Bad Guy Bakery: Episode 3 – "You Can't Shield Him Forever."
Written by Nidonemo
"I dream of a place far beyond that of Earth, far beyond hate and destruction. If only dreams came true…" -Zachary G.
The title 'Bad Guy Bakery' is written on screen by a large quill in a cursive font. The title shimmers then fades to black. The screen fades in to show the outside of the bakery, two figures inside are cleaning.
"I still say the ref was on something." Bowser muttered.
"Oh please, you can't take loss even when it's not even you who's losing." Shadow replied, rolling his eyes.
Chad burst through the front door, startling Shadow and Bowser who were wiping down the tables.
"Has Nido come in here yet?" he shouted, panting. Shadow shook his head.
"No, isn't he with you? What's wrong?" Bowser asked, finishing up his table. Chad ran over to the newspaper stand and grabbed the entire stack, then ran into the kitchen.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing? I just put those in!" Shadow yelled after Chad.
"What's going on out here?" inquired a yawning Gannondorf, emerging from the employee lounge. Chad raced back to the front and started looking around frantically.
"The headlines! I can't let Nidonemo see them! They'll upset him!" Chad gasped. Gannondorf scratched his head and yawned once more.
"What will upset him? What happened?" Eggman inquired, entering from the back door and picking up a newspaper from the stack Chad had recently dropped near the door. Chad panicked and grabbed the stack and grunted his way up to the roof, where he tied down the stack of newspapers to one of the chimneys. He raced back down, grabbed Eggman's newspaper, ran into the kitchen, and hurled it into the trash compactor.
"What are you doing?" Eggman demanded. Chad let out a heavy sigh and opened his mouth to answer when the front doors opened.
"Good morning!" came a familiar voice. The group turned to see Nidonemo step up to the counter, blue tail swaying with a playful swish. Chad raced up to the counter and grinned as unsuspicious as possible.
"Morning babe! What's up? How are you? Can I get you anything?" the gray Wolf asked, leaning in and giving Nidonemo a quick smooch on the nose. Nidonemo giggled and smiled.
"Well, someone's affectionate today!" he laughed as he headed towards the kitchen. Chad raced in front of him and blocked his way. Nidonemo smiled and went to the right; Chad leaned and blocked him again. The blue Fox then went to the left, as Chad blocked his way once more. Nidonemo put his hands on his hips and gave a sigh.
"Okay, you first then." he said. Chad shook his head and smiled.
"Oh no, by all means you first!" he replied, blocking Nidonemo yet again as he attempted to go between the Wolf's legs. Nidonemo stepped back and frowned.
"What's the matter? I'm just going up to the roof to get something." Nidonemo asked, crossing his arms. Chad grinned as innocently as possible.
"Oh! The roof! No, no it's way too windy to go up there today! You best stay downstairs where it's nice and safe! You don't want to hurt yourself!" Chad explained, pushing Nidonemo toward a chair. Nidonemo scratched his head and looked out the window; there was a small leaf on the pavement in front of the bakery. It wasn't moving.
"It's not windy out today...in fact it's not usually windy during the summer here. That's usually in autumn...what's so dangerous up there?"
Chad smiled and patted Nidonemo's head, and then playfully messed up his hair.
"Oh you...who said anything about danger?" Chad laughed. Nidonemo stared at Bowser, who simply shrugged.
"Okay I know I am on heavy medication, and I tend to lose track of reality, but I have to say Chad..." Nidonemo started, getting up, "You're acting weirder than I do."
Gannondorf crossed his arms and shook his head.
"Never thought I'd hear that..." he mumbled, Shadow snickered.
Eggman noticed a shred of newspaper still in his hand. He looked at it, and then looked at Chad, then Nidonemo. His eyes lit up and he understood. He quickly tore it to little pieces and dumped them in the trash. He then ran to the register drawer and took out the television remote.
"Uh let's just watch something on TV..." he said, pointing the remote in the air.
"Sure, I hear there's a new show on that Animal Life station.'Fox lover Diaries'? I think it's some new soap." Nidonemo said, "Oh speaking of soap, I need to wash my hands. I wanted to try making donuts today!" the blue Fox got up and headed to the bathroom, Chad gave a relieved sigh after he heard the bathroom door close.
