Whoo, update time!! Sorry for the wait, especially to Mermaid Ninja. I'm not used to quick updating, cuz I didn't really think anyone would be so interested in my fic. Anyway, Sa-chan is BACK!! Mwahahahaha!! You guys are good. Some of your ideas have really helped me!! Thanks.

Okay, disclaimer: These characters are all mine, and you can't prove a thing!! Bwahaha!! See? No one cares if I say that...

Now, on with the fic...



Marion rolled over, muttering worriedly in his sleep. "Niro-chan..." He sat up suddenly, awaking from a bad dream, only to find himself in a real one. He gasped, remembering where he was-where they were. He nudged the sleeping figure curled up beside him. "Dora, wake up... we gotta get outta here..."

The blue-haired girl murmured, wrapped up in the green jacket like it was a blanket. "Mmm..."

"Dora, get up!!" Marion hissed, nudging her harder. After the explosion, they'd crawled out of their hiding place and slept for the night in an alleyway near the three bikers' meeting place. Worried they might come back, Marion wanted to get out of there as fast as he could. "Come on, get up!!"

"Mmmph..." Dora muttered, "the monkey took my money..."

"Dora!!"

"Yes, I'm a natural blue..."

Marion shook her in frustration. "Dora, get up!!"

That was enough. She jumped up and scampered around, not knowing where she was. "No, don't, he's got a gun...!!" she screamed, still lost somewhere between sleep and reality. She stopped abruptly and looked up. Some blackened dust and concrete was crumbling off the wall of the building she stood before. That was the building where the explosion had gone off. All the windows were shattered, and the brick exterior was blackened and fragile.

As Dora and Marion looked on, larger chunks of rubble began tumbling from the ruined building, raining down around them. That building was getting ready to collapse. Thinking fast, Marion grabbed Dora's wrist and took off. The pair scampered up a nearby building's fire escape and managed to reach the roof just in time. The ground shook as the ruined building collapsed in the street, sending a great cloud of dust into the air.

Dora coughed a few times. "Wow... dusty," she observed.

Marion glanced at her and gasped. "Dora!! Where's the jacket?"

Looking confused, she tilted her head to the side. "Hm? What jacket?"

As if on cue, they both looked down over the edge of the building on which they stood. "No!!" Marion shouted. He ran for the stairwell. Hoping to God there would be a door at the bottom leading outside, he threw the door open and took off down the stairs.

He slowed his run to a walk when he realized he wouldn't be able to see where he was going. He had no idea where he was, and with every step the light from outside grew dimmer. In defeat, he collapsed on the stairs.

Dora, however, skipped on along past him, humming. "La la la la la laaa... just keeps going on doesn't it?" she said half to herself, "Echo!! Echo!!" When she realized Marion wasn't following, she turned and went back for him. "Hey, Whatcha doing?" she asked, not understanding why he'd stopped so suddenly.

"It's gone," Marion breathed hopelessly, "We lost the jacket..."

Not having the faintest idea about the seriousness of the situation, Dora said casually, "What, didja drop it?"

"YOU dropped it!!" Marion snapped. "That was my last hope of finding my son, and now it's gone..."

Dora glanced down the shadow-laden flight of stairs, and then back at her worried companion. She didn't exactly remember what the two of them were trying to do, or why they were trying to do it. All she knew was that she and Marion needed to go down those stairs. She had to pull Marion out of his funk and get him going again. She smiled and leaned in close to him, making a silly exaggerated pouty face. "Hey, mister grumpy-pants!"

He looked up at her with an expression of confusion and just plain shock.

Seeing she'd gotten his attention, she grinned and elbowed him playfully. "When life gets you down, you know what ya gotta do?"

Marion wasn't in the mood for games. "I don't wanna know what ya gotta do."

Ignoring his protest completely, Dora took him by the hand and stood up. "Just keep skipping, just keep skipping," she sang in a lighthearted, childlike voice. She began bouncing slightly, doing a little cheerful dance as she urged Marion down the stairs. "Just keep skipping, skipping, skipping."

Straining against Dora's grip, Marion leaned back and said in a stern, irritated monotone, "Dora, no singing."

The blue-haired woman just sang louder. Marion clutched his head with his free hand, finally allowing himself to be dragged down the dark steps. "Dora, don't-- now you're gonna get stuck with that song--!! Now it's in my head!!"

Dora stopped singing, and murmured apologetically, "Sorry..."

But the song wasn't Marion's biggest concern right now. He suddenly realized just how dark it had gotten. He couldn't see a thing.

This chapter was shorter than I'd originally planned to make it, but I just had to post SOMETHING before Ninja-girl exploded. XD (Just kidding. I really am sorry for the wait.)