A Haunted Hand

In the beginning of 1997, the city of Salina had no superheroes or heroines of great importance or reputation. In fact, if you'd asked someone, they would have probably just looked at you strangely and told you this was Salina, not Gotham City or Metropolis.
Then, reports of foiled robberies began to appear it the paper and the people wondered. Eyewitnesses could never agree on the vigilante's costume, and some thought there might be more than one. Still the activity of this person or persons was sporadic at best, and long periods of time came to pass without a trace or sighting.
The girls we now know as the Others had known each other less than a year. Tonya had joined Sally, Jessica, and Poopsie late their eight-grade year, and Dee was introduced early in their Freshman year. None of them felt comfortable revealing to the group their special powers yet, and it wouldn't be revealed until the graduation slumber party.
Tonya had a computer class, but she already knew most of the information so she was able to play on the Internet a lot. She soon discovered the wonderful world of Rping, where a frustrated girl could live out her fantasies. She quickly adopted the persona of a cat person, or neko, named Felina Archer. This teenager excelled in archery and protected her forest from evil.
Felina soon had several friends, but the most interesting had to be a young woman by the screen name of Cyber Ghost Angel. She was almost always on and could find information on anything. Tonya, always making up nicknames for her friends, quickly dubbed this one Spook. CGA didn't mind and soon quite a few people were using it in the chat room.
Early one morning, Tonya was practically alone in the school library and talking to Spook. A thunderstorm, typical at this time of year, raged out side. No one else was on so they had the room to themselves. Tonya was asking Spook different questions about various topics, noticing it took the other girl very little time to answer her queries. Then it happened.
Tonya was trying to throw her friend a curve ball, but couldn't figure out how to spell a word and hesitated, trying to spell it phonetically. Spook answered it immediately, but Tonya hadn't even sent the question. She realized she was speaking her questions aloud while she typed. Spook could hear her!
Tonya glanced around, but couldn't see anyone else who would be with in earshot. Following her hunch, Tonya just spoke her next question aloud. "How's the weather where you are?"
Not missing a beat, Spook typed her answer, "Sunny and warm."
Tonya blinked and cocked her head, studying the monitor. "You can hear me?"
There was a long paused before the Spook answered, "Yes."
A partially close lightening strike created a thunderclap that rattled the windows. "Well...if you're in this computer or the network, I would get out. The storm is getting worse and I wouldn't want you to get stuck in there," Tonya said quietly.
"Okay. Thanks. Talk to you later."
Five minutes later, the power suddenly went out. The librarian stumbled around in the dark telling Tonya to remain calm and not to worry. Tonya smirked and tried not to laugh because she could she just find in the dark. The lights came back on before school started and the rest of the day went normally.
The next day Spook was back on when Tonya logged in. "Power went out about five minutes after you left," Tonya informed her.
"Oh. Thanks again. Hey, would you mind if I called you tonight?"
Tonya blinked, "I didn't give you my number."
"I was going to ask for it."
"Well...Okay my parents will be gone from about 5:30 to around 8:30 tonight. My number is (578) 285-8067."
"K, I'll call you about 6 tonight."
- - - - - -
Tonya waited by the phone, not really expecting a call. She couldn't believe she had really given her number to a complete stranger. The phone rang and she jumped, startled, and eyed the phone worriedly.
"Hello?" she said picking up the receiver.
"Hello, Felina?" asked a female voice, with an Asian accent.
Tonya almost said no, then remembered Spook didn't know her real name. "Yeah it's me. Is this Spook?"
The girl laughed, "Yup. How's it going?"
They talked for about 20 minutes before Tonya said, "Well I'm not sure where you're calling from but I would hate to bankrupt you will a killer long distance bill. Maybe we could talk another time."
"Actually if you wouldn't mind...I could just come over to your house." Spook answered, "I would really like to meet you." Tonya hesitated, and Spook added, "If you want me to leave I will. I promise."
"Alright, umm...where do you live? I'll give you directions," Tonya said.
Spook laughed again. "Actually just put the phone on the counter and stand back. If nothing happens within five minutes, just hang up. Okay?"
