CrazyA: OH MY GOD. I feel horrible... I've posted hardly anything up here in AGES.... What's it been, a little less than two months?
DrC: Something along those lines...
CrazyA: URGH! I feel like a massive bitch now... aye aye aye... Well, to make it up to you guys, this is an EPIC chapter... I think... anyway, I hope you like it! Read and review!
10. Whoever I Am
...two, one.
"Monsters, look sharp!!" the general ordered. Doctor Cockroach and Wendy jumped quick-sharp from their embrace, however comforting it may be. She rubbed her eyes dry, nearly pushing them back into her skull, while he straightened out his lab-coat and attempted at hiding the C-Square behind his back, turning it off quick-sharp.
"My apologies for interrupting this hullaballoo, but we have to – Wait a minute, were you two canoodalling?" he asked slyly, pointing an accusing finger at them through the glass window of Dr C's room. The glass opened, and the air-conditioning from the humongous chamber beyond their walls hit them like a tsunami. However, the thought of the two of them 'canoodalling' was an even bigger hit.
"What? No, of course not!"
"Seriously?!? Is that all you guys are thinking about in this place?!"
"Wendy's wonderful, but really! General, we're not that close!"
"Oh, I guess that we're meant to be together because I have breasts!"
"Quiet down, you two!" Monger ordered. They shut up at once, their hands hidden behind their backs as if they were at a boot-camp and standing up as straight as a flag-pole. "I zoomed past your room, Zomberella, but couldn't see you in there. Then I realised that the only other place you'd be was with Doctor Cockroach here."
Wendy shrugged. "Of course. What did you want me for?"
Monger cleared his throat and stepped off the grey platform parked outside and into Dr C's room. "I need both of you. All of you."
It took roughly a minute for the thought to sink into Dr C's mind. "Oh great..." he muttered. Wendy looked up at him, confused by everything, and he gave an exhausted smile to her. "We're running the obstacle course again..."
She groaned and followed him onto the platform with General Monger. "Just as I thought all was well with the world, too..." she said sarcastically. Though she might have been joking around, she found that her legs were starting to shake beneath her with nerves. It had been ages since she last went through that death-trap... and she didn't really know if she was ready to go again. She still had those scars from before, and they were barely healing over...
...she couldn't do this.
She jumped at the sudden movement of the platform as it continued moving to BOB's window. Tightly folding her arms across her chest for support, she hid her face beneath her hair, looking down at the floor beneath her as she promised herself that it would all be okay.
Dr C looked down at her, his eyes filled with concern. He understood why she was so distressed, but he couldn't help but think that... even when completely and utterly terrified... she still looked so...
"Are you alright?" he asked suddenly as they stopped at BOB's window. She looked up at him, quickly nodded her head in a jerky fashion, and back down at her converse, the glass sliding open to reveal BOB throwing his favourite red ball at the wall like usual.
"BOB, get over here!" Monger called. The giant blue idiot dropped his ball and stared blankly at the wall, pointing at it with a shaking digit.
"A-Are you talking to me?" he asked in a whisper. Monger rolled his eyes in annoyance, but still watched as BOB slowly poked the wall over and over.
"BOB!"
"Don't yell at me!!" he screamed at the wall, sounding like a whiny teenage girl as he did so.
"BOB!! We're over here!" Monger yelled. BOB blinked and turned around, grinning at the sight of his friends.
"Hey guys! What's up in the for-shizzle?" he asked, jerking a peace-sign down to the floor. Wendy smiled, unable to laugh at that moment because of the panic slowly eating away at her. BOB saw her sad eyes and his smile faded. "What's wrong? Did your fiancé die?"
"That was me, BOB..." the cockroach replied, trying not to hit BOB over the head in frustration. But he looked down quickly at the girl before finally explaining it all in a whisper. "She's just worried about the course..."
"What course? The obstacle-course that we do all the time? The one Wendy failed last time and really cut herself up?" he said, not being too helpful with the current situation.
Wendy hugged herself tighter at the memory. "Yep. That one."
"Moving on!" Monger yelled at the three of them. The platform moved to the last room (since Insectosaurus wasn't able to use the course properly) which happened to be Link's. He was lifting weights with ease, his tank completely filled with salt water. Monger turned around and gave the signal to a watch-tower in the distance, where the people inside pressed a button and slowly drained the water from the tank. Link looked around, dropping the weights to the floor, as he realised that the water level was falling. He looked over to the window and grinned at the figures he saw, his grin fading when he noticed the melancholy expression on Wendy's face.
