TV Troubles
Chapter Four : Insanity (GW)
DISCLAIMER: same
RATING: same
DEDICATION: To the people who requested I do GW. including but probably not limited to: Firefly-chan, Jade, Avalon Hunter, Silver Shadows AKA SS Silver (I hope I got it right this time.), and Za Kaze no Nisou. To anyone who requested this also and I missed, my sincere apologies- this is for you, too. ^^
AN: And onto chapter four! For all of you that reviewed the last chapter, thank you. And I noticed that some of you were. uhm, rather peeved with me for taking so long. Well, I'm sorry, but surprisingly enough I have a bit more of a life than I expected. And I'm getting this out asap.
WARNINGS: Same; silliness, Ririna bashing, MUCH OOC-ness (mostly Sanosuke). Oh, and did I mention the silliness?^^
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:: With our favorite group of rag-tag friends ::
As the light faded, so did Usagi's urge to hurl. There were a few moments of long silence before the impending insanity ensued.
"Just what the hell was that," cried Sanosuke, who looked just about ready to attack everyone around him. He wasn't thinking logically, but that was okay- his companions weren't in a much better state.
"Oh, not again," Navi groaned, looking profusely miserable. This was punishment from the goddesses, it just had to be. Or else that someone up there had a horrible sense of humor, and should be punished by being locked in a room with rabid cukoos.
Kenshin took in the events fairly well. He might have had his own moment to have a heart attack, but he was too busy restraining Sanosuke.
Hotohori sighed. "This is cruel. Who knows what's happening to my kingdom in my absence." Hotohori envisioned his kingdom in ruins, smoke rising from the rubble. And all the while an evil Nuriko laughed wickedly, standing tall among the debris and flames in front of a blazing sunset. It's not fair..
Usagi stood up on wobbly legs, and surveyed the scenery. From the looks of it, they were in some huge garden. Usagi looked around at the lavishly kept flowers, and deduced that they must have been at some huge manor.
Her thoughts were affirmed when she caught sight of the 'house.' It was more like a palace, as far as Usagi was concerned. Just how many rooms did a house need, anyway? Most of them were bound to be empty. But still, it was more than just a little impressive, seeing that great manor looming in front of them.
"Minna-san, that house.. there's bound to be someone there. We should ask them where we are there," Usagi said decisively.
"Oh, yeah, and they'll probably try to shoot us, too," Navi grumbled as they began to follow the once-again relatively happy leader.
Navi didn't know how right she was.
--------------*
:: Where the Gundam boys are ::
"Aw, guys, c'mon, I'm bored. This is our time off. can't we do anything that's at least a little fun," Duo wined. He'd been hoping for something a bit more exciting than sitting here on a couch watching sitcoms in a language he couldn't even understand. There had to be something better to do than sit on a couch all evening while they were free from missions.
He didn't get much of a reply- collectively, he got a grunt, a snort, and silence. Shinigami, you guys are about as talkative as rocks.. Just how the heck do I manage to pick such weird friends?
Quatre was a bit more sympathetic towards his hyper friend. Everyone knew that a bored Duo was one liable to get into a lot of trouble, so he should probably humor him, in only to attempt to avoid another fight.
"Well, what do you want to do, Duo," he asked, trying to be helpful.
"Uhm.. Well, that's a problem. I don't really know.." Of course Wufei snorted when he heard that, shaking his head and muttering something about idiots who couldn't make up their minds.
Quatre smiled. "Well. would you like to hear about the history of this house, then?"
Inwardly, Duo groaned. Oh, no, not a history lesson. Q-man, we're friends and all, but there's only so much I can take. Quatre must have seen the look on his face, because he laughed.
"It's really interesting, Duo. A bit of a ghost story," the blonde added, sitting down, pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Oh," asked Duo, his interests perking up just a bit.
Quatre nodded. "This house was built around seventy years ago. It doesn't look like it, but that's because it's been restored. At any rate, the original family that lived here consisted of a father, a mother, and a single daughter.
"The reason behind this was that the mother couldn't bear anymore children after their first- there had been too many complications, and the doctors said that if she were to try and have another child, it would most likely kill her.
"So all he had was a daughter as the sole heir to his estate and immense fortune"-
"Sounds like a deal to me," Duo muttered. Quatre just smiled slightly, and went on.
"The mother had never been particularly in strong health from day one. The fact that she had never quite healed from her daughter's birth was one strike too many against the woman, and eventually after many years of being bed-ridden, she died.
"The father started to go mad shortly after that, claiming all sorts of outrageous things. He blamed his daughter for his wife's death, and became a twisted old man. Because of his immense fortune no one would dare to try and have him committed, so his condition worsened with time.
"At last all of the servants had either quit or been fired on outrageous charges, and the house was empty but for the father and his daughter.
"Now the young girl- our age, by then- was very pretty and wasn't a bad person. She was fairly liked in the town and with the former servants, having taken after her late mother. She was left all alone in the big house to try and take care of her father and the estate.
"She knew that her father hated her, but she avoided him when she could out of fear. He was an old man, and though he was stuck in a wheelchair, his sheer hatred was frightening.
"One night, the father decided to 'avenge' his wife's death by killing his daughter and sending her back to the devil, where he thought she belonged. He rose out of his wheel chair, tracked her down to this very room, and attempted to kill her."
Silence filled the room but for the sound of Hiiro typing on his laptop. "Well, what happened," Duo demanded eventually.
"Well, she didn't die, not immediately, anyway. She managed to defend herself from him, although she didn't escape unwounded- in fact, the very wounds that she received were what killed her. As for her father, she had been forced to kill him in self defense.
"One of the neighbors had heard some of the commotion and had called the police. They showed up just in time to see her last few moments of life."
Quatre leaned forward from where he was sitting now, eyes gaining an intent look. "They said that for the most part, she was just talking nonsense, shock and all, but just before she died.. But she became went stiff as a ramrod and said in this deep, macho, Barry White voice that this house would be forever hers, and that anyone who dared to disturb her slumber would be cursed to an eternity in hell."
"Since then, she's been seen a few times. And every time, she's had horrible wounds all across her body. Some of the people who saw her died, but most made it back alive- barely."
As that moment there was a loud boom of thunder, and everyone jumped. Well, besides Hiiro. He was too busy with whatever was on his screen. ((AN: Just what DOES he look at, anyway?))
"What the shit," muttered Wufei, nearly sweat dropping- but not quite, because Chang Wufei was too 'manly' to do something so feminine as sweat drop. The weather forecast for the day hadn't said anything about rain or storms. And in fact, looking out the window, it was a cloudless sunny day.
Duo laughed. "Ooooh, 'Fei, it's the curse of the dead un-named girl," Duo said, laughing and waggling his fingers at Wufei.
Wufei's eyes narrowed, and he snorted. "Baka." He stood up and stretched. "Unlike you, I know better than to believe in ghosts."
"Oh, but Wufei, it's true," interjected Quatre. "People wouldn't come anywhere near here for years after the sightings because they were so afraid. Some people have actually claimed to have seen her- my sister did, for one."
"Which one," Duo asked, lounging back in his seat. Even he wasn't dumb enough to believe in a story like that. "And if it was so bad, why did your dad buy this place?"
"Otousan didn't believe in ghosts and curses. Plus, it was really cheap. The realtors for this place were pretty desperate."
Wufei snorted. "Superstitious weaklings. like the ghost of a weak woman could be THAT powerful."
--------------*
:: Where the rather large group of 'misfits' is located ::
So far the group had made it into the house uneventfully. Well, mostly, anyway. There had been that incident with the servant. As much as Usagi didn't agree with them tying that guy up and leaving him under that tree, it was the only thing to be done.
He wasn't very useful, not when he wouldn't stop screaming and blubbering. Something or another about a ghost with horrible wounds. It was strange, because no one even HAD horrible wounds, perhaps beside Usagi, who was suffering from a few bruises on her head, bug bites, scratches, and a broken arm.
She felt especially sorry for him though when that freak bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and hit the tree. But oh well, a few trips to a psychiatrist and he'd be okay. So she hoped, anyway.
But now that they'd gotten inside, they'd found that the house was even bigger once you were actually in. Which was a definite problem.
They'd meandered through hallways and stairways, through rooms and countless corridors. And now, it had split into three directions. Three ominous directions at that. Oh boy, Usagi though drearily. More fun.
"Right. so now we've gotta split up"- Usagi began, but was interrupted.
"Link and I will go together," Navi cried, already dragging the elfin- looking boy along. Kenshin and Sanosuke gave Usagi a little wave as they took the far right path. That, of course, left Usagi and Hotohori to go on the left one.
For a moment neither of them said anything, and then Usagi sighed. "Right. well, your majesty, shall we be going?"
-----------------*
:: Where Duo, Hotohori, and Usagi are ::
Duo frowned. Now where the hell was he?
He hated big places, and this was the reason why. It was too easy to get lost in them. Come to think of it, he didn't like exceptionally small places, either. Oh, well, no biggie.
The real problem at hand was that Duo was very lost, hungry, and frustrated to boot. He'd been wandering around here for at least thirty minutes, and now he couldn't figure out which way was forward or back.
It was just too damn difficult.
I don't see how Quatre does it, Duo grumbled mentally to himself. Maybe Duo was just a simpler guy, but mansions were too much of a pain in the ass to take care of in his opinion.
"Not to mention you'd need a road map to navigate this horrible place. Bah!" Duo threw up his hands in a gesture of self defeat and pouted momentarily. And all he'd wanted was a sandwich! Well, all right, so he'd wanted a coke and a sandwich. Was it really all that much to ask for?
Apparently so.
The braided pilot was preparing to scream in frustration.
But was halted by the sound a voice. And not just any type of voice- the voice of a girl.
Now, Duo had heard plenty of girls before- most of them were yelling at him to get some new pick up lines. But this.. was different.
Because there weren't any female maids here, none had been hired yet. Which was why Wufei said the food tasted so bad. Quatre had said they were all too afraid to come here, and he'd felt sorry for them, so he hadn't made them.
But anyhow, the first thought that came to mind was Quatre's story. The one about the girl who refused to give up the house, and was definitely dead.
Boys don't cry, Duo thought, mentally scolding himself, and Gundam pilots don't believe in ghosts. But still, there was a question in his mind, and a horrible underlying fear.
Again he heard the voice, this time the words weren't quite distinctive. But if Duo was correct, then that person was saying something about a house. A very feminine sounding person.
A chill went down Duo's spine, and he had a very bad feeling. Again, he heard the voice, and this time he could make out the words. ".Why, anyone could get lost in here for ages and ages, and never find their way out! But I know that there's someone living here, and I have to find them."
Duo's thoughts ran amuck. He had to get out of here, had to warn Quatre. Well, scratch that- if Quatre was going to bring them all here to a haunted house, then it was every man for himself! Come to think of it.. what if that episode inside of Wing screwed him up so badly that now he's in cahoots WITH the ghost!?
