Mystery Fanstuff Theater 3000/Spirit/8

Andy turned onto his side once more and sighed. He just couldn't fall asleep. He constantly felt a pair of eyes watching him and it was starting to creep him out. Glaring at the dark, he sat up and threw his legs over the side of his bed. Jamie and Kristine were still sleeping soundly. Lucky them.

Andy tiptoed out of their room, knowing all hell would break loose if he woke the twins up at this hour. His feet made muffled padding sounds as he walked down the hall stifling a yawn. Upon reaching his brother's door, he immediately closed it with a tap of his foot. Michael was snoring again.

He entered the small kitchen and found his parents' notes on the table, waiting to be read the following morning. Apparently they had come home after they'd all gone to sleep and left without him noticing. Andy glanced at the clock.

"1:13....it's morning anyways," he muttered and unfolded the notes, one from each parent.

Dear children, Please understand that I will be coming back. I just need some time to think. Take care of each other until I come back and make sure you eat well.

Love always, Mom

Andy snorted and opened his father's note.

Dear kids, Your mom and I had another disagreement in case you hadn't guessed. She'll be coming back sometime, but I won't. I can't stand being in that house with her. I still love all of you, but that's not enough. Give her hell when she comes back for me.

Dad

Andy, Take care of everyone. Michael's a lazy bum and would rather sleep or drink booze than take care of you guys. You're in charge from now on. Kick him out if he gets too rowdy. Later, kid.

Andy reread both letters and sighed.

'Good old dad; always trying to make everyone feel better.' He thought sarcastically. 'Mom will probably be home within the week, maybe two. I just gotta cover this and fight these stupid demons. What fun.'

Andy grabbed a glass from the counter and poured some water. He stared into space for a while contemplating how he was going to take care of his siblings and fight demons that are bent on destroying humanity. It took him a couple minutes to realize his glass had been filled for a while and was overflowing into the sink.

"Oops."

"You're supposed to turn the water off once the glass is full."

Andy turned around lazily and noticed Meg was watching him. As if the thought just struck him, he turned off the water. "I guess I'm just out of it. It's too early. Did I wake you up?"

"No, I never fell asleep."

"How come?"

"Ever had a voice in your head that kept bugging you about something?"

"Yeah."

"Like that, but with a twist."

"Twist? Never had that happen. I've been feeling like someone's watching me all night."

"Creepy."

"Yeah, well, anyways, I guess we should lie in bed and try to sleep again. Otherwise, I might actually strangle Sean tomorrow."

"Can I help?"

"The more the merrier." Andy shrugged and led the way back down the hallway.

"Hey, Andy?"

"Yeah?"

"I can watch the twins tomorrow, if you want. I mean, so you can go to that meeting with Chris." Meg studied her feet as she spoke to avoid Andy's face.

"Uh, yeah. That'd be great, but how did you know....." Andy trailed off.

"It's a secret." Meg smiled and closed her door behind her. Andy stood watching the door for a while trying to figure Meg out, when both twins woke up and began screaming bloody murder. Andy groaned and walked over to them.

"Well, on the bright side you guys are old enough to get out of diapers."

"Shut those little imps up! I'm trying to sleep!" Michael glared at Andy from the doorway. He was leaning on the frame for support because he was only half awake.

"Why don't you help me if it bothers you so much?"

"Because those things are too loud. And it requires touching them so just shut them up and get back to bed," Michael stumbled back down to his own room and slammed his door shut.

"Idiot." Andy mumbled and resumed trying to calm the twins. Kristine thought it was fun to grab his hair and suck on it, while Jamie wanted a piggyback ride.

"Yay! Andy, play with us!" Kristine shouted and clapped her hands, forgetting about his hair for the moment.

"Andy!! Something scary was looking in the window.... I'm scared!" Jamie pouted and tugged on Andy's sleeve.

Andy picked them both up and sat by the window sill. "There's nothing here guys, see? It was probably just the tree's shadow."

"No! I saw it too! It looked kinda like Mikey when he changed his hair blue!" Kristine said proudly.

"It got really cold too." Jamie pouted and hugged Andy's arm again.

