RJ and Martin:
Chapter 7: Power Over The Canyon
If RJ had to give a nickel for all the things she did today through the trainings established by her professors to prepare her for the Hope Diamond heist, she would have given a hundred nickels to Melgo for coming up with the most original way to train outside of Y.E.A.R.N: training in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Back when she was still stuck in her penthouse apartment, she always thought that the Grand Canyon would be one of those great landmarks that she would want to visit as a tourist. She never imagined standing at the heart of it, away from the eyes of any tourist, discarding her boots and gloves as Melgo requested while the latter gave her personal training. Buffy didn't come since A, she had a Skype appointment with her father right at this moment, and B, she wasn't a big fan of the American dry desert weather.
RJ couldn't blame Buffy. Aside from the cool spring weather of Colorado she encountered while going to HenchCo, RJ was experiencing dry, hot weather with heat that made her skin sweat more than she did in the advanced Physical Training Room and caused her bare feet to be covered by red dirt.
"I got this book that should help us control your power," Melgo pulled out the book she had stolen from the Fiske Estate. Naturally, she didn't tell RJ that she stole it. "I managed to find it at an old bookshop in the Minalshari."
"How on earth is a book about Monkey Kung Fu going to help me harness my power?" RJ asked skeptically as she quickly flipped through the pages. "Wow. The techniques are described in both English and Japanese."
"When we were observing you through the computers during the Physical Training session, we noticed that you displayed an unusual agility when your power took over," Melgo explained. "Then when one of the crew members said that you moved in a simian fashion, it reminded me of an old mystical power harnessed by few individuals who perform Tai Shing Pek Kwar."
"Seriously? You assume that I might have some sort of mystical power just because of one mere suggestion?" RJ looked at the first pages discussing the basic steps.
"This is not a joke, RJ! The power does exist!" Melgo forcefully closed the book to get the ginger blonde's attention. "So far, all the villain community knows that only Monkey Fist and his family harness the power and they do not like the idea of others having that power they call Mystical Monkey Power!"
"Monkey Fist?" RJ raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, why does it sound close to Martin Fiske? You know, the British aristocratic snob?"
"Because Martin Fiske is Monkey Fist's son. The villain's name is an anagram for his original name, Monty Fiske, the former archaeologist and leading expert on all things simian...Look, the point is, Fiske family, very selfish. If it's true that you might be born with the power, they'll see you as competition and try to kill you!"
RJ gulped. "I hope it turns out that I don't have it."
"That's why we're going to use this book to see if you do harness it." Melgo opened the book. "It says here in the first chapter that the few practitioners of Monkey Kung Fu who possess the power are much capable of self-awareness and discipline when they use the martial art to control the power." She placed the open book on the ground and used her bag to keep the wind from blowing the pages away from the one they were using. "Keep your knees apart."
RJ widened the space between her legs.
"Fold those legs."
RJ bent down as if her legs were folding like those of a frog swimming.
"Imagine forming a triangle with your arms and your head is the top of the triangle."
"Like this?" RJ held her hands together while forming the triangle shape as Melgo instructed. The latter nodded and made RJ's hand form a circle that rested near her stomach.
"OK. We are covering the five main chi areas that Tai Shing Pek Kwar requires." Melgo pointed at RJ's elbows and knees. "The two physical chis for flexibility." She then pointed at the girl's forehead, chest, and stomach. "The three emotional chis: mental discipline, emotional control, and energy harvesting."
She then walked five feet away from RJ until it left the two girls to confront each other. "I'm going to attack you with all I have. Try to focus that power's energy into that circle area near your stomach!"
"Wait, how am I..." RJ couldn't finish her sentence. The moment she realized at the last minute that Melgo was running towards her and aiming to hit her in the face, she spaced out and the blue-and-red vision kicked in, prompting RJ to grab Melgo by the wrist and throw her across the plateau they were standing on.
"You weren't focusing!" Melgo said sternly once RJ got her senses back to normal. "You're supposed to be the one in control of your power, not the other way around!"
"I wasn't ready!" RJ protested.
