Mushroom_king

I believe you have lots of talent. It makes lots of sense why you would think some of the things you are asked to do is dumb. You are far more advanced than most of the people in your class. And the teacher tries WAY too hard to be 'modern', often failing with hilarious results.

The Seams of a Dream one was written for my English class and so far is one of two inherently awesome things I've made this year (the other being some art and poetry interpretation). Most of the stuff we're asked to do is, to me, really dumb.

Reminds me of the ice storm my town had a few years ago. Everything was frozen. It was really pretty, but there were so many power outages no one really noticed.

Hey, speaking of cycling, that's been my mom's latest obsession for like...several months now. She keeps wanting me to get on my bike to ride with her, but I'm a little more content staying inside and studying foreign languages/adding to my funny picture collection. Funny thing is, for years my mom made fun of me because I made friends with people I don't even know via the Internet, but now she's friends with people (cyclers) she doesn't know through the Internet. Anyway, just thought I'd stop by this tawpeek. I'd like to be able to say a sentence in German, but my German teacher at school has failed to teach me anything inherently useful (beyond numbers) this year.

OH GAWD I FORGOT AVENUE Q ON MY LIST. That's...like the best musical ever. That is, until someone actually makes 'Internet: The Musical'. and speaking of the internet and avenue q...

I-I-I LOVE LITTLE GIRLS THEY MAKE ME FEEL SO GOOD! indeed, yes.

That one Climber person was offended too; and if the archives of said tawpeek were any indication, Top Banana (who I miss...) was offended at first and then loved the jokes. Most of the offensive jokes I know are either racist or involve dead babies.

(the moon) i want to go to the moon where no one would find me no one would mind me no one would bully me no one would hate me no one would hurt me no one would bother me no one would boss me and no one would miss me --------------------------------------- (at the seams of a dream) Across the forest beyond the water Watching, the breakfast's gaze This coffee has eyes The car wants my love The meat has want, in truth, it's trying Poles grow from my skin, a passage of rain, The poles continued growing like a cancer As I walked through the passage of rain the rain began to change and turned into a gas other things woke up The hoe pretends to run And then pretends to rest The battery begins to boil The alarm is in a bone The leaves fear they are aging The rust fears it's alone forward from the other No, not with the home The days become overpowering Monday becomes Friday The coffee wanting sugar the car wanting a wheel the meat wanted a friend The poles wanted to be called by them The hoe is wanting to be put away As the battery is wanting to say Yes The alarm is far from wanting The bone happens to have a perk to start something, we know What with it is up to us The rust is wanting something that it is getting from the leaves that each are ending as they do something seen and the car is going to lose its other unknown something Some alarm kidnapped deep within us Is doing no wrong to move "And we make to try from doing time," The alarm says to the rust and it replies "We can't keep track for we are not alive" And this quiet statement makes a riot and the rust to prove a point What we want and what it is wanting Might be one and the same and in the dark of the passage the gas begins to fly and as it does, the breakfast & coffee both agree we do no wrong "But we don't do good, either." The hoe looks around, and of sudden thought, screams "WE ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD" As the coffee moves about, at the end of what was the passage the cancer speaks up, and the others freeze The poles and my skin jump off together To be together is their wanting At the same time the skin screams "Do you know what it means? To be and of the seams? And instead to be of fading dreams?" And the battery boiling burst at the seams.

Musicals? Those are pretty awesome. I happen to be in love with basically every character from 'Newsies'. Newsies, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog, Chicago, Clue: The Musical, Cats (don't feel bad Kat, it's awesome), Repo: The Genetic Opera, Oliver!, Singin' In The Rain, and maybe some other stuff. Say, do Rock Operas count?

[LOL ROBERT HEINLEIN REFERENCE!] Still wasn't God, nor the son of one; he merely had powers like one. Still was born on December 13th, in the year 2020; his full name was Still Alive Killingsworth. He'd been so named because countless times his parents had been told Still wouldn't live through birth; and when he turned out to be alive and completely healthy, Mr. and Mrs. Killingsworth celebrate their joy with the name. Still's parents noticed nothing particularly strange about Still other than that some days Still would sit on the floor in their house and simply stare at the space. He did this for the first time as a baby, and for the rest of his life he would have this habit. So the Killingsworth parents were very happy with their new son; he had been born healthy and very much alive despite what they'd been told, and this was good. It wasn't until Still was four that his parents began to notice anything particularly odd about him. Of course most all children have imaginary friends at some time or another, and Still was no exception; and of course there were days when Still got in trouble and blamed his friend. Still's imaginary friend was, according to Still himself, another four-year old boy who he claimed was his twin brother, whom Still had dubbed 'Moving'. Mr. and Mrs. Killingsworth saw this as troubling, wondering if Still was lonely with no siblings to play with him. But they shrugged it off, and went on with their lives. One day Still was in his room, keeping to himself, when Mrs. Killingsworth, from the living room, thought she had heard the fridge door open. She assumed it was Still getting into the dessert before Dinner; he'd done that before, and had blamed it on Moving. She still remembered how Still had cried and pleaded he hadn't done it when he was punished. Mrs. Killingsworth walked towards the kitchen, heard the fridge door shut again before she could get there, and instead went towards Still's room. "Still?" She called, opening the door a bit. She looked inside and saw Still on the floor playing with toys, a few books scattered about. He looked up at his mother with large eyes. "Still, did you get into the fridge again?" Still sighed, stood up, and looked at her defiantly. "No," He said. "But I'm sure Moving did." Despite his age, Still had remarkably good language skills, something his parents would brag about with friends. Mrs. Killingsworth looked at her son. "I swear," Still pleaded, his voice serious. "I didn't move from this spot. I've been playing for a while now." She came into the room, stomping about, looking for evidence of food taken. She found none, no matter how much she searched. If he had stolen anything, he would have eaten it already, but he would have left some kind of mess. "Still, what did you do with the food?" "I'm telling you!" He shouted, "I didn't take any. Moving did." "Still, if you don't own up now, I'll be forced to send you to bed right now without anything to eat." "But I didn't do anything!" He said, and began to cry. He's a good actor, his mother thought. "If that's going to be the way you'll act, then you can go take your bath now, get into your pajamas, and climb into bed now." Still sniffled. "Fine then," He said angrily, and stomped off to the bathroom to do so. Mrs. Killingsworth stayed in the room for a little longer, checking one last time for signs Still had taken any food. There were none. She couldn't have hallucinated hearing the door open. At least, she didn't think she could have. From the bathroom, Mrs. Killingsworth heard the sound of Still yelling at his imaginary twin brother like he had never yelled before. And, as she passed by the room, she swore she heard someone whimpering and apologizing, in a voice that sounded like Still's. Mrs. Killingsworth chalked it up to Still acting, and went to make dinner for herself and her husband. "I can't believe you would get me in trouble like that," Still said. "Moving. You're getting me in trouble on purpose. You're mad because I was born before you, huh?" Still saw Moving; well, he saw Moving in his mirror. Still was brushing his teeth (which he found stupid since he hadn't eaten dinner, but he did it so mommy wouldn't complain about it), and talking to his reflection. Moving had his own movements and voice, so he moved as though he wasn't a reflection. And yet he was. "Well, Still, mom & dad don't even realize I exist, do they? You can understand why I'm jealous. But I'm not doing it on purpose." Still spit out into the sink. "I know you're not. But...I mean, it's like I'm the only one who can see you. They don't even think you're real." Moving sighed. "Typical, I guess." Moving looked at the ground inside the mirror, and neither said anything. Still put down his toothbrush, looked at his reflection, where Moving sighed indefinitely. Before either could say anything, Still, urged on by a voice, a conscience, reached into the mirror. He clutched Moving's shirt, and pulled. "Still-? Brother, what are you-?" Moving shouted, but Still kept pulling. "Ahhhh!" Still yelled as he fell off the stool that let him reach the sink, and successfully pulled Moving out of the mirror. "Ouch," Still winced, as he got up, propped the stool back up, and stood on top. His reflection was still there, but this time the reflection was Still, just Still. Moving stood up, and felt his body. He and Still were wearing matching outfits-plain white long-sleeve shirts and blue jeans. "Hey," Moving said, stepping on top of the stool after Still did. He looked at himself in the mirror, moving his face around. "I'm here!" Moving shouted. "I exist! You did it! I'm real!!" Still stood there, smiling, and Moving jumped down off the stool and hugged his brother. "Thank you, Still," Moving said, his voice muffled by clothes. The two were quiet for a moment, not questioning that Still had just pulled his own reflection out of a mirror and given his imaginary brother flesh. "Come on-let's take our bath. Do you mind if we bathe together?" "Just for tonight. Every other night I want to bathe by myself though." "Sounds good then. Here," Still said, picking up his pajamas, which were blue and had a rocketship theme. The pants had, along with rockets, pictures of stars and aliens. "These are my pajamas; do you have a pair too?" Moving looked around, and shrugged. "That's ok," Still said. He held up the pajamas, and stared at them for a while; and before the boys' eyes an exact pair materialized. Moving was amazed, but Still seemed to not notice what he had even done. "Now that you have some jammies, we can take a bath. It's not so bad." Moving nodded, and the two boys, after taking off their now-dirty day clothes, climbed into the bath, which Still had filled with sweet-smelling bubbles. A few toys sat on the edge of the tub, and Still grabbed a bottle of liquid kid's soap, which smelled like grape. Moving grabbed a plastic boat and played with it, making it sail a sea of bubbles. Still squirted some of the grape soap on a blue loofah, and washed himself with it as Moving played with the bubbles; and then the two switched, with Moving washing himself with the grape soap, often taking big whiffs of the scent, as Still played with the toy and a loofah shaped like a caterpillar. When Moving was done washing, he set the loofah on the edge of the tub, and Still grabbed a rubber duck of the edge of the tub, along with a plastic action figure not meant for the bath but was played with in it anyway. "I normally don't play in here, because playing by myself can be very boring sometimes," Still said. Moving frowned. "But what about me?" "Well, before I realized you were here. And before you were even able to play with me." Moving smiled a tiny smile. "Well, what sorts of things do you want to play?" Still shrugged. He looked at the caterpillar loofah, the toy boat, and the action figure. "Well, the action figure could ride the boat and fight the caterpillar-" He started, putting the figure inside the boat and setting up for him to fight the loofah. Moving grinned. "Here, I'll be the caterpillar," He said, holding it up. Still clutched the boat, stared at it for a long time, and with a loud roar, the toys came to life. The action figure floated in the bathwater, the action figure standing on top of it; the loofah roared, and the figure looked at the brothers-notably Still. "Well, don't I get a weapon?" The figure asked, and Still frowned. "Woopsie, I forgot-" He said, looking around for a weapon for the figure. Still reached up onto the sink, grabbed his toothbrush, and handed it to the toy. "Be careful. I need it back." "Thanks," The figure said, its voice powerful. It stood on the boat, the caterpillar loofah roaring and then racing towards the boat. The figure jumped on top of the boat, swinging his toothbrush at the monster, knocking it back with a splash. "Still?" Came the voice of Mr. Killingsworth outside the bathroom. "Are you alright? It's getting late. Get out of the bath and into your jammies, ok?" "Ok, daddy," Still shouted back. The loofah monster and action figure looked at him. "Tomorrow night we can continue, ok?" Still promised the toys, and the boys climbed out of the tub, grabbing towels, and drained the water and put the toys back on the edge of the tub. Still and Moving dried off and put their pajamas on, and ran into Still's bedroom. Still's bedroom was a big enough size for a child his age, and had a wallpaper border with an outer-space theme; indeed, his bedsheets and pillowcases also had outer space on them, his nightlight was shaped like a UFO, and glow-in-the-dark stars were stuck to his ceiling. Still looked at the bed he slept in, which was bigger than needed for Still-but perfect for him and Moving. "Come on," Still said, motioning towards the bed. "We can get in, and we wait for mommy and daddy to come in, tuck us in, and tell us a story." Moving smiled and nodded, and lifted up the thick blanket, revealing the outer-space themed sheets, and both climbed into the bed. "Moooooommyyyyy," Still shouted, "Come here! I wanna show you somethin'!" Mrs. Killingsworth shouted "Ok, I'm coming with a story right now," and she opened the door, smiling. She walked over, and gasped when she saw Moving. "Still," She said, her voice shaking, "Who is that?" "Mommy," Still said worriedly, "This is Moving, my brother. Don't you remember him?" Mrs. Killingsworth's mouth hung agape. Still and Moving exchanged glances, and Still sighed. "Mommy, he's my twin brother. Just because he's younger doesn't mean you can just pretend he's imaginary or something." Mrs. Killingsworth gulped. "I don't believe it," She muttered. She smiled nervously, and gulped again. "Don't worry, I'll fix this," Still whispered to Moving. Still stared at his mother, with wide, starry eyes. Power emanated from him, and for a moment, Mrs. Killingsworth's eyes became wide and starry as well; and then Still fell onto the bed. Mrs. Killingsworth stared ahead, and shook her head. "Still, Moving, are you two ready? Tonight is episode two of The Rolling Killingsworths. Tonight the Killingsworth Twins are in their big spaceship and are about to travel to the other side of the Galaxy to make some new friends." Still grabbed soft plushes of a green alien and an astronaut and handed the astronaut to Moving. "I can't wait to hear the story." -To be continued-

....Oh noes, I need to update this tawpeek baaad. Ok. Like a month and a half ago Beardo broke up with me, which I wanted, and for several weeks now, I've been dating one of the twins (Nick to be exact). I had a crush on him for...a long time, even before me and Beardo broke up. So yea, that's stuff in a nutshell.

I'm assuming blond jokes count. We had a whole tawpeek of that years ago.

