Hey, guys. I'm sooooooo sorry I didn't update yesterday! It was Memorial Day and my uncle came over, my mom was badgering my brother and I to clean the house, I had to put up a volleyball net with 21 instructions attached, I had to work on my mother's scrapbooks for her (they have to be finished by Friday morning at 5...), and I had to help cook. I'm sorry, but I just had so much to do yesterday... -snif- I'm sorry... I think this is my longest chapter yet (22 pages in Word), so that should make up for it. ... Hopefully.
Again, I don't own any of this except for my characters (and even they have their own people they're styled after, so...). All I own is half a pack of gum, some graphite refills for a pencil I found on the floor a couple years ago, and a sketchbook I bought from SCAD. And a couple pairs of socks. ... No, wait, my mom bought those. ... Scratch that last part and just read the story...
Chapter 8: I Have Thumbs!
It was early Sunday morning and the zoo was closed. In the penguin habitat, the she-penguins were watching Phyllis and Fern, enjoying the antics of the two inventive stepsisters and their older brother, Chandler. The penguins were sitting at their makeshift table, looking over the plans for Operation Infiltration.
Everyone was intrigued in what they were doing until one she-penguin looked at the clock with her dark brown eyes and smiled hugely, almost knocking off her glasses. "Storytime!" Cori shouted, the others inside the HQ gathering around her.
For the past few days, Cori had been reading aloud a book found by their habitat to the other seven black-and-white birds. The name of the book was The Story of Tristesse. Amazingly, all the penguins and she-penguins were looking forward to the reading.
Cori took a deep breath and began to recite the written words of Kathy DeCamilla. "'Chapt'r Sev'n. A mouse 'n love. … An' wha'was our own fav'rite member of th' mouse community doing while th' sound'f th' Mouse Council drum echoed through th' walls 'f'the castle?
(AN: this part won't be accented, 'cause i don't feel like putting an accent on a book excerpt…)
"'Reader, I must report that Absence had not seen the worst of it. Tristesse sat with the princess and the king and listened to song after song. At one point, gently, oh so gently, the Endive picked up the mouse in her hand. She cupped him in her palm and scratched his oversize ears.
"'You have lovely ears,' the Endive said to him. 'They are like small pieces of velvet.'
"'Tristesse thought that he might faint with the pleasure of someone referring to his ears as small and lovely.'
"Wait. Bu'what about th' velvety-ness?" Cori interrupted.
"Cor-iii…! On w'th'the story!" Des whined.
"Oh. Right.
"'He laid his tail against the Endive's wrist to steady himself and he felt the princess' pulse, the pounding of her heart, and his own heart took up the rhythm of hers.'" Cori paused to take a large breath.
"'Papa,' the Endive said when the music was over, 'I am going to keep this mouse. We are going to be great friends.'
"'The king looked at Tristesse cupped in his daughter's hands. He narrowed his eyes. 'A mouse,' he muttered. 'A rodent.'
"'What?' said the Endive.
"'Put it down,' the king commanded.
"'No,' said the Endive, who was a person not at all used to being told what to do. 'I mean, why should I?'
"'Because I told you to.'
"'But why?' protested the Endive.
"'Because it's a mouse.'
"'I know. I'm the one who told you he was a mouse.'
"'I wasn't thinking,' said the king.
"'Thinking of what?'
"'Your mother. The queen.'
"'My mother,' said the Endive sadly.
"'Mice are rodents,' said the king. He adjusted his crown. 'They are related to… rats. You know how we feel about rats. You know of our own dark history with rats.'
"'The Endive shuddered.
"'But Papa,' she said, 'he is not a rat. He's a mouse. There's a difference.'"
At this point, Cori was excited and continued reading, quickly getting to the end of the chapter, almost as fast as Shadow on a sugar rush, but not quite, so that everyone could still understand her.
"'Tristesse ran into the hole and from there he looked out at the princess. She had picked up his handkerchief and she was looking at him… right, directly into his soul.
"'Tristesse,' she said. He saw his name on her lips.
"'I honor you,' whispered Tristesse. 'I honor you.' He put his paw over his heart. He bowed so low that his whiskers touched the floor.