"Being ready is the whole point of being a villain," Melgo said. "If a good guy starts challenging you during you evil business, you have to be ready before throwing in the punch!" She went back to the position she took before she attacked RJ. "I'm going to attack again but with more force, and this time, focus the energy in your hand by telling yourself 'Keep off Melgo'. Got it?"
"OK." RJ felt quite intimidated. When Melgo actually started taking over the role of the teacher, she was more convincing and intimidating than the teachers at HenchCo, which almost made RJ wonder if she could picture Melgo as a Y.E.A.R.N professor...
SLAP! RJ fell onto the ground. This time, she had been so distracted that not even the power kicked in to protect her from Melgo punching her cheek.
"Focus!" Melgo said. "Seriously, what would you do if I were a big bully trying to steal that diamond you want, huh? Would you cry and act like the silly girl from the penthouse?"
The words hit RJ hard in the stomach, she felt like its contents were boiling up to her throat.
Silly girl from the penthouse.
Silly girl from the penthouse.
RJ could feel her anger increasing, she could tell that the 'silly girl' she used to be as Ronilda the social recluse without parents was angry as well.
Melgo tried to punch her again, this time her hand glowing with green energy. The moment she saw the fist aiming at her face, RJ grabbed it, clenching it tightly. Melgo was groaning from the pain the amateur fighter was giving her as if the latter was trying to crush her bones. She looked at RJ and gasped. The girl's body was covered by a blue aura of small cracking thunders and ominous screeching. Her eyes were shifting between a possessed blue color to her natural hazel hue until it settled for her normal hazel color.
"I'm...not...a silly girl...anymore. GOT IT?" RJ screamed the last words so viciously, the aura increased its thunder as she got angrier. Melgo was actually beginning to be scared.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered as calmly as she could. "I'll never call you silly again. Could you...please let me go?"
She asked so nicely, it caused RJ to blink and tone down her anger. The aura disappeared along with the anger. RJ's eyes widened, shocked by the pain she was causing to another person.
"What have I done?" She let go of Melgo and stammered. The latter removed her glove and inspected her hand. Aside from a few bruises, she looked fine.
"I think we've done enough personal training for today," Melgo said quietly. She grabbed the book, gently put it in her bag, and tossed it over her shoulder. She then walked over to RJ and gave her a small comforting pat on the shoulder. "C'mon. Grab your stuff, I know a good Bueno Nacho nearby."
Later, at Bueno Nacho
RJ was already familiar with Bueno Nacho. Back when she was little, she asked her grandmother to try out fast food, so when the old woman came back from her bingo game, she brought over a carry-out order from the famous Mexican fast food chain. Her granddaughter instantly fell in love with the chicken burritos that her grandmother ordered.
It was a completely different story with the Arizona Bueno Nacho that Melgo took her too. The place's specialty was the 'One for Two Naco', a dish that made the naco, a hybrid of taco and nachos (whoever came up with the idea had to be a genius), into a Thanksgiving turkey sized dish for multiple people to share. Even though it meant double the price of a regular nacho, it was awfully good.
"I feel so much better," RJ said as she gleefully ate through the mass of cheese and beef with a tortilla chip she used as a spoon. She then looked at Melgo, who tried reading the book while avoiding spilling food on the pages as she multitasked. "Sorry again about your hand, Melgo."
"No one got injured," Melgo shrugged. "RJ, just to ask: what were you thinking when you tried squeezing my fist? Did you actually feel something?"
RJ mentally groaned. Why couldn't Melgo take a break from observations during meals, even when they weren't related to classes? "I was just...really angry when you used my old life as a way to push my buttons. For a moment, I felt like I was...changing."
"Like one part of you wanted to kill me for purposely irritating you?" RJ lowered her head in guilt at Melgo's correct assumption.
"The worst part was that I was aware this time," she said. "Like, I didn't space out or anything. I was aware that I caught your fist and that I had a light show, but I was only listening to my angered pride and trying to hurt you... But then it stopped when I heard you apologize."
"Figures." Melgo used her bruised hand to rub the scar on her cheek while her eyes continued to look at the book. "The book also mentions that emotionally weak practitioners of Monkey Kung Fu possessing Mystical Monkey Power can become easily prone to letting their injured negative feeling take the best of them. It can even cause them to kill without remorse, whether they want to or not." She closed the book and passed it to RJ. "RJ, you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone what just happened."