On Invision, as you may remember, there is a floating island called Taynio; and on the island there is an unnamed city. That city is not habited by very many Invisionists, possibly not more than a hundred. In the town is a large church, recently made into a University with dorms for people to live in. The building is owned by a man who is also called Taynio, and he was sitting along in the chapel of the building. He sat on the floor, in front of a large wooden cross, which itself was in front of a large stained glas window. Taynio sat there, and in front off him was a ragged Bible with a H$ Bill serving as a bookmark. He would flip the frail pages of the book, read, and repeated this several times before hearing the bell of the University ringing, sounding as if it were far in the distance. Upon hearing it, Taynio picked up his book, placed the money in between the pages, and walked off. --------------------------------------- Meanwhile, back at the Port of Cheese, Cheesemaster was getting up and going to get papers to sell that day. An enormous special was printed about Mushroom and her friends, and their endeavor to defeat Elld'Reik back on their home of Dreamtopia. The complete story of what happened to them was printed in the paper, and Cheesemaster expected almost, if not more, sales than he had yesterday. He'd sold well over a hundred papers the day before with the news of monsters attacking Hamsterdam, and with the five's permission, had their story printed. Dawn's power over the Alliance, however, was not mentioned. "We're living well for the time being," Cheesemaster said excitedly to Edna as the two walked in the early morning to the place where he got his papers. "That's right!" Said Edna, bounding next to his friend. His oversized red suspenders bounced by his sides and he hopped, jumping over cracks and looking at plants or insects in the sidewalk. He'd been enthusastic ever since his friend returned home. "We're making lots of money from the good headline!" "Good headlines are what make ends meet in our house," Cheesemaster said quietly. Edna either ignored or didn't hear this, for he kept bounding past his friend on the sidewalk, occasionally spinning in circles, until they reached the small printing factory where the papers were produced. Edna ran ahead of Cheesemaster and pushed the door open, and held it in place despite his tiny body for his friend. Cheesemaster, laughing, thanked his young friend. Edna pushed the door shut, and Cheesemaster kneeled down to look his friend in the eye. "Edna, I need you to do something important for me today." Edna looked into Cheesemaster's bespectacled eyes, his face full of wonder. "I need you to help me sell the papers today." Edna's eyes sparkled. "Really?!" Cheesemaster nodded. "Lots of young boys like you probably sold papers when paperboys were everywhere-I mean, on my planet Earth at least. Since so many people are interested in this story and the headline, I'll need someone to help me out today." Edna gasped with excitement, and Cheesemaster, paying for a smaller stack of papers, handed them down to Edna, who nearly fell when he grabbed them. "You got 'em?" Cheesemaster asked, and Edna nodded over the stack. Cheesemaster smiled, and grabbed his own bigger stack, payed for them, and the two were out the door. Cheesemaster placed part of his stack into his brown leather bag, and hauled the other half up onto his shoulder; Edna copied him. When the two walked out, Cheesemaster took a paper with his free hand and began advertising the headline as soon as possible. "Special Edition Today! Huge special on Magic Soldiers from Dreamtopia! Read all about it!!" Edna tried, awkwardly, to grab a single paper out of his stack and do the same thing. "Uhm...Uh, Read all about it! Special detailing about Dreamtopian defenders!!" The duo continued this way as they walked down the street to their house, and had already sold a few papers when they arrived back to the house. The crowds finally came out to go to work and school, and the boys could barely keep their papers on them. By the time it was time to go back inside, they had all but run out. The two went inside, exhausted from interacting with so many people; Cheesemaster slumped into his armchair, his glasses sliding down his nose and a loose suspender falling off his shoulder and down one arm. Edna climbed into the oversized armchair across from him; unlike Cheesemaster, he was still excited and not tired at all. Cheesemaster sat up eeventually, adjusted his glasses and suspender, and wondered aloud about what he wanted to do. "We ought to visit Dawn," He said, stretching an arm towards the bookshelf to grab something to read. "I'm sure she's really worn out from fighting monsters. You were asleep, but out of all five of them she got hurt the most. From what I hear, she was horribly tired. We ought to check on her." Edna nodded, smling, and with a laugh, added "I'm sure you're very worried about Mrs. Mushroom, too!" "of course-She's my friend! Why wouldn't I?" He thought for a moment, and then leaned back, narrowing his eyes. "Hold on." Edna giggled, and then burst out laughing. Cheesemaster frowned. "Stop that. I know what you're thinking." Edna continued to laugh, and Cheesemaster tried speaking over him. "Speaking of friends, I haven't been to Taynio in some time, I think not in a year or so. I remember we almost went there with Aloysius, but something happened and we weren't able to go." "But you can't go and visit now!" Edna said, suddenly stopping his laughter. "You've been away a lot in the past few months. You ought to stay home and do your job!" He said accusingly. "That's true," Cheesemaster sighed. "Let's just wait a while and see." --------------------------------------------- That night, as he had said, Cheesemaster took Edna to the Rabbitt Manor to visit Dawn. They didn't want any dinner, just wanted to visit her, but of course Jakob would not stand for even that. Cheesemaster took Edna's hand and climbed aboard a trolley that went near the feild that held the Mansion. The troolley was rickety and usually stuffed with people-the boys always saw it by their house in the morning-but today they got a rare chance to actually sit in a seat on the trolley. It was safer than standing, but still rickety. Edna loved riding the trolley, because he got to see all sorts of people who he waved or said hello to and they would often say hello back; plus, despite being unsafe, the rolling and rocking and rickety nature of the trolley made for a bumpy ride that a child like Edna found entertaining. The trolley stopped near the large meadow where the Mansion was, and the pair walked the rest of the way there. Cheesemaster walked up, with Edna's tiny hand firmly in his grip, and knocked on the door of the house using a knocker shaped like a rabbit's head. Edna looked up, and in order to make himself feel less scared, he remarked "I never met a family that made such a big deal over their last name. Everything here has Rabbits on it. I kind of wonder why?" Cheesemaster looked down and smiled at him. "I wouldn't know, though what I do know is that last names originated from people's occupations. Perhaps the last name goes far, far back, and a long time ago, their family did something with rabbits. Maybe they bred them." Edna looked confused. "Bred them? For what?" Cheesemaster shrugged. "If they were a German family, I would assume farming them for meat..." "They eat rabbits?!" Edna gasped. His eyes grew wide. "Mr. Leguan eats bunnies?!" Cheesemaster shook his head. "No, no! Well, maybe. I wouldn't know! You can ask him though. Perhaps we could ask Dawn." Edna nodded, and finally, the door opened. Luckily, it was not Jakob, but rather James Rabbitt. James opened the door wider, and welcomed the boys inside with a hearty greeting. "Nice to see you both," James said as Cheesemaster shut the door. Regaining a firm grip on Edna's hand, Cheesemaster explained that they were there to see Dawn. James nodded. "Yes, she's been in her bed ever since coming back from Hamsterdam, and Jakob's been in a fit. For a man that hates her so much, he really does complain about when she's hurt." James sighed. "But I think he's just in want of more reasons to keep her and her sisters, and Richard too, inside all the time. He already does it well with Julia." Cheesemaster nor Edna said anything. James led them through the foyer, and asked them if they wanted any tea or anything else. Cheesemaster said that they would love some, but bring some up to Dawn's room. James obliged, and after pointing them in the right direction, the two made their way to their friend's bedroom. ---------------------------------------------- The boys walked into Dawn's spacious bedroom, an enormous room with violet walls and purple carpets; a big purple vanity, where a large brush made for Dawn's lengthy brown hair was, and next to it was a big hat rack filled with the same black cap she wore all the time. Many posters with pictures of dragons, fairies, and heavy metal bands clashed with the rest of the elegant room, which contained an enormous, circular purple bed with a satin canopy. Dawn laid in the bed, her beautiful brown hair a mess, her dress wrinkled, and what remained of her make-up smeared. Around the bed were dressers and bookshelfs; on either side of her bed were two nightstands, each with a lamp, and The Monster Book, along with pencils, laying on one nightstand. A few cushiony chairs were strewn around the room; Cheesemaster took two and set them next to Dawn's bed, and Cheesemaster, watching over her, said softly, "Dawn?" She stirred a little, and Cheesemaster, moving down from his chair, sat on his knees on the floor, his head resting on his arms on the bed next to her. "Dawn? Are...uhm, are you alright?" Dawn stirred again, and slowly opened her eyes, looking at him. "Chees...Cheesemaster?" She said softly, and shut her eyes again. Then he eyes shot up and she started forward, and she shouted "Cheesemaster?! My God, what are you doing here?! This is so embarassing-I look so horrible-you shouldn't see me like this-" Dawn leaped out of bed, wearing nothing but a satin, lace nightgown, and ran over to her vanity. She had turned bright, bright red, and was furiously wiping old, crusted eyeliner and foundation off her face. "Dawn," Cheesemaster said, standing up. He looked rather embrassed himself, and Edna looked up at him from his chair, and shrugged without saying anything. "Dawn, you should really be resting. I don't mind, really. You look fine." "I don't," Dawn said, sounding rushed. "When I have a guest over, I can't look like this, my hair messed up, wearing my nightclothes, makeup from two days ago smeared on my face-" "Dawn, please. We just came over to see if you were fine." Dawn sighed, and was silent for a moment. The leftover make-up was washed away from her face, and barelymaking it back over, collapsed on her bed. Cheesemaster gasped, and asked if she was alright. "I'm fine," Dawn insisted, crawling across the bed to where she'd been. "I-" She cleared her throat. "I need blood." Cheesemaster and Edna exchanged glances. Cheesemaster cleared his throat, and noticed a curious feeling rising from the pit of his stomach. "Well, we've already established you can't drink my blood..." Dawn barely managed to crawl back under the covers, and coughed. Edna, too, got a curious feeling in the pit of his stomach, and pulled himself backwards. "Y-You don't wanna drink my blood, do you, Ms. Dawn?" Edna asked, sounding scared. "I mean, you can if you n-need to-" "There'll be no such thing happening," Cheesemaster said. Cheesemaster tugged at his shirt's collar. "Dawn, you sure you can't use my cheese-blood?" Dawn rolled over, and looked sad. "I don't know. All I know is that I feel so weak, and the fighting caused me to lose a lot of blood." Dawn rolled onto her stomach, wincing if her back touched the bed. A knock came at the door, and in walked James, with a tray holding three cups of tea. He walked over, and handed them to Cheesemaster, who set them on the nightstand. Dawn looked up at James, who sat on a third chair. "There's some tea. Is there anything else you might need?" Dawn tried to speak. "James..." She muttered, and groaned. Cheesemaster looked at James, and said, "What she's trying to say is that, well, she really needs some blood." James said nothing for a moment, wondering what he could do. "Dawn, do you need some of my own blood?" James asked, and Dawn nodded. "I'm assuming you didn't want to take Edna's." She nodded yes, and James walked over to the bed, Cheesemaster and Edna moving, and he kneeled down towards Dawn. She barely reached over, and bit down into James's neck; he winced, and a trickle of bright red fell on the bedsheet as she drank it. Dawn sighed as she detached herself from James's neck, and James groaned, rubbing the wound he now had. "Thanks James," She said, already sounding and looking a lot better. James nodded, and standing up, walked off so he could get a bandage for the wounds. When he left, Cheesemaster took a drink of his tea and offered some to Dawn, who gladly took a drink. She sat up to drink it, again wincing whenever he back was touched by the bed. She carefully laid the cup back onto the tray and began to talk. "Why did you two come over here? I haven't seen you ever since we left Hamsterdam." "Me and Edna have been busy with selling papers," Cheesemaster explained, "But we made some time to come visit you and make sure you were alright." "That was nice of you," Dawn said. She raised her arms and stretched, but lost her balance and landed on her back-still sore from the ordeal in the woods. She screamed in pain, causing both of the boys to jump. "Dawn!!" Cheesemaster shouted, as her eyes began to water. He reached for her, and she slowly, wincingly, got up. She was crying now, and Cheesemaster sat next to her to see what might be wrong. "Dawn, what just happened?!" He asked frantically. Dawn shook her head. "My back is in incredibly pain. You wouldn't want to see." Cheesemaster said nothing for a moment, and gave her a fierce look. "Show me now, Dawn. I need to know why you're in pain." "It might be scary for Edna," She said, and Edna straigtened his hat. "I'll be fine, whatever it is," He claimed, btu stood close to Cheesemaster just in case. "I'm not that comfortable taking off my nightgown and showing you," She said, making another excuse to not show them. Cheesemaster sighed, and demanded to see. "Fine!!" Dawn shouted suddenly, standing up. She turned around, and slowly raised her nightgown off her head, wincing when the fabric touched her back. She eventaully had it off, and was in nothing but purple lace panties and bra. She lifted her hair and showed them the ribbons that had been sewn into her back. They both gasped, and Edna whimpered-but refused to look away. Crusted blood from days ago still remained around the wounds that had been inflicted into her back, and even more from when the hooks were affized into the cuts. "Why...?" Cheesemaster asked, but was far too stunned to finish. Dawn quickly let her hair down again, and put on her nightgown. "Dawn, who the #### did that to you?!" Cheesemaster started, getting up from his seat. Dawn looked sad, and started to explain what had happened in the woods. Cheesemaster and Edna both listened with awe. "I see," Cheesemaster said quietly after the story was finished. "It's been that long but it hasn't stopped hurting?" "When I first got it, it hurts all the time. Now it just hurts when it's touched, and soon it should stop hurting at all." "But Dawn...why...?" Even though it had all been explained to him, he still couldn't believe something so terrible could happen to his friend. "I already explained it to you, it was so my powers could be controlled. Apparently my magic power granted to me by the Alliance Monsters was far too great and they sealed it away in my choker and this...this thing in my back." She sighed, and then smiled sadly. "But, the choker is really pretty, and I guess, if the blood got cleaned up, the ribbons would look pretty too." Cheesemaster gasped, but in truth, such a statement wasn't really out of character for Dawn. "Of course, none of my family knows except James-Jakob would kill me if he knew something like this had happened. None of my family, except Sterling, none of them even know I have those powers. Jakob would never believe me. He already hates how I have magic powers." "But everyone in this family seems to have magic powers or something similar," Edna quipped. "You have magic and you're a vampire. Sterling sees ghosts. Julia's possessed. I dunno what Rick and James do, but it's weird Jakob would hate paranormal stuff so much." Dawn said nothing, and looked as though she was deep in thought. "You two had best leave soon, before Jakob finds out you're here." Dawn said quickly. Cheesemaster and Edna looked at each other, and Cheesemaster shrugged. "if you insist," Cheesemaster said softly. Edna looked at him worridly. "But Mr. Cheesemaster, don't you want to stay at least a little longer? I mean-" "Edna, a gentleman never stays when a lady asks him to leave. Or something among those lines-it's something my father taught me." "Is that who you learned everything from?" Edna asked suddenly. "Your dad? You never tell me about him." Cheesemaster stopped, and looked anxious. His stutter that he got whenever he was nervous came as he got up to leave. "W-Well Edna, I d-don't particularly like t-t-talking about my parents v-very much." "Whatever, then." Edna said, as Cheesemaster opened the door to leave. He turned around, and the boys said good-bye to Dawn. Cheesemaster and Edna walked out the door and into the hallway, and began to walk down the hall towards the front door of the Mansion when they heard a very audible, male roar of a yell from downstairs. "Jakob," Edna whimpered, and Cheesemaster nodded, picking up his young friend and slowly walking downstairs so they could leave quietly, without the prosecutor seeing them. Unfortunately, this would not be the case. Cheesemaster and Edna were walking towards the Dining Room when they heard Jakob...crying. It was a sound completely shocking to them, and despite the rudness of eavesdropping, they couldn't help but listen to find out what in the world would make the cruel Jakob Rabbitt cry. The two passed by the open Dining Room door, and hid out of sight; inside, Jakob was sitting at the table, his head in his hands; his top hat sat on the table and his cane was resting atop a chair, the ears of the iron rabbit-head suspending off the top of it. Jakob's black hair as mussed, possibly from pulling at it, and he was sobbing hysterically. James stood over his brother, his back to the boys, so they couldn't see his face. "Jakob, you'll be fine. Just stay inside tonight-" "You don't get it!!" Jakob yelled. He lifted his head out of his tear-soaked hands, and the boys tried not to gasp as they peeked over. Jakob was a mess-his usually grim, cruel-looking face was puffy and pale, and his normally cold eyes were red-rimmed from crying. "Darn it James, don't you get that I need that potion or I just go...I go insane!" Cheesemaster didn't say anything, but he and Edna thought the same thing: Jakob, who hated magic and anything strange or paranormal, drank potions to retain his sanity? They weren't really sure what was going on. "Jakob, it's just one night without it. Stay in your room. I'll-I'll tranquilize you. I don't know. But you don't need to worry, really Jakob. It's nothing to worry about." Jakob began to sob again, and Cheesemaster, gulping, walked into the room. "What...What's wrong?" Cheesemaster asked, putting Edna down; the boy clinged to his leg in fear. "Cheesemaster..." James started, turning around. He looked incredibly worried. Jakob sniffed, and looked up. His sad eyes were now filled with rage along with sadness. "And on top of everything you let THEM into my mansion?!" Jakob screamed. "First forgetting my medicine and now this?! How could you treat your brother that way, James?" "Jakob, please..." "Get them out. Now." Cheesemaster started to say something: "No, please, what's going on? I want to help. I really do." Jakob threw a fist down on the table, startling everyone. "How the #### could YOU help me, newsie?!" "Please, what kind of a medicine do you need?" James fingered with his coat collar. "I understand where you're coming from, Cheese-is it fine if I call you that?-OK, then. Anyway, I understand where you're coming from, but the medicine Jakob needs has to be special ordered. It's...it's not exactly a conventional medicine." "A potion?" Cheesemaster suggested. Jakob scowled. "Don't refer to it like that." "Yes," James said, ignoring his brother. "That's it. Jakob...has a severe ailment. Not a disease, really, but it's awful dangerous. Unfortunately, We ran out because one night Jakob had to take two and I didn't think that we would run out. Jakob's just worried about what might happen if he doesn't take his...medicine." Cheesemaster nodded, understanding. Then he grinned. "If it's not a specialty potion, maybe you could get it from a witch. I know Dawn is friends with a girl who makes Potions-" "That's preposterous!!" Jakob shouted, but James shushed him. "That doesn't sound so bad, actually. Who is this friend?" "James.." Jakob growled, and James shushed him again. "Vanilla Star Hamster is her name," Cheesemaster said. "But I would have to know your medicine if I wanted to order one from her." James and Jakob both gasped in unison, and looked at each other. "I'm so sorry-Jakob prefers other people don't know what ailment he has. Otherwise, I would definitely get one from your friend." "Alright," Jakob heaved, his tears all wiped away. "Now get OUT!" "Of course," Edna shouted, and the boys ran back out. ------------------------------------ Cheesemaster and Edna walked out of the mansion, and Cheesemaster, his hands in his pockets, walked ahead, occasionally scratching his head or rubbing his chin in deep though. Edna lagged behind, picking up interesting stones or lost objects out of the Rabbitt Meadow. Eventually Cheesemaster stopped, one arm folded across his chest, the other made into a fist with his chin resting on it. "Mr. Cheesemaster?" Edna said, walking up beside him, his pockets filled with rocks and other junk. "What are you thinking about?" "Wondering what 'disease' Jakob's got," He said quietly. He continued walking, his hands behind his back and looking at the sky as they reached the road. Night had fallen while they were at the Mansion, and stars twinkled in the summer sky. Cheesemaster adjusted his glasses, deep in thought. Edna walked up beside him again. "Well, are we gonna get home, or are you gonna keep stopping?" Edna said playfully. Cheesemaster said nothing, and continued walking home. "I need to write on something." The boys made their way home, where Cheesemaster, almost immedietly, told Edna to make some tea and that if he needed anything, he would be in his Study; Edna, sighing, knew what that meant. The Study was a room in the house where Edna had never been; Cheesemaster went in there to write, to study, to build things. Edna was always very lonely when his friend was in the study, but he usually watched some TV for noise when he was in the Study. He rarely watched it, but it was background noise. Silence sometimes made Edna feel lonely and uncomfortable. Cheesemaster went into his study, and locked the door. The room was a personal for him, his own private room. All his untold secrets were in the room, the ones he wouldn't even tell Cheese Woman, Arkcher, or Edna, the three people he had told countless secrets to. Photos on the walls and in books of when he was a child, of his parents, were in here. He could never let anyone see them-they were too big of secrets. The two longer walls of the rectangular room were lined with bookshelves-countless manuels, papers, and books on engineering and other sciences-but especially engineering and physics. A coat rack stood by the door where Cheesemaster placed his worn brown newsboy cap. Papers were strewn on the floor, ones he kept forgetting to clean up; papers that were torn-out pages of magazines or books, or pages that simply fell out of too-old books. Cheesemaster looked at some, and simply shoved them into an empty place on the shelf, a soon-to-be-forgotten reminder to re-organize. He quietly walked across the floor, and sat down at the table facing the wall. It was stained from too many hot spills, and covered with books, papers, pencils, and little objects and tools for when he built things. He turned on the tall lamp that stood next to his desk, filling the area of the room with extra light. He cleared as much stuff as he could, grabbed a notebook, and after sharpening his pencil, began to write. N.A. CHEESEMASTER DATE MAY 30TH Jakob Rabbitt's Disease He stopped for a moment. Disease? He wasn't sure what it might be. James said it was an AILMENT of some kind. Disease? Not likely... Jakob Rabbitt's ailment He began by writing down any clues he may have gotten while he was talking with James. -Not a disease per sey -Controlled with magic medicine/potions -Makes him go crazy -Once needed a tranquilizer He thought long and hard, leaning back in his chair, until he finally thought of something. "This is definitely not something scientific," He thought as he got up and paced the room, something he always did when he thought in order to jog his mind. "Mr. Cheesemaster, tea is ready!" cried Edna's voice from the living room. Cheesemaster barely heard him, but smiled anyway and decided tea was just the thing. Cheesemaster left the study, locked the door carefully, and walked into the living room where Edna was watching a cartoon on TV. "Here it is," Edna said, pointing to a tray with two mugs on it. Cheesemaster thanked him and went back into his study to continue thinking about the mysterious ailment Jakob could have. ------------------------------------ Several days passed, each with slowly declining sales in papers as the story about Mushroom and friends got old. Soon, Cheesemaster and Edna were left with quite a bit of money-more than they had ever had before. "Edna," Cheesemaster started, "How do you think, since we have so much money from selling so many papers, why don't we take a vacation to Taynio? It won't be a trip for a birthday or anything, just a vacation. You'll love it there." Edna thought for a moment. "You mentioned this a couple days ago, I remember." Cheesemaster nodded. "I would really like to visit my friends up there. I haven't seen them in so long, and you haven't even met them." Edna thought for a little bit, and finally said "Well, it sounds fun. How long do you want to go for?" "Not too long-maybe three or four days. Maybe longer." "That sounds fantastic!" Edna said. "Let's leave the day after tomorrow!!"