"'He was, alas, a mouse deeply in love.'," Cori ended, closing the book. "Alright. Thass enough f'r today." Skipper opened his beak to say something, but was interrupted. "Go back t'y'r respective duties." Cori looked to him for approval, seeing an impressed smile on his face. Glimpsing his appreciation, she smiled proudly.
"Poor Tristesse…," Kowalski said sadly.
"Don' worry, 'Walski," Ali said comfortingly. "That's jus chapter sev'n. I think there's thirty-four 'r somethin'. Ih'should all be fixed by then."
"Yes, I suppose you're right. I just… wish I could do more to help…"
"It's inside a book! Get over it!" Shadow yelled from across the room.
"… That's it!"
"What's 'it'?" Ali, concern etched on her face. "'Inside a book'? How'll that help…?"
"I'll create a serum that turns animals into humans! It's brilliant!" Kowalski exclaimed, already setting to work on his project.
Knowing she wouldn't be able to talk him out of it, Ali just joined him in the formation of the serum.
"And lo, it is done!" Kowalski exclaimed, exiting his lab (Ali following) and catching the attention of the penguins and Marlene, who had come over just because.
"…Y'think it'll work…?" Ali tentatively asked as everyone gathered around the two.
"… It should…," the tall penguin stated. "… Well, would you all like to go to the abandoned warehouse in the park to test it out?"
Shadow and Skipper looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. "Move out, soldiers," the two said simultaneously.
Kowalski had a hopeful smile; then all animals exited the HQ.
The birds all jumped off the wall, but Marlene stayed at the top.
"Uh… guys…?" she called, wringing her paws.
The penguins and she-penguins turned around to look at her.
"What is it, Marlene?" Skipper asked.
"Um… I… I can't…," the otter stuttered. "…y-you know… out… outside…?"
"Oh yeah," Private said. "The going wild thing."
"Perhaps you could block your optical receptors…?" Kowalski suggested.
Rico upchucked a black piece of cloth and stated, "Bli'fold…?"
"Okay. What the heck is going on?" Shadow exclaimed.
"Um… Yes… 'M also a li'l bit c'nfused…," Ali added.
"Mahrlene goes a li'le bit bonkahs when she goes outside zoo walls," Private explained.
"… Ah," Des said in understanding.
"Carry on," Cori said, moving her flipper in circles as it to say 'continue'.
By this time, Marlene had jumped into the flippers of Skipper and Kowalski and had had Rico put a blindfold over her eyes. Skipper was holding her paw to direct her.
The nine animals set off for the abandoned warehouse and made it in a few short minutes.
"Alright," Skipper said, turning to the others. "We don't know when Archie'll be back, so we'll have to do this quickly. Door open maneuver, now!"
Rico, Kowalski, Private, and Shadow jumped onto each others heads (Shadow on top) and opened the metal door. They went out of formation and entered the warehouse, Cori, Des, Skipper, and Marlene following close behind.
Once inside, Rico pushed the door closed while Skipper removed Marlene's blindfold.
"So," Kowalski said. "Who wants to go first?"
… Silence.
"… Please…?" he pleaded.
"No thanks," Skipper stated, plain and simple.
"'Member las'time when Shadow 'n' Rico had spiked aggression levels…?" Cori asked.
"Yes, but that was a ray," Kowalski said. "This is a serum. …Completely different!"
… Silence. …
"I say either Cori or Des," Shadow said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yay!" exclaimed Des. "Me first!"
"Um… How'bou' we all jus' do th's together…?" Cori suggested hesitantly.
"…" Silence. Then a chorus of "sure"s "why not"s and "okay"s was heard.
A small bit of the serum was poured onto each animal's front appendages like baby oil.
"Now. There is a certain way in which the serum must be applied for it to work," Kowalski announced. "First, wipe it across your forehead."
Everyone did so.
Rico suddenly picked up Des into the air.
She giggled. "I'm Simba…!" she exclaimed happily as she looked around the room.
And, getting the reaction he wanted, the mohawked penguin smiled and set her down.
"Next," Ali instructed, "wipe'it across yer chest."
This direction was followed, too.
"And now wipe the rest onto your belly."
Belly: check.
Cori chuckled. "Tickles…"
"Now. Aft'r'a few sec'nds, ih'should be working," the tall she-penguin informed.
