Chapter 4
Parappa entered his neighborhood with no trouble, but his feet were killing him. He found his homely abode and pulled out his house keys. When he entered, he immediately collapsed from fatigue. After an entire day of dealing with bombs, robbers and homicidal truck drivers, he just needed an entire night of rest.
Someone else was in the house, too. She expected Parappa to be coming home, but not this late. She dragged him towards his room and laid him on his bed.
. . .
BUM! BUM! BUM!
Parappa awakened to the sound of his door banging. He was surprised to find himself in his bed, since he didn't remember going to bed. Did he sleepwalk to bed? No, that just didn't seem like him. He never did. In fact, the only thing he did was talk in his sleep. So, how did he get to the bed? Did someone drag him while he was sleeping? If so, then who would? Did someone break in?
"Parappa! Could you get the door? I'm in the shower!" he heard someone say. So, that's who it was, he thought. Oh, yeah, that's right, I agreed to watch over her for the weekend. It was Pinto, Parappa's sister. As he got up, he felt a pain on his thigh. What caused this?
Parappa reached into his pocket and found the revolver. He then remembered all the tragedies that happened the previous day. Maybe the "Charlatan" came to his house for revenge. He pushed the button on the side to find no bullets remaining. Maybe I could get more bullets, he thought. Oh, yeah, I have no money. How am I going to get the money needed now?
He approached his door with a bat to use instead. He opened the door to be blinded by...
The flash of cameras. He shielded his eyes with his hands as reporters were asking a thousand questions a second.
"Parappa, what made you do it?"
"Parappa, how did you do it?"
"Parappa, did you do it mainly to protect your girlfriend?"
"What is all this?" Parappa asked. He found a bunch of inquisitive reporters, some with cameras, others with microphones. One was facing a camera, doing a live show.
"Here we are, at the residence of Parappa the Rapper, the town's patron saint, for another reason this time! First it was doing countless hours of community service during his busy music schedule, now he attempts to save the Rodney County Bank by risking his life in a shootout! Parappa, how did you feel when you did it?"
Parappa wasn't going to have any of this. He dealt with the paparazzi before, and sometimes he would do interviews, but other times, he wouldn't even look at reporters. Most of the time, he would be in a rush to get to his location. But, this time because he just went through a day of thrills, enough thrills for a year, he thought.
He went back inside his house. He then felt his phone ring. Surprised that it still worked after all he had been through, he picked it up and answered it.
"Hey, Parappa! Nice job last night! Hey, that was a good thing you did last night, even though they still escaped with all the money in the vault." The voice sounded familiar.
"Um, Mr. Knight?" Parappa said.
"The one and only! Hey, listen, I know that you owe me and the hospital some money for the incident nearly a month ago, but, after talking with the hospital members, we're going to cut you some slack on them. You're now acquitted of all costs."
"Thanks, but how did you find out about it?"
"Have you NOT checked the news on TV? You're blowing up, man! You've already made your mark around the state! Just a couple of days and you'll be on the Late Show or something!"
Parappa turned on the TV. The first thing he saw was him.
"Parappa the Rapper, saving many lives as he attempted to retrieve money stolen from mafia members, has one more reason why Parappa Town named itself after him and why they name him the patron saint of the city. Alleged mafia members include the, once again, Phil "Chief Leaf" Cloros and Ian "Hollow Bone" Crane, the same people who had been in the recent lawsuit for reckless driving. It is assumed that the bank robbery is connected to the lawsuit, with Parappa winning and earning over fifty thousand dollars. No injuries or deaths of civilians have been reported. Parappa Town residents have shown much positive reception to this act of courage, even going so far as wanting to vote Parappa as mayor for the next election. I'm Ree Porter, Action News in the Morning."
Parappa turned the TV off. He just realized that he still had his lawyer on the phone.
"Um, this is great! Thanks, Mr. Knight! I'll be sure to put in a good word with everyone I talk to about law!" Parappa then hung up and immediately got another phone call. This time, it was from...the mayor.
"Hello?"
