I stood outside my door, hand on the handle, dreading what might of happened.
"Jube-Jube? What's wrong?""Jess, you know every time an experiment gets left alone, something ad happens. What if they're not in there? What if they got caught?" Jess put her bony hand on my shoulder.
"Jube-Jube, nothing bad has happened. I bet they're just sitting there, bored to dea…um…well, just bored."
I sighed, turned the handle, and entered.
"WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED!?!?!" My bed was lying on its side, just about everything was on the floor, and the experiments were nowhere to be found.
"Reuben!" I saw my bed sheet twitch, before seeing a golden furred creature emerge from under it.
"Jube-Jube! This isn't what it looks like!" He turned a shade paler, noticing Greg and Jess.
"Um, I mean, bark?""Never mind Reuben, they already know. What happened in here?""Don't blame me!""I'm not, I just want to know what happened."
"It wasn't my fault! Sparks managed to get to your coffee maker, and then, well, he went kinda haywire!" Just at that precise moment, Sparky shot out of my alarm clock, laughing manically. Reuben hid under the covers like a baby, again, leaving me trying to catch the little maniac.
"Jess! Greg! A little help here?!" They both shook their heads, as if there was fog clogging their thoughts.
"Oh, right! Sorry!" They both rushed over and grabbed his arms, like they do with me when someone calls me 'you know what'.
"Okay, Jube-Jube! Please calm him down! These shocks aren't exactly the most pleasant thing on earth!""Alright, alright! Just sit him down!" They forced him onto the window ledge, trying to ignore the shocks.
"Sparky…" I whispered into his ear. Suddenly, his yellow eyelids drooped.
"Works every time! Sparky, these are my friends, Jess Hamsterwheel and Greg." Sparky rubbed his eyes, before looking curiously at them.
"Youga look like Hamsterviel and youga look like Gantu!" There was a very puzzled silence.
"Oookkkaaayyy. I do not look like Hamsterviel!""Actually Jess, you do sort of resemble him. I mean, red eyes, white hair, white nails." Jess glared at Greg coldly.
"Well, you do look like Gantu! Grey skin, grey nails, blue eyes, and if Gantu had hair, I bet that it would be grey too!""Oh, oh! Who do I look like?" They both stared at me, anxiously.
"Well, we've always thought you look like Jumba.""WWWHHHAAATTT!?!?!? I do NOT way 1.5 tons! Plus, I'm not bald!""We know that! But remember what Jumba looked like in that flashback in the Clip episode? Well, he had long, shiny black hair, like you. He has a Russian accent, like you. He has black nails, like you. He has black eyes, like you. You do have a lot in common with him." I opened my mouth to protest, thought about, before shutting it.
"Good point. Reuben, you can come out of hiding!" Reuben crawled from under the sheet and walked over to us. Only to be snatched up by Jess.
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! He is so much cuter live than he is on T.V!" Reuben clawed at her hand, desperate to escape.
"Get off me! I can't breathe!" Jess held on, stubbornly.
"Jess, let go or I'll set Sparky on you." Jess let go, looking annoyed.
"Reuben, these are my friends…""Jess and Greg, I heard." He looked up at these new strangers, he looked down on him.
"How'd you know about me?""We're like Jube-Jube, total Lilo and Stitch Manics! So, you're Reuben?""How many other golden furred illegal genetic mutations do you know?""I'll take that as a yes. So, how'd you end up here?""Beets me. Hit my head hard.""Why are…""Look, is this the weakest link or something? What's with all the stupid questions?"
"I dunno. What's with yours?""WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?!?! Jeese! You've met each other for less than four minutes and you're already bickering. Aye, aye, aye!" There was a long silence, until Sparky broke it by snoring like a foghorn. Reuben turned to me.
"What did you do to him? Use tranquiliser?""What, NO! It's something I made up. Makes people REALLY relaxed. I don't know why, it's kinda like what Drowsy does, but with less wool.""Who?""You know, Drowsy. Experiment 360? The one that puts people to sleep by bleating? Oh come on, you have to remember that! Gantu made you wear that stupid bell boy outfit.""Mmm, nope. Doesn't ring a bell.""Ugh! Let's just say I can make people go to sleep.""Well why didn't you say so in the first place?!""JUST FORGET IT!!!" Jess and Greg are staying over.""Oh, who cares?""He's more annoying in real life than he is on T.V.""I'll take that as a compliment Greg.""I'm Jess! How do you mix up a girl name with a boy name?""With your looks, with great ease.""Hey! Why you little…" Reuben stuck his fingers in his ears.
"I'm not listening!" Jess groaned.
"How do you put up with that?" I actually didn't know.
"He wasn't like this last night. It's weird." Greg butted in.
"I hate to interrupt this oh so interesting conversation, but can we get pizza now?" Me and Jess looked at each other, rolled our eyes and tapped our foreheads with a single finger, AGAIN.
"Fine, I'm getting annoyed with the trog anyway." Reuben must have been listening, because he took his fingers out of his ears, looking hurt.
" Hey! What did I ever do to you?!""What are you talking about?""Don't you know what trog means?""Yeah, mutant. Right?""Wrong! It means worthless and pathetic. It also means you're a nobody. Call yourself a fan, you don't even know the meaning of one of the worst insults!" Crud. I was in for it know. Greg managed to spoil the moment.
"So that's what trog means. FINALLY! I can insult Milton and his posse without getting detention like Jube-Jube did!" Reuben snickered.
"Detention? Why does that not surprise me?""What's that supposed to mean?""You're bossy, a pain in the patooki and violent, just like Jumba. How can anyone not be unsurprised?" He was really pushing my limits.
