Chapter Forty- Saviors... or Goners?

~*~

Bryanna landed at the entrance to the gym, now turned into a stadium, with a relieved sigh. "FINALLY. I thought we'd never get over that desert!"

"Now if my DEAR trainer wouldn't mind, I have food to find and a few commoners to destroy."

The trainer waved her arm. "Knock yourself out. Just remember I am NOT paying for your crap, and I will NOT take responsibility."

Yami Bakura looked up at that, and smiled. "May I use my flame-thrower now?!" he asked sweetly.

"Just as long as it's on other Bishies and not humans or buildings."

Bryanna paused before entering to turn and look back at another member of the group. "What, don't you want to wreak havoc, too?"

This member was a new addition to the trainer's group, a sandy-haired, tanned young man with wide dark eyes. He wore robes that reminded one of Egyptian clothing, and clutched a golden rod that had an eye engraved on the top of it.

He merely gave her a smile. "Why, and miss out on the fun within? Ruby rain and an ocean's worth of salty tears lie within those doors, my trainer. Why would I want to miss something as blatant, as painful as my fellows descending into madness?"

Bryanna frowned. "You're saying you sense madness in there?"

The Yami Malik paused, and made as if to sniff the air before smirking and running his tongue over his lips. "Why yes, of many sorts. The madness of a mob, cheering for blood. The madness of an individual, crying for his trainer. The madness of a girl, needing assistance, anyone's assistance. The madness of friends, worrying over what could possibly have happened to one of their own."

The trainer's eyes widened. "Holy #^#!, I was right to want to come back here then! We'd better get moving. Lina! Yami Malik, you come with me now!"

"What about me?" Yami Yugi asked quietly.

Bryanna waved her arm. "I don't care. Go kick someone's ass at a duel or something."

He fell over. "Don't you even WANT my help?" he asked.

She grinned. "I was just kidding, Yami. You WERE my first Yami, after all, and I wouldn't leave you behind."

"How reassuring," he mumbled.

She turned back to the doors, and pushed one open. "Yosh! Let's check out this 'madness' that Yami Malik senses!"

"Right!"

~*~

Miya-chan and Jessica raced down the street excitedly towards the local town's gym, which they'd heard had recently transformed itself into a stadium for a local tournament.

"Come on, Miya-chan!" Jessica urged. "Let's get going! We get to watch the ends of the semis and then the finals today!"

"I know! It's been so long since I was at a tournament!" Miya-chan gasped, trying to keep up with the other girl.

The two turned a corner, then paused for a moment to stare happily at the building where they'd soon get to see some matches.

"You know, if you hadn't slept in, we coulda seen the beginning of the semis, too," Jessica joked.

"Oh, please. Like you didn't sleep in too!"

"Piccolo was being mean and I couldn't sleep last night," Jessica said, pouting.

Miya-chan sweat-dropped. "Um... J? TMI. Just... T-M-I."

Jessica frowned. "That's not what I meant!" she protested.

"Uh-huh- hey!"

"Hey what?"

"Isn't that Bryanna over there?"

Jessica turned around to see that, indeed, the girl who'd saved them from the labs was hurrying into the tournament, with a flame-thrower-armed Bakura and a crazed looking blonde Bishonen neither of them recognized at her side.

"Yeah, it is! I wonder what she's doing back here, of all places?"

"Who knows? If we hurry, we can catch up!"

"I'm all for that!"

~*~

Anya winced and cradled her right hand in her left gingerly, trying to staunch the bleeding from the large cut that had appeared. "Okay, maybe trying to smash a large TV screen with my bare hands was not such a good idea. Now that I think about it, that was really stupid. What if I'd friggin' electrocuted myself?!" she demanded.

Her surroundings didn't answer.

She let out a little sigh. Then she looked around herself. "Well, at least I don't have to watch those horrid scenes of my Bishies anymore. Now let's see if I can find a large shard here..."

Of course, she hadn't broken all of the glass screen off the monitor; only about half of it lay in shards on the ground before her.