Duo began to back away, though he was too petrified to go very fast. Even though he was frightened enough to take a leak all over Quatre's sparkling clean carpet, it was sort of a fascinated horror. He wanted to know just if it really was..
And then a girl rounded the corner.
She was about his height, with blonde hair in a disarray all around her. Her clothes were mussed up, and looked like some old school outfit. They were disheveled and torn in a few places, and her shoes looked like they were in bad condition.
Along her face were a multitude of little cuts and scratches, that also adorned her arms and exposed legs. She looked a bit pale, very tired, and her arm was in a sling. Despite all of this, she was really pretty..
That did it for Duo. None of the wounds were exactly serious, but damn it, they were close enough for Duo!
Duo froze up, petrified, when the girl made eye contact with him. 'The girl was our age, and very pretty,' his mind echoed. Oh.. oh, Shinigami, somebody please, help me!!
The girl saw him at that moment, and smiled gleefully. "Oh, thank goodness! You have no idea how long we've been"-
Usagi was cut off by the surprisingly loud scream that Duo let out. Usagi's eyes widened and lost their mirth. "What."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A VICTIM! IT'S NOT EVEN MY HOUSE," Duo yelled at the top of his lungs, and ran away in the opposite direction screaming bloody murder. He ran faster than he could ever remember doing so- faster than he ever had from Wufei, even.
"H-hey, wait a minute," Usagi cried desperately toward the fleeing boy, half started toward him. But it was no use, he was already out of sight. And even though she could still hear him, with as fast as he'd been running and as loud as he was screaming, it was doubtful that she'd ever be able to catch up with him.
Usagi stood there stunned, eyes watering. Hotohori came around the corner at last and asked, "What was all of that about?"
Usagi turned around, and started crying her eyes out. "I don't know, but I'm having such a bad day! What is wrong with everyone around here, why do they all think I'm some kind of ghost," the girl sobbed, breaking down at last.
Hotohori stared at her for a moment, before patting her uneasily on the back and walking her forward. "There, there," he said, attempting to comfort her. Her only replies for a while were her sniffles and occasional hiccups.
Finally, she said something. "Hotohori?"
"Yes, Usagi-san?"
"No, just Usagi or Usagi-chan will do, Hotohori-kun. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Was that your question, Usagi-s.. -chan?"
"No."
"Then what was?"
"You want to make me happy, right," the girl asked, giving him her best sad- puppy-dog face.
Hotohori blushed; was that a trick question? "Anno. yes?"
"Give me a piggy-back ride, then?" He gave her a blank look, and Usagi set about to explaining just what a 'piggie back ride' was.
--------------*
:: Where Wufei, Duo, Link and Navi are ::
Wufei could hear the screaming. The incessant, horrible noise that was the shrieking of one Duo Maxwell.
Damn braided baka, what did he do this time, Wufei thought to himself.
He tried to empty his thoughts, but the screaming just kept getting louder and louder, and it wouldn't stop! There was no use trying to meditate in a place like this. So much for peace and quiet.
Just when the noise got the point of intolerability, Wufei swung the door open.
"MAXWELL, WOULD YOU BE"-
Wufei's half yell, half war cry was interrupted by a loud 'thunk'ing noise and a bang against his door. He cursed when the door swung back and hit Wufei on his nose and managed to stub his toe at the same time.
He closed the door and stepped out into the hall to see the most peculiar thing. There was Maxwell, out stone cold on the floor. There was a huge welt growing on his forehead already, and it was going to hurt badly when he woke up.
Wufei knelt down to check his pulse, but before he could the chestnut haired boy began to snore. Wufei snorted, and picked the boy up by his legs and dragged him into his room.
Well, it would serve him right. But I wonder what he was running from..?
And just then, Wufei heard voices. One male, and one an annoyingly high- pitched female. It sort of reminded him of Ririna. Wufei brandished his kitana and stepped out into the hall, looking around for whoever it might be.
Just when he was about to consider it all a work of his imagination, he saw them appearing from in front of him and heard them again.
".But we've been wandering around here for hours, Navi! What if there isn't anyone here? And what if we can't find the others again?"
"Then good riddance. Besides, there's bound to be SOMEBODY here."
About that time they noticed Wufei. "See, Link! Look, what'd I tell you? There's somebody right there!"
"Anno. hello. Could you tell us where we are, please?" The boy fidgeted, and seemed to be focusing on Wufei's blade.
"Well. So you thought that you could scare the Gundam pilots, heh, you fiend?"
"Huh," both said, looking at one another and then back to Wufei. "What."
"Well, don't you worry Maxwell. I will defend your honor by defeating this horrible demon wizard and its. talking light bulb? No, its familiar. Prepare yourselves, vermin!"
"I'm not a demon, you"- Link began, getting really pissed. This demon thing was getting old, goddesses damn it all!
"Link, run," Navi cried as Wufei began to charge at them.
"Ahhh, not again," Link wailed, running for his life and nearly in tears as Wufei followed in hot pursuit.
----------------------*
:: Where Sanosuke, Kenshin, and the Dreaded-One are ::
"Are you sure, Kenshin? I mean, we don't know these people, and I think they kidnapped us," Sanosuke said, a bit suspicious and skeptical.
"Don't be silly. They seem like nice people, and they don't even know what's going on," he replied, continuing to walk in the random direction that they had been for the past forty five minutes or so.
Sanosuke sighed. "All right, whatever you say. But I'm getting hungry, and even Kaoru's food is beginning to sound good to me."
Kenshin laughed at that. Of course, that was just like Sanosuke saying that he could eat a panda bear- it was, number one, unlikely, and number two, a disturbing thought. However, as strange as the comment had been, it was nothing compared to the way their day had been going.
"You! Who are you," called out a voice from the shadows in front of them, interrupting their brainless prattle.
Just where the hell did those shadows come from, anyway? The magic lights over-head were lighting the way, and I could have sworn that wasn't there a second ago..
Kenshin automatically went into a defensive position, and Sanosuke hid behind him with an 'eep!' ((AN: Aww, kawaii, ne? Even if it :is: OOC ^,^))
"Who's there," Kenshin called, confused and suspicious. The voice had come from the shadows ahead of them, but he couldn't see anyone.
"It is I, Ririna Peacecraft Princess of the Sinq Kingdom," came the voice again, this time stepping into the light. It was a girl- a rather ugly one, noted Sanosuke, although Kenshin was too polite to think- much less say- something like that. She was dressed in an outfit similar to Usagi's, only hers looked awful on her body, not to mention the choice of colors was atrocious.
"And you," she asked continuing. "I asked you before, now answer my question- who are you," she demanded again, this time striking a rather foolish-looking pose. It was accentuated by the way she looked so dirty and her clothes so rumpled.
Kenshin and Sanosuke spared each other looks that said 'Oh, boy,' and, 'I hope all of the people here aren't loons like her.' "Watashi wa. Himura Kenshin," Kenshin said, remaining polite despite the situtation.
"Watashi wa Sanosuke," he said, with a note of finality. ((AN: Just what is Sanosuke's surname, anyway? Does anyone know?)) He was glaring at the girl in suspicion, trying to judge is she was a threat enough to bother attacking.
"Ah. Commoners, then. Tell me- which way is out of these hallways and where my beloved Hiiro is!"
Both men were sweat dropping by now, and wondering if they should be trying to get away about now. "Anno. that's a bit of a problem. We're lost, too," Kenshin said politely.
"And we don't know any 'Hiiro,' guy, either," Sanosuke added. Kenshin gave Sanosuke a funny look; why was he still behind him?
Ririna's face fell. "That can't be true! I know Hiiro's here. I can't believe that I've spent a whole week searching for him and I still haven't managed it."
Kenshin's eyes bugged out. "A- a week? In here? How have you been surviving?"
Ririna smiled. "I have been eating the random, stale crumbs missed by vacuum cleaners off of the floor," she declared with pride. "Even though I am starving and probably close to death, I will not give up my ideals of peace to fight with the mice!"
Sanosuke had no idea what a vacuum cleaner was, but he had a feeling that the fact that the crumbs had been left there for that long wasn't a good thing. In fact, he felt a bit ill. Not to mention he was officially frightened of the girl.
"Kenshin," he whispered in the older man's ear. "Let's get out of here, quick- while she's still rambling!"
Kenshin hesitated for a moment. He didn't really want to leave anybody in a place like this especially when they'd been eating crumbs, but. he had to admit this 'Ririna' person was downright frightening.
So they crept away, silent as mice ((AN: yes, bad pun, I know. -,-;;)) and were long gone by the time Ririna had finished.
".and so, I believe that we should trek together in the name of peace, love, and Hiiro"- Ririna looked around and saw that there was no one there. "Huh? Where'd they go," she wondered to herself, the question mark over her head almost visible.
At that moment, Ririna spied a crumb lying on the floor- a rather large one! Ririna gasped, her eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree, and she stooped to pick it up-
But before she could, a mouse came by and snatched it up!
"You- how dare you," Ririna cried. "That was mine! Come back in here! I'm the future Queen of the Sanq Kingdom, and I DEMAND that you hand over the crumb," she shouted, racing after the poor, traumatized mouse.
-----------------*
:: In the real world - with the scouts ::
"I've never seen so much chaos in one place," Ami said, dumbfounded. She had known all along that Usagi's presence would screw some things up, but this was outrageous! If it didn't infuriate her to no end, she might have laughed.
"That's odango otama, for you," drawled Rei, not bothering to even look up from the manga she was reading. She had given up on any sane point in this whole wacky adventure, and had found one of the manga that Usagi had previously borrowed from her and 'forgot' to return. "She applies to all of Murphy's laws, and a few of her own that nobody's figured out just yet.."
"What's my baka oneesan doing now," Shingo called from across the room. He was currently playing charades with Luna, Artemis, Minako, and Makoto. Apparently Minako had the same amount of attention span that Shingo did, so they'd managed to drag most everyone into playing.
Ami frowned. "Really, Shingo, that's not much of a way to talk about you sister."
He just snorted and shook his head. "Whatever. But what is she doing now?"
"Oh, just wrecking havoc all over the universe, probably causing irreparable damage to countless lifetimes. That sort of thing," she said, her tone dry and a bit angry.
"Cool," Minako cried, "can I go next!?"
Ami hung her head, and prayed for deliverance.
-------------------*
:: In the real world - with Mamoru ::
Mamoru was looking at the different flowers that the venders on the street had to sell. It was getting late, so they wouldn't be open for all that much longer. That meant that the clock was racing against him.
Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a pair of officers walking out of a doughnut shop. He wondered momentarily if he should get Usagi food instead, but he figured that with his luck she'd be in the middle of her period and misunderstand him somehow.
I need those flowers for tomorrow, he thought, frowning. Mamoru never liked to be woman-less- it gave him a sense of power to know that he always had some beauty beside him.
Even if it was an under aged, clumsy little fool of one.
Roses. roses are always good, he thought. "How much for these roses?" He asked, holding up the bouquet of flowers.