"Not even Buffy?" RJ asked.
"Certainly not Buffy! She and her father are way too close neighbors with the Fiskes. One slip and they might mount your head!" Melgo grabbed RJ's wrist and held her right hand, making the latter feel the beeping of the microchip inserted in her arm like an electronic heart beat. "Listen to me, RJ. You will tell no one, not Buffy, not Jack Hench, no one in Y.E.A.R.N, or anyone else you know who isn't me, that you possess Mystical Monkey Power. I'll help you control it, but under no pretense must you use it. Can you promise me that?"
RJ looked at Melgo, unsure at first. Could she keep such a promise? Then again, Melgo had done so much for her. "I promise," she said.
"Good." She placed the book in RJ's hands. "Keep it and read it whenever you have time in your room. We'll keep working on you controlling the power every two days after you continue training at HenchCo." She took a sip of her soda.
"Can I ask two questions?" RJ asked unsurely.
"That's the first time somebody asks me such a thing." Melgo put aside her drink. "Sure, why not?"
"Well, how did you end up with, you know..." RJ tapped her cheek as a way to say that she was referring to Melgo's scar. Melgo scowled and rubbed her scar, forcing her to sigh.
"I guess I can tell since I never told anyone," she gave in. "As you know, my parents were a mad scientist and a super powered mercenary back in the old days. Ever since they got involved in the alien invasion -don't ask why, they got a pardon and clearance for their crimes. The cops wouldn't get under their skin as long as they promised to never do anything evil.
"I was homeschooled, but unlike you, they hired different tutors to educate me and they did take me out to places like the park, the movies, and even an amusement park. My dad taught me everything he knew in science and technology while my mother taught me how to fight. The main reason they had me learn from home was because they were worried I would get picked on for being the child of former global domination aspiring villains and for having a peculiar skin tone.
"Finally, when I was twelve, they thought I'd be old enough to stand up for myself, so they enrolled me at this public school near our house. So far things went fine for me, I got fairly along with my peers, and nobody judged me. It all went down one day." Melgo paused to eat some naco. RJ waited patiently until Melgo had finished eating and was able to continue. "My science class went on this field trip to the local aquarium. I was very exciting because hey, when your dad is used to rely on sharks in his lair, you gotta love them when they're in a tank like overgrown goldfish. My personal favorite section was the great white sharks. They had a catwalk where the visitors could walk over the tank and admire the sharks swimming under the surface!"
RJ smirked at Melgo's geeky behavior. Melgo then lost her smile.
"Then the accident occurred. We were walking in the middle of the catwalk and that's when I caught sight of a bunch a bullies from my class picking on a younger girl into giving them her wallet with the lunch money her mom always gave her. I marched at them and told them to give them back her wallet, but they just mocked me and called me out as the spoiled brat of lousy villains. They threw the wallet into the tank..."
"Seriously?" RJ covered her mouth in disbelief. "You jumped in a shark tank to fetch a wallet?"
"Well, I thought I was doing the right thing...Look, the point is, I jumped in the tank and landed on one of the baby sharks' back, which made me think that the adult shark was its mother and was going to kill me for hurting her baby, but then I realized sharks are not exactly known for being momma bears, so the adult shark was actually trying to eat me because it mistook me for its usual lunch meal. I freak out and this came." She fidgeted her fingers, causing a green plasma flame to grow. "Got my mom's glowing green plasma colors."
"Cool," RJ said. "Wait. If you got plasma powers, what happened to the sharks? Unless I'm mistaken, plasma is made of electrons that react twice as much as electricity when in water."
"No, it's true." Melgo nodded. "Problem is, along with the fact that water is a plasma current just like to electricity, my mother's plasma is pretty harmful. The energy went all over the tank that it gave the sharks lethal shocks, the catwalk broke, and some of my classmates fell in the water, which caused them to get electrocuted. At the same time, one of the shocked baby sharks swung its tail at me and..." She stopped to rub her scar.