"Okay." Tonya did as she was told, eyeing the phone a bit dubiously.
Suddenly a white, shimmering fog began to flow from the phone. Tonya stepped back and unsheathed her claws, tail lashing, unsure if she should run or stand and fight. The fog condensed into a human shape, then solidified completely. The girls stared at each other for a minute, struck by how close they resembled their role-playing counterparts.
Spook was about the same height as Tonya, but not as muscular. Though most definitely of Asian descent, she had rather unusual features. Her eyes were ice blue, but strangely warm, and her hair was pure white! Tonya studied her closely, but decided both features were natural.
Noticing Spook, was actually looking behind her, Tonya turned to see what the other girl was staring at. She blanched as she realized her tail was still flicking back and forth and her claws were unsheathed. Quickly, she sheathed her claws and wrapped her tail around her waist.
Spook laughed. "Gomen, Felina. It's just I was worried about the whole phone trick, and now I find you have secrets too," she explained.
"Gomen?" Tonya cocked her head.
"It mean sorry in Japanese. I'm from Tokyo, so if a start speaking Japanese, feel free to stop me."
Tonya's eyes widened, "Tokyo?! Whoa, that's a long trip." Spook nodded, and Tonya smirked and extended a hand, "Well, welcome to the Salina, Kansas, in the United States. Good to meet you."
Spook shook her hand, "I'm very happy to be here as well."
They laughed at the formality of it all, and Tonya said, "Well, as long as we're breaking rules anyway...My real name is Tonya D___. I'm 14."
Spook looked surprised, then nodded, "And mine is Zo Kamali. I am 16."
And so a partnership was formed that night when two girls realized together, just maybe, they could help clean up the world. Zo, aka Spook, became the eyes, ears, and brains of the duo, while Tonya, aka Tygeress, was the muscle.
Bounty hunting, while dangerous, financed their operations and was the logical choice. They couldn't do much while still in high school, but with Zo's help, Tygeress learned a lot about how to handle criminals and dangerous situations outside her own city.
Even after joining with the other girls and moving to Tequila Heights, Tonya would run jobs for Zo. Sometimes they joked that she was one of Charlie's Angel's, only she actually knew Charlie. Tonya never told the other girls about her mysterious trips, always finding the proper excuse to fit the occasion. She felt it was the best thing; it would keep everyone's identities secret. Sure Spook could look up all the information and figure out each of the Others' true names, but Tonya trusted that she wouldn't.

Techno searched the mansion from top to bottom trying to find Tonya. The cameras couldn't locate her, but he knew she was somewhere on the grounds. After Jessica's resent kidnapping, he had been trying to keep closer tabs on the girls, but Tonya always seemed able to disappear. He stepped out into the garage and spotted the hood of her truck propped open. Scanning the area, he still couldn't see the girl.
He looked under the hood, then lean on the front to get a closer look at the motor.
"Hey!" Techno jumped in surprise, "Don't lean on the truck! It's a tight fit already without you pushing it down, Techno," she growled.
He walked around to the passenger's side and saw the lower half of Tonya sticking out from under the truck. "Engine trouble or oil change?" he asked curiously, studying the array of tools lying on the tray of the mobile toolbox.
"Oil change. Can you hand me the 3/8ths socket, please?"
Techno dropped the proper piece into her hand, then stepped back to wait. He heard the clang of metal striking metal, then the sound of flowing liquid. Tonya wiggled a little trying to work her way out, then paused.
"Hey, Techno? Mind giving me a hand?" she asked.
"What?"
"Grab my leg and pull. I'm a little stuck." Techno chuckled, and pulled her out. "Thanks," she said dusting herself off. "You need something?" she asked, curiously, cocking her head.
Techno sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Would you mind drawing something for me?"
Tonya shrugged, "Okay. But you'll need to be a little more specific." She turned to check the fluids, then glanced back. "You need it now?"
Techno shook his hand, "No. It can wait, but I would like to have it within...two weeks? I think Zarbon wants one, too." He knew from her expression that he had piqued her curiosity.