Since her hands were really sore from beating up the huge screen (her knuckles and the cut were bleeding, and the rest of her arms were sore), she was very careful when picking up shards to inspect them.

For a while, she thought that her "plan" wasn't going to work after all, and that all she'd accomplished was injuring herself.

Then she found it.

"Ha!" she whispered, kneeling by the piece. "Please, whoever's watching over me, please don't let this break into two pieces..."

She paused, then turned to her shirt. She hesitated again, then gave a mental shrug before ripping off a piece to wrap around her better hand, wincing at the effort it took. Only then did she pick up the piece.

"Yatta!" she said, this time a little louder. "This thing's at least two feet long! It'll definitely help me out! Now I can try my idea out!"

~*~

"Hiei, we have a problem!" Kara said.

The Bishonen immediately appeared. "I know, the girl's-"

"No, not Anya. Nor the other trainers. It's not them." She glanced down the hallway nervously, as though worried that someone was lurking in them. "It's the police."

"What about them?" he asked, bored.

"Haven't you noticed? They're crawling all over this mountain! We ought to get outta here before anything severe happens!"

"Kara, don't worry. They can't find us."

"Oh really? Then why are they only a mile off from our cave entrance?" Kara asked, frowning.

Hiei paused. "That isn't good," he agreed. "But I say we hold down the fort anyway. This place IS well hidden, after all. It'd take a ki-sensing Bishonen to find us, and those are generally ones that like warmer climates."

"True..." Kara considered this.

"Besides, if they get in and through, we can always run then. The teleporting machine is fully functional as usual, and Logan's overlooking the trainers and Bishies that are in captivity. We can escape, and we can always start up again later."

Kara frowned again. "I still don't like this, Hiei. I know this was my idea, but... to think that they'd find it so easily..."

"It's taken, what, three years or so? So it wasn't easy for them!"

"What about my data, then?"

Hiei snorted. "It's on a laptop, dummy. Fail that, you have your floppies. Remember?"

Now Kara felt stupid. "Oh, yeah. Sorry for acting stupid, Hiei, but I get nervous when police get involved, especially when they're so close to finding us."

"Don't worry. I'll protect you if need be."

"Thanks, Hiei." Kara smiled. "You're the best, did you know that?"

"Of course I did." He smirked. "It's just nice to hear it once in a while."

~*~

Kaoru stared at Ken-chan, eyes wide in fear.

"Kenshin! He's... he's..."

"I know," her husband replied grimly. He stared at his son, who had only a moment ago keeled over.

"Is he...?"

Kenshin gently pulled away from his wife to kneel down by his son. He checked for a pulse, though he also tried not to touch the Bishonen more than he had to. After a moment, he shook his head. "No. He's still alive."

"What sort of trainer dumps my son like this and leaves him to go mad?!" Kaoru demanded, her temper rising. "What did my boy ever do to those horrible humans?"

"I... don't know. That girl... she seemed like such a nice type. And Sanosuke trusted her." Kenshin's eyes clouded over with worry. Then he blinked and looked back down at his son. "We need to get him inside, and fetch a healer quickly."

Kaoru nodded, turning away. "I'll get Megumi, if I can find her!" she promised, and raced off.

Kenshin watched her go, then glanced down at his son. Ken-chan's breathing was shallow, but there. He ran a hand through his son's hair, sighing softly.

"My son... why has this thing happened to you?"

~*~

Bryanna hurried down the hallways, with her Yami Malik, Yami Yugi, and Lina in tow. Yami Malik's creepy smile was growing by the moment, while Yami looked troubled and Lina merely looked out of breath.

She skidded to a halt before a fork in the hallways, and looked around helplessly, having no clue as to which way to go. She could go up some stairs directly in front of her, or go to her left or right.

"Darn it, now which way?" she mumbled.

Her Yamis merely looked around, and Lina shrugged.

Then, Bryanna turned her head to the left. "Hey! I hear some people talking and- hey! Someone's beating someone else up! Let's go!"

"Right," came three voices. With that, they all made their way towards the left hallway.