'Great. Zinc must've followed me here or something.' Andy thought. He made sure the window was locked and brought both kids back over towards their beds.

"I'm sure that if you saw that thing, it's gone now. You're not cold again are you?"

"Yeah. A bit." Kristine said and hugged herself as a cool breeze swept through the room.

'Wait. I closed the window.....' Andy glanced around the room to the window, then back at the twins. Their childishly wide eyes were even bigger as they stared at something in the doorway.

"What, you're not going to welcome me in?" Andy turned around and glared at Zinc.

"What do you want?" Andy glared even harder when Zinc laughed. "You really need to work on your 'evil laugh', Zinc. It sounds like your drunk or something."

Zinc stopped laughing and returned the glare. "You're too cocky for your own good. You need to learn how to pick your fights."

"You're the one who came in here laughing your head off and you're calling me cocky? Get your priorities straight, man." Kristine and Jamie just moved their heads from one speaker to the next, finding their battle of wits entertaining.

"I came to give you a choice. You can die now, or later. Pick," Zinc said, finally getting serious.

"Okay, this is not some kind of old suspense movie. That line has been overused for a long time now. But, I guess you wouldn't know that, seeing as how you've been hiding with your little friends for centuries." Andy smirked. 'I've defiantly been around Sean too much.'

Zinc rolled his eyes. "I know that you don't have your stone-"

"Because that other girl told or something like that." Andy cut in. "But, if it'll keep you away, I'll wait to die. I've got more important things on my mind right now." Andy waved his hand in the air dismissively, and then turned his back on the ice demons and picked up the twins. "Well, go on now. Go on back to your beloved master and praise him or something. Whatever it is you demons do."

Zinc glared at him. "You'd better feel lucky that Saku gave you a choice. He seems to want a challenge from you, though I doubt that's possible. You're just a filthy human."

"And you're a filthy demon. Just go. Your master is calling you." Andy threw the last comment over his shoulder while he was tucking the twins back into bed, much to their dismay. Zinc disappeared, obviously mad that his leader wouldn't let him kill them until they had merged with their stones.

"Who was he?" Jamie asked. "He had cool hair!"

"No one important. Now go to sleep and I'll treat you to something special in the morning, okay?" Andy said. Both children nodded vigorously and plopped their heads onto the pillow and fell straight asleep.

"Now how come I can't fall asleep that easily? They're lucky." Andy yawned and trudged over to his own bed and lay down. He turned onto his side and distracted himself by counting the flowers that decorated the walls of their room.

'89; 90; 91....' Andy yawned fell into an uneasy sleep.

Madison ignored the maid at her door that beckoned her to come down to talk to her mom.

"There is still some dinner left we can make for you since you haven't eaten. You mother and father wish to speak with you." The maid, Pat, tried again, knocking lightly. Madison answered by turning up her music. Simple Plan heard throughout the entire house. "Please, Miss!"

Pat sighed and headed back down the stairs.

Upon hearing Pat leave, Madison turned down the music slightly, since there was nothing to drown out. Just as she did though, two pairs of footsteps reached her door.

"Sweetie? It's mom. Open up please?"

Madison groaned when she heard a butler unlocking her door. Mrs. Peters walked in, nose pointed high and her frown deepened at the music playing.

"Why on Earth do you play this...music so loud? Doesn't it hurt your ears?" Mrs. Peters tried to sound sympathetic and kind.

"No, it doesn't hurt my ears. It drowns out everyone else's shit." Madison replied and turned it up louder. Mrs. Peters looked at her in astonishment.

"Young lady! Do not talk to your mother that way!"

"First off, I'm not a lady! I'm a teenager!" Madison yelled, jumping off her bed but not moving forward. "Secondly, you're not my mother!" Madison seemed pleased with herself when Mrs. Peters stalked out of the room cursing under her breath. She closed her door and turned her music down again. No reason to ruin the speakers when no one's there to drown out.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Madison stared at her ceiling. The song ended, making the room silent as the CD player switched to the next CD.

"Shouldn't you be a good little girl and apologize to mommy?"

