Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to go on so long of a break from this story…
Uh… I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds or Disney. But you should still enjoy this because, hey, it's truth-or-dare. What's not to enjoy?
Chapter 11
"Dang it! I hate you, Crowe!" I shout, turning off my 3DS for the umpteenth time.
"What'd I do?" Robin asks.
I look at her, rolling my eyes. "No, not you. Ominas Crowe, a black mage in Bravely Default. I'm trying to beat him in chapter 7, but I can't seem to manage it. His dragon is stupidly OP, and Crowe himself is ridiculously OP."
"How so?" Yasmine asks.
"Well, the dragon dishes out 2000 plus damage every turn, and so can basically 2KO all but one of my characters, and Crowe keeps healing the dragon and then Braves to attack twice—and then proceeds to use Fira on everyone which severely damages everyone and almost always kills someone and Thundara on one to kill that person. Oh, and he also likes to use Silence and Poison, and the Silence one is annoying when he uses it on Angès because she's my healer and Silence prevents the use of said healing magic… Gah!"
"…Can you say that in English?" Robin asks.
"That was English. I can't exactly speak any other languages," I reply. I continue to put in the commands in my game and let it play. Then my eyes widen, and I shout, "Yes! Finally! I killed Crowe… wait a second…" The game starts a cutscene. He isn't dead. He just got backup… in the form of two other bosses. "I hate this game right now."
"So… where have Lucifer, muse-Jack, and Joseph been?" Shade asks.
I shrug. "I have no idea, and I don't know when they'll be back—"
The door swings open, and a burlap sack is tossed through it. Someone shouts, "Happy Birthday!" The sack makes a loud thud upon impact with the ground, and a grunt comes from inside the bag. Lucifer comes in first, followed by Joseph and muse-Jack. They seem exhausted, but otherwise fine.
'Speak of the devil,' I think. But then I glare at the three of them. "I thought I said no more burlap sacks."
"To Shade, yes, but not us," Lucifer says, grinning.
Stupid loopholes. "Well, no more sacks for anyone. Let whoever you've captured go."
Honestly, I should have expected the person who comes out of the sack. It's Sherry, somehow forced into the outfit that the Muses wore in Hercules.
How the three of my muses did it, I will never know.
"Okay, so my extremely belated birthday present from you three is… Sherry," I say.
"Belated? No, today is…" Lucifer stops, turns, and glares at Joseph. "You said it was May 2nd!"
The smaller muse throws up his hands (er, claws) and says, "I'm sorry! I must have lost track of time!"
"How do you miss out on over a week…?" I mumble to myself.
Muse-Jack smirks and sits down. "Heh, well, I didn't miss her birthday."
"What are you talking about? You were with us the entire time!" Lucifer shouts.
"True, but real me was at her birthday party," the other muse replies, "therefore it counts."
"Jack, don't antagonize Lucifer," I say, "and Lucifer… he's telling the truth, but… just calm down."
The white-haired boy scowls and plops down on the couch. Wait, couch? When did that get there? …Oh well, I'll find out later.
After we get Sherry calmed down and fill her in about the gender-swap and name changes, I make muse-Jack, Joseph, and Lucifer apologize for throwing her in a sack. Then, I pull out the bowl of names again, and reach in for a card. I pull it out and show it to everyone.
Lucifer, with Friends on the Other Side.
He grins, twirls his staff, and takes the stage. Before I start the music, he says, "Oh, yeah! Jack, you mind singing backup?"
Muse-Jack takes the stage alongside Lucifer, replying, "Of course, since you sung my backup." At this, he glares at me.
I shrug. I have a really scatterbrained memory sometimes…
The song starts, and Lucifer begins. "Don't you disrespect me, little man! Don't you derogate or deride!" Singing now, he adds, "You're in my world now, not your world. And I got friends on the other side!"
"He's got friends on the other side…" Muse-Jack covers.
"That's an echo, gentlemen. Just a little something we have here in Louisiana, a little parlor trick. Don't worry…" Lucifer says, as per the song. He seems to be nailing the southern accent… but who am I to judge? I'm horrible with accents…
Back to singing, Lucifer continues, "Sit down at my table! Put your minds at ease! If you relax it will enable me to do anything I please… I can read your future. I can change it 'round some, too. I'll look deep into your heart and soul…" He trails off and stares in the direction of an imaginary person—wait, not imaginary, Shade's doing the illusion thing again. Anyways, he asks really low, "You do have a soul, don't you, Lawrence?"
The illusion nods or something, and the song continues. "Make your wildest dreams come true! I got voodoo, I got hoodoo, I got things I ain't even tried! And I got friends on the other side."
"He's got friends on the other side!" Muse-Jack echoes.
"The cards, the cards, the cards will tell… The past, the present, and the future as well! The cards, the cards, just take three… Take a little trip into your future with me!" Holograms of tarot cards just fly around behind Lucifer as he sang that part.
"Now you, young man, are from across the sea. You come from two long lines of royalty." He stops, breathes, and says to the side, "I'm a royal myself on my mother's side." Then, he continues, "Your lifestyle's high, but your funds are low… You need to marry a lil' honey whose daddy got dough!"
Funny, I had a weird dream a few nights ago where I had to do that… okay, that was totally off-topic.
"Mom and dad cut you off, huh playboy? Now y'all gotta get hitched, but hitchin' ties you down. You just wanna be free. Hop from place to place. But freedom… takes green! It's the green, it's the green, it's the green you need! And when I looked into your future, it's the green that I see!"
Mm, that's basically my brother's montra. Money is everything. It's so annoying…
"On you, little man, I don't want to waste much time. You been pushed around all your life! You been pushed around by your mother and your sister and your brother. And if you was married… You'd be pushed around by your wife. But in your future, the you I see, is exactly the man you always wanted to be!"
"Shake my hand. Come on boys. Won't you shake the poor sinner's hand?
Yes… Are you ready?"
Muse-Jack echoes, "Are you ready?"
Lucifer repeats, "Are you ready? Transformation central!"
Another echo, "Transformation central!"
"Reformation center!"
"Reformation center!" Muse-Jack says.
"Transmogrification central! Can you feel it? You're changin', you're changin', you're changin', all right! I hope you're satisfied… But if you ain't, don't blame me! You can blame my friends on the other side!"
"You got what you wanted! But you lost what you had! Hush…" Muse-Jack finishes.
The two of them bow as everyone claps and exit the stage. Lucifer twirls his staff. "You know, I like this thing. Can I keep it after the whole thing is done?"
"Yes, but that will be your wish," I reply.
Lucifer looks like he's contemplating that, and he says, "That's fine with me. You'd probably ban my other ideas for wishes."
"I… probably would."
My muse laughs, and goes to take a seat on the magically-appearing couch.
"Well… How about we see who's next?" I ask, grabbing the bowl of names again. I reach into it and announce, "The winner is… Robin! And, by default, Sherry!"
"Wait!" Muse-Jack shouts. "I want to sing the Muses' part as well!"
"That would require you turning back into a girl," I reply.
"No. I can just do this." He snaps his fingers, and his female counterpart appears next to him, already clad in Ancient Greek clothing.
Well, crap. Now I have two Meris to deal with. "Uh… well, I can't deny that…" I swallow. "Alright, Robin sings Meg's part, and Sherry and Meri—hey, that rhymes—will be dueting the Muses' part."
Meri is the first on the stage, and Robin ends up having to drag Sherry onto the stage—the blonde doesn't agree with being trapped here, but I don't blame her at all. I mean… I look at Primo and Lester for a moment. She is trapped with two of the people who either ordered someone else to or actually killed her parents. So yeah, I can't imagine anyone would want to willingly go along with anything in a circumstance like that.
But, the stage is set, and the music starts playing. "If there's a prize for rotten judgement, I guess I've already won that. No man is worth the aggravation… That's ancient history, been there, done that!" Robin starts singing.
…Dang, if I didn't know that Robin was actually a guy, I would say that she should totally sing for a living. Her voice is amazing.
"Who d'ya think you're kiddin'? He's the Earth and heaven to you; try to keep it hidden. Honey, we can see right through you. Girl, ya can't conceal it, we know how ya feel and who you're thinking of!" Meri and Sherry sing together, though Meri puts a whole lot more effort into it, as expected.
"No chance, no way! I won't say it, no, no," Robin sings in reply.
"You swoon, you sigh! Why deny it, uh-oh!" Meri is pretty much out-singing Sherry at this point.
Robin picks back up, "It's too cliché! I won't say I'm in love. I thought my heart had learned its lesson. It feels so good when you start out. My head is screaming get a grip, girl! Unless you're dying to cry your heart out… Oh…"
"You keep on denying who you are and how you're feeling! Baby, we're not buying! Hon, we saw ya hit the ceiling! Face it like a grown-up, when ya gonna own up that ya got, got, got it bad!" Well, what a surprise! Sherry's actually trying now, although Meri is still rocking it.