The trainer and her three Bishies ran down the hallway for a while, and the voices became steadily louder (though no one heard any more banging noises).

Suddenly, Bryanna had to skid to a stop again. Yami ran into her, Lina into him, and Yami Malik into her. Therefore, they all ended up in a large pile in the middle of the floor, groaning and muttering curses as they fought to untangle themselves.

~*~

Megumi and Washu looked up from their care of the three ill Bishonen and blinked at the sight of the tangled mess of trainer and Bishies. Megumi looked around, as though considering her options; she could even now run and hide, but these Bishonen... they still needed healing.

Especially the Sanosuke...

Froth was forming at the tip of his mouth, and he was muttering and gasping for air much more often than he had been earlier. While her medicine seemed to help the other two (who lay still and slept soundly), it had little to no effect on Sanosuke.

Megumi's expression softened slightly as she ran a gentle, practiced hand through his hair for a moment.

Sano seemed to quiet, mumbling, "Anya?"

She blinked, and moved back her hand. "Anya," she repeated thoughtfully. /Must be his trainer's name.../

The Bishoujo then sighed when she realized that the trainer and her Bishies had righted themselves and were now busy staring at her, as well as at her fellow Bishoujo and the Bishonen they were tending.

"Did I not tell you?" one of this new trainer's Bishonen said softly. "Ruby rain and salted tears fall this day."

"This is the madness you sensed?" the trainer asked.

"Yes."

The trainer frowned. Then she looked at the two Bishoujo. "I'm Bryanna, just recently showed up here. Where are your trainers?" she asked.

Megumi and Washu looked at each other for a moment. Then Washu nodded and said, "Our trainer isn't present. Neither's the trainer of these Bishonen."

"Oh... wait, that's a Sano! And a Heero... Is the trainer of these three Anya?" Bryanna demanded.

Washu turned to look at the trainer, her expression unreadable. "How do you know of her?"

~*~

"Bryanna! Bryanna! Wait up!" Miya-chan called.

The two hurried down the hallways, trying to find their ally. However, it seemed that already the other trainer had disappeared from hearing and sight; they couldn't figure out where on earth she could have gone.

The two were getting ready to call it quits and go see the tournament when something caught Jessica's eye.

"Hey!" she said, stopping.

"OW!" Miya-chan slammed into a nearby wall, the thudding sound echoing throughout the hallways. Then she slowly fell to the ground. "That hurt..."

Jessica helped her friend stand, then turned to point at something. "Look!"

"Huh?"

The two trainers saw Bryanna, standing with three of her Bishonen. Bryanna was staring at two Bishoujo and three unconscious Bishonen. Bishonen that looked very familiar...

"Hey! Those are Anya's Bishies!" Jessica said, eyes widening in realization.

"Yeah!" Miya-chan said. "I'd remember that Sano anywhere! Even asleep, he's got that jaunty look on his face."

Jessica frowned. "I don't think he's... asleep, Miya-chan..."

The other trainer took another look, then gasped and nodded. "I... you're right. He's... he's frothing at the mouth, isn't he? Oh, God... he's going mad!"

"Let's go over and see what's going on!"

"Right!"

~*~

Anya stood at the very edge of the barrier's beginning, just before she felt any pressure or pain. She held the long, thin shard of glass in her wrapped hand, trying her best to ignore the pain in her hands and the ever-bleeding wound in her arm.

She took a deep breath. For the past few minutes, she had been doing her best to try and focus only on the Bish-balls on the table. All she had to do was knock them close enough to get to them. Then...

"Okay," she whispered. "Let's try."

She took a step. A faint buzzing began in her ears. Another three steps. Pressure began to push at her in all directions, though it was still faint. Anya kept her eyes on the Bish-balls, trying to ignore the slight discomforts, for she knew from past experience it was going to get much, much worse.

Two more steps, and she felt a sharp pain in her wounded arm. She gasped, but kept on taking slow steps. It was getting harder to breathe.

