THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING! And now... onto the torture- I mean story! And I owe my big sissy for some of the ideas. Once again it seems that parantheses are not working today... Hmm.. well, if it sounds totally out of context, then it is supposed to be inparantheses. Okay? Please Understand, I do try to fix it! But anyways... Why are you reading this! Don't you want to read the next chapter! That's why I'm writing these! So SOMEBODY would read these! Don't you have LIVES! Get on wid it already! Ahem...

Disclaimer: Don't own nothing that ain't mine- and I'll tell you when that happens.

Chapter: Think That Over, Boss


Rafeal slowly shut his bedroom door closed, feeling and looking dazed. When their boss had finally gotten out of the apple pie, he did not look too pleased. No, he seemed to be feeling the exact opposite. And if the look on his face wasn't enough to tell them that, then the whack over the head was.

Oh well, it couldn't get much worse than this. Well... not too much worse... Right..?


It got worse. For an agonizing hour, the four were left to their own devices, each knowing that at any second Dartz would call them down. Any second now... Finally, much to their relief, he did.

And, considering the guy had been mistaken for a monster, duct-taped twice and just did a face plant into a whole lot of apple pie, he seemed strangely calmer. If you call a glaring and just short of killing everything within an hundred mile radius calm.

The four stood in front of his desk, none looking straight at him. Mai had grabbed her nail filer as soon as she stepped into the room- doing anything was better than just waiting for the ax to fall. Valon stood next to her, keeping himself buys by trying to wipe off a speck on his goggles that just wasn't there. Alister kept himself from going insane by making up new patterns in the rug in his mind. Rafeal, on the other hand, kept his mind occupied by repeating over and over again that no matter how bad the punishment turns out to be- it could always be worse.

"Rafeal." The sudden sound made the owner of the name jump in surprise, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. Dartz's eyes narrowed to slits as he continued, oblivious to his employee's reactions, "According to your... version of the story, all three of you fell for Valon's... story, and because of that, followed through with the... traps."

Mai's head snapped up, mouth open and moving, "Hey, I wasn't in on their stupid plans."

"Shut it." She fell silent reluctantly and went back to her nails. Stupid pinkie finger was just not shaping out right. Dartz swept a hand through his hair, growling as he came across a very large tangle. "And I already know that, dear- which is why you're just getting a slap on the wrist. Maybe."

Valon couldn't help but wince at the thought of what lay in store. This punishment was going to be far worse than any other one. Maybe they'd be used as target practice. Or perhaps they'll get off a little easier and just have to endure knitting baby sweaters for a month. Hmm... he'd been meaning to get to those little booties for a while...

"Valon- according to the story, you were the one that made the... mistake. So- you're obviously guilty. Alister- second to become convinced. By association and actively helping; guilty. Rafeal- third. Same charges, guilty. Mia- by excessive annoying female idiosyncrasies known only to you, guilty."

"I didn't know that there was a trial," Alister muttered. Leave it to their boss to get melodramatic over a bit of pie filling in his hair.

Mia snorted at the charges against her and demanded, What do you mean by 'excessive annoying female idiosyncrasies'? That could be called sexual discrimination."

The smile on their boss's face stretched a little, looking more like bared teeth. "You're the only female- AND employee- that feels the need to outright disobey orders. Yes, Valon does that, but not upon when he receives the orders for the first time. You are loud and overall annoying. You break down in duels against your rival. But the worst of all... YOU WRECKED THE BATHROOM WITH ALL OF YOUR STUPID COSMETICS AND PERFUMES!" Breathing heavily, Dartz slowly got control of his temper. Spying a lone paper clip on the edge of his desk, he picked it up and began to mangle it.

"That was only once, 'sir,'" Mia protested softly. She didn't want to invite that temper on her!

"Have you ever tried cleaning that junk up? There's still a smudge on the mirror!" Dartz broke the paper clip in half and flung it aside. "Anyway- your punishments... but who to start with..? Hmm... Ah- I know! Mai Valentine- you are on probation for three days. Prove to me you are a worthy employee and you're back. Maybe. Alister- one week probation. Rafeal- same. And Valon..."

The brunette looked up, feeling for the first time that day hopeful. Not one of them had been sentenced to becoming target practices OR members of a knitting circle. Maybe he wasn't going to die after all...

"You're fired."


"It could be worse, ya know," Rafeal muttered, unintentionally catching everyone's attention.

Thunder rumbled, turning their eyes upwards. "Please don't say it could be raining- that has been said way too often and it'll start any second, anyways," Alister commented.

"'Ow 'bout you don't say anything at all," Valon growled, fixing his goggles over his eyes. He sure was lucky he was allowed the motorcycle out of the 'deal.' Although he didn't get why Dartz would call it a bad paint job- yellow and black was a good combination.

