A Call For Reinforcements

What the others didn't know was that when Marivel slept, she could enter the Realm of the Dead. And that's just where she went. She had a plan, a strange plan, but it just might save the gang's sanity. Now she had to find the right victims.

She was in luck. Within minuets of her arrival, Marivel had found her targets. It was just a matter of pouncing at the right time. When their competition wasn't so unruly of coarse.

"1, 2, 3 oh Chance. Go to jail. Don't pass Go and don't Collect 20,000 Gella! What is this!" screamed an angry male voice.

A calm female voice answered, "Just go, Vinsfeld. You're holding the game up."

Marivel stifled a laugh. The 5 major members of Odessa were playing Monopoly with Anastasia, Irving, and Altaecia Valeria. She waited for Vinsfeld to calm down, and then made her entrance.

"I need to know, have any of you used your Day Passes yet this month?" asked Marivel.

"No," said the 8—Who were more interested in their Monopoly game.

Judecca laughed. "Taking inventory Mari?" he asked.

Marivel responded by punching him into the nearest wall and saying, "Don't ever call the master of the world 'Mari'. Now listen, this is urgent. The gang and I need your help"

"What for?" asked Altaecia, who was drinking her tea.

So Marivel explained her situation. She then asked if they would help out.

Everyone was for it—being dead was getting kinda boring. So they all held up their left arms. On it was a symbol—the Day Pass—allowing a 24- hour a month return to the land of the living. They all appeared in the bedroom, and Marivel woke up.

(12:00 PM)

"Lunch is ready," yelled Kanon. At once Irv and Alley ran into the kitchen where hot soup and freshly baked bread lay on the table. They—as predicted—began eating like pigs.

At that moment Marivel and her entourage entered the kitchen. Irv and Alley were plainly surprised at this, and silently decided to rework their devious plans. Brad began to mumble, "What was Marivel thinking?" under his breath.

Kanon rose out of her seat. "Since Marivel just returned from her break with 8 um…helpers, I will be going into town for lunch. Be back by 1:30, see ya." Then she left the bakery.

Altaecia looked at Anastasia and asked, "Why would Kanon be in such a hurry? It's almost as if she's hiding something."

Anastasia shrugged. "It's just like her to keep secrets. But I wonder, what could be so terrible that she can't tell us exactly why she's going out to lunch."

(12:30)

Vinsfeld felt diminutive. He could tell that Winchester's brats were just sizing him up. They had been polite to him and the others—those naughty children Marivel described seemed like alter egos—but those smirks on their faces said all.

So when Irv asked "Uncle Vinny" to take him outside to play, Vinsfeld was skeptical. However, Antenora had given him the sad eyes and pouty lips treatment—as well as promising him a date next month—so he agreed.

The two went outside where Irv said, "Let's play hide and seek. I'll be it. While I close my eyes and count to 100, you find a hiding place. No indoors hiding."

So Irv began to count, and Vinsfeld ran to find a hiding spot. As he ran through the town, he saw Kanon talking to someone. Being Vinsfeld, he couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"If you come with me, Irv and Alley will terrorize you to death. Come by between 3:30 and 4:00 when I'll settle them down with the you-know- what."

After that Vinsfeld heard a child's high pitched laughter. While cocking his head for a better look, he felt a hard, sharp pain on the back of his cranium. Then, the world went black.

(1:00)

The reason Antenora wanted Irv to go outside was that she and Caina had agreed to play beauty parlor with Alley—who had made it clear that the game was girls only. It was a perfect idea, she thought. They would appeal to Alley's feminine side while Vinsfeld wound Irv down. Hopefully, they would settle down enough so the members of Odessa could watch "The Dominators of Silintha—a show about a group who tried to rule the world—at 4:00.

"Now, let's put on some cinnamon eyeshadow to bring out your eyes," said Caina. She was a self-proclaimed expert on makeup—Raftina knows she practiced every night in hopes that Vinsfeld would take her on a date—so she had taken the job of consultant. Antenora—whose hands were much steadier than Caina's—was administering the treatment.

Alley peaked at herself in the mirror. "I'm beautiful," she said. "Now it's your turns for makeovers."

"Ok," said Caina. Looking at Antenora's expression—she was no doubt worried about what Marivel had told them—she asked, "What harm could makeup do?"

(1:30)

"I'm back," called Kanon. It had been a pleasant jaunt into town, but she had made Ashley a promise. She also knew what those kids were capable of, and didn't like leaving her friends—even the members of Odessa—alone with them for much longer.

The first person she saw was Antenora. The very sight of the young strategist caused Kanon to stifle her laughter. Of coarse, Antenora couldn't figure out what was so funny.

"Isn't my makeover beautiful?" she asked, twirling around like a ballerina.

Kanon cleared her throat and said, "Listen, Antenora. I think you should look in a mirror." Then, she burst out laughing and ran to find Altaecia and Anastasia.

Wondering what was so funny about makeup, Antenora looked into the nearest mirror. There, to her horror, she saw her face was riddled with a rainbow of blushes and eyeshadows. "Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," she screamed.