/One, two, three, step... one, two, three, step... Oh GOD! /

She yelped when another pain, more insistent, shot up through the hand holding the glass, and nearly dropped it as a result. "OW!" She took two more steps, and nearly fell over as the pains shot through both arms. Her nerves weakened, and she fumbled with the glass, cutting her unprotected hand.

/Damn it! I need to keep going! /

The table was five feet away. She had to get there. She had to!

Another step...

"AIIIYEEEE!"

She shrieked as she felt something slam into both her back and into her stomach at the same time. Something else smacked her in the head, while needles pricked at her bare arms. Her cuts made her scream again, for they were twice as painful as her unharmed parts.

The trainer couldn't help it; she fell over onto one side, clutching the glass shard and gasping. She tried to catch her breath, tried to figure out what she was doing wrong.

/I need help... oh, gods, someone help me! / she thought.

Then, /No one's going to help me here. Someone I thought was a friend is a sicko. My Bishies are miles, maybe leagues, away from here, / she thought bitterly.

Was it her, or was the world spinning? Fascinated, she stared up at the domed ceiling.

Her eyes were getting heavy...

A sudden image came to mind; well, three combined into one. As Anya let her eyes close, just for a minute, she saw Chichiri freezing to death, alone and unable to protect himself. She saw Kenshin dying in that oh-so-familiar place, not able to prevent his death and not able to understand why it was happening. She saw Heero and Thatz, slowly sinking into madness.

And she saw Sanosuke.

/My first Bishie. My best friend, really, / she thought. /Dying. Because of me. /

"Ahaha... Anya? That you?" she had heard him mutter on screen. "Where'ya... dark an' cold... nyaa..."

Her eyes shot open. /They'll all be dying because of me. Damn it, just because I hate dramatic heroines doesn't mean I can't be one! I have to be! I gotta help my Bishies. If nothing else... I gotta get outta this pain-filled hell before I kill myself... owwww.../

She forced herself onto her knees, despite her muscles screaming in protest. She tried to stand, but her feet just couldn't take her. It felt like nails were digging into her soles, and as though her legs were being rubbed with sandpaper.

The trainer tried to regulate her breathing. /If I never believed in Zen meditation before, I should now! Please, someone help me focus! /

She closed her eyes, resting a second on those knees (which felt like they were being charbroiled at the moment). Then, with a scream, she lunged forward, towards the table.

Time slowed.

The glass shard hit a table leg. The leg collapsed. Glass shattered, hit her all over her hands and arms, some on her legs. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment.

Time froze, then began again.

The table began to tip forward, and Anya watched as the Bish-balls and Dex hit the ground beside her.

But her heart was stopped. She couldn't breathe. She wasn't able to think more than, /It HURTS! IT HURTS! /

She closed her eyes. /This is it. I'm gonna die! GOD IT HURTS! /

/Oh, God, does it hurt.../

She felt dizzy, as though she was drunk. The glass sticking into her didn't seem to hurt as much anymore. Her blood felt warm, though for a moment she wondered why it was outside of her. Wasn't it supposed to warm her from inside?

Darkness was coming.

Then...

.........

/.../ Anya gasped, suddenly feeling the air return to her lungs. The prickling, the burning, the muscles screaming in protest, all those pains disappeared. All she felt now was the sting of the pieces of glass embedded in her skin, and the wound in her arm.

/I'm... alive?! HOW?!/

She slowly opened her eyes, looking around herself. Then, just as cautiously, she sat up and poked at one leg. Then the other.

/I'm... almost okay... other than the glass.. Oowwiieee.../ She winced at the pain in her forearms. /I need to get to a doctor.../

/But how did I stop the pain? Why doesn't it hurt anymore? I didn't move anywhere.../

Anya's eyes fell on the Bish-balls.

"Ask questions later," she gasped, and grabbed for the first one in reach. She looked at it fondly for a moment, recognizing somehow who belonged with this Bish-ball.

"Kenshin... my second Bishonen, and the most kawaii Chibi I've ever seen..."

She sighed, and closed her eyes. Her hands clamped over the ball.

