Author's Note: I'm not dead! I'm not dead! I'm not dead!
Ok everybody I am really, really sorry to have just abandoned you all for so long. Things have just been so crazy for me and then my muse went for a cruise and well, I lost the will to write. Its sad I know, but I am really going to work harder on that and I hope that you will forgive me. Anyway this is by no means the best chapter ever, kind of a get-back-into-the-groove chapter if anything. I have some ideas for future chapters but I have to get to them first. So after a very long wait I present the mediocre Next Chapter!

Disclaimer: I own Mandy, and Marcel for now, but he is going to live with a reviewer as soon as I am done with him. Everybody else is a different story, sadly.

"Unhand her this instant, you monster!" An angry voice announced just behind me. Turning to look around, I was surprisingly unsurprised to find none other than Roaul with a pistol in his hand aimed straight at Erik. Behind him stood Philippe and Marcel, both looking quite stunned. Everyone froze.

What can I say, it was like watching a bad foreign film, as though any second ninja warriors were going to launch over the deli counter and drop down from their lofty perches atop the isles and attack. Instead, reality kicked back in, sort of.

"Raoul!" Christine cried out in alarm, though she didn't let go of Erik, who seemed quite obliviously content where he was. "What are you doing?"

"Where did you get that!" Philippe shouted at his brother as the shock wore off. "You give that to me this instant young man! You could hurt somebody with that!" He made a swift grab for the weapon but Raoul dogged around him, using the little French blaher as a human shield.

"No, don't worry it isn't loaded, I couldn't find any bullets." Marcel nodded vigorously, and blah blahed more totally incomprehensible stuff to which Roaul responded. "Yes but the monster doesn't know that!"

"He does now," I smirked as I smacked the gun out of Raoul's hands. He pouted as the gun clattered to the floor, making a horrendous racket on the slick tiles. Looking around at the faces of stunned shoppers who were avidly watching the little drama before them I decided leaving soon would be a very good option. "Alright folks, nothing to see here."

"He's got a gun!" came the delayed reaction of one woman who ran off shrieking. Thankfully the other shoppers opted not to join in her hysteria, seeing as how the situation was already under control, and instead watched in eerie silence as she disappeared down one of the isles.

"Look, we are leaving now and we will discuss this back at the apartment." I growled under my breath to three intruders. "Let's just get out of here before the cops show up."

"Never!" The viscount cried, "I will see that foul creature dead before I surrender!"
Everyone present, random shoppers included, looked at the fop as though he were the biggest moron on the face of the earth. Which he may well have been.

"Fine, don't surrender, withdraw and attempt to figure out a change of battle tactics, or confiscate a white horse, or rally the troop or whatever the heck you want but we are leaving now." I hissed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a shadow moving and I turned to find Erik picking up the discarded gun. "Don't even think about it! Give it to me right now or so help me…"

"It isn't even loaded," Erik pouted, slightly put out as he reluctantly handed the gun over.

"Yeah but if anybody anywhere was ever likely to have bullets for that gun conveniently hidden in a cloak pocket it would totally be you." I replied keeping a wary eye on the watching crowd as I stashed the gun in my own coat pocket. "You guys go wait in the car while I get checked out and if anybody attempts to do anything," death glare at Raoul, "that I would not approve of," death glare at Erik, "I will do something so terrible the mere mention of it would drive you mad."

The little assembly looked suitably terrified, well except for Erik who was looking wistfully at Christine again, even though she was ignoring him again. He never takes my threats seriously.

"Security to isle seven, security to isle seven," droned a bored voice from the store's intercom. Looking up in sudden panic, everyone was slightly confused to note we were in isle twenty-four. What could possibly be over there that could be worse than this? Instead of finding out I began herding the crew towards the front.

"Come on, before they get it right! Just go sit in the car." Digging in my pocket I managed to find my keys and handed them to Erik. "Start it and you are dead. Scratch it and you are dead. Hurt its feelings and …"

"Mandy may I remind you that it was you who said we don't have much time." Erik muttered in irritation. "Besides its going to take enough time getting everyone inside, you're car isn't exactly the roomiest mode of transportation."

"You be nice to my baby!" Erik sighed and rolled his eyes but thankfully followed as everyone filed out the doors without comment.

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"I'm squashed," a voice whined from the back seat. "Its too hot in here."

In reality the fop probably was squashed, not that I cared, sitting between his brother and his new buddy in the back seat. I was rather squashed myself but since it was Erik who was squashing me I wasn't about to complain. Neither was he from the look on his face. I doubt he'd ever been squashed between two females before. Sadly Christine didn't seem to notice as she gazed out the window like a puppy.

"I don't want to sit back here, why can't I sit in the front?" he continued to whine despite the lack of a reaction from his last complaint. I reached forward and turned on the radio and with a pointed look at Erik, turned the dial to the local classical station, which was not playing opera. A loud huff was heard from the back and was also ignored. "Its not fair."

"Hey, it's my car and my rules so be quite." I warned over the soft music.

"But I don't want to sit here. Why can't I sit by the window? Or by Christine? Why does he get to sit by Christine?" The fop whined without pausing for a breath. "I can't see anything. Marcel is touching me. Philippe is too. Make them stop it. Are we there yet?"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed coming to a conveniently placed stop sign with a screech of tires. "Christine, change places with Philippe this second before I lose it!

"But I want to sit by the window." Complained Raoul once again.

I lost it.

Ten minutes of insane ranting, screaming intensively detailed death threats and horrors hereto unheard of in civilized countries later, my little carload sat in wide-eyed silence, eons beyond stunned or shocked, except for Erik, who was rather irritated that he was out of scratch paper on which to jot down ideas. No one moved, no one dared.

"Christine darling, would you mind sitting between Marcel and the Viscount for the rest of the trip?" Erik asked softly, so as not to destroy the tense atmosphere I had created.

"Umm okay," she replied cautiously as she got out of the car. Philippe and Raoul climbed out to allow her to slide in and Philippe took her place in the front next to Erik while Raoul claimed his window seat. An awkward silence filled the car.

"Now then Mandy, whenever you feel like it, you may continue." Erik announced comfortingly.

"Okay," I mumbled back as the car crept forward. And then in a whisper I asked, "Did it work?"

"I can only hope so." Erik replied just barely audible. "If not, I doubt anything would keep him quiet."

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A/N: (Sigh) Well there it is, not quite up to my usual standard but… (shrugs) Oh well thank you for reading it anyway and review if you want.

P.S – I think a reviewer owes me some cookies : )