"ABC" rightfully belongs to the Jackson 5/Michael Jackson. Please take note that when the girls are in their disguises, I may refer to them by their aliases.
Amber
Somewei
"Well, Boomer?"
"The encryption code has been changed."
"What does that mean?"
"I means, idiot, that the message as been tampered with," Boomer replied as he shot a look at Butch. The green 'ruff flipped him off and grumbled something underneath his breath that sounded strangely like a death threat for calling him an idiot. It wasn't Butch's fault that he wasn't a computer whiz like Boomer and Brick. He was the ammunition expert. He dealt with weapons. Not designs or computers.
Brick, who was standing behind his two brothers, frowned. So Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching had told the truth. When he read the message, it did say for him to not go aid Ojo Tango. And on top of that, someone had hacked into the computer and changed the message. Meaning someone was smart enough to not hack into his computer, but rather another. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Damn it."
"What do we do?" Boomer asked seriously as he turned to his brothers. Butch shrugged, not having a clue while Brick contemplated. And while the green and red 'ruffs were silent, the blue 'ruff turned around. "I tried tracing it, but there's hardly anything to trace. There is evidence it had been intercepted, but I can't pinpoint where the interception took place."
"This isn't the first time this happened," Brick explained suddenly causing his two brothers to glance at him, perplexed. He snapped his red eyes over to his blonde brother. "Someone hacked into our computers and they downloaded the design template of the palace that you created, Boomer."
Boomer raised an eyebrow. "Why would they take that?"
"I don't know," Brick admitted. He crossed his arms over his chest and walked away from the computer. Butch followed his brother and Boomer quickly signed off before he went in pursuit of the other two. As they walked towards Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, each remained in their own silence. When they reached the regional lord, the redheaded leader said, "Someone did change it. You're lucky."
"'Cause if it hadn't been changed…" Boomer continued solemnly and let his voice trailed off. His blue eyes turned to Butch, who slashed a finger across his throat. Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching paled considerably at the sinister and almost psychotic smile of Butch. He nodded weakly and the three boys took off into the sky, leaving a broken ceiling in their wake.
"ABC, easy as 1,2,3, as simple as do, re, mi…" Bubbles hummed as she skipped throughout the base. It was the eve of Operation ABC and the girls were doing their last minute preparations. Tomorrow would be the day that Bubbles would have to go out and try and catch Boomer's attention. Apparently, there was a garden party the next day and Blossom sneaked Bubbles' alias name into the servant roster that would be serving at the party. This gave Bubbles a way into the garden party.
"Come on, come on, come on, let me show you what it's all about…" she continued to sing as she reached her room. She was trying to relax herself. It wasn't that she was nervous because she had to sneak into the palace or anything. No, her mission was simple: catch Boomer's attention. But it was the mere fact that she had to go in front of the very boy that beat her up that scared her.
And…
…Not like she would admit this to her sisters, but she was nervous about trying to attract a member of the opposite sex. She hardly had any experience with boys. Actually, she had no experience with boys and now she was being told to try and attract a boy! And she didn't want to ask for advice because of the talk that Ms. Bellum and Ms. Keane had held about the 'birds and the bees'. Poor Bubbles had been fooled because she thought, at first, the conversation really would be about birds and bees, but it wasn't…which made her faint.
However, something did help her. She overheard Buttercup asking Blossom about how she was supposed to attract a guy she hardly knew and Blossom could only safely say that it would come naturally. But she didn't really know for sure. That comforted Bubbles in two ways. The first way being that maybe the idea of how to attract Boomer would come naturally, and she wouldn't really have to stress. The second way being that even Blossom had no idea what to do. That made her feel like she wasn't completely incompetent.
"…Singing simple melodies. 1,2,3, baby, you and me!" Bubbles finished as she collapsed into her sister's room. There, she found Blossom reading a book entitled Mastering the Art of War by Zhuge Liang. Also next to her she found a couple more books (Analects by Confucius, The Art of War by Sun Tzu and Japanese Art of War by Thomas Cleary). Bubbles supposed that these books would help Blossom. Of course, she admitted to herself, one would never find Bubbles reading those books.