"Good-bye, Kenshin."

~*~

Kenshin's eyes widened in surprise as his son suddenly opened his eyes, moaning.

"...Ken-chan?" he questioned softly.

The younger Bishonen blinked in the sunlight, then turned to look at his father. "...Father?"

"You're all right!" Kenshin smiled and pulled his son up in a hug.

"Uh... ano, father... what am I doing here? I don't remember a thing..."

Kenshin pulled back to regard his son seriously. "You were mad a moment ago. Upon the verge of death."

"What? But..." Ken-chan's eyes clouded over as he recalled the past few hours. "Anya..."

"Your trainer?"

The younger Bishonen stared at the sky for a few minutes as clarity returned to his world. Then, he shook his head slowly, sadly.

"My former trainer, father... My former trainer. I don't feel her any more..."

~*~

Anya dropped her Kenshin's Bish-ball, and grabbed the next one. "Next..." She closed her hands over this one.

"Good-bye... Chichiri."

~*~

Chichiri was certain he was about to die.

His ability to cast spells had decreased greatly as time had passed on, both from the energy drained from dragging himself through the snow and from casting so many heat spells. Even his rosary about his neck didn't give him enough power to cast anything else.

And the madness had finally come a while ago. Oddly enough, he could actually feel it clutching him. Hadn't he heard that madmen didn't know they were mad?

/I suppose it was all denial, / was his last coherent thought.

After a while, he'd stumbled in the snow and had been unable to stand back up. His breathing got shallow, and hypothermia began to set in.

So he closed his eyes, sending a silent apology to everyone he'd been with for the past few months. His trainer, his fellow Bishonen, his trainer's friends and their Bishies...

/Fading.../

Then, a miracle occurred.

His Seishi symbol, a sign resembling an unmarked tic-tac-toe game on his right knee, began to glow and warm him as Suzaku decided to watch over his chosen.

Then, he felt clarity return to him as quickly as one could snap a rubber band.

He jerked up into a sitting position as warmth slowly came to his numb limbs and face. After a few minutes, he was shivering, a good sign that his immunity system was getting back online.

The blue-haired Bishonen stared at his surroundings blankly for a while as coherency slowly returned after his understanding and sanity.

After a moment, he lowered his head.

"Anya. You didn't."

The wind howled as a response.

~*~

"Ladies and gentlemen, we're looking for the next contestants Anya and Steve, but they are nowhere to be found. If any of you are friends of theirs, please look around for them. We will continue through the next match if they do not come."

The crowd mumbled at that. Some people were angry, impatient, while some didn't seem to care.

Others, however, were VERY worried.

"That's it," Jacky said. She stood. "I'm going to look for Anya. It couldn't take this long to look for Abby!"

"If she's been gone this long, it's likely she was kidnapped," Inuyasha said matter-of-factly. "A thing that I shall not allow to happen to you. Sit down."

"YOU sit, you heartless jerk!" Jacky snapped.

Inuyasha face-faulted into the person sitting in front of him in the stands. When he raised his head, he had a huge red mark across it. "Woman-!"

"I'm going." Jacky ran over to where Kimiko sat with MorTae. "Guys!"

Kimiko looked up. "Hey." She was frowning. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That maybe we were wrong about Anya just chasing after Abby and saving poor Bishonen?"

"Yeah."

"Yep. I'm looking for her."

"I will, too." Kimiko glanced at MorTae. "Sorry, we'll have to talk later. I need to find a friend!" She jumped to her feet, and nodded at Jacky.

Jacky nodded back, and the two hurried towards the inside hallways of the gym-turned stadium.

Inuyasha growled as he got to his feet. His sword began to glow. "I am NOT letting that idiot go off by herself!" he declared, and thus raced after her.

Shippou, realizing he was going to be left behind, hurried after.

Thus, the group left poor Miroku entirely alone, tied to his chair. He was thirsty, hungry, and in desperate need of a bathroom.

This was not going to end well.

~*~

"What?! But this... that's mad!" Bryanna declared.

Washu had recently finished giving her explanation of what was going on.

