Tala wants his cookie jar and orders Bryan to retrieve it. Problem is there's something scary waiting for him in the kitchen. Poor Bryan.

.

Bryan was trembling. There was no way in hell Tala was going to convince him to enter the kitchen while that thing was still there. If Tala thought he was going his life for a cookie jar, then he was sadly mistaken. "I'm not doing it," Bryan said, crossing his arms over his chest, giving Spencer his best 'I'm-very-upset' face. "You can't make me go in there."

Spencer, who had taken the role of the mother hen, just shook his head. "Tala gave you an order. If you don't do it, he'll bench you for the upcoming tournament." Tala was a nice guy… sometimes. But when he was in one of his moods, no one had a chance of getting anything nice out of him.

Bryan looked to the kitchen. The curtains were open, and the sun was shining through giving the room a happy feel, but Bryan knew something so terrible lurked in there. A fat, ugly flying cockroach. It was just sitting there on the floor, in the centre of the kitchen taunting him. Spiders were bad enough, but at least they couldn't fly. "I'm going to call Kai. He can get rid of the cockroach. KAI!" Bryan roared.

Kai stayed with the Blitzkrieg Boys on weekends otherwise he'd be bunking at Tyson's dojo. He considered himself a Bladebreaker, but sometimes he liked to hang out with his other team. Tala only let him return on one condition – that he do the wash and the laundry. Kai didn't mind; after leaving the Abbey, he had grown used to looking after himself, so he was quite the expert when it came to household cleaning duties.

The blue-haired blader trudged down the stairs a few minutes later, looking like he had just walked into a hurricane. His hair was a mess, his face was red and he was missing a shirt. The typical signs Kai had once again gotten tangled in his bedsheets. "What's the problem, Bryan?" Kai said, walking towards the kitchen.

Bryan really wished he would put on a shirt. He was getting rather flabby. Ever since he retired from competitive battling, Kai had been putting on some fat. Not that Bryan minded Kai putting on weight – Kai used to be the favourites of the girls; now Bryan had more fans. There was even an 'I Love Bryan' fansite of which he was the proud admin of.

"There's a flying insect in the kitchen," Spencer pointed out. Even the big and tough Spencer was scared.

Kai's eyes widened, and his face paled dramatically. "It's not a butterfly I hope."

Bryan was briefly reminded that Kai really hated butterflies. Everyone was scared of something, and Kai just happened to be scared of butterflies. Tala was scared of clowns. Spencer was scared of staplers. Ian had an unnatural fear of fans, and Bryan was terrified of every single bug in existence. Yes, the Blitkzkrieg Boys were big babies. That tough act macho bullshit image was just an act to hide their many deep insecurities and fears.

"What is it then?" Kai said.

"A cockroach," answered Bryan.

A visible shudder ran down Kai's body. "You are on your own, Bryan. I'm not going anywhere near that thing. Why don't you go and give Boris a call? He likes creepy things."

"I don't want to call Boris – the last time I did he got mad because he was in the middle of something 'fun'. That's why I'm not getting a Christmas card from him this year," Bryan replied, feeling a little sad. This would be the first year he would not receive a Christmas card. Kai gave him a solemn nod, then walked off towards the front door. Bryan suspected Kai was going to drive down to the local burger joint. He could walk the distance, after all, the burger shop was only five minutes away by foot, but Kai was a lazy bastard these days.

"Looks like you don't have a choice, Bryan," Spencer teased. "You can't call Ian because he's with Kevin and Joseph. They're attending the Shorties are Cuties festival," he added.

Damn. That meant Bryan had to grab the cookie jar all on his own. It meant facing the cockroach. He hoped the roach would not fly after him, like the last one had. He shuddered. Horrid times. He took in a deep breath and slowly entered the kitchen, keeping his eyes trained on the ground where the roach was last seen.

"Oh my fucking god, it's not there anymore!" Bryan cursed. That meant the roach could be hiding, waiting to ambush an unsuspecting Bryan. Bryan brought his fingers to his mouth, and gnawed on his nails. Where the hell could it be hiding? "Roachy… where are you…" He crept around the kitchen floor, fighting the need to wet his pants.

This was truly terrifying. Spencer remained in the living room, looking as scared as Bryan was. If anyone could see them now they would surely die of laughter. The mighty Blitzkrieg Boys, cowering in their home because of a little roach. "I'm going to kill you, Tala…" Bryan whispered. He headed towards the kitchen sink, and opened it to grab the insect spray. He also removed his shoe just in case he dropped the can.

"Any sign of it?" Spencer called from the lounge.

Bryan shook his head. "Nope. I'm sure it's watching us though."

At that precise moment, Tala entered. "Where the hell is my cookie jar, Bryan? You didn't have a late midnight snack did you?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes in Bryan's direction.

"Hey, I didn't take your stupid jar. It's in the fridge..."

"Well, go get it then!" Tala snapped.

"But the roach might be waiting for us in there…" Bryan pointed out.

At the mention of roach, Tala's eyes widened. Bryan saw true fear in those normally cold blue eyes. A part of him was satisfied that Tala was also scared shitless. "A cockroach? It better not be one of those ones that can fly."

"I hate to break it to you, but it is one of those ones that can fly," Bryan explained. "If you were hoping to use Kai as a shield, then you can't because he's gone down to the burger joint where Garland works to add some more meat to his body."

Tala snorted. "Gross. Tyson's been having a bad influence on our boy." He shrugged. "Oh well, we can't worry about Kai now – we need to find this roach." All of a sudden, they heard a high pitched girly scream come from the lounge. Bryan and Tala raced there and found Spencer jumping up and down, slapping himself frantically. If the situation wasn't so serious, Bryan would've taken a photo.

"It's on me!" Spencer shouted, hopping from toe to toe. "I looked underneath the chair, and it came at me!"

Tala and Bryan just looked at each other. Neither one of them wanted to assist Spencer in removing the dastardly roach. "Er… well…." Bryan started, taking a step back.

Tala pushed him forward. "I'm the captain. I'm more important than you. Go and help Spencer, Bryan."

Bryan hated himself for being such a door mat. He was physically larger than his captain, but Tala had this amazing ability to make people do his bidding. Tala was scary. Sucking in a mouthful of air, Bryan advanced towards Spencer, shoe and can ready to strike. Spencer looked at the weapons in Bryan's hands and mouthed the words, 'oh shit'. "Turn around, Spencer."

Spencer obeyed. There! Bryan spotted the fat ugly nasty brown thing on Spencer's back. "Be brave, Bryan…" he whispered to himself, as he advanced towards his friend. In the corner of his eye, he could Tala nervously watching, fingernails resting on his bottom lip.

"DIE ROACH!" Bryan lunged, and gave Spencer's back a big heavy smack. Unfortunately, the roach was too quick for Bryan, and it flew right at him. Bryan dropped his weapons and screamed. "It's on me!" He was on the brink of crying now. He closed his eyes and hoped his death would be a quick one. Then…

SMACK!

"OW!"

"Success!"

"Ew, gross, roach guts! Sucks to be Bryan."

Bryan opened his eyes, and was relieved to find he was still alive. His back was burning, thanks to the shoe Tala had used. He removed his shirt, and examined the remains of the battle. There were roach guts all smeared on his favourite shirt. It really sucked to be him. "TALA!" With his shirt tightly in his grasp, Bryan lunged at the red head and attempted to smear the remains of the roach on the captain. During this entire time, Kai was busy eating a big juicy burger… and making a big mess of himself.