"Good day, Parappa! You are probably aware of your act of valor being made public! I wanted to take the privilege of congratulating you on your bravery. And, you even gave up all of the money you had received from the bank so that they could pay their expenses at the end of the month! Our town thanks you! To celebrate, we shall have a gala in town by tonight in your honor!" the mayor said. The mayor was a plump bulldog in a blue suit and red tie, with an ever-present cigar pipe. He sat in his oval-shaped office, his oak wood desk holding many a document about the town affairs.
"Oh, really? I'm flattered by all this, Mayor Craig, but I think that you're overreacting to all this. It's not like I really stopped the criminals from taking all the money in the vault..." Parappa said.
"Relax, it's to increase tourism in the city. Once this news breaks out, we'll have more people doing business here. Once again, I thank you for all this!" Mayor Craig said, as he hung up. Parappa was on cloud nine now, since he had the first party thrown about him that was impacting the entire city on the way. But then, he had a sullen realization. With all of these criminals wanting his blood, he didn't know if he wanted to go to a party as public as this. It would practically put a target on his back, inviting all criminals to take his life, him biting the dust by the assassin's bullet. So, in order to take a step closer to avoid crisis, he dressed up to go to the gun shop.
. . .
Parappa felt as if he was missing a vital part of him, mainly because he didn't have his beanie on him. It was autumn, and it had a hood on it, so he wore an orange hoodie on his way along with his signature navy blue saggy pants and red sneakers. He brought out his skateboard and rode towards the gun shop. He brought his .44 revolver to the nearest gun shop run by Matt Major, a fellow dog in the city. The store was named Major Firepower, and it was a humble building of redbrick, on the corner of 8th and 64 Bars Court. Easy to notice, easy to purchase items. It was the only gun shop in town that didn't require you to have a permit to shop for weapons and ammo. And if people tried to break in to steal things, Matt could easily just kill the intruder dead.
Parappa opened the door and immediately saw boxes of ammunition in shelves along the wall and saw many a firearm mounted on the wall, weapons ranging from pistols like Saturday night specials to three-round burst weapons. Parappa felt cool to be in the middle of all these tools of destruction, but he remembered what he needed to do. He walked up
"Welcome to Major Firepow-Parappa! Haven't seen you in quite a while! How you doing?" Matt asked. Parappa, pleased by overabundance in cordiality today, and it was still morning, smiled in reply.
"I'll need more ammunition for this, thanks. Twelve rounds will do me. Also, I would like a speed loader for this manufacturer."
After the transaction was made, Parappa put his loose rounds in his jacket pocket and skateboarded back home. People recognized him and congratulated him for his bravery the previous day. Parappa acknowledged their remarks with a cordial wave and a smile. It was a partly cloudy day, the sun being gentle in the town's inhabitants, a gentle breeze mildly caressing the townspeople. He loved this town for the friendly neighbors, the good weather for most of the year and a certain vibe he just got from this place. As he passed the final sidewalk and skated into his driveway, he thought, Man! I'm too used to driving everywhere, my legs are killing me! He opened his door and took off his jacket, removing his revolver, ammunition and speed loader from his pocket. He quickly put in six bullets in his speed loader and loaded his revolver completely. It wasn't guilt, but a negative emotion came into his mind. Was it anger? Was it sadness? He couldn't tell. He never imagined his life to be so dangerous. Sure, there was always added danger to your life being famous, whether it be city-wide or nationwide. But he never could grasp the possibility that one day he was living a carefree life, dropping 64s every now and again to entertain the people and living above the middle class and the next day needing to carry a revolver in his pocket or waistband because the local mafia wanted him dead. It reminded him about his early life, living in the ghetto, where mean looks and mobsters reigned supreme there. (Don't know about Parappa's early life? Check out my headcanon on deviantART to find out!)
His cell phone rang once again. He expected it to be the usual praise he got today, probably from a fan who got his number somehow. Everyone and their brother in Parappa Town knew who he was and what he did. Parappa looked at his phone's touch screen, uncracked, unscathed from the events last night.
PJ was calling.
He swiped his screen, entered his passcode and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"What's good, Parappa? I heard there was a party in your honor going on tonight! You know what we have to do there, right?" PJ said. His voice wasn't the only sound coming through Parappa's phone speaker. He heard other familiar voices. The entire gang was there, Milkcan, Sunny and PJ. Parappa was the only one missing.
