"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

"What?!" Rylan blinked. "You're not serious?"

Selena grinned. "Very, very serious, Rylan. Cyrus has had her fun. Now it's my turn." Her eyes glinted and she summoned her coat. "Come on, you went CAROLING yesterday! How boring is that?!"

"It's not boring when you can watch the passerby fall unconscious on the sidewalk and get hypothermia!"

"Well snowball fights are more fun because you can pelt your annoying brother or a fellow villain with a snowball and get them all riled up!" She ran outside. "Please, you guys?!"

"N-" Rylan was cut short by Syndrome's eyes glowing green. All it took was a forceful point and Rylan was heading toward the door.

"Thanks, Syn!" Selena laughed. "The snow's perfect and it's much warmer... Whoop!" she slipped on a particularly slippery patch of ice, and fell straight on her butt. "Fark, that hurt! Okay, who didn't shovel before people walked all over the snow?!"

She stood up and wiped herself off. Then she quickly sent a particularly small snowball whizzing straight towards Rylan.

Rylan blinked but did nothing more as the snowball hit him in the forehead.

"Oh, this won't be any fun. Rylan, snap out of it."

"Come on, Rylan. Stop being such a stuck-up prick and fight!" Selena then got hit by a well-aimed snowball in her shoulder. She turned around- Basta had jumped up in the air.

"Victorious!" He exclaimed.

"What are you doing, Syn?" Cyrus asked, noticing that he'd been making countless snowballs but throwing none.

"This should be enough..." He laughed, then picked up the entire pile with zero-point energy, dropping it on Rylan.

Selena burst into laughter. "OWN, man!" She ducked- another snowball had come from behind her and had almost hit her in the head. "Oi, try hitting someone else for once, Basta!"

"It was him!" Basta said, pointing at Sikes. Sikes shrugged and pelted another one at Selena.

Cyrus began to ad-lib. "RYLAN THE SNOWMAN WAS A REALLY PISSED-OFF SOUL..."

"With a lot of hate and a bloody nose and two eyes that look like coal!"

Selena saw another snowball coming out of the corner of her eyes- she stopped it in its tracks and sent it flying back at Sikes.

Sikes screamed with pain, and Basta shouted, "HEADSHOT!"

"Whose side are you on, knife-boy?!" Sikes asked, rubbing his wet face.

"Rylan the snowman was a murderer they say, he was made of snow, and the children know that he'll kill them all someday!"

"There must have been some magic in that old black book he found, for when he read it, then he found dark magic spells abound!"

"OH! Rylan the snowman was as scary as he could be! And the children say he would laugh and play with people's minds like you and me!"

"Whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, hear those bodies drop, whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, with a sickening 'kerplop'!"

"Rylan the snowman knew the sun was cold that day. So he said "Let's go out in the snow, and let people die my way.""

"Down past the police, with a pistol in his hand, running here and there, all around the square screaming 'CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!'"

Selena picked up two snowballs and sent one flying towards Cyrus and the other whizzing past Syndrome's ear. "He lead us down the streets of town right to the traffic cop, and he didn't pause a moment when he heard him holler "STOP!"

"Rylan the snowman had to hurry on his way, but he said goodbye, yelling 'You'd better cry, I'll be back again someday!'"

"Whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, hear those bodies drop, whumpity whump whump, whumpity whump whump, with a sickening 'kerplop'!"

Selena groaned. "How come you guys get songs but I don't?!"

"You haven't written one yet."

"But-but-but- There's no good song left!"

She pelted Syndrome with a snowball.

"Why does Rylan have to be such a kill-joy?"

"Because I can be," he replied, and threw a snowball at Selena.

Being taken aback by the sudden snowball, she stepped back a bit and slid again. "Woaaaaaaah-" And once again she was down. "Damn you, element of surprise!" she shouted, and then quickly made and physically threw several snowballs. None of them made their target. "And this is what I get when I try to play fair!"

---

"So... since you said that being bitchy was kind of fun... would you care to try it again?"

"Hell yeah!"

Syndrome's eyes turned green again. "You know the drill, then, right?"

Selena only nodded, and then, she turned around and headed towards the stairs.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Selena quickly turned. "What's it matter to you, huh? You're lucky I don't kill you after yesterday!"

He chuckled. "And what do you mean by that?"

"You pulling all of that 'subconscious' shit on me?! I swear to God, if you had actually kissed me you would have been dead." She quickly went down the stairs, her coat billowing a bit behind her.

"Stop."

Selena stopped, and growled. "Oi, do you mind cutting it out with the mind-crap?!"

He didn't answer her, instead opting to laugh. "You don't remember... of course you wouldn't." He laughed louder.

"Alright, I stopped." She turned around the corner and continued to head for Sikes's room.

"Come back here and don't leave until I specifically state that you can." He smirked arrogantly.

Selena's expression darkened, but she did as she was told. "What the hell do you want, Big-head-boy?"

