~Later in the night~

Mal had released the barrier but D was already asleep so he wasn't attacked as he'd predict he would do if awake. Bue was on the bed, upside down- head at the front and feet on the pillows. He walked over to her slowly and shook her awake slightly, groggily, one eye fluttered open then rubbed the other one which was under her hair flap. Her vision was still fuzzy so the figure above her, she quickly assumed it was D and, being too tired to care much, just flipped over. It got a little awkward when mal just sat by the bed and started poking her back repeatedly. The puppet had remained on the beanbag and, with everyone asleep(or not looking simply) his facial expression.

I wouldn't do that if I were you. The puppet thought.

I need some answers and so does she, I need to speak with the both of you. Mal replied just as bue started to get up finally and rubbed her other eye. "...Mal?"

Quiet! Or D'll wake up.

Huh? Bu-

We need to go somewhere important. Bue got up fully, both eyes wide open and confused as hell then saw mal headed toward the beanbag in the left corner where that bear was sitting. He moved it to reveal a portal, bue's jaw dropped.

Follow me, hurry! And mal hopped through, taking the bear with him. Bue got out of the bed and ran toward the corner where she saw mal go then jumped through the portal but first pulled the beanbag over the portal to hide it.

She found herself in the middle of a big black room, with her eyes, everything was totally clear, mal was in front of her then reached his hand out for her. She took it and was pulled to her feet, after looking around in silence she finally noticed mal was holding something.

Can he hear us?

Not here, he can't. Mal told bue, but she couldn't take her eyes off the bear he was holding.

"So...wha's tha'?" He looked down at the bear then brought it up for a closer view. His face changed, he looked more focused on the bear and the bear began to change. It became a puppet, bue almost fell. The puppet made it worse when he leaned up straight then hopped down from mal's hands, bue fell over and she started rubbing her eyes some more. "It looks like a li'l you."

"I guess you could say he's the older me in a way." Mal told her as he knelt down, the puppet stood up.

"I am the older him, just in a stupid puppet form."

"How much olda'?" Bue asked, starting to get over herself and trying to stay calm.

"I'm 16." The puppet told her while her jaw fell.

"Mal...why're 'ya so calm 'bout this?! He's an olda' puppet you!"

"Because we've talked and also...he's got some explaining to do! Pull up a mirror so she can see what you really look like." Mal commanded the puppet, it glared having been given an order but snapped his fingers anyway. The second he did, a full length mirror showed up and the puppet fell to the ground, lifeless looking. Bue was a bit confused, then the mirror filled with smoke and a figure formed which quickly became clear.

"...dammit, I AM a midget…..". A 16 year old mal appeared in the mirror clear as night.

"Bue! Been awhile." He told her.

"I didn't thin' that voice o' his could get any deepa'!" The older mal rolled his eyes with a groan, bue got up and walked to the front to the mirror to get a better look, mal did the same.

"I forgot about that accent of yours...ugh." Bue rolled up her short sleeves to her shoulders with a pout and an angry twitching eyebrow.

"An' wha's wron' with the accent?!" The older mal chuckled and got on one knee to look her in the eye.

"Easy there, tike." Bue's face turned red with annoyance then turned to younger mal who was already pinching his brow and a sigh, bue crossed her arms.

"The olda' 'ya is quite the sarcastic jerkin' li'l brat, ain't 'e?!" The younger mal patted her head as if to calm a growling hound.

"Brat? I'm older than you!-"

"-So wha' do I loo' like at 16?" Both the younger and older mal started rubbing their chins, younger mal, contemplating what she might look like while the other mal was looking a bit nervous.

"Well, you grow about 2 more inches-"

"-WOO...bu'...I'd assume D's just as tall as 'ya? How much taller ARE 'ya, like 6 inches?!" She started hopping with her arm in the air trying to reach his head when he stood back up.

"Yeah, you're still short. You're hair gets a little longer-"

"-how much, I've been fed up with it lae'ly and D won' lemme cut it."

"About the edge of your skirt."