The shop owner looked at the man, sizing him up. Number one, this man had to be an idiot- couldn't he see the price tag in front of him? Not to mention he was rather ugly and had no taste. The older man felt truly sorry for the recipient of the flowers- what an insult.
If he's going to be stupid, then I'll over charge him, the man decided. Besides. what kind of a person wears a blazer when it's almost July? "Twenty five ninety nine, the man said, watching Mamoru's facial expression.
It was at that time a young boy walked by, seemingly innocent, and snatched Mamoru's wallet out of his back pocket without the stupid oaf ever even noticing.
Mamoru cursed, looking for his wallet. That had to be over-priced. Who in their right mind would pay that much for a bunch of roses- Ah, but he didn't have the time to waste trying to figure out if
All movement seemed to stop, as Mamoru realized. his wallet was gone. He cursed louder, and missed the disapproving looking a mother with her child shot at him. Where was it, where could it be.?
It must have been stolen, he realized. All of his credit cards. Mamoru felt like ripping out his hair.
"I'm. afraid I'm going to have to come back another time," he said, putting the flowers back, and backing away. The look the vendor was giving him was scaring him, and he had decided that it was a good time to get away.
The vendor's frown deepened, and he said in a dark and rather threatening voice, "You intended to steal from me, then?"
"N-no, I"- Mamoru began, attempting to defend himself from the accusations. It was too late for Mamoru, though.
"Officers," the man called to the nearby cops, who instantly snapped to attention. The had jumped to attention at the slightest call for help- they didn't get it very often. Mamoru had a sudden sense of doom that was confirmed as the police entered the situation with scowls on their face.
Oh, shit, Mamoru groaned mentally.
--------------------*
:: Back in the GW - With Usagi and Hotohori ::
"Thanks, Hotohori-kun. It's really nice of you to carry me," the blonde said happily.
Said blonde was currently holding onto Hotohori around his neck area as he let her ride. Her once decent looking clothes were rumpled and drying, her hair mussed up to the point that it was falling out of their holders. Still, despite her ragged appearance, she was cheerful enough.
The same could not quite be said for Hotohori.
The blonde actually wasn't all that heavy- at least not as heavy as Miaka had been. However, they'd been walking around for a while, and he was getting tired.
"Daijobu desu ka, Hotohori-kun," the blonde asked, leaning closer to him.
He couldn't see her face, but he could imagine what she looked like. After spending the last few chaotic hours with her and her accomplice in crime, he had an idea of how she was holding up. Her blonde hair fell over his shoulder and into his face, tickling him. "Usagi-san, your hair is tickling me again."
"Ah, sorry about that, Hotohori-kun! But really, though, we're friends, so please call me Usagi-chan, or at least Usagi." Her voice sounded light and perky- a bit like Miaka's. In fact, there were some suspicious parallels between the two- but at least Usagi didn't seem quite so pushy.
He shifted her weight on his back. If they didn't find anyone soon, Hotohori's back was going to break, and then Usagi'd have to carry him. The mental image of that picture made him smile ever so slightly.
"Hotohori-kun.. do you think we'll ever get out of this place," the blonde girl asked, interrupting the silence that had engulfed them. Her mood seemed to have changed, and a damper had come upon it- making her sound rather gloomy and uncertain.
"There was a way in, so there must be a way out," he replied logically. Although, this could be some kind of torture device, and.. Hotohori frowned to himself, but had enough brains to know not to share with the girl his unsound thoughts.
The silence droned on again, and Usagi's eyes were downcast. So far, the day hadn't been going so well. She had been dumped in not one, but two forests, scratched up and eaten alive by bugs, been pushed down a well, and was now stuck in this endless maze.
To top the situation off, she knew Hotohori was getting tired and wouldn't be able to carry her for much longer. And then, there was the OTHER problem.. the one that consisted of her bladder.
Still, despite it all, she refused to complain to Hotohori. She knew that there was nothing that he could do to change the current situation, and whining would probably just succeed in pissing him off. She really didn't want to make him mad, since he was the only person around, and he had been so kind as to agree to carry her.
She sighed, and wriggled, trying to get comfortable without choking Hotohori.
That was when the power went out.
Usagi only groaned, and Hotohori let out a grieved sigh.
*--------------*
::With Trowa, Quatre, and Hiiro ::
Quatre led the way down the darkened halls with a frown on his face. "I could have sworn I heard someone screaming. It sounded almost like a banshee.."
Neither of his companions said anything- at least nothing that would have been recognizable to any normal human. However, Quatre seemed to have picked up on some unknown frequency, and frowned at his friends. "Hiiro, Trowa! It's not nice to say that Duo screams like a girl, even if he does."
The blonde arab boy just shook his head, and groaned mentally when the flashlight flickered and then died. With the narrow beam of light gone, all three boys were submerged in darkness- an almost creepy one.
"Shoot.. well, the battery's dead," he announced, even though he knew that he didn't really need to. "We'll just have to search for them without light," Quatre said grimly.
Trowa followed the blonde haired boy calmly, both inside and out. However, Hiiro was imagining just how many ways he would torture the braided pilot when they found him. As though the power shorting out wasn't bad enough, the baka was most likely running around somewhere in the dark, wrecking havoc and causing problems.
"I just don't understand it, though," Quatre murmured. "It's fine outside, so there shouldn't be a reason why the power should just go out.."
Once again, there wasn't an audible reply, but Quatre must have been a mind reader or something. "No, Trowa, I made Duo turn off his radio, and his woofers and speakers are hidden. He couldn't have blown the electricity."
"Hn," Hiiro merely grunted in reply, and Trowa shook his head. Quatre sighed, and began to talk again about nothing in particular- just to kind of fill in the time.
It was about that time that Hiiro heard the voices, and cut Quatre off with a click from his ever-present, but never-seen-before-hand gun's safety coming off.
"Hiiro? What is it?"
"Listen," the pilot barked back at his fellow pilot. Instantly, three sets of ears strained to hear in the darkness, and after a moment's absence, a noise began to filter along the hallways- voices from a distance.
".. You think YOU have it bad? Let me tell you how bad it gets for a girl"- A distance voice that could vaguely be made out as female sounded more than slightly peeved and slightly shrill.
"Bad, hm? With men carrying you around, and taking care of your every need?" A second voice, male, regal, and distantly mocking.
"Argh! You're insufferable! It's a wonder that anyone can put up with you, you royal pain in the a-ahhh!" The girl cut off in mid tirade to let out a shrill scream, and only seconds later a yell echoed and words resounded.
Although the rest of the words weren't entirely clear- they were, in fact, far from it- they could make out two new people screaming that they couldn't recognize, and the war cries coming from Wufei.
Without another word, they sped toward the potential disaster scene. Goodness only knew what Wufei could do to fellow swordsmen, much less simple thieves or trespassers.
Rounding several bends, hitting several corners, slamming into a few walls, the pilots stumbled upon the scene. A blonde haired elfish looking young man lay on the ground, seemingly KO'd, while a girl was huddled in the corner, eyes wide and terrified, and a young man in ancient Chinese clothing attempted to fend Wufei off.
Moments later, two other people arrived- both men, and neither recognized. Hiiro instantly cocked his gun, aimed, but was abruptly interrupted by something that was rarely heard.
Quatre yelled.
"ALL OF YOU, CEASE AND DESIST," the Arabian boy cried at the top of his lungs.
And instantly, everyone in the room stopped in their tracks, and did nothing. Not even Hiiro dared.
"Wufei, what do you think you're doing," Quatre questioned in a reprimanding voice. "Put your sword away this minute!"
Wufei grumbled, but did so, to the inward amusement of Trowa. Like a little boy being told 'no' by his mother.. Duo's going to have a field day when he hears about this. .. Where is Duo? "Where's Duo," the tall boy pointed out, more in the fashion of a statement than a question.
"He ran into my door while he was running away from that freak," Wufei said with a sneer, while pointing at the comatose Link.
"Link's not a freak, you wussy boy," Navi protested, shooting into the air and shaking with her anger. Wufei's response to this was to draw his sword out partially, and began to retaliate when he was interrupted.
"No, he's not, now get out of my way," Usagi said, brushing her skirt off and managing to hobble toward where Link was with as much dignity as she could muster. There was a clicking sound, and everyone turned to see that Hiiro had his gun pointed at Usagi- safety off.
"Don't move," he said, which was a lot of warning, coming from Hiiro. Not to mention it was needless to say, really, but the look she gave him in return was rather incredible, coming from such a small and bedraggled looking thing.
"You can shoot me, if you want. I'm sure it wouldn't be all that much of a challenge," she said, brushing him off, and kneeling beside Link's body and checking for his pulse to see if he was alright.
There was utter silence in the room- Trowa never really spoke all that much out of habit, Wufei looked upset and most likely was- as per usual, the prude- and Quatre felt like the situation had escaped his hands. What was really surprising was that Hiiro hadn't actually shot the girl; he merely kept the gun trained on her.
After a few uncomfortable minutes, Quatre decided to try and regain control over things. "Would anyone of you kindly explain just what is going on here," he demanded, trying to remain polite while being authoritive.
Usagi looked up at him, serious blue eyes meeting his own for a moment. "We're lost," was all she ended up offering before motioning to Kenshin to help her get Link up off the floor. Between the two of them, they managed to support Link before Hotohori silently told her to step aside and allow him to help instead.
Quatre watched them for a few moments, trying to think. For the most part, they looked like weary travelers. Their oddities were unnumbered, but they appeared harmless enough. Sure, three of them were equipped with swords, but if they had been true enemies then they probably would have had guns of some sort.
"Very well. I'm sorry miss, I wish that I could believe you, but if you can't provide me with more of an alibi than that, I'm afraid that we'll just have to take you into custody for a while."
She only nodded in response, and the group formed a small circle by instinct, and were then promptly 'escorted' down another stretch of hall till they reached a living room.
By the time they had been sat down on the plush chairs, Usagi was so thoroughly exhausted she would have fallen straight to sleep if it wasn't for her physical discomfort. All of the muscles in her body had begun to ache with tremendous force, her head was pounding, and that ferocious headache was returning. To top it all off, if they didn't let her go to the restroom, she was going to piddle all over this guy's furniture.
Usagi looked around the room, and finally realized that she was surrounded entirely by men. So that's what the problem is here, the smallest fraction in her that could still find humor in the situation. Too much testosterone, and not enough estrogen.
Most likely, it was true. But there wasn't really any help for the situation. So she sat there for a long while, the nausea approaching her slowly this time while she writhed in her seat with the need to go to the restroom.
"Excuse me," she finally attempted, knowing that if she didn't get to a bathroom immediately there were going to be problems. She was cut short by the dark look that the Chinese boy gave her and the click that came from the trigger happy one's gun.
"Be silent, woman," the Chinese boy ordered, before going back to his heated discussion with his friends.
"But I"- she began, but was once more stopped.
"Woman," the Chinese boy snarled one last time.
"Please, miss, give us a few minutes," Quatre said, offering her a pleading and half-exasperated look.
Usagi frowned. Well, if that's the way they were going to be, then she might as well go ahead and piss all over the seats. See if she cared!