Buttercup also walked in at that moment and glanced at the book that Blossom was reading. Raising an eyebrow, she asked quickly, "Hey, isn't that Zhuge Liang dude in a video game? What was it called…? Dynasty Warriors or something like that?"
"Yes," Blossom nodded, but never taking her gaze away from her book. "But the game, Dynasty Warriors, is based off of actual events that occurred in China during the fall of the Han Dynasty. It's also based off the books The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which explains everything about the three kingdoms of Wu, Shu, and Wei. Zhuge Liang, or famously referred to as the Sleeping Dragon, was a legendary strategist for the Kingdom of Shu."
"Uh huh," Buttercup nodded slowly, clearing not interested in the historical significance of the video game. She also felt like telling her sister she wanted a yes or no answer and not a history lesson. "But why are you reading that?"
Blossom flipped a page. "I need to get into the mindset of a strategist. Reading their books will help me."
The green-eyed girl shrugged. "Whatever."
You are cordially invited to
The Monkey King's Garden Party
In honor of
All the kings true supporters
Boomer grumbled as he fiddled with the collar of his shirt. He hated doing things like this. He really hated garden parties. And it wasn't really a garden party when one thought of it. It was more like a warning to the very few free humans who supported Mojo financially or some other way. It was to show that Mojo was still in complete power and any dissenters would be dealt with swiftly.
But that wasn't what bugged Boomer. He absolutely hated dressing up for these things and he absolutely hated having to deal with all these people. It wasn't like he didn't like partying…it was more like he hated sitting around stuffy old people talking about how much more financially superior they are to someone else. It got irritating real quick. He liked fun. He liked freedom. Trouble, mayhem…whatever. Anything but this.
His eyes wandered around and he furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed a rabbit off to the side. He smiled slightly (not enough to be caught). He had always loved animals. Of course, he never said anything to his brothers because he could practically picture them making fun of him for it, but he couldn't help it! He knew that if he wasn't in league with Mojo, he'd probably be helping some poor defenseless creature right now. Either that or wrestling with alligators. Kind of like the adventurers one saw on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet (which, again, he watched in secret because of his brothers).
As his sapphire eyes watched the rabbit with some amusement in his eyes, he felt someone squeeze his arm slightly. He glanced down, a frown replacing his slight smile, wondering who dared interrupted his peaceful time. It was Gertrude Avonline, his date. "What are you staring at, Boomer?"
"Nothing," He said sharply and turned away from Gertrude and the rabbit. The blonde girl merely frowned and continued listening as her father spoke to another billionaire, Mr. Morebucks. Boomer looked at her at the corner of his eyes and rolled his eyes. He hated forced dates even more than he hated dressing up for stuffy parties.
Outside the servants' entrance into the kitchens, Bubbles looked on nervously. She really didn't want to do this. She was so nervous and scared she was going to mess up, but she couldn't help it! And then to make things worse, everyone had told her she had to go. No 'ands', 'ifs' or 'buts'…at all. She couldn't back out. She couldn't retreat. And she couldn't hide underneath the covers and make all the fear go away.
"Okay, the party had started about half an hour ago. All you have to do is go in and catch Boomer's attention, but make sure Mojo or his brothers don't catch you," Blossom's voice came in on Bubbles' skin-colored earwig. "No telling what they may do. You have until 1900 hours to complete this mission."
"I have that long!" squeaked Bubbles and the color drained away from her face. She couldn't be in there for that long! She could try and caught Boomer's attention in 1900 hours! That was way too long. She couldn't stay in that treacherous palace that long! She wouldn't last. She would give something away and all their hard work would be ruined! No! No! NO!
Buttercup sighed in her ear. "Bubbles, that means you have until seven to complete your mission."
"Oh," sighed Bubbles. The panic slipped away from her body immediately. That meant she had until seven in the evening to get things done and over with. Not 1900 hours. That made things a whole lot better. "Why didn't you just say so?"
"Just go!" Blossom and Buttercup pressed in unison. The blonde (now with a black haired wig on her head) nodded and moved her legs forward as she heard muffled bickering in her ears from her two sisters. She knew that was going to get annoying real quick, but knew that she would have to ignore the girls lest she blow her cover.