"Well, I don't know. What?" Parappa said sarcastically. He knew that he would be asked to perform for the town in his own party. He was a rapper, after all.
"We have to practice that song we had planned! And I found a better beat to it than the last one! So, come on over! And if you don't care about the song, Sunny's here, waiting for you! You wouldn't want to disappoint her, now would you?"
Parappa didn't need the extra encouragement to travel there, but it didn't hurt anything. Smiling, he replied, "I'll be there in about five minutes, Peej." He ended the call and put his phone in his pocket. Just then, Pinto appeared.
"Who was that, big bro?" she inquired, wearing a pink skirt and a grey T-shirt. Parappa turned to face her. He then realized that he would be leaving her here in the home alone once he would leave for PJ's house. Either that, or take her to the party with him. Either decision would be putting her in a dangerous situation. But, he eventually elected one of the choices.
"That was PJ. I'm going somewhere to practice a song for tonight. That means that you'll have to be alone here."
"Fine with me. Why do you look so stressed? I'm usually alone here when you're watching me on weekends, even though Dad told you that you babysitting me was supposed to prepare you for an adult life with a kid to take care of."
"I know, but things have happened. Have you seen the news?"
"No. I'm mostly practicing my ballet over there at the open room you never unpacked things in when you moved in here four months ago. What happened?"
Parappa didn't want to fill his innocent sister's mind with the thought that he most likely killed a person and knocked out two other criminals with his bare hands. That just didn't seem like something to brag about.
"Uh, nothing. But, since you're staying here by yourself, probably will be for a longer time than usual, let me lay down some rules. Rule number one: Don't talk about being by yourself. Rule number two: If there is someone near the house, stay away from the windows. Rule number three: If someone is trying to break in, call 911. Rule number four: If someone has already broken in, use this thing," he explained, pulling out his revolver. "I'll show you how to use it. It's fully loaded right now and it has its safety on. Move the safety up when you need to shoot. Every time you need to shoot, pull the lever back and pull the trigger. Make sure that the notch is at the center of the two back notches in the back. This gun has six shots. If you need to reload the gun, press this button near the cylinder and fill each hole with a bullet."
Pinto got everything he said. She was very wise-beyond-her-years and a good listener. She also remembered how to shoot guns very early in her life, as she lived in the same situation as Parappa did in his early life. She started to deduct what was making him so stressed and where he was about to go.
"Okay, I got it."
"You sure?"
"Yes, Parappa. I've shot guns before. I'll be safe, I promise."
He smiled at his sister and gave her a hug. "Carpe diem, Pinto. See you tomorrow morning." After that, he left the house and began walking toward PJ's house. It was within walking distance of his house, about a quarter-mile away. As soon as he approached PJ's front door, he knocked it. He noticed all the cars in and near PJ's driveway. Was it a party before a party?
PJ opened the door to see Parappa not in his regular orange beanie, but an orange jacket. He almost didn't recognize the rapdog.
"Who in the blue-Oh, it's you! Glad you came, man!" PJ said, bearing his trademark shades. He extended his right hand and grabbed Parappa's and chest-bumped with him in their dap greeting.
"So, what was this new beat that you came up with?" Parappa inquired.
"Oh yeah, that! Well, let's go to the laboritorium and show you what I do! And it will also involve the vocals of the sweet Sunny Funny, which I think you'll like," he responded, winking at the last statement. Parappa walked with his friend to PJ's garage, wondering where everybody was. He quickly deducted that everyone was in the "laboritorium."
PJ opened the door that led from his kitchen to his garage. All it had in there was a computer with Internet access, a set of turntables, and large stacks of pizza boxes nearby. There were also some chairs on the opposite side of the room, where Milkcan and Sunny sat.
"Wow, you got the whole gang wanting to hear your new beat. This is good news indeed," Parappa remarked.
"Dang straight it is. So, this is what I had in mind. Instead of relying heavily on the drum-and-bass feature, I've elected to use more upbeat sounds. And, I was surfing the Internet once and I looked up this song called the "Numa Numa Song," and it would be the perfect complement to this song if Sunny sang it as the chorus."