And she probably would have done it, too, just to spite them if it hadn't been for the sudden attack of pain, that forced the air out of her chest and made her curl up instinctively, searching for a position that hurt the least.
She sat there in a cold sweat and trembling while her sore muscles convulsed painfully and her stomach heaved again. She fought it off even as her headache reached its fever pitch, and Usagi began to see spots dancing in front of her eyes. Why, she wondered to herself, does this keep happening to me?
Usagi sat there for a long time, shuddering like a leaf being gusted at by the harsh autumn winds that threatened to throw her from her tree, pale as a sheet. It was Sanosuke who finally noticed what was wrong.
He nudged Kenshin, who sat to his left. "Kenshin," he hissed, "what's wrong with her," he asked the older man, jerking his thumb at the girl. Kenshin's attention snapped away from the debating boys in the middle of the room and focused in on Usagi. He frowned; if he didn't know any better, he'd say that it was happening just like it had last time..
He got up, and went over to her, and shook her gently, ignoring the fact that all of the boys had their various weapons drawn and pointed at him- which included a katana, two guns, and a flashlight with batteries that didn't even work. "Usagi-san," he asked. "Usagi-san?"
By now, Quatre had lowered his weapon, and was hesitantly approaching the girl. Even Hotohori and Navi had come closer now, bringing with them the dead-weight that was Link. Sanosuke stood a bit behind Kenshin, concerned but only just because he hardly knew the girl.
Hiiro cautiously approached the girl, gun leveled at her forehead and eyes narrowed with suspicion. Wufei had unsheathed his katana, and even Trowa was reaching for his gun.
The girl looked at him, blue eyes wide and delirious, the colors of the rainbow swirling inside of her normally azure orbs. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words were lost as the white light welled up from the corner of the room behind her, and snatched them away.
And then, the people around her were sucked up in the torrent of white. Or perhaps it was just the blinding absence of anything- something that could not possibly be described or understood by the human mind.
In the moments preceding afterwards, the remaining pilots were silent for a long few moments, until they took into account that the white light had taken away two of their allies- one Hiiro Yui and Quatre Winner. For a brief moment, Trowa actually felt sorry for them- Hiiro wasn't likely to be very kind or willing hostage.
Wufei began to swear up a storm, and meanwhile Duo just rolled over and continued to snore quite happily and rather oblivious on the ground. However, there were two more entities in the house that had yet to be summarized in this horrible, drawn-out conclusion of this chapter. Can you guess?
((If you can't, that's okay, too- if you've already skipped ahead, then shame on you! .. And I'll quite rhyming and delaying the finale now. ^^))
::Where Ririna is::
Finally, a dead end! After having chased the rodent through the hallways, up countless flights of stairs.. it was trapped. Trapped like a rat, she thought, and laughed mentally at her own bad pun.
"Hah, hah, hah; I've caught you now, evil doer! Surrender the sustenance to your queen now, or be thrown into a prison cell to think about what you've done," Ririna cackled, almost evilly. If there had been a single bystander, they might have tried to restrain the raving woman- if they weren't frightened for some odd reason- but as it was, the poor rodent was on its own.
The poor little guy hadn't dealt with humans very often, and certainly not with such a scary one. Just what kind of a woman went chasing after a mouse down hallways, anyhow?! The point was, though, that even this morsel wasn't worth this kind of harassment..
At that moment, another flash of eerie light lightning lit the area briefly. The mouse's ears picked up a small sound beginning from the room behind the locked door. They twitched as he concentrated on it, confirming what indeed it was. And, sure enough.. it was the Lady of the House.
At the moment, Ririna sprang, crying out, "For the sake of justice and peace, give me the crumb now!" The mouse scurried out of the way, just before the future queen rammed straight into the door- and then through the half-rotted wood with a loud bang and crunching sound.
The mouse squeaked, grabbed his crumb, and prepared to run off- but he changed his mind, seeing as the girl was stuck. He came closer, dared to, as she attempted to pull herself free of the whole she'd gotten herself stuck, when the mouse bit her on the leg.
It then scampered off in the direction they'd come from as fast as its tiny legs could carry it. Ririna pried herself free from the door's hold with a cry of pain. Rubbing her leg, she assessed the damage- from the looks, not to mention feel, of it, she had been bitten, had a goose egg on her forehead the size of, and splinters littering her skin from her forehead to her neck.
What are the odds that I'm going to get Bubonic Plague, she wondered to herself. No matter.. not even death can keep me away from my Hiiro, she determined, striking a mental pose.
A soft voice broke the silence. "Who are you, that you would dare to awaken me from my slumber?"
Ririna looked up, and saw a beautiful young woman standing in front of her. Ririna had heard the whispered tales of the woman ghost in the high attic from the servants (that was, of course, before she tried to get their help, and they ran away from her). This, undoubtedly must have been her.
She was dressed in an old fashioned dress, with too many ruffles and too many frills. There was an intelligence and curiosity to her blank, lavender eyes as she stared down at Ririna with her gloved hands folded lady-like in front of her. The finishing touches consisted in the matte black shoes and stockings that came up to her knees and ended in another set of frills.
She was really lovely, and despite her old-fashioned style of clothes, she wouldn't have looked the slightest bit eerie. Well, that would have been true, if it weren't for the fact that her glossy brown hair weren't writhing as though with a life of its own, and she wasn't floating a few inches off of the floor.
"You! You're the ghost that lives here," Ririna accused, as though she needed to state the obvious.
The girl simply nodded, and her vague, enchanting voice became softer with an odd echo to it. "Yes, I am. Now, I asked you a question- answer it quickly, lest I lose my patience with you."
Ririna stared at her, dumbfounded for several minutes. Finally, the unnamed girl's eyes narrowed into glowing lavender slits. "You would dare to enter my home and not answer my questions? I am the Lady of this house! Answer now, before it is too late," the girl said threateningly, a black aura spreading from her body.
Ririna shook her head, dirty blond hair flapping around her. "Never! You're only here to steal my Hiiro from me! Well, never! And besides, this is Quatre's house now; you're dead!"
That did it. With deadly calm, the ghost replied to her. "I am dead, and a ghost, but this house is very much mine- it is my blood right. And you have failed your duties as a guest- therefore, you must suffer the consequences!"
The ghost held her left, gloved hand out in front of her, and a small lavender ball of energy formed within it. As though praying to it, she bowed her head in reverence to the power, and then threw it at Ririna.
Ririna gave a small, chocked cry, but it was cut off shortly afterwards, and there was only one girl in the hall then.
The nameless ghost smiled to herself, now. "It will be ten years till I am able to sleep again, and in that time, little one, you will entertain me." She bent down, and picked up the small, porcelain doll that had moments before been Ririna.
"Alas, you are not a very pretty doll.. but you will do well enough, I suppose. When you are done with your time, I suppose I shall let you go," the ghost added before entering back into the attic, and closing the newly repaired door behind her.
*--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------*
Oh my goodness.. You guys have no idea how glad I am to have finished that. It took me forever, felt like it was dragging along. I'm very sorry if reading it felt the same way, but I didn't want to skip over anything. . Some of it sounds/looks really stupid looking back on it, now.
:sigh: Anyhow, I hope that that was worth it. It's fourteen or so pages long.. :shrugs: But I blame it on the fact that I was writing something with GW in it. I simply don't like the series the same way I did once.. which makes for difficult writing.
So, anyhow, the next chapter is planned to be. dun, dun, dun, WK! ^^ :cheer: So. anyhow.. see you all there, hopefully- those of you that I didn't bore to death, anyhow.
REVIEW RESPONSES
Bird
Uhm, DBZ I won't do, I'm afraid, because that's the one anime series I simply can not stand. However, FF is another story entirely- I'd like to do one, even though I'm not very far in most of them (Beat FFX, almost have beaten FF9). There's so many of them. anyhow.
Hurru
I'm glad you liked it! More I can do, but fast.? I'm not too good at that one. -_-;
Silver Shadows AKA SS Silver
Phwee, I'm sorry I cut the RK part so short. but it's been a long time since I read any of it, so I didn't want to mess up too bad on stuff. Uhm, well, next is WK. but after that, I'll do Inu-Yasha if you'd like. Just not the anime version, kay? I like the manga version so much better.
And gods damn it all, why the hell can't I get anyone's name right!!? . Just go ahead and shoot me if I did it again, although this time I do have the legitimate of excuse because of the damned anesthesia. :shudders: I HATE that stuff. it always makes me so sick.
Aidenn Legacy
:giggles: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing that scene with the sergeant, myself, though I felt kinda bad for him.. and I felt really, really bad for Link, especially now, when I've stretched the joke to its breaking limit. :sweatdrop:
I forgot what we were talking about last time. But, uhm, self-inserts are fun, even if people wonder if you're on drugs afterwards. :major sweatdrop:
Kwa. poor Kenji, only trying to look out for his daughter. Well, I guess this is what happens when you try to protect her too much. ^^ That won't be for a while yet, most likely, though.
Blue Moon
Phwee, you sound like me after I've read something I like. Like I'm on some kind of a sugar high. ^^
And I love Invader Zim! (AAAH! My squeedily-spooch!) ^.^ Such fun.
Firefly-chan
You put me on your favorite list!? :starry eyed: Wahh, you people are the greatest!! :huggle glomps you: Glad you enjoyed that story so much!
Dee-chan
Waah! Cookie! :glomps you:
Navi's a pain in the butt. but everything will turn out all right. I promise. And I don't know if Navi has a :cough, cough:. Do fairies have those? Probably. who knows. ^^;;; Hee, hee. Hotohori can be so narcissistic sometimes...
Baby_bunnygurl
Well, if I updated it more often, then things probably wouldn't come out as well. Or at least they might, but they'd be sloppy and short. As for spelling in your review, I don't mind- they don't have a spell check or anything, and it's the thought that counts, anyhow. Thank you very, very much for reviewing!
Anonymous person
Oro. you left me with no name. :dumb founded: Uhm, well, here's GW. but I won't be doing Outlaw Star, because I'm not too familiar with the series, and I'm not that big a fan of it, either.
SweetKawaiiAngel
Gah.. I badgered you into reviewing, and then the damn thing cuts off. Must mean that it wasn't meant to happen, then. Oh, well. Sorry I'm always such a pain in your ass, though.
Gakkuri Naishinnou
Kwa, I'm sorry I didn't tell you! I forgot all about it.. I'll probably manage to forget this time, too.