He laughed again. "What do you think?"

I wonder if this is the kind of Synlena Cyrus prefers, or if she likes the 'mushier' stuff better...

Selena's face twisted. "I. DON'T. LIKE. YOU! How many times do I have to throw it through your giant head?! You are a sick, twisted, strange big man, but you do NOT have my pity!" She put all the force she had into her right foot and stomped firmly on Syndrome's.

"Let me BE, dammit!"

"Ow." He blinked. "Well, it was a nice effort, but that's honestly not that painful, so... Anyway."

She glared at him. "Why the FUCK did you paralyze my telekinesis, huh?!"

"I didn't!" he exclaimed with another laugh.

"I just tried to fling you against the wall, of COURSE YOU DID! Don't play ignorant!"

"No I didn't, that's your subconscious! I said that before!"

"Well then! Tell me why I was able to stomp on your foot, if it's my-" Selena put airquotes around the word and mocked Syndrome. "-subconscious?"

"Because that was your conscious. Your powers are controlled by your subconscious."

"Let me go."

"Nope."

"Don't make me-no, you know what?"

She slapped him.

"I hate you with my-" she stopped, attempted to spit out the word 'entire,' but instead a bunch of syllables spilled out. "en-pie-able-ist- being!"

"...That made no sense whatsoever."

"I meant to say 'I hate you with my-" she stuttered- "en-vol-sin-ary- WHY THE HELL CAN'T I SAY IT?!"

Syndrome laughed. "Because you DON'T hate me with your entire being, and the funny thing is that you don't even know it!" He paused, then added, "By the way I'd also like you to stop hurting me physically."

Selena glowered. "I hate, hate, HATE YOU, SYN-DRONE!"

"The only reason you could say that is because you didn't actually say my name... you do realize that, right?"

"You know what, I'm sick of your conspiracy theories. Let me GO, NOW!"

"No!"

"Why not?!" Selena screamed. She fell to her knees. "Just let me go be with Sikes, huh? Please?"

"You know, if I told you to regain your memories right now- don't, by the way- you wouldn't be saying this. Because in those memories is something you'd never want to face when you're like this."

"Oh, you would know, wouldn't you?!" She shouted up at her tormentor. "You make me relive ALL of my worst memories! And now you're IN one of them! HAPPY?"

"I was TALKING about when Sikes tried to RAPE YOU!" Syndrome yelled.

Selena's face twisted even further in confusion. "Sikes- he wouldn't have needed to rape me-"

"Back then, no... but this is now. You and I are together, you practically despise Sikes, and the only reason you're acting this way is because I stole Rylan's powers and told you to because I thought it'd be fun."

"Well, you've had your fun picking at everything, now haven't you? Where as I-" She couldn't continue.

"You what? Tell me."

"I am having fun- wait, what the hell?!"

He grinned. "Thought so."

"What the fucking hell?!" She paused, and then her face shone. "I KNOW! YOU made me say that! I'm not-"

"How could I make you say that without saying anything? I'm not telepathic, you are."

"Exactly! I am, and so I could hear you commanding me to say it!"

"Really... because I don't seem to recall thinking it."

"But you- you HAD to, that's-"

Selena slammed her hand down to the floor. "Stop screwing with my mind!"

"You know, a funny thing just happened there... I just felt a twinge of pity for you... of course it was gone as soon as it came, but hey. It was something."

"You? Feel PITY?! Hah! Like that's possible," she said darkly.

"It doesn't happen often, only once in a blue moon... funny, you're not blue." He chuckled at his lame joke.

"What do you mean by that? That made absolutely no sense!"

"Selena means moon... once in a blue moon? You got more intelligent the more time you spent around me, I think..."

"... I found that so fucking hilarious, I forgot to laugh," Selena spat.

"I admit, it was a dumb joke."

"Wow. The idiotic man gets his own stupidity."

"You know, I just remembered, there's something I always wanted to do back when you liked Sikes that I haven't wanted to do since... until now..."

"I don't want to know, creeper."

"WHAT did you just call me?"

"Creeper. You're creeping me out."

"You're really asking for it, you know..."

Selena stayed silent.

"Hell. I'm pissed enough. I'm going to do it anyway." He smirked. "I never got a chance to do this when you liked Sikes and now that we're on better terms I haven't wanted to... but right now... heh, to hell with it all!" He picked up Selena by the throat and squeezed.

"G-ah-oh-" She looked at Syndrome with pleading eyes. Slowly, the corners of her vision started becoming dark. Her stomach jolted, she suddenly felt sick... she was passing out.

Stop!

Syndrome loosened his grip more than a little, but still held her in the air. "Bet that reminded you of Sikes."

"A bit," she gasped.

He smirked. "Thought it would."

"It doesn't make you like him."

"You're right, it doesn't. Seeing as how you'd hate me if it did, I'm glad."

"I swear to God you're ass-backwards."