"What's with Wendy-girl?" he asked.
"Link, you're the star of our little course, aren't you?" Monger complimented. Link's grin came back at once, and he dusted his knuckles on his chest in triumph... until he realised what he was on about.
"It's that time already?" he muttered, the window sliding open. He shook off the last few drops of water off and trudged over to the platform, stepping on reluctantly. He looked over at Wendy, piecing it all together. "Hey, girl. You'll be alright, won't you?"
Wendy looked up at Link and gave a shy smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine..." she said half-heartedly.
"You will be fine," Dr C assured her, the platform descending quickly to the training room. "You just need some help..." He clasped her hand, secretly passing her the C-Square as he did so. She smiled back at him, taking it off of him before Monger could see what she was holding.
"Thanks..." she replied, quickly hiding it in her pocket. But as they fell lower and lower, she felt that worry and panic eating away into deeper parts of her mind. The platform suddenly stopped at last, making everyone jump again, and the large grey wall before them opened up.
This was it.
The springs, triggers and traps opened up once more to reveal beds of pointed metal and giant silver mallets crushing against each other. Wendy gulped, her legs shaking horribly now, and prayed for the smallest angel of luck to fall on her and knock her unconscious. That way, she wouldn't have to do the course.
But she had to.
"Link!" Monger yelled. "You're up first!"
Link got himself ready at the start of the course, smirking at the obstacles with a sense of triumph. "Piece of cake!"
"Go Link!" Wendy managed to yell out.
"You can do it!" the doctor yelled beside her.
"BOO! You suck!" BOB yelled enthusiastically. After an awkward silence when everyone wondered what the hell was wrong with him, BOB finally got what he had said. "Oh, right. GO LINK!"
The siren went, and Link sprang into action. He ran up and over the rising bed of needle, doing a somersault in the air as he landed. His friends went wild with applause as he ran and dodged the flying bricks of steel, sliding on his belly across the floor and underneath the bullets.
Wendy's eyes were wide with amazement as she watched him dodge, kick, and jump through the course at an amazing rate. She had never seen any of the monsters use their powers before. When BOB went through, he merely slimed his way through the field without a single scratch. The bricks practically bounced off of his jiggling mass and he was quickly able to dive over the top of the beds of nails. And as for Doctor Cockroach, he was something altogether different. She had never seen him use his insect powers before, so when she watched him crawl along the floor at an inhuman speed it was all completely new to her. And at the giant metal death-trap claws that Wendy was so fearful of, he merely jumped at the right time and landed perfectly on his feet. It must've been after all that dancing from the morning...
Wendy was the one cheering the loudest on the sidelines, for all of the monsters. But when Dr C walked back over, a modest and embarrassed smile on his face, she was practically screaming. "You were brilliant!" she exclaimed excitedly. She was completely over her fear now, and only impressed by the amazing feats they had performed. "You all were! I wish I had super powers!"
Link blinked, surprised she didn't get it. "Did you just have a mental swap with BOB?"
"You have an incredible sprint on you, my dear," Dr C explained. "With a bit more training you can get it up to a record-breaking speed."
Wendy blinked, a huge smile on her face. "You really think I'm that fast? I always thought zombies were all..." She proved her point by lifting her arms in the air and widening her eyes, lurching forward slowly towards a freaked-out BOB. She stopped suddenly as his pupil shrank inside his one eye, but she couldn't help laughing at his expression. They had all mentioned before that she was fast... but super fast? The sinking feeling that was once there had vanished completely by now and her ego was dimly glowing.
"Totally!" explained BOB. "You're faster than... than a moose!"
Wendy laughed. "Really? I've heard they're pretty fast."
"Zomberella, you're our last runner for the day!" Monger yelled, lowering her self-esteem level as she realised what she was about to attempt once more. "Best of luck to ya!"
Wendy bit her lip, but there was still a smile in her eyes. "I don't think super speed is going to help me get through this thing..."
Dr C smiled and grasped her by the shoulders, looking her in the eye with joy. "This is the perfect chance for you to use the C-Square!" he exclaimed. He pointed to the snapping death-trap of metal jaws and back to her pocket. "You can use it to find the beat of the jaws!"