"That's a good idea. Now I know why I picked you as my DJ," Parappa joked. Sunny stepped up to listen to what she had to sing and began practicing over the beat to get the tones right. Parappa pulled out his phone to pull up the lyrics that he made for this song and began practicing his parts as well. He needed to have this memorized on the same day as the performance, so he didn't have time to mess around. It was in the morning when they started their practice, and it was close to the evening when they finally had the song known by heart.
The gala event for Parappa would be held at 8:00 that night on Greenblat Lane, the main street of Parappa Town. They were three miles away from it, so skateboarding there wouldn't work. Luckily, PJ had a van that got around, usually used for live performances like these.
PJ took his van keys and loaded his DJ equipment in the back of the van. Then, he got everyone inside the van and started driving toward the party. With him in the driver's seat, this left three seats in the back, and Milkcan, of course, took those. So, this left Parappa and Sunny. Sunny did the only thing that she could think to do that was presumably safe and somewhat comfortable. She sat on Parappa's lap in the shotgun seat.
"Oh, Parappa's making his move on her! Go get it, Casanova!" Ma-San teased. Everyone in the car laughed at her joke.
"You must not understand how hard this is for me, guys," Parappa defended.
"Make sure that something else doesn't get hard..." Sunny responded. Everyone laughed as Parappa blushed.
The traffic became more and more congested as they got closer to Greenblat Lane. As the ride went on, Parappa couldn't stop thinking about his sister. Would she be safe? Or would she be kidnapped, or worse? His breathing became much faster as his mind raced through different tragedies that could happen to his sister. Of course, there was always the threat of an affliction occurring to him, but that barely crossed his mind. In his mental distress, he wrapped her arms around Sunny's stomach.
She reacted with a slight jump and showing goosebumps. Sure, they hugged a bunch of times in their relationship, but the way he did it just seemed a bit...off. Usually their hugs are at happy times, but she could count with one hand the amount of times that Parappa hugged her in a time where she knew he was worried about something. She rubbed the back of his hands, turning her head towards him and whispered, "Tell me once we're out of the van, okay?"
He was astounded that she knew that something was wrong. His eyes bucked a little in his amazement. He then muttered, "Okay."
Once they all approached Greenblat Lane, they saw legions of townspeople there, all waiting to see the white rapdog perform, or speak, or simply establish his presence there. The sky was getting darker, the sunset coming at any minute. There was a large outdoor stage set up with a microphone and seats on it.
PJ went behind the stage to set up the equipment there. There were regular townspeople who volunteered to help PJ set up, mainly because they would be one of the first people to see Parappa and company that night. As PJ got his stuff out on the stage, a fair amount of the crowd yelled, "PJ!" recognizing him from Club Fun. He moved his shades up, exposing his eyes and winked at a random girl at the audience. He also made a kissing gesture to the crowd. The majority of females, and even a few males, swooned at the sight of the local celebrity.
Meanwhile, as PJ was setting up his equipment, Parappa and Sunny were in the backstage, conversing about what was concerning the canine. He leaned against the wall with his hands on Sunny's sides, and with her arms on his shoulders. She needed him to feel comfortable with talking to her about any problems, so this is how she did it.
"What's wrong, Parappa?" she said, her eyes softly making contact with his. As Parappa relived the terrors he made in his mind, he moved his hand up and down on Sunny's side. But, he was able to collect his thoughts to explain.
"I left Pinto all alone at home. I think someone is going to invade our home, so I left her the gun. She knows exactly what it does, but...I don't know, I just don't want anything to happen to her, is all..."
"That's it? Listen, don't underestimate her. She is smarter than what a lot of people think. She'll be the next Ellie from Last of Us if anything happens."
"But, what if a guy doesn't break in and instead plants bombs around the house and blows it up? Or if a sniper gets her through a window?"
"Are you mostly worried because of the bombing attempt that happened yesterday?"
"Yes."
"I know someone who always has a bad situation, it seems like. He almost never could see an ending to the situation until he's almost there. He may not know why things happen, but you know how he gets through life?" Sunny asked, making a walking motion with her fingers on the center of Parappa's chest.
"How?" Parappa said, knowing the answer already, but wanted to let her speak.
"He says, 'I gotta believe!' And that's what you should do, sweetheart. She'll be fine. Now," Sunny peaked outside of the curtain to see the legions of townspeople there, "let's show these people what we do."