"You going to tease me with little details, or actually give me some information?" she asked with a smirk.
Techno stood by while she worked and told her what he wanted, but refused to reveal why. She finished up quickly, cleaned up, grabbed her sketchpad, and headed down to the cave to get Zarbon's details. Both men wanted her to draw them a character sketch of characters that Zarbon claimed they were using for Dungeon's and Dragon's.
"Okay," she said, "I'll do it on two conditions. The first is that you put a block on the sketches so that no one can copy them. The second: why me? Both Dee and Sally are great artists, probably better than me. Why not ask them?"
Techno grinned, "First, you've got the most free time. Second, you've got the most experience using a scanner and coloring pictures on a computer."
Tonya nodded and head back upstairs to start her project.
- - - - - - - - -
Next Friday, Tonya was reading her one of her textbooks and glancing occasionally at her open sketchpad killing time before heading to the cave for the nightly meeting. Sometimes she set the book aside, studied her unfinished drawings, and made some marks on the paper before returning to her reading.
Suddenly a loud chirping beep sounded. Her head snapped up and she ran to her idling computer. Snatching up the noisy beeper, she shut it off and checked her email. Sure enough, an email marked Urgent, sat waiting for her.
Tonya quickly opened it, read it, printed it a copy, and then deleted the email. She quickly changed into much warmer clothing and grabbed her heavy coat. Snatching up her traveling pack, Tonya stuffed the print out in her pocket, and ran from the room.
She slide down the banister and hit the floor running. Techno and Alec were coming out of the den and she slid to a halt.
"Sorry guys, something came up, and I have to go. Gonna miss the meeting tonight and prolly tomorrow." The other members of the house had been headed to the cave and detoured to the foyer to find out what was going on. "Catch you later," she flashed her peace sign salute, and started for the door.
"Wait," Techno said, Zarbon catching her arm, "What's going on?"
"I'll explain later," she said. Zarbon stood there and she gave him a quick kiss before darting out the door.
"Where the hell do you think she's off to in such a hurry?" Jessica asked.
- - - - - - -
Saturday night, Lucy had patrol duty and was out, but the rest were gathered in the cave watching the ten o'clock news. No one was really interested in any of the stories, but the last one caught everyone's attention.
"And it seems that at least one of our local vigilantes is going international in her attempts to wipe out crime. While we can't be completely sure it was her, a young woman dressed like Tygeress busted up a major drug ring in Brazil, and brought the men in charge to justice. Amazingly she stayed just long enough to collect the 2 million dollar bounty that had been placed on the men by the local government before flying away. Thank you for tuning in and see you tomorrow night." The anchorwoman signed off.
The film footage that had been shown with the story left no doubt in the group's mind that the girl was their missing roommate. The perimeter alarm sounded and the cameras showed Tonya coming up the drive. They met her as she came in the door.
If this startled Tonya, she gave no sign. She just looked at the group as though bored, her exhaustion plain.
"Hey, Tonya," Poopsie said, "Can I borrow some money?"
Tonya blinked and frowned slightly. "All I got's a twenty, and I don't really want to give it away."
"What happened to the 2 mill you just made?" Sebastian asked.
"And why didn't you let us in on the action?" Dee demanded angrily.
"If I'd known you were into bounty hunting I could have given you some help and advice," Alec added.
Tonya just looked at her friends in slight confusion. She rubbed her forehead, tucked some loose hair behind her ear, and yawned. "I'm sorry guys," she said, "I'm not really sure what you're all talking about. I just spent the last four hours riding on the tail of a puddle jumper and all I really want to do is go to bed. I'll answer all questions in the morning."
Without another word, she pushed though the group and trudged up the stairs. They heard her door shut and exchanged looks.
"Well," said Sebastian, "She didn't deny it."
"She was so wiped out," Sally interjected, "I don't think she would have denied being the President."
Alec rubbed his neck. "I might be wrong, but I really don't think she knew about the bounty. Or at least not the amount."
Zarbon shrugged. "I go see if I can talk to her," he volunteered, "Though I doubt all get much."