Wendy's smile grew and she quickly pulled the device from her pocket at once. "Of course! Thankyou so much!!" She said, plugging the headphones into her ears excitedly. She quickly scanned through the songs, finally picking 'My Oh My' with the press of a button.
Monger watched as she pulled the strange-looking piece of technology from her pocket, but said nothing of it. He knew that the monsters wouldn't create something as vicious as a bomb, but he was still going to be cautious about the little gizmo. "Zomberella, you're up."
She gave a final wave to her friends before running over to the start of the course, this newly grown confidence going to be used to the limit. She rolled her shoulders and twisted her neck, loosening up before she began. If she was still alive, she would probably have her heart going a mile a minute. But she wasn't alive. And for one of the first times, she was actually happy about it. If she was alive, she wouldn't be here with the coolest people in the whole world. If she was alive, she would never have met Dr C. If she was alive, she wouldn't have the guts to do this course.
If she was alive, she wouldn't be Zomberella.
"GO!" Monger yelled, pressing the siren for her to start. At the same time, the electro-pop music began to play in her ears and she was on her feet, running straight for the rising and falling bed of needles.
My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I. My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I... if you were my king.
She jumped over the pointed teeth, the run-up from before getting her a landing point just beyond the obstacle and wobbled on her feet at the landing. But she straightened her spine and pushed herself forward, continuing the run on to victory.
"Go Wendy!" Link cheered, waving his fist in the air at her.
"You're awesome!" BOB yelled, clapping his blobby hands together."You're doing wonders, my dear!" Dr C yelled with them, being drowned out by Link's wolf-whistling.
Even though she could barely hear him over the sounds of scraping metal, the C-Square's technology, and the other two monsters, Wendy was still finding herself with a blush.
Little princess in a terrible mess, a kingdom alone with no love to confess. Dreams of a prince on a tall white horse, runs like a spirit by the castle wars.
With the thought of having a super-power still in her mind, she bolted past the flying metal bricks with ease, pausing at the end of the obstacle to look back on what she had just done with one simple word. "Woah..."
She turned around to face another flying obstacle of tranquilizer darts. From experience, she knew they were motion-censored and would only attack when they saw her go past. So she poked out her left eye and quickly threw it past the obstacle, the darts too distracted by the one eye to notice the rest of the zombie run past.
Dr C blinked, amazed at her intelligence. Thought it was easier to just make a prayer and run like crazy past the darts like everyone else, she managed to find an easier and less risky way of getting past. He knew that she was smart, but not that smart. Maybe she was more than just a pretty face... especially since that face wasn't exactly 'pretty' pretty.
Wendy smiled, picking up her eye and placing it back in it's socket. Just a few more obstacles and she'd be done.
If you were my king, I would be your queen. If you were my king, I would be your queen.
"Give me a 'W'!" yelled Link to BOB.
The gelatinous blob grinned and waved his hand in the air. "W!"
"Give me and 'E'!"
"E!" he and Dr C yelled, both of them waving their arms excitedly.
Link grinned. "Give me and 'N'!"
BOB's smile faded and his hands feel back to the rest of his blobby form. "I'm all out of 'N's..." he said sadly, his bottom lip trembling. But he quickly turned to the exciting scene and his grin came back instantly. "GO WENDY!!"
Dr C smiled, for once not interested in yelling at his foolish friend, and turned to the most intelligent person he'd been involved with in a long time. Link saw the proud smile on the doctor's face and grinned, slapping him around the shoulder. "You gotta admit, doc... she looks real good when she's running!"
They both turned to the sprinting girl in unison, and the scientist couldn't help but smile even wider. Wendy's own grin was obvious, despite the sweat on her concentrated brow as she jumped and ducked and swerved. She really looked happy... and his ego went larger when he realised that she was mouthing a few of the lyrics as she ran. "...yes..." he replied quietly, barely noticing that Link was standing beside him. "...She does, doesn't she?"
Mystery deep in the royal heart, crying at night don't wanna be apart. Prince oh Prince, are you really sincere? That you one day are gonna disappear?
Wendy couldn't believe she could smile this much while saving her own skin. Her cheeks were even starting to hurt. She had never felt so confident in her life! Hell, she laughed in the face of danger now!
Before the explosion of NANP, she was just Miss Summers: a tour-guide who had practically no future whatsoever. She had never left Nocturne once in her life, only going to the capital city (a few-dozen miles away) when she truly needed to. And now, here she was, running like crazy from mashing bricks and tranquilizer darts! And considering this, and her new appearance, normal!
