Chapter 3:

Tno: Well hello to each and every delightful little kangaroo out there, I love you all dearly, yes yes. But I will love you even more; the more you give me those reviews of which I live for. I hope you have been enjoying the story so far and now we are to find out what has startled out pulchritudinous dear kinkajou named Sid. (As you can see I name all my characters and precious readers after interestingly named animals, so don't bother trying to understand my A/Ns unless you already do). Now on with the answers to my kangaroo's delightful reviews. (And if you don't understand my sophisticated language, then look it up because I'm not going to waist my precious time explaining it to you).

Chapter 3:

That was when they heard a shriek from the next room and Sid ran out with a terrified look on her face. She accidentally tripped on one of the fallen sheets and fell on top of Ray dragging Gwen down with her. (She doesn't do these kinds of things often but when she does it's really quite funny, no offence Sid.)

"Hey, what happened?" Gwen asked worriedly. Sid was about to answer but looked up and saw Ray looking at her in slight surprise.

"Uh…nothing! It's nothing." She blushed getting up.

"Oh really." Ray folded his arms. "I don't believe you." He said walking past her into the room. He came back out a couple of seconds later smirking. "A spider?" He chuckled. "Well I guess we all have the most unexpected weaknesses." He grinned.

"Oh yeah, well what's yours then." Sid asked, feeling ashamed of herself. Ray just smiled and winked.

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." He said and went downstairs.

"The group spent the next few hours cleaning up the mountains of dust and attempting to air out the musty rooms. By the time they were done, it already seemed almost ten times better than when they'd first laid eyes on the interior. The outside was still overgrown and almost completely concealed in the massive jungle of leaves and flowers, but they'd survive. They all layback on the couches and on the soft carpet in the living room, worn out.

"I don't think I ever truly realized just how big this place is." Gwen sighed rolling over on her back.

"And you thought we'd have a better chance of surviving here?" Tyson whined, coughing profusely. Ray came and sat down behind Ari, discretely playing with her hair (so he thinks).

"Ray, touch my hair again and I will personally see to it that you won't have anything ELSE to play with in the future." (If you don't get it, then you're slow). Ray immediately dropped Ari's hair and crawled over to Sid.

"But I need those." He grinned and giving Sid a sideways glance. She looked at him quizzically one eyebrow raised. Then, smirking, she got up along with her two friends and they all went to sit around Enni in a very flirtatious manner.

"Sorry Ray. There ain't enough room for two players in this here town." Enni said, making a tough western imitation with his voice. Ray grinned back and got up coming over and holding out his hand.

"You're on." He smiled.

"Say what?" Enni was taken a back slightly, not being exactly sure what Ray meant.

"I'm taking that as a challenge." Ray answered cocking his head to the side. Enni stood up looking stern and faced him with a comical look of fake hatred. They both took a step back and tumbleweeds rolled by. Ray fingered his gun and Enni pulled his hat down low over one eye. The girls sat on the saloon steps the feathers in their hair blowing in the wind of the deserted street.

"Their gonna kill each other." Ari screamed, feigning a swoon.

"No Ray, don't do it. Please." Gwen cried from the wooden porch her hand covering her mouth in fear.

"Enni, don't hurt him. I'm begin; you, stop." Sid clasped her hands over her heart and gasped.

"This is your last chance to run partner." Enni threatened.

"Not a chance ya yellow belly." Ray answered.

"On three then." Enni smiled his hand going to his holster. "One…"

"Two…" Ray answered gripping his pistol.

"THREE." They both yelled as Kai walked between them.

"You guys are hopeless." He sneered, and the western scene suddenly turned back into the living room, Enni and Ray stood on either side of Kai, their fingers, forming the shape of guns, were still pointed at one another and the girls were still clinging to each other on the couch.

"Kai, you just killed it." Gwen looked irritated.

"Yeah well I think it's time for us all to go to bed now anyway." He said.

"You know, at first I though maybe I got the wrong impression of you." Ari began, detaching herself from her friends. "But you really are no fun." She looked at him in disbelief.

"Whatever." Kai grunted in reply.

Sid sat on her bed board out of her mind when there was a knock at her door and Gwen and Ari walked in with their arms full off pillows. Sid grinned happily; she figured they'd show up sooner or later.

"Kai's gonna kill us." Gwen sighed.

"I don't care. Who made him the head cheese anyway?" Sid added.

"Exactly, so I say screw Kai." Ari nodded and Sid got a look on her face.

"He'd probably be really good at it too." She smiled slyly.

"Ew, why are we talking about sleeping with Kai?" Gwen shuddered.

"Because we're teenage girls." Sid answered.

"Sooo…what are we gonna do about this place?" Ari sighed looking around Sid's room.

"Meh. Slap on some paint and fit in some new curtains, an this place could look like a home." Gwen said doubtfully.