"Ah feel… tingly…," Private noted.
"As do I, Private," Skipper commented.
The room was suddenly filled with a thin, white fog. But, as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.
A lanky white teenaged boy was the first to sit up. "Ah… Did it work…?" He raised a pale hand and stared at it with surprised, blue eyes that had glasses over them. Wiggling his newly-acquired fingers, he exclaimed, "HA! By the noble gases… It was a success! … Hm. But how did I acquire glasses in the process…? … Ah well." The 15-year-old began looking around himself. "Ali? Ali! Ali, it was a success! The experiment was a success!"
"…Ughhhh… Success…?" a soft voice echoed, slowly sitting up. The voice had come from a peach-colored girl of about the boy's height and age. She patted her long, light brown locks and felt her pink bow with her hand. "…Huh. Ih was a success, Kowalski." Ali looked up at the boy with shining light gray eyes.
"High five how it's supposed to be, Ali?" Kowalski asked, holding up all five of his right digits.
"Cert'nly," Ali replied, smiling as she high-fived him.
"Aw man…!" a brunette girl of about 15 said as she sat up. She had tan skin, like someone from a Polynesian country of some sort. "I wonder if I still can't go outside the zoo…," she mumbled, her hazel-green eyes catching sight of her new, furless, tailless body. Her hair was pretty short, not even reaching her shoulders, but then again, the girl was also quite short.
Two girls with skin a little bit darker than caramel sat up, yawning and stretching their arms. Both were about 13 years old and had glasses, but one had dark chocolate eyes; the other had milk chocolate. (AN: alright, now i need some chocolate… -munch- …mmm… … continue on!) The two both had hair so dark brown that it seemed black, but the darker-eyed one had hair to a few inches past her shoulders. The lighter-eyed girl had hair that reached about to her shoulders.
"Cori?" the lighter-eyed girl asked, fidgeting with the skull bracelet on her wrist.
"Yes, Des?" the darker-eyed girl answered. "Hey." Cori giggled. "That rhymed…! … Okay. I'm good. Yeah, Des?"
"… Why're we black? … It's… It's just a question. It's… not like it's… bad… but… y'know…" Des shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "… Kinda weird…"
"True. Very… very true…," Cori said, looking over her brown hands and fingers.
A 10-year-old boy with pale skin and many freckles sat up. "Nnn… Ahre we… human…?" he asked in a British accent, looking towards Kowalski as his five-inch black hair swished around behind him.
"Affirmative, Private," the glasses-wearing 15-year-old said.
"Wow… … …Wicked…!" Private looked at his fingers with wide blue eyes full of curiosity. He looked to his left and shook someone's shoulder. "Skippah… …Skippah, wake up…!"
Skipper sat up in a flash, his hands up in defense and his entire 17-year-old body tense. He relaxed when he noticed it was just Private. The sides of his black hair were slicked back, the hair on top of his head, short and spiky. His sharp blue eyes looked over everyone around him. "Is everyone alright? No defects?"
"Uhm… Well… I would tell you… but… uh…" Kowalski blurted out the rest. "Not everyone's awake yet."
"Augh. What the heck…," a light tan girl mumbled, scratching at her coffee-brown, shoulder-length hair as she sat up. Her dark gray eyes surveyed the humans around her. "… Where's Rico?" the 18-year-old girl asked.
"Ehhhnnnn… Here…," a pale teen of about 18 said from the ground. He sat up, supporting himself with one arm and running his other hand through his thick, black hair that fell down beside his mohawk. He paused and asked, in a raspy voice, "…What?"
Ali, Shadow, Cori, Des, and Marlene were all staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.
He slowly slid his hand out of his wavy hair, causing some of it to go every which way as he looked back at the girls with one questioning eyebrow raised.
"He's ev'n hotter with'is hair messed up…!" Cori exclaimed.
"Amen to that, Cuz," Des said as she held up a hand which Cori slapped five, neither taking their eyes off of Rico.
He looked to Kowalski, Private, and Skipper for an answer, but they all shrugged their shoulders. Sighing, he turned to look at Shadow and his light blue eyes met her slate gray ones.
