A/N: Okay... this has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but...

Does anyone else notice that Nightmare has a tail in his 1p SCII outfit? It's really gross and creepy.

Chapter Five : Spinny

One day Ivy and Nightmare were standing on opposite sides of a room for absolutely no reason. Actually, in the past when they worked together, they actually found it quite nice to be friends.

But now it was hard to think that they liked each other as much as they once might have had.

"So..." started Ivy. "How's that whole 'devouring souls' thing coming along?"

Nightmare narrowed his eyes in malicious delight. "Just a few more and I shall be revived!" He then cackled creepily like Nobuyuki Hiyama.

Suddenly, the door crashed open and the third of the evil trio arrived. He had a large package tucked under one of his arms and, as he stomped in, he tossed it to the floor between where Ivy and Nightmare were standing. "WORMS!" he shouted. "I HAVE PURCHASED A FUN PARTY GAME. IT IS CALLED 'TWISTER'!"

Ivy and Nightmare stared at him.

"Not to burst your bubble, but evil villains do not play 'fun party games', fool," Nightmare said darkly. "Take it back and ask for a refund." Then Ivy and Astaroth stared at him for saying something so peaceful. "I mean... Take it back and DEMAND that you get your money back!"

"WELL, I WOULD, BUT THE STORE JUST CLOSED AND IT DOESN'T OPEN UNTIL TOMORROW AT TEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING."

"Curse the public solicitation system!" Nightmare lifted his funky arm to the heavens and somehow, flames crackled in the background. "SOULS! Come unto me!"

Nobody said anything.

"Just lay it out, Astaroth," Ivy sighed, motioning for him to do so. "It could be rather fun." Of course, Ivy had had a Twister-deprived childhood, so she was eager to find out just what this whole Twister thing was about. "Nightmare, since you don't want to play, spin the spinner."

Nightmare was taken aback. "But I don't want to spin the spinner. Make Astaroth do it."

"No. You don't want to play, so since you're the odd man out, you have to spin the spinner. It's common sense, you dunce."

"Well, what if I do want to play, then?" snapped Nightmare. "Who will spin the spinner then? Hm? Hm? I hear no answer."

Just then, the doors burst open again and Cervantes leapt in like a lunatic. "ARR!" he arr'd, swinging his swords about and coming to a stop only to glare at the three before him. "Well, I'll be a yellow-bellied cockatiel from Switzarland!" he said, laughing loudly. "It be Twister! Move over and let me have a go!" He pushed past Nightmare and then gave him a quick glance. "Ah. I s'ppose the freak with the arm's gonna be the spinner?"

Before Nightmare could reply with, "No, I am definitely not going to be the spinner", Cervantes picked up the thin piece of cardboard with the color wheel and shoved it into Nightmare's hands.

"Spin it, spinner!" shouted the pirate. "Since I don't know ye name, I think I'll just call you SPINNY! YAR HAR HAR HAR!" He then wiped away a humorous tear.

Of course Nightmare definitely did NOT think this was funny, so, in his shock and anger, he simply dropped the spinner board on the ground. The other three didn't seem to notice, but when he stomped onto the spinner board with an armor-clad foot, they had to look because... well, armor has a distinct sound, you know.

"Why did you go and do that?" asked Ivy.

"Because I am definitely not the spinner!" he replied. "And my name is NOT Spinny, you fool! My name is Nightmare, and I shall be your WORST nightmare should you get on my bad side! I AM Soul Edge!" He cackled like Nobuyuki Hiyama again. Red energy crackled through his right arm, and, as he lifted Soul Edge above his head, they could have sworn a nearby window showed a desolate landscape with lightning flashing in the background whilst the rest of the windows had a cheerful evening scene behind them.

The others were silent for a few moments.

"COME ON, SPINNY, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO," Astaroth said.

"YOU CONCEITED... GOLEM!" bellowed Nightmare, pointing at Astaroth. "I DARE YOU TO USE THAT NAME TO ADDRESS ME ONCE MORE!"

"Don't get mad, Spinny," Ivy said.

He lifted Soul Edge over his head and, as he was preparing to strike her down, the doors opened yet again, and who of all people should be there? Why, Taki, of course.

In his distraction, Nightmare fell backwards onto the floor from the weight of the broad-sword.

"Taki?" the villanous quadrilateral said.

"Yeah. I guess I'm evil now," she said, shrugging. As an afterthought, she said, "HOO!" and threw a smoke-bomb, only to appear standing right next to Astaroth when the smoke cleared. "Oh, Twister."

"Yeah, we were just about to play, but you and Nightmare ruined our fun," Ivy said.

"How did I ruin the fun?" growled Nightmare, getting up.

"You refused to play it in the first place."

"I think Twister's for immature people who have no intelligence, anyway," sighed Taki, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away as if it was just THAT troublesome to even LOOK at the three people who wanted to actually play Twister. "I mean, who would really willingly play Twister?"

The golem, psuedo-dominatrix, and pirate all avoided looking at her.

"It's a game for ages three-through-fifteen, and, as far as I can tell, you're all too old for this," Taki continued.

"I'M ONLY SEVEN," Astaroth told her.

"Well... most of you are too old for this," she corrected herself. "So, if you don't mind, I'll just leave you immature people to your immature games and take my leave."

"I didn't want to play it," Nightmare said as IF IT MATTERED. "Evil people don't play Twister, you know."

"Ah. Seems you're the only other one in this room who has some brains," scoffed Taki. "Unlike those three, who all wear leather at some point."

"You... you wear spandex," Nightmare pointed out.

"That is beside the point," Taki said calmly, crossing her arms again. "This is a special Spandex Full-Body Suit design from Kohl's, and therefore it is superior to all non-Kohl's spandex full-body suits."

"I see."

"I should hope you would, you having several eyes and whatnot."

"Indeed."

With that, the ninja left them to mull over the previous happenings.

"Well, she has a point, I suppose," sighed Ivy.

"I told you you should have taken it back," Nightmare said in a mocking tone to Astaroth.

The golem only glared at him, his white eyes narrowed at the azure knight.

"Nightmare..." Ivy said in a 'warning' tone. "I swear, if you do not stop acting so childish, I will personally make sure you will not act as such ever AGAIN."

"How so?"

"By killing you, I'd assume, Spinny," Cervantes said.