SUMMAH TIME! Yay! I will be hopefully updating at least one story per week for the summer. THAT IS MY GOAL! Yay!

"Gazzy!" A pair of calloused hands shook Gazzy roughly, waking him up from his sound sleep. "Gazzy! Wake up!"

"Whu happun?" Gazzy slurred sleepily, not fully out of his hibernation state.

"Gazzy, the rest of the flock is gonna wake up soon," the voice whispered urgently. "We need to get the last few ingredients for Plan 42 before they get up."

Gazzy squinted blearily at the speaker, who turned out to be none other than Iggy. Of course, who else would know about Plan 42 anyway? "Iggy?" he croaked quietly, rubbing his eyes. "What do we need?"

"Well, we've already gathered the mascara, peanuts, olive oil, lighter fluid, banana peel..." Iggy's voice was very soothing as he rattled off the list of ingredients used to create the mixture known as Plan 42. Gazzy's eyelids fluttered as he listened to the steady drone of ingredients. Eventually, his blond head drifted slowly back onto his backpack, which was serving him as a makeshift pillow. Within seconds, Gazzy was asleep again.

"-And the shreds of Max's jeans. So now we just have to get the Raisinettes, baking soda, nail polish remover, Pop Rocks, copper wire, and Windex. Oh, and a dash of iron filings and lemon juice wouldn't hurt either, it made quite an explosion last time. What do you think, Gasser?" Iggy asked enthusiastically. He didn't mind waking up early if it meant continuing their discussion on Plan 42.

Strangely, Gazzy did not answer Iggy's question immediately. Iggy waited a few seconds while his younger friend weighed the important decision. He was no doubt deeply thinking about the addition of lemon juice and iron filings to Plan 42. Iggy waited a bit longer, patiently allowing Gazzy to continue his intense analysis on the subject. "I know, it's really intense, right?" Iggy prompted in a whisper.

Gazzy snored gently in reply.

"Gasman!" Iggy scolded, shaking his young friend's shoulders. Gazzy's head bobbed back and forth, and his eyes wrenched their way open again.

"Whu happun?" he mumbled, squinting at Iggy.

Iggy sighed. "Talk about dèjá vu," he muttered. Impatiently, Iggy swung Gazzy up around his shoulders in a fireman's carry. It would save time if he just carried the boy out of their campsite before waking him up more thoroughly. Gazzy's wings tumbled recklessly down off his back in a waterfall of white and gray feathers, giving Iggy another coat to wear over his blue hoody. Iggy sighed again, adjusting his grip on Gazzy as he leaned down to pick up the mixing bowl full of the half-finished Plan 42. Then, soundlessly, the terrible duo padded out of the campsite.

It was three thirty in the morning.

"Remind me again why we came out here so early?" Gazzy yawned, rubbing his eyes yet again. Wordlessly, Iggy handed him a thermos full of coffee. Gazzy's eyes snapped open as he grabbed the hot container, sipping greedily at the steaming brown brew. "Coffee..." Gazzy murmured in ecstasy, taking another scalding gulp. He didn't seem to mind the burns that were destined to form in his throat and on his tongue. Gazzy just enjoyed the coffee. Max seemed to have a hesitance towards letting him and Nudge have coffee, but Iggy didn't care. That was one of the many reasons Gazzy considered Iggy to be his best friend.

"Well, my young mutant." Iggy began, pacing in front of Gazzy. "We needed to get our materials before Max woke up. I managed to convince Total to keep watch for a couple hours so we could go do some special errands. However, we have to bring him a pound of bacon when we get back."

"Of course," Gazzy mumbled, sipping eagerly at his coffee. "That little rascal is so easily bribed."

"So we have free reign to break into a store or two and recover some of the materials we need," Iggy concluded. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Question," Gazzy said suddenly, stifling another yawn. He rubbed his eyes again, trying to wake up more. In the face of danger, Gazzy could be awake and alert in a moment. However, right now there was no sense of urgency, and Gazzy felt like there was approximately a million pounds of bricks weighing down his eyelids.

"Yes, Gaz?" Iggy prompted after a moment of silence.

"If we're going into a shop to get stuff, why don't we just take some batteries while we're there?" Gazzy pointed out reasonably.

Iggy was silent for a minute. That thought had definitely not occurred to him before. "Well..." Iggy started, thinking the question over. "We already have Plan 42 half-finished anyway, so we should just use it. Plus, it's more fun to use Plan 42 than regular batteries." Iggy thought for another minute. "Anyway, we need the pens super-charged, which wouldn't happen with normal batteries."

"Point taken," Gazzy agreed, yawning yet again. "So let's-" Gazzy yawned. "-let's go," he mumbled.

Iggy smirked at Gazzy's sleepiness. It was cute, in a little-boy way. Of course, he couldn't ever tell him that. Gaz would be horribly offended.

Fifteen minutes later saw the duo loitering suspiciously outside of a grocery store. They had their hands shoved in the pockets of their thick, bulky windbreakers, and had sweet, innocent expressions plastered on their faces.