Grateful for the words of comfort, Parappa leaned in and puckered his lips. Sunny did the same. The two closed their eyes as they kissed for a hot second.
. . .
"Without further ado, I present Parappa the Rapper!" Mayor Craig bellowed on the microphone. The crowd cheered as Parappa and Sunny emerged from the red curtain on the stage. The environment looked festive in the dark sky, all of the stage lights pointed at the two musicians, many other lights at the borders of the crowd, exposing the people there. Parappa looked around and found PJ on his left, testing out the turntables, making sure that they were properly tuned for Parappa and Sunny's perfomance that night.
The two lovers walked on the hardwood stage floor, finding only one microphone. Parappa took the microphone and began.
"I know that it was hard to recognize me without my signature beanie piece on the dome and everything, but let me assure you that it's the one and only PTR on the mike!" he said. Sunny laughed as the crowd cheered even louder. "Speaking of mikes, we need one more of those ma-lovers over here! Katy, pass it!"
From the front row of the crowd, Katy took out a microphone from her purse and tossed it forty feet across the audience spot to him. Parappa caught it underhanded and threw the original mike to Sunny. It seemed funny to the audience, since it seemed like it was improvised. But Katy, Parappa and Sunny had been planning that behind Lammy and Ma-San's back for centuries.
"Hey Praps! Give us a speech about the thing that happened at the bank!" a person said from the bunch.
"A speech? I don't know exactly what I need to do a speech about. But, maybe a positive message for all of you peoples?"
"Yeah, that'll work," the person said.
"Hit it PJ!" Parappa commanded, pointing at him. The bear in shades began scratching the records and began the beat. It was an upbeat one like PJ said. It followed the beat from the Numa Numa song, in the style of "Live Your Life" by T.I. Sunny began singing and repeating the phrase:
Miya-hee, miya-ha, miya-hoo, miya-ha-ha...
Parappa began speaking: "What we all need to do is be thankful for what we do have, and stop focusing on what we do have. Know what I'm saying?" Sunny continued with her chorus:
You're gonna be a shining star,
With fancy clothes, a fancy car,
And then you'll see, you're gonna go far,
Cause everyone knows just who you are,
So live your life! Hey, hey, hey,
You steady chasing that paper, so live your life! Hey, hey, hey,
Cause I'm a paper chaser, keep living your life! Hey, hey, hey,
Make your problems meet their maker, and live your life! Hey, hey, hey,
No telling where it will take ya, so live your life.
Parappa then began rapping:
Never mind what Joe Chins do, just keep all your focus, dude,
I hate to say that we all have just put up with some bogus fools,
I need some hocus-pocus tools and say, "The Magic Locust rules!"
And make them disappear trying to turn us all into homeless dudes
With the album sale money, I collected some bonus kudes,
And witnessed the bank being robbed by all of these soulless brutes,
Thanks to CCMO's good training, I right then showed them moves,
They not only caught me unprepared, but caught me reloading, too,
Now they have this robbery and such hanging over you,
But I believe that we can show what Parappa Town soldiers do,
We only have one shot, kinda reminds me of the golden tool,
Make the most of this chance, thanks for getting the song rolling, boo,
We got so much belief, through the atmosphere it's showing through,
Strength in numbers and determination, we practically bulking, dude,
Sunny, it's my goal to help you by being there and holding you,
A rap song with a soprano voice similar to Ellie Goulding, cool!
Sunny now had her singing solo, as if on cue:
Now everybody's watching what I do, come walk in my shoes,
And see the way we're living if you really want to,
Got my mind on Parappa, cause he's not going away!
So keep on getting your paper, and keep on grinding,
Look in the mirror, and keep on shining,
Till the game ends, till the clock stops,
We're gonna post up on the top spot,
(Chorus)
As the song ended, both Parappa and Sunny raised their arms and made a "Y" shape with their bodies. They enjoyed the applause from everyone there, Milkcan, PJ, the mayor, everyone. The two performers grinned at their praise.
"Okay, maybe I do have some things to say here while I'm up here. I know it's not an award show, but I just wanted to publicly thank my beautiful flower, Sunny Funny for helping me make this performance possible, PJ for making the instrumentals..." Parappa began. He went over what happened at the bank robbery.