She shook her head furiously to clear all thoughts, then slapped Cori and Des, deciding to just repeatedly prod Ali and Marlene with her index fingers until they had returned to the real world.
"My apologies," Ali said softly.
"Yeah. We're sorry, too," Des and Cori said.
"Uh-huh," Marlene said, smiling sheepishly.
"Good. …'Cause he's mine…" Shadow walked up to Rico and smirked, crossing her arms.
He smiled back, accentuating the dark brown scar running from his left cheek over his mouth to right below his lower lip. His smile dropped as he noticed her large, mahogany scar that stretched in an irregular ellipse on her left arm. He took her forearm in his hands and brought it up to his face for closer inspection. "…Shark…?" he asked, looking at her over her arm.
She simply nodded. "Guess so."
"Hm…," he answered, nodding his head.
It was silent in the Central Park Warehouse…
"… Awk-waaaaarrrrd…!" Cori and Des sang.
"Affirmative," Skipper stated. "Now let's get outta here. Archie'll be back any time and we don't want Private going all-out on 'im. Especially concerning the fact that he's bigger than a raccoon now…"
"That duhrty liah…," Private hissed, glaring at the ground.
"Uh… Okaaaay…," Des and Cori said confusedly.
"So. Who would like to try out their new digits first?" asked Kowalski, standing up with the others.
"One of you guys can go first," Marlene said. "I had fingers before."
"I'll go first," Private said, walking up to the door and opening it to the greenery of Central Park. He walked out of the warehouse and noticed that he was quite a bit taller than he was before. "… Woahhhhh… …Come on, you guys!" Private called. "…It's great out here!"
Corinne and Destiny were next out of the warehouse. "… Wow," they said in unison. "Ev'rything's… smaller…!" They smirked at each other and high-fived, saying, "Coo-hoo-hoool…!"
"Meh," Shadow said, exiting the warehouse with her arms crossed.
Rico, right behind her, watched a butterfly in curiosity. It looked so much smaller than the last time he had seen it a few days before.
Marlene carefully made her way out, Skipper's right hand over her eyes and his left hand around her shoulders. "I… I think I'm okay, Skipper."
"… You sure? 'Cause we can't leave a civilian to wander about a park at any time."
Marlene smiled. "Skipper, I'm fine."
"… All riiight…," Skipper warily drawled, hesitantly moving his hand from over her eyes and letting the brunette actually see her surroundings.
"Wooooaaahhhh…," she noted, her eyes wandering over all the sights, not feeling at all wild or crazy.
"Sweet Hardy-Weinberg Principle!" Kowalski exclaimed, walking out of the building. "Everything's so diminutive!"
"Indeed it is…," Ali said, her light gray eyes wide open as she took in the scenery around her.
"Hey guys," Cori called, looking over her shoulder at her companions.
Everyone looked to the second shortest girl.
"Why don'we go 'xplore New York City 's humans?" Cori suggested.
"Nah," Skipper said.
"… Let's go explore New York City as humans," Marlene tried. She thought it was actually a pretty good idea.
"Alright," Skipper agreed, causing Cori to growl. "But we're going to need some aliases…"
"Ooh! Ooh! Des 'n' I c'n come up w'th'some!" Corinne exclaimed, bouncing up and down. "Right, Des?"
"O'course!" Des answered, smiling at her cousin. "All right, ev'rybody!" she barked. "Line up!"
Everyone complied.
Cori and Des went up to the first person in line, their hands behind their backs.
"Let's see… Koala… Koala…," Cori started. "You c'n be Wallace Jones! Wally fe'short."
"… May I ask why?" Kowalski asked confusedly.
"'Cuz 'Wally' sounds like 'Walski'," Destiny explained.
The tall intellectual shrugged his shoulders.
The cousins went up to Ali.
"Hmm…," Des said. "We c'n just use somethin' close t'yer actual name. 'S Ali Brock alright?"
"… Um… …Sure."
"Now… Skipper… Skipper…," Cori said, smirking widely. "You c'n be… Rosemary Calypso."
"What?" the military-like leader exclaimed.
"Fine, fine…," she said, waiting eagerly for the steam to start pouring out of Skipper's ears. "… Keith—"
"No 'Keith'!" Skipper protested. "That's the worst name ever."