When she reached the entrance to the kitchens, a guard stopped her and asked, "Name?"
"Um…Amber Smith?" She mumbled, intimidated by the sheer size of the guard. She watched the guard as he checked for her name on the list. All she kept thinking was how easily the man could snap her in half. Luckily, she thought to herself, she had superpowers to keep her strong, but it didn't make her appear as intimidating as this man before her!
She was broken out of her thoughts when the man motioned for her to go in and head straight down. She did as she was told and walked all the way down the hall until she reached a room where a bunch of servants were waiting for something. Amber (as her training demanded) looked around for anything that would be useful and for potential escape routes should something go wrong.
"I can't do this," she whispered to herself.
"Be strong, Bubbles," Buttercup's encouraging voice whispered into her ear. She nodded, closed her eyes and collected all the strength she had. She opened her eyes and continued looking and examining the room. She knew she would have to do this for every room she was in and quickly taught herself ways to get out and potential weapons.
The thought of weapons made her hand fly to her thigh. Around her thigh was a small pouch of kunai knives, senbon needles, and shuriken. These small weapons were her pride and joy and her strength. Bubbles had tried to use other weapons, but either the weapon's size or her clumsy hands would not cooperate with each other. Bubbles knew that Blossom worked with sai. She also knew that using that weapon, a person needed a great amount of grace and flexibility. Bubbles had the flexibility, just not the grace. Buttercup used short staffs mostly and that weapon required a great amount of strength. And Bubbles wasn't a powerhouse like the her rough-around-the-edges sister.
So, the blue-clad girl picked the small projectile weapons. She knew that they were small, just like she was probably the smallest out of her sisters, but she was also the fastest. Bubbles had the speed to be able to shoot off these small weapons and she also had the accuracy. So far, in training, Bubbles had not missed a target when she threw her shuriken, senbon needles, or kunai knives. Actually, put any type of knife or needle and Bubbles could use it as a weapon.
And Bubbles also learned something good out of using senbon needles. She actually became very good with acupuncture and learned where she could strike certain points and is able to kill a person quickly or put in the deathlike appearance. And although Bubbles never used those techniques before, she still figured her acupuncture skills would be good to use for Blossom for her overwhelming stress to relax her.
"Alright, listen up everyone!" a voice called over the many servants. Everyone quieted down and Amber moved to a spot where she could see the owner of the voice. There, in the center front of the servants, was an elderly lady. She had her hands on her hips and her mouth was twisted into a frown. She had frown lines on her face and her salt-and-pepper hair was tied back into a very tight bun. "I want everyone's attention. Now, I am going to give you a uniform, a position, and then I want you to go to your jobs quickly. Today is important for His Majesty and I expect you all to do even better than your best. Get moving."
As the crowd pulled into a single file line, Amber made a quick mental note of who she probably would have to get around just in case. As everyone started talking again and noise filled the room, Amber whispered to her sisters back at the base, "Who was that?"
"Probably the au pair…" answered Buttercup quickly.
"No," interrupted Blossom and Amber could practically see her sister shaking her head. "Au pairs, I believe, are traditionally between the ages of seventeen and thirty. This woman sounds older. Am I right, Bubbles?"
"Yeah," whispered Bubbles as she moved up in the line. "She actually looks to be around her sixties."
"Then she's probably the Head House Parlor-maid," the redhead remarked. Amber furrowed her eyebrows. That meant this woman was probably pretty important and she probably was going to watch every servants moves while they were doing their job. That meant Amber was probably going to have to find a way around this woman if she was going to complete her mission.
When she reached the front of the line, the frowning woman handed her a uniform and merely said, "Waitress."
Amber nodded before she scurried off to get changed into her uniform. She knew that her being a waitress would probably much more easier for her because then she wouldn't have to figure out a way to meet Boomer. She was going to be up there serving food. Now all she had to do is think about what she was going to do to catch his attention. Blossom had said it would come naturally, but Amber wasn't a fool. She may be gullible sometimes, but she was not stupid contrary to popular belief.