"Did the authorities at least take into account that you didn't mean to do it on purpose?" RJ asked, feeling bad to have heard such an accident occur in Melgo's life.
"What do you think? I ruined my favorite aquarium section, caused the place to be closed down until they made sure it was radioactive-proof, and more than ten pairs of angry parents sued my parents for the injuries or deaths of their kids who fell in the tank. My parents had mixed feelings about the situation. They were proud that I had my powers, but then they grew worried that I would be placed in a reform school or juvenile hall, so they dropped their pardon and clearance and we moved to the Minalshari."
"They moved to the criminal haven for you?" RJ twirled the bendy straw of her soda. "Looks like your parents really cared about you to the point where they threw away their pardoned reputation."
"I know." Melgo rolled her eyes. "You won't believe the welcome back party the other villains..." She stopped ranting when she saw that RJ looked unhappy at the concept of parents. "But yeah, pretty much the entire story on how I got my scar. That's why I'm usually better off alone." She clenched her fist and reduced the chip into cheesy dust. "Even at Y.E.A.R.N, I scare the adults without lifting a finger. Do me a favor, RJ, and don't rant my backstory to anyone, OK."
"I'll pretend I never heard the story." RJ's promise made Melgo smirk. "And hey, if it makes you feel better, I don't mind having a blue friend with green plasma powers as my first friend ever since I put my foot in the real world."
"Your...first friend?" Melgo tried to process the words into her head. "Wow. Nobody's ever said that to me."
RJ giggled. A waiter came over to take their now empty plate of naco and left back to the kitchen once the girls ordered their cups of ice cream for dessert. "So, I answered question one. What's question two?" Melgo asked RJ.
"About my...power," RJ hesitated, "did it...I mean, does it have a negative effect on the Fiskes?"
"Oy, the Fiskes." Melgo shook her head. "I'll be honest with you, RJ, no one has ever seen any of them use Mystical Monkey Power. So far, most of the villain community only knows that, power aside, they are highly intelligent, highly athletic, and above all, monkey obsessed."
"What's so horrible about monkeys? I personally think they're cute." RJ's memories went back to when she was still a toddler living at the apartment and she used to play teatime with her plushed animal. Her two personal favorites were her panda 'Mr. Yin' and her panda 'Ms. Hook'.
"The animals aren't the problem," Melgo said while the waiter brought over her cup of pistachio ice cream and RJ's chocolate coconut one. "It's just...when people think of it, they usually think of the critters they see performing tricks at the zoo or the circus. But the Fiskes...they search deep into ancient cultures that venerated monkeys like gods. They expertise in only the martial art form relating to monkeys. Back as an archaeologist, Monty Fiske explored monkey temples and brought back idols to museums, and when he became the villain Monkey Fist, he hunted any mystical monkey artifacts that would give him power over the world as the Monkey King."
RJ whistled. "I've heard of otaku, but this is just ridiculous."
"Believe me, he thought that only he deserved to be the master of monkeys. Then, my dad once told me that Monkey Fist managed to get a hold of four jade monkeys that gave him that power you also have. Mystical Monkey Power. But because some hero's goofy sidekick also got the power from the jade idols in order to beat Monkey Fist and broke them, the man's been insane about getting rid of the buffoon because he thought only he deserved it. Some of us still don't understand how he managed to keep his sanity when he met his wife, the Simian Witch, who not only was his biggest fan, but came from a long line of witches who performed monkey magic and inherited the power from her ancestor, the same guy who made both the power and the kung fu."
"So, you're saying the British aristocratic snob is basically the monkey version of Frankenstein's monster?" RJ said.
"Sure, why not. Lately, the parents have calmed down and retired from villainy ever since an accident they don't like to talk about, but Martin's been trying to carry the family legacy. Positively speaking, he's not as insane as they are, but the bad part is that he still displays the genetic belief that things should be done his way. But you know what we personally dislike about him at the Minalshari? The only thing we don't like about him is that he's the only criminal authorities bother chasing."
"Seriously?" RJ couldn't believe it. "What does he have that we don't?"
