DUCT TAPE XI: The Brat Strikes Back
by Ebonhawk

"MIA!!! Could you come help me?!"

She looked up from her romance novel at the cry. Yuli? What was he after now? Shoving her book aside, Mia knew that in no way could it be the guys bothering the kid because they weren't even at the house yet, and wouldn't be until a couple of hours later. So, what was it? After pausing to pull her hair back into a quick tail, she made her way upstairs...

Blinking, Mia took in the sight. Little Yuli stood grinning in the middle of a large pile of...equipment was the only word Mia could think of to describe it all. TVS, VCRs, stacks of unmarked video cassettes, roll upon roll of duct tape, a couple of staple guns with boxes of extra staples... What could possibly be going through the young boy's devious little mind? She couldn't rightly guess - Ryo and the others had done quite well filling the kid's head with bad ideas.

"Yuli, what are you up to and how badly do you plan to hurt the guys? Should I have an ambulance waiting?"

The kid's grin grew to unbelievable size and Mia gave in. Hell, she knew very well that Ryo and company deserved whatever they had coming. She just wasn't entirely sure that she should allow Yuli to obtain a criminal record at such young age.

Late that night...

Silently, shadowy figures slinked through the halls, visiting each of the bedrooms. (Now, they didn't really have to be all that quiet because all of their victims were heavily dosed with sleeping drugs, but still it was a part of the whole sneaky revenge thing they were doing.) Each of them was armed with a duffel bag stuffed with any number of sticky, yet evil, weapons along with horrible devices of torture to complete the deal.

"Mia," the smaller figure stage-whispered, "you gotta help me carry the TVS and VCRs up here! I'm too little to do it by myself."

"Of course, Yuli. I hope you know what you're doing," the larger figure whispered back.

The next morning...

Feeling very much like the victim of a hangover, Sage attempted to open his eyes. It was a slow process.

Very slow.

He winced as the late morning sunlight pierced into the back of his skull through his retinas and lifted a hand to rub at the bridge of his nose...or at least he *tried* to lift a hand. Looking down over the length of his bed, Sage discovered that some time during the night his blankets had been thrown back without his knowing it and what had to be three or more rolls of duct tape had been used to strap him down to the mattress.

The blond frowned and looked around for the culprit, not really expecting to find the guilty party still hanging around. To his great surprise, he found a grinning young boy at the foot of his bed.

"Yuli?"

"G'mornin', Sage!" the boy chirped.

Sage winced again, Yuli's high-pitched and squeaky voice going in one ear, getting reflected off the inside of his skull, and bouncing about with alarming speed. "Could you possibly get me out of here?" he grouched.

"Hm..." Yuli pretended to think. "Now why would I wanna do that when I took most of the night to get you in this position in the first place?"

"What?"

"You heard me," Yuli grinned. "Now, which do you prefer: left hand, right hand, or whatever's hidden behind door number three?"

"Door number three?" Sage asked, not certain what to think of these newest developments.

"Door number three it is!" Yuli declared cheerfully. He raced over to the bedroom door and yanked it open, calling out to his accomplice. "Mia? You ready?"

"Sure am, Yul," the woman answer as she wheeled a television set and VCR on a small entertainment stand. Dipping down to plug in both items, Mia also hit both power buttons and popped a tape into the VCR. She waved for Yuli to take the honor of pushing the play button and then guided the boy out of a growling Sage's room.

They waited for a count of five full seconds before the horrified screaming began, then they moved on, evil grins plastered across their faces.

In the next room...

There was something tickling his nose.

A moment of sleep-blurred thought later, he had worked out that it could only be a feather that was disturbing him. Twitching from the sensation, Rowen tried to bat the feather away with a hand and roll over, but found he couldn't move. No matter how hard he tried to think the situation over, he just could *not* decipher what had happened. The blue-haired Ronin had to do the unthinkable.

He cracked open an eye before noon.