"Cut to the chase! I want some answers!" Mal interrupted, bue continued glaring at the older mal.

"First off, what happened back there with D and me?!" Bue turned to younger mal, having the same burning question in the back of her head.

"I helped you out. I gave you a quick dose of my power, you said you didn't want to wait and D was going to slaughter you." The younger mal gave a threatening scowl.

"Doesn't mean you can use me as some meat puppet." Bue snickered at his sentence.

"You weren't possessed or anything, it was a simple reaction from the power up, it's called adrenaline." The younger mal pouted from his sarcasm.

"Time's an endless cycle. I gave you a small chunk of my power which I gave to YOU and in YOUR future, you'll give that same power to YOUR younger self and so on and so on."

"Makes sense-". Mal said then turned to bue whose ear was bleeding, he slapped the back of her head to knock her out of it. She punched him.

"OW."

"Tha's what'cha get!"

"And what about me and D?"

"You're no trait. He said it, of course, to spite you." Mal sighed in relief, bue thumped him thinking it was obvious.

"So he is just a personality." The way she said it sounded like she was talking down to him, mal folded his arms and glared at her then drew his attention back to 'himself'.

"And what about bueno?" Bue asked nervously.

"He'll disappear soon enough. He's your anger, right? You two'll become one again. Bueno's 'so-called' plan is very flawed and rather pointless. He's been stealing all the special qualities that make you you, when, if he's a trait that lives in your mind, he's more of putting into a storage unit in the back of your skull. Eventually it'll overflow, explode and you'll be you again, bueno will go with it as well, it's a patience thing."

"So basically you're saying to just wait and everything'll get better?" The younger mal argued.

"No. There's still some work that needs to be done." The two kids groaned at the word 'work', older mal rolled his eyes with a frown.

"Or how about a 'strategic move' in the game that you two are trying to win." Their faces lit up naively.

"Be suck ups." Their jaws drop to the floor in shock then it looks like they completely turned white like stone and shattered into a million pieces. Older mal claps his hands and the two dumbfounded, puzzled, and slightly bitter personality's are back to normal and come to their senses.

"WHAT?! NO WAY AM I GONNA SUCK UP TO D OF ALL PEOPLE!" They said in sync, older mal deeply exhaled then furrowed his brow, got on one knee again to look both of them straight in the eye seriously.

"Think about it. Once you're on D's good side then a bunch of your worries are gonna go down the drain. Then you can wait peacefully and not have to concern yourself with much. Like a free ride. So bue, how good would you say you are an actress?"

"Fair."

"It'd be a good idea to be the lovey dovey girl D's been wanting for awhile, but it needs to look natural, not like some transformation that, overnight, all of a sudden you love him to pieces, got it?" Bue pouted and hesitantly nodded then he turned to mal.

"You just gotta stay out of the way. Kay?" Mal nodded, not having to get involved with anything concerning D, he pitied bue. The mirror started to fog up again the older mal became a shadowy figure then progressively disappeared along with the mirror. The two looked down at the puppet, expecting it to come back to life like last time but it kept it's dead look. "I guess that's all he really had to say-". "I don' wanna suck up to D!" "We have to go back up there eventually...preferably before he wakes up or there'll be hell to pay." "And if he is?" "Then you better be the best God damned girlfriend in the world." Bue looked horrified. The portal back was on the wall behind them, you could see the beanbag covering it up perfectly. Not a bit of the room beyond it was visible, they walked back over to it nervously and ever so slowly pushed the beanbag forward and to the side, little by little. Mal went through first, he peeked his head out briefly looking around until his eyes landed on D who was still passed out, he sighed in his head and continued his way through, bue bit her nails. When he was finally through, he swiftly reached back into the portal, got a good grip on her hands, told her by thought not to make a sound then yanked her back up through the portal as fast as he could. They pushed the beanbag back to the corner so it may continue hiding the portal, mal gets on another beanbag and pretends to fall asleep, bue does the same by running to the bed and trying to slowly lay back down on it even though the springs creak. Once she was fully on the bed, she did the same as mal and pretended to fall asleep as well.