[Really long one here.] Mushroom sat with Blood Queen, PMM, Vanilla, & Arkcher in the kitchen of Cheesemaster's house. Outside, the noise of him selling papers and crowds of people buying them could be heard, but Mushroom decided to tell the story anyway. "Before I start, I don't want any interruptions," She explained, and when everyone agreed to not interrupt, she began. "It was our second year of school when it happened; weird stuff began happening around SummmerMeadow, just like how weird stuff started happening around Hamsterdam. Everything began to change at school; drills were held just in case a monster attacked the school, and we learned more and more in the ways of serious combat just in case. It was like living in wartime." "Anyway, I was on my way home from school one day, when a monster appeared and tried to attack me." "You ready, Vanilla?" Mushroom asked her best friend after school one fateful day. The two almost always walked home together since their homes were just a few streets away from each other. The two walked down the busy street that the school was on, saying little, and eventually turned into a less populated, grassier street , when a rustling noise was heard. "Did you hear that?" Vanilla asked, and the girls stopped. Mushroom looked around, and shook her head. Vanilla motioned for her friend to stay quiet, and the two, standing back-to-back as best as they could, watched for noises. The two were about to leave, when the leaves rustled again, and a relatively large but not gigantic tentacle monster rose out-the first the girls had ever seen. The two looked up at the enormous thing, and without second thought, screamed. The monster roared as they did, and Mushroom, grabbing Vanilla, tried desperately to run away; before they could, a voice was heard. "Mushroom! Vanilla! Don't run away!" The two girls ignored the voice, assuming the insanity of the moment was making them hear voices. Mushroom got up, grabbed her friend again, and tried to run away again; however, Mushroom was knocked down, heard the voice again, and clutched her head. Mushroom shouted for Vanilla to run away as fast as she could, but the hamster refused to leave her friend behind. "Mushroom!" Shouted the voice again. "Listen to me! I'm inside your brain!" Mushroom gasped and, as if it would help any, clawed at her head. "Stop! I'll help you and your friend get out of this situation!" "Get out of my head!!" Mushroom screamed, and as soon as she said it, a moist feeling entered her ear. Her ear suddenly became very painful and felt as if it was being stretched, when the pain stopped and a pop was heard. Mushroom looked, and below her was a large mushroom. She gasped, and for a moment forgot there was a monster rampaging nearby. "Mushroom, why is there a mushroom in your head?" Mushroom got up, and grabbed the mushroom off the ground. "How confusing," She muttered, and the mushroom looked up. Beneath its cap was a face and two chubby arms. "My name is Myco, and I'm here to tell you how to defeat that thing." "Defeat it?!" Mushroom said, shocked. "How?" "Like this," Myco said. He spun around on two small feet, and two golden, heart-shaped lapel pins appeared. One flew to Mushroom, the other to Vanilla. "Pin these wherever you want. You'll know what to do," And Myco painfully climbed back into Mushroom's head. The two girls looked at each other, then at the pins, and then at the monster. They shrugged, and almost directly after Mushroom pinned it to her jacket's lapel and Vanilla to her belt, the two shouted their respective phrases: "HEART OF THE PINK SEA, TRANSFORMING POWER!" "HEART OF THE ORANGE STICKS, TRANSFORMING POWER!" The two girls transformed, and looked at their new outfits, were predictably shocked. Myco, communicating with Mushroom, gave her instructions. "These pins and the transforming grant you magical powers beyond your level-you'll definitely be strong enough to fight this thing off." Mushroom transferred the message to Vanilla, and she nodded. Vanilla took her newfound wand, chanted a spell, and managed to bind the monster just enough that Mushroom could physically attack it with her guitar. The creature had been much easier than it had seemed, and after it was killed, their outfits melted away. The girls were silent for a moment, and then questioned Myco, asking him why the #### he had done what he'd done. "Me and Vanilla walked home after that, as Myco said it wasn't safe to talk about it in such a public area," Mushroom stated. "I know you're wondering what he said, so I'll repeat anything he said-but before I do, do you guys have any questions?" "Where is Myco?" Cheesemaster asked. "Myco, to make a long story short-" Mushroom started, "Was an alien from the same planet the monsters come from. He came to help us defeat their leader Elld'Reik, and went home after Elld'Reik was dead." "But wasn't Elld'Reik the monster you just fought?" "I'll get to that soon. Anyway-" She cleared her throat, took a drink of the tea she'd been given, and went on. "This is what Myco said to us, completely unaltered. I don't really know why I remember this so immaculately, but that's for another day I guess." She took another drink, and started. " 'I'm Myco, as you both should know by now. I was supposed to get here earlier, but those monsters-the Elld'Reik's Abominations-tried to stop me. Me and those things come from the same planet together, a place called Tecj. It's an ok place, but an evil, unholy monster called Elld'Reik came to our planet from a faraway place and started creating monsters to terrorize us, and eventually went on to other planets so he could take them over like he did Tecj. Dreamtopia was his second stop-he must have picked it because it's a major planet. But I knew I had to stop him, because if Elld'Reik took over Dreamtopia, well, terrible things would happen. So I tried my hardest, hitchhiking and using rickety spaceships, to make my way here and try and find five chosen ones.' " Mushroom stopped. "It was here that me and Vanilla asked 'Five? So there's more we've got to find?'. Myco had nodded, and answered 'Yes. There are five chosen mages to defeat Elld'reik and his monsters.' Looking back, it's pretty danged convenient that all five chosen ones were in the same town. But I digress." " 'These lapel pins contain incredible magical powers of the five spirits of my home planet-Pink Sea, Orange Sticks, Green Haze, Metallic Dream, and Blood Wall. These five spirits are embedded in the pins, and by shouting the phrase, you can rapidly increase your magical powers. Not enough to use the Ultimate Spells (Mushroom stopped and said, "Like for me, that's Destruction Symphony"), not even powerful enough to use really advanced spells, but pretty powerful. You'll have to use these tAo defeat Elld'Reik's abominations, and eventually find him and defeat him yourself. But that's only when you find the last three and become powerful enough.' Me and Vanilla asked Myco how we would tell we'd found a chosen one. 'Fate will pull a chosen one into battle with you. I'll tell them myself,"' And with that Myco had jumped back into my head very painfully." "I'll spare you boring details of endless fights against Elld'Reik Abominations-it's really a wonder that they all still attacked our one city of SummerMeadows. I mean, it made sense when we were still looking for chosen ones, because they needed to kill them, but after we found them, we wondered why they didn't move to another city or region of the planet or even another planet where we couldn't stop them. Whatever. Let's just get into how we found Dawn. Anymore questions before I start again?" No one said anything, so she began again. "As you may know, Dawn was an exchange student from Cullough, and stayed at the school since none of her family had come to Dreamtopia. We'd already considered making her our friend-she didn't really have any friends, since she was a little weird and not very social at the time. Really shy, I guess. Anyway, she was in a lot of our classes, so we worked with her as much as we could, and slowly enough, we got to know her a lot better. We learned about her family, about her sisters, how her sister had married Jakob Rabbitt the prosecutor, his brother James Rabbitt, all that stuff; so she became our friend. Since she stayed at the school, she couldn't walk home with us." "Eventually, we learned Dawn was a part of us when a monster attacked the school-this monster wasn't so much a Cosmic-Horror-From-Beyond-The-Void as they usually were. I remember it was more of a wolf-thing. " Dawn, Vanilla, and Mushroom walked in the hallways together after a day at school. Dawn was on her way to her room in the school, which after she went inside Mushroom and Vanilla would head for their own homes. Students were still in the hallways, heading either outside to begin going home or remaining for school activities. The three had been innocently walking towards Dawn's room when screams were heard from the remaining students, shoving their way past the girls and nearly crushing them. The three, somehow, managed to make their way to a wall, where despite being in danger of being smashed against the wall were able to try and find a clear space. Dawn looked back and saw a towering wolf-like creature, clawing at students as teachers and school officers did all in their power to try and stop it. Mushroom and Vanilla clutched Dawn, looking for a place to run. After slowly moving through the mass of teenagers, they found double doors that led to a club room; the room was empty, and the three girls hid inside with little notice from the other students or faculty. Mushroom and Vanilla took deep breaths, and looked at each other; then at Dawn. Mushroom and Vanilla both wondered if they should transform in front of their new friend, when Myco began to speak. "Quick! Quickly!!" He said frantically. "What is it?" Mushroom thought, as she had learned she could speak with Myco with thoughts. "She's a chosen one," Myco said, and Mushroom gasped. Vanilla and Dawn, in unison, asked what was wrong, and with no time for explanation, Myco shoved another golden heart-shaped lapel pin very painfully out of Mushroom's head. It fell into Dawn's hands, surprisingly clean of any residue. She looked at it, a stupefied look on her face. "No time for explanation right now," Mushroom said, as she clutched her own pin, and Vanilla followed suit. The two transformed, and like Mushroom and Vanilla had, Dawn shouted the words that came out of seemingly nowhere-transforming into a much frillier version of her black dress and now wielding a double-side glaive. "What the #### is-?" She started, but Mushroom kicked the door open and ran up to the monster, which had either killed or knocked out all the faculty that had tried and failed to stop it. "These are magic pins from another planet. That-" Mushroom pointed at the wolf-creature-"Is an Elld'Reik Abomination. A monster created by the Cosmic Horror called Elld'Reik. The pin gives you heightened magic powers. Go on, try a Dark Spell." Dawn was frightened, but swallowed anyway. "OK," She said, and spun her glaive, ran towards the wolf-creature, and screamed "Shadow Scar!" The end of the glaive pointed at the monster glowed with black-colored energy, and she sliced at the monster, leaving behind a large cut in its torso, with the same black energy spilling out. "Leaf Shurikens!" Vanilla shouted, threw her wand in the air, and it split into four leaf-shaped throwing stars that, with a wave of her paws, pinned the monster to the school wall. "Dawn, let's do a duo spell," Mushroom suggested, and Dawn, unsure but willing anyway, stood next to her new friend. "Midnight…" Dawn shouted. "…Show!" Mushroom finished, as Dawn swung her glaive at the monster and Mushroom played a slow riff on her guitar. Dark Energy shaped into music notes barraged the monster until it was finally defeated. Mushroom and Vanilla stood around Dawn, who was staring at the ground. "Well?" Vanilla asked impatiently, and Mushroom shook her head. "Dawn, are you alright?" Dawn lifted her head, though her eyes were still somber. "Yea, I'm fine. But it's really weird." "After that, we took her to her room and explained everything so far to her." "For a really long time-I think about six months-We didn't find anyone else. We looked at everyone in the school with paranoid eyes, wondering who were the last two chosen ones who would help us fight. But six grueling months of fighting monsters, with every single battle marked by Dawn remarking about how cute the monster was, we found PMM." PMM, who was sitting on the table, smiled smugly and thumped his fist, but said nothing. "As I've said, PMM was our teacher. He was a human, and they weren't really very common on Dreamtopia. He had been to Earth multiple times, too-He'd even lived there. We found him really interesting, but he was too arrogant that we didn't know if we wanted to be friends with him or not. Typically, being friends with a teacher was really weird." "As I think we've said before, PMM taught to the Technology Mages in the school, and taught about general science and other assorted Technological things at the school. People thought he was weird for liking Earth technology so much, his public cosplay, but mostly his height. But I'm straying far from the topic at hand. Let me get to how we learned he was a chosen one." "All three of us had managed to miss school due to some massive monster attacks in the downtown area of SummerMeadows, and had managed to make up most of our work since it was mostly performing spells for our specific Elemental Instructor or paperwork. For PMM, we had quite a bit of make-up work to do, so all three of us came in after school in order to do it." "Mushroom_king, Vanilla Star Hamster, and Dawn Rabbitt," PMM said sarcastically as the three girls walked into the classroom. PMM sat at his desk playing a game on the computer. "It's about time you three came here to make up your work. How was skipping out on class?" The girls said nothing as they set their bags down on the desks they planned to sit at, and went over to get the work from PMM. "Hmmm?" He asked, looking up. "Oh. Here you go," He said, flinging some papers at them, annoyed. "I'm kicking #### on here, so don't interrupt me." "We won't, Mr. Master," Dawn said kindly. The three girls sat down, got out pencils, and began doing the combination paper-and-computer assignments. The sound on the computer game came only through a headset, so the room was quiet save for an occasional audible yell through the headset and keys tapping. PMM would frequently utter a "Yes!" or "No!" or "So close!" or "Darn it!", but these were the only words spoken. The girls were almost done with their work and were about to get up, turn it in, and leave, when a rumbling noise was heard and a computer almost fell on Vanilla. The thing fell to the floor, screen-first, and the sickening noise of school supplies breaking was made with the monitor cracking. PMM looked over, and was moving to stand on the desk. "Darn it, you three!! Don't you know the penalty for breaking school prop-?" Another rumble was heard, and the teacher was about to fall to the floor; he caught himself, and just as he did the door (along with a good portion of wall) was blown away and a large brown-colored Elld'Reik Abomination with a bright red, pointed mouth stormed in, ready to destroy. The three girls stood up, preparing to transform, when PMM stood tall on the desk, pointed at it, and shouted "OBJECTION!" The yell shook the room, and the monster seemed somehow hurt by it. PMM climbed down, waved his hand again, and shouted "TAKE THAT!" as an unseen wave of energy blew the creature across the room. PMM walked over, and began screaming at the monster. "You ####!" He screamed at it, "You interrupted my Internet connection, right when I was about to kill that creature I always play with on there!!! I HATE THAT GUY!! He's so cheap and I've been looking forward to killing him! In the game, I mean." The monster said nothing and roared in his face. PMM took his green jacket, threw it off to the side, and rolled up his white sleeves to prepare for a fight. "Do you think he can handle it on his own?" Mushroom wondered both to the girls and to Myco. "He's powerful, since he's a professor," Myco examined, "But he's a chosen one. Let me give him the pin and let's watch." The girls gasped at this when Mushroom said it; their teacher, a man, a chosen one? They'd honestly expected only teenage girls to be chosen ones. That was the way it was in all the shows. But another lapel pin fell out-The Metallic Dream. "MR. MASTER!!!" The girls shouted in unison, and threw the pin towards PMM, who barely caught it. He examined it, while just barely managing to fend off the monster. "What the #### is this?" He shouted, and Mushroom yelled back, "It's a Transforming Pin! Wear it and you'll know what to do!!" PMM stared at her-even though he wore blocker glasses you could almost see his eyes narrowed in disbelief. But he put it on anyway, pinned to his shirt, and like the three girls before him, not knowing what he was saying, shouted "HEART OF THE METALLIC DREAM! TRANSFORMING POWER!!" The teacher transformed, and looked at his new outfit. "Hey, a keyblade! I'm Sora!" He shouted, laughing. "It heightens your magical abilities," Vanilla explained. "We have three of them as well. Try it out." PMM thought for a moment, and then grinned. "Alright, then. First, I'm going to do some cheating," He shouted, and his arms outstretched, shouted "UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A SELECT START-" "What's he mumbling about?" Mushroom asked in disbelief. "This can't be what Technology Mages are like." PMM aimed the keyblade at the monster. "Thirty Extra Lives, ####," He said, and ran towards it, swinging his keyblade into the monster's skull. It roared in pain, and reached its long snout towards him, successfully grabbing him in its jaws. Mushroom shrieked, and with no hesitation transformed. Mushroom, after transforming, slammed her guitar into the head of the monster, freeing her teacher. "Teacher," She said helpfully, "Let's do a duo spell. I've found them really powerful," She said, and PMM got up. His body and clothes were torn up from being in the monster's jaws. He nodded, and the two stood next to each other. "SOUND VOYAGE!!" They shouted in unison, not really knowing what they had said. PMM jumped forward, shoued "ORBITER! Finish it off!", and using his keyblade, summoned a small Earth and slammed it into the monster's head, killing it. Vanilla and Dawn applauded as the transformations melted away. PMM looked around, and then at the girls. "Wait. Does this mean I have to fight with you now?" Mushroom nodded. "But I'm a gamer AND a teacher!" He protested. "How can I teach, play video games, and help save the world?" Mushroom leaned down, and put her hand on his shoulders. Vanilla and Dawn walked over too, and knelled down to his level. "Please, teacher? There's only five who can stop those monsters, and we need to find the fifth person so we can end the madness." PMM was hesitant. He grabbed his elbow, and like a kid throwing a tantrum, looked away. "Aw, OK," He finally said. "But You're going to have a lot of subs in this class. And I'm still a gamer first and world-saver next." PMM cheered for himself, and Mushroom giggled. "And finally," She said, "How Dana got into the group." "Blood Queen," She protested, and Mushroom shouted "No Interruptions!". She took a long drink, and began. "My throat is really sore from talking so much." She sighed, asked for more tea, and as Cheesemaster got it for her, began. "Dana-as she was ONLY called Dana back then-was a Blood Mage who transferred into our school from another county, and in turn her family had immigrated to Dreamtopia." "At our school, like Technology Mages & Love Mages, Blood Mages tend to have a little bit of stigma to them. Tech Mages are stereotyped as nerds, Love Mages as sluts or mushy-gushy girls, and Blood Mages as sadistic killers. Well, Tech Mages usually WERE a little geeky, but also very, very smart. Blood Mages were sadistic, but few were killers. Dana was a good example of this." "Rumors would spread like wildfire through the school of how Dana Lion was suspended for scratching up a guy, or got ISS for beating this guy to a pulp, or even worse punishments for doing even worse things. She was really scary. And, to top everything off, she was a succubus, so while she was terrifying, boys in school still really liked her for her good looks and her, well, assets." Mushroom paused as the cup of tea was given to her; she thanked her friend, and Blood Queen stared down at her chest, but said nothing since she would be scolded again. "And the boys who DIDN'T fall in love with her because of her physical appearance, she charmed with Magic. She was really scary-and we actually thought she was an Elld'Reik Abomination when she charmed PMM." "She has to be," Mushroom said, "Look at her-" Vanilla and Dawn looked as Dana, dressed in an outfit that covered little, and what was covered was covered so tightly it left little to imagination, as she used Charm Magic on the teacher, his small head and body shoved forcefully into her chest. "She's distracting him. He's our most powerful friend. Elld'Reik must have sent her to come and distract him, and then send a super-powerful monster to kill us." Vanilla and dawn thought it over, and then all three looked at the girl. "Dana Lion!" Mushroom shouted, pointing, and the girl looked; she stopped, and PMM fell off of her chest but remained charmed. "Yes, Mushroom_king?" Dana asked in a voice mixed with sweetness and sarcasm. "What do you need?" "I'm calling you out as an Elld'Reik Abomnation," Mushroom shouted, and Dana looked surprised. "A what?" And Mushroom, running over and transforming, tried to attack Dana. "Don't talk like that! You're charming Mr. Master so we lose our strongest mage, and your master will send a powerful monster to kill us!" "I really don't know what you're talking about," Dana retorted, flying into the air to dodge the attack. "But if you're looking for a fight, I'll definitely give you one." "No, Mushroom!" Vanilla shouted. "It's a trap. She'll weaken you so you can be killed faster!" "I really don't know what you're talking about," Dana said, looking at Vanilla, looking very, very confused. Vanilla stopped, and Dawn folded her arms. "Maybe Dana isn't one of the Abominations," She wondered. Dana opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped when the five (PMM was broken out of his spell when Dana forgot about it) heard a stomping noise-behind them was a real Elld'Reik Abomination. "A real one!" Mushroom shouted, and looked at her friends, who speedily transformed. Dana looked confused. "So wait, you four are some kind of superhero group that's been FIGHTING these monsters?!" Mushroom nodded, and Dana flew back to the ground. Vanilla and Dawn rushed in with barrages of spells, while PMM stumbled his way in. Mushroom was about to unleash a Sound Spell she had learned, when the excited voice of Myco entered her head. "That's it!!! That's it, by Goodness she's it!!! The last one!! The Blood Wall!!!" Mushroom gasped, and a lapel pin fell out of her head. Mushroom barely caught it and tossed it to Dana, and her excitement (and slight disappointment, if she could say so) was almost too much to explain-but she did. Dana stared at the pin. "This dumb, tacky thing? Well, it has blood on it. That's cool. I'll wear it." Dana pinned it to her belt loop, and instantly shouted "HEART OF THE BLOOD WALL! TRANSFORMING POWER!!" She did transform; and looking at her outfit, she deemed it beautiful, sexy, and best of all to her, showed off her features and was very revealing. She especially liked her tiara, and decided maybe she would like fighting with these four-even though she was definitely not a friends person. "I think you can guess how the rest turned out," Mushroom said. "Dana reluctantly joined us. We continued to fight increasingly strong monsters, until we faced Elld'Reik himself, and killed him, and said a sad good-bye to Myco. We kept the pins, just in case-that was what Myco said." Mushroom leaned back in her chair, took a drink, and announced she was done with the story. Cheesemaster blinked. Arkcher was shocked. "I see," He said quietly. "So what? That's it? Elld'reik decided to attack you here, too?" Mushroom shrugged. "I don't really know," She said. "I may not ever know. All I know is that I'm pretty sure he's done for this time." Mushroom got up, drank the rest of her quickly-drank cup of tea, and went up to put it away as the boys discussed the astonishing , if abruptly told, story. --------------------------------------------------------------- Dawn found herself…somewhere. It seemed familiar to her somehow, the way the ground felt beneath her. She rose, opened her eyes, and realized she was in the forest near The Rabbitt Manor. She assumed the Golden Chimera and Bloody Ripper had transported her here. She looked around, wiping her eyes, wondering how long she'd been there. Her dress was covered with dirt and twigs off the ground, and her hair had leaves strewn through it as well. She tried her best to get them out, but was unsuccessful due to the daze she was in. "We see you've woken up," Came a voice, and Dawn, straggling to get up, looked and saw the Chimera and Ripper standing nearby. Dawn yawned, and looked at them sleepily. "Why am I here?" Dawn asked, and the two monsters came closer to her. "We need to discuss something," The Chimera said. Dawn sat down on the dirt of the clearing, and looked at them. She said nothing, waiting for them to begin talking. "You remember how your two halves were fighting on that boat?" The Chimera asked, and Dawn stood up defiantly. "I didn't know that those two forms were two different people. I thought they were parts of me-you know, different forms of me. Who are they really?" "You from past lives," The Chimera answered. "You channel their spirits and draw on their powers when they take over your body. You have only some control when they are using your body." "Why couldn't you have told me this when you gave me those powers?" Dawn asked, but the Chimera ignored her. "What you're here for is, your powers are exceedingly strong to be freely used like they are-we had no idea you had that powerful lapel pin. "So what am I here to do?" The Chimera paused, and looked at the Ripper, who still didn't speak. "We need to seal the Alliance Powers in such a way that another person would have to unleash them." "Seal them away?" Dawn asked. "Like a rosary, almost?" "Almost," The Chimera said. Reluctance was heavy in its voice. "A different seal for both powers." Dawn paused, and her eyes suddenly filled with fear. "This will be painful-won't it? How exactly will we…?" "The Freedbird Alliance Powers will be sealed in a choker around your neck," The Chimera said. "But the Dead Alliance Powers…will be quite a bit more painful." Dawn looked at the Ripper, for the first time not viewing it as the 'cute' monster she usually saw it as, and rather saw it as a torturer. Before Dawn, there appeared a small Choker, which she reached for and held in her hands. It was a satin purple ribbon with a purple Butterfly in the middle. She wrapped it around her neck, and a curious sensation came over her as soon as she did. Golden Light surged out from her body, out of her eyes and mouth, and she was flung forcefully to the ground. She reached up to the choker but found it attached to her neck as if a part of her and she couldn't latch it away. She breathed heavily, and The Ripper moved forward towards her, and she attempted to crawl away; but the Ripper's powers held her in place, and deciding she could not run away, did as she was commanded. "Stand up," The Ripper said, speaking for the first time in some time. She stood up, and looked up at the Ripper with fear. "This will sound strange, but take off your dress." Dawn paused, looked at the monster curiously, but did as she was told anyhow. She stood in the woods with her hat, bra, boots, and panties on, and relished the feel of her long hair down her back. The Ripper moved around, so it was facing Dawn's back. "Move your hair." Dawn flipped her lengthy hair over her shoulder. The Ripper raised its blood-stained claw, and Dawn braced herself. No amount of bracing could have prepared her for the unimaginable pain that followed as two claws ripped down her back, evenly spaced, down her back. Dawn screamed, screamed as loud as she could as her blood cascaded down and into the ground. She had begun to cry just as the Ripper raised its claws out of her. Dawn sobbed from the pain, but the Ripper said nothing. "What the #### are you doing?!" Dawn screamed. "This is how the Dead Alliance powers will be sealed," the Ripper said. "Why does it have to hurt so much?!" Dawn screamed again. The Ripper said nothing, and like the choker before, Ribbons, again purple, appeared before her. She reached for them, but the Ripper snatched them out of the air first, and Dawn, not able to see what was happening behind her, felt only something silky on her back, and winced as she got more and more wounds. The Ripper eventually moved away from her, and Dawn fell to the ground. "Oww," She said, her voice tired. "What did you do?" The Chimera and Ripper moved so they were in front of her now, and using magic, a mirror appeared in front of her. Dawn turned around, her hair still over her shoulder, and looked. Down her back was a corset-a corset, with metal and ribbons, pierced directly into her back. Blood had been messily wiped away, and it was painful beyond belief. "Those ribbons are sealing away the Dead Alliance Powers," The Chimera explained. "They can only be removed by another person, and it will keep both spirits from being channeled at the same time. " Dawn winced again, and stood up. "Can I go home now?" She asked, getting her dress back on. "And can I tell them?" "Go ahead," The Chimera answered, and said nothing as it and the Ripper disappeared into the forest. Dawn sighed, and barely was able to walk back to town to find her friends.