He headed up stairs, as the rest went back down to the cave. He knocked on her door and walked in. The lights were out, but he could see her lying on the bed. She shifted and he knew she had noticed he was there. Zarbon turned on the lamp on the nightstand and she turned her face away from the light. Tonya was asleep already, lying on her stomach and still fully clothed, including her shoes.
Zarbon sighed and set on the bed to remove her tennis shoes. As he was setting them on the floor, he noticed the bag she had been carrying sitting next to the bed. Glancing at his lover, he knelt beside the bag and reached for the zipper. Maybe, just maybe, a clue to what his angel was up to was hidden inside. She sighed and mumbled something as she curled onto her side. Zarbon paused, stood, and pulled a blanket over the sleeping girl. Kissing her cheek, he turned off the lamp, and moved the bag back to its usual position against the wall.
Everyone looked at him as he came down the stairs into the cave, and he felt guilty for not checking the bag.
"Out like a light," he said.
"Did you check the bag she had?" Sebastian asked. Zarbon flushed and looked down.
"You didn't, did you? I bet all the information is in there," Dee said and stood up. "Tell you what. I go check the bag, and then we get some answers. Be right back."
"Give it a rest," Techno said. "She said she answer questions in the morning."
- - - - - - - -
The muffled beeping of her pager finally woke Tonya about 10 o'clock the next morning. She slapped blindly at her clock before realizing what it was. Turning it off, she groped for her bag by the bed. Panic forced her awake when she could find it, and she looked wildly around the room. Spotting it in its rightful place, she frowned walked over to it. A sniff confirmed her fears and she quickly opened the bag. Peering at the contents she sniffed again and realized Zarbon hadn't opened it after all.
Since she was awake anyway, she logged into the chat rooms and quickly found Spook.
Felina Archer: *The wooden door creaks as the neko enters the tavern. She yawns widely and rubs her eyes. Her tunic is a rich blue, her leggings are a cream color, and her knee-high boots are a dusky brown. The soft fur covering her lithe, athletic body is a light brown, but the braid that reached to mid thigh and her tail are a rich chestnut color. Emerald green eyes scan the room looking for friends and enemies.*
Fa: *Using her unstrung bow as a staff, she makes her way over to her friend's table without incident* H'llo Spook.
Ghost Cyber Angel: Hello, Felina. *Looks worried* You okay?
Fa: *nods and yawns again* Just exhausted. Four hours to and from on a bush hopper will do that to a girl.
Gca: *Grimaces* Point noted. Sorry 'bout that. Best I could do on short notice.
Fa: I know. But I still don't like it.
Gca: Saw you made the paper and the news last night.
Fa: *Groans* Not there too! I knew I should have left faster.
Gca: *Pats Fa on the shoulder* Couldn't be helped.
Fa: *Hangs head* Guess you're right, but now what do I tell the others?
Gca: *shrugges* Don't know. *brightens* Zechs said he was going to be on today with his friend.
Fa: What time?
Gca: Around four.
Fa: Alright. Well, I'm off to BS the others. Talk to you later.
- - - - - - -
Tonya felt a little better after a shower and a change of clothes. Well at least she did until she tripped over a chair walking into the kitchen for breakfast while trying to get her bangs out of her eyes. She caught herself quickly and blushed deeply as everyone stared at her.
She sat next to Zarbon and looked at the table as he put an arm around her. "Feeling better?" Sebastian asked with a grin.
Tonya blushed and nodded. "So where were you last night?" Jessica asked.
"At which point?" Tonya asked with an innocent expression. "Just before dark I was sneaking in a small Brazilian airport, and then for the next four, cold, windy, horribly miserable hours I clung to the tail of a small plane. Slipped off before it landed and flew back here. Then I went to bed."
"Before that?" Dee said.
Tonya smirked. "I thought you guys watched the news report," she said. "Though I'm sure details were left out that's the basics of it."
Everyone, but Techno and Zarbon, looked surprised to hear her admit it. Those two just nodded as though some allusive piece of a puzzle had finally clicked into place.
"How long have you been bounty hunting?" Alec asked curiously, buttering his toast. "To take such a difficult score speaks of a great deal of experience or a lot of luck."