"...then, after I headbutted the gangster, I caught the gun from midair. He shot the gun, hitting my beanie..."
"...the guy has a shotgun right now, and I duck. MORE damage happens to my favorite headwear..."
"...while everyone was chilling at the crib, there was one case that seemed to differ in Lammy's eyes..."
Finally he concluded, "Let's keep our heads up, guys. This was one bank robbery. It's happened before in our town. If we let this event get to us that quickly, then the gangsters win the psychological battle! We got a fine police force here and everything. We'll be fine here. I want y'all to remember: You gotta believe! Thanks Parappa Town!"
He raised the mike in his elation. The group of fans roared in applause as he and Sunny walked back into the backstage.
He looked at Sunny and stated, "You were exceptional!"
Sunny blushed at the acclaim. She smiled and held Parappa's hands. "Nobody would know that I existed in music without you."
"Hey, what else are boyfriends for? You have a beautiful voice, and you need to have more performances like this. Keep practicing, don't suck, you'll be fine!"
She giggled and leaned in for a hug. Parappa was about to follow suit when someone at Parappa's left said, "Uh, excuse us, Mr. Parappa, hopefully we're not interrupting anything, but may we speak with you?"
He didn't know who it was, so he was going to finish his hug no matter who was watching him. For another hot second, Sunny and Parappa hugged before he replied. Parappa turned to look at the other people present. In the small amount of light, the rapdog saw three cats, two orange tabbies and one brownish-black tortoiseshell. All three of the cats were walking on two legs, like everyone else does in this fanfiction, and dressed in grey suits and black fedoras. One of them was holding a suitcase.
"What is it that you need to talk about?" Parappa responded.
"Well, we work with Acme Animal Records, and we have heard your aMAZing performance you've just done. We've heard that you independently publish your music to stores citywide, and make somewhat of a pretty penny from it, too. You can make yourself, and us, far much more money if you would sign a contract with our company. Would you like to confer with us sometime, like tomorrow...?"
This was the thing he was waiting for centuries. Ever since he could speak, he wanted to become a rapper. He was already that, and a good one at that, but his next goal was to become signed to a label of some sort. And now, here it was.
"Shoot, why wait? You got the briefcase and everything right here. Might as well do the deals and crap right now."
"Well, I don't know. Timothy, what time is it?" the first cat that spoke turned to his left. Timothy, the tortoiseshell cat checked his watch.
"It's 9:17. If we hustle with the negotiations, we can get everything done and still catch our next flight," Timothy responded. The first cat shrugged and lead Parappa and Sunny to the Acme Animals Records' official limousine. The first cat, who was named Harvey, walked in the same pace as Parappa's, discussing the different features of the new record deal. Harvey guaranteed that he would make Parappa at least twice his original amount of sales per year, also with at least two concerts per month, further increasing his overall money raise. But, even though the rapdog's schedule would practically clear all of his free time with friends, family or with himself, he could get himself a much nicer house in Parappa Town. At least, he hoped. He was not going to live far from his friends.
In the twilight of the evening, the moonlight bouncing off the sidewalk, the street lights illuminating the busy street of 5th Avenue, Parappa stood in the middle of the Acme Animals Records agents, facing Harvey, who casually leaned against the limousine, and Timothy and the last agent, who were discussing potential singing plans with her were behind the dog.
"Do you have family here at PT, Parappa?" Harvey asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Mother, father, siblings? I already know you have a floral love interest right here."
"Why is it that you ask who of my family is here?" Parappa inquired, suspicious.
Harvey lifted his hands in submission. "All I'm saying is that it will be much easier to provide for your family with this deal. All the important details we've already discussed, so all you need to do is sign this contract." The tabby cat seemed to magically produce a rolled up piece of paper and a pen for Parappa to write his name down. The young dog took both of the items and heavily contemplated whether or not to accept the deal.
He was about to write his name down, approaching the car for something hard to write on. Then with a jolt of a thought, he remembered his sister, alone with a revolver at arm's reach if needed. He even saw his sister holding a gun at someone in what seemed to be a vision sequence to him. Next, the sight and sound of a gun shooting appeared in Parappa's mind. Finally, he saw a large pool of blood appearing on a hardwood floor, eventually filling every part of his eyesight.
