Pucca: Unhooked...? 4

Criminal Genius... Tobe?

AK: Been a while... So, shall I tell you a tale of heroism and adventure, or just start the chapter? I think I'll start the chapter.

XXXXX

Pucca's POV:

I watched as Tobe paced the dirty floor, muttering to himself. He was a sad man. A very sad, desolate, delusional, defeated... You get the picture, right? He's a sad man with very little friends and very little hope.

"Pucca, it's your turn." one of his crony ninjas told me. We were playing Chinese checkers. I really didn't know the rules, but somehow I was beating them out of their money.

I made my move and waited for validation. The ninja simply threw up his hands in defeat. "You win..."

"Banzai!" I laughed.

"How about BE?" a ninja suggested. "All ninjas are good in BS!"

A chorus of "yeah"s went around, and the ninja-dealer dealt the cards.

"Silence! You don't play with prisoners. You torture them!" Tobe barked.

"But we don't know Chinese water torture. We only know Chinese checkers." another ninja pouted. "Besides, what's the difference? She's not being unruly. What does it matter if we play?"

I nodded in agreement. I could get out if I wanted to- I mean, the "cage" is really bamboo birdcage. The only reason I hadn't? I was bored. And really, I was due for a break. If no one came to rescue me by three-thirty (15:30, for you military peeps) I was gonna break myself out. I may be lazy about saving myself on my own time, but on working time, I was precise- like down to the second.

When the ninja (I was playing with three ninjas, BTW. The one across from me was in an über-dark grey, the one on my right in black, and the left one I'd put a red lipstick mark on- no, didn't kiss him- just to differentiate) on my right tried to BS that he had seven Threes, I called BS.

The game progressed way better than Chinese Checkers, but the outcome was still the same. I won. Five rounds. I opted to play Society. "You know Tobe most people would have sent a ransom note by now..." I told him.

He paled. "Do not let her escape! I will be right back!" He ran off, muttering about the stupid rules of kidnapping.

I shrugged and dealt the cards. I gestured to LipStick Stain. "You go first."

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Garu's POV:

"This so wasn't worth the coming out of the Goh-Rong..." I muttered, standing over a defeated Tobe.

"You just got lucky."

"Dude, who delivers their own ransom letters- by singing telegrams?" Abyo laughed.

"Where's Pucca?" I demanded.

"Big glass green eyes, creamy complexion, black as night waterfall of hair- wearing black denim shorts? Haven't seen her." Tobe answered. This dumba-

"Garu, have you dissected Pucca's location yet." Li Chan walked out of the Goh-Rong, looking annoyed to see Tobe.

"Well, if it isn't the sous chef ninja..." taunted Tobe from the ground. "Done stealing people's girls yet?"

"Want me to make you eat ground again?" I demanded. Even if I was edgy about my old roommate being here in Sooga, didn't mean Tobe could say that to anyone.

"Where's Pucca?" I demanded again, pressing my boot down hard on his back.

To an unassuming person, it looked like he was being forced to do push ups under my foot. If you were observing you'd know that I had dislocated his limbs with a painless ninja technique called the 34 Palms of Mercy.

"She's most likely being tortured by my ninjas as we speak, probably in agonizing pain and suffer-"

"Hey guys!" Pucca's chipper voice came through loud and clear as she was escorted by Tobe's ninjas to the Goh-Rong.

"I thought I told you to make sure she didn't leave!" Tobe growled.

"No, you said 'make sure she doesn't escape'. She didn't escape. She invited us for lunch." Three ninjas were flocking her, and one held a deck of cards. "Plus we have a better chance of beating her if she's multitasking. Kuru almost beat her in Society."

"Pucca, are you okay?" Li demanded, beating me to the punch.

Pucca rolled her eyes. "As if Tobe can even phase me... This is child's play. Anyways, the second rush should be starting soon."

She turned to her three ninja stooges. "If you want food for free, you can help..."

They all exchanged looks. "Sign us up!" And so Pucca led them back into the Goh-Rong, chattering on about aprons and dumplings.

Li smirked. "Yeah, she looks really tortured, guy."

"It's Tobe! Why can you never remember my name?!" Tobe roared.

"Oh, and Li?" Pucca stuck her head out the door.

"Yeah?" Li replied

This I had to see. I turned and wished I hadn't.

"Thanks for worrying about me." She winked. "Pick me up at seven from Ching's, 'kay?"

My jaw dropped. Abyo's jaw dropped. Even Tobe's jaw dropped. She. Was. Gonna. Date. Him.

"Whoa!" Abyo snorted when Li left. "That was one relationship I thought no one could break..."

"What do girls see in him?" Tobe wondered.

"It's the hair. Gotta be that Avan Jogia hair." Abyo concluded.

"Girls do love silky hair..." Tobe conceded.

Both of them looked at my hair and I felt heat creep up to my ears. "Shut up!"

XXXX

Back at my bungalow in the woods, I was doing various kata when Pucca's scooter engine sound filled the air. A light fluffy energy started forming in my chest. I frowned at it, but didn't want to analyze it yet.

"Hey."

"Hi," Pucca replied. "Special delivery."

I raised a brow. "Didn't order anything."

"I know. This is just my way of saying thanks, you know, for beating up Tobe for me." She handed me a styrofoam container and smiled. "It's a special dessert I made just for you."

The last time Pucca had made me dessert, it had tried to eat me."Thanks; you know you didn't have to-"

"Just accept it, silly. I promise, it's good." she giggled. "Later, ninja-boy."

And so she zoomed off on her cherry red scooter, without so much as a hug.

I frowned. "What game is she playing at?" I opened the container and gaped. "Almond cookies and chocolate dip?" I loved chocolate (what self-respecting ninja didn't?), but I hadn't known she knew. I dipped the small cookie into the large carrying container of chocolate sauce and popped it in my mouth. "Delicious..."

Once again that fluffy feeling in the vicinity of my rib cage started. I chalked it up to low blood sugar (A/N:?!).

Polishing off another four cookies, I set the box down and went back to my kata, trying to clear my mind of cool green eyes, a mega-watt smile, and black denim short shorts.

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AK: Ah, funny love... Garu's got it bad. Li's got it goin' on. Abyo... needs to get with it. R&R, please. It's been so long!