She could barely remember what she originally looked like now... curlier hair... brown eyes...pale skin... but in her mind, it was just a drawing of a stranger. Someone she'd seen on a street-corner or in the corner of her eye. The girl she once was... her name was Wendy. She watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and cooked instant-mac-and-cheese like her life depended on it. She dreamed of being more confident and sexy like her heroine, instead of plain and as ordinary as dish-water. But now, after an unfortunate accident that turned out to be a miracle for her, she was Zomberella. Enough said.
My oh my... My oh my... My oh my... My oh My!
"Just one more obstacle left, Zomberella!" Monger called out. He, with the rest of the men standing on the sidelines, was grinning and cheering until his voice went hoarse.
For once, Wendy's stomach didn't go sick at the sound of her monster-name. Nor did the organ crawl at the sight of the gnashing jaws of hungry metal teeth that claimed her stomach contents the last time she faced it. Instead, she paused lightly on her feet for one second, just to get her unnecessary breath back.
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2, the beat whispered in her ears. She. Could. Do it.
She gave a courageous smirk at the jaws, watching them bite empty air for the last time, as she ran up to the obstacle at lightning speed. "In all meaning of the phrase... 'Bite me'..."
...and it didn't.
My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I. My oh my, do you wanna say goodbye? To rule the country, baby you and I... if you were my king
She leapt on '2', the teeth spread wide apart. For a single moment, she felt like she was flying above them all. As if her soul had left her body and she was now above the entire world. She felt so free and confident, as if everything that had happened to her before was nothing. And it was nothing. She could forget about the past, and stop grieving over her lost image. She was free.
... but still a little ungraceful.
She only just landed on the other side of the jaws, her feet sliding on the smooth metal floor and causing her to fall face-first. She crashed with a heavy 'thud' and an 'oof' on the ground, and gave a muttered swear-word under her breath before she yelled out to the others. "I'm okay!"
BOB screamed in fright, reminding the others of a twelve-year-old girl, and he quickly slimed his way over to Wendy. As she tried to stand on shaking legs, her wrapped his blobby arms around her in a tight embrace, slowly morphing her into his mass.
"Oh my God! She's hurt! Quick, get a vet!" he yelled to Link. Wendy laughed and pushed her way out of the giant blue squish, her clothes and skin now damp and smelling of ham.
"I'm fine, BOB!" she said, grinning wildly.
"Yeah, BOB, you gotta listen once in a while..." Link said, pushing him out of the way. He wrapped and arm around Wendy's shoulder and pulled her in close, giving her a quick noogie and ruffling up her hair. "Congrats, Z-girl!" he said as she quickly ducked her head out of the way. "Maybe someday you'll be a pro like you're old buddy Link!"
"Excuse me?" she snapped back, her eyebrow raised sarcastically. "I'm already on my way to knocking you down the ladder, fish-face!" she joked, slapping him a high-five.
Link chuckled, preparing a down-low-five. She was just about to hit his webbed palm when he pulled away. "You've still gotta get your speed up!"
"Fine, fine..." she said, rolling her eyes.
"Not by much though!" said Monger as he strode over beside them all. Wendy stood up straight, and her slack casual attitude around Link changed to a military level of alert and readiness. "Zomberella..." he said, as the monsters parted like the oceans and made room for him. And then the General did something no one ever expected him to do... under ANY circumstances.
He hugged her.
Sure, it was seriously awkward, but it was a hug. He reluctantly wrapped his arms around her tightly, and all Wendy could do was blink and hang her mouth open for flies. "I'm proud of you, girl..." he said as he released her quickly. Wendy bit her lips from laughing, but there was a beam as strong as sunshine on her face.
"Thanks, sir..." she replied, trying to keep his commando image intact.
He nodded and then turned to Link and BOB, who were standing there open-mouthed and stupefied. "It was a one-time thing, boys. So don't start calling me a hippy!"
Wendy laughed and watched them walk off together back to the platform, cheering and celebrating without her. But there was one person she had to talk to... for it was he who gave her a reason for doing the dangerously stupid course in the first place.
She smiled at the insectoid, unplugging the C-Square from her ears and handing it over. "I wouldn't have done it without you..." she said quietly.
Dr C smiled back at her, but shook his head. "It's always been your stereo. And I'm sure you would've done a great job without my help."