"We also have to get jobs while we're waiting for Enni's dad to send him some money." Sid sighed.

"Urg, don't remind me." Ari groaned. "How about this. You work, and I sleep." She grinned her eyes closed. She was then hit by a large number of pillows that ricocheted of the walls falling softly on the floor, and on her head. This was followed by much giggling that continued until probably around one in the morning when they finally fell asleep.

Enni ran into Sid's room breathing a great sigh of relief, as Ray and Max followed him.

"Oh good. You're all here." Enni gasped.

"I could've told you that." Kai's voice was heard from the hall. "They weren't exactly quiet during their little 'slumber party' last night." He grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ari yawned sitting up and rubbing her head, flipping her hair around her hands. All three girls have just woken up at this point. They weren't expecting the whole house to burst into the room suddenly at god only knows what time of the morning.

They stumbled sleepily into the kitchen and sat down at the table holding their heads.

"I told you, you should have gone to bed when I said so." Kai smirked.

"Listen wise crack." Sid said angrily getting up. "I don't care what you think. I have survived on my own just fine for several years, you are NOT going to tell me what to do." She hissed.

"We should go get dressed now anyway." Gwen said trying to prevent the start of world war three. That's when Enni walked in fully dressed and smiling as each girl gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"How do you do it?" Tyson asked in awe.

"How do you stand it?" Kai scowled.

"You realize that I have been having a great deal of trouble trying to guess weather you say these things because you're jealous or because you're gay." Enni grinned sitting next to him. Kai just grunted and went to the living room.

"We need to get some money so we can actually fix up this old place." Ray said following him along with Tyson and Max.

"Maybe the girls have a plan." Max suggested.

"Judging from my most recent experiences, I wouldn't trust any of their plans." Tyson said looking scared. Kai shook his head in irritation and sat on one of the couches, crossing his arms in his signature pose. A moment later the fades walked in looking at the silent group.

"Wow, did someone die?" Ari asked sitting down on the floor with Sid. Enni and Gwen smirked and plopped themselves on either side of Kai. He looked up slowly his brow furrowed at them, wondering what in the name of all things sacred they were planning. He suddenly caught on, his eyes opening properly now.

"Oh no you don't." He said attempting to stand, but before he could move they both leaned over, kissing him on either cheek. He stood up quickly and turned to them shocked (yeah, he's kind of a prude, but then again he kind of is in the show, although he does tend to make most of the sexual references when Ray is absent). "WOW." He stopped. "You." He growled at Enni then turned to Gwen. "You, you're a girl so you're O.K., but you…" he looked back at Enni.

"Wow I think that's the most you've ever said in one day." Sid said innocently.

"And you are starting to get very annoying." He retorted.

"I could start kissing you too." She suggested.

He gave a small huff and left, they heard a door close upstairs and figured that he'd gone to his room.

"Well that answers my question from before." Enni said and then he and Gwen combusted into laughter.

"Anyway…" Ray said, looking slightly nervous. "Let's get back to the task at hand." He continued and everyone groaned knowing what was coming next. "Cleaning up this disaster." He finished.

"And with what money?" Sid replied.

"Well we all have to have something no matter how small." Max said. In the end they managed to get four hundred and eighty bucks in total. And trust me, that's not a lot for a group of eight teenagers trying to live in a rundown old mansion. So they decided that buying standard white paint would do for now, and some black too. The rest off the money went to food. (No they didn't trust Tyson with that part, they actually have brains). Instead it was Ray and Gwen that went to get groceries and Ari and Enni took the paint duty which left Sid to round the rest up and give them each duties of their own to fulfill. So it was no surprise when Gwen and Ray came home to find Tyson swinging in front of the third story windows on a weirdly tied rope, screaming for help.

"How in hell did you get up there you idiot?" Gwen asked one hand clutching a brown bag full of food, the other shielding her eyes to the sun.

"Uh…something got Sid mad so she sent me to do the outside work so I thought I'd start with the ivy." He called back.

"Arg, we'll come get you down in a second." Ray sighed as he and Gwen sauntered into the house. "You'd figure he should start with clearing a path to the door." Ray growled, pushing past brambles and probably breaking a few.

"Oh thank god you're back." Sid almost through herself at them as the walked into the kitchen.

"Uh…hello?" Gwen answered.

"Tyson has been insufferable and Max can't seem to do ANYTHING without asking me how I want it done, and Kai is actually working, but I have never met a more conceited asshole in all my life, Arg, they're driving me crazy." She cried falling into a chair, Ray and Gwen just blinked at her. That's when the sound of the other car was heard, pulling up outside.