Mushroom, for the rest of her party, simply eavesdropped on whatever her friends were talking about, sometimes making comments about whatever it was they discussed. And so the night, to her and her friend's surprise, was normal enough. The party eventually ended, much to her guests' sadness and to Mushroom's delight, as she had gotten bored. The presents were carried by Mushroom, Arkcher, and PMM, to be delivered back to their mansion. It would be time to go home soon enough. The group were walking through the busy streets of Hamsterdam, with Mushroom, Vanilla, Dawn, Blood Queen, and PMM crowding together and wondering why nothing unusual had happened yet, and to stay on the lookout for anything out of place. "I guess it's time for me to head home," Cheesemaster said a little sadly, looking at Mushroom. Arkcher walked over and locked arms with her, giving his friend a stern look. Cheesemaster picked up Edna, and walked over to his two friends, giving them both hugs. "I guess I'll come on the boat with you," Dawn said softly, glancing over at PMM, Mushroom, Blood Queen and Vanilla. Blood Queen nodded, and offered to join the ride as well. Mushroom, Vanilla, and PMM knew exactly what they were up to, and nodded towards them. "Mushroom?" Arkcher asked, and she looked towards him. "What is it, Arkky?" Arkcher looked at her a moment. "Do you think you wanna go with your friends? We could visit the Port of Cheese tonight, I guess." Mushroom's eyes widened, and she looked down at her best friend. Arkcher laughed. "Vanilla can come too." The two girls yelled with excitement and Vanilla leaped up to high-five her friend. Cheesemaster looked at Arkcher, and as the girls (and PMM) went ahead in eagerness, he stayed behind to talk with him. "Why would you just up and want to come to the Port of Cheese for the night? You've never really just traveled there unannounced." Arkcher shrugged, knowing , from what he saw at Mama Luigi's, that the Mushroom and her friends needed to stay together-at least until the weird stuff subsided. Cheesemaster recalled what he had seen Dawn do on the beach, the way she had transformed and fought. The more he thought about it, the more dreamlike it seemed, until it seemed as though it hadn't really happened. "The way I watched her-Mushroom-in the restaurant earlier today. The way you watched Dawn on the beach. I know what's going on, and I need to find out why." Cheesemaster nodded, and the two ran ahead to the other five, and boarded the boat headed for the Port of Cheese. The group had settled into their cabins on the large passenger boat, a plain-looking vessel with plenty of rooms. Mushroom & Arkcher got a one-bed room for themselves, while the rest shared two-bed rooms together. Dawn, Vanilla, & Blood Queen insisted to sleep in one room together, across the hall from Mushroom and PMM. Cheesemaster shared a bedroom with Edna. All of them were tired, and decided it was a good time to go to sleep; PMM, the only one who could really stay up, promised the four girls he would watch for strange things. Arkcher had just gotten out of a very long shower where he thoroughly washed his hair of every single gel or spray he had put in it that morning, as well as every single tiny spec k of dust or dirt that may have gotten into his beautiful hair, and then spent even longer cleaning his hair of the shampoo. When he came out, he was dressed in his wrinkled pants and shirt (with the top two buttons now undone), with clean ones set out for the next day. His jacket and tied rested neatly folded on the table of their room; Mushroom sat on the bed, dressed in sleep pants and an oversized, super-soft rock-band tshirt as she listened to her MP3 Player. When he got out, she looked up at him, and took a single earphone out in order to hear him. "It's about time you got out," She laughed; he walked over to the bed, lifted up some covers, and laid down next to her. Mushroom paused her song, wrapped the headphones around her player, and set it beside the bed for later. The two then put out the lights next to their beds, and pulled themselves close to one another. Arkcher reminded Mushroom that he loved her, and drifted to sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Mushroom tried to sleep along with her husband, but had difficulty doing so; thinking about how no strange things had happened was making her paranoid, and this in turn made her severely worried. What are they planning? She wondered, staring off into the darkness of the room. Is this just to catch us off-guard? Or what? She had no idea, but the thoughts were eating away at her. She needed sleep. She closed her eyes and huddled closer to Arkcher, trying to sleep; she was afraid of having a nightmare, but tried to sleep anyway. This repeated for a few hours, the entire boat silent save for the occasional person walking down the hallway to use the bathroom or something, and Mushroom couldn't sleep at all. Soon enough, though, an enormous crash and scream was heard. Mushroom shot out of bed, and Arkcher groaned and sleepily opened his eyes. "What the #### was that?" Arkcher asked, too disoriented to keep himself from swearing. Mushroom dashed out of bed, followed by PMM. Arkcher got up and looked at her, and for the first time his life not caring about how he looked, ran out of the room with wrinkled, dirty clothes and mussed hair. "Mushroom! Mushroom, where are you going? What was that?" Arkcher ran out in the hallway where many people had already gotten out ton investigate. Dawn, Blood Queen, and Vanilla were nowhere to be found, and Cheesemaster was holding Edna. People whispered amongst themselves, until another crash was heard and the boat swerved hard, sending people flying against the walls. Arkcher ran over to Cheesemaster as best as he could, breathing hard from shock. "Cheeseman," He asked, looking at him straight-on, "What in God's name was that?" Cheesemaster's face grew more and more worried. "I don't know, but I'm going up to investigate. Could you please look after Edna?" "But Cheese-" Arkcher hesitated as Cheesemaster gently handed the boy to him, but Cheesemaster had dashed off. Arkcher looked, and as quickly as he could, set Edna back into his bed and followed his best friend. Arkcher and Cheesemaster ended up on deck, where a horrible sight was found. An enormous cosmic horror Sea monster had risen from the ocean and was terrorizing the boat, rocking it violently and capturing passengers-often eating one or two when it could. The crew found controlling everyone to be an impossible task. "Mushroom," Arkcher said suddenly, "Where is Mushroom? Oh My God, where is Mushroom?!" He said, clutching his head. "Don't tell me she was eaten. Oh No God don't tell me she was-" "Darn it man, pull yourself together!" Cheesemaster shouted sternly. He looked towards the monster, and kept a hand near his katana. "She'll be either already up here, or preparing to fight that thing." This was exactly what she was doing. Mushroom, Vanilla, Dawn, PMM, and Blood Queen looked at the enormous monster with the most fright and the most shock they had seen anything before. "Is that-?" Vanilla stammered. "It can't be. We defeated it." Blood Queen said in disbelief. "But there it is," Mushroom said, clutching her heart-shaped lapel pin. "I don't know where the #### it came from, but it's here on Invision now. And as citizens of Invision-" She cleared her throat-"As Invisionists, we're gonna defend our planet with all our powers." The other four nodded, and Vanilla clutched her pin. "HEART OF THE ORANGE STICKS-" "SHUT UP!" Shouted Dawn and Mushroom. Both girls pointed to Arkcher and Cheesemaster. "Arkcher is over there!" Mushroom said. "Cheesemaster, too," Dawn said sadly. "If we're careful, and quiet, they won't see us," PMM said. Mushroom and Dawn hesitated as the other three clutched their pins, and then sighed. "Alright, then. Heart of the Pink Sea-" Each one said their phrase, and quietly said 'TRANSFORMING POWER' together. Despite having tried to be quiet, Arkcher & Cheesemaster had still heard-and when they looked, they watched the five quickly transform, and then rush off to fight the monster. The two boys stood there in bewilderment after seeing their friends transform, not knowing what to think; they decided to stand behind something, anything, and watch the fight in order to see if any details as to why this was happening could be revealed. The five ran over, and stood on the deck, beside the rail where the monster had gotten much closer. Dawn hesitated again. "I don't think I want to risk another ocean-based battle," She said. "Using an Alliance form and summoning monsters really drains my power. " "You won't need to," Blood Queen said, her voice changing. Her voice, usually full of hate, sexuality, or just plain insanity, had turned into undiluted fear. Her fear was just; the monster, a mold-green abomination with multiple tentacles and feet, flung a tentacle towards the railing; the five barely escaped, with PMM going into Mushroom's psyche temporarily and Blood Queen flying down to save Vanilla and Dawn. Bits of railing flew around the boat, and the monster climbed onto the deck, causing it to dangerously tip over. Arkcher and Cheesemaster barely clung to the chimney they had been hiding behind. The monster continued to move, until it situated itself in the middle of the boat's deck, where it was least likely to tip off the side. The five settled back onto the ground, held their weapons aloft, and prepared to battle whatever it was. Cheesemaster and Arkcher quietly tried to get a better look, despite such action compromising their safety. Blood Queen made the first strike, flying towards the creature with her spear; she penetrated the flesh, and blood flowed out of the small cut she had made, but the creature seemed unaffected by it. She stayed in flight, and yelled at the group to keep attacking to wound it effectively. She then concentrated on working her blood magic on the monster. As she did, Mushroom and PMM worked together with Sound & Technology magic, as they tended to do in battle; Dawn, not knowing the monster's elemental weakness, attacked it with her Dark Magic and Vanilla with her general witchcraft. The monster seemed almost disinterested in the fight, not showing any signs of the attacks affecting it; yet the five went on attacking it, as the blood of the monster splashed all over the deck, eventually mingling with the blood of a Brownie, Hamster, Vampire, Human, and Succubus. And when Mushroom's blood did let from wounds given to her by the monster, Cheesemaster found he was not strong enough to restrain Arkcher. Mushroom had been cut, scraped, and bruised like she would in any fight-Arkcher would cringe when she was hurt, but knew she would be alright. An hour had passed with the five fighting and the crew trying to figure out how to keep passengers safe and defeat the thing, when a tentacle came and slapped Mushroom's body, sending her flying across the deck. At this point, nothing could have kept Arkcher restrained-he yelled her name and came running, catching her blood-soaked body and falling to the ground, the blood from herself and the monster mixing with water and a disgusting film on the tentacles that covered Mushroom soaking Arkcher as well. Mushroom opened her eyes and gasped when she saw Arkcher. She stood up, limped, and regained her balance, and gasped loudly as the other four continued to fight. "Arkcher!!" She screamed, and looked at him in disbelief. "What-What the ####-" "Mushroom," He said, looking up at her. She looked at him for a moment, and shook her head. "I-I'm not-" "Mushroom, it's obvious it's you and your friends. I saw you back at the restaurant at Lunch-I saw you fighting that monster that attacked us." Mushroom looked at him in disbelief. "I know what you're thinking-you're thinking I'll think you're freaky, right?" Mushroom looked at him again, and her expression changed into one of confusion. "Not really," She said; "I was more worried that you'd be paranoid about me getting hurt." Arkcher turned pink and smiled at her. "That, and I want to know what the #### is going on." Mushroom nodded. "I will soon, I promise." She heaved, and Arkcher ran over to see if she was OK. "I'm alright," She said, "But we're not doing very well. That thing doesn't seem to be hurt by any of our attacks. " Arkcher looked at it, and Mushroom shook her head. Without another word, she ran back to fight again, limping the way there. Arkcher shouted for her to wait, but she refused to listen; she was too intent on defeating whatever this was. "Mushroom," Arkcher muttered, and she looked back at him. "Get out of the way, Arkky!!"" She shouted, and just barely shouted "SOUND BARRIER!" to keep a tentacle from sending her flying again. But Arkcher stood there, completely stunned, as the five cut, sliced, and used their magic on the monster, with no effect other than cutting it. Arkcher was terrified of this-what if they couldn't defeat it? This thought was rampaging in the heads of the fighters as well, and they were getting tired. "Dawn," Mushroom said as she limped back over, "Please, you're going to have to summon a monster to defeat this. I don't know why, but-" She coughed, thankful she wasn't coughing up blood-"We can't seem to hurt it beyond scratching it." "Says you!" Shouted Blood Queen, who ran quickly towards it, and plunged her spear into its fleshy body. Blood poured out like a waterfall as she dug the spear's blade deeper into the monster. The creature looked at her, and swung a tentacle down; at the right time, she swung again, slicing off a portion of the tentacle. The monster roared in pain, an ear-shattering noise that stopped every person on the boat in their tracks. Cheesemaster, still hiding, wondered why help hadn't arrived. "That's it," Mushroom said weakly, and fell on her knees, groaning. Vanilla ran towards her best friend and cast a healing spell to try and help her. "That's how we'll kill it." "Then we don't need my monsters," Dawn said, smiling. "No," Mushroom said, trying to stand up. "We're injured far too much. We still need it." Dawn hesitated. "Mushroom, if I'm this tired already, then imagine what I'll be like after using what little strength I have left summoning a monster. You don't realize how tiring it is." Mushroom was quiet for a moment, before Dawn went, waited for a tentacle to try and attack her, and weakly sliced it off with her glaive. She continued to do this until she fell from exhaustion, where she could easily be struck by a tentacle. "DAWN!!" Shouted Mushroom, unable to run to her friend's aid. Dawn struggled to raise herself, and looked at the impending blow. She moaned in pain, but reached for her Alliance Pens anyhow, grabbing her Freebird Alliance pen this time, and raised it skyward, shouting the phrase. A golden-colored burst of Light extended out, surrounding Dawn's body, stopping the tentacle dead in its tracks. The monster roared in anger, and tried to strike the transforming Dawn again, only to recoil and scream again. The bubble of Light faded away, and up emerged Freebird Alliance Dawn-A Dawn with beautiful, golden hair, a gold-colored Dress, hat, & boots, and huge Eagle's wings. A Dawn who looked so much older than the 14-year-old Dawn they knew. Mushroom, Vanilla, Blood Queen, and PMM stopped, and looked at Dawn. Mushroom cleared her throat and shouted, "Dawn! Take it from here-we need to treat our own wounds." She stopped, and added "Be careful!" before the remaining three ran over to her. Dawn said nothing as the monster, pouring so much blood from inflicted wounds it was almost impossible to see its skin, roared and flung a barrage of tentacles towards her. Dawn raised a hand, muttered "Sun Drop.". A roar of flame was heard, as a large ball of light appeared before her; she promptly threw the thing at the monster, where it screamed in a horrible, bloodcurdling way. Dawn looked up at the monster, and it looked at her. "Elld'Reik," She shouted, "You are not fit to be controlled by I, ruler of all the monsters. You're an unholy abomination. I shall destroy you." Dawn flew up, so she could see Elld'Reik straight in the eye. Dawn raised her weapon, as beams of light shot out from it, and shouted for the Drewno Chimera. As soon as she did, from the sky there came a large, cat-looking creature, a creature with green-tinted fur, big green-and-black antlers, eight green eyes, and large bat wings. The Drewno Chimera stood next to Dawn, sitting obediently, and then she shouted again: "Aina Chimera! I summon you!' From the sky there came another monster, a chimera made from even more animals: A large, bird-like body, with enormous eagle wings and feet, a lengthy snake's tail, and the head of a Tasmanian Tiger with two ribbon-like appendages flowing from its head. The Aina Chimera stood on the other side of Dawn, and she shut her eyes. "Drewno, Aina," She said quietly, "Kill it." The Chimeras both stood up, and ran towards Elld'Reik, flying up and around it, Drewno butting it with its antlers, slashing with claws or hitting with tails-anything they could do. Elld'Reik was visibly unaffected by the two creatures barraging him, and Dawn realized it. She raised her weapon once again, and simply shouted "Chimera Horde! I summon you and your help!!" From the sky came swarms of Chimeras, each one very different from the last; they barraged Elld'Reik; many were simply cast off of the monster and killed or thrown into the ocean. Dawn became severely worried. "This isn't enough," She muttered weakly. "No matter how many I summon, they're too weak." She raised her staff to the sky, and shouted for the monsters to return to wherever they had come from; they obeyed, weakly flying away. Dawn raised her staff to the sky, and shouted "Golden Chimera! Come and aid me!!" Dawn gasped as if struck, and enormous beams of light fell from the sky, surrounding Dawn; swooping down came the majestic Golden Chimera, which sat by Dawn's side. "Dawn? Why have you summoned me?" Dawn looked at Elld'Reik. "I need that thing dead and obliterated from this planet." The Golden Chimera looked on, and took a single step forward. "Is something wrong?" Dawn asked it, as she looked at it. "I've never seen power this strong," The Chimera said. "What is that?" "Elld'Reik, a cosmic abomination; not a demon, not from ####, but from the stars." "You'd need the powers of both Alliances for this," It said. "Will you be ready to handle summoning this much strength?" Dawn nodded without hesitation nor thought, and took out the Dead Alliance pen, raising it and saying the phrase for Transformation. "Wait-" The Chimera said, but it was too late; the powers of both Alliances, both forms of Dawn, trying to be in the same body clashed. Golden Light and Pitch Darkness surrounded Dawn, and she barely managed to summon the Bloody Ripper in the chaos. The Ripper, like other monsters of the Dead Alliance, came not from the sky but rose from the Earth; a large patch of ocean turned blood-red, until the enormous, blood-soaked demon rose up and climbed aboard the boat to fight Elld'Reik. The Golden Chimera ran and stood next to the Ripper, looking back at Dawn. "What should we do?" It asked. "She'll be destroyed by the clashing forces if we don't defeat this quickly." The Ripper said nothing, but rather charged towards Elld'Reik and made an enormous gash over the length of the entire creature; blood spewed out of it, and the Chimera ran speedily towards it, and using Wood Magic, caused vines and leaves to grow inside of it. This continued, as the two monsters planned to defeat Elld'Reik from the inside; as they did as quickly as possible, Dawn struggled with her two forms. "I own this body," Dead Alliance Dawn said to the Freedbird Alliance Dawn. I'm far more powerful than you. Freebird Dawn spoke up. I was using the body first. What an immature argument. Being first means nothing if you're weak. Dawn Rabbitt, the real Dawn, was unable to handle it. "T-There's-" The two warring Dawns stopped. "T-There's-there's two people-there's two people inside me. Dead Alliance Dawn, Freebird Alliance Dawn-aren't me-" Dawn screamed, and her friends who had been watching and trying to rest and heal, suddenly became very worried. "Come on," Mushroom said, getting up. "We have to help her." "Mushroom-" Vanilla question, but Mushroom shook her head. "She's our friend. We have to help her. Those two monsters look like they can take care of Elld'Reik-but Dawn-" The other three stood up, nodded, and ran over to the giant ball of energy that surrounded Dawn. "Dawn!! Dawn!!" Mushroom shouted; she yelped when the energy ball became even larger, and began to tear away at the boat deck. The Ripper and Chimera, on the brink of killing Elld'Reik, looked in awe. "Hurry," the Chimera said worriedly, as the Ripper raised one of its blood-soaked knife-arms and sliced Elld'Reik in half; The Chimera breathed fire, burning both half of the body. This, as might be expected, was not an entirely good move; the flames began to spread to the rest of the boat, lighting it on fire as well. The screams of passengers and crew could be heard below. "Dawn!!!" Mushroom screamed, and the ball of energy began to get even bigger and destroy even more things. The Chimera and Ripper knew they would need to do something to stop the Dawns from fighting. The Golden Chimera and Bloody Ripper stood by the ball of energy, and shouted in unison for them to stop. Slowly, the energy ball faded, and a charred Dawn Rabbitt stood, weak. "Dawn!!" Each of her friends shouted together, running over to her. "What's happening to her?" Mushroom asked. "Will she die? Please don't tell me she'll-" "She'll most likely be fine," The Chimera said. "The combined powers of both Alliances can't survive in one body. She isn't strong enough." The Chimera, followed by the Ripper, walked over to her. "Give her to me. We'll take care of her." "Wait!!" Mushroom shouted, but then stopped. "Alright, then. Please-" She swallowed-"Please take care of her." The Chimera nodded, and Dawn was loaded onto its back, where it flew off, followed by the Ripper settling back into the sea to follow the Chimera wherever it was going. The Ship was a complete wreck after the battle; the burning corpse of Elld'Reik still stood, as the flames spread throughout the boat. A giant hole had been created where the Dawns had fought each other. The crew desperately tried to both put out the fire and dispose of Elld'Reik at the same time. Arkcher got up and walked over to the remaining four, whose transformation outfits and weapons had disappeared."Mushroom," He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I demand to know why all this has happened." She looked at him, her eyes shaking with tears that she held back. "We need to get off this boat," She said quietly, and pointed to crew members urging the scared passengers onto lifeboats. Arkcher nodded, and Cheesemaster ran below to find Edna before leaving. ------------------------------------------------------------- The next day, the group had been safely transported safely to the Port of Cheese, where the story was enormous news. Cheesemaster stood on his corner, shouting the headline and barely able to keep up with the demand for the exciting story. Arkcher, Mushroom, and Mushroom's three remaining friends sat in Cheesemaster's house, very quiet. They didn't know where Dawn might be, and for now, Arkcher demanded an explanation from Mushroom.