"Well, of course it is. Look at THEM!" Washu said, gesturing towards the three Bishonen. "What do you THINK?"

"Can't you teleport them? Or teleport Anya?" Jessica asked. "I heard Washus can-"

"Only my cousins. There are multiple types of Washus out there. I may be the best at tracking people down and tracking data, but I cannot teleport someone to save my life," Washu said.

"Oh."

The group was quiet for a while. Bryanna's Yami Malik was humming an eerie tune as he watched the three Bishonen before him suffer. Yami Yugi watched sadly, crossing his arms and trying to think of a solution. Lina frowned, wishing her trainer had a Filia or a Xellos.

Then, Jessica smacked herself on the head. "My God! I am such an idiot!" she declared.

"What? Why?" Bryanna asked.

"My Shin can teleport! He can instantly transport anywhere he wants!" Jessica said. "And he can take people with him! I can use him!"

"Great idea!" Miya-chan said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"It's worth a shot, since my trainer doesn't seem intent on appearing anytime soon," Washu agreed.

"Shin, come out!"

The Bishonen soon appeared, looking determined.

"Did you hear us, Shin?" Jessica asked.

"Yes. I merely wish I knew how to escape a Bish-ball of my own accord. I could have saved us time," he replied.

"Sorry I forgot," Jessica said sheepishly. "I guess I'm just-"

"I know." Shin turned to kneel between Heero and Sanosuke, looking at the three Bishonen and shaking his head. "Place Thatz within my reach, or I will not be able to take him with me." He glanced at Washu. "Please show me the location of their trainer. It will shorten our travel."

Washu nodded, and quickly gave instructions as Thatz was hastily dragged near to the others by Jessica and Miya-chan...

~*~

Anya reached for the third ball, and bit her lip. "Good-bye, Thatz. It was cool having you..."

~*~

Snap!

Just as Shin was about to teleport, Thatz shocked everyone by jumping to his feet, looking very surprised indeed.

"Hey! What's going on? Where am I? Hey! Sano! Heero! ...Where's..." Thatz looked around himself as a question mark appeared over his head. "What's going on?" he whined.

Washu and Megumi stared in amazement at his sudden recovery. "So quick!" Megumi murmured.

Washu frowned. "Anya must be releasing everyone!" she said.

"Then Shin, you hurry up!" Jessica ordered. "Only take me, Heero and Sano!"

Shin nodded, grabbed all named, and disappeared.

~*~

Just as Shin disappeared, Jacky rounded the corner with Kimiko and Inuyasha in tow. The three stopped when they saw the group of Bishies and trainers standing about, staring at two empty bedrolls on the ground.

"What on...?" Jacky wondered.

One of the trainers turned around, and her eyes widened. "You're Jacky, aren't you?" she asked.

"...Miya-chan? And... Bryanna?"

Both nodded.

"W... What're you three doing here?!"

~*~

"HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE AGAIN!"

Steve ducked a flying telephone, and it crashed into a nearby wall. The poor machine broke into many tiny parts and crumpled onto the floor, a mere pile of pieces instead of the phone it once was. Soon, a television, and then a vase of flowers followed the same fate.

A lamp was much luckier. It hit Steve in the face and, having a much softer landing than the other objects, it landed on the ground with a small thud (while Steve made a much louder thud as his head hit the floor).

"OW! Skuld! Will you please calm down...? Didn't I say it was an accident?" he tried to reason. "You know I'd-"

"Oh, so now I'm too ugly to look at when I'm naked? WELL, MISTER, WHY DON'T YOU SAY HELLO TO MY HAMMER!"

"AAAAAAAAH! SKUUUULD, STOP IT!"

~*~

Paul walked into his hotel room, blinked, and considered walking out before he got harmed in any bizarre way.

However, if he did he'd miss the show.

Excel was constantly throwing herself at the television screen, holding a former lamp in one hand and screeching something about "Iilpallazo-sama" at the top of her lungs.