Wendy gave a snort as she attempted to stifle laughter. "You're a sweet liar, Doctor..." she said, a slight blush on her skin. "But a very bad one, too..." She pocketed the music player and looked up into his eyes with a smile. "Thankyou..."
"...you're welcome..." he replied, a copy-cat blush on his face. They stood there in the silence of each other's being, mouths barely open and no idea what to say to one another. In many ways, it was awkward, but there was a sort of electricity and peacefulness to it... like the silent moments of autumn.
"...I..."
"...I want to..."
"JUST KISS ALREADY!" Monger and Link yelled at them in unison.
"NO TONGUE!" BOB added. He blinked and turned to the other two (fish)men quickly, looking anything but confident. "What does that even mean?"
Dr C gulped, his pupils shrinking in the golden-brown eyes, while Wendy's blush burnt through her like a match. "Did you want to kill them, or can I?" she asked calmly, hiding her wrath quietly inside her.
"Ladies first," he calmly replied. She grinned and ran ahead, not waiting for him to keep up, and let her wrath show as she punched Link in the shoulder. Dr C laughed with the others, his eyes watching Wendy's smile shine. He didn't realise just how badly he was staring until Link snapped his fingers in his face rudely.
"Doc? We're outta here!" he called.
The scientist blinked in surprise and quickly walked over to them, managing to get on the platform just as it began to move and the wall closed up again. They were still talking amongst themselves when Monger suddenly spoke out from the crowd, addressing Wendy.
"Turn out your pockets."
Her victorious smile dropped, and she quickly glanced over to Dr C for advice. He nodded silently, wearing his own worried expression, and she pulled out the C-Square from her jeans reluctantly, handing it over to the general with a sigh.
Monger looked down at the small white rectangle, leaving it far away from his face in case anything exploded. "What is it?"
"...it's a music player," Wendy finally confessed.
"And how did you get it?" Monger asked her, eyebrows raised.
"...uh..." she said stupidly. She didn't dare look over to Dr C... she didn't want him to get into trouble...
"I made it," he quickly said. Wendy's head turned, eyes wide at the doctor. Did he want to be seriously doomed?
Monger chuckled. "I suspected something like this would come from you... but I never took you as the inventing sort, Doctor..."
"I've always been inventing," he replied confidently. "I dropped out of the hobby for a while... but I've gotten back into it."
Wendy looked up at him, more confused than ever. She thought making up an invention of some sort would just be another part of his daily routine. This was really unexpected to hear that he hadn't been inventing for a while... Has he ever invented something during his stay here?
Has he ever invented something before Wendy came?
"Do you mind if I take this off you for a few weeks, Doctor? A lot of people will be interested to see this, and I promise you will have full credit for your work," Monger continued.
Dr C went speechless. "You really think so?"
Wendy smiled up at him enthusiastically. "Of course! This is close to legendary, doc!"
"What, really?" he asked, his gold eyes bright. Wendy nodded, her own excitement for him building up. Dr C turned to Monger again and nodded. "You can take it... just for a lend of course, it is Wendy's."
Monger nodded respectfully and slipped it in his pocket. "You could be a wealthy man by Christmas time, Doctor Cockroach."
"Oh yeah!" Link said, his eyes suddenly bright. He pinched BOB's side and then gave a punch, making him jiggle wildly. "Pinch and a punch for the first day of the month, no returns of any kind!"
Wendy looked from one monster to the other, completely confused by this point. "Wait a minute here... it's December?"
"Yep!" BOB said happily. "Happy Easter, guys!"
Wendy shook her head. "BOB, it's Christmas we're celebrating soon, not Easter..." she said, nudging him in the side. "And my name isn't Wendy..." Everyone turned to her, their smiles fading as a look of surprise washed over them in replacement. She took a deep breath in and smiled back them all, her whole image glowing with optimism and pride. "...it's Zomberella."
CrazyA: TA-DA! Accept who you truly are, kids at home! Because if you don't, the Mva Mary-Sues will eat you while you sleep!
Dr C: Don't remind me of them... it's sickening...
CrazyA: And some fics I read had the WORST zombie OCs... I felt so sick thinking that us two authors shared a similar idea... But then I look back to Groovy-Gecko's OC 'Zombiella' and all is well... *zen moment* Please PLEASE check her out on deviantART! She's done fanart for our two zombie-twins and I TOTALLY love her! And, as usual, review!