OH NO MK CAME TO COMPLAIN AGAIN. Yea. Been having multiple problems that can be summed up as stupid boyfriend, Portal, annoying jerks, and party stuff. So last Friday, being the day before Halloween, my friend decided to have a Halloween Nerd's Party, where we would have a zombie-themed live action role play session and zombie-themed Dungeons & Dragons. I thought AWESOME! I'd been wanting to LARP and play DnD for some time and what better night for it since it was almost Halloween. Well, our LARP game went really awesome and fun, until we were booted out of our playing area by church people. Isn't that nice. But I still had Zombie DnD to look forward to! Or not. we never played Zombie DnD. I asked Featherston when we would play. He said never, because of some religious upbringing or something. But! As I learned today from my increasingly jerky boyfriend, they DID play DnD. after I left. Because it's not like I let it publicly known that I love tabletop RPGs and was looking forward to it or anything. Turns out, calling it 'DnD' was wrong of me! Ooooh. EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE DESCRIBED IT AS BEING ZOMBIE DND. RAGEGGUY PL0X. Item two: Stupid Boyfriend and Portal, too. The jerkiness with boyfriend started last Friday. During lunch, I was discussing Invision, and mentioned that there are four twins in it. Wes, one of the twins who I'm friends with, starts listening (he was reading before). So I say this, and boyfriend accuses me of having a twin fetish. in front of a twin. Isn't that wonderful. My friend 'Canada' did too, but she actually apologized when she realized she'd hurt me and that she didn't know Wes was listening. Boyfriend, however, didn't apologize to me. He claims he's apologized "thirty times", but I'd sure as **** remember if he ever apologized. I was worried beyond belief that my friendship with Wes may have become creepy by the comment. Luckily, Wes doesn't seem to care, and still talks to me and says hi to me (as does his brother). I've told both of the twins that I find twins interesting from a psychological standpoint (I find the relationship interesting), and may act a little weird around them (since I'll also use them as reference for twins I write about). Second. During Halloween, when me, boyfriend, Squirrel Boy, Cody (who held said party), and Ghost were going to go trick-or-treating, not only was boyfriend late, but he spent about half an hour bothering me about when we would go to the rich area of the neighborhood (where they hand out full-size candy bars and cans of soda). Apparently getting the good treats is more important than spending time with friends. Finally, It was he who told me the news about the fate of the zombie DnD Tabletop RPG game with a formula lifted directly from DnD but is definitely not DnD. When I told him this upset me, he was completely uncaring-I know it's just a game, but nothing. No comfort, no 'Well, we can have another party where we can play' or anything. Ugh. Next: Portal, who seems to be a recurring character in this TAWPEEK. First off: Canada, Italia, Morgan, Thrasher, Austria, the Joshes, and the twins are all freshmen. I have also been spending quite a bit of time with these freshmen because I find them kinder and more fun to be around, as well as less serious, than my fellow sophomores. This has been majorly irking Portal lately, because I guess he's jealous. Especially of the twins. Not only is he upset because he was slightly embarrassed at lunch once (when the twins were found to be at least a head and a half taller than him), and ever since he's had some kind of ridiculous grudge against them. He accused me of 'worshipping' the twins last week, and this morning asked me '[My name], if you ever broke up with [boyfriend], would you consider dating Nick or Wes (the twins)?" So, I guess, he thinks I like the twins. Which I don't, not in that way-just as friends. I'm not above dating either of them, but for now, no. aaand stuff.

Arkcher and Mushroom ran inside the restaurant, which towered above them-it was at least two stories tall, and was constructed almost entirely of stained wood. A large sign reading "Eyeferghat", written in cursive letters, hung over the double doors, two large wooden slabs with frosted glass windows. Arkcher took her arm as gently as he could, and walked quickly inside. "I hope they kept out reservation," he said, knowing they probably didn't. The two walked inside the restaurant, and looked around. The restaurant really was nice; soft music played in the background to a crowd of people whispering. The ceilings were low, but just high enough it didn't seem cramped. Plants and even fishtanks were located throughout the room, surrounding finely-dressed diners with a wonderful atmosphere. Arkcher walked slowly up to the podium where a man in a well-tailored suit stood, looking at him. Arkcher straightened his posture, and trying to not stutter or otherwise sound nervous, calmly said: "Good evening...sir, I'm a bit late but I had a reservation. I hope it's not too late? It was listed under Ahrroww." The man smiled and looked through some sheets of papers, searching for the name, and then got a mildly confused look on his face. "I apologize, sir," He said, "But it seems that party has already been taken." The man looked at the sheet again. Arkcher gasped. "...What?" "Are you the Six PM party?" "Indeed I am." "Oh, dreadfully sorry-there seems to be two Ahrrow parties," The man said. "Are you the six o'clock party?" "Indeed. Are we late?" He asked, trying to not be nervous or embarrassed. "You arrived just in time, sir. Right this way." Arkcher sighed in relief, and smiled at his wife, as the two locked arms again and followed the man to a table. "Here you go, Mr. Ahrroww," The man said as he led the two to a small table by a window. Arkcher stood by the table, motioning for Mushroom to sit down; she took the seat nearest the window, which looked out onto the city. Arkcher sat down across from her, and paused as she spread the black cloth napkin across her lap; he did the same, trying to remember to act formal. "I wonder who this other party with our name is?" Mushroom said, keeping her voice down. Arkcher looked around, and tried to not gasp. "What's wrong?" Mushroom asked. "M-My...My dad..." Mushroom looked over to where Arkcher was staring, wide-eyed. She, too, gasped. Sitting a few seats away, in a booth, was Aloysius and Solrai; Aloysius dressed in a top hat and suit, Solrai wearing her regular dress. "D-dad..." Arkcher said, his eye twitching. "I should have expected this....and yet I didn't..." "It's alright, Arkky. Why are you so embarrassed?" She asked, flipping open the leatherbound menu and browsing through it. "I don't know, it's just-well, you know it's just strange! I can't really explain it! It just is!" He sighed unhappily, and grabbed the menu in front of him, glancing over it. He looked over the rim of the menu, and noticed Mushroom sitting calmly, her own menu already folded up on the table. "Did you already pick something?" She nodded, and looked away from him. "Do you think we could share something? I wanted to get a kid's meal since I'm not super-hungry. But they don't seem to have any." Arkcher set the menu down and looked at her. "Yea, that sounds good. I felt like a steak, though." "I'll eat it," She sighed. "No, no!" Arkcher said, "It's your birthday! Get whatever you want and I'll eat it!" Mushroom shrugged. "I don't know. Why not a grilled chicken? I like that..." "Sounds awesome! We'll get that and share it!" Arkcher folded his menu and pushed it away to the side of the table, and waited patiently for the waiter to come back, all the while watching his father out of the corner of his eye-much to Mushroom's dismay. "I wish you wouldn't worry about him so much. It's not like he would embarrass you in front of everyone," Mushroom said helpfully. "You haven't seen him around Solrai, then," Arkcher muttered. "My dad's usually so level-headed. Around Solrai, though, he's completely nutty. Even when she's not around, if he's just thinking about her, he's like a completely different person." Mushroom sighed. "Well, your father's probably not used to having a new girlfriend who really cares about him. You always told me that you parents had a bad relationship." Arkcher looked at the floor, allowing the hair to fall in front of his wistful eyes. "Yea, they didn't have such a good relationship..." Arkcher said quietly. "Saying that is a bit of an understatement." Mushroom blushed. "Sorry. I shouldn't talk about your family life at dinner." "It's alright, Mushroom. Don't be apologizing." He glanced back over at his father, who was excitedly telling something to a sad-looking Solrai. "Mushroom, do you think Solrai really likes my dad?" Arkcher said worriedly. "She always seems so sad." Mushroom looked up at him. "You're right, she always does. Even when she smiles there's such a sad look in her eyes. Like she's about to break down crying." "My dad told me all about when the two of them first met in the Ahshirt Desert, all the stuff she told him about her past. Sounds a little weird. A little cliche, almost." Mushroom giggled. "Maybe. You told me all about it soon after, didn't you?" Arkcher nodded. "I did. I'm just worried-she seems to suffer from the worst inferiority complex, doesn't she? It seems like every word I hear come out of her mouth is her claiming she's not good enough for dad, or something among those lines." "Don't be so worried, Arkky. They'll be completely fine." Arkcher glanced over at the two again, not moving his head, and then sighed. "God, I feel horrible. I'm talking about my own personal problems on your birthday. I'm sorry, Mushroom." "Don't talk like that. It's fine to be worried about your parent," She said, and as she finished, the waiter came by to take their order. Arkcher did so, and waited eagerly for the food to arrive. In the meantime, he attempted to strike up more positive conversation with her. "I always liked your group of friends," He said, the topic almost random. "They always seemed so odd. I always did wonder how exactly you got to be friends with people like PMM and Dana. I mean, they aren't really people you'd be friends with normally, right?" Mushroom nodded. "PMM would be more someone I'm on friendly terms with. Not the close friend he is now," She said, giggling. "And Dana," He said, trying but failing to disguise the disgust in his voice. "She-" "I already know how you feel about Blood Queen. You think she's a w*****," She whispered. Arkcher folded his arms, sighed, and then nodded. "I can't stand girls like that. Those girls who flaunt the wrong things with the tightest, most revealing of clothes, and act like prostitutes. Especially her, abusing her abilities as a Succubus." "Actually, Arkky, all Succubi are like that." Arkcher's face twisted with disgust. "There's an entire race of girls like that! Horrible!" He said, trying not to be too loud. She nodded. "We studied them at school." "I see," Arkcher said softly. "It doesn't change the fact that she's an annoyance to me." "She's fun to be around, she's usually very nice to me, but you wouldn't believe how very cruel she can be. Especially back at school-beating up boys in the hallway, hypnotizing them to be her slaves, you know, stuff like that. You already know how sadistic she is." "Don't I," He said bluntly. He looked at her again, unfolding his arms. "But as I was saying," He said, "Your friends sure seem like a motley crew, don't they?" Mushroom's eyes brightened. "Arkky," She said, her voice ringing with delight, "You usually don't know about bands I talk about! I thought you didn't know about Motley Crue!" Arkcher was about to say something, when the waiter came back by, with a tray of new drinks for the two of them, as well as a message reminding them their food was almost done. Mushroom took a drink, and then changed the subject to music. "You got me in a music mood, Arkky. Thanks!" She said, smiling. He still seemed confused, but went along with her conversation anyhow. "I went to a thrift store the other day," She explained, "In that little town near the Mansion. I never knew they had an old record thrift store there. I got a lot of new vinyl records-" "I saw them hanging up in the Conservatory," Arkcher interrupted. "Yea, a lot of classic rock ones I've been looking for for a while. I finally completed my Pink Floyd collection-I got a copy of 'Animals' finally. I'm so happy-now I can work on cassette tapes." "What do you mean?" "I didn't tell you? I'm planning on owning every Floyd album in every format! I already have digital, CD, and now record. I need to get them on cassettes now." She sighed. "I saved the hardest for last, unfortunately." "That's okay-I'll try to help," Arkcher said, trying to be helpful and disguise the fact that he really didn't know much about music. "That's nice, I'd really appreciate it if you did," Mushroom said. "Anyhow, I've found some really neat sites online where I can download samples of newer bands. It's really very cool-and don't worry, it's legal, Arkky. The bands licensed the sample packs themselves." "Glad to know you're not pirating those, then." Mushroom smiled, though a little sadly. The two of them continued talking about assorted subjects, mostly relating to music-Arkcher had decided to let her talk the most since it was her day. Of course, she talked about music endlessly, mostly older bands Arkcher had never heard of, until their dinner came; the two shared the meal, continuing to talk, and before they knew it it was almost time to go. ----------------------------------------- "So how was it?" Arkcher asked, as he moved the fork and knife on the table to show they were finished. "I liked it." "It was good," She said, taking another drink of her soda. "Will you be ready to go soon?" Arkcher looked at her, confused. "Do you not like this place?" "Oh, no! I like it. It's just...I like this jazzy music, but not as much as the jazzy stuff they play at Planet Horatio...and I'm so used to eating with a group of friends when I do eat out. Even at home, you and me eat with your dad and all the Mordreds." "That's true," He said wistfully, and glanced over to see Aloysius was still there. He and Solrai had finished long ago, though they were still there to have conversation. Arkcher was glancing over, when Aloysius's eyes met his own. Arkcher gasped, and turned quickly away. "Something wrong?" Mushroom asked. "Dad saw me," Arkcher muttered. "I don't see what you're so worried about," She murmured, and sighed. "Are we leaving soon?" "Yea, sure," Arkcher said, picking up the check for the dinner and placing his money inside of it, and waited for the waiter to come over and take the money so they could go and have cake and presents at Planet Horatio. In the meantime, he would just have to talk some more, he guessed. Arkcher looked over at his dad again, and realized both Aloysius and Solrai both were staring at him. Arkcher waved, and at first didn't notice the waiter taking the money. Suddenly, Aloysius got up, took his hat off, and walked over to Arkcher, getting a handful of glances from diners. "Didn't know you were here," Was all he said when he came over. Up close, Arkcher realized just how dressed up his dad was-his outfit was brand-new, ironed, no stains or hair or anything-a complete suit, complete with tails on the jacket and a bow tie. He looked like a less threatening version of Jakob Rabbitt. "Yea, I noticed you a little while ago," Arkcher said, looking up at his father. Aloysius smiled and held his hat behind his back. "I came into town for her birthday," He said bluntly, "And I decided to take Solrai out to eat here since it was new." "Guess you read my mind, that's pretty much why I brought Mushroom here," Arkcher moaned. Aloysius giggled. "Well, I noticed you're about to leave soon. I won't bother you much tonight. Besides, I have Solrai to attend to. She's gotten so upset because I've spent so much time helping Shirley out with her cases lately. You ought to hear her," Aloysius said, remembering how Solrai had acted one night a few months back. Shirley walked away from the booth where Solrai and Aloysius sat at Planet Horatio, the place where the two always met when they were in town. Shirley waved goodbye to Aloysius, reminding him she was too busy to spend time with him and that she looked forward to their next case together. She walked out of the door, Aloysius looking back at her, and then turned to Solrai to talk with her. She looked at the table and seemed as though she would begin crying. "Solrai, tell me what's wrong," Aloysius asked, gently grabbing her hand. She looked up at him, her eyes filling with water. Aloysius grabbed his handkerchief and wiped them away for her as they tried to escape. "Aloysius, I don't see why you would stay with me when you have someone like her around," She said, her voice full of even more sadness than her eyes were. Aloysius gasped. "Solrai-" "You and her have more in common than you and I. She deserves you more than me." Aloysius was stunned silent for a moment, and then shook his head. "Solrai, don't ever say things like that! Shirley is my good friend-I help her out with her cases! Why would I have feelings for her?" "You're both intelligent, well-read, adventurous, all things I'm not, Aloysius. I don't see why you take me over her." "Solrai," Aloysius said softly, looking deeply into her eyes, "You don't understand. I may have a lot in common with Shirley, but she's not the romantic type. She's already told me she never plans to get married-she's certainly not the romantic type, Solrai. You have to understand that. Besides-" he cleared his throat and pulled at his buttoned-up collar. "I'm in love with YOU, Solrai, not Shirley." Solrai's eyes glittered with sadness. "Aloysius-" "And it breaks my heart to hear you talk like this." Aloysius had told the story to Arkcher very briefly, with Arkcher pretending to listen, catching every couple of words. At the end of the short story, he nodded and said nothing. "Sounds like Solrai has real issues with your relationship. But I guess all relationships have issues. Especially ones in out family," Said Arkcher, trying to laugh at the joke, even though he knew such a joke was rather mean. "Anyhow, me and Mushroom were about to leave. We just gotta wait for our waiter to come back and see us off." "Sounds like fun," Aloysius said. "Alas, I have to tend to Solrai-" He turned and looked at her again. "I really do love spending time with her." Aloysius patted Arkcher's shoulder, and walked back over to his own booth. As he did, the waiter came back by the table, and the couple decided it was time to leave Eyeferghat. ------------------------------------------------------- The two walked down several blocks to the lit-up Planet Horatio, where their friends had been waiting for them (they presumed). Arkcher, remembering all the various unwanted advice he got from Cheesemaster as well as his father, held the door for MK. The two walked into an incredibly lively atmosphere, with a rather large number of friends there to celebrate the party. Horatio had come by from the Best Friends of Horatio Club to bring his cake-he was the best cake-baker in all of Invision, and no party was complete without some cake of his. The place wasn't decorated like it was for Hamsterking's party, but Mushroom didn't mind one bit. Arkcher held MK as the two walked into the center of the room, both feeling overdressed after the nice dinner, looking around for their friends. Mushroom pointed out a table near the middle of the room, near the stage; the two walked over to find Cheesemaster, Dawn, Blood Queen, Vanilla, Edna, Cheese Woman, and Kat, but also among them there was Hoops and her friends. Hoops sat in a chair, not engaged in the conversation; she was quietly reading a manga she had brought along with her. Mullaypop and Napoleon sat on either side of her, while Moosey (not needing a seat) stood across with Funky on his back. Arkcher got out a chair for his wife, allowing her to sit down across from Cheesemaster and next to Vanilla, while Arkcher sat down after, seated between her and Hoops. "How long has everyone been here?" Arkcher asked after greetings were exchanged. He looked over at Hoops, who was still reading. "A little while," Cheesemaster said. "We all already had dinner some time ago, so we're ready to do anything she wants," referring to Mushroom as he looked at her; she was too busy talking with Dawn and Vanilla to really pay attention. She then got up, moved over by Hoops, and tried to talk to her. The two of them were also quite close. "Hoops?" Mushroom said quietly, kneeling down in front of the table, in between Hoops and Mullaypop. Mullay still had a glass of bright pink soda and her large, rainbow swirled lollipop of which she was never seen without. Napoleon looked very nervous as she always did. Hoops blinked, and looked around for a moment. She blinked again, and her eyes suddenly shot open. "Oh, hi! Sorry. I was really engaged in this cool manga I brought with me when I traveled over here." Mushroom smiled, and the two girls on either side sighed. "What is it?" Mushroom asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Hoops flipped through her pockets and pulled out a bookmark decorated with anime characters, and pushed it inside the book. "Rosario to Vampire," Hoops explained. "And it's about a human at a school full of monsters. The more I read it, the more the characters remind me of Cheesemaster, Dawn, Dana, and Vanilla. Y'see, because this is a harem manga, the boy human is surrounded by hotties. One's a vampire. She's like Dawn kind of. There's also a succubus-she's a lot of s*** and reminds me of Dana. There's a little witch girl who causes trouble, she's like Vanilla. There's also a girl with ice powers, but she doesn't remind me of anyone. Well, maybe Mastermind." MK turned towards Hoops's friends. "I didn't know Hoops was into this sort of stuff," She said. Mullaypop's already wide eyes grew even wider. "Really? She's huge on it-I mean, we are too, but not as much as Hoops." "I absolutely love manga about teenagers going to school," Hoops exclaimed. "And comedy. That's the best." Napoleon spoke up quietly. "I'm a little more casual, but I like just about anything. As long as it isn't too scary." Moosey spoke up. Though Moosey was undeniably one of the strangest Invisionists-after all, it really wasn't often you met a moose who liked riding unicycles-his answer was surprising. "I like romance-y stuff," He said, his voice just the perfect pitch. Hoops folded her arms and scowled. Funky climbed onto Moosey's antlers. "I like anything exciting. Horror, adventures, those are great." "And finally, what about Mullay?" MK asked, looking at the brown-haired lolita. Mullay closed her eyes and sighed as though embarrassed. "I love shounen action comics," She said bluntly. "The more action, the better." "That's a surprising answer," MK said, eyes wide. "I wouldn't expect sweet Mullaypop to be into action stuff." Hoops grinned. "Yea, I was shocked at first too! But I don't care," She said, and raised a fist into the air. "This July, we go to Invision's first Convention right here in Hamsterdam! It will kick a**!! Won't it, friends?!" Moosey, Mullay, Napoleon, and Funky all answered 'Yes', Napoleon sounding disgruntled. MK smiled. "Sounds good," She said quietly, and Hoops grabbed her shoulders. "You're going too, right Mushroom?!" She shouted as she shook her violently. Mushroom sighed when Hoops let her go, and said "Yea, I'll have to ask Arkcher though. He's not big on anime stuff." "But he IS big on game stuff! That'll be there, too!!! I mean, I love video games WAY more than anime!!" "Oh, good! He'll probably want to go if there will be video game-related stuff there. I'll try and find the website. What's it called?" "Invisioncon," Hoops said matter-of-factly. "A fitting name for Invision's only and first convention! For everything-anime, games, scifi, fantasy, and just about anything else! This July!" Shouted Hoops, as though in an advertisement. "Thanks so much Hoops," MK said. "I'll go back over there, now. I'll talk to you some more later tonight though." "Awesome! and Happy Birthday!!" "Thank you," MK said quietly, and walked back to her seat. Arkcher was talking with Cheesemaster about something; Dawn was in conversation with Blood Queen, and Kat was drinking. She decided to eavesdrop on her husband, which was not so hard seeing as he was right next to her. "Alright. Well, Since I just got done making Mushroom's birthday present as well as Clean Machine, I mean you know how long it took me to build him. I'm thinking I might take a break, though I can't imagine what I'll do. Study to see what sort of thing I might want to make next?" "I thought we agreed you wanted to work on Nanotechnology again?" Cheesemaster suggested. "You know, I had a great time helping Leguan build his airship. Maybe you should visit him and see what he's up to-he might want our help for whatever he's making next." Arkcher thought for a moment. "Huh. Not sure. Those ships he builds are just...well, the technology. It seems a little old, doesn't it?" Cheesemaster shook his head. "Not really. I mean, those machines LOOK very old, but the technology is impressive and very modern. I think you'd enjoy taking one apart, personally." Arkcher shrugged, not really noticing that Mushroom was there. She watched them a little more as they moved onto technology news, Cheesemaster taking out a British science journal and an issue of Popular Mechanics as he and Arkcher looked through them. Mushroom moved her chair to look over at Dawn, Vanilla, and Blood Queen, and tried to listen to what they might be talking about. "...Honesty, Dana-" Dawn had started. "BLOOD QUEEN, D*****!!" Shouted Blood Queen. "Dana," Dawn retorted. "When you say Blood Queen, it makes me think of blood, and I get thirsty for some." Dawn had shut her eyes, and when she opened them, noticed MK was watching. Dawn's eyes grew wide-MK was right there, and she thought of blood....her mind floated back to when she had drank MK's blood so many months ago. "Mushroom," Dawn said quietly, gazing at her friend. MK smiled. "Something wrong?" "Nothing!" Dawn said nervously, though she was lying. MK turned back around, and gently tapped Arkcher on the shoulder. "Arkky, I think I'm ready to open my presents now." Arkcher and Cheesemaster both stopped talking and looked at her. Arkcher smiled, and said quietly "Alright, then." He got up, walked over to the table with presents scattered on it, and announced to the rest of the party to be quiet. "Mushroom, what do you want first? Cake or presents?" "Presents first is how I do it," She said quietly. Arkcher nodded, grabbed a package, and threw it towards her; she barely caught it. "From Hoops," She read. Hoops cheered for her gift being opened first. MK peeled away the paper, revealing a set of anime and video game soundtracks Hoops had ordered online. "Oh, thanks," Mushroom said, looking through. While not an avid gamer (well, she absolutely loved rhythm games), nor an avid anime watcher, Mushroom did watch them casually, and payed more attention to the soundtracks then most people did. The gift was appreciated. Next came presents from the rest of Hoops's friends; first came a big, green hair ribbon decorated with candy patterns from Mullaypop. Mushroom put it in her hair, though it wasn't her style in the least (save for the green colour). Third came a set of French CDs from Napoleon. Fourth was another small set of Heavy Metal CDs from Moosey, and lastly, a group of mixed CDs from Funky. Mullaypop looked rather embarrassed. "Thank you everyone," She said excitedly as she unwrapped the plastic covering the CDs, examining the track names, and reading the booklets to see if anything interesting was inside them. "I really love all these presents. I'll put these on my MP3 player right away when I get home. Thanks so much." "You're welcome," The five said in unison, Mullaypop sounding flustered. "Glad you like 'em," Hoops said. "I had to import those from Japan to my old Florida street address, and then teleport them from Earth to Invision. Very difficult, but oh-so-worth it, man! That music is amazing!" "Thank you, Hoops," Said Mushroom. Mushroom grabbed another present; this one was from Vanilla. She squealed as her best friend opened it, and found inside it a motley crew of objects. "As you know, I don't really have a whole lot of money left over to buy presents after I do my shopping for spell items, but I made do with what I've got," The high-pitched giant hamster said. Inside the box was (yet another) 'Best Friends' Necklace, which Mushroom clasped around her throat. Underneath it was a new green jacket, less holey than the one she wore now, and scattered in the box were several rocks and crystals, all of which Mushroom assumed must have some magical property unknown to her. Instructions on how to use the rocks were later found when she had emptied the box at home, but Vanilla's spelling skills left much to be desired. Mushroom closed he box and thanked her best friend. Next came Dawn's gift, which was a package of Heavy Metal t-shirts and a few CDs, plus several music cards to buy songs online with; Blood Queen and Dead Deep, being less caring than most friends, had bought a gift in Hamsterdam since they'd both forgotten until the last minute. Dead Deep didn't know Mushroom all that well, so only Blood Queen got Mushroom yet another set of CDs, this time rap and metal ones. This process of opening presents and receiving CDs went on for most of the party, and by the end Mushroom had quite a formidable stack of discs and cases and cards she would use when she got home. She thanked everyone hand hugged them, and told them that when she uploaded the songs to her MP3 player, she would mark the genre as the name of whoever gave her the CD. The night passed rather uneventfully, with cake being eaten and Mushroom discussing various matters with her friends. Cheesemaster and Arkcher continued their talk of technology, with Arkcher talking of some mods he considered for his computers. "I saw some pictures on the Internet that I thought looked really awesome, so I'm going to copy them. Here, I printed them out so you can see." Arkcher took out a few folded-up pictures. The first showed what looked like a Microwave cooking meat loaf; but when examined closer, it was a microwave turned into a computer, and the meat loaf was simply a wallpaper. "I love this one," Cheesemaster said, smiling. Mushroom looked over his shoulder but said nothing. Noticing, Cheesemaster showed her the picture so she could get a better look, and then looked at the second picture, where the CD drive had been replaced with a toaster. Arkcher put away the rest, thinking he would save them for later, and began to discuss with Cheesemaster about the ones he had pulled out.