Shadow and Bowser looked to Chad and Eggman, Gannondorf simply yawned.
"What the hell is wrong with you today? What's so upsetting? What headlines?" Bowser asked Chad.
"I'll show you what's wrong you idiot! Look!" Eggman snapped as he switched to the main news channel. A female human news anchor was talking, but no sound came from her lips. A picture of a large fire was behind her.
"What's the big whoop? So it's a fire, these things happen. It's summer, some kids are stupid enough to play with matches. You ever play 'Torch the Dolls' as a kid?" Shadow questioned Chad.
"Turn it up, you'll see..." Chad said, giving a sad sigh.
Eggman turned up the volume as instructed.
"...local religious group calling itself the 'Wind of Justice' had set three fires in a local residential area. The religious group leader was heard to remark..." the news anchor read. Suddenly the bathroom door opened.
"Guys, we're low on paper towels!" Nidonemo shouted. Chad snatched the remote away from Eggman and the news anchor turned into two puppets talking. Nidonemo tossed the wadded up paper towel into the garbage and looked at the television screen, then to Chad who was panting nervously.
"Why hello Wafflebutt! I love you! Let's sing about the number three today!" the orange puppet said, as silly music began to play. Nidonemo simply stared at Chad, who crossed his arms and smiled.
"See? Educational television! Perfect!" the gray Wolf stated, sitting down. Nidonemo rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, perfect, if I was three, gimme that thing." the blue Fox said, snatching the remote.
"AHH! NO!" Chad shouted, however Nido had already changed the channel, and a Marill was seen mounting a Jigglypuff.
Everyone stared as the two Pokemon began to grunt and cry on screen. The grunting became louder and more frequent, faster and faster, until both gave out a long cry and settled to the ground.
"The Marill will move on to other Pokemon, while the Jigglypuff settles down and makes a nest for herself to raise her young. Marill do not mate for life, and have an average of ten different mates during this season. Jigglypuff, however mate for life, and are upset but not discouraged by the sudden absence of the Marill..." Nidonemo said along with the host.
Everyone stared at Nidonemo who just stared back.
"What? They've shown this documentary a thousand times, they haven't had any new material since their last host died in a Rhydon mating circle. He just had to get a closer look..." Nidonemo muttered getting up and heading toward the kitchen.
"I feel dirty after seeing that..." Bowser whimpered.
"I don't know about you guys, but somehow I feel I need a smoke." Gannondorf laughed. Shadow simply looked at him with disgust.
"Hey, what's with these classifieds on the floor?" called a voice from the kitchen. Chad jumped out of his seat and ran back toward Nidonemo. He gathered up every page strewn across the floor.
"Damn it, the bundles must have come undone!" Chad cursed to himself.
"What?"
"Oh nothing babe! Hahaha! What a mess! I'll take care of it!" Chad answered, fleeing up the stairs and taking every page with him. Nidonemo shook his head and headed back to the others. Up on the roof, Chad tied down the newspapers once more.
"You can't do this all day...he's going to find out." came a voice behind him. Chad turned and saw Mewtwo reading a newspaper floating in front of him. The newspaper folded and Mewtwo's gaze met Chad's. Chad sat down and sighed.
"I know...but...if he knew what was going on, how people really treat each other...he'd be so crushed. He may not look it, but he's so fragile. He's so...uh..." Chad trailed off.
"Innocent." Mewtwo finished.
"Right."
"Listen, you can't keep reality a secret. Even if you don't want him to face what's happening on Earth, it's not your decision to. It's not your fault either when he does find out how cruel and heartless the real world can be. How ignorant and stone-hearted humans are. We can only hope he takes it better than we can imagine." the Pokemon explained.
Chad sighed and looked down at a fluttering newspaper on the ground. He looked off the side of the rooftop, at the rising sun in the distance.
"I know...but I want to keep him happy for as long as I can..." the gray Wolf said. The two returned downstairs and Mewtwo shut the rooftop door behind him.
On the ground, near a small chimney a page fluttered in the small breeze. On the front of the page, in big bold print, read...
"EARTH RELIGIOUS GROUP KILLS TEN IN HATE CRIME."
-End-