Author's Note: I'm baaaack! Yay! Project's done /and/ finals are done! I'm freeeee!! Well….until the next project and finals. . I should be back to uploading every few days now, though. ^_^

Sharina: lol…Not exactly. Although it probably should have been, now that I think about it. ^_~

SD: *nodnod* I agree…Poor Jake. Well, he might get a rather unplanned vacation later due to a certain opposite of Ellimist….But I can't say more or I'll give away the plot. ^_~

Liaranne: Sorry about the long wait! Now you'll know who was at the door, though.

DH: Yup…Evil, evil school. Don't worry, I'm planning on keeping this one going. Thankies for the compliments! I really do feel bad for Jake…His life pretty much sucks. It's one of the reasons why I refuse to believe the ending to the series is what really happened. ^_~

bionicle0727: Don't worry about it. ^_^ Yes, school just sucks. I can't wait for spring break…Writing time! Whee! And thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: "Stop blowing holes in my ship!"

Chapter Twenty-Four – Marco

a.k.a. Mutant Doors and Tobias's Girlfriend

I think the irony gods hate me. They really do. Here I was stuck in some shed with my best friend, a friend from my math class, this girl who I may or may not be interested in, and another girl. The last three of whom may or may not be infested with evil parasitic slugs and about to bring around my impending doom.

Not to mention they all had various special abilities, including having little blue flames to boss around, being a female Doctor Dolittle, or being the Black Canary embodied.

Oh, and did I tell you that my best friend and I currently had these three tied to chairs and were guarding against their escape?

I'm not sure which of the above is more insane.

And, as if that wasn't enough, our door was just broken down by a pack of rabid animals. First rabid zebras, and now this.

The group at the door consisted of no less than a badger, a fox, two deer, a grouping of sparrows, and a red-tailed hawk. That wasn't Tobias, nonetheless.

"Sammie….What did you do…?" Daniel asked calmly.

"Why do you assume it was my fault?" Samantha demanded.

"Maybe because you can talk to the critters, Sammie?" Reese asked, looking a bit calmer now.

"Okay, so, well, maybe this one was my fault. But I didn't tell them to break down the door…." Samantha replied.

"What did you tell them to do?" Jake asked, sounding both tired and amused.

I looked over at the door, wondering if I dared go over and try to close it. I took another glance at the animals and decided against it.

"Well…nothing….really…" Samantha mumbled.

Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay. I might have invited them to come visit…"

I sighed heavily, throwing my hands up in the air. "And you told them they could just bust their way in if the door wasn't open?"

"Hey, now, that was their idea. I didn't know they would do that." Samantha said indignantly.

Jake nodded. "Well, do you think you could maybe tell them to go away?"

Samantha considered. "Yeah, I could do that." She looked over at the door. In a few moments, all of the animals trundled on off, except for the red-tailed hawk. Samantha looked over at Jake. "Um. Skysong wants to stay…That all right?"

Jake looked at me, then shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

The hawk, Skysong, soared into the room to land on Samantha's chair. Jake went over to see if he could close the door.

"She says thanks." Samantha said.

Jake nodded absently, still looking at the door.

I looked over at the hawk. "She?"

Samantha nodded.

"Ooo. Think she could stay around? Maybe we've finally found Tobias a girlfriend!" I said cheerfully.

Everyone looked at me.

"What? It was an idea…" I commented, trying to sound hurt.

"Hmm…I don't think it would work, though. I mean, who'd want to date someone when they needed a translator present constantly?" Samantha asked.

Now everyone stared at her.

"Oh, geez, it was a joke. Hah-hah, funny?" Samantha prompted.

There was silence.

"Oh, shut up." Samantha muttered.

"You know, we didn't say anything." Reese commented.

"You were thinking it." Samantha replied.

"What, you read minds now?" I asked.

"Maybe." Samantha replied.

"Okay, that would just be scary." Daniel commented. "Besides, only Marco's allowed to make jokes, remember?"

I nodded, then paused. "Hey, wait!"

There was laughter at that. Which was totally unfair. No one laughs at my Tobias joke, but everyone laughs at Daniel's joke about me. See, the irony gods. They really are out to get me. I went over to help Jake with the door. We got it to close, but it wouldn't lock. Not that it really locked to begin with, but, you know. The principle of the thing.

"Your friends busted the door, Sam." I told her.

"Really?" She asked, craning to see. "Man…I'm sorry. I really didn't think they'd do that…"

Jake shook his head. "It's okay, Sam…It'll live."

"Well, technically, it was never alive to begin with." Reese said.

Jake did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at her.

"It could have been. How do you know?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, yes, mutant doors." Reese commented.

Jake muttered something that sounded a lot like liking Danny more because he backed him up.

"I so take offense to that. You know, I'm still hurt that no one laughed at my Tobias joke." I commented.

What Tobias joke would that be? A thought-speak voice asked.

"Oh, hi, Tobias…Joke? What joke? You must be hearing things." I said sweetly.

Uh-huh. Tobias replied. So, what happened to the door?

Danny raised his head up to look at Tobias. "It mutated."