Tonya hesitated and Techno leaned forward, watching her and waiting. She noticed his intent stare and met his eye, desperately trying to think. How much could she say without giving away Spook and their whole operation? The more questions she answered, the more they would ask.
She dropped her eyes and chewed her lip. "Freshman year of high school," she finally answered quietly, dread filling her gut.
Alec simply nodded and ate his toast thoughtfully. The girls looked rather surprised and exchanged glances.
"So..." Sally started, "Do you work alone or..."
Sebastian cut her off. "Are you kidding?" he asked Sally scornfully, "Of course she doesn't. She barely keeps herself out of trouble when she's working with this group. Her bounty hunter team must have a lot of people on it to help her."
Tonya's eyes flashed with anger at the insult, but she held her tongue. Several of the others at the table were frowning at the remark as well, but Zarbon was glaring daggers at the other man.
"Does it matter?" Tonya said, her eyes turning to Sally, "I know how to keep my jobs separated. If I tell you about my other job, it would only be fair to tell them about this one."
Sally nodded, but Sebastian wasn't satisfied. "That's what you say now, but what about if someone puts a bounty on one of us? Would you turn us in if the price were high enough? How high would it have to be before you would turn on Jessica or on of the others girls? A couple million and you'd snap it up, would you?" he demanded angrily.
The table went silent as he began his accusation, staring at him in shock. They were half expecting Zarbon to kill him before he could finish, but he did nothing. A low growl hit their ears as Tonya tried to control her rage.
She jumped up with a snarl, her eyes narrowed and flashing with anger. "I would turn you in for free," she said, her voice low and deadly. Her fists, resting on the tabletop, were clenched so tight her knuckles were white. "As for the rest of this household and all my friends...I would slit my throat before betraying one of them," she growled, her nails digging into her skin. "My bounty hunting experiences have all been solo and taught me a lot about surviving. One major lesson is too keep your secrets secret and trust no one," she said, blood beginning to run onto the table from the cuts, but she didn't notice. "Another, don't piss off someone stronger, faster, and better equipped then yourself." With that she turned from the table and walked stiffly away. They heard her door slam a minute later, but all eyes were on the twin pools of blood.
"Smooth move, Dumbass," Dee whispered.
- - - - - - - -
Techno paused outside Tonya's door and questioned the wisdom of this plan again. She hadn't come out of her room since breakfast and even Zarbon was staying away from her. He knocked, then knocked louder when he heard no response. Finally, he heard her yell "What!" and opened the door.
"Can I come in?" he asked making sure to keep all important body parts behind the door.
"Whatever," she answered.
He peeked around the door cautiously, hoping she wasn't waiting to bean him with something. It had happened before and he wasn't eager to repeat that experience. She was sitting at her computer, her back to the door and was studying the screen. Techno walked in, shut the door behind him, and slowly walked toward her.
He paused by the bed, judging it to be a safe distance, and stopped. "He going to live?" he asked. His query had the desired effect.
She turned from her computer and looked at him confused. "Who?" she asked. Techno rolled his eye and shook his head. "Oh, Sebastian!" she said, then smirked. "Yeah, he'll live." The smirked turned wicked, "But he may regret it." She turned back to the computer and resumed working.
Techno made a mental note to warn Sebastian and noticed the open sketchpad on the bed. He inspected the drawings of a wizard and a neko, and nodded with satisfaction. Daring to move closer, he looked over her shoulder at the screen. She was working on shading Zarbon's picture, but suddenly minimized it and brought up another. Tonya glanced up at his face to gauge his expression and was pleased to see that he was very impressed. She brought up the neko image and began working again.
He watched her work for a while, trying to decide how to breach the subject. Shaking his head, Techno frowned. This wasn't his favorite thing to do; he really sucked at heart to hearts, and wished he could have gotten Zarbon to do it.
Techno sighed heavily, and jumped as she spoke. "You want to know more about my bounty hunting, right?" she said without pausing.
"Yeah."