I wasn't able to make the CD. -cue rageguy- Because my software fails. Good thing is, I have the playlist on my iPod, so we were able to listen to it together. Homecoming was fun, I guess, but for none of the intended reasons. The music was bad, but that's nothing new. I asked the DJ to play 'The Time Warp', but he didn't...probably because of the pelvic thrusts. (Even though the rap has way worse stuff) I got to hang out with all my really awesome friends, including people I don't get to see as much like Heather, Parker, Portal, Portal's girlfriend Alexis, and other people. I learned that my friend 'Greenshirt' Wesley has a twin brother (Blueshirt Nick). I have their names memorized, but I have difficulty telling them apart (tonight they had different colour shirts on, so it was easy to tell who was who, but Canada tells me that at school they wear the same clothes.). eh, they're twins, it's expected. i really wish i had a twin sister. Anyway, lots of friends showed up, more than I thought. Portal, Alexis, Panda, the two Jasmines, other Logan, Excellence, Shad (who looks good in a suit), Dakota, Libby, Max, Asian Guy, Squirrel Boy, Lily, Red Josh, the twins, Canada, Super Awesome Guy Parker, and I'm probably forgetting some. Lots of pictures, it was awesome. Beardo gave me a bracelet with a heart on it. <3 Anyway, I just got home and had a lot of fun. woo!

Me and Beardo are going to the Homecoming dance tomorrow night, and on Saturday we're going on a date. Portal, Panda, and their girlfriends might come with us. (I've already been on two 'dates' with Beardo-a group of us saw 9 on opening day, and we saw it again for Portal's birthday.) Not sure what we'll do for the date-probably go to the arcade, go to the mall and play games (whenever me and friends go to the mall, we have to play a different prank/game. last time, the game was that whenever Beardo clapped, we froze), and go out to dinner. Next month we'll be going to my third anime convention (his second) in Kansas City. We'll be dressed as America and Japan from Hetalia. XD Aaaaanyway, taking a page from when I still liked Trent. wow, that seems like a millenia ago. I'll be making a mix CD (CDs, probably) for Beardo called 'Love and Lulz'. The songs are either love songs, lulz songs, but only one is both. The track list lists only 76 of the songs-four are surprises (Chocolate from Spongebob, 'The Singing Shark' song, 'Give me Back my Sandwich' by Five Iron Frenzy, and Never Gonna Give You Up). Here's the track list. Take it with a grain of salt. most of it is metaphorical. Pollyanna (I Believe in You)-Cathrine Warwick Haruhi-The L33tstr33t Boys (our song) Mune ga Dokidoki-The High Lows My Sweet Heart-Tokyo Mew Mew Nerds in Love-Adam & Andrew Love Me Do-The Beatles Marukaite Chikyuu (Japan version)-Hiroki Takuhashi Marukaite Chikyuu (America version)-Konishi Katsuyuki If I Had a Million Dollars-Barenaked Ladies You're The Inspiration-Chicago (my all-time favorite love song) Cthulhu Dawn-Cradle of Filth (everyone loves Cthulhu. it was either this or Metallica's 'Call of Ktulu'. and they misspelled it.) Moonlight Densetsu-Dali You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record)-Dead or Alive Waves-DJ Satomi People Are Strange-The Doors Gilligan's Island theme song Through The Fire and Flames-Dragonforce America (**** Yeah)-DVDA Can You Feel The Love Tonight?-Elton John We Didn't Start This Website-Feedrosie Amanda-Boston Here Comes a Special Boy-Freezepop Sweet Child O'Mine-Guns N' Roses Saturday Morning Watchmen-Harry Partdridge Luna Lovegood is OK-Harry & The Potters The Power of Love-Huey Lewis & The News For America-Jackson Browne The Lumberjack Song-Monty Python Howl's Moving Castle (Main Theme)-Joe Hisaishi (reference-we plan to cosplay as Howl & Sophie to a future con) Lucky-Jason Mraz My Ninja Info Cards-Kajmaster Kajet My Heart Draws a Dream-L'Arc-En-Ciel (his favorite song) It's Love, Isn't It?-Joe Hisaishi (Howl's Moving Castle soundtrack) Love-John Lennon Still Alive-Jonathon Coulton (you know, the Portal song) Don't Stop Believin'-Journey PYLON TRAP BALLS!!!-Kajmaster Kajet Yuri The Only One-The l33tstr33t Boys The Dethemberween Thnikkaman-Homestar There She Goes-The La's You Are a Pirate-Lazytown Series of Tubes (Net Neutrality Dance Mix)-Manish Dr. Octagonapus Trinity Cross-Nana Mizuki Caramelldansen (Metal Mix)-Nico Video Ready Steady Go-L'Arc-en-Ciel All I Want to Be (Is By your Side)-Peter Frampton Captain Plant theme song (GOOO PLANET) Two Less Lonely People-Air Supply I Wanna Be Your Gamer Girl-Pure Pwnage It's Like it Was Meant to Be-Strong Bad Pokemon Theme Song Banana Phone-Raffi Brains!-Voltaire (inside joke. we both saw Voltaire at Tokyo in Tulsa in July) Samurai Pizza Cats theme song (he freaking loves this theme song. I know all the words) Your Song-Elton John You Make Me-Weird Al (it was either this or 'Do I Creep You Out'.) Dr. Wily Stage 1 Down With The Sickness-Richard Cheese The Time Warp You Were Always on My Mind-Chicago Every Class is Different Friday I'm in Love-The Cure (really wanted a Cure song on here. this was the closest I got.) The System is Down-Strong Bad The One-Abney Park Come Sail Away-Styx Professor Layton's Theme ('nother inside joke. we also plan on cosplaying Layton & Luke) She Blinded Me With Science-Thomas Dolby Friends Theme Song (he loves this one too. I thought the lyrics were fitting as well) You Really Got Me-Van Halen I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) WTF [Dub Mix] -Technikore Let's Ge Started Doing all Those Awesome Things I suggested-Strong Bad Can't Fight This Feeling-REO Speedwagon (my other alltime favorite love song) Because I Love You-Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra (from EarthBound)

Name: Dawn June Rabbitt Gender: Female Species: Type II Vampire Likes: Horror and Romance books, Gothic Lolita, cute accessories like parasols and boots, lace, ribbons, the colors black and purple, Cheesemaster, Sterling Rabbitt, James Rabbitt, Monsters, drawing, dragons, faeries, Magic, Fantasy Dislikes: Bright lights, heat, bright colors like yellow and pink, being sad, Jakob Rabbitt, rudeness, craving for blood, religious fanatics, badly-written romance/horror, dirty clothing, t-shirts/jeans Lives: Port of Cheese outskirts From: Cullough, the Horror story world (from the novel 'The White Rabbitt', set in 19th Century London). Lived in Dreamtopia for a few years. Special skills: -Magic (Dark) -Good artist -Good with animals like spiders and dragons -Kind and Polite -Summoning The middle child of the Rabbitt Sisters, and the most outgoing, Dawn is one of the few Rabbitt family members who actively travels (James travels as well, but not quite as often). Back home on Cullough, Dawn June Rabbitt was an outgoing young woman who was rejected by most of her peers because they found her too dark and too strange; even back then, she was notable for carrying around a sketchbook which she drew dragons and other monsters in. At one point, her legal guardian, Jakob Rabbitt, forbade her from drawing them and insisted school officials keep her from drawing them. However, the plan did not work as Dawn would just entrust her drawings with the much kinder James Rabbitt, who often cleared up the matter and once again allowed her to draw. Dawn, as stated, was rejected by her peers for her drawing, and was only more rejected when she had an 'accident'; Dawn had been walking home one night when she was brutally attacked by what was later discovered to be a vampire. Dawn was knocked cold, and most of her blood drained; for the entire night she was motionless on the ground, having died from the blood loss. Her family, worried, sent out police to try and find her; they looked through the entire city just long enough that Dawn's transformation into a vampire was complete. Dawn was found lying on the ground, pale, with the bite marks now gone from her neck. The police found her, dazed from the experience, and took her home, where she confided in the open-minded James Rabbitt. It turned out Dawn had been bitten and killed by a Type I Vampire-one that had died of some cause and become a vampire. Dawn was now a Type II Vampire-she'd been bitten, killed, and transformed into one. Dawn, expressing concern, was relieved to know she had not become a bloodthirsty killer like the vampire who attacked her, but would need to avoid certain things such as water and crosses and would still need to occasionally drink blood. She decided that in order to not kill any humans, she would try to only drink the blood of animals. Due to her new (ahem) life, Dawn had to avoid crosses, water, garlic, and other things every vampire must avoid. This made her peers deem her even stranger than she already was, and not only did they avoid her, they often harassed her and teased her; especially on the front that she had to avoid crosses, due to living in a religious society. Her only real friends were her younger sister Sterling, James Rabbitt, and later on, Richard Rabbitt. Later in life Dawn moved from her home planet to the magical planet Dreamtopia to study magic; she went to a High School for magicians, where her weirdness was much more open and accepted (though not by much). She became friends with Mushroom_king and Vanilla Star Hamster, and due to a strange turn of events, Paper Mario Master and Dana 'Blood Queen' Lion. Her schooling allowed her to become a very powerful Dark Mage, a skill that has become useful to her in recent years. Dawn was transported to Invision along with her family-Jakob, James, Julia, Sterling, and Richard Rabbitt. They now live in a recreation (though it's rumored to be their same house teleported to Invision) of their enormous Mansion, known to others as The Rabbitt Manor. The house is enormous, and painstakingly well-kept; though bleak, the house is clean and nothing is broken. Behind the house is an enormous hedge maze and a cemetery for past Rabbitts-at least, back on Cullough past Rabbitts were buried behind the mansion. No one knows if the bodies were transported to Invision to be re-buried. If the rumors about the house having been teleported are true, than it is very likely. Dawn, personality-wise, is not a shut-in nor is she antisocial; she is very outgoing and friendly, as well as polite to everyone around her. Her manners, as many friends say, are (usually) incredibly for a teenage girl. spoiler-free, so no mention of the events from Dawn's Story.

