"Come on, Tyson! Hurry up!" Hilary called back to her boyfriend as she swiftly made her way through the huge department store.

"I'm trying!" Tyson yelled back, struggling to keep up with her as he stumbled along with a huge stack of purchases swaying precariously in his arms. "Man! I always fall for it! Everyone leaves me behind in this mess! They all ditch me! I hate this time of the year- It's so –WAAAHHHH!" Not looking where he was going, Tyson crashed right into a column in the middle of the walkway, sending him and everything he was carrying flying.

Hearing the commotion, Hilary turned around to see Tyson sprawled on the floor, buried in a pile of gift boxes. She let out an exasperated sigh, putting her hands on her hips. "Tyson, what the heck are you doing down there!? We can't afford for you to be messin' around! There's a sale on the top floor that ends in ten minutes, and we have to get up there! Now let's move!"

"But, Hil," Tyson groaned, clawing his way through the mountain of boxes. "Can't you just carry like two things? All this stuff is too heavy!"

"Well then good! Maybe you'll be able to buff up those wimpy biceps of yours! Now seriously! Come on!" With a flip of her hair, Hilary turned on her heel, briskly walking away. "And don't mumble to yourself either!" She called over her shoulder. "It wastes time!"

"Oh sure! It wastes time alright!" Tyson mumbled to himself, gathering the packages. "Crazy woman! I swear this sale is just a way to turn girls into demonic warlords in order to torture the male population!"

Yes, the Hinamatsuri Festival was certainly not Tyson's favorite time of year. He had learned at the young age that it was not the place to be for a guy. He did not enjoy being caught in the middle of a girl-on-girl catfight over an inexpensive pair of kimono. He did not appreciate being trampled by a stampeding hoard of women wearing razor-sharp high heels. And he certainly did not consider being thrown aside by a rampaging female on a race to the sales rack of shoes and sandals. But yet, here Tyson found himself again, being ordered around like a slave by his demonic warlord of a girlfriend…..

"Come on, come on!" Hilary cried, repeatedly pressing the up button on the elevator. "You're weighing me down!"

"Hilary, you'll break it! Gah!" Tyson finally caught up to her, panting. "Then you'll miss your sale, and you don't want that, right?" He added sarcastically.

"Don't worry, I already sent Kenny up with money to protect some things for me until I get there!...Aha! Finally!" She cried as the elevator opened. Shoving Tyson in, she quickly followed, pressing the button for the seventh floor.

The doors began to close when, suddenly, a hand slipped in between, and the doors reopened to reveal a certain honey blonde-haired beyblader in all his arrogant glory. Michael stepped into the elevator, a perpetual smirk slapped on his face. The doors closed, sealing the three in together.

"Michael. What a pleasant surprise." Hilary narrowed her eyes, making sure to emphasize the fact that his appearance was a most unpleasant surprise.

Michael barely smirked, his lids still shut, the ignorance causing Hilary to wrinkle her nose in disgust. He simple turned to the man that intrigued him in the elevator, the only interest source of a conversation. "Tyson…lifting your girls bags for a change? Those dumbbells weren't made for you toot, anyway…"

Tyson just shifted slightly, ignoring his archenemy.

"Ever the grouchy one…" Michael sighed, easing his shoulders.

"Watch it, Michael!" Tyson growled, pissed off to no end. "If I wasn't holding these bags, I would show you who's grouchy!"

But Michael just smirked, leaning nonchalantly against the wall. "Ouch, Tyson! Your comebacks are as biting as ever!" Chuckling to himself, he glanced at the illuminated seventh-floor button. "Ah, heading to the top as well, I see. I've gotta pick me up some new parts. At least one of us is serious about training…"

"You!" Tyson seethed, clenching his teeth.

"Don't let him get to you, Tyson!" Hilary placated.

Suddenly, the lights flickered, and the elevator shuddered to a stop. A red emergency light on the ceiling turned on automatically, but the elevator wasn't going anywhere.

"Oh my God! You have got to be kidding me! Dammit!" Hilary cried.

Tyson dropped the packages and whipped around frantically to face Hilary. "Holy crap! What just happened?! Are we stuck here?! This is WAY too small a space for three people to be stuck in! Oh my GOD! I'm gonna get claustrophobic! HILARY!"

THWACK! She hit him on the head with her steaming fist, causing a red bulge to form on his head.

"Tyson, chill out! You're just gonna make this worse, so shut up!"

Michael's smirk interrupted things. Sitting down on the floor, he made himself comfortable. "What are the odds, huh? Stuck here with the two least favourite folks I know…" Michael sighed, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

Tyson had moved into a corner and was rocking back and forth slightly in a nervous frenzy. "Michael, stop it! That's-that's not even funny! This is serious! We're trapped in here, a-and there's no food! And pretty soon we're all gonna suffocate! So just shut up! Aaaahhh! I already feel lightheaded! Holy shit, we're gonna die!" He buried his face in his hands.

Hilary rolled her eyes. "Tyson, we are not gonna die, okay? Jeez! Here, drink some water. You'll feel better." She scolded, pulling a water bottle out of her purse. "And I'll even take the cap off for you, 'cause I'm that nice!"