He smirked grimly. "I'm glad you started liking me, really I am... fun as this was, I'd like to go back to normal now." He set Selena down gently.

"Oh God, Syn, don't scare me like that," Selena said, hugging him. "I seriously thought for a moment that you weren't going to let go..."

"I'd never do that... not if you asked me to stop, anyway..." He hugged her in return. "As much fun as it is to control you, there's an asshole downstairs who deserves it more."

"Seriously, though, that was all fun and everything until you grabbed me like that. And my mind flashed back to Sikes..." She looked down. "You let go, though. So you aren't like him."

"I'm sorry... I was so focused on trying to get your past self to like me that for a moment I forgot that your present self already did..."

"I think that actually gained a little bit of respect there for... my "past self," as you put it. But I'd rather just argue without being controlled from now on, I think. To save us from those situations."

"Alright..."

Selena noted the resentment in Syn's voice. "Hey, I didn't say you couldn't control Rylan or Sikes or anybody like that!"

"Controlling Sikes would be awkward..."

"Would it? I wouldn't know, sorry for bringing it up."

"It'd be pretty awkward, yeah... I don't know what I'd tell him to do..."

"Well then, let's go torture Rylan. Give him a taste of his own medicine."

"Sounds good to me, I suppose..."

Selena grinned and she proceeded down the stairs, Syndrome following her closely. She knocked on Rylan's door. "Hey, Rylan, it's me..."

"What the hell do you want?" he replied sullenly.

"Got a little... gift for you," Selena said, winking at Syndrome. "Can we come in?"

"No..."

Selena opened the door anyway.

"Well, if you don't want your powers back, fine," she said, door wide open.

"You're not going to give them back, I know that already," Rylan replied, sitting on his bed facing the opposite wall.

"Yeah we will, Syn can't stay like you FOREVER..." Selena said, looking back and forth between her brother and her boyfriend.

"That's not what I meant. I know you have to give them back eventually. I know you're not giving them back NOW."

How about this. You give them back to him right after you mess around with his mind for a bit? Because this is getting to be really strange. He's NEVER like this.

"Rylan, we'll give them back today."

Rylan did not turn toward the pair or even acknowledge that Selena had said anything.

Selena looked at her brother and sighed. "Well, it was worth trying," she said. "He really doesn't want them back. Let's go..."

"...Selena, he's crying."

"WHAT?!" She shrieked, and quickly turned back. "R- oh holy shit. Oh my-" she stopped. Her brother didn't cry. That just didn't happen... what the hell was going on?

"Rylan, I'm- astounded- you always told me, 'don't feel,' that it was- and you-" Her eyes drooped a bit. "Yeah."

"It's Cyrus's fault, I know."

"How did you know?"

"I forced her to tell me what was going on yesterday. It wasn't that difficult."

"It started out as a spiteful trick, but really, she cares about you now, don't you understand?"

"I know... it's just..." He sighed. "Just... please give me my powers back..."

Yikes, Selena thought.

"Rylan, turn around."

"Why?"

"Just do it or I'll fucking make you."

Rylan turned to face the pair.

Syndrome took two steps forward. "Listen, asshole. I don't care if you're crying anymore. I don't care what kind of sob story you have." His eyes turned green. "You've controlled me for too long. It's time the tables turned. First things first, stop whining like a little girl and be a fucking man."

"Syn-"

"He's controlled both of us too many times to count, tried to tear apart our relationship... Stay out of this, Selena. Whatever this asshole gets, he deserves."

Selena bit her lip. "Okay."

Syndrome picked up Rylan by his collar. "You're too light, Rylan. You really should put on some weight... that's a suggestion, not a command. You know what I want to do?" He turned slightly toward Selena without making eye contact. "I think it'd be fun to get inside his head and find out what makes him tick." He blinked, then turned back to Rylan. "He's more docile and less likely to fight back when he's controlled, anyway. Isn't that right, Rylan?" He nodded.

"...I shouldn't- I don't want to, he's my brother, and he's FEELING for God's sake!"

Selena was silent for a moment, and then she spoke up again. "But maybe... maybe he does deserve it. Maybe he'll feel remorse- oh, who am I kidding? Go ahead."

"Go ahead? How the hell am I supposed to do that? I don't know how to get into his mind..."

"Oh, right, I said not to control me..."

She closed her eyes and searched for Rylan's mind.

"Don't suppose you can take me along, can you? It might be dangerous in there." He laughed.

"You have no idea," Rylan whispered.

Selena shuddered, but then shook her head. "No, not that I'm aware of, besides you controlling me like he did a couple days ago."

"That wouldn't really bring me in anyway, just you being controlled by me."

"True."

"Rylan, are you aware of any way..."

"You can... sort of go in with my powers... if I want you to..."

"Alright, then let's go."

"But I don't want you to."

"Well, Rylan, I'm not really asking you if I can come in. I'm telling you that I am and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

"...Alright."

Selena winced and closed her eyes again.