Madison turned to the glaring face of Kuro. "You demons are so stupid. Of course not. I'm a not a good little girl for one, and I don't apologize to those undeserving of it. Get over it and go inflate your ego somewhere else."

Kuro glared harder at her. 'These stupid humans aren't scared of us. What's with them anyways?'

"I said go! Spirit told me that you guys won't kill us until we've merged with the spirit stone because otherwise its power is inaccessible to you." Madison yawned and turned to face her. "What? You didn't think that one of us would forget to ask about that?"

"Well, since you seem to know what's going on more than the others, why don't you tell me when you're going to merge?"

"Not a chance, sister. Besides, shouldn't you be able to tell on your own whether or not we've merged?" Madison turned her CD player off and sat up.

"Well, then I guess there's nothing for me to do here." Kuro shrugged. "You may want to warn your friends though. Zinc and the others aren't as patient as I am." With that she jumped through the open window and disappeared.

"Why do demons have to be so cliché? It makes them sound stupid." Madison repositioned herself one last time before falling asleep.

Danny turned over again, and then moved his pillow. Turn. Mumble. Turn. Flip. Turn. Danny glared at the wall, at his door as he turned over again.

"Okay, is it some kind of fucking curse from the overlords that gives me insomnia, or do the Gods just hate me?" Danny waited for answer from any inanimate object that lay in his room. When receiving none, he sat up and stared at his other wall.

'Whenever people can't sleep, it's always "go get a drink of water" or "try to relax." Morons.'

Danny got up and opened the old wooden box that held the Spirit stones. All six stones were in order, surrounding the metallic orb in the center. Now, it was glowing a midnight blue with silver and violet swirling around inside.

Danny remembered asking once what the orb was for, why it was in the middle. Spirit, or Chris as they called her human form, had quickly changed the subject, saying that the secrets of the orb could destroy her if they were leaked out.

He remembered that Sean had asked the same question later, getting quite a different answer. Sean had been told that the orb was her body, and that he should never touch it, and it should never be removed unless done so by her. Sean was completely grossed out by the thought of touching Chris' "body" so he left it alone.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, Danny closed the box and pushed it back to the corner of his room. Sighing, Danny laid back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, which he figured was feeling left out, being the only side of his room he hadn't stared at yet.

Poke. Poke. Poke. Kali mumbled something incoherent and shifted slightly.

Poke. Poke. Andy and Meg took turn poking her, trying to see if it was safe to wake her up. Andy had learned from Meg, who's learned the hard way, that Kali was very dangerous in the mornings.

Poke.

Meg watched her warily and went to poke her again.

Poke.

Meg and Andy jumped when Kali snapped up in bed, fully awake, and glaring daggers at them.

"I swear, if either of you poke me again, I'll kill you." Kali's voice was low and threatening.

"It's already nine, though. We'd thought you'd want to get ready before we leave for Danny's. Breakfast will be done soon if you wanted to take a shower before we leave." Andy offered her a towel.

"Sounds good to me. I won't take long." Kali smiled a 'thank you' and headed out the door.

"Three...two...one..." Andy and Meg counted simultaneously.

"Hey, Andy? Where did you say the bathroom was again?" Meg shook her head and sighed while Andy pointed out where the bathroom was.

"I cannot believe she's my sister..." Meg mumbled.

"It could be worse." Andy offered.

"How?"

"Sean could be your brother." Meg grinned and shook her head again as they headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"Okay, so, we're going to finish the merging thing with Chris and plan out how we're going to attack the demons, right?" Kali counted off on her fingers.

"Yup. Sean'll make us stop and eat about two hours in, but other than that we shouldn't have any interruptions." Andy grabbed a jacket for Kali out of a closet by the front door.

"Thanks. Meg, aren't you coming?" Kali turned to Meg who hadn't gotten her shoes on or grabbed her sweater.

"Actually, something came up and she offered to watch the twins for me," Andy said quickly. Kali looked at Meg, then Andy, and then back to Meg and nodded.

"Alright, just make sure you don't get into trouble or something, okay?"

