"I can't believe you." From the other side, Yuck's voice was still obnoxiously loud; even alongside the screech of his sharp nails against the Foo Field. "I go through the trouble of imprisoning you and setting you up as bait, and all you do is read?! Where did you even get those!?"
Yin grit her teeth; she had read the same line on the same page for the seventh time in five minutes and those nails were gonna make her go for the eighth. "I always carry a couple of books with me in case I get bored with nothing better to do. Like, you know, right now?"
"Not my fault your brother's too dumb to find my hideout. Then again, maybe I'm just too smart for the two of you." If Yuck noticed Yin's pointed glare, he didn't show it; instead, he pressed his face against the field she was trapped in, trying to get a better look at the book in her hands. "But you're not even trying to fight back or escape! What gives? What's so special about that dumb book that's making you ignore your impending doom!?"
"You mean beside the fact that we always beat you and this time it shouldn't be any different?" The scowl on his face would've been enough to make sharks cry, but all it got out of her was a giggle and a raspberry blown in his direction. "Why should I tell you anyways? It's not something you're gonna like."
"I wanna know anyways!" Yuck caught her off guard by actually climbing on the Foo Field, nails digging in until he was right at the top of the dome with his face still pressed against the surface. And despite her current predicament, the way his eyes narrowed with his face pressed like that nearly made her burst out laughing; "'Fairytale Classics: Part VI'? Ugh, lame; I thought I'd be a Woo Foo tome or something."
"Told you; I knew you wouldn't like it." After the tenth failed rereading she decided to call it quits; she placed her bookmark between the pages and levitated closer to the top where Yuck was now sulking cross-legged; "I mean, I do read Woo Foo history texts and magic guides, too-"
"They why are you reading that instead? Aren't fairytales for babies?"
"They are NOT!" Yin punched the Foo Field right where Yuck's face was (and immediately regretted it with the way her knuckles stung, but refused to let it show in front of him). "Fairytales teach us very important core values and life lessons! Like friendship, and being kind to others! The power of true love that prevails over all! How happy endings are always possible!"
"EXACTLY! They're all the same lovey-dovey schmuck with the prince and princess riding off into the sunset to swap spit or something." At one point, Yuck had taken to lying on his stomach with his chin resting over his crossed arms; if not for the shield, he and Yin would've almost nose to nose. "They can't even make their own sappiness original."
Yin's frown deepened, and she opened her book to skim through it; "You can't say that when you've probably never read a single story. There's plenty of them: The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, Rumpelstiltskin, Beauty and the Beast-"
Yuck's ear twitched.
"-Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Glass Mountain, Pinocchio…but Beauty and the Beast is my favorite!" She backtracked until she was back where she had left off, looking up to glare at the other again; "But I don't see why I have to tell you more if you're not interested, anyways."
"And what if I was?"
Yin tilted her head, eyes narrowed; she tried to scope out any hint of mockery or deception out of Yuck, but even through the Foo Field she could tell he was genuinely interested, eyes focused on the picture of the Beast staring down at Belle that she had last left on. "You're….you're serious?"
"Uh, yeah? It's not fair I get bored and you don't while waiting for Yang to show up." He slid off the top of the shield like a slide and sat on the ground against it, still pressing his face to take a closer look. "I wanna know why you like it so much. Plus, it has 'Beast' on the title so I'll bite."
A little voice in the back of Yin's head warned her to just ignore him, that this was clearly yet another trick to take advantage of her. And yet...the temptation to gush about her favorite fairytale was too great; it's not something she did often since no one else was as passionate about it as she was, unfortunately.
"Alright, but if you're messing with me I WILL find a way to break out of here just so I can slap you." Yuck only answered with a grin, and Yin rolled her eyes in return before levitating over to sit right next to him. She flipped the pages all the way back to the beginning of the story, making sure that it would be visible to Yuck from outside the field.
"So we have our protagonist Belle, right? Now, Belle lives in a small quiet town but she dreams of living the same adventures she's read in her books…"
And for the following hour or so, Yin gushed nonstop about the story of Belle, how she gave herself up to the terrifying Beast to save her father, how slowly yet steadily the Beast proved to not be so beastly after all...and how they both fell in love with one another. Yin loved their story not only because she saw so much of herself in Belle, but also because her relationship with the Beast made the girl's heart flutter. While she preferred a prince of her own - tall, dark, handsome and hopefully loaded - there was something so exciting about the Beast himself; something about its outwardly monstrous appearance that hid a heart of gold…
Even as she kept rambling on, she'd steal a couple of glances in Yuck's direction to make sure he was following. She'd expected him to get bored or complain at any moment, but to her surprise he really was invested in the story, hands and face pressed against the field every time she placed the book closer to him. While she never pointed it out loud, she was specially fascinated with the way his eyes lit up every time the Beast was mentioned, amber hues fixated on the illustrations of the monster's imposing form.
Even if she couldn't figure out exactly how her favorite story appealed to one of her sworn enemies, she was still glad.
At least, until they reached the ending.
"And then, just as Beast was on the verge of death," Yin tried to make her narrating voice as dramatic as possible; this was her absolute favorite part and she wanted to capture the feeling of it just right; "Belle's true love for him broke the curse and turned him back into a prince! They shared their first kiss, and lived happily ever after!"