Lol, well, at least you're honest about your actions. You probably wouldn't be the only one, either. :giggles: But I'm glad that you liked that chapter, I sincerely hope that you will have enjoyed this one, too, and that you will enjoy the next one. ^^
Yuuguri
Lol, you feel sorry for her, too? Such insanity amongst the ranks. But anyhow, I can do FF7. I'd probably need help, since I'm not very far into the game, though. We'll just see about it, okay? Cuz I'm thinking of doing maybe FF8. Squall. :drools: Or Kuja-sama. :worships:
Chapter Four : Insanity (GW)
DISCLAIMER: same
RATING: same
DEDICATION: To the people who requested I do GW. including but probably not limited to: Firefly-chan, Jade, Avalon Hunter, Silver Shadows AKA SS Silver (I hope I got it right this time.), and Za Kaze no Nisou. To anyone who requested this also and I missed, my sincere apologies- this is for you, too. ^^
AN: And onto chapter four! For all of you that reviewed the last chapter, thank you. And I noticed that some of you were. uhm, rather peeved with me for taking so long. Well, I'm sorry, but surprisingly enough I have a bit more of a life than I expected. And I'm getting this out asap.
WARNINGS: Same; silliness, Ririna bashing, MUCH OOC-ness (mostly Sanosuke). Oh, and did I mention the silliness?^^
*--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------*
:: With our favorite group of rag-tag friends ::
As the light faded, so did Usagi's urge to hurl. There were a few moments of long silence before the impending insanity ensued.
"Just what the hell was that," cried Sanosuke, who looked just about ready to attack everyone around him. He wasn't thinking logically, but that was okay- his companions weren't in a much better state.
"Oh, not again," Navi groaned, looking profusely miserable. This was punishment from the goddesses, it just had to be. Or else that someone up there had a horrible sense of humor, and should be punished by being locked in a room with rabid cukoos.
Kenshin took in the events fairly well. He might have had his own moment to have a heart attack, but he was too busy restraining Sanosuke.
Hotohori sighed. "This is cruel. Who knows what's happening to my kingdom in my absence." Hotohori envisioned his kingdom in ruins, smoke rising from the rubble. And all the while an evil Nuriko laughed wickedly, standing tall among the debris and flames in front of a blazing sunset. It's not fair..
Usagi stood up on wobbly legs, and surveyed the scenery. From the looks of it, they were in some huge garden. Usagi looked around at the lavishly kept flowers, and deduced that they must have been at some huge manor.
Her thoughts were affirmed when she caught sight of the 'house.' It was more like a palace, as far as Usagi was concerned. Just how many rooms did a house need, anyway? Most of them were bound to be empty. But still, it was more than just a little impressive, seeing that great manor looming in front of them.
"Minna-san, that house.. there's bound to be someone there. We should ask them where we are there," Usagi said decisively.
"Oh, yeah, and they'll probably try to shoot us, too," Navi grumbled as they began to follow the once-again relatively happy leader.
Navi didn't know how right she was.
--------------*
:: Where the Gundam boys are ::
"Aw, guys, c'mon, I'm bored. This is our time off. can't we do anything that's at least a little fun," Duo wined. He'd been hoping for something a bit more exciting than sitting here on a couch watching sitcoms in a language he couldn't even understand. There had to be something better to do than sit on a couch all evening while they were free from missions.
He didn't get much of a reply- collectively, he got a grunt, a snort, and silence. Shinigami, you guys are about as talkative as rocks.. Just how the heck do I manage to pick such weird friends?
Quatre was a bit more sympathetic towards his hyper friend. Everyone knew that a bored Duo was one liable to get into a lot of trouble, so he should probably humor him, in only to attempt to avoid another fight.
"Well, what do you want to do, Duo," he asked, trying to be helpful.
"Uhm.. Well, that's a problem. I don't really know.." Of course Wufei snorted when he heard that, shaking his head and muttering something about idiots who couldn't make up their minds.
Quatre smiled. "Well. would you like to hear about the history of this house, then?"
Inwardly, Duo groaned. Oh, no, not a history lesson. Q-man, we're friends and all, but there's only so much I can take. Quatre must have seen the look on his face, because he laughed.
"It's really interesting, Duo. A bit of a ghost story," the blonde added, sitting down, pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Oh," asked Duo, his interests perking up just a bit.
Quatre nodded. "This house was built around seventy years ago. It doesn't look like it, but that's because it's been restored. At any rate, the original family that lived here consisted of a father, a mother, and a single daughter.
"The reason behind this was that the mother couldn't bear anymore children after their first- there had been too many complications, and the doctors said that if she were to try and have another child, it would most likely kill her.
"So all he had was a daughter as the sole heir to his estate and immense fortune"-
"Sounds like a deal to me," Duo muttered. Quatre just smiled slightly, and went on.
"The mother had never been particularly in strong health from day one. The fact that she had never quite healed from her daughter's birth was one strike too many against the woman, and eventually after many years of being bed-ridden, she died.
"The father started to go mad shortly after that, claiming all sorts of outrageous things. He blamed his daughter for his wife's death, and became a twisted old man. Because of his immense fortune no one would dare to try and have him committed, so his condition worsened with time.
"At last all of the servants had either quit or been fired on outrageous charges, and the house was empty but for the father and his daughter.
"Now the young girl- our age, by then- was very pretty and wasn't a bad person. She was fairly liked in the town and with the former servants, having taken after her late mother. She was left all alone in the big house to try and take care of her father and the estate.
"She knew that her father hated her, but she avoided him when she could out of fear. He was an old man, and though he was stuck in a wheelchair, his sheer hatred was frightening.
"One night, the father decided to 'avenge' his wife's death by killing his daughter and sending her back to the devil, where he thought she belonged. He rose out of his wheel chair, tracked her down to this very room, and attempted to kill her."
Silence filled the room but for the sound of Hiiro typing on his laptop. "Well, what happened," Duo demanded eventually.
"Well, she didn't die, not immediately, anyway. She managed to defend herself from him, although she didn't escape unwounded- in fact, the very wounds that she received were what killed her. As for her father, she had been forced to kill him in self defense.
"One of the neighbors had heard some of the commotion and had called the police. They showed up just in time to see her last few moments of life."
Quatre leaned forward from where he was sitting now, eyes gaining an intent look. "They said that for the most part, she was just talking nonsense, shock and all, but just before she died.. But she became went stiff as a ramrod and said in this deep, macho, Barry White voice that this house would be forever hers, and that anyone who dared to disturb her slumber would be cursed to an eternity in hell."
"Since then, she's been seen a few times. And every time, she's had horrible wounds all across her body. Some of the people who saw her died, but most made it back alive- barely."
As that moment there was a loud boom of thunder, and everyone jumped. Well, besides Hiiro. He was too busy with whatever was on his screen. ((AN: Just what DOES he look at, anyway?))
"What the shit," muttered Wufei, nearly sweat dropping- but not quite, because Chang Wufei was too 'manly' to do something so feminine as sweat drop. The weather forecast for the day hadn't said anything about rain or storms. And in fact, looking out the window, it was a cloudless sunny day.
Duo laughed. "Ooooh, 'Fei, it's the curse of the dead un-named girl," Duo said, laughing and waggling his fingers at Wufei.
Wufei's eyes narrowed, and he snorted. "Baka." He stood up and stretched. "Unlike you, I know better than to believe in ghosts."
"Oh, but Wufei, it's true," interjected Quatre. "People wouldn't come anywhere near here for years after the sightings because they were so afraid. Some people have actually claimed to have seen her- my sister did, for one."
"Which one," Duo asked, lounging back in his seat. Even he wasn't dumb enough to believe in a story like that. "And if it was so bad, why did your dad buy this place?"
"Otousan didn't believe in ghosts and curses. Plus, it was really cheap. The realtors for this place were pretty desperate."
Wufei snorted. "Superstitious weaklings. like the ghost of a weak woman could be THAT powerful."
--------------*
:: Where the rather large group of 'misfits' is located ::
So far the group had made it into the house uneventfully. Well, mostly, anyway. There had been that incident with the servant. As much as Usagi didn't agree with them tying that guy up and leaving him under that tree, it was the only thing to be done.
He wasn't very useful, not when he wouldn't stop screaming and blubbering. Something or another about a ghost with horrible wounds. It was strange, because no one even HAD horrible wounds, perhaps beside Usagi, who was suffering from a few bruises on her head, bug bites, scratches, and a broken arm.
She felt especially sorry for him though when that freak bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and hit the tree. But oh well, a few trips to a psychiatrist and he'd be okay. So she hoped, anyway.
But now that they'd gotten inside, they'd found that the house was even bigger once you were actually in. Which was a definite problem.
They'd meandered through hallways and stairways, through rooms and countless corridors. And now, it had split into three directions. Three ominous directions at that. Oh boy, Usagi though drearily. More fun.
"Right. so now we've gotta split up"- Usagi began, but was interrupted.
"Link and I will go together," Navi cried, already dragging the elfin- looking boy along. Kenshin and Sanosuke gave Usagi a little wave as they took the far right path. That, of course, left Usagi and Hotohori to go on the left one.
For a moment neither of them said anything, and then Usagi sighed. "Right. well, your majesty, shall we be going?"
-----------------*
:: Where Duo, Hotohori, and Usagi are ::
Duo frowned. Now where the hell was he?
He hated big places, and this was the reason why. It was too easy to get lost in them. Come to think of it, he didn't like exceptionally small places, either. Oh, well, no biggie.
The real problem at hand was that Duo was very lost, hungry, and frustrated to boot. He'd been wandering around here for at least thirty minutes, and now he couldn't figure out which way was forward or back.
It was just too damn difficult.
I don't see how Quatre does it, Duo grumbled mentally to himself. Maybe Duo was just a simpler guy, but mansions were too much of a pain in the ass to take care of in his opinion.
"Not to mention you'd need a road map to navigate this horrible place. Bah!" Duo threw up his hands in a gesture of self defeat and pouted momentarily. And all he'd wanted was a sandwich! Well, all right, so he'd wanted a coke and a sandwich. Was it really all that much to ask for?
Apparently so.
The braided pilot was preparing to scream in frustration.
But was halted by the sound a voice. And not just any type of voice- the voice of a girl.
Now, Duo had heard plenty of girls before- most of them were yelling at him to get some new pick up lines. But this.. was different.
Because there weren't any female maids here, none had been hired yet. Which was why Wufei said the food tasted so bad. Quatre had said they were all too afraid to come here, and he'd felt sorry for them, so he hadn't made them.
But anyhow, the first thought that came to mind was Quatre's story. The one about the girl who refused to give up the house, and was definitely dead.
Boys don't cry, Duo thought, mentally scolding himself, and Gundam pilots don't believe in ghosts. But still, there was a question in his mind, and a horrible underlying fear.
Again he heard the voice, this time the words weren't quite distinctive. But if Duo was correct, then that person was saying something about a house. A very feminine sounding person.
A chill went down Duo's spine, and he had a very bad feeling. Again, he heard the voice, and this time he could make out the words. ".Why, anyone could get lost in here for ages and ages, and never find their way out! But I know that there's someone living here, and I have to find them."
Duo's thoughts ran amuck. He had to get out of here, had to warn Quatre. Well, scratch that- if Quatre was going to bring them all here to a haunted house, then it was every man for himself! Come to think of it.. what if that episode inside of Wing screwed him up so badly that now he's in cahoots WITH the ghost!?
Duo began to back away, though he was too petrified to go very fast. Even though he was frightened enough to take a leak all over Quatre's sparkling clean carpet, it was sort of a fascinated horror. He wanted to know just if it really was..