"Tha'w's th' point…"
"Cori, c'mon…," Des said. "Here, Skip. You c'n be… …Skip. … Skip Durham. 'S that okay?"
"As okay as mayonnaise in a cake."
"…"
"…Tha'means 'yes'," Cori said, surprised that Des had never had mayonnaise cake before.
"Ah," Des said, she and Cori moving on to the next person. "Hm… Marlene…"
"Marlene Loutre?" Cori asked.
"What?" Des asked.
"Loutre. It's French f'r 'otter'," Cori answered, now grateful for those two years of French from that French penguin at their last aquarium.
"… Tha'works," Des said.
"Hm. Marlene Loutre. It kinda flows," Marlene said. "…I like it!"
"Cool."
"Private," Des stated. Shaking her head, she continued, "…Man. We're gonna hafta do s'me major name-mangling here…"
"Um… How 'bout… Pichi?" Cori suggested.
"'Pichi'…?" Private inquired.
"Yeah. It's a Japanese name tha'means 'small' or 'boy'," the older cousin explained. "Pretty fitting, huh?"
"… That works. And a last name could be… Cadbury!" Des exclaimed.
"Pichi Cadbury? … Sounds good. Sounds good. Very international w'th'the Japanese name an' the English surname goin' on there… You like it, dude?" Cori asked.
"… Sure…!"
"Okay," Cori said, she and her cousin moving down the line to their leader. "Now. Shadow… … Eh… … Shadow Noir?"
"She c'n keep'er name…?" Des asked, scratching her head as she looked at her older cousin.
"Oh yeah. 'Shadow' 's an English name."
"Reahlly? Whaht's it mean?" Private asked curiously.
"…It means 'shadow'. … An' 'noir' is French for 'black'. D's that work, Shadow?"
"Yeah. Fine. Whatever."
"Hm…," Cori said, rubbing a fist under her chin. "You c'n be Rico Perez. It sounds Latino and cool."
"Oh, come on," Des said, frowning. "A hot dude doesn't need a 'cool' last name. He needs a hot last name. Like… Fuego!"
"… Rico Fuego. … That works!" Cori pointed to Des. "So… You c'n be—"
"What, so you're not even gonna ask him if he likes that name?" Shadow asked, annoyed.
"Yeah…!" Rico said indignantly.
"…No. Why would we?" Cori stated simply.
"So wha'were you saying I could be?"
"I think we should be Corinne an' Destiny Manchot."
"… 'Manchot'…?" Des asked.
"Oui, ma nouvelle sœur!" Cori explained. "'Manchot' means 'penguin' en français!"
"… Huh."
"Well then…," Cori said. "Wallace Jones, Ali Brock, Skip Durham, Marlene Loutre, Pichi Cadbury, Shadow Noir, Rico Fuego, and Destiny Manchot… Nous allons au ville!"
"… What?" Skipper asked.
"We go to the town…!" Cori translated.
Shadow and Rico strolled leisurely down the sidewalk of the New York streets, looking about at all the scenery around them.
Passing an alleyway, Shadow thought of something. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll get attacked by a gang…!" Shadow said excitedly, glancing at Rico on her right.
"…Twooo…?" Rico drawled, smirking.
Shadow's eyes lit up. "Two gangs would be even better!"
The boy next to her nodded eagerly.
"Whatchu think is gonna happen while we're out here?" Des asked.
"I dunno," Cori answered. She suddenly gasped excitedly. "Maybe we'll find a puppy!"
"Tha'would rock the casbah."
"And you know this…!" As they continued to walk, Cori asked Des something. "…Hey. Wouldn't it be weird 'f you had a crush on some human dude?"
"Yeah, it would be pretty— Wait. Just me? Why me?"
"'Cause I've never had a crush on anyone b'fore an' prob'ly won't ever."
Smiling slyly, Des drawled, "Bu' what about Taaaa—"
"Shut-up…!" Cori shouted, feeling like she was blushing.
"Whatever. B't I'm pretty sure that you're gonna get a crush on someone some-ti—"
"Shut it!"
"… What are you—?"
"Hush!" Cori exclaimed, putting a hand over Des's mouth.