[Okay! here's a re-write of the climax of The Spy/Shirley Locke's story. with new, Professor Layton-inspired themes. enjoy.] The Spy sat at Planet Horatio, thanking CampSoup for his help. Roger again sat down , his legs propped up on the table, a cigarette limply hanging out of his mouth. "You know, Soup is very good for you. It's the only thing I ever eat. I get all my food groups and vitamins and minerals. I put chicken in it, veggies, fruits, and the pasta is grain. And I always drink hot chocolate and chocolate milk, because dairy is kind of gross in soup. And look how strong I am. I work all the soup off when I go hiking and camping and boating and rafting and mountain climbing and..." His voice trailed off as he listed all the things in nature he loved to do. "Dr. Ahrroww, I believe it's best if you and I get going to this mysterious castle right away." "Right away?" Aloysius said, looking at her with concern. "Indeed, right away. I'd prefer this case be over soon-it's possibly the easiest, albeit strangest, case I've ever taken. I'd like to meet this mysterious stranger who lives in the castle." Aloysius tried to say something about how dangerous it was, but he changed his mind, knowing she was a strong woman. The two thanked Campsoup again for his help, and left right away. --------------------------------- Aloysius and The Spy walked outside, pulling their coats nearer to their bodies, and The Spy started walking quickly away, quickly followed by Aloysius. He was still worried about his new friend's safety, but said nothing-she could certainly take care of herself, it seemed, and he followed her until the two were just outside of the large city. The outskirts of Hamsterdam were actually quite peaceful; very few people lived in the surrounding areas, which consisted mostly of hilly countryside and the rainforest just South of the city. The area was oddly silent, only interrupted by the occasional animals. The two of them walked through the grassy, hilly areas, The Spy trying to not get her heels stuck in any ditches or holes; at one point, Aloysius offered his own shoes to her, but she declined. Eventually the two did indeed find a large, stone castle; they had seen it on the horizon long before even getting to it. It was a wonder to think that such a thing had existed outside of town and they had not even known about it. Aloysius and The Spy stood in front of the castle, looking up; the place did not look so much like a castle as it did some kind of fortress designed to look like a castle. The Spy looked toward Aloysius. "Aloysius, I think it's best to prepare yourself for anything we might find. Just be careful," She said. Aloysius shivered, both from the cold and from fear. "Are you even sure you want to come in here?" She nodded. "Of course I do," She said calmly. "I'm not afraid of any monsters." Aloysius smiled. "Of course." Shirley stood in front of the castle/fort/building, and walked up to two enormous wooden doors, wondering how to get in. Not knowing any other way, she knocked. Shirley stood back, in front of Aloysius, and knocked again. Just as she pulled away, the door creaked open a slight bit. The Spy and Aloysius both looked at each other, and without a word, The Spy pulled the door open herself and walked inside, with Aloysius toting along after her. -------------------------------- The Spy walked in, waited for Aloysius, and then pushed the door shut. The room was dark, and incredibly cold; even colder than outside. The Spy pulled her coat nearer to her, as Aloysius did with his own coat. The two stepped forward, The Spy's heels clicking on the stone floors, and she slowly began to walk faster, clearly not afraid of the cold, dark room. She had been walking for a few minutes, when she was stopped short by three flames suddenly appearing in front of her; she gasped, took a step back, and the three flames revealed themselves to be fires from a candlestick. The man holding it looked just as Aloysius had described him, though they could now see all the fine details of his face and clothing. The chains and fastenings of his clothes were made of gold, it looked like; His hair was snow-white, his face pale, long, and thing; he had narrow golden eyes, and he stared at his two guests. After a moment, The Spy straightened up, adjusted her coat, and looked him in the eyes. He smiled at her, and began to talk. "Wonderful to see you, Miss Locke." "Miss...Locke?" Aloysius, asked, puzzled. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "Dr. Ahrroww! How nice to see you," He began to say, before The Spy coughed and stopped him. "Yes, Locke. Don't you remember, Dr. Ahrroww? The Spy was just a name. Just a name. Locke is my last name. My real name is Shirley Locke." "Shirley Locke?" Aloysius said, and shook his head. "My God. I heard that name in the newspapers years ago." "As I saw yours," She said nonchalantly. The man changed the subject. "It's so nice having guests," He said, sounding genuinely happy. "Come this way. You can have dinner with me," He said, sounding too friendly-moreso then they had expected. The two looked at each other, knowing full well this was intentionally deadly; but the two followed him anyway. The two came into a spacious dining hall, reminding both of the Rabbitt Manor and, to a lesser extent, Arkcher's Mansion. The man sat at the very end of a table, with Shirley and Aloysius sitting at the opposite end. The two of them had been given a kettle of tea and some cups and saucers; their host opted for a glass of wine (questionable red liquid, Aloysius thought of it). Shirlery poured herself and Aloysius some tea, and as she stirred sugar into it, she began to talk. "Dr. Ahrroww, I believe you haven't been formally introduced to Mr. Vlad Tepes, have you?" She said, looking at Vlad straight in the eye. "Not formally, no," Aloysius said, taking a drink after he said it. "Vlad Tepes, is it? Vlad Tepes and Shirley Locke. Interesting names, both of you." Vlad giggled, though he sounded very threatening when he did so. Shirley did nothing. "Dr. Aloysius Ahrroww and Miss Shirley Locke. How nice to see both of you," He said, folding his hands and resting his chin on top of them. He grinned, and said loudly and happily, "I've always had such an interest in your country! Indeed, I always wanted to visit! But I couldn't." Shirley stopped for a moment, just as she was about to take a drink. "Why is that, Mr. Tepes?" "I positively loathe the ocean," Vlad said, his happy face twisting with disgust. "You see, I had quite the traumatizing event when I was just a small boy near the ocean." "And what might that be?" Shirley asked, setting her tea on the table. Vlad frowned. "I do not wish to talk about it, Miss Locke. I would think you have better manners than that," He said, and made a Tsk-ing sound. "Disappointed! I'm so disappointed in you, Miss Locke!" "I'm sorry, Mr. Tepes. Forgive me," Shirley said coldly. Vlad smiled again, his hands once again folded and his head resting on top. "Anyhow, I had no idea any English people lived in that city. I thought the only one was that Phoenix who lives across the ocean." He sighed, laughed, and then stared straight into the eyes of his guests, namely Aloysius's. "So, Miss Locke, Dr. Ahrroww-may I ask why the two of you came all the way out to my house this late at night? I'm sure the two of you are dreadfully tired." Aloysius's eyes grew wide and he wildly shook his head. "N-No! Certainly-" "Of course we are," Shirley interrupted. "Oh, I see," Vlad said. "Well, the two of you can stay the night here if you wish. But first, tell me your reasoning for coming out here so late." Shirley cleared her throat and began explaining. "I'm a detective, Mr. Tepes, as you should know. I'm currently investigating a case of serial murders." Vlad gazed at her in awe, silently asking her to go on. "In and around Hamsterdam, there are dead bodies left and right; each body is found with two neck wounds and found dead, apparently, of severe blood loss." Vlad frowned. "I see. That's terribly awful. Have you come here to question me about what I know? I'll tell you now that I don't read the papers, nor do I get out much; I'm a terrible shut-in. I don't hear about anything," He said, smiling viciously. Shirley went on. "Yes, Mr. Tepes; that, and many of the people in town have a reason to suspect you." Vlad's narrow eyes became wider (though not much). "Me? A suspect? How dreadful." "I know, isn't it? But me and the doctor are rather tired. Could we talk this over in the morning?" Vlad sighed, and shut his eyes in thought. "I guess so." "Thank you, Mr. Tepes," Shirley said, and took a long drink of her tea. She got up, motioned for Aloysius to follow, and Vlad clapped to gather the attention of an equally pale, thin servant to get beds made for the guests. "T-Thank you, Mr. Tepes," Aloysius stuttered, bowing towards him. Vlad smiled at them both, and simply said "You're welcome. Have a good night." ------------------------------------------------ "Dammit, Shirley, have you gone completely insane?!" Shirley and Aloysius had gone upstairs, led by a butler, to a spacious bedroom; the room was furnished with old-fashioned wooden furniture, including a comfortable couch, wardrobe, and two beds. There were no mirrors. "Shirley, I don't think there's any argument that that man, if you can even call him that, is the culprit! He's the man I saw on the bridge, I swear-and he's just as Campsoup described him!" "Campsoup's description may have shown some clues the man is a vampire," Said Shirley, "And indeed it's obvious that Vlad is one. But who's to say he's the culprit?" "He matches the description, Shirley! I swear that's the man who attacked me the other night!" Shirley sighed, and after taking off her coat, shawl, vest, cap, and heels, she climbed into the bed. "Get some sleep, Dr. Ahrroww." "Sleep?! I won't be sleeping with a monster like that about!!" "We'll be fine, Doctor. Remember who you're with." Aloysius sighed, though he was still afraid and worried. He took off his shoes and suspenders, and climbed into his bed, though sleep evaded him for what seemed like hours. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Doctor. Doctor. Wake up, dammit!!!" Aloysius was jerked awake, looked around, and gasped. Their beds were no where in sight; the two were fully dressed and inside a very small room. Aloysius looked around. "W-Where the #### are we?!" He said, not thinking of anything; he spun around, and hit someone. "You're in my storage room," Vlad Tepes said, and Aloysius gasped and backed away. "I put all my food in here." Aloysius's eyes grew wide, and he gasped again. "You're kidding..." Shirley walked towards him, and for the first time, she was not calm one bit. "Explain this to me, Vlad! What are you going to do with us? I guess I was right to suspect you, wasn't I?" "Indeed, Miss Locke. You suspected me for killing and feeding off the blood of several Hamsterdam residents, didn't you? It's too bad this is your last case, and it's even sadder that it'll remain unsolved." "Vlad-" "You were right to suspect me, Shirley. But don't blame me. It's not like I can help it." "You're sick!" Aloysius shouted. "It's the way I am," Vlad said. "You sure seem alright with that Rabbitt girl." "Dawn doesn't go around murdering and feeding off people," Aloysius said bluntly. "But then again, Doctor, she's in a whole different league than me," Vlad said, and began laughing. "A Type I Vampire?" Shirley whispered. "That's..." "That's the dangerous kind," Shirley said. "Well, I hate to leave you two, but I have some things to be doing; preparations have to be made. I've always wanted the blood of an Englishman," He said. He opened the door, stopped, and looked at Shirley. "And women." He slammed the door shut, locked it, and could be heard laughing as he walked away. Aloysius backed away, deathly afraid of what was going to happen to him. "S-Shirley!" He said, on the verge of crying, "What on Invision are we going to do?!" "Don't worry, Doctor. The absolute worst thing to do right now is fret. Your mind won't be able to think straight if you're not calm and collected," She said, though she still sounded upset and angry. "Come on. Let's figure out how to get out of here and defeat him. After all, your lady friend would be terribly upset if you were eaten, Hm?" Aloysius smiled as best as he could, and tried to calm himself. "Alright, then. I'll calm down. But you need to find a way to get out of here, and as fast as you can," He said, his voice filled to the brim with fear. Shirley looked around the room, at the door that had been locked; she walked over, felt it, and then turned and looked at Aloysius. Behind him, on the wall, a shelf held an axe-among other things. "Doctor, hand me that axe behind you." Aloysius did so, shakily walking over and handing the thing to her. "What are you going to do?" He asked her, and she grinned. "Doctor, did you ever see The Shining?" "I read the book," He said quietly. "Why?" "Just asking," She asked. "Stand back." Aloysius did so, and flinched as she raised the axe and swung it towards the door, causing an enormous banging noise. She shrugged it out, and hit it again, and again, and again, until she was able to climb out through the hole. Shirley unlocked the door from outside, letting her companion out; the two looked around, and found themselves in a cold hallway. "Come on," Shirley said, running down; she stopped as she ran, took off her heels, and continued running, despite her feet being cold now, as she was wearing pantyhose and not socks. The two ran down the halls and corridors of the castle for a long time, only to literally run into Vlad Tepes again. "How nice to see you both again," He said. "I would say I'm worried that my prey escaped, but maybe the thrill of the chase will be fun," He said, smiling sadistically. "Especially considering who it is." "You'll do no such thing," Shirley said defiantly, "We'll both defeat you and bring you back to the police in Hamsterdam and have you apprehended for what you've done. I don't care if you need it to live. You can't be going around murdering people, Mr. Tepes." "Would you prefer I changed them into vampires as well, so the town can be plagued by even more people like me?" He said, leaning over Shirley and moving towards her face. Shirley shifted uncomfortably away from him, backing into Aloysius. "Now. I think you two need to be sorely punished for escaping, as well as wreaking my door, which I no-doubt you have." Vlad looked at them for a moment, but the two ran in an attempt to escape; Vlad turned and ran very quickly after them. Shirley clutched Aloysius's arm, as the two tried to outrun the vampire; the two ran down corridors, enormous stairwells, all of which were cold and dark, lit up only by the occasional candle. The two eventually found themselves on a balcony overlooking what they assumed might be a ballroom. Shirley, being only human, had to stop and catch her breath whilst elven Aloysius could keep running; however, he stayed with her, making sure he was alright, when Vlad caught up to them. "Finally got you," He said triumphantly. His eyes glittered with hunger, and he smiled viciously, revealing sharp teeth. He lunged towards the tired Shirley, who escaped with the aid of Aloysius, who grabbed her and jumped out of the way. "Thank you, Doctor," She said weekly, clutching an aching side, "But I think I can handle him myself." "Shirley, you have to run away. I'll fight him. I'm perfectly fine." Shirley glared at him, and Vlad's eye twitched. "I'm not going to let one of you get away," He shouted, lunging towards her again; "I want both of you, and the weakest gets captured first!" Shirley rolled away and got up, breathing heavily. "Doctor, you have to get away. You have a family who's worried about you-I'll get out fine!" Aloysius was reluctant, but at one more shout, he ran off, much to Vlad's contempt. "He can't run from me forever," Vlad muttered, and he clutched Shirley's lapels. She stared him dead in the eye, angry. "Don't assume I'm weak, Vlad," She said defiantly, and he laughed. "Please, Miss Locke. Don't take what I said in the wrong direction. I'm not being sexist," He said, and clutched harder at her coat, "I'm just saying you're weak from running so much." Vlad leaned towards her, leaning towards her neck, and he whispered, "It's a shame I have to do this, Shirley. You're really very pretty," And Shirley gasped as she felt a pain in her neck. Below them, Aloysius had been running through what was assumed to be a ballroom, the sole room in the castle with warm and fanciful decor. He looked up as he heard Shirley yelp, and gasped as he saw Vlad sinking his teeth into her. He couldn't stand it, and before he knew it, was running back upstairs, grabbing a sword from a display that was conveniently nearby, and ran up to her aid. Shirley had attempted to pry herself from Vlad's grip, but his undead strength, combined with her own fatigue, proved too much; she possibly would have died, had Aloysius not come swinging towards Vlad. The sword Aloysius flimsily wielded made a tear in Vlad's cape, surprising him; he backed off, leaving Shirley alone. Aloysius swooped in just in time to save her from falling over. She collapsed to the ground, and Aloysius knew he must act quickly. "I-I may not know how to use this very well," He said, raising the sword, "But I'm going to try and use it against you anyway." Vlad grinned at Aloysius, laughed, and pulled his own blade from the depths of his baggy clothing. "Very well, then. Whoever falls first loses. You fall first, and you allow me to suck both of you dry. I fall first, I allow you both to escape. Is that fair, Doctor?" Aloysius, shaking with nerves, nodded. "Alright, then," Vlad said, making the first strike towards Aloysius. Aloysius barely avoided it, and attempted another cut; he was blocked by a large CLANG of Vlad's sword meeting his own. The pressure Vlad put on the sword was far greater than Aloysius's; it didn't help that Vlad probably had actual experience with swordfighting as well. Aloysius, on the other hand, was not an expert in fighting at all. He knew Shirley was a fencer and boxer from reading about her, and he wished that she wasn't collapsed by the balcony. Aloysius continued to blindly swing, hitting Vlad's sword over and over again, making no moves nor progress. He kept trying, fruitlessly, knowing full well that Shirley was lying on the ground dying. He had to do something quickly. And then, the cogs of his brain began to turn. The first person to fall loses.... Aloysius stopped, as did Vlad. Aloysius stared into space as Vlad glared at him. "Something wrong, Doctor? I hope you're not giving up already." Aloysius shook his head, charged towards Vlad, and swooped below, bringing the sword to Vlad's legs. "What the #### are you doing, man?!" Vlad shouted, and then yelled in agony as he fell down. Aloysius barely kept his balance as he stood up, dropping the sword and grabbing Shirley. Vlad got up, clutching his ankles; they weren't harmed, but he was infuriated. His dinner had outsmarted him and was now running away; sure, he may have gotten a light drink out of Shirley, but it simply wasn't enough. Ignoring the promise he had made Aloysius, he chased after the two of them. Aloysius ran down the stairs leading into the room they thought was a ballroom, across the expansive marble floor, and underneath an enormous chandelier (the only non-candle lighting in the entire place). Aloysius was running underneath the said chandelier when he heard an earth-shattering noise; he looked up and saw the chandelier waving violently from side to side. He gasped, running as fast as he could, and just barely escaped when what was well over two tons of glasses fell and shattered behind him. The ground cracked beneath him, and he was barely able to make it over the splitting tiles into the next room-the dining room. Vlad was not far behind, and was just as surprised when he was the chandelier fall. He stopped and looked at it, shook his head, and muttered "I swear I didn't do that Doctor..." And continued chasing the pair. ----------------------------------------------------------- Aloysius ran through the dining room, a sitting room, and the foyer, until he found himself outside just as the sun began to rise. He set Shirley down, and slammed the doors shut, knowing he was safe-for now, well. He ran away as fast as he could from Vlad Tepes's castle, never looking back, until he was in the city again; he hailed a cab, and sped away to a hospital where she could be treated. Behind him, at the castle, Vlad Tepes knew very well he couldn't chase them now; the morning was approaching, and being a Type I vampire, he was unable to go outside. He groaned, slamming his fist at a wall and then kicking it. He would have to try and find them again later on. Vlad licked his teeth, scraping away loose bits of Shirley's blood. It had been delicious-delicious Englishwoman's blood. He would have to try and find her again if it killed him-she was absolutely delicious. -------------------------------------------------------------- The next day came after an endless night at the hospital. Shirley had been given enough blood to help her live; Aloysius was a little surprised at how easily they were able treat her. New medical technology, even if it was alien, amazed him. Of course, he was told that such actions like blood donation was commonplace and easy nowadays on most planets, but he didn't care. It was still amazing. He sat with her in her sitting room, where she was recovering; she was advised to not smoke for some time, so she was reading a book to try and pass the time. "Shirley, should be tell the police what happened?" Aloysius asked her, worried about her safety and health. "And will you be safe?" Shirley gazed up from her book lazily. "We ought to, and don't worry so much about me-I'll just hang a crucifix on my door and he certainly won't bother me." "Shirley, what if his bite turns you into a vampire?" "Then so be it," She said. "I can still be a detective if I'm a Type II vampire. I'll be perfectly fine. Besides, I think the effect would have kicked in already if he had intended for me to become one," She said, putting her book down and reaching for a cup of tea, drinking it. Aloysius smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear that you'll be fine. I'll be sure to come back and visit sometime." "Please do, Doctor. I'm sure I can make use of your intellect in my cases," She said. "But don't stray too much from your son nor your female friend." Aloysius got up, took his own cup and saucer from tea into her kitchen, and came back out, getting ready to go. "I certainly will," Aloysius finally said. "I really love Solrai very much, and Arkcher too." "You ought to," She said, and took another drink. "I would never be able to have a husband. I've never been the romantic type. I'm not even the type to make friends. You're a rare case, Doctor." Aloysius smiled. "You know, you can just call me Aloysius if you like, Shirley," He said, reminding her that he was already calling her 'Shirley' rather than 'Miss Locke'. "By the by, why did you refer to yourself as 'The Spy'?" He asked. "Just for fun," She said, shrugging, and then changed the subject. "You know, it's a shame my sister wasn't taken to Invision as well." Aloysius stopped. "You have a sister, Shirley?" She nodded. "Her name was Myra Locke once, though she got married and now she's Myra Croft. She was always much more outgoing than I was. I do miss her a lot. I ought to write her." "Myra Croft," Aloysius said quietly. He giggled. "That's interesting. I wish I could meet her. Well, I guess I'll see you later, Shirley. I'll be sure to write you." "And I to you," Shirley said as Aloysius took his coat and left the house.

[Okay, Okay, The next chapter is coming soon. It's a more romance-y chapter, with Arkky and Mushroom going to dinner and the return of Solrai & Aloysius. Dawn's Invision profile is coming soon, too. Until then, however, I'm working on and am almost done with a re-write of Chapter 59 (the climax of Shirley Locke's story). Look forward to it. I should have it up tonight.]

Me and Beardo are dating now. =D I asked him out last week over FaceBook. in really choppy German. it was awesome. XD I'd liked him for a while before asking him, and when we told everyone, I got a bunch of responses like "Oh ha I always knew" and "OH GAWD FINALLY". This is pretty much my first real boyfriend I've had, and I'm rather happy. =D Anyway, that's pretty much what's gone down.

Kat has rainbow suspenders? I thought that was just me and that BreakfastMonkey person who was here once.