Several hours later Kai walked into the living room with the intention of taking a break from ridding the house of spiders (Sid's idea). As he did so he almost had a heart attack and almost got a face full of white paint. The room had been turned into a war zone. The furniture had been yet again covered with the original white sheets and they were currently being used as shields while the paint splattered teens ran around throwing the white substance at one another.

"You do realize that you are wasting the paint." He sighed.

"No we're not." Sid grinned. "We're just turning ourselves into human rollers." She laughed rubbing her back up against the wall, much like a cat would.

"You should help." Ari added brushing some paint on the back of his neck. He turned and glared at her.

"Oh come on Kai, you must have been a kid at some time." Gwen added. He didn't say anything and just leaned on the only dry part of the wall.

"I'm getting tired of you feeling sorry for yourself." Ari began to flare. "Do you think your life could have ever been more painful than ours?" She continued. The air was starting to feel electric and the sunlight suddenly disappeared. Kai watched her with interest.

"Uh guys…" Gwen began, looking out the window; the sky had suddenly turned black. The clouds were writhing darkly above them, causing lightning touching the earth everywhere around them. "She's doing it again." Gwen whimpered ducking behind Sid.

They turned back to the living room where Ari was standing staring at the floor with out really seeing it. Her pupils had been reduced to the size of pinheads, and there was a smoky black power was slowly consuming her like a soft hypnotic flame.

"Kai get OUT OF THE WAY!" Enni cried, but it was too late. The air circled her, building up strength, crushing Kai against the wall. "When she releases that energy, Kai will be killed." Enni looked scared. But he wasn't anticipating the wall of burning fire that shot up in front of Kai.

"What the…" Ray stared in confusion. A few seconds later Ari seemed to snap from her trance and she looked up at the fire surrounding Kai. Putting her head between her hands she dropped to her knees and screamed an unearthly scream that seemed to ring in the billowing black mass overhead.

"HIT THE DECKS." Gwen cried, grabbing Tyson and Max and dragging them to the ground, followed by her friends. There was a rushing, howling sound around them as the entire house shook. Then there was a deadly silence and sunlight slowly stretched across the floor. It crossed over the six teenagers on the floor who looked up, watching Kai on his hands and knees gasping for air. Ari was still on he knees in the middle of the floor shacking.

"C-couldn't stop…I-I…did I kill him." She stuttered keeping her eyes shut. Gwen gripped her hands while Sid checked her pulse (yes they do this a lot but it's important so don't start moaning my insufferable wombats).

"No you didn't kill him, he's o.k." Enni said. "Although I have no idea how." He wondered aloud. But Ari couldn't seem to hear him. He walked over to Kai and checked his pulse also noticing the chain hanging from his neck and the glowing bit dangling on the end.

"So that explains it." He whispered. Kai sat back against the wall, still catching his breath and looking at Ari who had completely lost herself to her power. She wasn't noticing anything around her. "O.K. sweetheart, let's get you upstairs." Enni said softly, picking her up and carrying her up the stairs, Gwen and Sid following quickly behind.

"I'm starting to wonder if coming here was ever really a good idea." Max said sliding down next to Kai.

"What do you mean 'starting' to?" Tyson was still lying on the floor, to afraid that something was going to explode.

"I don't think we'll ever be able to relax when we're always worried about one of them blowing up." Ray added picking up a brush and looking around. One of the six paint cans had fallen over, spilling onto the sheets that covered the carpet. The furniture had been thrown around a bit, but otherwise there was little damage done. He sighed and proceeded to paint the walls. His comrades looked around at the windswept room; somehow they knew that this wasn't even close to what she could have done.

"She held herself back." Sid voiced their thoughts sitting on the only chair that hadn't been flipped over. "A lot more then she should have, I'm surprised she managed to stay conscious until Enni took her upstairs."

"What are you talking about?" Tyson asked.

"Shesurpressed all the energy she built up, sorta the same way Kai bottles in his feelings so she took the principal from you." Sid answered gesturing towards Kai. "That's why she screamed so much." Sid closed her eyes a let out a groan of frustration. "That must have been so painful." She whispered.

'Ari, you held yourself back.' The voice soothed in the back of her mind.

'I had to, I can't kill anymore.' Ari thought, she was vaguely aware of someone holding her hand and stroking her hair, but that could just have been the breeze through her window. She suddenly remembered not having closed it since the day before.

'I know you can't.' The voice replied.

Enni continued to run his fingers through Ari's hair. He was one of the few people whom she would allow to touch it. He never could imagine what those girls went through and he loved them for their bravery and he would stand by them. Gwen came and sat next to him, looking at her friend.

"A part of me wishes she'd have just let go." Gwen mumbled. "This is just getting worse the more it goes on."