"A castle, money, monkey ninjas, monkey hands and feet, and a classic tall, dark British physique and stone heart that make girls swoon." Melgo shrugged. "But otherwise, while nobody cares if I steal from a military base or someone else tries kidnapping a scientist, they bother hunting him down. He's wanted in more countries than my mom was and last time I checked, each country placed a bounty on him with the equivalent of 150000 in American cash."
RJ nearly chocked onto her spoon full of ice cream. "E...Each country would give 150000 dollars just to capture him?"
"I know, right?" Melgo snorted. "If I had that amount of money, the first thing I'd do is get myself a trip to the Bahamas Resort and die in their amazing spa."
"Which countries is he wanted in?"
"Japan, China, India, England, the United States, Brazil, Egypt, Spain, Russia, Australia, Austria, and Canada." Melgo listed. "Twelve countries overall. Multiply twelve by the bounty and you get one million and eight hundred thousands of bucks."
Such a large amount of money! In her little head, it sounded like a large mass of money she could use to go visit any place she wanted to in the world. "Melgo, remind me to add that to a list of potential next heists. You might get that resort trip."
Melgo smirked and raised her ice cream cup in a cheers manner. "You, my friend, are absolutely vile. I love it!"
Meanwhile, in London
It was midnight in the capital of England. With the dark sky followed by clouds, no one dared to go outside. Every public place was closed for the evening.
The British Museum had closed hours ago once the last group of tourists left. Only the sound of the air conditioners was heard throughout those white walls of history. From the security room, the guards were lazily drinking coffee and playing cards while occasionally looking at the screens showing nothing but empty exhibits. Little did they know that a teenager hacker had messed with their system, which meant that while they saw images of empty exhibits, it actually hid the fact that two criminals were sneaking into the hall where the Rosetta Stone was located.
"I can't believe were actually doing this!" Gilliard geeked in excitement as they stood in front of the large glass case that concealed the Rosetta Stone. "Martin Fiske will mark history by stealing the most..." He shut up when Martin covered his mouth with one of his monkey hands.
"We're not here to steal the stone."
"Wait, what?" Gilliard pulled the hand away from his mouth.
"Even for me, stealing such a relic is low. No, we're here because there's an ancient spell hidden in the Egyptian hieroglyphics of the stone and I want that spell. Did you bring your nano-scanner?"
"Always do." Gilliard pulled his left sleeve, revealing a green wristwatch with the time needles shaped like eels. He pressed a finger on his watch, causing a small digital camera to glow a green light that scanned the area of the stone carved with the Ancient Egyptian text.
"See anything fishy yet?" Martin arched a smug eyebrow.
"Ha, ha," Gilliard rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the green scanning light narrowed down to a few areas in the hieroglyphic text that were spread out from each other. The fish mutant toyed a bit more with his nano-scanner. "I'm picking up something. Wow...it looks like each line has two or three bird hieroglyphics...but the lines are hiding linear Asian characters. I'd need a bigger computer to analyze it further, though."
"I know a nearby place where we can use a computer." Martin nodded. "Let's hurry up."
"Give me a sec to finish the scanning...OK, we're good!" He and Martin made a run for it and through the air vent they came through. By the time the images unfroze in the security room, the boys had made it all the way to Bedford Square Garden, where Martin led Gilliard to this small literary café called the Cerulean Café. The place was closed for the evening, but since it was an old-fashioned place, nobody had settled a modern security system, so Martin found no difficulty to pick the lock and let the boys in.
"So this is that café Dad never stopped talking about?" Gilliard looked around the place full of tables and chairs, an empty bakery counter, and the best part of all, a small library corner with armchairs and a computer. He cracked his knuckles and walked over to the computer. "Give me a few minutes to download the scan and analyze it."
"Of course. While you're at it, I'll see if I can heat us some tea." Martin pushed the door behind the counter open and made his way into the kitchen. Like the café, the kitchen itself was old-fashioned if you excluded the fridge and the baking ovens. He took a deep sniff and caught the odor of lemon tea cookies in one of the cabinets. He followed the scent to the cabinet, which he opened until he found a box full of the cookies and a jar of leaves used for Earl Grey tea, his favorite beverage.