[THIS IS ONE LONG CHAPTAR] [is it eyferghat or eyeferghat? I don't know] Dawn rode on the top of the Sea Dragon she had drawn, seemingly unfathomed that a picture she had drawn had come to life just like that. She didn't realize it very often, but taking her Alliance forms changed her into a very different person. "There's Dawn," Mushroom said, keeping one eye on the monster and one on her approaching friend. She shakily stood up, and shouted Dawn's name. Dawn moved her head slightly, looking at Mushroom with narrow, dead-looking eyes, covered with thick black eyeliner and eyeshadow. Dawn stood up, and raised her glaive, pointing it towards the monster as though commanding it. Suddenly, she spun the glaive around, and leaped into the air, bringing it down onto the creature's head. "Dead Perfection," She said, in a yelling voice that at the same time sounded like a monotone whisper. The scythe end of the weapon cleaved into the monster's head, releasing a tidal wave of blood and an earth-shattering roar of pain emitted from it. Dawn struck it downwards with the glaive end of the weapon, and was caught just in time by her own Sea Dragon, which she clutched lovingly as she whispered something to it. The sea dragon rose even higher out of the water, with Dawn climbing over its midsection, as the mouth of the dragon dove into the water with a splash that drenched the other four; the enormous black masses that were parts of the monster were quickly devoured by it. It rose from the depths with the discoloured blood splashed over its face and bits of its flesh wedged in between its teeth. Dawn, in the first change of emotion since she had become her Dead Alliance form, hugged the dragon's enormous mouth and smiled as she petted its scaled head. A split-second of dark covered her entire body for a moment, and she changed back into the Green Haze Dawn, which caused her pet to descend back into the ocean, now that she no long had power over it. "Dawn!!" Shouted her four friends as she fell towards the water, tired from using her stronger powers. Blood Queen flew swiftly over to her friend and caught her, and awkwardly placed her over her shoulder. She, too, was tired-she had, after all, done most of the fighting. Vanilla slowly floated over to Mushroom, and sat herself onto the flying guitar, followed by Blood Queen; the five then were covered with differently-coloured lights, and changed back to normal. They were about to fall asleep when they remembered: "Edna!!!" The five of them fell into the cold water (helping to wake them up), and Mushroom, determined to make up for not fighting, dove underwater to find their young friend. Her head swam with terrified thoughts, and prayed to the Dreamtopian Gods that he be alright. On the surface, the other four were shivering, with PMM shouting hysterically about how they would die if they stayed out here much longer and how he would never visit the ocean again. Mushroom appeared on the surface again, cradling Edna; his body was pruny from spending so much time underwater and covered with scars from being in the midst of the fight, but he appeared to be breathing. "We have to take him back up, and fast," She said, though she didn't need to tell the other four something so obvious. "It's getting late, anyway. Me and Arkcher are going out tonight for my birthday. If anything bad happens then..." Her voice trailed off as the tired group made their way back up to shore. ------------------------------------------------ "Edna? Edna?! Edna!!" Mushroom and her friends had made it to shore and had collapsed asleep on the sand, while Cheesemaster desperately tried to wake up Edna; Arkcher was in hysterics over MK's condition, despite that she was only asleep. Edna slowly opened his eyes, and rolled over onto his stomach. Cheesemaster took a towel and placed it over him, and moved over so as to put his head down next to him on the bench. "Edna? Are you awake?" Edna rolled over again, very slowly, so in order to face Cheesemaster. He groaned an almost inaudible yes, and shut his eyes again and fell fast asleep. Cheesemaster sighed in relief. "Thank Goodness." Arkcher looked at the sky, and the back at Mushroom. "What's the time, Cheesemaster?" "My coat should be over there, and my watch inside it." Arkcher leaned over and just barely grabbed the edge of Cheesemaster's brown roundabout jacket, with the silver chain of his pocketwatch hanging down from the breast pocket. He carefully pulled it out, and examined it for a split-second before opening it-it was silver with a golden engraving of the Swissconsin steam trains, the watch Leguan had gotten him-and then clicked it open. "Well, we haven't been here as long as I thought," He said with relief. "We still have time before I'm to take Mushroom to Eyfergaht," He said. He sighed, and looked back at his wife, stroking her hair. "You think she'll be okay?" He said quietly. Cheesemaster nodded, and smiled at his friend. "I think it's best if we take them back to the Best Friends of Horatio Club to rest. This isn't a good place for it." Arkcher stood up, and looked over at Kat, who was now up and moving. "I guess I can carry Mushroom and PMM, Kat can carry Blood Queen, and you can carry Edna and Vanilla." "Sounds good enough to me," He said, and the three of them did so. ----------------------------------------------- Back at the BFoH Club, Cheesemaster and Arkcher had taken their friends up to their rooms, and let them rest upon the couches and beds; they were all so tired they didn't wake up while being carried or driven to the Club Building. Arkcher had pulled on his blazer and Cheesemaster had put on his sweater and jacket, as well as stuffing his gloves and scarf into his newspaper bag. "Guess we might as well wait," Arkcher moped, "Wait for 'em to be well rested." He sighed, and then said softly, "I hope our plans will still work out." He sat down on the armchair next to Mushroom's bed, where PMM laid curled up next to her, along with Dawn and Vanilla, and Blood Queen laying at the edge of the bed. "So you haven't said," He said, changing the subject, "You don't talk about your occupation very much. You told me about that...thing that happened while you were in Hindenburg. Who's your replacement right now?" "Still Cheese Woman," Cheesemaster said, sitting down in the armchair across from Cheesemaster, and setting his leather bag on the floor. "She's willing to do a lot for me. She even gives me the profits she makes," He said, and then he blushed. "I insist she doesn't but she does anyway. So I insist she just gives me enough for my food. She still insists on giving it all to me. I feel so horrible when she does," He said, looking at the ground in shame. "I feel bad taking money from a lady. Especially such a nice one as Cheese Woman." "Hey, don't feel so bad about it. She's just worried about you. She's worried about you and Edna getting by. She always has been. I mean, you and Edna combined doesn't make that much, does it?" "Enough for books and food," Said Cheesemaster, smiling. "In that order. I can make my own clothes." Arkcher giggled. "Well, that's good to hear that you're getting by alright." He sighed, and then started again. "I can't help it, though. I see you and I feel bad because me and dad make a pretty alright sum of money from inventing." "Don't feel so bad. It wouldn't be right," Cheesemaster said, looking at him, and then at Mushroom. "Although headlines here are so boring, it's hard to sell." "Why not make something up?" Cheesemaster's eyes shot open. "Arkcher Ahrroww! You know lying is against my morals." Arkcher looked at the ceiling. "That's good to hear. Good to hear people have morals nowadays. That makes two of us. But what do you mean, by boring headlines?" "Well, I'm sure when the news arrives about the monster attacks here in the city, it'll sell like crazy. That'll be good. I've been saving up money for this really nice book I saw at the used bookstore." "Oh yeah? What's that?" "A Tolstoy novel," He said. " 'War and Peace'. Real nice leather edition." "Why not just get paperback?" "Paperbacks don't last quite as long and the covers bend. All of my books are hardbacks. A select few personal favorites of mine are leatherbound editions. Those are quite expensive." "You can't be spending what little cash you've got on stuff like that, Cheeseman." Cheesemaster cleared his throat. " 'When I get a little money, I buy books; if I have any left over I buy food and clothes,' " He recited. Arkcher looked at his friend for some time. "That's deep. You make it up yourself?" "No, it's a quote. I can't quite remember who said it, however." "Well, it's definitely your kind of quote," He said. He slid down into his chair, and sighed again. Cheesemaster began to talk again. "I've done pretty good just selling papers at my one spot, though I'm a little worried about the Port growing. You know it's a pretty small town-not quite as small as Longdon, but still, rather small. My house is in an area that everyone stops by on their way to work, or wherever else they go during the day. I do pretty good. But...if the city grows bigger, or if they actually take that abandoned half of the town and do something with it, I guess I'd be forced to have to run around town, yelling my head off to make money. Or get someone to help me. But who else is going to help me sell papers?" "Cheese Woman?" Arkcher suggested. "Kat's willing." "Kat's got her own things to do. She owns half of Hamsterdam, Arkcher, don't you know? Her and her mafia? She lives in a box because she has a curious fascination with the homeless. But you know she owns an apartment. I don't mean a room, I mean the entire complex. Fried Dragon Palace, and probably lots of other places I don't even know of. I'll bet she even owns some places. She's awful busy. Even I don't know what she does in her free time. I don't think she knows what she does in her free time." Arkcher laughed. "I don't understand Kat very well. But she's...well, she's really very smart, though in a very different way than most people think when they hear the word." "I guess you're right." "What about Cheese Woman?" "I'd rather not burden her with that duty. She's certainly willing and able, but I fear for how Jakob would treat her. He's already quite sour to her, though he doesn't express it nearly as much as he does with me. Of all the ladies I know, she's far too delicate for that sort of thing. Mushroom or Kat would be more able to take it." "You're wrong about Mushroom. She's horrible with insults. She's not good with harsh words. And seeing what Jakob would say to her makes me cringe with fear. Besides, she's probably not very willing." Cheesemaster looked at the ceiling. "And Edna is still a bit too young." "Say, shouldn't he be starting school soon?" Cheesemaster looked at Arkcher. "Invision has schools?" Arkcher took a deep breath. "Well, yeah. There's a tiny university up in Taynio that the titular man himself attends," He said jokingly. "But other than that, I've never heard of one. I mean, he turned five a little bit ago, right?" "Sort of. I don't know his birthday so we made one up. But yeah, I guess so." "Well, maybe you ought to look into that?" "Maybe. He's really good as a shoe-shiner. I get a lot of good business from it. I give him a little bit as pocket money, and he goes out and buys food for us. I tell him it's his money and he can get whatever he wants with it but he stills just buys the needs." "Then he's just like Cheese Woman, he's just worried about your well-being. Perhaps even moreso than she worries-after all, it was he himself who tried to persuade you to not adopt him because he worried about you being a burden on yourself." "Turns out he wasn't, I make more money with him with me, I guess people just like the cute kid-well, that and his shoe-shine stand. He even offers to sweep chimneys still. But everyone knows he's an orphan, I guess they feel a little sorry for him," Cheesemaster said, and then quietly added, "I felt sorry for him." The two were quiet for some time before seeing Mushroom stir and roll over onto her stomach, and moaned as though dreaming; both looked up at her, and Arkcher sighed. "This is horrible," he said, his voice almost on the verge of tears. "I feel so helpless...so useless. I couldn't defend her during that fight on the ocean. She was the one rescuing me." "You sound as though you're about to break down crying. Please don't," Said Cheesemaster, smiling nervously. He knew Arkcher's emotions were rather unstable and he might lash out if he took even the tiniest thing the wrong way. "I'm alright. I'm just so worried about her, and...I need some answers. I need some answers as to why she transformed. I mean...earlier on today, we had lunch and then a monster attacked us-it knocked me out cold. I woke up just in time to see Mushroom deliver a final blow. I thought I may have hallucinated it. Now I know I didn't." "Well, I'm sure she'll explain everything when she needs to. Don't press her about it." "I know, I know. A good gentleman never forces a lady to tell more than she wants to. Thanks. I'll be sure to remember that." "Good, good," He said, laughing. He sighed, and looked over at the sleeping Edna. "I hope he didn't get a cold from being in the water so long. I'm so dreadfully worried..." "You and I both. Now come on-I'm going to shower and change. My hair is a horrible mess. Certainly not fitting to go out to a fancy place like Eyeferghat," He said, and ran off, his arms covering his head. Cheesemaster sat in his chair for some time, looking at Edna and Mushroom. Yes, they were both very, very worried, and very confused, but he knew everything would be explained with given time. With Arkcher in the shower, Cheesemaster had plenty of time to think quietly. He remembered how Dawn looked when she had transformed; that black attire had been blacker than any clothing he'd seen. She looked so much older as well-her eyes full of something sinister, definitely not the sweet Dawn he was such good friends with. She seemed like an entirely different person, and yet at the same time she still seemed like Dawn. It was strange, and he shook his head, attempting to rid the train of thought from his mind. He looked over at the sleeping Dawn again, and leaned back into his chair, grabbing a book, and began to read to pass the time. --------------------------------------------------- What seemed like forever passed, with Cheesemaster only glancing up from his book to wonder why Arkcher took so long to just wash his hair and brush it. Sure, he had a lot of hair, but taking his long was not needed. He sighed, and read for a bit longer, when he heard one of the girls groan. He looked up, and saw Mushroom's eyes half-open. He placed a bookmark into his book, and set it down so he could look at her. "Are you alright?" He asked, and she blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes. "Ugh. Sleepglue. How gross." He giggled, and Mushroom slowly sat up. "How long did I sleep? Where's Arkcher?" "He's in the shower," Cheesemaster explained. "When were you supposed to go out to eat?" "I think about six," She said. "Well...It's almost six right now." "Are you kidding?!" She shouted, leaping out of the bed. Dawn and Blood Queen's eyes shot open, before they, too, rubbed away the crust from their own eyes. Vanilla sleepily opened her large green eyes before heading back to sleep. "What happened?" Dawn asked, not really knowing where she was, as Blood Queen sat up, apparently ready to go out. Dawn looked around, and moved her torso up, shaking Vanilla's body, telling her to wake up. Mushroom went and banged on the door to the bathroom. "ARCKHER!! What the #### are you doing?! We need to get going!!" "What time is it?" He shouted. "I'm not even close to being finished!!" "You're going to have to finish soon because I still have to get ready! It's almost six!!" A large thump that was presumed to be a dropped bottle of hairgel was heard, and a low-pitched, rare noise, Arkcher swearing, was heard. The door was flung open; Arkcher was dressed now in a much cleaner, much blacker suit, different from his beloved school uniform, with a black tie and a vest underneath. It wasn't much different from his normal attire, and yet he still looked even better than usual. Dawn and Blood Queen both, sitting on the bed still, looked at him for an unusual amount of time before shaking their heads and turning bright pink. "Go on, Mushroom," Arkcher said, clearing his throat and trying to sound pleasant but failed, only sounding rushed. "I'll wait for you. It's your night. I'm sorry." "It's alright," She said. She shut the door, and Dawn, Blood Queen, and the now-awake Vanilla sat in silence. "What are we going to do?" Vanilla wondered, referring to the girls and Cheesemaster. "I was going to go to Planet Horatio's tonight, since that's where Mushroom is having her real birthday party," Cheesemaster said, walking over to Kat and Edna (asleep on the couch), both of whom were waking up because of the noise, Kat moreso than Edna. "Dammit! Why did you wake me up?! I was was having that dream where you and Arkcher were sponges living in a giant inflatable apartment who reproduce asexually and watch Don Bluth movies in your spare time! It was such a good dream! And before that, I dreamed I lived with Fred & George Weasely in a giant fridge/shower, and we were wearing Fred Flintstone costumes and watching My Little Pony movies together. What a great dream. and you had to interrupt it, you big douche! Now I'll go back to sleep later and have that horrible nightmare where a giant kiddy ride attacks me and tries to eat me!" "Sorry, Kat. We're all going out to dinner soon, though; Arkcher and Mushroom are going to Eyeferghat, and the rest of us are going to Planet Horatio to wait for them." "Why is Planet Horatio the only place we ever go to? Aren't there any other restaurants here?" "Just Mama Luigi's and Eyeferghat." "Oh, fine. Planet Horatio it is." Kat stood up out of the bed and looked around aimlessly, and then began to pace about the room as she waited. Cheesemaster sat down on the bed, next to Edna, gently prodding him to wake up. Kat sat down on the floor, and grabbed the notepad and pen from the table and began drawing something with a pack of scented magic markers she always carried, often stopping to sniff them and then sighing with happiness. "Edna? Are you awake?" Cheesemaster said softly, and Edna grunted, rolled onto his back, and slowly opened his eyes, just before rubbing them. He stretched, and looked up at his friend. "How long did I sleep?" He asked, looking around. "What's going on?" "Arkcher and Mushroom woke up late for their dinner, and they're hurrying to get ready," Cheesemaster explained. "Oh," Edna said. "That's too bad. I hope their reservation doesn't get cancelled." "They'll be fine. The rest of us are going to go to Planet Horatio soon though. So when those two leave, the rest of us will get ready." "Okay then," Edna said. His voice still sounded sleepy. Edna jumped off of the bed and stretched in an attempt to wake himself up, his arms and legs pressed tightly against each other so he formed a straight line with his body. He lifted a leg in an almost clockwork-toy fashion, and spun his arms to keep from falling as he struggled to keep balance. He finally did the smart thing and put both feet flat on the ground, arms outstretched, and slowly lowered them to his side. He stared into space for a moment, and then looked at his friend. "I think I'm awake now," He said, smiling, and went to find a clean, non-wrinkled shirt and pair of shorts. Cheesemaster stood up, and walked over to the window to see what the weather was like. The night was clear, with many stars twinkling in the sky. He leaned against the clear panes, careful to not touch them with anything but his gloved hand lest he get prints all over them. He stared, almost longingly, at the glittering sky above him. Somewhere in the expanse of blackness, was his home, his little planet of Earth. He'd heard other Invisionists, even his good friend Mushroom, say their low opinions of his home, of how blissfully arrogant his fellow species was; he didn't like it either, and wished his home was involved with the other planets, but he still loved his home. "What're you thinking about?" Mushroom asked, standing behind him. Cheesemaster snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her; his glasses slipped down his nose in the heat of the room, reminding himself to turn the AC on later. But the sweat alone wasn't what surprised him; rather, the way his good friend was dressed. Mushroom was now dressed in a knee-length, silky green dress, with a pair of green jeans underneath and shiny black flats. Her hair was dried and glossy, and for the first time ever, she was wearing makeup. The pink streaks she had in her blond hair offset the semiformal look she had. He'd never seen her in such a feminine outfit; he was far too used to her normal attire of men's clothing. "M-Mushroom?" She giggled. He cleared his throat. "I'm terribly sorry. It's just a shock to see-It's so strange to see you in such womanly clothes." She stared at him with her large eyes. "I guess I don't dress like this very often. It's going to be hard wearing makeup all night. It's been so long since I actively wore any. I'll have to remember to not rub my eyes or wipe my lips with my hand like I always do." The two giggled, and Mushroom groaned. "I hate this kind of stuff, though! I had to argue with Arkky endlessly so he would let me wear the jeans and these shoes. I wish I had my tennis shoes back, though. He actually checked the restaurant's website to see if they would allow me to wear any jeans." Cheesemaster giggled. "Well, he just wants this night to be very special for you. Especially after the events of today. It's been dangerous and hectic." Mushroom suddenly grew tense, and Cheesemaster knew she wanted to avoid the subject. "I can tell. You don't want to talk about it. I understand completely." "Thank you," She said quietly, sighing. "Mushroom!" Arkcher shouted, coming out of somewhere. "Are you coming? We're already late!" "Yea," She shouted back, and put an arm around Cheesemaster before running off. The door clicked shut as they left, leaving the rest of the group to slowly wake up and get ready for dinner and birthday parties at Planet Horatio. ----------------------------------------------------------- Outside the Hotel room, the finely-dressed Arkcher and Mushroom ran down the stairs, as if they were just heading for an outing, with Arkcher flying away, his hand barely settled into Mushroom's. He ran outside into the clear night, thankful it wasn't pouring like it was last night, and hailed the nearest Taxi. He squeezed his wife's hand, as the lights of a cab shone into his eyes and the sound of an engine hummed up next to them. In the seat was Roger, oddly enough. "We need a beeline to Plan-wait, no!!! We need a beeline for Eyeferghat, as fast as you can!" Arkcher said quickly, shoving himself into the cab before Roger could even say anything. "Step on it!!" Arkcher shouted, as Mushroom held onto his arm. Roger didn't even have time to figure out prices. "I'll pay you when we get to Planet Horatio, alright?" Arkcher pleaded as Roger lurched on the gas pedal. "Is that alright? Please say it's alright." "It's alright!!" Roger shouted, an unlit, crunched-up cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Just pay me later! I'll have plenty of time to figure out a price!!" "Thank you so much," Arkcher said, sighing. His body was still tense, but he was intent on not letting his face show it. He planned on tipping Roger finely for having done this for him, especially as he swung back and forth in the back seats of the car, having passed on the safety belts (much to Mushroom's dismay), as Roger skidded and sped across the city to Eyeferghat. After many red lights ran and many honked horns, Roger screeched to a stop, and Arkcher almost threw himself and his wife out of the car, thanking Roger profusely. He stopped for split second to re-settle his hair and then ran into the restaurant.