The second eye opened wide with the first when he found Yuli sitting at the end of his bed with a too innocent smile and twinkling eyes. It was then that his sight took in the miles of grey tape that was holding him firmly down.

"What do you want, brat?"

Yuli smile turned into a frown. "Mia!"

Rowen watched transfixed as his bedroom door gently swung open and Mia rolled in a small entertainment stand, TV and VCR both in working order. "I heard, Yuli. I heard," she told the boy. "Shall I hit the play button or do you want the honor?"

"You can have this one," Yuli offered.

The woman leaned down and pressed the button with a swift touch before escorting Yuli out of the room. Again, they waited until they heard the screaming then headed down the hall to the next room.

In Ryo's room...

The entirely too athletic bearer of Wildfire opened his eyes with a snap! Yes, a snap. He didn't just blink them open, that would have been far too easy. So, indeed, it was a snap. And, in doing so, Ryo found himself unable to move beyond that. He didn't have to wonder why for long because as soon as he deigned to look down the bed, the grey tape that was so well known to himself and all of his friends made itself readily apparent.

He struggled a bit, but quickly gave up. Someone had spent a goodly amount of time strapping him down in such a way that he most definitely was not moving until such time as he was released. Unfortunately, he just couldn't figure out who would do this!

"All right...whoever did this, let me go now and I won't hurt you," he offered, "much." A small sound to one side of the room caught his attention and he shifted his eyes to find the perpetrator. "Yuli?"

"Good morning, Ryo. Did ya sleep good?" The boy smiled and blinked innocently. He walked across the room and tweaked Ryo's nose. "I hope so because I'd really hate for you to fall asleep during the treat I've got planned for you today!"

Ryo suddenly noticed the muffled sounds of terrified whimpers filtering through his walls. "What have you done? What did you do to Sage and Rowen?!"

"Just the same thing that's gonna happen to you." Yuli opened the door and called, "Mia? We're ready!"

The door opened wider and Ryo was given the sight of Mia rolling in a small entertainment stand, complete with television and VCR. Judging from the look on Yuli's face, though, Ryo quickly deduced that this was not a good thing...at least, not for *him*. His heart sank as his jaw dropped, his gut twisting in fear of the torture coming his way. "W-what are you going to do to me?"

Yuli paused, closed his eyes, and listened, a blissful expression on his face. "Do you hear them, Ryo? Isn't it beautiful?"

Ryo quivered...at least as much as he could beneath his duct tape restraints.

"Set him up, Mia. I'll be out in the hall." The devious boy left the room with a grin.

Walking down the hall...

"You wouldn't have believed the way he begged me to let him loose, Yul," Mia laughed. "I swear, you'd think we were killing him or something."

Yuli nodded. "I know. It's like they're nothing but a bunch of big babies. Can't believe *they're* supposed to save the world..." He giggled and bounced over to the door hiding their next victim. Pushing it open, he said, "After you!"

A few minutes later...

Cye lay screaming, taped down to his bed, struggling to be free of his torment, vowing to revenge on his attackers.

A short while after that...

Kento lay in much the same fashion, only--instead of screaming his head off--he lay quietly whimpering...

Downstairs...

Mia and Yuli sat comfortably flopped on the couch, giggling and flipping through the channels. It had been a most wonderfully evil and productive morning. They turned as one when a knock came at the door. Yuli sat and watched as Mia sauntered over to answer it.

He supposed it shouldn't have been at all surprising when it was Talpa's Warlords that stood revealed on the other side. Yuli heaved a sigh. "Sorry, they can't come out to play right now. You'd really do better to find someone that can actually kick your asses. These guys can't even deal with Barney and the Teletubbies."

The Warlords gave a collective understanding nod and sighed, all but Cale turning to leave. The Warlord of...eh, you pick...leaned in the door far enough to say, "I guess will just come back later. Got any ideas who we can pick on right now, though?"

Mia looked thoughtful. "Well, there's always those annoying sailor scouts..."

Cale nodded again, grinning. "Thanks." And then he was gone, flouncing happily after his comrades.

END