She hit the save button and shut down the program. Popping out the disk, she swiveled the chair around to face him, and flipped the disk at him. He caught it easily and noticing the bandages on her hands. She frowned at him, then pushed her bangs back. "I'll ask. If my friend is willing, I'll set up a meeting for you. Okay?" she said.
Techno nodded, and glanced at the screen before turning to leave. He whipped back around and stared at the background in surprise. Tonya laughed and he looked at her worriedly.
"I drew that," she giggled, "I swear I've never made him wear it." She smirked, "Please don't tell him."
Techno just shook his head and walked out of the room very quickly.
- - - - - - -

GCA: Very nice boys. Congratulate the artist for me.
ZM: We'll pass it along.
FA: Quite good. Think I've seen her work before.
GCA: Now that you mention it, it does look familiar. Where have a seen it?
Private Message to GCA from FA: Look at your picture.
Private Message to FA from GCA: They're by the same artist! And so is yours... *pauses* I thought you drew these.
Private Message to GCA from FA: *smirks* I did. And I did those as well.
Private Message to FA from GCA: You know these guys in the real world?
Private Message to GCA from FA: *grins like a Cheshire cat*
BC: Hello? *Waves hand* Did you guys pass out or something?
FA: *Winks* No, just discussing something.
ZM: Care to let us in on it?
GCA: *exchanges glance with Felina and smirks* Nope.
- - - - - - - -
"Techno."
Zarbon and Techno jumped guiltily at the sound of Tonya's voice, and quickly minimized their chat room windows. They looked at her, each other, then back at her. She seemed to be waiting for an answer.
"What?" Techno asked with a scowl.
"She's agreed to met you. Just name the day and she'll come."
"Thursday.
Tonya looked mildly amused. "Halloween?" she asked and Techno gave a curt nod. This brought a true smile to her lips. "How fitting," she said quietly, then nodded, "I'll tell her." She turned and started back up the stairs.
- - - - - - -
The days passed quickly and quietly. Sebastian and Tonya avoided each other like the plague. No sign of revenge had appeared as of yet and Sebastian was starting to get nervous. If they made eye contact, Sebastian would look away first while Tonya grinned evilly.
Thursday finally came and Tonya was practically bouncing around the mansion. Techno and her had agreed that he would meet her friend first, then maybe the others could meet her. Just after lunch, Tonya slipped up to her room and Techno went to the study to wait.
"Ready?" Tonya asked her computer, knowing Spook was already there.
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah."
"You sure? Did you check the room?"
"Yes."
"Did you check the hall?"
"No."
"Well?"
"All right, I'll check," Tonya grumbled as she opened the door and looked out. "Like I thought, no one."
"You're sure?"
"Positive," Tonya said turning back around, "There no one...there." She gave Spook, who was now sitting in her chair, a wry smile. "Except you."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's met Charlie 2."
They sneaked to the study without been seen by the others and found Techno reading a book. He glanced up as they came in and stared at Spook in surprise. Spook was equally startled.
Tonya chuckled. "Techno," she said, "this is Zo Kamali, my bounty hunting partner. She's from Japan. Zo, this is Techno. He runs the operation here."
"My goodness," Zo gasped, "He looks just like your drawing of Zechs."
Techno blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Your role play character. Zechs Mystique. You look just like him." Zo said.
Techno's eye widened, then he frowned at her. "Spook?"
Zo laughed. "Yup, that's me."
Techno looked at Tonya. "Then that means..."
"Felina Archer," Tonya bowed, "At your service."
Techno shook his head. "I should have know," he grumbled, "It was pretty obvious."
Tonya nodded smugly. "Yup. If you'll excuse me...I've got others things to attend to." Her eyes sparkled with mischief and they quickly waved her out of the room.
- - - - - - -
Techno caught Tonya as she came down the main staircase. "Round up everyone. Meeting in the den in ten minutes." She nodded and scampered off to find the others.
Seven minutes later, the entire group was waiting for Techno in the den. He appeared carrying a laptop and an extension cord. He tossed the cord to Tonya and she quickly plugged it in while he set the computer on a chair.