Once she changed into her uniform, she walked over and moved to the kitchens where she found cooks and kitchen maids bustling about. She frowned and wondered how Mojo managed to reduce the world back into older times when each maid had a position and a family could keep a maid on. But she also knew that Mojo controlled the world so he could have whatever he wanted. No matter how…medieval it sounded.
"Here," said a cook gruffly as he handed a tray of food to Amber. Amber smiled and placed a tray on the counter before she quickly pulled her black hair (the wig she choose above all others) into a ponytail. She then grabbed the tray of food and followed other waiters and waitresses out to the gardens to serve the small snacks the cooks prepared.
When she got up to the gardens, her eyes scanned for a familiar head of blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. She didn't see anyone at first and frowned, but kept moving nonetheless. She moved around, searching and examining each person's face. A couple of times, she nearly ran into Mojo, but narrowly escaped him each time.
"Be careful, Bubbles," warned Buttercup.
Amber knew she had to be careful. She was literally behind enemy lines. At any moment she could be caught, she knew, which was why she had her weapons underneath her uniform and already had fifteen escapes routes planned in her head. As she continued to look for Boomer, her eyes widened when she noticed Brick coming her way.
Her heart pounded and Amber, at first, was ready to get into a fight, but then she noticed his face. It was in no way hostile towards her. He looked like he was ready to hurt someone (the same look Blossom got on her face when she was irritated) and Amber knew she would have to play it cool. Looking down to the ground, she mumbled to him, "Snack, sir?"
"Yeah," Brick muttered angrily as he roughly grabbed some food off the tray. Amber had to admit that, although she was not stubborn like Buttercup nor prideful like Blossom, she didn't like addressing the Rowdyruff before her as 'sir'. It irritated her, but her irritation was covered by fear.
"Easy, Bubbles," soothed Blossom in her ear. Amber wished somehow she could tell her sister that she was scared that she didn't want to be anywhere near Brick. Because, if he was anything like Blossom, he was a very perspective Rowdyruff. "Now that he's grabbed some food, walk away calmly. You panic, you'll only draw unwanted attention to yourself."
Amber back away slowly, making sure to keep her breathing even before she threw herself into any anxiety attack. She made sure she held no eye contact with Brick and moved away slowly. As she backed away, she failed to notice that someone was behind her. She quickly crashed into the person behind her and tripped. Both Amber, the person behind her and the food in her hand had quickly fallen to the ground.
"You stupid girl!" roared a female voice. Amber froze and glanced up. There, before her, was an auburn-haired girl with scowl on her face as she scrambled to sit up. Once she was on her feet, she quickly wiped off any remnants of food off of her yellow dress. "This was a designer label! Do you know how much this cost me!"
"I'm s-sorry!" the blonde (but wigged) girl stumbled over her words as she tried picking up the food that had fallen to the ground. Her blue eyes looked ready to tear up as she mumbled, "I'm really sorry…oh. What am I going to do now?"
As she hurried to pick up the food, she felt all eyes on her. Her face flushed, knowing that she was doing exactly what Blossom didn't want her to do. She knew that she was drawing unwanted attention unto herself and knew that she was going to have to pay the price for this in some form or another. And as she picked up the food, she noticed a pair of masculine hands helping her. She glanced up and her own blue eyes locked with deep sapphire eyes.
Boomer was sitting right in front of her.
She squeaked and when continued to pick up the food at even faster rate. He suddenly grabbed her hands and she looked up shyly at him. He smiled calmly and then snapped his fingers. Almost at once, a male servant appeared and Boomer quickly said, "Malcolm, why don't you clean this up. I am going to help Miss…"
"Amber," she supplied in a hushed whisper, confused at what was going on. She remained confused as Boomer helped her stand up. From behind, Brick rose an eyebrow and Boomer shot him a look. The blue 'ruff's eyes darted to Gertrude and back to his brother and that's when Brick understood. Boomer was helping this Amber as an excuse to get away from Gertrude.
Both counterparts rushed away from the scene of the crime as Malcolm had bent down to clean up the food and the party resumed its life. Boomer directed Amber further and further back until they reached a quiet spot in the gardens. Amber, as she was led away, almost thought that she had been found out, when Boomer asked, "Are you alright?"