Des's eyebrows furrowed. She stuck out her tongue, licking her cousin's – sorry. sister's – hand.
"Eugh!" Cori yanked her hand away, wiping her hand on her pants leg. "Stop it, Des! There's a dude over there!"
"… Since when'ave you ever cared about guys?" Des asked suspiciously as she crossed her arms.
"… Since… a time…," Cori mumbled.
"…You like him. Dontchu?" Des asked, a smug grin playing across her face.
"… … …Maybe."
"Well go talk to 'im then…!" Des said, pushing Cori towards the guy, making her bump into him.
"… Uhhhh…" Cori hesitated, looking at the boy who had caught her attention. He was slightly shorter than her, so to look at his gray eyes, she had to look down a little. He smiled, accentuating the many freckles spattered across his face and the braces on his teeth. The boy had chestnut-brown-slash-reddish hair and was pretty pale, but Cori didn't care. All she cared about at that moment was whether she should steal the book he held in his hand or not.
"… Hm… Ali. Are you better than average with stealth skills?" Kowalski asked the long-haired girl beside him as the two stood in the back alleyway of a large museum.
"Well… Cori 'nd Shadow are the best, b't I'm sec'nd best since they tie… 'S that all right?"
Kowalski smirked. "Perfect."
It was beautiful in Central Park this time of year. The flowers had already had their first wind and now a few plants were growing new ones, some just getting their first flowers. A slight breeze ruffled the short hair of three of our beloved characters: Marlene, Skipper, and Private. They were walking along the paved trail that looped around Central Park. Marlene kept looking up in awe at all the trees, glad that she could finally be outside the zoo and enjoy herself, while not going wild. Private was just smiling at all the wildlife, laughing quietly to himself at an ant trying to carry an entire sandwich. Skipper walked, slightly bored, with his hands in his pockets. He was tense enough to snap into a fighting position if needed, though.
"Wow… Just… … Wow…," marveled Marlene as her eyes wandered from the sky to the trees to the grass and back to the sky again.
"This is pretty fun," Private agreed as a butterfly landed on his nose.
The butterfly stuck out its proboscis to try and suck the nectar out of one of Private's freckles, but it didn't work. Sadly, freckles aren't flowers.
The young freckled boy laughed, saying, "Thaht tickles!" His body shook a little as he laughed and the butterfly gave up, flying off to find a flower and -not a freckle.
The sides of Skipper's mouth curled up a bit as he smiled at the simple happiness of the two beside him. His sapphire eyes darted to the Oriental-looking girl on his left and the bright-eyed boy on his right then twinkled as Skipper let out a chuckle.
Curious, both the girl and the younger boy looked to Skipper with one eyebrow raised.
"Whaht's so funny, Skippah?" Private asked.
Laughing through his nose, he closed his eyes and tilted his head down as they continued walking. "You two." A hesitation from the others followed. He heard a quiet gulp then his eyes flew open as he felt something soft grasp his left hand. Looking down to his left, he found that Marlene had entwined her fingers with his. It felt nice at first, but then he realized that as a penguin, he wouldn't be able to feel this. No fingers…! He savored every moment of the experience.
Private just looked away awkwardly and began looking all the more closely at the little critters of the park.
Strolling down the sidewalk with their hands in their pockets were Shadow and Rico. They smiled coolly and looked as if they had no care in the world. Well, except for explosives, which one could see if one looked closely at their eyes and noticed a well-hidden mischievous glint. The bustling crowd made sure to keep their distance from the two, so as they walked, a large bubble was created around them.
Something to her left caught Shadow's eye. Gently nudging Rico's arm with her elbow, she whispered, "Pssst…!" When she saw Rico glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, she smirked and continued, "Looks like we got a playdate with some muggers, Ree."
Tilting his head forward a little, Rico looked past Shadow and saw a small group of about 4 people in black leather jackets, baggy blue jeans, white t-shirts, and purple scarves with identical designs on them. One had his scarf tied around his head. Another had his scarf tucked in the breast pocket of his jacket. The third had his scarf tied around his neck along with a gold chain. -Obviously the leader, both Rico and Shadow decided. The fourth had her scarf tied around her waist as it was a longer scarf than the others'.
