Chapter Ten: When Cobras Gather

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"Why're you being so mean to Polly XII?"

"I'm not. I just think he's a little creepily sentient sometimes."

The other four gaped as The Joy and The End came into the view of the streetlight the rest of the group was under.

"Well...leave it to Joy to find us when we were lookin' for her," Fury crossed his arms, leaning his weight on one foot.

"You were looking for me?" Joy tilted her head in surprise. "Why?"

"Oh, Fear's been talking to--"

Fear cut him off, shoving him in the direction of the hotel, keeping hold of Sorrow's wrist. "Let's get back to the room before we get into any important conversations, okay?"

Fury looked at him curiously. Fear made a gesture that he hoped was conveyed as 'don't talk about it until I say it's okay'. At any rate, the brunette seemed to understand, and nodded.

"Go ahead back with them. I'll be there in a minute."

He watched them go before turning to Sorrow, who hadn't spoken since Joy had shown up. He didn't know why he didn't want Fury to tell Joy about Sorrow, but i something /i had made him stop the pyromaniac. Something about how Sorrow had latched almost painfully onto his shoulder.

"Are you gonna be okay?"

Finally the ghost looked up at him, eyes distant. "I didn't know...it would hurt so much to see her again."

The black-haired Cobra felt something twist painfully in his stomach. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"I think so...but I think there's something I need to tell you first."

He tensed. Things that started with those words usually weren't good news. "What?"

Sorrow lowered his gaze, focusing on the sidewalk beneath them. "I...I lied before, when I said I didn't remember how I died."

"What? Why?"

"Well, to be completely honest, I wasn't sure I could trust you at the time. And once I figured out that you'd changed and tried to tell you, the invisible things attacked. But more than that, I think, I wanted to protect Joy."

A few pieces clicked together, forming a dangerous conclusion. "Hold on a minute...are you trying to tell me that Joy..."

"The Joy is the one who killed me."

Fear felt his legs threaten to buckle, but managed to remain standing. "Joy? But why?"

Sorrow smiled humourlessly. "She was ordered to. I was too much of a liability. But I let her. And I want you to know, I don't blame her for it. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to either."

"This just doesn't make any sense," Fear shook his head. "So why are you trying so hard to find her?"

He shrugged. "Closure? I'm not really sure. I suppose...it's more for her than for myself. I want her to know that I'm not mad at her."

"That's one hell of a mercy mission," he looked slightly annoyed.

"Are you mad?"

He crossed his arms. "Of course I'm mad! I mean, she killed you?! I thought you guys were totally in love and all that crap!"

The medium sighed. "It had to be done. It wasn't a matter of lost love or anything."

"Crazy..." Fear muttered, starting to walk away. "Just crazy. So, what do you want me to do?"

Sorrow followed, slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

He shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "Well, even if I pretend not to be mad at her, there's still a matter of her being here. What do you want me to say to her?"

"I'm not sure...I figured something would come to me in the searching process. I didn't count on her finding us first."

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"Okay, really. A truck ?"

Fury shrugged, glaring at Joy from across the room, where he was perched atop the desk. "It was what the guy had. Not like we went to the lot and picked it out ourselves."

She shrugged, as if she wasn't entirely convinced. She didn't say anything else about it though, switching tactics. "So, what's all this about trying to find me?"

Pain started in helpfully. "Fury was telling me something about Fear either being really crazy or seeing ghosts."

Her eyes widened, if only for a fraction of a second. "Oh yeah?"

Fury leaned over, backhanding the hornet-wielding Cobra quickly. "Shut up!"

Joy and End exchanged curious glances. Before another question could be asked, the door swung open, and Fear walked in. He looked upset. The others looked at him expectantly, waiting for a grasp on the situation. Except Fury, who just looked vaguely bored.

"Okay," Fear shut the door after a moment's hesitation, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. "Apparently, the search didn't take as long as planned, so I'll improvise. Choose your topic. Ghosts, demons, or invisible things."

"I'll go with demons first," Joy replied, not looking at them.

Fear raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, only glancing at Sorrow, who shook his head. "Demons. Alright. Well, it won't make sense right now, but there's obviously some sort of smoke-spewing demon out to get one of us."

"Who?" Pain tilted his head.

"That," the mercenary pointed at him like a teacher with a particularly annoying student, "leads me to the first topic. Ghosts. While it probably pains some of our little group to hear it, there is one of us missing."

Joy's hands clenched into fists on the blanket, but her voice was tight and controlled. "And just what are you getting at?"

"Sorrow's here."

The blond was up in a flash, grabbing hold of Fear's shirt and yanking him forward until their faces were inches apart. "Just what the hell are you trying to do Fear?! Upset me? Is this another one of your sick little games?!"

"Hey! Hold up! I'm serious here!" He didn't even try to wrench free. He knew there was little chance of him escaping if she didn't want him to. "You know me Joy. I wouldn't joke about something like that to you..."

She glared at him fiercely for a few seconds before letting him go. "How do I really know that? How do I know you haven't just lost it or something?"

He looked at her in complete seriousness. "How else would I know how he died?"

Joy looked like she'd been hit. She moved to sit back down, but didn't quite make it. She fell back, and Fear grabbed her arm to keep her from falling. After she was steady again, she made it on the second try.

"Joy..." Sorrow sat down next to her.

"I suggest that you two...er, three, talk more about this privately," The End said sympathetically. "But what about the third topic?"

"The invisible things?" Fury spoke up. "I think I can handle that one. There's some guy followin' me. I can't see him, but I can sure as hell hit him."

"What do you think it is?" Pain asked.

"I'm sure it was nothing," Joy said suddenly. The others looked at her. "It was probably another ghost or something."

"It can't be, cuz Fear can't even see it, and--"

"So? Since when did Fear become the ghost whisperer or whatever?"

"Hey!" Fear snapped, halting the conversation. "Chill for a minute, okay? Jeez. Joy, you come with me and Sorrow. We're gonna have a chat. Fury, tell Pain and End whatever you know about the invisible guy."

"Not like it matters," Joy muttered, standing up. "It doesn't exist."

Fury withheld his reply, seeing as though she used to be their commanding officer. That and he knew she could probably do him some serious damage if given the urge. In fact, he knew it. He'd been on the recieving end of Joy's wrath a few times over the years, and wasn't in a hurry to repeat the process.

Once they left, however, it was fair game.

"Freakin' women and their hormones," he muttered once the door slammed.

The door immediately opened once more, and something collided with Fury's head rather painfully. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be a shoe.

"Should have given a better noise allowance," The End shrugged.