before turning on his heel to drive back to their store.

"Well, since Gar ripped us off of eighty dollars..." Roy began, folding his arms.

"...we might as well have some fun," Isaiah said with a glint in his eyes.

"Uh oh," were the last words Gar uttered before promptly being carried away to who-knows-where.


"Guys? Are you sure we can't talk about this?"

Gar was walking down a long set of stairs in the dim light offered by the flickering lamps hanging overhead and he was nervous, to say the least. This was the standard setting for dungeons, interrogation rooms and parking lots, although he wasn't too frightened at the concept of staying in an interrogation room.

The stairs were seriously long - they had passed the door leading into Bruce's indoor paintball arena and Gar still couldn't see the end. He had asked earlier how far down the manor goes (for all he knew, it went straight down to the core of the earth) but Richard was too busy whispering with Wally to notice; probably thinking up the easiest way to wring 80 dollars out of him.

"What is there to talk about?" Isaiah called from the front of the group, and Gar could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Well, you could start talking and tell me where we're going."

"No need; we're already here."

Isaiah pushed open a wooden door and he involuntarily cringed. He stepped aside and let Richard go in first.

"Oh no you don't!" Gar cried as soon as the door closed and he got the chance to observe his surroundings. "I'm too young and beautiful to die by drowning!"

"Just sayin' that should earn ya a death sentence," Vic muttered, pushing the green boy along. He spoke louder this time. "Don't be chicken. We won't try to drown ya or anythin'."

"It's just a swimming pool," Roy said with a roll of his eyes. With a swift yank, he pulled off his shirt and jumped into the water to illustrate. "It won't bite ya!"

"That's what you think!" Gar called back, glancing warily around him.

"Okay, what are the cheesy horror sci-fi movies you've been watching?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Jaws," Gar mumbled, but loud enough for Richard to pick up on it. He burst out laughing.

"Jaws?" he repeated in between his laughs. "You got scared of the water because of Jaws?"

"Dude, don't knock it! Jaws is pretty creepy!"

"Maybe if I were ten! Jaws is a good movie but not good enough to make you pee your pants every time you see water!" Richard scoffed. He folded his arms. "What else?"

Gar could feel the tips of his pointed ears growing warm. "The Creature from the Black Lagoon."

Richard's laughs grew louder, and soon Wally and Roy were joining him. Joseph was smiling and even Garth and Isaiah were chuckling. Vic just groaned and shook his head in disappointment. "I thought my best friend would have more guts than that."

"Yeah," Wally piped in. "Maybe if you watched Dagon or Ringu or something, we'd respect you more. But Jaws?" he asked, and the rounds of laughter began again.

"Shut up!" Gar cried, face red. Joseph chuckled silently. He thought green and red to be an interesting combination.

The changeling took a running tackle towards a doubled-over Wally and they went flying into the pool.

There was a loud splash! and the boys stopped laughing. Garth shed his pants and top quickly, revealing a pair of swimming shorts.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Figures that swim boy would be prepared." Garth looked ready to jump in and save the two, but Roy shook his head at him.

"They'll be fine. This part isn't even deep enou-" he trailed off, eyes widening.

"Exactly," Garth muttered, checking for any limp bodies beneath the water. And he jumped in.

The silence was heavy. The boys waited anxiously for a bit more to decide if they should go after the three.

Suddenly there was a loud splash again, and Wally and Gar popped up, shaking their heads like dogs.

"That was wicked awesome!" Wally cried, grinning widely. He shared a quick high five with Gar.

"I know, dude!" Gar exclaimed, also grinning from ear to ear.

Garth followed soon after, shaking his head. "You guys had us worried."

"Pff. As if," Gar said, climbing out of the pool.

"We're too cool to have our gravestones read, killed by a flying tackle into the pool of our insanely rich friend's mansion," Wally added, rolling his eyes coolly.

Richard mock-pouted. "What, just a friend? Why not best friend?"

Wally laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "I'm speaking for me and Gar. And Gar's best friend is Vic. They share an unbreakable bromance."

"That they do," Richard said, nodding in agreement.


A/N: There's more to this but I thought, for consistency's sake, I'd cut it off here. Because you guys might get bored (I don't want to torture you with this kind of writing ; A ;) if I keep going until the very end of this night.

Oh, yes. There's another day where I'll get to squeeze in my romance. (Or at least more than that indirect Wally/Jen fluff that you can see if you squint. I'm gonna have FUN with the next chapter. SPOILERS FOR YOU AAAAALLLLLL.)

I'm gonna ask again: if you have suggestions, comments, violent reactions about what's happening and things you think should be happening and most importantly, THINGS YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPENING TO THE MHSL GANG, don't hesitate to send me them via review or PM! Go ahead!

Many thanks to Serena M00n for the suggestion. Hehe. We'll get to see Tara's amazing persuasive techniques in action soon :D

GUEST REVIEWS, ANSWERED (FINALLY):
Guest (chapter 11): MUAHAHAHA! You're a bit warm (just a bit) but there's something else to the reason behind their get-together. I've finally made an outline for this and I know now how to clean up the romantic loose ends (hooray for rainy days when I have nothing to do but this xD ; v ;) Thanks for reviewing! And thank you! I'm glad you think the last chapter was great :3

Guest (Sofia - chapter 4): /hangs head in shame FORGIVE ME! I'm not Spanish at all ; A ;)/ TEACH ME MASTER!
Hihihi. Well you're lucky to be fluent in Spanish and at least you know your English. :)

Guest (Sofia - chapter 2): DON'T SHOOT! Don't worry, I'm RobStar all the way! We'll be breaking Tara and Dick u- whoops! SPOILERS! MUAHAHAH! /runs off like a maniac

Is that all? If I forget someone please don't hesitate to tell me... this is the kind of stuff that goes on at 3:57 in the morning... /collapses into a heap

And as always, please review! :)