And then a girl rounded the corner.
She was about his height, with blonde hair in a disarray all around her. Her clothes were mussed up, and looked like some old school outfit. They were disheveled and torn in a few places, and her shoes looked like they were in bad condition.
Along her face were a multitude of little cuts and scratches, that also adorned her arms and exposed legs. She looked a bit pale, very tired, and her arm was in a sling. Despite all of this, she was really pretty..
That did it for Duo. None of the wounds were exactly serious, but damn it, they were close enough for Duo!
Duo froze up, petrified, when the girl made eye contact with him. 'The girl was our age, and very pretty,' his mind echoed. Oh.. oh, Shinigami, somebody please, help me!!
The girl saw him at that moment, and smiled gleefully. "Oh, thank goodness! You have no idea how long we've been"-
Usagi was cut off by the surprisingly loud scream that Duo let out. Usagi's eyes widened and lost their mirth. "What."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A VICTIM! IT'S NOT EVEN MY HOUSE," Duo yelled at the top of his lungs, and ran away in the opposite direction screaming bloody murder. He ran faster than he could ever remember doing so- faster than he ever had from Wufei, even.
"H-hey, wait a minute," Usagi cried desperately toward the fleeing boy, half started toward him. But it was no use, he was already out of sight. And even though she could still hear him, with as fast as he'd been running and as loud as he was screaming, it was doubtful that she'd ever be able to catch up with him.
Usagi stood there stunned, eyes watering. Hotohori came around the corner at last and asked, "What was all of that about?"
Usagi turned around, and started crying her eyes out. "I don't know, but I'm having such a bad day! What is wrong with everyone around here, why do they all think I'm some kind of ghost," the girl sobbed, breaking down at last.
Hotohori stared at her for a moment, before patting her uneasily on the back and walking her forward. "There, there," he said, attempting to comfort her. Her only replies for a while were her sniffles and occasional hiccups.
Finally, she said something. "Hotohori?"
"Yes, Usagi-san?"
"No, just Usagi or Usagi-chan will do, Hotohori-kun. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Was that your question, Usagi-s.. -chan?"
"No."
"Then what was?"
"You want to make me happy, right," the girl asked, giving him her best sad- puppy-dog face.
Hotohori blushed; was that a trick question? "Anno. yes?"
"Give me a piggy-back ride, then?" He gave her a blank look, and Usagi set about to explaining just what a 'piggie back ride' was.
--------------*
:: Where Wufei, Duo, Link and Navi are ::
Wufei could hear the screaming. The incessant, horrible noise that was the shrieking of one Duo Maxwell.
Damn braided baka, what did he do this time, Wufei thought to himself.
He tried to empty his thoughts, but the screaming just kept getting louder and louder, and it wouldn't stop! There was no use trying to meditate in a place like this. So much for peace and quiet.
Just when the noise got the point of intolerability, Wufei swung the door open.
"MAXWELL, WOULD YOU BE"-
Wufei's half yell, half war cry was interrupted by a loud 'thunk'ing noise and a bang against his door. He cursed when the door swung back and hit Wufei on his nose and managed to stub his toe at the same time.
He closed the door and stepped out into the hall to see the most peculiar thing. There was Maxwell, out stone cold on the floor. There was a huge welt growing on his forehead already, and it was going to hurt badly when he woke up.
Wufei knelt down to check his pulse, but before he could the chestnut haired boy began to snore. Wufei snorted, and picked the boy up by his legs and dragged him into his room.
Well, it would serve him right. But I wonder what he was running from..?
And just then, Wufei heard voices. One male, and one an annoyingly high- pitched female. It sort of reminded him of Ririna. Wufei brandished his kitana and stepped out into the hall, looking around for whoever it might be.
Just when he was about to consider it all a work of his imagination, he saw them appearing from in front of him and heard them again.
".But we've been wandering around here for hours, Navi! What if there isn't anyone here? And what if we can't find the others again?"
"Then good riddance. Besides, there's bound to be SOMEBODY here."
About that time they noticed Wufei. "See, Link! Look, what'd I tell you? There's somebody right there!"
"Anno. hello. Could you tell us where we are, please?" The boy fidgeted, and seemed to be focusing on Wufei's blade.
"Well. So you thought that you could scare the Gundam pilots, heh, you fiend?"
"Huh," both said, looking at one another and then back to Wufei. "What."
"Well, don't you worry Maxwell. I will defend your honor by defeating this horrible demon wizard and its. talking light bulb? No, its familiar. Prepare yourselves, vermin!"
"I'm not a demon, you"- Link began, getting really pissed. This demon thing was getting old, goddesses damn it all!
"Link, run," Navi cried as Wufei began to charge at them.
"Ahhh, not again," Link wailed, running for his life and nearly in tears as Wufei followed in hot pursuit.
----------------------*
:: Where Sanosuke, Kenshin, and the Dreaded-One are ::
"Are you sure, Kenshin? I mean, we don't know these people, and I think they kidnapped us," Sanosuke said, a bit suspicious and skeptical.
"Don't be silly. They seem like nice people, and they don't even know what's going on," he replied, continuing to walk in the random direction that they had been for the past forty five minutes or so.
Sanosuke sighed. "All right, whatever you say. But I'm getting hungry, and even Kaoru's food is beginning to sound good to me."
Kenshin laughed at that. Of course, that was just like Sanosuke saying that he could eat a panda bear- it was, number one, unlikely, and number two, a disturbing thought. However, as strange as the comment had been, it was nothing compared to the way their day had been going.
"You! Who are you," called out a voice from the shadows in front of them, interrupting their brainless prattle.
Just where the hell did those shadows come from, anyway? The magic lights over-head were lighting the way, and I could have sworn that wasn't there a second ago..
Kenshin automatically went into a defensive position, and Sanosuke hid behind him with an 'eep!' ((AN: Aww, kawaii, ne? Even if it :is: OOC ^,^))
"Who's there," Kenshin called, confused and suspicious. The voice had come from the shadows ahead of them, but he couldn't see anyone.
"It is I, Ririna Peacecraft Princess of the Sinq Kingdom," came the voice again, this time stepping into the light. It was a girl- a rather ugly one, noted Sanosuke, although Kenshin was too polite to think- much less say- something like that. She was dressed in an outfit similar to Usagi's, only hers looked awful on her body, not to mention the choice of colors was atrocious.
"And you," she asked continuing. "I asked you before, now answer my question- who are you," she demanded again, this time striking a rather foolish-looking pose. It was accentuated by the way she looked so dirty and her clothes so rumpled.
Kenshin and Sanosuke spared each other looks that said 'Oh, boy,' and, 'I hope all of the people here aren't loons like her.' "Watashi wa. Himura Kenshin," Kenshin said, remaining polite despite the situtation.
"Watashi wa Sanosuke," he said, with a note of finality. ((AN: Just what is Sanosuke's surname, anyway? Does anyone know?)) He was glaring at the girl in suspicion, trying to judge is she was a threat enough to bother attacking.
"Ah. Commoners, then. Tell me- which way is out of these hallways and where my beloved Hiiro is!"
Both men were sweat dropping by now, and wondering if they should be trying to get away about now. "Anno. that's a bit of a problem. We're lost, too," Kenshin said politely.
"And we don't know any 'Hiiro,' guy, either," Sanosuke added. Kenshin gave Sanosuke a funny look; why was he still behind him?
Ririna's face fell. "That can't be true! I know Hiiro's here. I can't believe that I've spent a whole week searching for him and I still haven't managed it."
Kenshin's eyes bugged out. "A- a week? In here? How have you been surviving?"
Ririna smiled. "I have been eating the random, stale crumbs missed by vacuum cleaners off of the floor," she declared with pride. "Even though I am starving and probably close to death, I will not give up my ideals of peace to fight with the mice!"
Sanosuke had no idea what a vacuum cleaner was, but he had a feeling that the fact that the crumbs had been left there for that long wasn't a good thing. In fact, he felt a bit ill. Not to mention he was officially frightened of the girl.
"Kenshin," he whispered in the older man's ear. "Let's get out of here, quick- while she's still rambling!"
Kenshin hesitated for a moment. He didn't really want to leave anybody in a place like this especially when they'd been eating crumbs, but. he had to admit this 'Ririna' person was downright frightening.
So they crept away, silent as mice ((AN: yes, bad pun, I know. -,-;;)) and were long gone by the time Ririna had finished.
".and so, I believe that we should trek together in the name of peace, love, and Hiiro"- Ririna looked around and saw that there was no one there. "Huh? Where'd they go," she wondered to herself, the question mark over her head almost visible.
At that moment, Ririna spied a crumb lying on the floor- a rather large one! Ririna gasped, her eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree, and she stooped to pick it up-
But before she could, a mouse came by and snatched it up!
"You- how dare you," Ririna cried. "That was mine! Come back in here! I'm the future Queen of the Sanq Kingdom, and I DEMAND that you hand over the crumb," she shouted, racing after the poor, traumatized mouse.
-----------------*
:: In the real world - with the scouts ::
"I've never seen so much chaos in one place," Ami said, dumbfounded. She had known all along that Usagi's presence would screw some things up, but this was outrageous! If it didn't infuriate her to no end, she might have laughed.
"That's odango otama, for you," drawled Rei, not bothering to even look up from the manga she was reading. She had given up on any sane point in this whole wacky adventure, and had found one of the manga that Usagi had previously borrowed from her and 'forgot' to return. "She applies to all of Murphy's laws, and a few of her own that nobody's figured out just yet.."
"What's my baka oneesan doing now," Shingo called from across the room. He was currently playing charades with Luna, Artemis, Minako, and Makoto. Apparently Minako had the same amount of attention span that Shingo did, so they'd managed to drag most everyone into playing.
Ami frowned. "Really, Shingo, that's not much of a way to talk about you sister."
He just snorted and shook his head. "Whatever. But what is she doing now?"
"Oh, just wrecking havoc all over the universe, probably causing irreparable damage to countless lifetimes. That sort of thing," she said, her tone dry and a bit angry.
"Cool," Minako cried, "can I go next!?"
Ami hung her head, and prayed for deliverance.
-------------------*
:: In the real world - with Mamoru ::
Mamoru was looking at the different flowers that the venders on the street had to sell. It was getting late, so they wouldn't be open for all that much longer. That meant that the clock was racing against him.
Out of the corner of his eyes he could see a pair of officers walking out of a doughnut shop. He wondered momentarily if he should get Usagi food instead, but he figured that with his luck she'd be in the middle of her period and misunderstand him somehow.
I need those flowers for tomorrow, he thought, frowning. Mamoru never liked to be woman-less- it gave him a sense of power to know that he always had some beauty beside him.
Even if it was an under aged, clumsy little fool of one.
Roses. roses are always good, he thought. "How much for these roses?" He asked, holding up the bouquet of flowers.