She began twisting the cap, but it didn't seem to want to budge. "Urgh, stupid thing…." Hilary muttered, putting more effort into it.

Just then, Michael reached over and grabbed the bottle. "That's okay, Hilton! Let a strong man handle it!"

"No thanks! I think I can handle it myself!" Hilary grabbed the bottle back. "And the name's Hilary!"

A tug-of-war ensued until Michael accidentally dropped the bottle, sending it flying against the wall, spilling the water all over the floor.

"Dammit, Michael! You're such a moron! Sorry, Tyson!" Hilary fumed, crossing her arms. Not hearing a response from her boyfriend, she glanced over in his direction.

Tyson was staring at the spill, wide-eyed, his left eye twitching.

"Uhh…Tyson?...You…..okay?..." Hilary asked, a little nervous.

Just then, Tyson's head shot up, glaring daggers at Michael. "Michael….." He growled. "You…fucking…IDIOT!" He yelled, as he leaped across the elevator to attack him.

Caught off guard, Michael could only watch taken aback as Tyson came at him in a flurry of angry fists.

"Tyson! What the hell!" Hilary cried, trying to pull him back, but, stubborn as ever, he couldn't be stopped.

"Now look what you've done! You've -! Urghhhh! You've killed us all! We're all gonna drown because this stupid elevator's gonna fill with water, and it's all! Your! FAULT!" Tyson screamed between punches.

Michael, coming back to his senses, easily shoved Tyson away. "Get the HELL off of me, Granger!"

With that, the two leaped at each other again, sending both of them crashing to the ground. The elevator began to sway dangerously as the two duked it out.

Hilary rolled her eyes. "Oh my God! Both of you knock it off!" Finally, she managed to grab them by the ears, pulling them off each other. "You guys are gonna snap the elevator cable if you keep fighting like this!"

"Well then fine! We'll have a Beybattle! Best two out of three!" Tyson seethed, reaching to his pack and holding out his Beyblade, the picture of Dragoon glinting.

"Fine with me!" Michael snarled back.

"No, dumbasses!" Hilary yelled exasperatedly, clobbering them both hard with her bare fists. "We're stuck in a small seven by eight foot elevator! This is no time for battles! Now Tyson, go sit in that corner, Michael, sit in the other! And don't say a word to each other until we get out of here! Jeez!"

Not wanting to further experience the wrath of Hilary, the two boys did as they were told, and reluctantly sat down.

The three sat in silence for several minutes until a groan from Tyson pierced the air. "Ughhh! I'm so BORED! Can't they at least play some music or something?" He whined.

"Yeah, I'm surprised they haven't checked to see if we're even alive….and some music would be nice…." Hilary agreed, glancing around nervously.

smirked. "Well, if it's music you want, then look no further than Michael Summers! Vocalist extraordinaire! Ahem! I'm bringin' sexy back! Th -!"

Hilary groaned, smacking her forehead. "Please no, Michael!"

"Queer…." Tyson mumbled under his breath.

Michael rolled his eyes. "Sheesh! Everyone's a critic! Y'know, Hil, I really don't know what you see in him! I mean, what does Tyson have that my intelligence, wealth, and extremely good looks can't make up for?"

Hilary just glared at him. "Oh I don't know, a heart?"

Chuckling evilly, Michael grinned, scooting over to put an arm around Hilary. "Hehehe, touché! You're a feisty one, huh? Just the way I like 'em!"

"Michael, get your hands off of her." Tyson scowled slowly, through clenched teeth.

Hilary shrugged his arm off her shoulders. "Down, boy! Back to your corner!"

"I'm goin', I'm goin'!" Michael smirked, moving away. "Just sayin', since we're probably gonna be in here for the rest of our lives anyway! Hehehe…." He laughed, seeing Tyson shifting around uncomfortably. He leaned back. "Yep, this is gonna be a long -!"

CLICK!

"What the -?" Michael sat up, whirling around.

Ticking noises began sounding all over, and the lights flickered back on.

"Michael…..what did you do?..." Hilary looked around warily.

"SHIT! I bet he set a freakin' time bomb, and this thing's gonna self-destruct in like thirty seconds!" Tyson cried, becoming a frantic mess once more.

The elevator continued making noises until finally it whirred back to life, continuing its ascent.

Slowly, a creepy smile spread across Michael's face. "Ohhh, I see what I did! I must've accidentally leaned against the emergency stop button earlier, so the elevator stopped, and just now, I leaned against it again, so it started back up! Well whaddaya know! This whole crisis could've been averted! How's that for luck! Right, guys?...Guys….?"

Tyson and Hilary just glared at him, their eyes slowly glowing red, cracking their knuckles.

Two minutes later, the elevator stopped yet again as it reached the seventh floor.

The doors opened, and the couple stepped out, with a pleased smile on their features.

"Man, I thought this whole day's gonna suck…but that was something else." Tyson chirped, "If I can get to do that again, I am all up for next year."

"See…" Hilary chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder, "I told you you'll find something to do. But I gotta agree. That felt pretty good…"

A groaning, bulbous Michael crawled out of the elevator with heavy effort, his face was swollen and blood trickled down his cheeks. He was missing a tooth and his clothes were half torn.

Groaning, he pleaded, "Somebody help…"