"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Roya cried as Zicanra took the last attack she could handle. The darkus bakugan returned to ball form without a single complaint. The Battle Brawlers-along with Ren-walked over to her.

This was the fifth failed training session this week. Roya just couldn't win. Except against Jake, but that didn't count; he was still trying to battle Dan's way.

"I don't get what I'm doing wrong!" Roya said, loudly, upset. She punched Jake in the arm to vent some of her frustration.

"It wasn't you that time," Marucho comforted her. "Dan forgot you were a beginner."

Roya glared at the guilty party. Dan saw the look in her eye and began to retreat. Too late.

"Daniel Kuso!" Roya hollered as a battle cry. He took off running and she gave chase, her fist raised, still yelling his name and various other threats, most of them involving physical pain. Shun sighed.

"You can't just lose your temper about Dan winning a battle," Shun told her once she calmed down enough to stop hunting Dan. "If you lose your focus that easy, then there's no way you'll be able to handle an actual brawl."

"I know, I know," Roya said, a bit waspishly. "I already know that. I'm too smart for my own good. The hard part is controlling my reactions when I get frustrated with myself. I've been watching battles happen for years. I know strategy. In simulations, I win every time. But the moment I actually take to the battlefield, I lose it. I'm not used to Zicanra's abilities, and it all happens so fast. I just need some time to get it, but I don't feel like there is any, and my own impatience is driving me up the wall."

Roya punctuated her tirade with an exasperated sigh. Shun was more than a little surprised at the depth of her internal assessment. The most he could do was place a comforting hand on her shoulder. She blinked a few times in surprise and looked at Shun quizzically. Then the confusion faded and she smiled, just a little. A silent "thank you" for listening. Shun smiled back.

"How old are you? Twenty-nine?"

"Fifteen," she answered.

*.*

Roya peered over Ren's shoulder as he typed out long strings of computer code.

"Are you using the master alive program?" she asked, trying to read the computer language without success. "I have no clue what it does, aside from making more physical space in the interspace, but if it's a construction program, maybe it would make this go faster."

"I still don't understand how you learn about these things," Ren sighed. "The master alive program is something Marucho and I coded together-alone. No one else knows about it."

"Well, you were talking out loud," Roya said innocently, returning to the open Google Maps program on a borrowed laptop. Ren glared at her, then rolled his eyes.

"Do you have to be so impossible?"

"I'm a conundrum," Roya replied. "And never forget, I'm an actress too. Those two combined must be irritating."

Ren was ready to give another snappish response, but Marucho walked into the room, forcing him to cut off.

"What are you still doing here Roya?" he asked. "I thought you'd have gone home by now. The Interspace is closed now."

"Good point," Roya said. "I guess I was having too much fun hanging out with y'all. Later."

She stretched her arms once, then walked through the door. Then her head reappeared through the doorway.

"Oh yeah. Ren, tomorrow is Sunday. You know what that means."

Ren rolled his eyes as his answer. Roya withdrew, and they heard her muttering to herself all the way down the hall.

"So," Marucho started. He paused for a moment before continuing. "Is there something special about Sundays?"

"It's her day off," Ren sighed. "I don't think she's coming in tomorrow. I don't really know what she plans to spend her time on."

*.*

THE NEXT MORNING

*.*

Roya walked down the street before remembering to put her communicator back in her ear. The instant it was secure, Ren's angry voice came bursting through.

"Where are you?! You've been gone all night and haven't answered any of my attempts to reach you!"

"Aw, were you worried about me?" Roya asked. Then she added a touch of sarcasm. "Or is it your job and standing with that dang Emperor of yours that has you so upset? Ren, we talked about this, remember? I'm like a freelancer: I do my own thing until I have a job to do. And Sundays are the one day when-job or not-I won't listen."

"Just get back here," Ren sighed. "We've all been wondering where you were."

"Which we?"

"I mean everyone. The Brawlers and my team."

"Tell Marucho I spent the night at 4066 Mustang Avenue. Tell him things were too hot at home for me to sleep there. I'll be at his house in-" she checked her map printout and watch-"up to fifteen minutes. Don't flip if it's later than that: I'm guestimating."

"Stop making up words," Ren complained lightly. Roya disconnected him and kept walking. It wouldn't be hard to get back to Marucho's house; she could see it from here.

Twenty minutes later, Roya was sitting under the angry stare of her supposed "commander" in front of the Brawlers.

"Why didn't you go to your house last night?" Marucho asked. "Why go to the-" he checked the map before continuing,"-Chapel instead?"

"Things are hot at home," Roya answered, shrugging and sinking lower in her chair. "Sid has anger issues, and no one can really defuse him. He won't stop picking on me, and I don't like it. What's worse, Mason's in on it."

Ren's glare could have burned through steel. No one but Roya and Shun noticed. Shun raised his eyebrows in confusion, and Roya continued slouching in her chair, slowly curling into a little ball.

"Are you trying to blow our cover?!" Ren asked the second they were alone. "Didn't you think that the Brawlers just might realize that the 'Neathian' moles have the same names.

"Chill," Roya answered. "They assume the last name of my mean big brothers is the same as mine. Hagar. And those two do drive me nuts. They're crazy."

"I wish you were just more careful."

"I'm plenty careful," Roya replied, waspishly. "Maybe you should be paying more attention to what your team is up to rather than be my own personal control freak."

"The Emperor gave me the job of looking after you!" Ren exclaimed. Roya rolled her eyes.

"Well, it'll be easier once I move into Marucho's guest room."

Ren froze. Then he let out a sigh.

Roya was a force of nature. There was nothing capable of stopping her. And her uncanny ability to get what she wanted was disturbing enough without her prophesy of the Interspace affecting the war.

"Whatever you say," he surrendered.