All of those visions happened in three seconds. Parappa was inhaling deeply at the quick thoughts of violence against someone. With the added fame and earnings, this would make him more of a target for many assassins. At the end of the day, the safety of his friends, family and person was all that mattered.
"Sorry, Harvey. I don't want this type of stuff occurring to me just yet. I feel that I am happy with the current status of my profession. I think this opening in your staff should be passed on to another musician," Parappa finally explained, handing back the contract and pen to Harvey. The worker for Acme Animals Records was unfazed by his answer, despite his huge desire to work with the rapdog.
"And that goes double for me. If he won't go nationwide, then I won't either. Our mindset was to become famous together, or not at all," Sunny responded, walking up to Harvey, standing next to the white dog. Parappa smiled at her loyalty.
It was difficult to tell the worker's countenance in the dark atmosphere of the night, but Parappa and Sunny thought that Harvey was definitely okay with their decisions. He casually walked to his side, pacing as he went on to a new subject.
"I know that you're both very new to the realm of adulthood, and I can understand that. I remember when I was at your age. I wanted so much to work in the world of music at that time. I didn't try to work at it, I worked at getting to where I am now, period. All I ask of you two is to continue working at what you do. You'd be doing the world a huge disservice if you neglected your talents. Maybe a complimentary tour of the south side of Parappa Town?"
"Ah, no, that won't be necessary. Thank you guys, though. I'll be sure to put in a good word about you guys to P-" Parappa said. He was interrupted by the sound of a gun dropping to the ground. The tortoiseshell cat who was conversing with Sunny was handed the contract earlier and was trying to put it back into his jacket pocket. He fiddled around too much and made his revolver drop to the ground. It was the same exact style of revolver that Chief Leaf and Hollow Bone used. As soon as Parappa recognized this, he gasped and quickly clenched his fists. Harvey immediately knew that Parappa was preparing for battle and grabbed Parappa from behind, holding the dog in a headlock. The rapdog couldn't yell to Sunny to watch out, because when you're in a headlock you want to waste as little oxygen as possible.
He didn't need to yell, though, as Sunny anticipated the attacks from the rest of the two "businessmen." The other tabby pulled out a knife and pointed it at the sunflower. He was at her right. He was about to stab her when she quickly grabbed his wrist with her right hand. She pulled down a little on it and turned her body around, bringing the knife in front of her, pointed away from her. When she turned 180 degrees, she brought her left elbow up to the cat's face, hitting him between the eyes. The cat was brought down by the impact, dropping the knife.
Sunny now faced the tortoiseshell cat that dropped his gun. The cat bent over to pick up his revolver. Sunny dashed toward him and spun and dropkicked his head, knocking him down. She landed on her side, so she quickly got back up to avoid too much dirt in her dress.
Parappa's head was turning blue. He needed to escape the assailant's grip, which was quickly cutting off his respiration. He then remembered his learning in Chop Chop Master Onion's classes. He lowered his center of gravity by squatting a little bit. He then swung his left elbow to hit Harvey in the ribs. This released the cat's grip on the dog, but he swung his right elbow to hit his other set of ribs. Parappa was still facing opposite of Harvey, but in a brisk movement, he then balled his left hand to a fist and veered it to Harvey's face. The hit connected, landing on Harvey's cheek. Bent over in pain, Harvey tried to nurse the agony from his torso and face. Parappa rolled on the cat's back and landed in front of him. He moved his right leg to sweep kick the cat to make him lose balance. It worked, and Parappa completed his 360 degree turn to view the cat as his legs were airborne. He jumped up, bringing his foot out and somersault kicked Harvey in midair.
The businessman turned into catsup as he was lifted higher in the air. Parappa looked at Sunny and they nodded at each other. The dog folded his hands and knelt down. Sunny got in front of him and put her feet in Parappa's hands. The dog lifted her up in the air. In her flight, Sunny turned 180 degrees vertically, her feet facing Harvey's body. She landed a kick on Harvey's chin, further causing him damage.
A millisecond after Sunny landed, Harvey landed hard on the ground. There was no way he would get back up anytime soon. Parappa was breathing hard from the headlock earlier. But, as soon as Sunny gave the okay sign with her hand, Parappa heard another voice.
"WorldStar!"