The two teens looked back at each other, sharing a smile that said, "We got this." As they continued on, they found that the bubble in the crowd had gotten bigger to accommodate the newcomers, better known as thugs.
In the reflection on a stop sign, Rico noticed the girl briskly nod her head once. Right after, Shadow was pulled behind him by the man with the scarf in his pocket. Pivoting around to face the muggers, Rico took a fighting stance. He grinned when he saw that Shadow wasn't scared in the least and actually seemed to be enjoying it.
"Nice work, Donnis," the girl said to the pocket scarf man, patting his back as she sashayed past him and towards Rico. She quickly made her way right in front of the scarred teen. "Ooh. Tough guy," she said, smirking as she looked him up and down. Hearing a low growl from behind her, she looked over her shoulder. Seeing that it was only Shadow who Donnis had 'incapacitated', she left it alone and went back to Rico. "So tell me, tough guy. Would you rather fight for your girlfriend and have us take both her and your money or take me as your girlfriend and keep your money? Your choice," she said smugly, crossing her arms under her chest as she looked up at Rico, for he was significantly taller than she was.
Rico frowned at this, accentuating his scar.
"A scar? My my, big boy. You are quite the tough guy." She ran a thin finger along his scar, prompting her to swiftly pull her hand back when he snapped fiercely at her. Her eyes widened slightly then quickly went to a half-lidded state as she quietly chuckled to herself. "Well, it certainly seems like you've made your choice." She snapped her fingers and the other two men stepped up beside her. Flamingly staring into Rico's eyes, she continued, saying, "Kenna. You'll take this boy's money."
"Be glad to, Lizanne," the gold-chained man said, pounding his fist into his other hand as he grinned evilly at Rico.
"And Saber," Lizanne said, making the head scarf man stand at attention. "Take care of anyone who tries to call the police on us."
"Will do, Liz."
"For the thousandth time… Shaver… It's LIZANNE!"
"Sorry."
Lizanne started to mutter incoherently as she glared at 'Saber'.
Rico chanced a glance at Shadow who returned with a look reading, "This is gonna be easy as chocolate pie."
"Coriiiiii…," Des drawled.
Oh, she had done it now. Why did she have to turn to the dark side? Why did she have to be like Anakin Skywalker? Why did she become Darth Vader? WHY DID SHE-? …steal that boy's book? (AN: sorry. I like Star Wars)
"… What?" Cori said, protectively hugging the Spanish book close to her chest.
"… Can I have my book back?" the boy questioned, holding out his hand.
"No!" Cori barked. "'Tis -my book, now."
"Did you pay for it?" the boy asked.
"… No…," Cori answered hesitantly.
"Well I didn't either. Give it back," he said, trying to take the book back.
"Gasp! You stole this book that I stole?" Cori said, pretending to be overdramatic as she turned away from the boy to avoid his grasping hand.
"No… I got it from my teacher. Now give it back."
"Nnnnever!"
"Cori, come on…," Des whined. "Dontchu want ice cream? Skip said we'were s'posed tuh meet'im fer ice cream soon…" She went up to Cori and whispered sadly, "I like ice cream, Cori…"
Cori frowned. "Well… 'F you want ice cream, Des… …I guess we c'n go." She began to walk off with Des.
"Uhh… Excuse me?" the boy asked, making the two girls turn around. When he saw their confused stares, he pointed pointedly (AN: hehe…) at the book nestled in Cori's arms.
"…" Des said nothing as she and the boy said waited for Cori's response.
"C'mon, dude," the lighter girl replied, turning around and starting to walk off. "If you want, you c'n come t'the ice cream shop w'th us. We're s'posed to be meetin' a friend there."
The boy looked to Des who only shrugged and followed her 'sister'. He sighed, dropping his shoulders as he did so.
"You did a great job scaling the building, Ali," Kowalski said as he carefully looked at the large art piece in front of him.
Ali also gazed at the huge painting that hung on the wall of the Museum of Modern Art. Noticing who exactly Kowalski's statement pertained to, she blushed and smiled behind her fist. "Th-thanks, Kowalski…"
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her admiring the piece before them. He smiled and turned back to the art.
"I like how th's one has a lot'f orange in it."