Raistlin peered around Paul's shoulder. "I suggest we leave and act like she isn't our traveling companion," the mage suggested in a hiss.

Paul slowly nodded. "I have to agree with you on that one."

The two backed out of the room, careful not to attract Excel's attention, and closed the door. Then they crept down the hallway, back to the room that Excel had trashed a few hours ago.

"You know, this room really isn't that bad, once you get over the fact that the TV's hanging out the window," Paul observed.

Raistlin merely sat down on one bed, pulled out his magic book, and began to study, trying to ignore the screeching coming from Excel about how "IILPALLAZO-SAMA IS MINE, YOU TWO CENT @#)(%*&#!"

While he didn't have a magical book to pore over, Paul decided to follow Raistlin's example and pretend that, for the moment, that Excel was not his.

~*~

"Abby-san?" Caramon asked cautiously.

Having not been mentioned for quite a while, the trainer had gone on a rampage, utterly glomping the life out of any and every Bishonen that had crossed her path. She'd even glomped a few female Bishies by accident, thinking they were merely guys with girlish features.

Now, she stood panting in the midst of a number of recently-glomped Bishonen. Some weren't able to move at all. Some managed to twitch and make odd moaning noises.

Abby turned to Caramon, her glomping crave temporarily satisfied. "Yes, Caramon?"

"Where ARE we?"

Abby frowned. "What do you mean, where are we? We're-"

She stopped and looked around herself, suddenly realizing she wasn't in town any more. No, she wasn't in any town at the moment; she and Caramon stood together in a clearing in a forest.

"Huh." She ^^;ed. "Imagine that! So THAT'S why no one's come after me for the past few hours. Nifty!"

Caramon sweat-dropped. "Um, can we go back to town before I start getting sick from not being near my trainer?"

Abby latched onto his arm, dragging him away from the clearing. "Of course, of course! Can't have that!" she babbled. Then she paused. "Um, which way do we go?"

"I think we should follow the trail of glomped Bishies."

"You know, you're smarter than Raistlin thinks," Abby said, and proceeded to drag him back to town.

There was a long silence.

Then, "Uh, thank you?"

~*~

"Attention, attention. This is the police of Raine Town. I repeat, this is the police. Any and all who are occupying this cave are ordered to come out with their hands up and ready for questioning. I repeat, come out with your hands up and prepare for questioning. Otherwise, we shall break in."

"DAMN it!" Kara slammed her hand on the keyboard. "Hiei, time to get outta here!"

"Don't I know it. Want to do anything last minute with the halflings we have around here?" Hiei asked.

"No! Let's get outta here!" Kara grabbed her laptop and her floppy disks.

"What about that Anya? She's freeing-"

"Who cares! Ready that teleporting device!"

"Right!"

The two approached the teleporting device, prepared to go for the farthest city possible to get a fresh start in.

Then, Hiei felt himself get kicked in the face. He then found himself slamming into the nearest wall.

Kara stopped running to stare at her one, most loyal Bishonen. "Hiei! What?!"

She turned to see three Bishonen and a trainer, who was glaring at her. One Bishonen, a Shin that she remembered, lowered his raised foot and smirked.

"Hello, my former hostess. How's it been?"

"Former... you're that girl I captured only a couple weeks ago!" Kara said.

Jessica tossed her hair as she took her place beside Shin. "What a shock, eh? Funny how the past comes to haunt you."

"Hmph. Get out of our way," Hiei said, stepping in front of his trainer. "Or you shall feel the consequences."

"Shall I truly?" Shin asked.

Behind Shin, Sano and Heero were slowly returning to consciousness (not to mention their sanity). Heero came to first, moaning softly and raising a hand gingerly to his face.

"What...?" he asked.

Sano came next, eyes opening as he wiped at his mouth and looked around. His eyes shot wide open at what he saw.

"The @$^$#@-"

"Well, if it's not our friend Sanosuke," Hiei said.

Sano turned towards the other Bishonen, frowning. Then he blinked. "You. You're that @#%-hole that beat me up a while back."