"Whatever," Meg replied playfully. Kali did a mental double- take, and headed outside before anything else weird happened.

"Thanks again, Meg. I owe you one."

"Nope. We're even now." Meg smiled and then pushed him out the door. "Go on, you're going to be late, and Sean will get even more annoyed!"

Sean's stomach grumbled as he leaned on the table. Madison was sitting next to him, sipping lemonade per usual, and Danny was cooking. This time, however, he managed not to char anything.

"Food!!" Sean grabbed some bacon with one hand and forked a stack of pancakes with the other. Madison poured him some orange juice but didn't give it to him until he chewed his food.

"C'mon! You're acting like my mom!"

"How about big sister instead, since your brother is probably the reason you get away with eating all the food on the table."

"I'm a growing boy. I need my nutrition!"

"You're growing alright, but if you keep this up, it won't be up, but out."

Madison handed him his orange juice and sat back down. Of course, right when she sat down, the doorbell rang.

"Madison, would you mind getting that? I gotta make some food for us too." Danny grinned sheepishly over his shoulder.

"Sure." Madison opened the door to let Kali and Andy in. "Wasn't Meg going to come?"

"Apparently something came up, so she offered to watch Jamie and Kristine while we were gone," Kali explained.

Sean looked up and tried to talk, but only managed to spew food about the table. Swallowing, Sean tried again. "Aren't your parents going to watch them? I'm mean, you've got two, so one has got to be free. It is Sunday."

"Uh, well, actually, that's the problem." Andy scratched the back of his head and tried to find a way to avoid the topic of his parents.

"Are they bitchin' at each other again or something?" Sean forked another stack of pancakes, but looked up when he saw everyone's gaze on him, Andy's with a hurt look that was quickly covered up and adverted to the floor. "What?"

"Try to be a little more tactful! That was rude!" Madison sighed and refilled her glass of lemonade.

"Well, sorry then, but how else am I supposed to phrase it?" Sean shoved some pancakes in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully while waiting for an answer.

"Doesn't matter; a question's a question." Andy sighed and leaned back on the wall. The problem with telling them was Madison would go into her Mother-Hen mode and get all fussy, Danny would be all sympathetic, and Sean would be, well, Sean. Kali would probably be like Danny.

"So?" Sean asked impatiently, and inhaled another bite of pancakes.

"Sean!" Madison hit him on the head lightly, just so he wouldn't choke on his food.

Andy rolled his eyes. "Aren't you getting on everyone's good side today?"

"You're avoiding the subject."

"It's not that important."

"Nice try. You lie about as good as Kali. Spit it out." Danny dried his hands on a towel and stole the last pancake before Sean got it.

"Like I said, it's no big deal. Not much out of the ordinary." Andy shrugged. 'Three, two, one..."

"Oh no, what happened this time?" Madison, as he'd predicted, got him a glass of water and tried to get him to sit down and "talk about it".

"What they say?" Danny always knew what questions to ask. Damn.

"Mom and Dad are mad at each other, blah, blah, blah. What are they supposed to say?"

"Neither of them left, did they?" Kali wondered how come Meg knew before the rest of them.

"Extended vacation without intention of returning would be more accurate to his words." Andy explained.

"Well, nothing seems to be getting better for anybody. Danny apparently got a night visit from that Yani dude." Sean pouted when he noticed all the pancakes were gone.

"Yeah, Zinc came over to my place, too."

"Kuro came by my house. I pretty much told her to bug off. This Saku guy seems to know just as much about the stones as Chris does. It's kinda freaky..." Madison sipped on her drink.

"All the more reason for us to finish the merging," Danny left to grab the box with their stones while Sean polished off the pancakes.

"Can we stop at the game store? I forgot yesterday." Sean piled up the dishes and dropped them in the sink. Andy cringed, knowing at least two dishes had cracked.

"Nope. Chris will want to go over battle plans and stuff. I don't know why she bothers, sometimes. It's not like they're going to say, 'Oh, sure, we'll fight you that way so you'll have the advantage'." Danny put the box into his book bag and heaved it onto his shoulders. "Let's go."