Chapter 3

The night offered no rest.

Snek tossed and turned with strange dreams, he saw Amai Mask, staring at him, but then, there was a look of panic over the face of the idol. Something was happening to him, and then, Snek felt the same sensation. His body grew numb, the vision began to blur as the dream began to become strange. He was seeing as his former self, the former Class A Rank 37 hero, battle suit and all. He tossed and turned throughout the night until the morning sun woke him. Snek was tired, his eyes a blur, his vision refused to clear. Slowly, he picked himself up off the floor and slinked towards the kitchen.

Everyone was up, the room was oddly cold as Garou was whistling happy birthday aloud. Everyone stood up and was about to shout, however he waved them off. "Please hold off the yelling until I get some coffee. Damn, my eyes don't even want to wake up!" he stumbled towards the coffee machine, and managed to pour himself a drink. Even with blurry eyes, he could still pour a cup blindfolded if necessary. Still, he shuffled his way over to the table, placed his drink down and was about to coil up to the table when he fell back! "DAMN IT!"

The fall woke him up. His eyes cleared very suddenly, as Snek tried to make sense as to why he fell, he saw it. His own feet! He suddenly backed away fearfully of the limbs, in fact, he snapped back up onto his feet, holding the countertop in compete and utter shock! "What… the… hell…" he said.

Garou was grinning from ear to ear. "Happy Birthday Snek," his smile only grew as he looked to the clock. "Ooo, let's see how well this goes." He suddenly began to count down on his fingers from five. When he reached one, he paused.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The room jumped in shock to the scream. "What the hell was that?!" demanded Snek.

"Well, if I had to guess, Amai Mask just woke up." Garou said with a grin on his face. "I had the windows open to see if we could hear him scream this far. Looks like he has good range."

"Oh, that's why the windows are open…" snickered Suiryu.

Hunter then smiled. "Well, I'll be right back…" he got up and left the house. Snek however was confused.

"Where is he going?"

"To pick up Amai." Said Garou. "We are taking him in, while you get to go back home to City F and your apartment." The smile grew on his face. "I get to say what I have wanted to tell you since you three first got here. Get the hell out of my house!"

But he was quickly to take back his words when Melee gave him a firm punch to his arm. "You don't mean that!" she protested.

"Sort of…"

"You like us, we know it's a joke" snickered Max.

"You may want to clear out your room so he doesn't smash anything…" suggested Melee. "We will keep it here, but we will store it away and in a safe place." Snek slowly released the counter top, surprised to say the least. "Wait… you are taking him in? You are going to let him LIVE here?" he demanded.

Garou shrugged his shoulders. "You know, it's the only way we can keep an eye on him after all. We got make sure he doesn't do anything stupid like what he did with my power…"

"Wait… what do you mean by that?"

"You didn't think your serpent powers just vanished over night did you? They got to go somewhere!" said Melee. She began to giggle. "So for the next while, Amai is going to a serpent monster. While you get to roam free"

Snek felt his heart racing. He couldn't believe it. "You mean… Amai gets to be the serpent, and I get to be me again?"

"For four months…" said Garou. "Sorry it couldn't be longer, this soothsayer power I think is a hit and miss. I made only one other 'prediction' but have yet to see the results of that one… I should have thought it through a little better."

Snek couldn't help himself, he pulled Melee and Garou into his arms and embraced them full heartedly. "Thank you!"

"This counts as your Christmas present too!" warned Garou.

"FINE!"

"Okay, now go clear your room. Amai will be here soon." Said Melee.

Snek let them go as he rushed to his room. With care he took down his framed hero promotion certificates, the photos and fan letters followed. He just about boxed everything away when he heard someone clearing their voice. He turned and saw the twins lingering in the doorway. "Snek…" said Goliath.

"Holy crap you said my name!"

He smiled and walked in with Draven. Draven was a little upset to say the least, he was trying to hold back his tears but couldn't look at Snek. "We'll miss you…" he wept. "I wish you didn't have to leave…"

"Whoa, hey, this isn't forever. It's four months! I'll come by and visit, I promise you."

Goliath couldn't hold back his tears anymore either, he cleared them away yet kept something hidden behind his back. Draven did too. "What you got there?" Snek asked. The twins turned to each other and gave the nod, from behind their backs, they revealed pillows, two of them. "Oh wow, pillows… wait a moment…" Snek took a closer look at them, and realized what they were made from. The little outfits he bought for them when they were smaller, before forcing themselves to grow into the teenagers they are now. "Well I'll be!" Snek said with great surprise. "Did you boys make these?"

"Mom taught us how to sew. It was the first thing we made on our own," explained Draven. "We hope you would like it."

"I love it, thank you!" Snek embraced the twins and tucked his pillows under his arm. "Those are coming home with me!"

"We're going to miss you." Draven whispered.

"Miss you a lot." Said Goliath.

"Whoa, hey, I am coming back you know. This is only temporary! I don't have these bad boys back forever! Besides, you got a new Snake moving in, remember?"

The two pouted. "He hurt you!" protested Draven. "He tried to eat you!"

Snek nodded. "He did, didn't he? But now, since he is in your house. He has to obey your rules!"

Goliath suddenly appeared to have an idea. He whispered it to Draven whose eyes widened just as much to the notion. Smiles came over the twins before they left Snek to pack up the rest of his things. Snek then wrapped up the blankets and a few comforts Hunter took from his apartment. He's going to be certain that those sheets get a good washing.

With the room cleared out, Melee took most of his things and tucked them away. Just as he saw Hunter land… and a strange blue snake that followed behind him. Snek wanted to be front and center when this all went down. He stood at the ready. Hunter walked in with the biggest grin on his face, then, he saw a very disgruntled Amai Mask. Their eyes locked, Amai's distain grew as he stared at Snek with anger. "Why the hell is he still here if he's normal again!?" he demanded.

Snek was laughing. "You think I was going to miss this! Like hell I would! I hope you enjoy your little… vacation… Sweet Mask. I'm going to enjoy mine!" Snek turned to Garou and Melee and gave an appreciative nod. "Thank you… for this and for everything." He said gratefully. Snek turned to leave as he gave a gracious nod to Suiryu and Max. "You two hold down the fort, I'll be seeing you guys soon enough."

With that, Snek tucked his pillows under his arm he was about to head for home when Melee called him out. "Before you go Snek, you can't forget these!" She gave him a rather large gift bag. "Your other birthday presents," once more he gave a gracious nod to her.

"Thank you… everyone. I'll be back to visit… hopefully sooner than later." Snek announced.

"Come on Snek, I'll give you a lift home." Said Hunter.