"I was just going to say-"

"Forget it. I'll see you guys around sometime... Good luck with yer dueling..." With just about all said that needed to be said, the motorcycle roared to life and spun off- Valon with it. of course

"Do you think we'll ever see him again?" Alister asked out loud.

Rafeal shrugged. "Most likely; he has a talent for showing up again and again, no matter what the situation is."

"Well I hope he comes back soon," the redhead muttered, just as the rain began to fall. Rafeal looked down at him in surprise, thinking it too good to hear- could they have finally become... 'friends?' "Or else we'll be dealing with that Valentine by ourselves."

Nope. Oh well.


About six days later:

The door flew open on the World's Smallest Apartment. Yes, the World's Smallest Apartment, being rented by the World's Most Annoyed Australian Brunette. Who was, at this very moment, throwing the World's Dirtiest Motorcycle Helmet onto the floor. The World's Most Annoyed Australian Brunette stomped over to his private storage of Torture Equipment.

So that white-haired... BRAT thought he could get rid of the World's Most Annoyed Australian Brunette! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He'll NEVER get rid of him THAT easily!


"Wait a minute... Why do I have to duel Wheeler!" demanded a very indignant Alister, having just heard the day's new assignment. "That isn't part of my contract! Not that I have one... but still!"

Dartz gave the redhead an annoyed look. "Ms. Valentine is on a longer probation now thanks to the... what did you nickname it again, Rafeal?"

The blond stirred in his chair, awakening from him mid afternoon nap long enough to reply, "The Bathroom Incidents."

"Ah yes... That was it..."

"Just because she switched your shampoo with glue, put itching powder in the towels and clogged up the drains so you couldn't wash any of the stuff off doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer!" Alister protested, counting off Mai's revenge schemes just to be sure he got them all.

Settling back into his chair, Rafeal muttered something along the lives of 'Mai put gelatin on the doorknobs, locked it from the outside and also made sure there wasn't anymore hot water left,' before the Z's started up.

Flinching and hissing, Dartz opened his desk drawer open, searching for the one thing that would teach them about listing those little 'pranks' again. "Never ever, EVER mention those to me AGAIN!" He shouted, flinging the secret weapons at them. Cute little squeaks or squeaking meows and barks were heard as the multicolored plushies of various shapes hit their marks.

"Sque- Woof- woof!" A cute little puppy dog hit Alister's head and plopped onto the floor. The redhead picked it up, ignoring the other plushies and stuff animals being flung around the room. He stared down at the little button eyes, looking so cute, shuddered and dropped it. These cute little minions were pure evil...

Rafeal never moved; and it didn't look like all the plushie puppies or cats in the world could make him move any time soon, either.

"We- uh- we get the point, sir," Alister fended off the plushies as best as possible, but they soon overwhelmed him and he become the center of a plushie pile. Rafeal unresistingly followed suit, still snoring away. Finally, the rain of plushies ended, leaving a much more calmed Dartz behind.

"Good... Now... where was I..? Oh yes! So, since Ms. Valentine is 'out of work,' you're the only one left who is awake enough this afternoon to get the job done. Understand?"

A plushie's tail wagged back and forth as the buried duelist replied, "Why not let Valon back? He's the one with the grudge- he can duel Wheeler."

"ACK! NEVER name that... AUSSIE in front of me AGAIN!" Another desk drawer was opened and more plushies began to fill the room. The rain finally subsided, leaving the room looking like a plushie storm hit it. Which was what had happened...

"Ummm... okay, sir. I'll- uh- go find Wheeler first... Once I can move my arms again..."

Dartz tilted his head to one side. Hmmm, maybe he had used to many plushies... Nah! "Get going, pansy, before I plushify you again! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"R-right away sir!"


"Yawn... I think you got a... yawn... plushie in your hair still, Alister," Rafeal half murmured, half yawned out. Keeping a hand on the wall for balance, he tried to stumble his way down to the kitchen for a quick coffee break. Then, onward to the duels! If he could stay awake...

With a growl, the redhead whipped a hand through his hair again and again. "Where is it! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFFFFFFF!" For once in a millennia, Alister willingly messed up his hair in search of the offending plushie. "Evil, evil, EVIL PLUSHIES!"

Stopping beside the crazed redhead, Rafeal meant to bat the plushie he was so sure was there... only to more or less whack Alister so hard that he fell face first onto the floor. "Got him... Yawn.."

"Two mo'e minutes, mommy," the dazed Alister slurred out. Everything was spiraling and doubling before his eyes... whoa- pretty colors! "I'd wike some bwonies, pwease!"

Rafeal groaned as he bent over, picking Alister 'up'- his head came up about two inches off of the ground- by the collar of his coat and proceeded to drag him along. "Look Alister- no matter how good an idea it is to sleep right now... yawn... I mean... I'd LOVE to be doing that, too... but... yawn... we can't- we got a job... yawn... to do..."

VRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Now fully awake- very loud sounds tend to do that to him- Rafeal snapped his head up and almost fell over. That motor sounded rather familiar to him. But from where?

VVVVVVRRRRRRROOOOOOOOMMMMM!

Ah yes- that's Valon's motorcycle motor when he's performing a wheelie backwards while zooming over twelve security guards' heads while laughing maniacally and switching a pack of torturing equipment from one shoulder to the other!

Excited as well as awake, Rafeal lifted Alister up higher and began to shake him a little. "Wake up, Alister- it's Valon! He's ba-!"

A yellow and black motorcycle shot through the end of the hallway wall, carrying a laughing World's Most Crazed and Annoyed Australian Brunette with it. It zoomed by Rafeal and the slowly awakening Alister with barely a glance and right into the closed door of Dartz's office room. Their boss looked up from his chorus of plushies, shocked and then Valon's spiky hair got in the way of their vision.

"Aw drat, Alister- you missed 'im!" Rafeal dropped the redhead onto the floor, where the poor guy nearly fell unconscious again. "Oh well- he didn't seem to happy. Let's go get our job stuff done with. The last one down to the garage is a smelly garbage can! La, la la, la, la la!"

"Ugh... okay, Rafeal... I'm movin'..," with a groan and muttered curse, Alister stumbled after him. It seemed as though there were cotton balls in his head, making him almost trip every so often.


"V- Valon!" Dartz stammered out, shock quickly turning into fury. "Get out of here! Don't you know to knock before entering a room with a closed door! It's okay, Blue, it's okay. The bad teenager will leave soon... shhh, it's okay..."

The brunette whipped the helmet off his head and placed it on the edge of the handlebars of the motorcycle. Just as calmly and quietly, he dismounted off the bike and walked slowly towards his former boss, pack of torturing equipment in hand. "Ya know, Dartzy, I miss duelin' and gettin' paid fo' it. Course- I like the duels themselves... but gettin' paid money outside of a part-time cashier job is nice..."

"Get away from my plushies! How dare you get near them! They never did anything to you, you snot-nosed Aussie!"

"'Ey! I already blew my nose- now let me get on with w'at I was goin' ta say!" Valon growled, eyes narrowing to slits much more narrow than Dartz could ever hope to achieve. With a gulp, the white-haired man fell silent, gathering his plushies closer to him; there was no way to know what this loony would do to them! "Now... where was I..? Oh yeah! I liked my job 'ere- and I only made one li'le mistake here, too! Jus' one, Dartzy- one! And now I'm stuck as a stinkin' CASHIER fo' it! Do you know that you can't survive on a cashier's salary these days?"

Dartz thought it over for a minute and nodded in agreement. It's strange, you never think about it, but it's true...

"Right- glad you see it my way. Now this will go a whole lot more easier that way!" Valon dropped the pack onto the ground, ignoring the look in Dartz's eyes. He dug through the bag's contents, looking for the one particular item... Aha! "Looky wha' I found, Dartzy! Duct-tape!" Smiling evilly, two rolls of duct-tape in hand, Valon made his slow way around the desk. "I believe this is your favorite gagging material, no?"

"HELP ME, MY PLUSHIES!"

RRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPP!


"Now, now, Dartzy- we can't have you shouting your 'ead off for the whole world to 'ear, now can we? An' with that in mind, we can't let you get away, either," Valon continued on with a merry tone, ignoring the muffled protests as his former boss tried to say something. Ripping off another piece of tape, he manacled Dartz's wrists together, and then his ankles. Finally, to make sure he would NEVER get away, he taped a good amount around the white-haired man's chest to the chair. "There we go! All better, in my opinion. Wouldn't ya say so, Dartzy?"

Dartz's eyes nearly filled with tears. His poor plushies; once he got the tape off of them, their fluffy fur would NEVER be the same AGAIN!

"Okie dokie, then... On with my other complaints. Let's see, what else do I have in 'ere. It took me awhile to collect it all, but I got 'em! Check 'em out, Dartzy!" Valon upended the bag onto the desk, enjoying the way his former boss's eyes widened in- ohdarewesayit?- fear. "I think... some glue in the hair would do you good. 'Old on, now!"

It only took two minutes to get the top off the jar and have it all emptied over the victim's head. "Hmm... I wonder what you'd look like with a beehive hairstyle. 'Old on, Dartzy- this'll only take a minute!" And it did. "OHHH! You look so... so CUTE, Dartzy! I think your dollies agree, too; don't they?"

"Squeak."

