Chapter 16
CloneGirl: Maskera…
Masquerade: NO! *throws a brick*
CloneGirl: *skillfully ducks brick…cuz she's just that skillful…skillz with a lower case z…will never get tired of that…* That…was kinda harsh…I was just going to ask you if you wanted a brownie…
Masquerade: …Oh. Well then…yes, I would like a brownie.
CloneGirl: HUZZAH! *hands over brownie* Okay…um…Dan, you baka! Say the disclaimer!
Dan: Will I get a brownie?
CloneGirl: …Suuuuure…*shifty eyes, edges towards brownie plate*
Dan: Okay! CloneGirl does not own any rights to Bakugan whatsoever! Now give me my brownie!
CloneGirl: *stuffs plate of brownies down throat and swallows* Sorry. They're all gone.
Dan: T.T
Masquerade: Sucker.
It wasn't long before Hydranoid was back in the darkness of Masquerade's room, on top of the bedside table and mulling over the recent conversation…damn. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't managed to find out the specifics of the mysterious event…curse that Haos Bakugan…
The light flickered on, and the surprised Bakugan found himself facing a fully dressed, fully awake Masquerade.
His arms were crossed, his glare silent and evil. They stared at each other for a long moment.
"Oh…master…I suppose you haven't had a very good sleep?" Hydranoid carefully waddled backwards, praying that he wouldn't be taken into the computer room to be thrown over the platform and left there as was threatened earlier.
Masquerade didn't answer him right away, just continued to glare at the unfortunate Bakugan. "…Where exactly did you go, Hydranoid?"
"Er…nowhere…of importance, really…just wanted to…find something out…"
"And what was this thing you wanted to find out?" His voice was soft and quiet, but Hydranoid could sense the fury that was bubbling beneath the impassive exterior.
"…Um…" Blast it all. Blast, blast, blast…blast everyone who's fault this was into tiny little pieces…except for himself. No need for Hydranoid himself to be blasted into tiny little pieces. "I wanted to find out if…the Brawler girl talks in her sleep." Bad excuse, very bad excuse…blast…terrible excuse…what kind of excuse was that?
"Really now? Did you manage to find out?"
Oh, did I, Hydranoid thought grimly. "Well…yes…she was most certainly both sleeping and talking…at the same time…you know, just sleep talking…talking about…certain people…" Certain people, yeah. If Masquerade ever knew that it was him, then there went any chance he had of making sure that his master wasn't in love.
Masquerade seemed to tense up slightly at this. "What kind of…certain people?"
Oh. Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn… "Dan!" Hydranoid blurted out, praying that Masquerade wouldn't see through the lie. "She was talking about Dan. If you ask me, it would appear that she has…feelings for him…" Oh god, let him live, let him live…please…
Masquerade didn't do anything, just sat there staring at his Bakugan. Finally, with a disgusted grunt, he turned his head towards the door, which was slightly open. Hydranoid took this as an indication to leave, and didn't waste time to follow it.
The blonde stared at the doorway as Hydranoid hastily fell to the floor and rolled out, trying to remain as indifferent as possible. "Dan, huh?" he muttered, despite the fact that no one was around to hear it. He convinced himself that this was a comfort, that this solitude was a good thing. "Well, it's not as though I expected anything else…"
* * * * * * * * * * *
She had had that Dan dream so often, nearly every night, that she could longer forget it, as what normally happened with dreams. She would wake up with a clear memory of the beach and the water, the sunset and Dan…and lately, of her shunning Dan, and him continually asking 'which one?' with increasing urgency and pleading in his voice, her uneasiness…but today, she couldn't recall any of it. Perhaps she could finally move out of that phase…it was a relief that her nighttime 'fantasies' could remain a haze for once, especially now…
"Basaki! Test tibe! Pay attedshiod!"
Runo jumped in her seat and looked up at a sour-looking Folman, who was holding a stack of tests in his hand. She couldn't help but grin at the sight of his formerly ruggedly handsome face marred by his still-swollen nose.
She heard the boys and a few of the girls chuckle, kids who had congratulated and praised her in the hallways. Those who were staying silent, who had given her disapproving looks for her actions, were mostly made up of superficial schoolgirls who had believed every word of him saying how great he was. Oh well, can't win them all.
"Seddle dowd, seddle dowd," Folman grumbled crossly, his stuffy voice only causing a larger scale of laughter. Scowling, he slapped a test down on Runo's desk and hurried through the rest of the row. Needless to say, any good thoughts he had about the bluette were dead and long gone. Runo could tell by the irate looks he would give her, and the fact that gym class had only gotten worse. He totally had it out for her.
"Okay, sdart," he called out as he flopped down at his desk, rubbing his nose tenderly. There was a small smirk on his face, as though he had found a way to get revenge for his weeks of humiliation. Runo turned her eyes down to the paper, with the knowledge that she was going to fail, and fail very badly.
