Disclaimer: See chapter 3.

H: *wakes up* Mmm, that was a nice sleep…*yawns* I feel refreshed!

HH: Yup yup. ^_^ Much better.

Wayne: Are you going top call each other names again?

HH: *sniffs indignantly* I'm too mature for that!

Eek: *snorts* Whatever.

H: *begins to sing* It's time to polka, For Ponyta and Pidgey too, Come on put on your lederhosen, And try not to stamp on little Pikach—

HH: NO!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT ACCURSED SONG!!!

H: Weird Al is kewli! *continues* ...on little Pikachu, You'd better grab yourself a partner, Like Tentacruel or Bulbasaur, Hoooooooooold on a minute, there's still at least a hundred and twenty-seven more! Including Ledyba and Omastar…

All else: *die*

CHAPTER 4: Sickly Days in a Closet

Ryou's POV:

If you've never been stuck in a closet for three days, take it from me that it's an experience you're better off missing. I was cramped, almost suffocated, hungry, thirsty, and quite uncomfortable, among other things. I could only go to the bathroom at night because Meg's mom is stay-at-home, and when she went on errands, she was only gone for about a half an hour.

By the second day I started to feel sick. My hands looked paler than usual, and I shivered. As soon as her mom left to buy vegetables, Meg came in and gave me some fever medicine.

"I hope you get better," she said, her face crinkled into a frown. "We can't have our leader bedridden, now can we?"

"No," I smiled back. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine."

The next day, her parents left to Florida, and we were supposed to begin our quest.

"Be careful now, sweetie," I heard her father say. "If anything strange happens, just call the police, the neighbors, or—"

I chuckled to myself. A lot of strange things would be happening! Meg cut her father off. "I know," she snapped. "I'm not stupid!"

"Okay, Meg," her mom soothed. "We'll write, okay? Be careful! We love you!" And they left.

"Yo, Ryou!" Meg shouted. "You can come out now!"

Gratefully, I climbed out of the closet and stretched, then ran downstairs. My legs felt kind of wobbly, and my head hurt a bit, but I was sure I was fine.

"Whoa, man," the girl gasped. "You look like you've been hit by a train!"

"I'm fine!" I insisted. "We need to start NOW!" However, she walked over and put the back of her palm on my forehead, then withdrew quickly.

"You're burning up!" she admonished. "You are not going anywhere! Come on, you can sleep in my bed." She practically dragged me up the steps as I attempted to protest.

"I'll be fine, really!"

"Look, if you're not better in two days, we'll start without you! So get well right now!" She shoved me on the bed and pulled up the covers. "I'll get you some soup, and you just relax."

About a half an hour later, Yai appeared. "How ya feeling?" he asked, walking into the room. "Meg called me. It sucks that we can't start until you get better."

"She said you would start without me," I grinned feebly.

"Oh, Meg," the freshman laughed. "She's a real kidder. She'd never do that!"

"Good!" I exclaimed, snuggling deeper into the sheets. "I want to be with you guys. It's a dangerous world out there."

Yai's POV:

This sucked. I really wanted to go and begin on my research, but I wandered down to the kitchen where Meg was busily attempting to make Campbell's soup. "Let me help," I offered, moving in and grabbing the can. "You can't cook for beans, and you usually end up cooking yourself and not the food."

I quickly made it and handed it to her. "Thanks," she beamed. "I'll go give this to Ryou. We need to get him better ASAP. From what he's said, we don't have much time."

"Speaking of which," I began, "can I go to the library and begin research on ancient Egypt? I think it'll help a lot."

"Sure," she called, striding upstairs, juggling soup, toast, and orange juice. "I'll just be here."

"Okay!" I shouted and ran out the door and down the street.

Ryou's POV:

"Thanks," I said, taking the food and eating it all quickly.

"Wow, you really chowed down. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. I think we can get started tomorrow." I grimaced. "We need all the time we can get."

"Yeah," she frowned back. "I should clean my closet. If everyone that stays in there is gonna be getting sick, I'm gonna have to learn how to cook better!" She shuffled over to the door to it and took a peek in. "Whew. I really gotta rearrange a little!" With that, she bent down and began to tug out a lot of junk.

As I drifted off to sleep, I noticed that something seemed to be different about her. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I knew, something was changed…

Meg's POV:

I worked on my closet for an hour, then took a rest and got a coke from the fridge. As I leaned against the kitchen and sipped the beverage, I noticed something wrong with my hands. They seemed…smoother, and…more slender… I rubbed my eyes, but they were the same.

"Huh," I muttered. "Probably all the excitement has made me wake up a bit." Shrugging, I walked into the hall and froze. "Holy shit." I gaped at the reflection in the mirror.

The reflection of what appeared to be an anime version of myself.

H: Phew. *wipes brow* Another chappie done. I know it's kind of late, but thank you to the THREE PEOPLE who reviewed my first chapter…(I swear, I thought I sent the URL to a buncha people…*shrugs* Oh well…)

HH: Your evil friend tortures us because we're Joey "fans".

H: *sighs* That's just her way of being a friend. *gives the friend a noogie* You're so mean! Besides, I think we're more than fans, huh Herahet?

HH: U^_^ Maybe.

Wayne: Whatever. Yo Eek, pass the sign.

Eek: *tosses him the neon sign and plugs in the sign* *reads sign* "DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!" Ack! This must be her mom's sign…

Wayne: *pulls out the plug and plugs in a diff. cord* *reads sign* "Please Read&Review." MUCH, MUCH better.

Eek: U^_^