How to Conquer the World: and Other Such Endeavors

"So, is your name really Bear?"

Kleio walked casually alongside Bear, card tucked safely under her arm. Sneaking in and out of her house to get the card proved to be no problem what so ever. She had mastered that art long ago- the only trouble was getting the card out without damaging it. Who knows? They might decide that it was counterfeit if she got it there too banged up.

“No, it’s not,” he finally sighed out. Kleio found it hard to read the expression currently on Bear’s face. She herself was confused. What sort of nickname was Bear? Then again, when she met him, he did appear to be wearing a sort of Bear get-up.

“Then what is your real name?” she questioned with a bit of curiosity finding its way into her voice. Bear looked away in a sort of distracted way as he seemed to go into a rather deem thought.

“I… I don’t know…” he muttered, practically under his breath.

“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’ve got to know your own name,” Kleio urged as the two came to a momentary halt. Bear had a lost look in his eyes as he scanned the area once more. He kept shaking his head as he tried to think. He could feel a headache coming on from the subject.

"It doesn't matter. We have to get back to your friend, remember? I would appreciate keeping my own life as well," he suddenly snapped. Kleio jumped about two or three feet in surprise and shied away from him a bit.

Roque... Right. They needed to get back to Roque.

Without a second more of hesitation, Kleio broke out into a run. When she checked the clock, it had been 12:15. That gave her only fifteen minutes to get back to Roque. A sickening feeling in her gut took hold and she felt tears stinging in her eyes. He wouldn't even be in this situation if it hadn't been for her, the always adventurous person that she was. And, to make matters worse, she had even nearly forgotten the urgency of this situation, thanks to her curiosity.

"You really shouldn't rush. We'll get there in time, I promise," Bear said from her side. She cast him a sideways glance for a moment before shaking her head and staring straight ahead once more. No more distractions. She didn't need any more distractions.

"What will happen when we get there?" she asked after a few beats of silence. She was still running- there was no way in hell that she would let herself get caught up again, not as long as Roque's life was on the line.

"We'll have a party, just like the card says, of course. We're just a very... Up-tight group, I guess you could say. It's very rare that a party is thrown for an outsider, you know." Kleio grunted and shook her head at this response. She really wished that they would have chosen someone else.

"So why did they decide to now?"

"Because they needed new members."

Kleio gave Bear a funny look. What could that possibly mean? They weren't expecting her to stay, were they? She was only coming back so that she could get Roque out of there. Why would she stay?

"Believe me, dude. Once I get this to those freaks, me and Roque are out of there. Any crowd that's willing to kill a person because they're late, or because they forgot their invitation, is not the type of group that I'd be willing to say around," Kleio hissed. She could see the gates to Alistor's Wonderful World just up ahead.

"Oh, but you must. They do not take kindly to people leaving. That's why they were so reluctant to letting you go, and why they kept Roque as incentive," Bear informed. Kleio stopped dead in her tracks again. He couldn't be serious. Could he?

"So, let me get this straight... Once I go through those gates, they aren't going to let me back out, will they? And, should I choose to stay out here, they're going to kill Roque?" she wondered, looking cautiously at the gates.

"You would be correct."

"What happens if you don't go through the gates? I mean, you said they don't take kindly to people leaving, yet they let you leave willingly," Kleio reminded, setting her hands upon her hips.

"They also let Q-Ball leave momentarily. Only, you can't really consider it leaving. Should we not get back in time, we drop dead where we stand. There have been cases where people we just about to cross the line and the clock ticked just a simple second past their time and- boom!- dead, just like that." bear snapped his fingers for extra emphasis. Kleio chewed on her lip and pondered that for a moment.

"Would that happen to me?"

A pang of guilt slammed right into Kleio the moment she asked the question. She couldn't believe herself! For a moment, she had seriously thought about not going in there, not going to save Roque. She loved him, yes, as a friend, but still... At the cost of her freedom? At the rest of her life?

"Well--"

"No, screw it, I don't want to know anymore. It doesn't matter. I'm going in anyway, what point would it be to know?" she seethed, mainly to cover up her momentary lapse of strength. She marched right on forward and could feel her heart up in her throat. She couldn't stall any longer- if she did, she would never be able to forgive herself, simply because she honestly didn't think she would have the guts to go through with it if she thought on it any longer.

The moment her foot stepped over the property line, everything seemed to flash into life. What once looked like an empty, abandoned lot suddenly turned into a garden boisterous with motion, and people. The shanty old building restored itself to new, right before her eyes. The neon sign glowed in a proud looking way, and the double doors gleamed with a newly-polished look to them. Alistor stood on the top step- now adorned in a black suit and cape rather than the oddly matched clothes from before, but still masked by the feathered black mask from before- and Roque stood at his side. He was wearing the same as before, with the cloth bandanna- black with paisleys- mask still in place. The pleading, hopeful look in his eyes immediately turned into that of relief when he spotted Kleio, card in hand, walk through the gate.

"Here, here! It appears that our Guest of Honor has decided to show herself!" Alistor chimed. The crowd laughed and parted, as to make room for Kleio and Bear- who, as Kleio could see, was now taller than he had been, dressed in his slightly tattered and fuzzy-looking suit, and bear-like mask once more.

"The card, it's here. See? We weren't lying." Kleio handed the card over the moment she got close enough. Before she could run to Roque, something caught her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move. Alistor opened the card up and looked at it carefully.

"Now, wait just a minute, little miss. This invitation says nothing about bringing a guest with you..." Alistor started off slowly. A look of dread melted onto Kleio's face, and a confused one appeared on Roque's. "You do realize what this means, don't you?"

"N-no... No, you can't be serious!" Kleio gasped. Her heart was thumping in her chest faster than she ever could imagine. Roque... He was going to die anyway, wasn't he? It would never have mattered if she had gone back through those gates or not. Roque was going to die anyway...

"Oh, yes. It seems Bear must have filled you in, little miss. Your friend here will have to face the punishment for trying to crash our party. He's an awfully hansom boy. What a shame. We could have used him, too..." Alistor tutted softly and shook his head.

"No..." her voice barely audible, Kleio struggled harder to fight whatever was holding her. She couldn't let them do this. She just couldn't.

"Bear," Alistor called out. Bear snapped to attention. "Take him away from my sight."

"Yes, sir," Bear replied with a deep bow. The double doors swung open as Bear marched forward and, as he passed by, her grappled Roque around the waist. This seemed to be all he needed for Roque to be able to move once more, but it didn't matter. Bear was, obviously, much stronger that Roque.

"No, no, no... Roque! Please, no..." Kleio whimpered. Her arm, slowly by slowly, began to rise and reach out for her friend. She could feel her head going light from the stress and strain from fighting whatever this force was that kept her from moving much more that she was. Alistor had an surprised expression on his face that she couldn't see. All she could see right now was Roque.

"Kleio! What are they going to do to me? Kleio, please--" before Roque could get another word out, the doors slammed shut.

"Roque... My Roque... He's gone... And it's all my fault..." Kleio could feel tears sliding on down her cheeks, but that's the last thing she felt before passing out.

'...I'm so sorry...'