You'd think that of aristocratic breeding, Martin knew nothing about cooking. That was half-true: he did know how to prepare things up for the traditional British tea time, only in this case he was making a late night snack for himself and his friend.
A few minutes later, he came out of the kitchen while carrying a tray holding a teakettle full of hot Earl Grey, two empty teacups, and the box of cookies. He brought all this over to the library, where he filled up a cup and gave it to Gilliard. "Here."
"Thanks." Gilliard drank slow sips of the still boiling tea. "I managed to get the full translation of those hidden characters. Ancient dudes were smart, hiding a text within another text. No wonder you wanted it."
"What does it say?" Martin asked.
"I didn't read it yet because I thought you'd want to do it first." He switched places with Martin, leaving him to read the text while Gilliard started to assault the lemon cookies. The text was formed into a poem, which didn't bother him. He personally liked poetry.
Destined, Deserved,
And Wanted. This is our spell
For a man to have what he deserves well
And for a woman to have what her heart wanted.
Whether or not they see it as their destiny,
This spell works, but consequences are not so tiny.
The spell will only work if you have the ingredients.
The purest honey made from the youngest bees.
Lovaelia, its heart petals so radiant.
A poumanu touched by a virgin's kiss.
A hair of the person that you desire.
You'll need those ingredients to go higher.
Boil the honey, grind the petals,
Melt the poumanu. Mix it all until it's as gold as money.
Drop in the hair. You'll know if you succeed
If a ghostly heat monkey's skull appears to bleed.
Then, take your intended to a safe location
Where no eyes shall witness your intention.
Have them bathe in or drink the spell
And with a kiss seal it well.
The man shall have what he deserves,
The woman has what she wants, and the affected will have no choice but to serve.
But be warned. Once affected,
The victim shall be physically enslaved.
So even if the body respects the master,
The mind will only protest further.
If the victim were to genuinely love the master
And share genuine love together,
The spell will be broken for good
And the slave shall decide to spare or shed the master's blood.
If Martin gave a pence for any weird thing he read while trying to follow in his parents' footsteps, this was by far the most insane piece of ancient craziness, he would have lost his family fortune.
The way he understood it, the spell would make his victim physically do anything he wanted but the mind would be intact, turning the victim into an unwilling puppet unless the victim was crazy enough to catch the Stockholm Syndrome, the spell's over, and Martin's fate would be determined by the victim.
Would I be that insane to turn a harmless girl like RJ into unwanted slavery? Martin started questioning himself mentally. I mean, the odds of her genuinely loving me and not wanting to hack my head off once the spell breaks are unlikely, but still, is it all worth it?
She called him a British aristocratic snob. Surely the spell could be used to teach her a thing or two about respecting him. Then again, she had called him out for pinning her back in the dressing room cabinet like a pervert, and that point seemed to make it evident that using a spell to make her his would be beneath him.
"Hey, Gilliard?" Martin turned his head to face Gilliard, who had completely emptied the cookie box. "Do you find it beneath me to make someone my personal reluctant slave?"
"Isn't that the point of taking over the world?" Gilliard said. "Being in charge of people who don't want to be your slaves?"
Martin wanted to sigh at the positive comment. True, that was the point of global conquest. "And...Suppose I were to make a personal reluctant slave out of...a girl?"
Gilliard dropped his teacup onto the floor, making the spilled liquid look like brown blood on the floor. "Did your head get switched with the one of DNAmy? On which planet do you think sexual slavery is a good thing?"
"I'm not planning on raping!" Martin protested. "It doesn't take a virgin to know that intimacy is worse without consent!"
"Oh, OH, so you want a trophy girl! A little girl who can't defend herself while she stands next to you in public, washes your laundry, or massages your feet because you tell her to!"
"No! I just..." Martin didn't know how to defend himself. His own lungs were on the verge of running out of breath just from protesting. Seeing his friend in emotional turmoil, Gilliard grabbed the last teacup and poured some tea in it.
"Martin, what's going on?" He asked calmly as he gave Martin his cup of tea.
"The American vixen...She plagues me." Martin looked at his cup. For a moment, he could have sworn that the shadows of that beverage were forming the shape of the creature's silhouette, as if to tempt him to drink within her like a poison.
