All was quiet on that 42 Via Street. The truck had been parked quite snugly between two buildings, which Engineer was applauded handsomely for. But, shortly after, they had dropped off to sleep one by one. The team slept peacefully for quite some time, with Heavy's snores going completely unnoticed.

The neon green clock struck four twenty-six when Spy's eyes snapped open. Right next to his left ear, which was pressed against the side of the truck, there was a strange rattling noise. It was almost akin to someone shaking a bag of marbles.

"Engie," Spy mumbled, irritated. "No tinkering. Build something tomorrow."

"Huh?"

Engie slowly sat himself up, blinking.

"What're you talkin' about? These tired hands can barely move themselves, let alone a nut and bolt. You musta had a dream."

"Oh, I had a dream, but it wasn't about that..."

Spy started to smirk, but the moment was cut short by another rattling noise. The sound was much closer this time. This woke both Miss Pauling and Heavy, but Scout remained asleep.

"Kto eto?" Heavy rasped, still half asleep.

Miss Pauling rubbed her eyes.

"Where's Soldier? I told him he was off duty..."

The rattling grew louder and louder. After a few moments, it seemed to surround the entire van. Scout finally woke up after the noise started to shake the entire van.

"Hm? Are we going alread-?"

"Where's Pyro?" Spy cried suddenly, looking around wildly.

Miss Pauling put a hand on her forehead.

"Two of the most unstable people in the group...absolutely fantastic..."

Heavy gritted his teeth. "If he set fire outside of van, I am going to wring his neck."

"That ain't a fire," Scout grumbled, yawning. "Don't know what it is, but it sure ain't a fire."

All at once, as if on cue, the noise cut out completely, being replaced by another noise: rough cries of orders.

"There has been a breach of the perimeter! I repeat, a breach of the perimeter! Battle stations! BATTLE STATIONS!"

Heavy threw off his sleeping bag first, grabbing his gun from the secret compartment below the seat. Spy pulled out both his knife and revolver, almost running into Engineer's rifle.

"Miss Pauling, Scout! Cover!" he shouted. "Hâte!"

Both of them drew their own respective guns. Ammo was quickly passed around, then slid onto the floor. Engineer tried to open the back of the truck, turning the knob with considerable force.

"It's not opening! Somethin's blocking it from the outside."

Heavy immediately began to hurl his body against the door, denting it several times before falling back.

"No give!" he gasped, sliding down to the floor.

Scout cocked his weapon several times impatiently.

"What kinda block is that? Nothing can get past Heavy!"

"Almost nothing!"

A sing song voice filled the back of the truck, then a howl of laughter. It sounded quite a bit like Spy. In fact, exactly like Spy.

"It's the B.L.Us!" Scout exclaimed, slamming his fist against the side of the wall.

"This is not battlefield!" Heavy barked. "We did nothing to you!"

"Oh, didn't you?"

The blue Spy snickered, then continued.

"You have our Medic! He was obviously taken, ploucs, so if you want a cease fire, you shall have to give us your prisoner!"

"That's convenient," Spy said, sneering, "because we are missing our Medic as well. We should have known you had something to do with it."

"Moi? Really? Are you so stupid as to believe that we would sink as low as a R.E.D?"

The blue Spy seemed genuinely surprised, but not yet convinced. He chuckled.

"Well, the solution is very simple, then! Give us our Medic, and we'll give you yours, as well as your Soldier and Pyromaniac."

"Listen, B.L.U," Engineer interjected, "we both are missing something, and neither of us have what the other is looking for. Captives are considered a battle crime of the third degree. We wouldn't risk something so important to our team for a temporary advantage."

"Since when did was the law of any concern to you?" Spy replied, snorting in between his words.

"What's so funny?" Scout yelled. He cocked his gun some more, accidentally jamming his finger.

"No reason except your eventual-."

All of a sudden, there was a burst of laughter from the other side. Miss Pauling could pick out a blue Heavy, Scout, and Soldier above Spy's guffawing.

"Please...have mercy! Through the vents...must have broken..!"

"We need him! He's the only...oh, God!"

Heavy struggled to open the door again, still finding no luck.

"We don't have him! Chto s toboy ne tak?"

"Gas...laughing gas...!" the blue Scout struggled out. "Cure...Medic!"

"They are laughing lunatics!" Soldier barked from the other side. "Can't get a word out without losin' their minds!"

Miss Pauling thought for a moment, bringing out her notes again.

"Our Medic was working on something like that. It was a sort of psychological warfare. And if we get the same materials..."

"Enough talk!" the blue Heavy roared hoarsely. "We need him now!"

"Don't you have a halfa brain between you? Maybe he left, like ours did." Engineer said, irritated.

"Both of us are indisposed," Miss Pauling interrupted, using the same voice she used on Pyro when he was out of control. "We can call this a truce. But if we keep fighting, no one will win. The laughing gas will probably wear off in a few hours. But if you keep straining yourself, it may kill you."

There was silence on the other end, sprinkled with coughing and clearing of throats.

"You sincerely don't have our Medic? And you don't have yours?"

"Finally! Geez, get it in your skulls!" Scout shouted. "And we can't find him if you keep us here!"

Another silence.

"Alright," Spy whispered, his voice all but gone, "an official truce has been called. But if you have been fooling us..."

Heavy shook his head. "Won't happen. But when we both have our Medics, I will beat you into the ground."

"Deal and likewise. Here are your precious...hehehe...oh, f-forget it...ha ha ha..."