"I know." He whispered. "I know." He reached inside his shirt and pulled out his bit beast pendant. He did this a lot lately; he just sat in the darkness of his room and stared at it for hours, sometimes all night. He didn't blame Sid for demolishing his blade and almost destroying his bit beast. It wasn't her fault. It had never been their fault. He had grown to live with the new change. Though he couldn't see his bit beast anymore he could still feel his presence close by and somehow that comforted him.

"I'm sorry." Gwen said quietly whipping her eyes, and he suddenly realized that she had been crying. "We're all so sorry."

"I know." He answered again. "It wasn't your fault." He continued and turned to look at her "and I'm going to fix things." He said without smiling. She nodded and looked down at the bed where Ari was stirring. She opened her eyes looking at them but not seeming to really focus.

"I left the window open." She smiled weakly and fell out of consciousness again.

Sid was in the kitchen staring into space when her friends came downstairs. The boys were still painting the living room and the house had gone strangely quiet for the first time since they'd arrived. How long would it be now until she lost control, what would happen then? The sudden outbursts had only increased in strength as they had aged and now the smallest things could set them off. Gwen and Ari had proved that one already. How long would it take for her to…to? Her head pounded and she felt sick. How many people would she kill? Would she be able to hold herself back? Would she die? A hand landed on her back and she looked up at Gwen. Her eyes were red and puffy from her own tears but she was smiling now.

"She woke up for a minute just a little while ago." She giggled. "So it looks like she'll be O.K." The joy in the room was nonetheless tainted and the rest of the day was mostly spent in silence.

"Those poor girls." Ray said to himself as they assembled in Kai's room that night (much to Kai's objection).

"Makes me almost hate the BBA." Max agreed. "I wonder if it'll get any better."

"I doubt it." Kai retorted from his seat in the shadows.

"But I'd still like to know how come WE are somehow a part of this." Ray said ignoring the prince of darkness and despair.

"Maybe we should ask the person who started all this." Max suggested.

"Mr. Dickenson?" Tyson didn't know what he'd say to the man now that he knew what he'd done. "He doesn't seem like the same person anymore."

At around three a.m., Ari stumbled down the last flight of stairs and somehow guided herself into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water and stood there staring at it.

"Are you going to drink it, or are you waiting for it to show you the future." Enni stood at the doorway his arms folded over his chest. "I heard you get up."

"I don't want to know about my future." Ari retorted. "Especially if I might not have one." He walked over wrapping his arms around her. This had happened to them so many times before and all he could do was sit by and wait for it to be over so he could help make it better.

"You will have a future. We all will." She relaxed and buried her face in his chest letting him comfort her.

"How can you be sure?" Her voice wavered as tears came down her cheeks freely, she almost never cried like this.

"Because I'm gonna make sure." He whispered back. "Now maybe you should go back to bed". She pulled away drinking some of the water and nodded, letting him help her back upstairs.

The next morning everyone was back downstairs in the kitchen being very quiet while Ari leaned her head on Gwen's shoulder, still feeling a little dizzy, but she wasn't so out of it that she couldn't see how everyone was acting. Even Tyson wasn't making anyone scream. Arg, this was getting tedious.

"THAT'S IT!" She cried sitting up, and everyone looked at her in fear of another outburst, or that she had completely lost her mind and thought that someone very annoying was talking to her. "I can't take this anymore." She added getting up. "Could you just all go back to being the mindless fools that you are, this is starting to get boring." She grinned, and the room let out a sigh. Tyson smiled and jumped up running around the kitchen.

"Thank god. I thought I was gonna die. Honestly it was like watching paint dry…" He went on and everyone tuned out eventually laughing inwardly at his antics. Max soon joined him and then someone suggested going for a run or something to get rid of the cobwebs and someone else said they should finish painting and…well anyway…you get the idea. And somehow through all the madness, no one noticed Kai and Ray slip out the front door. Everyone new that this happiness would only last until something set off one of the spirits inside the girls but they'd take it for now. Kai put a hand on his still sour chest as he thought this. He turned and followed Ray out the door leaving the sounds of joy behind.

Tno: Hello my fine feathered felines. Well well, what could our little stealthy kangaroos be up too now do you wonder? Well you'll just have to wait and see. Mwahahahaha. Now as you can see our story tends to have mood swings-.

Clarence: Exactly, it goes from happy, to angsty. Happy to angsty. Happy, angsty, happy, angsty…

Tno: Uh…Clarence…

Clarence: Happy, angsty, happy…

Tno: Hello!

Clarence: Happy, angsty, happy and then angsty, and THEN occasionally we add in some romance but then it goes back to happy, angsty-.

Tno: CLARENCE!

Clarence: What? I'm just telling them the basic 'mood' of the story.

Tno: Yes well it's time to say goodbye now.

Clarence: But what about the contest thing?

Tno: Oh smooth Clarence that's supposed to be for the next chapter.

Clarence: Oops, uh…bye then.

Tno: Adieu.