"Me. And yes, I shall gladly do it again. Yet I believe you need an appointment, for I already have a battle scheduled-"

Hiei didn't get to finish that sentence.

Shin had quickly gotten annoyed with Hiei's offhand attitude, and had decided to remedy it with another quick kick to the gut. Hiei slammed right back into the wall, unable to breathe.

The god Bishonen didn't give him a chance to, either. Shin sped forward with a punch ready for Hiei's face. Soon Hiei was in another room entirely. Two seconds later, he was being tossed through another wall into a third room.

"HIEI!" Kara called, running towards him. Then she stopped as a gun pointed itself at her face.

"I suggest you remain still," Heero said coolly.

"Where's Anya?" Sanosuke demanded.

"Anya?" Kara blinked. "Who's that?"

Heero pushed the tip of the gun against the bridge of Kara's nose. "You have three seconds."

"But I don't-"

"One."

Kara gave a small, hysterical sounding laugh. "You're crazy, aren't you? Poor things gone mad-"

Heero didn't waver. "Two."

"All right, all right!" Kara held up her hands. "I give! Don't shoot!"

"Where?" Sano snarled.

~*~

Anya reached towards the next Bish-ball, hand shaking. Two Bishies left... But she had to do this.

"Good-bye... Heero."

~*~

Snap!

Heero blinked, and his eyes widened.

"SANO! Hurry! She's releasing us!" Heero said.

Said Bishonen nodded. He had just gotten the information he needed from Kara, and was already running at top speed through the hallways, looking for the door the girl had described.

"Don't you dare disappear on me," he growled, punching open a door to peer in. Then he moved to the next one. "Damn it! It's gotta be here somewhere!"

~*~

Anya paused, listening for a moment to the sound of someone banging open doors nearby. She couldn't tell where, of course; the room she was in didn't seem to have windows or doors.

Her ears pricked when she heard shouting, and a number of other banging noises above her.

/Is that the police? / she wondered. /Are they really coming? I thought I heard someone on a PA earlier... I'm saved! /

She was ready to dance for joy. After all, she was on her last ball, and if she had broken it, she wouldn't have been able to return to this world again.

But then, she sobered when she realized, /It doesn't matter who that is. Even if it is the police, they could never fly me back to the city in time to save my Bishies. Any of them. I don't even know where they were! /

She sighed, looking at the ball in her hands. /Sano... it's been fun. But it's time. /

~*~

Sano destroyed another door, looking through it hurriedly and finding nothing. "DAMN!" he swore.

Gasping for breath, he came to the next door. "Oh please, Kami-sama," he prayed. He readied a punch...

~*~

"Good-bye... Sa-"

BOOM!

Anya gasped as she heard something explode not twenty feet away from her, and whirled around. Ignoring the glass and her blood, the trainer stared, Sano's ball in her hands.

"S-Sano?!"

The Bishonen stood in the doorway, panting and holding his side as though he had a stitch there. For a moment, he merely stood there. Then he smirked, raised one hand in greeting, and spoke.

"Hey, Anya."

~*~

Kara's heart felt like it was about to explode.

It was pounding so hard in her eardrums, she could swear everyone else in the lab could, too. She wondered why no one laughed at her fear.

/I'm going to get caught. /

And not only that, but she had no one to protect her now. All she had was herself, with a loaded gun pointed at her face.

She swallowed as she heard someone- no, a number of people- racing through the hallways nearby. She closed her eyes, willing herself to disappear before anything could happen to her.

/Please, no. It wasn't supposed to be this way.../

She barely heard someone speak over her beating heart. "You are a Heero Yuy?"

"I belong to a kidnapped trainer here, Anya," he responded. Kira felt her nose being nudged by the gun. "This is the 'scientist'-" he said this with a touch of a sneer in his voice "- you seek."

There was a pause, then, "I see."

/No no no no no NO NO NO! / Kara's mind cried.

She snapped her eyes open just as she felt cold metal slap itself about her wrists. She looked up, pleadingly, into a policeman's face.

"Former trainer Kara," the policeman stated. "You are under arrest."