Parappa and Sunny turned to find a human holding out a smartphone. The human wore a T-shirt and jeans, and it was obvious that he recorded the fight going on.
The couple decided to leave the area as soon as possible. They couldn't take the tour around the city and eventually go home, because as soon as Harvey was knocked out, the limo drove off. But, before they took off, Parappa picked up the tortoiseshell's revolver.
It was a good thing that he took the cat's revolver, because the other tabby cat had a gun on him in the first place, but never took it out to use it until now. Parappa heard a gun click behind him. He pulled up his revolver and turned toward the businessman. Swiftly, he pulled the hammer back and squeezed the trigger. The bullet's destination ended up being the cat's cranium.
The rapdog's eyes were bucked at the realization that he just killed a man. It was possible that he killed two people, considering if the person who drove the truck from the bank died from the gunshot wound or the car accident. The feeling of guilt overwhelmed Parappa.
Sunny, on the other hand, was very grateful that Parappa saved both of their lives. She felt a rush of adrenaline she never felt before. "Thanks, Parappa," she reported. The sunflower turned to see Parappa frozen in guilt. Uh-oh, she thought.
Parappa fell to his knees. Sunny fleetly knelt down to catch him before he hit the ground and fainted. She didn't know that Parappa would faint then, since that Parappa wasn't the type of person who would pass out anywhere. In the night sky, Sunny asked, "Are you all right?"
"Sunny, I just killed a man, pulled the trigger and now he's dead...Oh, gosh, what have I become?" Parappa held his head in his hands, commencing a session of sobbing. Guilt mixed with sadness, fear and anger in the pup. What did he do to deserve this? He didn't want this. He thought he escaped the life of gangs and guns when he moved from the ghetto to Parappa Town. Now, it seemed like, you can take a rapdog away from the ghetto life, but you can't take the ghetto life from the rapdog.
"Parappa, now isn't the time! We need to get out of here quick! The cops are on their way right now!" Sunny said. These words instantly reminded Parappa of a time in the ghetto where he barely avoided being caught by the cops at a murder investigation when he was four years old. With this spark in memory, he started to shake a leg. As the sound of police sirens became louder and closer, Sunny quickly followed.
They ran to behind the backstage to find PJ's van waiting for them. The DJ was looking at a rap magazine he picked up at a store near the stage when he noticed the two running toward the van.
"It's about time you guys got here! What, did you two have certain feelings for each other and wanted to express them before we had to leave?" Ma-San joshed.
"We don't have time for games, even though we were in ones! PJ, step on it!" Parappa exclaimed, hastily sitting upon the chair and having Sunny sit on his lap. PJ, judging the urgency in his voice, decided not to argue and did as he was told. He did a burnout before he made haste to Parappa's house.
Nobody said anything for the first ten minutes of the ride back. Then, Katy asked, breaking the ice, "Why were you in such a rush, guys?"
Parappa didn't want to lie to his friend, but didn't want too many details to be out at that time yet. "Let's just say that I was in a sticky situation and had to get the heck out of there."
Lammy then asked, "Oh, did anyone hear a gunshot that happened just then?"
"No," Katy and Ma-San replied.
"I heard it. Any idea what it may have been, Paraps? Sunny?" PJ said.
Parappa felt a cold drop of sweat roll down his head. His explanation of his shooting became more inevitable by the minute. Luckily, he was saved by the bell, or sirens, if you will, as many police cars blocked off Rapdog Road, a roadway that quickly led to Parappa's residence. A policeman, Officer Kat, led them to a detour.
But it didn't save him for long. Eventually PJ asked the same question. Parappa looked for answers inside his head and then came up with one.
"Well, we have a mafia inside our town. Maybe it was them."
Finally, they made it to Parappa's house and decided to camp there for the night. Milkcan slept in the living room, PJ slept in the kitchen and Parappa and Sunny both slept in the rapdog's bedroom after they checked that Pinto was completely okay and that no shots were fired from Parappa's first revolver.
The couple climbed onto the queen-sized bed. The most contact the two made was them holding their hands in bed. Parappa was still stressed about his first known kill in his life. Sunny looked for ways to comfort him somehow. He still seemed stressed by the time that he fell asleep, but she felt that her being there helped a little bit.