"Whoa! No chance, no way! I won't say it, no, no!"
"Give up, give in! Check the grin! You're in love!"
"This scene won't play, I won't say I'm in love!"
"You're doin' flips, read our lips! You're in love!"
"You're way off base, I won't say it! Get off my case, I won't say it!"
" Girl, don't be proud. It's O.K, you're in love."
And finally, Robin finishes, "Oh, at least out loud, I won't say I'm in love…"
Meri jumps off the stage, landing next to her male counterpart, and they high-five. "And I didn't look at the words once!"
"Of course you didn't," Muse-Jack replies. "Disney songs for the win!"
Robin and Sherry leave the stage in a normal fashion, although Robin is blushing like crazy and is muttering something under her breath. I catch the words "Never felt so violated…"
"It was just a song," I tell her, "suck it up."
She glares at me and says, "One more word and I break your flashdrive."
"If you can even get near it," I retort. "I will guard this thing with my life." My right hand wraps around said flashdrive, and I compulsively slide it open and shut repeatedly. Force of habit, I guess…
With my other hand, I reach into the bowl again. "The next one is… Oh, looks like I've got some explaining to do. It's Kalin/Kaitlyn… and KiryuFanGirl, with 'Beauty and the Beast' or 'Tale As Old As Time'. Whichever title you prefer."
"Wait, you're bringing someone else in for this?" Kalin asks.
I nod. "It was her request, and… well, I changed it around. A lot. Speaking of which, the stage needs to be bigger for this part." I snap my fingers, and it turns into something more akin to a ballroom. "Perfect."
The door opens, and in walks a girl with honey-brown eyes, dark brown, almost black hair held back in a braid. She has on a dark-blue knee-length dress with white polka dots on it, and tan saltwater sandals. I wave her over. "Hey! Perfect timing!"
"Well, I heard you needed me," she replies. "What do you need me to do?"
I explain my (slightly complicated) plan to her. That I'm going to make two of her (because apparently, that's all the rage right now), one to dance with Kalin and one to sing with Kaitlyn.
"That's perfect!" she agrees.
"Well then…" I snap my fingers, and a second KiryuFanGirl, this one dressed as Belle, appears on the stage, er, ballroom floor. I turn to Kalin and Kaitlyn and say, "Any questions?"
"No, not really," Kalin mutters.
"You've explained everything, so let's just get this over with," Kaitlyn adds.
The two of them and the original KiryuFanGirl take the stage, get into place, and I start the song.
"Tale as old as time… True as it can be… Barely even friends. Then somebody bends, unexpectedly…!" Kaitlyn and the first KiryuFanGirl start singing. "Just a little change… Small, to say the least… Both a little scared. Neither one prepared. Beauty and the Beast!"
A short pause in singing, and they continue, "Ever just the same…! Ever a surprise…! Ever as before…! Ever just as sure…! As the sun will rise! Tale as old as time… Tune as old as song…! Bittersweet and strange! Finding you can change! Learning you were wrong… Certain as the sun… Rising in the east…! Tale as old as time. Song as old as rhyme. Beauty and the beast." A few dings of some instrument, and they finish, "Tale as old as time… Song as old as rhyme…
Beauty and the beast…"
The entire time, Kalin and his fangirl are both waltzing away on the ballroom floor. They're pretty good, I must say. Especially since neither of them are professional dancers… to my knowledge, anyways. I could be wrong.
When the song finishes, everyone applauds. I snap my fingers, and the copy of KiryuFanGirl disappears, as does Kaitlyn. What can I say, her job is done. The real authoress gives me a smile, and says, "Thanks again for accepting my dare!"
"No problem! It's fun to write, although…" I rub the back of my head sheepishly, and add, "Apparently, it can manage to give my muses writer's block when it shouldn't be possible."
"Hey! I just want to work on Crimson Feathers!" Shade shouts in reply. "Maybe having those three," he gestures to Lucifer, Joseph, and Muse-Jack, "back will help stop that."
"Most likely," muse-Jack says. "This is the story I want to work on. Because… Disney. Plus there's this one dare that mcdinh apparently submitted that I'm looking forward to…" He rubs his hands together evilly, "Really looking forward to. Hehe…"
I shiver, because I know what dare he's talking about. That's going to be… interesting, once I get to it. "Well… that's all the time I have for now…"
~To be continued~
I still don't know how I managed writer's block… oh well. I think having three (well… I guess four, since there are now two Meris) of my muses back will help. So I should be able to get the next chapter soon.