"Need to move the coffee table," she said. Techno glanced at her, then nodded, and she pulled it back about three feet.
Once the computer was set up, Techno stood up and stepped back. "Ready?" he asked, apparently addressing the machine. It beeped in reply, then a pearly white fog began to flow from the screen.
"What the hell?!" the group exclaimed and thought in unison.
Tonya laughed and Techno just looked amazed as the fog condensed into the shape of a woman. It thickened farther until Spook was completely solid, and she opened her eyes.
"Hello," she said, her Japanese accent thick, "So these are your friends, Tonya?" Tonya nodded. Spook bowed and said, "It is a pleasure to meet all of you finally. I've have heard a lot about you."
Everyone stared in silence, so Tonya stepped forward. "Guys, this is Zo Kamali aka Spook," she said and saw a look of recognition pass across Zarbon's face. "She is also my bounty hunting partner. My Charlie, if you will, sending me my mission's."
She glanced at Techno, then proceeded to introduce everyone at his nod. Zo smiled warmly and shook everyone's hand.
Zo eyed all the men appreciatively and cast Tonya a wicked smirk. "<You know,>" she said slipping into Japanese, "<You girls are lucky to have such hot, sexy studs at your beck and call. Do sell tickets when they mow the grass in the hot summer sun?>"
Tonya smirked. "<Sorry, no, we have a gardener. He's really cute too, but he's Sally's.>"
"<Damn,>" she said sadly, then smirked "< So Tonya, do you follow the saying?>" Tonya raised an eyebrow. "<Save the horses, ride the cowboys?>" Spook asked, tilting her head to indicate Zarbon who was blushing fiercely. She noticed this and looked at Tonya questioningly. "<You know, I'd almost think he understand me,>" she said.
"<He does,>" Tonya answered grinning broadly, "<Where do you think I learned it from?>"
"Well, I hate to run out on our guest," Sebastian said, "But I've got to go get ready for work." He gave Jessica a kiss and head to his room for a shower to freshen up.
Everyone else continued to talk and ask Zo questions, but both Zarbon and Techno noticed Tonya seemed distracted. She kept watching the door as though she was waiting for something. Zarbon nudged Alec and the three men exchanged glances. Pricking his ears, Zarbon could hear the shower in Sebastian's room and the man singing as he bathed.
By this time, the girls had noticed something was up and were looking at the men for an explanation, but just got a shrug for an answer. Tonya tensed suddenly, her tail flicking with anticipation, and a small smile on her lips. Zarbon had just realized the shower was off when they heard Sebastian yell, "WHAT THE HELL?!?!?"
Tonya began to chuckle to her self as the others stared at her. Sebastian flung open his door and ran into the den wearing his black boxers and a towel draped over his shoulders. The group gasped in shock at his appearance, but not because of his state of dress. His shoulder length black hair and goatee were now a lovely shade of pumpkin orange.
He glared at Tonya, who had dissolved into laughter at the sight of him and was clinging to Zarbon for support. Her face was red and she kept wiping away tears as she tried to get herself under control.
"You little..." Sebastian started, but Alec cut him off.
"At least you still have your hair," he said, "I'm sure she could have done worse."
"I can not believe you did that to my boyfriend!" Jessica yelled at the still laughing Tonya.
"We can!" Poopsie and Sally said.
"So you're Sebastian Lewis," Spook said, "Don't worry, it will wash out in a week to ten days."
"And what am I supposed until then?" Sebastian asked folding his arms.
"I'd suggest getting to work or Humphrey will have your ass," Alec said.
Sebastian stormed off to his room and Jessica quickly followed him. Tonya had finally managed to calm down, but giggling fits still shook her frame.
"Two questions, Tonya," Poopsie said, "Why and how did you dye his hair orange?"
"Why?" Tonya's eyes narrowed, "You heard what he said to me, and it's Halloween." She smirked, "And how? It's Chemistry my dear Poopsie."
"You know he's going to retaliate," Jessica said, coming back into the room.
"Let him," Tonya said, grinning smugly, "I'll be waiting." Her smug grin turned wicked, "And I've still got many more ideas up my sleeve."