Any cop worth their donuts should have had them handcuffed in a second. However, luck was on the miscreants' side, for no law-abiding citizen was awake to turn them in, nor was there a cop car in sight. Gazzy deftly shimmied up a support column in the front, and with the help of a pair of tweezers and some of Nudge's concealer, the security camera was disabled in twenty-three seconds. Iggy was busily picking the lock on one of the store windows, and let out a quiet whoop when the lock jangled off and fell to the ground below. "We're in, Gaz," Iggy called softly. Gazzy cackled wickedly, sliding down the column and racing over to the window Iggy had opened.

Iggy was already inside by the time Gazzy wriggled in through the window, running his fingers over various shelves in search of the things they needed. "Igs," Gazzy whispered. "I shorted out the inside cameras, so we're good. Why don't I go look for the stuff? You wait here."

"It's 'cause I'm blind, isn't it?" Iggy sniffed mournfully.

Gazzy snickered in reply. "Yep," he said gleefully. "Now wait a minute while I go secure the goods."

Gazzy scampered off among the aisles, leaving Iggy leaning against the wall. Iggy smirked. "Secure the goods," he murmured, thinking aloud. "Jeez, Gaz is getting more like me everyday. Max will be thrilled."

Gazzy popped in and out of various aisles, peering around the dark store. It was somewhat strange to be in the store this early in the morning, and even stranger to see darkness shrouding every shelf. However, Gazzy's raptor vision allowed him to see around the store without any trouble. In no time Gazzy had procured all of the final items the duo needed for Plan 42, and he ran back through the store to where Iggy was waiting for him.

"Mission accomplished," Gazzy hissed to Iggy, slapping him a high-five. Iggy grinned at him.

"Excellent," he purred, rubbing his hands together evilly. Gazzy laughed, finally overcoming his sleepiness.

"Let's go," Gazzy whispered, jumping up to the windowsill and scrambling out. He dropped silently to the ground underneath the window, and moved out of the way so Iggy could climb out. They unfurled their wings and jumped up into the sky, depending on their internal compasses to lead them back to the campsite.

When they finally stumbled back into the campsite, Total jumped up from his perch on a large rock in the middle. "Guys!" he hissed. "You're back! Did you bring me my bacon?"

"Yeah, we did," Iggy told him, smiling. "Gaz?"

Gazzy ripped open the package of bacon and tossed it to Total. "Yes!" Total scrambled up to catch the bacon in his teeth. Slowly, he dragged the heavy parcel over to where Angel was curled up, asleep. "Thanks," Total mumbled, preoccupied with his bacon.

"How is he planning on cooking that?" Iggy mumbled, almost wondering aloud.

"No prob," Gazzy assured Total, ignoring Iggy's musings. "We also got some nail polish remover, if you want some for your paws."

"Thank you so much," Total replied solemnly. "I eternally worship you for your kindness."

Gazzy stifled a laugh as he ran over to Nudge's backpack. He plucked a couple cotton balls from the outside pocket, where he knew she stored them for beauty purposes. Turning back to Total, Gazzy dripped some nail polish remover onto the cotton and held out his hand. Total lifted his paw up into Gazzy's grasp, closing his eyes dramatically as Gazzy energetically scrubbed away the glitter from his nails.

Meanwhile, Iggy was busy adding the last few ingredients to their mixing bowl full of Plan 42. He smiled in a somewhat sinister fashion as he plunked in the entire package of Raisinettes, a generous dollop of baking soda, and several squirts of Windex and lemon juice. The bowl fizzled unpleasantly. "Yo Gaz, I need the remover now," he called.

Gazzy nodded, still intent on scrubbing all traces of purple from Total's nails. "Just a sec," he replied. "I'm almost done..."

Iggy sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. An involuntary yawn crossed his lips, and he wondered what time it was. Whatever the time was, it was too early for Iggy.

"Done!" Gazzy announced, screwing the cap back onto the blue bottle of nail polish remover. "No trace of purple or glitter anywhere, Total."

"Thanks, Gazzy. I have been re-accepted into the Man Universe," Total sighed happily. He curled up into a ball next to his package of bacon, blinked twice, and fell instantly back asleep.

Iggy yawned again. "Here Gaz, pass me the remover," Iggy repeated. Gazzy tossed the blue bottle haphazardly through the air to Iggy, who somehow managed to catch it. He unscrewed the lid, poured in half the bottle, and screwed the cap back on. "There, done. You can put this in Nudge's bag or something."

"Sure. She'll be ecstatic to have more stuff than she woke up with," Gazzy replied, tucking the bottle into Nudge's backpack. He bounced up and down on his heels, smiling almost uncontrollably.

Iggy rubbed his sightless eyes and stumbled over to his sleeping place. He was tired from their early morning escapade, even if Gazzy wasn't, for some strange reason...

Gazzy continued to bounce excitedly up and down, not seeming sleepy in the least. "Gaz," Iggy whispered, settling down next to Fang.

"Yeah Iggy?" Gazzy whispered back enthusiastically.

"Can you ke-" Iggy yawned. "keep watch until M-" he yawned again. "Max or Fang wakes u..."

Iggy was asleep.

Gazzy looked at Iggy reproachfully, shaking his blond head. "Tsk tsk," Gazzy said aloud. "Iggy should have drank some of my coffee." Gazzy took another swig from his steaming thermos of caffeine and settled down onto a log. With another look over the sleeping flock, Gazzy smiled over his coffee. He couldn't wait to unleash Plan 42.

~TMI~