The shop owner looked at the man, sizing him up. Number one, this man had to be an idiot- couldn't he see the price tag in front of him? Not to mention he was rather ugly and had no taste. The older man felt truly sorry for the recipient of the flowers- what an insult.
If he's going to be stupid, then I'll over charge him, the man decided. Besides. what kind of a person wears a blazer when it's almost July? "Twenty five ninety nine, the man said, watching Mamoru's facial expression.
It was at that time a young boy walked by, seemingly innocent, and snatched Mamoru's wallet out of his back pocket without the stupid oaf ever even noticing.
Mamoru cursed, looking for his wallet. That had to be over-priced. Who in their right mind would pay that much for a bunch of roses- Ah, but he didn't have the time to waste trying to figure out if
All movement seemed to stop, as Mamoru realized. his wallet was gone. He cursed louder, and missed the disapproving looking a mother with her child shot at him. Where was it, where could it be.?
It must have been stolen, he realized. All of his credit cards. Mamoru felt like ripping out his hair.
"I'm. afraid I'm going to have to come back another time," he said, putting the flowers back, and backing away. The look the vendor was giving him was scaring him, and he had decided that it was a good time to get away.
The vendor's frown deepened, and he said in a dark and rather threatening voice, "You intended to steal from me, then?"
"N-no, I"- Mamoru began, attempting to defend himself from the accusations. It was too late for Mamoru, though.
"Officers," the man called to the nearby cops, who instantly snapped to attention. The had jumped to attention at the slightest call for help- they didn't get it very often. Mamoru had a sudden sense of doom that was confirmed as the police entered the situation with scowls on their face.
Oh, shit, Mamoru groaned mentally.
--------------------*
:: Back in the GW - With Usagi and Hotohori ::
"Thanks, Hotohori-kun. It's really nice of you to carry me," the blonde said happily.
Said blonde was currently holding onto Hotohori around his neck area as he let her ride. Her once decent looking clothes were rumpled and drying, her hair mussed up to the point that it was falling out of their holders. Still, despite her ragged appearance, she was cheerful enough.
The same could not quite be said for Hotohori.
The blonde actually wasn't all that heavy- at least not as heavy as Miaka had been. However, they'd been walking around for a while, and he was getting tired.
"Daijobu desu ka, Hotohori-kun," the blonde asked, leaning closer to him.
He couldn't see her face, but he could imagine what she looked like. After spending the last few chaotic hours with her and her accomplice in crime, he had an idea of how she was holding up. Her blonde hair fell over his shoulder and into his face, tickling him. "Usagi-san, your hair is tickling me again."
"Ah, sorry about that, Hotohori-kun! But really, though, we're friends, so please call me Usagi-chan, or at least Usagi." Her voice sounded light and perky- a bit like Miaka's. In fact, there were some suspicious parallels between the two- but at least Usagi didn't seem quite so pushy.
He shifted her weight on his back. If they didn't find anyone soon, Hotohori's back was going to break, and then Usagi'd have to carry him. The mental image of that picture made him smile ever so slightly.
"Hotohori-kun.. do you think we'll ever get out of this place," the blonde girl asked, interrupting the silence that had engulfed them. Her mood seemed to have changed, and a damper had come upon it- making her sound rather gloomy and uncertain.
"There was a way in, so there must be a way out," he replied logically. Although, this could be some kind of torture device, and.. Hotohori frowned to himself, but had enough brains to know not to share with the girl his unsound thoughts.
The silence droned on again, and Usagi's eyes were downcast. So far, the day hadn't been going so well. She had been dumped in not one, but two forests, scratched up and eaten alive by bugs, been pushed down a well, and was now stuck in this endless maze.
To top the situation off, she knew Hotohori was getting tired and wouldn't be able to carry her for much longer. And then, there was the OTHER problem.. the one that consisted of her bladder.
Still, despite it all, she refused to complain to Hotohori. She knew that there was nothing that he could do to change the current situation, and whining would probably just succeed in pissing him off. She really didn't want to make him mad, since he was the only person around, and he had been so kind as to agree to carry her.
She sighed, and wriggled, trying to get comfortable without choking Hotohori.
That was when the power went out.
Usagi only groaned, and Hotohori let out a grieved sigh.
*--------------*
::With Trowa, Quatre, and Hiiro ::
Quatre led the way down the darkened halls with a frown on his face. "I could have sworn I heard someone screaming. It sounded almost like a banshee.."
Neither of his companions said anything- at least nothing that would have been recognizable to any normal human. However, Quatre seemed to have picked up on some unknown frequency, and frowned at his friends. "Hiiro, Trowa! It's not nice to say that Duo screams like a girl, even if he does."
The blonde arab boy just shook his head, and groaned mentally when the flashlight flickered and then died. With the narrow beam of light gone, all three boys were submerged in darkness- an almost creepy one.
"Shoot.. well, the battery's dead," he announced, even though he knew that he didn't really need to. "We'll just have to search for them without light," Quatre said grimly.
Trowa followed the blonde haired boy calmly, both inside and out. However, Hiiro was imagining just how many ways he would torture the braided pilot when they found him. As though the power shorting out wasn't bad enough, the baka was most likely running around somewhere in the dark, wrecking havoc and causing problems.
"I just don't understand it, though," Quatre murmured. "It's fine outside, so there shouldn't be a reason why the power should just go out.."
Once again, there wasn't an audible reply, but Quatre must have been a mind reader or something. "No, Trowa, I made Duo turn off his radio, and his woofers and speakers are hidden. He couldn't have blown the electricity."
"Hn," Hiiro merely grunted in reply, and Trowa shook his head. Quatre sighed, and began to talk again about nothing in particular- just to kind of fill in the time.
It was about that time that Hiiro heard the voices, and cut Quatre off with a click from his ever-present, but never-seen-before-hand gun's safety coming off.
"Hiiro? What is it?"
"Listen," the pilot barked back at his fellow pilot. Instantly, three sets of ears strained to hear in the darkness, and after a moment's absence, a noise began to filter along the hallways- voices from a distance.
".. You think YOU have it bad? Let me tell you how bad it gets for a girl"- A distance voice that could vaguely be made out as female sounded more than slightly peeved and slightly shrill.
"Bad, hm? With men carrying you around, and taking care of your every need?" A second voice, male, regal, and distantly mocking.
"Argh! You're insufferable! It's a wonder that anyone can put up with you, you royal pain in the a-ahhh!" The girl cut off in mid tirade to let out a shrill scream, and only seconds later a yell echoed and words resounded.
Although the rest of the words weren't entirely clear- they were, in fact, far from it- they could make out two new people screaming that they couldn't recognize, and the war cries coming from Wufei.
Without another word, they sped toward the potential disaster scene. Goodness only knew what Wufei could do to fellow swordsmen, much less simple thieves or trespassers.
Rounding several bends, hitting several corners, slamming into a few walls, the pilots stumbled upon the scene. A blonde haired elfish looking young man lay on the ground, seemingly KO'd, while a girl was huddled in the corner, eyes wide and terrified, and a young man in ancient Chinese clothing attempted to fend Wufei off.
Moments later, two other people arrived- both men, and neither recognized. Hiiro instantly cocked his gun, aimed, but was abruptly interrupted by something that was rarely heard.
Quatre yelled.
"ALL OF YOU, CEASE AND DESIST," the Arabian boy cried at the top of his lungs.
And instantly, everyone in the room stopped in their tracks, and did nothing. Not even Hiiro dared.
"Wufei, what do you think you're doing," Quatre questioned in a reprimanding voice. "Put your sword away this minute!"
Wufei grumbled, but did so, to the inward amusement of Trowa. Like a little boy being told 'no' by his mother.. Duo's going to have a field day when he hears about this. .. Where is Duo? "Where's Duo," the tall boy pointed out, more in the fashion of a statement than a question.
"He ran into my door while he was running away from that freak," Wufei said with a sneer, while pointing at the comatose Link.
"Link's not a freak, you wussy boy," Navi protested, shooting into the air and shaking with her anger. Wufei's response to this was to draw his sword out partially, and began to retaliate when he was interrupted.
"No, he's not, now get out of my way," Usagi said, brushing her skirt off and managing to hobble toward where Link was with as much dignity as she could muster. There was a clicking sound, and everyone turned to see that Hiiro had his gun pointed at Usagi- safety off.
"Don't move," he said, which was a lot of warning, coming from Hiiro. Not to mention it was needless to say, really, but the look she gave him in return was rather incredible, coming from such a small and bedraggled looking thing.
"You can shoot me, if you want. I'm sure it wouldn't be all that much of a challenge," she said, brushing him off, and kneeling beside Link's body and checking for his pulse to see if he was alright.
There was utter silence in the room- Trowa never really spoke all that much out of habit, Wufei looked upset and most likely was- as per usual, the prude- and Quatre felt like the situation had escaped his hands. What was really surprising was that Hiiro hadn't actually shot the girl; he merely kept the gun trained on her.
After a few uncomfortable minutes, Quatre decided to try and regain control over things. "Would anyone of you kindly explain just what is going on here," he demanded, trying to remain polite while being authoritive.
Usagi looked up at him, serious blue eyes meeting his own for a moment. "We're lost," was all she ended up offering before motioning to Kenshin to help her get Link up off the floor. Between the two of them, they managed to support Link before Hotohori silently told her to step aside and allow him to help instead.
Quatre watched them for a few moments, trying to think. For the most part, they looked like weary travelers. Their oddities were unnumbered, but they appeared harmless enough. Sure, three of them were equipped with swords, but if they had been true enemies then they probably would have had guns of some sort.
"Very well. I'm sorry miss, I wish that I could believe you, but if you can't provide me with more of an alibi than that, I'm afraid that we'll just have to take you into custody for a while."
She only nodded in response, and the group formed a small circle by instinct, and were then promptly 'escorted' down another stretch of hall till they reached a living room.
By the time they had been sat down on the plush chairs, Usagi was so thoroughly exhausted she would have fallen straight to sleep if it wasn't for her physical discomfort. All of the muscles in her body had begun to ache with tremendous force, her head was pounding, and that ferocious headache was returning. To top it all off, if they didn't let her go to the restroom, she was going to piddle all over this guy's furniture.
Usagi looked around the room, and finally realized that she was surrounded entirely by men. So that's what the problem is here, the smallest fraction in her that could still find humor in the situation. Too much testosterone, and not enough estrogen.
Most likely, it was true. But there wasn't really any help for the situation. So she sat there for a long while, the nausea approaching her slowly this time while she writhed in her seat with the need to go to the restroom.
"Excuse me," she finally attempted, knowing that if she didn't get to a bathroom immediately there were going to be problems. She was cut short by the dark look that the Chinese boy gave her and the click that came from the trigger happy one's gun.
"Be silent, woman," the Chinese boy ordered, before going back to his heated discussion with his friends.
"But I"- she began, but was once more stopped.
"Woman," the Chinese boy snarled one last time.
"Please, miss, give us a few minutes," Quatre said, offering her a pleading and half-exasperated look.
Usagi frowned. Well, if that's the way they were going to be, then she might as well go ahead and piss all over the seats. See if she cared!