"C'mon guys. I'll pay for the pizza." The three of us headed toward the door.
"What, you're not taking your new puppy?""Sorry Reuben. But if we take you, it'll take you forever to finish the cleaning tonight.""Cleaning?""Yeah, this place should and will be spotless by the time I get back.""And if I refuse?" I turned to him, giving him that icy stare that only girls are born with. Saying nothing, I grabbed the nearest Reuben doll, took hold of the head and slowly tore it off. Dropping it on the floor, I left.
"Uh, Jube-Jube? Don't you think that was a bit dramatic?""Nope.""But Jube-Jube. You can't blame him. Blame Jumba. He made him that way.""Look Jess, he didn't. I have a feeling he's doing it on purpose
"You don't mean that.""Shut it Greg! And I do!""Maybe there's something wrong with his past.""Jess, you got a point there.""Why don't you invent a machine that can watch his memories."
"Greg, that's the stupidest… come to think of it, that's possibly the single most brilliant idea you've ever had!""I know, and I'm never gonna have another one like it, that's why you've got to invent it!""Jube-Jube, is this possible to invent?""Well, yes. But it would need power that humans can't generate.""That's where meega comes in!" Looking up, we all saw a grinning Sparky hanging from the ceiling like Spiderman.
"Sparks! How long have you been up?""Meega had three rounds of coffee beans. Meega naga sleep long!"
"You want to interfere on his past?"
"Uh-huh.""But he's like, your best friend.""Sparky and Reuben are friends?""It's kinda a long story, I'll tell you at pizza hut. Why do you wanna help us look in on his past?""He may be friend, but he big pain! Meega always wanted to know why."
"Okay, I'll make the machine tonight. But how do we do it without Reuben knowing?" Sparky grinned a mischievous grin.
"No Sparky! You can't shock him." Sparkys face fell.
"You know what helps me sleep?"
"Go ahead Greg, I could use a laugh."
"Peanut butter and jam sandwiches.""Greg, that's off Spongebob Squarepants. He's a cartoon!""Well, so is Reuben.""Fair point, plus I can't think of any other option. Let's forget the pizza and get started! And Greg, don't give me that look, there're frozen ones in the freezer. Help yourself." Greg ran off with the speed of a panther.
"He's gonna explode on day! You make the sandwich, you I'll give it to him.""I'm not that good a cook Jube-Jube.""Jess, you're putting peanut butter and jam between two slices of bread. It's not rocket science.""Remember that time we had a sleepover at my place and we had that popcorn I made?""Ugh, don't remind me! I used up three toothbrushes and seven bottles of Listerine trying to get rid of the taste. Okay, I'll make it." I entered the kitchen, where Greg was standing on a chair.
" Greg, what the heck are you doing?""Vermin!" He pointed to a cockroach on the floor.
"Sometimes I just don't understand you Greg. How can you be scared of a cockroach? They're so cute!" I placed my hand on the floor, letting the little guy crawl onto my hand.
"Jube-Jube, that's disgusting!" Jess poked her head round the door.
"Jess, what the heck are you doing?! Put down the roach!" Sighing sadly, I placed the little feller on the floor.
"I like cockroaches! Fine, I'll make the damn sandwich!" Quickly, I slapped the peanut butter and jam together. I was pretty tempted to eat it myself, but fought back the craving.
"You two stay here.""Why?"
"Well Greg won't stop looking at the oven until the pizza's done, and Jess, you need to stay here and make sure he doesn't set the kitchen on fire like last time!" I walked upstairs, holding the sandwich, rehearsing what I was going to say to him under my breathe.
"I'm sorry for being a jerk, here's a sandwich. No that won't work. Here's a sandwich. Nope. Sorry for calling you a trog, wanna sandwich? Ugh, nothing works!" I stuck my head round the door. Reuben was leaning against my upturned bed, staring into space.
"Uh, hey." He looked at me , then turned away.
"Look Reuben, I'm really sorry for being so stuck up. It's sort of in my blood." He still wouldn't look at me. I sat next to him, Though he shuffled away.
"I honestly didn't know trog was such an insult. It's just that Gantu calls you trog all the time, so I figured it was just an annoying way of saying mutant." I saw him flinch when I said Gantu and trog.
"You want this sandwich? I'm guessing seeing that Sparky was tearing up the place you probably didn't get to eat lunch." He turned his head to the sandwich, his eyes wide.
"It's just my little way of saying sorry." He took the sandwich and sunk his teeth into it hungrily. His eyelids suddenly closed and he started snoring.
"Wow, I can't believe that worked!" Sparky suddenly walked out from behind the bed, grinning.
"You shocked him, didn't you? I knew the sandwich sleepiness was too good to be true. Do me a favour and get Jess and Greg, and don't worry about my parents, they're out." Sparky shot off like a bolt of lightning, or rather, as a bolt of lightning downstairs. I looked at Reuben again. I was really cheesed off with him for being so mean, but I couldn't help but think that Jess was right. What if something awful had happened to him in the past? What if someone, or something, had seriously hurt him, physical and emotion wise.
"I need to know more about you Reuben." Jess walked in, holding Sparky, soon followed by Greg who was chewing on a slice of pizza.
"Jess, why are you carrying Sparks?" Jess cuddled him harder.
"It's not my fault he's too cute to be true! So, the sandwich worked huh?""Nope. Lil old shocky here zapped him." Sparky giggled sheepishly.
"Oh well, better get started on this memory reader thingamajig. Jess, pass me my spanner. And Greg, pass me some of that pizza, I'm starving!"
