Title: The Chronic Argonauts
Author: AtradiesHikari a.k.a. Sanura Dayshaun or even Moopies, depending on where you're reading this.
Rating: PG-13 for mild swearing.
Chapter: 4- 'Following the Leader, Leader. Leader'
Date Chapter Started/Finished:24Dec2009
Word Count: 1,601 not counting opening and closing notes.
A/N: 8D

Minnie grumbled as she skimmed the shop directory, searching for something that would have caught her brothers eye. She mentally noted two book stores and a music store. She double checked the numbers and then checked the map. The music store was almost immediately across the way from the game shop, one of the book stores was on the opposite side of the mall on the second level, and the other book store was crammed between a jewelry store and an outer wall on the first level.

"C'mon Jr. he's got us running around the whole mall, and we need to find him, quickly." She rambled to Jr., who was standing behind her watching the crowd for… Blonde hair, brown polo, goggles. Blonde hair, brown polo, goggles… he repeated Minnie's list in his head, trying not to forget. He knew his memory was pretty good, but he never knew if she was going to turn and demand he repeat the list to her exactly as she had said it to him. She knew he could remember it, he knew he could remember it but repetition had become a second nature to her, as it was one of the prerequisites to knowing Emmett.

"Jr.!"

"What?" He jumped, he had been zoning out and hadn't heard her calling his name.

"You left. C'mon, we're gonna go check the world music store first, it's closest."

When he didn't answer Minnie turned and started walking back the way they had come from. As she walked under the opening from the second level her shoulders tensed up. Someone was watching her… She turned slowly and scanned the people walking near the railing a story above her. She turned back around when she didn't see anyone and rubbed the back of her neck. She looked sideways at Jr., who was scanning the people above them as well.

He glanced over at her, "Don't see anyone…"

"Yeah… me either…."

Emmett ducked quickly back into the crowd, as he saw Minnie tense and Jr. start to turn, and smirked to himself. They were never going to find him… He was feeling particularly down-to-earth and playful at the moment. Though… most would interpret his 'playful' moods as mean-spirited, even if he didn't see it that way himself. He peeked over the railing just in time to see Minnie and Jr. disappear into ARC Music down the corridor. He straightened and absently rubbed a cut on his temple that was virtually invisible under the thick fringe of hair that fell over his forehead. He winced as he brushed over the several tiny, bruised, cuts that surrounded the large, nearly two inch, gash that reached from the tip of his left eyebrow straight into his hairline in a diagonal across his temple. He pressed against it lightly and pulled his fingers back, checking for fresh blood. He frowned and glanced back at the bookstore…

When the shelf had collapsed, he had tried to get out of the way as quickly as possible, but he had been stunned by a thick volume, catching him on the first vertebrae, where neck met back. The momentary pause was a moment too long, as the next minute he was being showered with books most of which were (luckily) paperbacks. He vaguely remembered a corner of the rickety, rusty bookshelf catching him across the face causing the deep gash he now sported. After the bookshelf, things were a little fuzzy and dark. He remembered waking up what he assumed was only a few minutes later, 'cause the crazy old harpy of a book store clerk was standing over him shrieking about what he barely made out to be "vandalization" .

Emmett groaned and grabbed his head, whimpering pitifully as the lights hit his eyes and the shrill shrieking squawking that ripped through his ears. He felt something warm and wet oozing in a thin line down his left cheek and pressed his fingers carefully against said cheek and when he felt no pain, he slowly trailed his fingers up the side of his face, looking for the source of the blood, wincing as the harpy's voice seemingly jumped up a few octaves, tearing through his already damaged head. The voice was momentarily blocked out as he gasped in pain, having found the significantly sensitive gash in his head.

He grunted as he used the fallen shelves as leverage to pull himself up, ignoring the yelling as best he could. As unsteadily as he stood he began to make his way carefully out of the pile of books and toward the front of the store, using anything and everything stable feeling to support his weight while the world mosaiced in and out before his eyes.

Emmett shook his head and scratched at his left temple… completely forgetting the cut there. He yelped in pain and tripped backwards onto a bench as he jerked away from his own hand. Several people stared but he remained unaware, he was rather preoccupied by the fresh trickle of blood dripping down the side of his face. He began to tilt his head back, trying to keep the blood out of his eye, but stopped mid-tilt his eyes locked on the new wave of people riding up on the escalator. He cursed lightly and, holding his palm flat against the wound, he ducked into the herd of people passing by moving towards the escalator.

Keeping low so he wouldn't been seen by anyone coming up, he pulled a small embroidered square of ebony cloth from his back pocket. Pressing it against his temple the burnt orange lettering (Emlab) quickly tinted a deep brown, nearly black, color. He broke away from the flood before it pulled him down the waterfall of an escalator, and ducked behind a small vendors cart, searching for his sister and friend in the new crowd. He spotted them quickly, headed towards the bookstore he had just been it.

He hadn't been in the music store and none had spotted him, so Minnie and Jr. had quickly fought across the crowded corridor to the stairs and headed up. As they were making their way towards the bookstore immediately in front of the escalator she thought she had caught a flash of orange and black out of the corner of her eye but dismissed it quickly, as Emmett was not wearing that horrible trench coat at the moment.

As they neared the store a high pitched sting of curses could be heard wafting forwards from the very back of the store.

"Wow, Min…. I thought you were bad…" Jr. said, eyes widening, he had never even heard some of the words being used.

"What do you mean? I don't curse… Out loud…"

"Yeah, but, when you're pissed, most of those go through your head, and you know it. After spending seventeen years with someone generally gave one the ability to read the others facial expressions.

"Shut up."

"See, like, right there, you were thinking all kinds of things about me." He blinked, realizing he had said that to no-one as Minnie had already moved into the shop. He sighed, she could hold a grudge like no-one he had ever met and she may not speak to him for the rest of the day. As he stepped up behind her, he caught the tail end of her question to the woman stacking books on a very wobbly, very bent looking set of shelves.

"- hair, probably with a blank look on his face. Seen anyone like that?" Minnie missed the glare the woman sent her, as she was looking around at the piles of books still heaped all over the floor.

"Yes, a little monster that fits that description was in here, reading books on the unnatural, and destroying my nice organized store!"

Jr. blinked, "The 'unnatural'?" he asked.

The woman glared darkly at him, her silver cross necklace glinting under the lights, "Ghosts and other such Hell-sent things."

Minnie raised an eyebrow in irritation, "Well, did you see where he went?"

"After he busted up my shelves he just walked out!" She sniffed indignantly. "Probably vandalizing some other nice store." She snipped and went back to re-shelving her books, pointedly ignoring them.

"…" Jr. and Minnie looked at each other, trying not to laugh. Both turned and quickly made their way out of the store, biting their tongues. Once back amongst the crowds they had to look away from each other, just to make sure they didn't break into what would surely be incredibly loud laughter.

Once under control, Minnie straightened and wondered to herself, "So.. he was here, where would he have gone…?"

"Maybe he went back to the game store to look for us?" Jr. answered.

Minnie rolled her eyes, "You really think he remembers where he was earlier? Let alone him finding his way back. Think about whom you're talking about."

Minnie blinked at him and started walking, startling Jr. who hadn't expected the sudden movement. Jeeze, they're freakishly alike sometimes…

She looked over her shoulder at him, "C'mon, we gotta go find Em before he blows something up."

Jr. sighed… I need new, less dangerous friends.

Getting there.