Rumor Has It
contest entry for loren : "Rumor has it, the next ones to go down that hill get walloped." "Yeah, well rumor has it that I'm awesome."
(a/n) contest entry involving three things: the Twilight Town gang, donald & goofy, and the phrase "rumor has it I'm awesome."
xxx
In Twilight Town, all of the afternoons were the same. Golden, warm, breezy, and perfect, to the point where it became monotonous. In the back alleys, these unfailingly gorgeous afternoons were shared by a close group of three friends.
"Do it."
"No way."
"You first."
These three teens huddled among themselves on another perfectly golden afternoon. This afternoon was different, though. This afternoon, there were visitors.
"You think?"
"Let's not."
"Why not?"
"Because I like them."
"Me too, Olette! That's why! It'll be a bonding experience."
"Oh, I don't know..."
A short distance away from the small group of three, another group of three stood. This group consisted of a brown-headed youth, same general age as the aforementioned trio, a duck, and a bipedal dog.
"Rumor has it, whoever next gets caught skateboarding down that hill gets it good from Old Man Yama."
"You know what else rumor has, Pence? Shut up."
"Hayner, there's no need to be so—"
"Okay!" the blond boy called Hayner said, turning to address the odd interspecies trio down the alley. "We can show you around town. But you have to prove your worth, first."
The chocolate-headed teen tentatively raised his hand a bit, as if he was a student praying not to get called on. "But, um, Hayner? You did say that we could come back anytime, and I did embarrass that coat guy. Does that count?"
The brown-haired girl named Olette glared Hayner down. Hayner, not wanting to lose face, turned up his Alpha Male another notch. "Well, okay, that's true. You're off the hook, uh, Sara."
"Sora." Sora glared a little.
"But we don't know about those two," Hayner declared, pointing rather rudely at the anthropomorphic animals. "So they have to prove their worth."
The duck made an unintelligible shriek-quacking noise, something like, "QU-WHAAAA??" The dog shushed him. Sora looked pleadingly at Pence and Olette, who rolled their eyes and shrugged. Humor him, their posture said.
"They have to take Market Street Hill on a skateboard," Hayner explained.
The duck violently reacted again, but Sora said, "Done." The three of them conferred for a second, while Hayner and the others watched. The duck seemed to be extremely angry, but eventually agreed. "So, do you have the skateboards?" Sora asked.
"Skateboards?" Hayner demurred, an evil gleam appearing in his eye. "Oh, no. They get one—and they have to go down together."
xxx
Goofy gingerly tested the skateboard they'd been lent. It was the size of a single one of his overlarge shoes. "I'm not sure this is a good idea," he said mournfully. He, Donald, and one of the kids stood in front of the train station. Donald had already taken some practice runs around the area, but it looked like Goofy was going to have to stand and the skateboard and hold Donald on his shoulders.
The pudgy kid, who was named Pence, shrugged. "Sorry. Hayner's in one of his moods today. Just humor him. It's been really boring lately, and he's depressed that this is the last summer we spend together without looking at colleges or growing up and stuff. He's usually a nicer guy than this."
Donald glared at Pence for a second, but couldn't hold it for long. Pence was just too lovable. "Yeah, well, that's a comforting thought," he grumbled.
"Hey! You're not chickening out, are you?" called Hayner from further down. Olette and Sora stood with him, neither looking very approving.
Pence looked at the small tower of fur and feathers that had mounted the skateboard. "Good luck, you two," he said.
"Maybe we should think this ov—EEERRRRRR!!" Donald shrieked as Pence gently pushed Goofy in the small of his back, sending the two of them rocketing down the hill.
Hayner cheered, Sora shouted encouragement, Olette cheered as well, caught up in their enthusiasm, and Pence snapped a picture as the two descended.
xxx
"QUAWAHHHHH!!" Donald screamed—very loudly, in Goofy's ear.
"YA-HA-HO-HOOIE!" Goofy yelled as well, having been caught quite off-guard.
Buidlings rushed by at a sickening pace. At a slight variance in the grade of the road, the skateboard caught a foot or so of air before crashing back to the pavement and continuing on its way. Donald slipped down and grabbed at Goofy's head, blocking his eyes. "Don't do that!" Goofy warned, trying to steer the madly accelerating skateboard with his weight and balance alone. "I can't see!"
The two or three people in the shop windows blinked, rubbed their eyes, and decided they had clearly been seeing things, as a strange blur streaked through the plaza, screaming.
Goofy realized, through a gap in Donald's "fingers," that they were about to crash into a wall. "Look out!" he shouted, throwing his weight to the left and careening down a side alley into an open area usually reserved for Struggle matches, spinning out, and crashing into a wall.
Old Man Yama stuck his head out his window, glanced around, and slammed it down, grumbing, "Rotten kids..."
xxx
"Best initiation ever?"
"Yeah."
"You know, there have been some crazy stories flying around town lately?"
"Have there now?"
"Apparently, rumor has it that a pair of screaming humanoid animals rolled down the hill on a skateboard and put a duck-shaped hole in the Struggle tournament board."
"Yeah, well, rumor has it that I'm awesome."
.owari.