The rattling happened again, and the back door swung open. Outside was a relatively calm Pyro and a very angry Soldier. They were immediately checked for bugs and marks. Only rope burns were found.

"We coulda gotten out! I had 'em right where I wanted 'em!"

Pyro looked around, shrugged, then took out his newspaper again. It was definitely gaining some shape.

"Oh, shut up," Spy said, stretching. "But I must agree, that was quite a bit easier than I thought."

Miss Pauling looked through her notes again.

"Probably the laughing gas at work. When someone is in pain, they pick the easiest option. And they seemed quite in pain."

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for them. We already have one A.W.O.L."

"Of course not. I've heard they treat their Medic horribly. They got what they deserved."

Engineer looked back at the van and rubbed his eyes.

"Well. That was one hell of an alarm."

Scout groaned. "C'mon! It's...like...three in the morning."

Heavy looked at his watch.

"Four fourty-seven. The adrenaline is still in blood."

Scout turned to Spy. "Please just fifteen minutes..."

Spy jerked his head toward the truck. "Get in. There is no time like the present."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Scout sighed, but he still jumped in the back of the truck.

"If this road trip doesn't kill Medic, it's sure gonna kill me."

*

"Because of Geminis' intrinsic duality, they're often falsely misrepresented as two-faced. In reality, however, Gemini rarely have hidden agendas."

"Oh, silly boy, do wake up!"

"You've been sleeping for ages."

Medic shuddered, then opened his eyes. Above him were two boys with red hair and wide black eyes. Their faces were tied together with long, mischievous grins.

"Wo bin ich? Who are you?"

Medic got up with an effort, trying to get a better look at the pair. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that not only were their faces alike, but their clothes, manners, and facial expressions were identical. It was almost like looking at a subject and their mirror. Which one was which, however, no one could tell. One of the boys grabbed Medic's hand, and the second took the other. They both shook it jokingly, then swung the hands back to the recipient.

"We're going to be your tour guides today, guv!"

"Indeed! The deepest, darkest places of your mind await."

Medic rubbed both of his arms, his heart starting to pound.

"My...mind?"

"But of course!" one replied, walking forward as if to lead him. "Luckily, time does not exist here, so we can wander about for as long as we please."

The doctor took this time to look at his surroundings. As he walked with the twins, he noticed very little. Medic was being led through a completely black expanse. There were no spacial markers, no horizon, just a darkness that seemed to almost swallow the group whole.

"Vhere are ve going?"

Both of the boys turned around, still walking confidently.

"Don't you worry! We'll get there in plenty of time, and then you will see."

"Hold your horses, guv. The tour will start in a second."

As soon as they finished speaking, the darkness began to part like a large curtain. Behind it was a vast plain of brown grass and dead trees. The sky was a dark red, almost akin to dried blood. After the darkness was behind them, the curtains closed once more.

"Welcome to your mind, Ludwig!"

"Ghastly, isn't it?"

"Yes, disgusting."

Medic looked around. "Zhis...isn't anyzing like a mind. If it vas, it vould be more chaotic."

The twins snapped back to him in unison. Their eyes were filled with fury.

"Oh, it isn't entertaining enough, guv?"

"Perhaps if the king took care of his subjects, there would be more to humor his lordship!"

Medic held up his hands, backing into a trunk that had been stripped of bark.

"King? Vhat king?"

"You, you dolt!"

The boys grew closer, their faces turning the same shades of red.

"We have been toiling away at this land..."

"...waiting for you to come..."

"...waiting for you to pick its fruits..."

"...run in its fields..."

"...but you never came. And now we must live in a misery that neither of us chose!"

"I did nozing!" Medic cried, feeling for a nonexistent weapon. "But I can help you! Ja, I can give you vhatever you need!"

"You can?"

As if releasing pressure from a gauge, the twins calmed down, smiling their Cheshire-esque smiles.

"That is just what we wanted to talk about, Wiggy."

"Yes, we have a proposition."

Medic slid down the tree, putting his head in his hands.

"This vas a mistake. Ich bin so ein Idiot..."

"No, no, old chap! It hurts this very moment, yes, but you have made a very good choice. Now you can see your mistakes. Now you can see your true form in action."

Medic lifted his head. "My true form isn't true at all. None of zis is true. I shouldn't have left."

One of the boys patted the doctor on the head.

"Those guys were holding you back. You've got a lot of potential. What do you need those guys for?"

"It isn't zhat I need zhem. Zhey need me. Wizout me, zhey can't heal or treat any vounds. Zhey don't know anyzing about medicine."

Both of them sat down next to Medic setting one head on each shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry! There are plenty of German doctors they can brainwash!"

"And if there is a dead weight holding you to a weaker ground..."

"...why stick around?"

Medic held his head again. "It is true. And zhat is vhat scares me. Because I have enough proof to debunk zhat zheory, but it's still true in my mind."

"Well, that's just a theory."

"After all, these people mean nothing to you. They are tools, and nothing more."

"That's why we wrote that whole poem for you!"

"That was you?" Medic mumbled, thinking back to his dream. Their voices did seem familiar.

"Oh, yes! We made sure to become Shakespeare for you!"

"That reminds me..."

"...there is something that we simply must show you."

The boys stood, a curtain of darkness suddenly enveloping them. Music from some unknown source began to play. As the curtains opened dramatically again. A booming voice made an announcement that shook the dilapidated meadow.

"Ludwig's Life, by the Cruciatu Brothers!"