And she probably would have done it, too, just to spite them if it hadn't been for the sudden attack of pain, that forced the air out of her chest and made her curl up instinctively, searching for a position that hurt the least.
She sat there in a cold sweat and trembling while her sore muscles convulsed painfully and her stomach heaved again. She fought it off even as her headache reached its fever pitch, and Usagi began to see spots dancing in front of her eyes. Why, she wondered to herself, does this keep happening to me?
Usagi sat there for a long time, shuddering like a leaf being gusted at by the harsh autumn winds that threatened to throw her from her tree, pale as a sheet. It was Sanosuke who finally noticed what was wrong.
He nudged Kenshin, who sat to his left. "Kenshin," he hissed, "what's wrong with her," he asked the older man, jerking his thumb at the girl. Kenshin's attention snapped away from the debating boys in the middle of the room and focused in on Usagi. He frowned; if he didn't know any better, he'd say that it was happening just like it had last time..
He got up, and went over to her, and shook her gently, ignoring the fact that all of the boys had their various weapons drawn and pointed at him- which included a katana, two guns, and a flashlight with batteries that didn't even work. "Usagi-san," he asked. "Usagi-san?"
By now, Quatre had lowered his weapon, and was hesitantly approaching the girl. Even Hotohori and Navi had come closer now, bringing with them the dead-weight that was Link. Sanosuke stood a bit behind Kenshin, concerned but only just because he hardly knew the girl.
Hiiro cautiously approached the girl, gun leveled at her forehead and eyes narrowed with suspicion. Wufei had unsheathed his katana, and even Trowa was reaching for his gun.
The girl looked at him, blue eyes wide and delirious, the colors of the rainbow swirling inside of her normally azure orbs. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words were lost as the white light welled up from the corner of the room behind her, and snatched them away.
And then, the people around her were sucked up in the torrent of white. Or perhaps it was just the blinding absence of anything- something that could not possibly be described or understood by the human mind.
In the moments preceding afterwards, the remaining pilots were silent for a long few moments, until they took into account that the white light had taken away two of their allies- one Hiiro Yui and Quatre Winner. For a brief moment, Trowa actually felt sorry for them- Hiiro wasn't likely to be very kind or willing hostage.
Wufei began to swear up a storm, and meanwhile Duo just rolled over and continued to snore quite happily and rather oblivious on the ground. However, there were two more entities in the house that had yet to be summarized in this horrible, drawn-out conclusion of this chapter. Can you guess?
((If you can't, that's okay, too- if you've already skipped ahead, then shame on you! .. And I'll quite rhyming and delaying the finale now. ^^))
::Where Ririna is::
Finally, a dead end! After having chased the rodent through the hallways, up countless flights of stairs.. it was trapped. Trapped like a rat, she thought, and laughed mentally at her own bad pun.
"Hah, hah, hah; I've caught you now, evil doer! Surrender the sustenance to your queen now, or be thrown into a prison cell to think about what you've done," Ririna cackled, almost evilly. If there had been a single bystander, they might have tried to restrain the raving woman- if they weren't frightened for some odd reason- but as it was, the poor rodent was on its own.
The poor little guy hadn't dealt with humans very often, and certainly not with such a scary one. Just what kind of a woman went chasing after a mouse down hallways, anyhow?! The point was, though, that even this morsel wasn't worth this kind of harassment..
At that moment, another flash of eerie light lightning lit the area briefly. The mouse's ears picked up a small sound beginning from the room behind the locked door. They twitched as he concentrated on it, confirming what indeed it was. And, sure enough.. it was the Lady of the House.
At the moment, Ririna sprang, crying out, "For the sake of justice and peace, give me the crumb now!" The mouse scurried out of the way, just before the future queen rammed straight into the door- and then through the half-rotted wood with a loud bang and crunching sound.
The mouse squeaked, grabbed his crumb, and prepared to run off- but he changed his mind, seeing as the girl was stuck. He came closer, dared to, as she attempted to pull herself free of the whole she'd gotten herself stuck, when the mouse bit her on the leg.
It then scampered off in the direction they'd come from as fast as its tiny legs could carry it. Ririna pried herself free from the door's hold with a cry of pain. Rubbing her leg, she assessed the damage- from the looks, not to mention feel, of it, she had been bitten, had a goose egg on her forehead the size of, and splinters littering her skin from her forehead to her neck.
What are the odds that I'm going to get Bubonic Plague, she wondered to herself. No matter.. not even death can keep me away from my Hiiro, she determined, striking a mental pose.
A soft voice broke the silence. "Who are you, that you would dare to awaken me from my slumber?"
Ririna looked up, and saw a beautiful young woman standing in front of her. Ririna had heard the whispered tales of the woman ghost in the high attic from the servants (that was, of course, before she tried to get their help, and they ran away from her). This, undoubtedly must have been her.
She was dressed in an old fashioned dress, with too many ruffles and too many frills. There was an intelligence and curiosity to her blank, lavender eyes as she stared down at Ririna with her gloved hands folded lady-like in front of her. The finishing touches consisted in the matte black shoes and stockings that came up to her knees and ended in another set of frills.
She was really lovely, and despite her old-fashioned style of clothes, she wouldn't have looked the slightest bit eerie. Well, that would have been true, if it weren't for the fact that her glossy brown hair weren't writhing as though with a life of its own, and she wasn't floating a few inches off of the floor.
"You! You're the ghost that lives here," Ririna accused, as though she needed to state the obvious.
The girl simply nodded, and her vague, enchanting voice became softer with an odd echo to it. "Yes, I am. Now, I asked you a question- answer it quickly, lest I lose my patience with you."
Ririna stared at her, dumbfounded for several minutes. Finally, the unnamed girl's eyes narrowed into glowing lavender slits. "You would dare to enter my home and not answer my questions? I am the Lady of this house! Answer now, before it is too late," the girl said threateningly, a black aura spreading from her body.
Ririna shook her head, dirty blond hair flapping around her. "Never! You're only here to steal my Hiiro from me! Well, never! And besides, this is Quatre's house now; you're dead!"
That did it. With deadly calm, the ghost replied to her. "I am dead, and a ghost, but this house is very much mine- it is my blood right. And you have failed your duties as a guest- therefore, you must suffer the consequences!"
The ghost held her left, gloved hand out in front of her, and a small lavender ball of energy formed within it. As though praying to it, she bowed her head in reverence to the power, and then threw it at Ririna.
Ririna gave a small, chocked cry, but it was cut off shortly afterwards, and there was only one girl in the hall then.
The nameless ghost smiled to herself, now. "It will be ten years till I am able to sleep again, and in that time, little one, you will entertain me." She bent down, and picked up the small, porcelain doll that had moments before been Ririna.
"Alas, you are not a very pretty doll.. but you will do well enough, I suppose. When you are done with your time, I suppose I shall let you go," the ghost added before entering back into the attic, and closing the newly repaired door behind her.
*--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------*
Oh my goodness.. You guys have no idea how glad I am to have finished that. It took me forever, felt like it was dragging along. I'm very sorry if reading it felt the same way, but I didn't want to skip over anything. . Some of it sounds/looks really stupid looking back on it, now.
:sigh: Anyhow, I hope that that was worth it. It's fourteen or so pages long.. :shrugs: But I blame it on the fact that I was writing something with GW in it. I simply don't like the series the same way I did once.. which makes for difficult writing.
So, anyhow, the next chapter is planned to be. dun, dun, dun, WK! ^^ :cheer: So. anyhow.. see you all there, hopefully- those of you that I didn't bore to death, anyhow.
REVIEW RESPONSES
Bird
Uhm, DBZ I won't do, I'm afraid, because that's the one anime series I simply can not stand. However, FF is another story entirely- I'd like to do one, even though I'm not very far in most of them (Beat FFX, almost have beaten FF9). There's so many of them. anyhow.
Hurru
I'm glad you liked it! More I can do, but fast.? I'm not too good at that one. -_-;
Silver Shadows AKA SS Silver
Phwee, I'm sorry I cut the RK part so short. but it's been a long time since I read any of it, so I didn't want to mess up too bad on stuff. Uhm, well, next is WK. but after that, I'll do Inu-Yasha if you'd like. Just not the anime version, kay? I like the manga version so much better.
And gods damn it all, why the hell can't I get anyone's name right!!? . Just go ahead and shoot me if I did it again, although this time I do have the legitimate of excuse because of the damned anesthesia. :shudders: I HATE that stuff. it always makes me so sick.
Aidenn Legacy
:giggles: I'm glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing that scene with the sergeant, myself, though I felt kinda bad for him.. and I felt really, really bad for Link, especially now, when I've stretched the joke to its breaking limit. :sweatdrop:
I forgot what we were talking about last time. But, uhm, self-inserts are fun, even if people wonder if you're on drugs afterwards. :major sweatdrop:
Kwa. poor Kenji, only trying to look out for his daughter. Well, I guess this is what happens when you try to protect her too much. ^^ That won't be for a while yet, most likely, though.
Blue Moon
Phwee, you sound like me after I've read something I like. Like I'm on some kind of a sugar high. ^^
And I love Invader Zim! (AAAH! My squeedily-spooch!) ^.^ Such fun.
Firefly-chan
You put me on your favorite list!? :starry eyed: Wahh, you people are the greatest!! :huggle glomps you: Glad you enjoyed that story so much!
Dee-chan
Waah! Cookie! :glomps you:
Navi's a pain in the butt. but everything will turn out all right. I promise. And I don't know if Navi has a :cough, cough:. Do fairies have those? Probably. who knows. ^^;;; Hee, hee. Hotohori can be so narcissistic sometimes...
Baby_bunnygurl
Well, if I updated it more often, then things probably wouldn't come out as well. Or at least they might, but they'd be sloppy and short. As for spelling in your review, I don't mind- they don't have a spell check or anything, and it's the thought that counts, anyhow. Thank you very, very much for reviewing!
Anonymous person
Oro. you left me with no name. :dumb founded: Uhm, well, here's GW. but I won't be doing Outlaw Star, because I'm not too familiar with the series, and I'm not that big a fan of it, either.
SweetKawaiiAngel
Gah.. I badgered you into reviewing, and then the damn thing cuts off. Must mean that it wasn't meant to happen, then. Oh, well. Sorry I'm always such a pain in your ass, though.
Gakkuri Naishinnou
Kwa, I'm sorry I didn't tell you! I forgot all about it.. I'll probably manage to forget this time, too.
Lol, well, at least you're honest about your actions. You probably wouldn't be the only one, either. :giggles: But I'm glad that you liked that chapter, I sincerely hope that you will have enjoyed this one, too, and that you will enjoy the next one. ^^
Yuuguri
Lol, you feel sorry for her, too? Such insanity amongst the ranks. But anyhow, I can do FF7. I'd probably need help, since I'm not very far into the game, though. We'll just see about it, okay? Cuz I'm thinking of doing maybe FF8. Squall. :drools: Or Kuja-sama. :worships: