Still Searching. Hopeless. Getting Desperate.

He shook his head with much frustration, snorting loudly and flapping his long ears from side to side.

Raven… where are you?

His small heart was beating fast. He hunched over, bringing his small hands close to his chest. His understanding was merely a ripple of thought processing. But he knew one thing… With out his human companion, he felt lost.

Grrrrl…The impatience was making him mad. He still felt panic trying to build up inside him; however, he still could keep it under control. Raven had helped him learn to control this better… but with her gone for so long… how could he possibly keep staying calm?

The moonlight just above the horizon poured down on the lake like milk. The bridge above it was so far up. He peeked his head over the edge to stare at the rippling waves. The evening was gone and it was the very early hours of the morning. No soul was out in the streets except for the lonely animal. His pale eyes then darted over to a very tall figure. He heard sounds from up above. Stretching his long powerful legs, he hopped closer over to the towering building. Up above, there was a white circular shape on all sides of it, with strange symbols on its border. The deep bellows were coming from inside it. But what was it? Why was it making that sound?

Then it stopped…

Suddenly…

Gong! … Gong! …. Gong! …

He blinked… It fell completely silent again.

Even though he was sure he was alone, now that the silence had be broken, he felt the instinct to hide. He needed to get out of the city limits, because there was this strange sense in his head that a human was going to appear. Grunting and cursing the noisy tower at the end of the bridge for disturbing his stealth, he quickly hopped away down the wide street into a narrow alleyway. Raven was clearly not in this area, but he still needed to look through the rest of the city. It was quite a big city… It might take several nights to seek out the entire place. He hoped he would be successful on his search… very soon.

…

The last bowl of ramen…

She devoured it quickly, and continued to sit at the table, staring at it intently. She wasn't actually looking at the ramen bowl, she didn't even care about how the kitchen still haunted the memory of her apartment. She was thinking elsewhere…

This was it.

Raven knew she and Dead Mau5 would be boarding a small, private plane this evening (along with the required escorts) and fly into London, England.

She was clenching her fists so tightly, her knuckles were going white. A mix of excitement and anxiety was rushing through her. She was so eager for her chance to get back home. London was not very far away from her little home of Essex. The question was… would she be able to run away? There were a few obstacles (that were not easy obstacles) to overcome before she would be home free. The main one that she questioned was would the security be tight? Even though there were only two bouncers supervising her and Mau5, there was no doubt that they would be watching her like hawks on this next tour. They were all aware that she was from England and that she didn't particularly like having to live with Mau5 and the robots. And then, of course, if she did manage to slip away, how long would it take for them to react and go after her? How skilled were they at pursuing? Would she be able to get away quick enough or would she need to hide and stay low before she could get home?

Another problem she considered was how determined was the system of governments to keep the info of the alien robots well hidden? Would they go as far as to kidnap her from her home to make sure she didn't spread the word of their existence? Would the English Parliament tolerate such a violation, or are they in on this agreement to keep the robots' existence undercover?

It made her sick to ponder on it…

She softly laid her head down on the table, sighing.

Is he going to hold you back…?

Raven immediately sat up and grumbled. "Bollocks…" Yes, she had considered what Mau5's reaction would be when he found out she was gone. It was not a good thought.

Rage. Insanity perhaps?

She pictured him thrashing about angrily, blinded by hurt and confusion. The reaction might almost be as bad as when her Kangaroo friend, Psycho was on one of his fits. If Mau5 got upset enough... would he be just as violent…?

Raven shuddered. Oi, once you are gone, it won't be your problem anymore. Daft Punk can deal with him… I don't want anything to do with that bloody rat anymore.

She bit down on her lower lip. Yes, I don't want deal with him. He's nothing but trouble. Part of her resisted this thought though…

He just wants a friend… a close companion. He's lonely. He doesn't understand…

"Uhhhh! Fuck it all…." Raven complained, covering her arms over her head, which was hurting from the mixed emotions.

"..D..Damnit, Mau5."

Raven snapped back to reality when she heard a rather strange sound. It…. Seemed to be like the noise a child made when humming and wiggling their tongue out in front of you.

Raven jumped with surprise when she first heard it. That was the last thing she expected to hear.

"You call~?"

Mau5 came strolling into the kitchen. His face was glowing with pride and his walk was full of confidence.

