It wasn't working.

"Why?" he asked the empty hallway. "Why can't things be right again?" When his Ce-ko had gotten her memories back, Dionysus had been thrilled. Now she could remember her past. Now she wouldn't be tortured by her half-memories. But getting her memories back also meant remembering the nasty little fight they had had. Ce-ko had a nasty way of holding grudges for a long time.

Centuries, if the last count was correct. This did not bode well for him. And here I thought that if she remembered her past, she would forgive me just like that, he thought bitterly. "DAMMIT!" he yelled, and slammed his fist into the wall once more.

"Aww, is poor little Dionysus in a bad mood?"

Dionysus turned towards the mocking voice with murder in his eyes. There, at the other end of the hallway, stood Bob, arms crossed, a slight smile on his lips. "Go away, Bob," Dionysus said with as much calm as he could muster. "I don't really think that you want to try and take me on right now."

"So you are in a bad mood. You forget, Dionysus, that I know as much as Mistress Celeste does about what happens during the Game. Possibly even more. Just because I'm here in Castle Anthrax doesn't mean I don't have my own connections." Bob sauntered over and leaned against the wall. "You're falling through the ranks, Dionysus. And you've most certainly had a falling out with Mistress Celeste. I always knew you weren't that right one for her."

Dionysus growled and grabbed Bob by the lapels of his shirt. "Oh, and you are?" he said scathingly. "There is no way in hell that you are ever going to take my place, Bob. I could be dead and you'll still never take my place. It doesn't matter how far I've 'fallen through the ranks.' All you have to know is that Ce-ko considers you her lackey, her puppy, and nothing more!"

Bob finally frowned at Dionysus words. He raised his hands and put them on Dionysus' arms, trying to wrest himself away. "Get your hands off me, Dionysus. Or else."

"Or else what?" Dionysus asked, giving Bob a good shake.

"What is going on here?"

The two men turned and saw Mamoru walking rapidly down the hallway. The Bishounen was definitely not amused by what was transpiring before him. Bob and Dionysus hurriedly let each other go.

"Endymion-sama..." Bob stammered, averting his eyes.

"Mamoru-kun," Dionysus said with a nod of his head.

Mamoru frowned. "You still haven't answered my question. What is going on here?"

Dionysus placed a faintly bored expression on his face and shrugged his shoulders. "Call it internal politics, Mamoru-kun. You don't have to worry about it."

"But *you* might," Bob muttered under his breath. Dionysus glared and Mamoru frowned even more.

"Listen here, you two," he started. "I don't give a damn about what's going on here. But I better not see Celeste getting upset over this. You two better handle your problems in private and not in public hallways. We have a Game to win and we definitely don't need you two screwing things up for our side!"

"You should be preaching to Bob here, not me. He's the one trying to change the status quo."

"Oh, yeah? I'm just trying to keep Castle Anthrax running. You can't get rid of me. What are you going to do? Kill me?" Bob sneered.

Icy cold fury consumed Dionysus. "Yes," he replied shortly and with a quick motion he crossed over to Bob and snapped his neck.

"DIONYSUS!" Mamoru shouted, shocked.

Bob's body fell lifelessly to the floor and Dionysus calmly wiped his hands on his shirt. A slight glow appeared around Bob's body and, with a flicker, it disappeared. The door at the end of the hallway opened and Bob reentered, rubbing his neck.

"That was entirely pointless, you know," he muttered.

Dionysus cracked his knuckles. "I know. But it felt so *good*. I'm gonna have to do that more often. Maybe everyday."

Bob huffed in outrage and quickly left the hallway.

Dionysus laughed and exited in the opposite direction.

Mamoru stood in the hallway wondering what in the hell had just happened.

TBC...