Bue ended up falling asleep completely and woke up to see mal just sitting on one of the beanbags reading a blank book since none of them could think of any in existence. She wasn't able to see D quite from the position she was in on the bed and so decided to lean up straight to look around. She saw him plainly and simply, sitting on the bed, at the back, against the pillows and was fully awake but seemed too distracted by the mirror he'd pulled up to actually notice her, when he did, he just smiled friendly and patted the spot next to him. Remembering what older mal had said, she hesitantly did so. The silence in the room was a nice change and wanting to keep it that way, chose to speak through thought.

What'cha lookin' at?

Us as little kids.

I thought somethin' like tha' would get 'ya all steamed.

Opposite, it's actually pretty calming. This sort of threw bue for a loop but then her curiosity got the best of her as she scooted closer to D to get a better view.

Teddy bears vs. firetrucks, remember that?

Haha, yeah. We weren't too creative a' the time were we? D smiled, which started to turn smug as he pulled her a little closer to him, bue's eyes turned away, annoyed at how predictable he is. If she were much closer they'd be cheek to cheek and so, had not much of a choice but to lay on him and continued watching. He put his arm around her so now there was no escape. Bue was turning red from slight embarrassment thinking once again about what mal had said:

"Be a suck up, be all lovey dovey and the younger me should simply stay out of the way."

And-

"Then you better be the best girlfriend in the world!" Bue nearly gagged.

Now I'm basically some toy tha' has to go alon' with whateva' he's planning. Ma' feminine pride is a' stake hea! Geez! Everythin' I stand fer might end up bein' shattered...wha' if he tries to...kiss ma'? Will I have any choice? He's too distracted by whateva' hilarious thin' tha' must've happened on the mirror. Good. Hrrm...jus' play the role an' maybe it'll ge' easier, hopefully. D looked down at her, she felt that he must've moved something and chose to pay no mind as she watched. "I'm surprised, bue, at how easily you've gotten comfy on me." An' there's the firs' blow. "I simply wanted a betta' view o' what 'ya were lookin' a'...we were pretty cute." "Yes we were, but you've gotten adorable-". And YOU'VE gotten ornery, there's the second. "Yer more adorable than me." I thin' I'm gonna be sick. "Wow I got a good arm, even when I was little I could still crack the wall, hey D?" "Yeah?" "Whaddaya think of my accent?" Mal, at first was restraining his gag reflex but then rolled his eyes at bue's question, I guess it was bugging her. He smirked then looked back down at his book. "I think it's cute." He lifted her chin and brought her lips closer to his. Imma kill 'im! Then he let go and her head fell back onto his chest, the smug bastard laughed. "Had 'ya going there didn't I? I can feel your heart beating like a humming bird!" "You're gonna die a horrible death." "'Ya know I can't take you seriously when you're red as a tomato." I'monna strangle that puppet. D patted her head and ruffled her hair, bue glared. D looked back at the mirror and chuckled a bit at some of the antics. "Our faces hadn't even changed, no dark circles or anything. we even lost our baby teeth, I lost mine first so there was a small gap in my smile. You jerks called me toothless!" D laughed and bue pouted. "Ugh, 'ya jerkin' li'l! Havin' fun?" She threw a pillow at his face, he just caught it, put it back behind her then put her head back on his chest. HE...SHALL...PAY! "Why yes, I am having fun!" An' I can't escape 'is grasp, mal AN' the puppet will share an awful fate! An' this li'l smug one shall not leave unscathed, then again,...I bet he'd jus' say he likes 'em feisty an' I'd be in even deepa' trouble. Jus' hold out until bueno's gone then you'll ge' all yer features an' such back. Bue put her arm over him and started getting snuggly, D looked up with his normal cocky ass grin of his, bue looked down with sarcastic and agitated eyes, a disgusted look on her face. Pretty darn good actress indeed.

Happy now, unknown uploader?, sincerely, astrid