Her eyes sparkled like stars as she saw the last illustration - Belle and the Prince dancing happily, surrounded by their friends - and held it open wide for Yuck to see; "Here it is! What do you-?"
Her face fell.
Yuck was staring at the picture in the book, but instead of the curiosity and interest he had before, he looked at it like he wanted to set it on fire.
"Yuck? What's wrong?" Yin's ears lowered as she pulled the book away from his sight; "What's with that look?"
"That's it? That's the ending? The Beast was a dumb prince all along!?" Yuck's stance was suddenly tense, his fur puffed up with outrage as he glared sourly at Yin; "What kind of ending is that!? That's so stupid!"
"What!?" Now it was her turn to be outraged, hugging the book close to her chest like it was her baby; "It's not stupid! And why are you even surprised when the beginning already mentioned he was a prince-"
A blink. "Wait...did I really not mention that part?"
"NO! You DIDN'T, Yin!" Now Yuck was stomping the ground childishly as he paced around the Foo Field; "I thought it was supposed to be Beauty and the Beast, not Beauty and the Boring, Useless Pretty-Face Prince! That's why I was interested in the first place; what was the whole point of the story, then?!"
"The point?" Had she thought wrong? Had he not learned anything from everything she just told him? "The whole point was that the prince had to learn to be beautiful on the inside to be beautiful on the outside again! He had to learn to love others so that he could be loved despite being a monster!"
"But…but Belle already liked him as a monster!" Why was Yuck so angry over this? Why did he look so frustrated? Why did was he taking this so...personally? "He didn't need to change back, so why did he!?"
"Why would he want to stay a beast!?"
Yuck stopped mid-pace to stare at her, and the look on his face made Yin freeze. He was definitely angry, but somehow he also looked like she'd just slapped him. There was something...confused? Desperate?
….Hurt?
"YIN!"
The warehouse's doors literally burst open at that moment, but even through the dust cloud that formed after, Yin would recognize that voice and that reckless display of violence anywhere. "YANG! Where were you!? You took forever!"
"Are you kidding me? ALL of the warehouses out there look EXACTLY the SAME!" The blue rabbit cracked his knuckles in Yuck's direction; "Too bad for you, Yuck! I dunno how Yin got you to yell like that, but it made finding your hideout way easier!"
Yuck just stood there silently.
"What, no comebacks?" While Yin stopped to stare at Yuck again, her brother didn't seem to realize anything was amiss as he pulled out his sword. "Weak, but who cares as long as we get to the fighting part faster!"
"No."
"That's right, you better get ready for-" Yang stopped waving his sword, frowning. "Wait, what do you mean 'no'?"
"Is the mush you call a brain clogging your ears or something?" Yuck snapped his fingers, and Yin froze as the Foo Field imprisoning her dissolved. But before she could react, she was encased in amber light and forcibly pushed right next to Yang. "I changed my mind. I'm not dealing with you two idiots today and I want you to get out."
"But I JUST got here!"
"And you held me hostage for nearly TWO hours!" Still holding her book close to her chest, against her own judgement, Yin took a step forward. He was furious - and so was she - but for him it wasn't his regular kind of angry. Why was he acting like this? Why was he angry at her? Why did it bother her so much? "You know, just because you didn't like the ending doesn't mean-"
"I SAID GET OUT!"
Another wave of amber magic - this time enveloping both of them - and before either twin could react, they were both thrown out the door. By the time Yin managed to get off the floor, the doors were already closed and locked tights.
"Oh come ON! I looked all over these dumb warehouses for nearly two hours and now I don't even get to take my anger out on someone!?" Yang kicked a pebble at the door, and then turned to look at her. His eyes fell on the book in her hands, and realization dawned on him before turning to annoyance; "Wait, did you bore him with your nerdy books? No wonder he lost it- OW!"
"Shut up, Yang! I still can't believe it took you TWO HOURS to find me!" Yin gave her brother another smack on the head with the book for good measure before turning to the door again. While Yang kept complaining in the background, she kept thinking back to Yuck's reaction back there.
He had seemed so genuinely invested in her story, in her words, calmer than she ever recalled seeing him. And then he had gotten so irrationally angry at the end, at the revelation that the Beast was never really a beast.
….But why?
She looked down at her book, turning the pages until she frowned. She turned the pages faster, even turning the book upside down, but it only confirmed her fears. "Oh, come on!"
"What now?"
"...I think I dropped my favorite bookmark back there."
OoOoOoOoO
Yuck could still hear them from inside the warehouse, but he didn't care anymore. He was too busy pacing around, too busy trying to stay calm and failing.
Of course Yin wouldn't get it. Of course she wouldn't understand why he'd be so upset. And maybe he shouldn't be upset; it was a stupid fairytale he had gotten himself excited for nothing.
Stupid.
Stupid, stupid, stupid-
A flash of pink on the floor caught his attention, and he walked over to pick it up. Decorated with glittery roses and hearts, it was the bookmark Yin had used on that book; that insufferable, stupid book-
"Why would he want to stay a beast!?"
"Of course." He muttered as he watched the bookmark crumple under his grip, the smell of burnt cardboard and glitter filling his nostrils as a fire spell reduced it to ash. Petty, but still slightly rewarding. "Of course."
He really should've known better.
Monsters didn't get happy endings.