"RJ...plagues you." Gilliard massaged his green-skin temples. "Martin, how old are you?"
"Twenty-two this year. Why?"
"OK, I know your folks did the weird thing of hitting it off with the twelve year gap, but still, hitting on RJ? She seems to be younger than me and Melgo, which would make her six years younger than you, and aside from the fact that she probably doesn't fit your mom's family's dating expectations, do you think it's worth it to enslave a girl you barely just met only because your head can't erase her out of it?"
"I don't know anymore, Gilliard." Martin drank from his tea. "I can't even keep the fire in my chimney on at night without the flames reminding me of her mane!"
"That's intense..." Gilliard cut himself. While it did seem irrational for Martin, a young man dedicated to his parents' desire to conquer the world and become a Monkey Ruler, to obsess over a girl he only met yesterday and start fussing over a spell that would allow him to own her, it might appease the Simian Witch's rants of Martin getting himself a female partner to continue the family legacy. I can't believe I'm actually agreeing into this, he thought.
"OK, if this spell will help you calm down, go for it, but please promise me this. Don't do it again if things don't turn out the way you want them to," Gilliard said.
Martin gripped onto Gilliard's left shoulder. "I promise in the name of Hanuman and the friendship I have for you. This will be a one-time deal."
Gilliard held out a finger. "Hold on, Monkey Boy. Even if I agree to help you in this, at least try to get to know RJ."
Martin gulped. Social skills were never in his domain, but he'd have to get over them in order to get Gilliard's approval. "Fair enough."
Gilliard turned his head to the computer screen. "Fancy poetry. So, what do you need?"
"Purest honey from the youngest bees, petals of Lovaelia, a 'poumanu touched by a virgin's kiss', and RJ's hair," Martin said as he printed out the poem and deleted it from the computer once Gilliard got a hold of the print out. "Out of these four ingredients, I can assume that fetching the hair will be the only easiest part."
"Honey, petals, and poumanu..." Gilliard read. "Try looking it up online. Oh, and when you look up for the honey, make sure you point out 'purest honey' and 'youngest bees'."
"Fair enough." Martin logged into the Internet and used Gilliard's advice to do the research. A page with a list of honeys and bees ranging all the way to the best was found. "According to this authentic beekeeping website, the purest honey made by the youngest bees are only found in one place in the world. The Beaufox Spa."
"Hey, I know that spa!" Gilliard said. "It's a spa owned by the brother of the plastic surgeon who gave those experimental plastic surgery shapeshifting powers to Camille Leon. His spa is located next to the Smarty Mart in the Minalshari."
"Why would honey be used at a spa?" Martin frowned.
"Don't you know that honey is good for naturally killing facial bacteria?" Gilliard shook his head. "OK. The honey and the hair should obviously be in the Minalshari, but what about the poumanu and the Lovaelia?"
"Let's see." Martin searched further online. "Apparently, a poumanu touched by a virgin's kiss is a flower shaped Maori poumanu hidden in an underground mine below the Tama Lakes and..." Martin fidgeted on his seat and put a hand on his mouth to cover his disgust. "Has rested by a virgin's actual flower for ten minutes."
"Gross!" Gilliard exclaimed. "And..."
"The Lovaelia flower is a very endangered species of heart-shaped petal orchids that disappeared from the Aztec kingdom during the Spanish invasion. I might have to go to Monte Carlo and goad Big Daddy Brothersome to get information from him."
"The things I do for evil..." Gilliard mumbled. "OK, we go to the Minalshari tomorrow to get the honey and hopefully RJ's hair and then we head for Monte Carlo, but I will not be a part of fetching the poumanu! There's no way I'm placing a stone on genitals!"
"Understood." Martin cleared their research history and placed everything back as they were before they first came here. "I just hope getting the honey won't be too difficult."
"And the hair as well. If we're lucky, we might be able to get both at the same time."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because, if there's one thing that girls cannot resist is a trip to the spa, and the Beaufox Spa is one of the best, most affordable spas in the Minalshari. RJ can't possibly say no to a spa trip."