"Wot… was…"

Mau5 giggled. "Oh? You mean this?" He stuck his tongue out and made that same noise again. He made the face exactly how she pictured a kid would.

Raven frowned, finding this new noise of his very irritating.

Mau5's grin only grew bigger. "I heard you say my name~"

Raven's face softened to a casual expression, something to not encourage this annoying burst of confidence (and the rather stupid sound effects). "No… Just thinking."

Mau5's wide grin remained fixed on his furry, red face as he waltzed over to the fridge. He pulled out a carrot and began gnawing down on it.

Raven watched quietly, with an eyebrow raised. Mouth full of carrot, he said, "So lil' Raven, ready for another wonderful tour?"

"Yup." She replied simply.

"Ohhh~ I bet its gonna be even better than the first one. Hehehehe~"

Raven rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking and placed her palm under her chin.

"…You okay, Raven?"

"I'm super awesome, Mau5."

Mau5 plopped himself down in the chair next to her and stared, still nibbling on his carrot. "You don't look okay. You look upset."

"Nu-uh, I'm good." Raven blinked her eyes heavily at him.

He paused on his food, and made a blank expression at her. His eyes were perfectly rounded and his mouth became a solid line across his face. Raven continued to blink up at him, not sure why he was staring.

"Hmmm… I'm reading that you have some angry confliction going on in your head." Mau5 said, cocking a head and resuming to his carrot.

Shit, forgot about that weird ability he had to read people. How the bloody hell did that even work?

"Everyone gets those every once in a while…" Raven said, trying to relax herself and keep him from reading her thoughts.

Mau5's head sunk a bit and he continued to stare with his large, white eyes. "Okay Raven, if you say so~ You'll be cheery for the next show, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Raven said, tossing a fake, half-second smile.

"Good~" Mau5 said standing up after popping the rest of his vegetable treat in his mouth. "Before we go, Thomas and Guy want to do one more brain tweak on me." Mau5 tapped the side of his large, circular head.

"Alright…"

"Have you noticed a difference? Have I gotten better~?"

Raven nodded. "Yes, actually. You seem more formal."

"Yay~" Mau5 beamed, giggling to himself. "I'm becoming more human~"

He then wandered out of the kitchen and down the hall. Raven stared after him and chuckled. Sorry Mau5, but with a tail and a head like that, …you'll never be human.

…

With a rhythm in his step and a light skip to every third stride, Mau5 hummed down the glowing blue hall to the workshop.

Oh, did he feel confident. Everything was going so well and just as planned.

"Raven is my lil dancer~" He chuckled. "Last night was soooo wonderful~ Raven will soon realize that she likes it here, likes it with me. Oh yesss, and we will make music and entertainment for the world~ And all the humans will feel happy because of us~!"

He was so delighted. He loved this feeling that was bubbling up inside him. Is this what Marie meant when you get 'butterflies in your stomach?'

"I don't even know what butterflies are, but they feel funny~ I like it." His large smile had stretched completely over half of his face.

"Soon, Thomas and Guy's experimenting will be over… then they will work on making me a new face. And I…" He shuddered with delight. "I'll be human~!"

He danced all the way into the workshop, where Guy and Thomas were waiting for him.

Guy looked up and a smiley icon flashed on his face. "OH JUST ON TIME, MAU5. READY FOR ANOTHER SESSION?"

Mau5 gave a soft grumble but nodded. "Yes, I am… even though it doesn't feel so pleasant."

He lifted his hands above his head and pulled his baggy shirt up. He struggled a bit, but he managed to pull it off his massive head. Then, tossing his shirt to the ground, he flopped down on the stretcher once more, placing his chin down on his arms in front of him.

"ALRIGHT MAU5. I'M GOING TO OPEN YOUR MEMORY PLATE." Thomas said, coming towards his spine with the tweezers.

Mau5 twitched more once the tweezers made contact with the metal plate. Mau5 closed his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the irritation of the nerves firing in his back.

Raven didn't look happy. She was stressing over something. Mau5's large eyes slowly opened again and a small, sheepish smile tickled his cheeks.

Perhaps… maybe she was conflicted on how she enjoyed last night… That maybe she didn't want to enjoy it, but she really did~ Maybe she really does like living here…

Mau5 softly chuckled to himself, closing his eyes again, and waited to be knocked out for another tweak in his mind.