"I knew they would! Now... le's see... Ah yes. The glitter is next! An' THIS is for tryin' to split me an' my up not that we ever went together... but...!" The glitter sparkled its way down over Dartz's new do, making him look like one of Tinkerbell's victims. The next item to opened for Valon's torturing pleasure was a bunch of post-its. "An' this little post-it wanted to cover yer nose! An' THIS little post-it wanted to become a pompom for your hair!" And so on.

Now the stamps make their appearance. "Now, these little Garfield and Bambi stamps will be your plushies' post-it beauty marks! Come ta me, little doggy!" Dartz's eyes grew wide as his beloved plushies suffered the same fate as he did. They had even a miniature beehive on top of their heads, too. "Ahhh... don' they look cute, Dartzy? I thought you'd think that- but you don' need to cry over it."

Valon raised his wristwatch in front of his eyes, clicking his tongue once. "Sorry to tell ya this, Dartzy- but our little fun will have to come to an end soon; its almost three-thirty! An' my shift begins at Four. But anyways... It's time for the real fun; MAPLE SYRUP, FRUIT JAMS AND APPLE PIE TIME!" The brunette's eyes lit up as he opened the jar of maple syrup. "Le's see... Now- my demands slash complaints: One- I don't like being yelled at for 'motivation.' Two: I want my job back- my only job of sanity- and YOU TOOK IT AWAY, YOU ! Three: You're goin' to give me back my job, right? Five: I don't like American cheese. Six: When I ask for no American cheese on my sandwich, I expect ta see no American cheese on my sandwich. This all sounds reasonable so far, right?" On each demand, poor Dartz was bombarded by a fresh jar full of maple syrup or jam. And there seemed to be no end in sight...

"Seven: I don't want to have ta dry clean my clothes two days straight jus' 'cause you had a little temper tantrum last night. Eight: I hate American cheese; but I said that one already, didn't I? Sorry- that one shouldn't have counted, heh? Eight prime: I demand my own arsenal of duct-tape. Nine: I hate stinky perfumes that aren't Mai's! Ten: You take too long in the bathroom in the morning- just like Alister, the bloke! Eleven: No excess sugar or caffeine is to be provided to Rafeal; he wakes up and is hyper for the rest of the morning until the next sugar low." Valon paused in his maple syrup flinging long enough to venture away from the topic a little, "Have you ever had to talk to a hyper body builder duelist for two hours straight? AND make sure he didn't get jailed or get beaten up by some chick? Heh? HEH!"

Dartz shook his head frantically. He didn't know what Valon was talking about- the only time that had happened was when he had sent the two of them to go get donuts at the local grocery store. Apparently the line had been a rather long one, and Rafeal had been just a little too hyper... But he hadn't heard about the police or 'chick' part before today.

Oh. And his hair was NEVER going to be the same after today; it was already goopy from the amounts of jam and syrup already dumped over his head.

"Lucky bloke. Anyways; no sugar for the body builder- its a bad idea, trust me on that," Valon muttered, searching through the slowly diminishing pile of jars. "I'm on twelve now, right? Good. Twelve: I like blueberry pies- Rafeal should bake those kinds. Thirteen: I don't like having to do stupid chores that YOU should hav'ta do, but won't because you have us four to boss around. Fourteen: No more having to do the Macarina in a tu-tu just because I spoke back to you. Fifteen: No more filming me doing the Macarina in a tu-tu just because I spoke back to you for blackmailing purposes. Do that to Alister- he's the better dancer. Sixteen: I WANT MY JOB BACK, SO GIVE IT BACK NOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!"

The Granddaddy of all apple pies in the world was dumped over Dartz's head, splattering over the desk, floor, plushies, ceiling and the walls. All that was visible of Dartz after that was two different colored eyes blinking out globs of filling and crust from his vision. Valon leaned in close, holding a can of whip cream in one hand. He sprayed a bit of the cream onto his head and dolloped it on the victim's nose, saying brightly, "So... do we have a deal, Dartzy?" He held the whip cream can up closer as a threat.

Resisting the urge to cry- no matter how small; I mean, his hair was going to have to be NUKED to get all of this crud out!- Dartz nodded slowly. He didn't want to have to deal with this evil minion any longer... maybe he'd leave after this...

"Good!" Valon cried out happily. "I'll start today, okay? Full-time and NO MORE PART-TIME CASHIER JOBS! HOORAY!" Giving the dazed and nearly deafened Dartz, Valon ran off with his motorcycle and depleted bag, whooping all the way away.

Well. That was fun. Flexing his wrists against their bonds, Dartz inched closer to the plushies. Luckily, unlike himself, they hadn't suffered the syrup, jam or pie damage. Good. His priceless collection of mint condition plushies would be alllllll right.

And he can get Valon back tomorrow!


Wiping tear drop away from corner of eye Ah! That was fun.. sniff Now; please review, if you'd like. THANK YOU!