Solve for m=4 and q=-7
-2mq³ (9m² - 6mq³ + 3mq³ - m - 1)
(A/N: Just so you know, the little exponent on the first q is a 3. It's kinda looks like a 5 for some reason…heh…and just for the record, I just randomly made this up…now, if you don't feel like reading about the thrilling path taken to solve this problem, just skip a bit…in fact, I recommend that you skip it…because now I have to need to try and solve it. T.T I am such a geek…)
Her first thought was that Folman wanted her brain to overheat and then explode, or perhaps just simply die. Then she blinked, and read the question over again.
The memory of Masquerade sitting next to her on the bed, pointing to her paper and textbook and saying something instantly popped into her head. She had learned this the very first time he had tutored her, hadn't she? The law of distribution…her pencil flew across the paper as she excitedly answered the question, feeling triumphant.
-18m³q³ + 12m²q6- 6m²q6 + 2m²q³ + 2mq³
Then she had to combine like terms…
-18m³q³ + 6m²q6 + 2m²q³ + 2mq³
Then substitute the variables for the numbers…
-18 (4)³ (-7)³ + 6 (4)² (-7)6 + 2 (4)² (-7)³ + 2 (4) (-7)³
…Okay…it looked a bit more complicated now…what was she supposed to do now…that's right, exponents…
-18 (64) (-343) + 6 (16) (11649) + 2 (16) (-343) + 2 (4) (-343)
…She really hated math…really did…stupid equation things…stupid teacher…okay…multiply…how she wished she had a calculator…
395136 + 1118304 -10976 - 2744
…Long…numbers…must…survive…gah…she would not give Folman the satisfaction of a failing grade…never…
1499720
Well, despite the ridiculously big numbers and the near danger of her brain melting, that wasn't…too bad. At least she answered it…that would show Folman, at least a little bit. Of course, if she got it wrong then her attempts would have been for nothing…but she suddenly felt confident. She lived through that question, couldn't she live through the rest? With a small smile on her face, she set to work on the next question.
(A/N: God, that was all so dorky…I'm a geek. T.T I should have stolen a question from my textbook…I doubt she should even be doing that question…depends on what grade she's in…hmm…god, via Runo I have proved my geekyness…I can't help it, I actually like math, unlike Runo…and the majority of people in school…bet I got that question wrong…)
* * * * * * * * * * *
Tigrerra skulked in her dollhouse, listening to the sounds of bustling and talking that drifted up from the restaurant. She had grown quite used to it, as Runo hadn't had any inclination to bring her to school with her since Dan had revealed that Tigrerra had 'betrayed' her. Today, however, it didn't matter as much. It gave her the opportunity to think up a good excuse as to why Runo should hate Masquerade. It wasn't very hard, really.
The door creaked open, and Tigrerra watched as Runo trudged through, throwing her backpack on the floor and herself onto the bed without greeting the Haos Bakugan. "Math tests…destroy…" she moaned, voice muffled in the pillow. "Stupid Folman…he'd probably fail me for no reason…"
Tentatively, Tigrerra spoke up. Time to try theory number one, her most convincing. And who knew, it could very well be true. "Milady…I've been thinking a lot lately…"
The only indication Runo made to show that she was listening was stopping her mumblings. Tigrerra decided that this was a good sign and continued on.
"Well, I've been wondering about Masquerade and his intentions when he offered to tutor you…and perhaps he had been meaning for something like this to happen all along."
She was caught offguard when Runo jerked her head up and glared at her. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.
"Well…you and Dan haven't really spoken lately…nor have you been seeing eye to eye with everyone else. Perhaps Masquerade was planning to cause strife amongst us, so that we would function less as a team."
Runo gasped sharply as she realized what Tigrerra meant. "Oh my god! That could totally be it! Ugh, I can't believe it…that dirty creep! Next time I see him, I'm gonna…I'm gonna…" Unable to say anything further, anger stopping her voice, she was forced to demonstrate her intentions for Masquerade by viciously pummeling the pillow. "THAT CREEP! Oh my god, I'm so sorry Tig!" She abandoned her bed to scoop up the Bakugan, with a repentant expression. "I've been so terrible to you lately…and all you really did was try to protect me…I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry, Runo," Tigrerra said, her voice soothing and forgiving. "I really should have trusted you more…let's just put this behind us, okay?"
Runo nodded, setting Tigrerra back inside her dollhouse. "Okay…I'm gonna totally forget about that creep…that jerk…oh! I forgot, I'm supposed to help out in the restaurant! Sorry again, Tig…"
"It's okay, Runo," she said, just as the bluette hurried out the door, grabbing her apron on the way out. Well, at least she definitely hated Masquerade now…hopefully…
A/N: …Bah. I'm slowly running out of ideas…TV. TV will give me my inspiration and ideas…TV would never fail me. That is what Hydranoid taught me. Because TV is holy…if you don't have anything else to do with your life. Luckily, I do have other stuff to keep me occupied. I have the Internet and Microsoft Word. And Minesweeper. Yes, Minesweeper…yes, they take up quite a bit of my life. Along with school, I suppose…curses.
If you peoples happen to have anything to say that's inspiring, then SAY IT!!!!!! FOR THE SAKE OF THE FIC, WHICH IS APPARENTLY LIKED!!!!!!! So yeah…any ideas for inspiration…need it…now…I also need food…lots of food…foooooood…root beer…yam fries…INSPIRATION, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!