At that same moment, Buttercup said in her ear, "Make this situation work in your advantage."
"What!" Amber responded to Buttercup's statement first before she realized that Boomer hadn't heard her sister. In fact, the boy was looking at her strangely because her sudden outburst and her face went a further shade of red than she already was. She must, she figured, look like an absolute fool to her counterpart.
"Are you okay?" Boomer asked slowly and Amber nodded quietly, looking down at her lap as she sat down on a fountain ledge. The blue 'ruff shook his head. "You're probably shaken up from that scenario just now, huh? Batty Brown get your nerves in a bundle?"
Batty Brown? She couldn't figure out who exactly Batty Brown was until she realized that this Batty Brown was probably the Head House parlor-maid that Blossom was talking about and the one that had given Amber her waitress assignment. And although she knew Mrs. Brown didn't get her nerves in a bundle, she went with the excuse and nodded nimbly.
Boomer noticed her nod and immediately laughed. Amber, whose face had returned to normal up until this point, went red. She couldn't help but notice that Boomer had a nice laugh on him, but chose to ignore it. Instead, Boomer said, "Yeah. She has a tendency to do that. Butch and I make her mean on purpose just because she picks on us so much. Brick tells us not to, but Butch and I can't help it! It's too much fun!"
It was at that moment that Amber couldn't believe this was the same boy that had beaten her up and left her dead almost a year ago. He seemed like a completely different person. Almost like a normal teenage boy instead of a deadly super-villain under the very whim of the Monkey King. The blue 'ruff noticed her look and smirked, "What? Are you scared of me or something?"
He reached out his hand towards her and Amber immediately flinched. It wasn't like she meant to, but it was reflex. She was still scared from the last encounter she and her counterpart had. Boomer noticed the flinch and pulled back, frowning. She noticed his look and murmured, "Sorry. You just always seemed so…scary to me."
Boomer nodded. "Yeah. My brothers and I get that a lot."
"Well can you blame anyone for thinking that?" Amber burst out and then gasped, realizing what she said. She covered her mouth and half expected Boomer to blow up on her. When he didn't, she blushed again and mumbled, "Sorry. Didn't mean to say that."
Her counterpart didn't say anything. Instead, he stared at her. He quietly searched her face and didn't say anything for the longest time. It was starting to make Amber uncomfortable when he said, "Have we met before?"
A series of red alerts went off in Amber's mind. And while she was panicking on the inside, she calmly said, "You might have seen me around the palace a couple times. Or some place else."
Boomer rose an eyebrow. "How come I don't remember seeing you before?"
Amber actually smiled, pleased she had a response to that question. "Probably because I've never crash landed on one of the guests before in front of you?"
The blonde 'ruff was silent for awhile and for a moment Amber felt that he had not believed her. They sat in a tense silence, both staring at each other. She felt ready to crack when he suddenly laughed out loud and said, "I like you! You're not like the others!"
Amber gave a small smile. "Thanks."
He stood up, now towering over her and offered his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up until she was standing upright. He smiled down at her and said, "Listen, in about a couple of weeks, do you want to come over? I could get you out of your duties and you and I could just hang out."
"Are you sure?" Amber asked, playing the part that she was scared she'd get into trouble. Boomer nodded and then she let out a big smile. "Sure! I'll come along."
He smiled and then held up two fingers. "Two weeks."
She nodded. "Two weeks."
"I have to be going now. Gertrude is probably wondering what's keeping me and Batty Brown will get mad if you don't show up soon," he said slowly and his counterpart just smiled sadly. He pulled away from her and began walking away. As he walked away slowly, he glanced back at the smiling Amber before he rushed off.
And while Boomer thought Amber was coming over to hang out, she was already making plans of what she could do to help her sisters. And although Amber felt somewhat guilty about playing with a boy like the way she was doing, she knew that there was no way around it. She knew that her sisters and her agreed to this and they couldn't back out on their word now. Not when they have come so far.
Sighing heavily, she said to her sisters, "Phase A complete."