"… And why is that?" Kowalski questioned.
Ali softly chuckled. As she spoke, she turned her head to him. "Orange 's my fav'rite col'r."
He pushed up his glasses a little to make sure he was seeing right then furrowed his eyebrows.
Ali seemed to be glowing. Her hair was flowing in some indoor wind and a choir could be heard in the background.
She got a confused look in her eyes, but kept her smile. "…What?"
Kowalski muttered to himself, "…This isn't logical… How could…?" He stopped short when he saw the glow move closer until it was clear that a giant light was being pushed down the hallway where they stood. A large fan rolled right behind it. The choir music began to lower in volume enough so that an apparent choir director could toss in some comments.
"Agh! Your singing ees atrocious! Mein hamstah could do bettah zan yoo! Tenors! Highaaaah! Baritones! Lowaaaah…" he said, making his voice higher when he said "higher" and lower when he said "lower". "GAH! Stohpstohpstohp." The choir listened. "Yoo must vork on your singing skills, all ahf yoo!" Seeing a tentative hand slowly raise up, he shouted, "No, I deed noht say 'Aye lahff yoo,' becoss I do not!" This scared the hand back to its original position by its owner's side. "I vant yoo all toprectice, prectice, PRECTICE! Zee big Christian art expo ees tonight end yoo must be good! Noht ziss goat crud yoo giff me! Now! Off vit yoo! Off! Go on! Shoo!"
"…" Kowalski now understood. It was all a misunderstanding.
"… Kowalski? K-Kowalski? 'Re you all right? …Walski?"
The nickname snapped him out of it and he refocused on Ali. "Yes? What?"
"You'were starin' off intuh space…," Ali stated confusedly.
"Oh. Sorry. Just… thinking…"
"Oh! I understand!" the brunette replied with a sincere smile. "I've done tha' before. Shadow had'to slap me out'f it one time." She giggled a little at the memory.
The two looked at each other for a moment then Kowalski spoke up. "Perhaps… we should move on to the next piece. Remember Skipper said to meet him at the ice cream shop at seventeen-hundred. If we want to even finish this hall by then, we're going to have to speed it up."
Ali nodded and moved to the next piece, closely examining the interesting textures used in its creation.
Kowalski chanced a couple glances at Ali, thinking about what he had seen and heard earlier. …It was all a misunderstanding. It all had a logical explanation. … But did I want it to…?
"Hmmm… We should probably head for the ice cream shop. It's already sixteen-forty-five. Let's move." Skipper was stopped by a sudden tug on his right hand by Private and another on his left hand by Marlene. He turned to face them and asked in an exasperated tone, "Wha-at?"
"Skipper, relax. It's only a three minute walk from here to there. We've got time," Marlene said.
"And besides, Skippah," Private added. "Would it hurt to be a smidgen late?"
"'A smidgen late?' 'A smidgen late?'" Skipper exclaimed. "Manfredi and Johnson were 'a smidgen late' and look what happened to them! They paid the price like Alice pays the zoo bills. Horribly."
"…" Marlene and Private said nothing as they calmly let skipper cool off for a few seconds.
"… … … Let's keep walking," he said, restarting his leisurely stroll.
The other two winked at each other and quickly caught up to him, happily continuing their walk.
"Man, that was awesome," Shadow said, smirking as she brushed her hands off.
"Mm-hm!" Rico agreed, nodding his head once.
The two looked at the eight gang members on the ground around them with satisfaction.
Just as Rico was about to get attacked, Shadow said a snappy comeback that grabbed the quartet's attention so that they all focused on her. Rico took the chance to "expertly" knock out Kenna and "Saber" by forcefully hitting their heads together. Right as Shadow was about to take out Donnis, another gang who all wore white belts around their waists showed up. The gang leader stated that it was their turf and their right to mug the two, rather than the Purple Scarves, and started a small brawl between the four White Belts (AN: hehe. white belts. karate humor) and two remaining Purple Scarves. Shadow and Rico had knocked out all of the lackeys of both gangs from behind, leaving only the leaders to fend for themselves. Shadow easily defeated the Purple scarf leader with a quick roundhouse kick to the face (after many tossed and blocked blows). The White Belt leader was a cinch for Rico to take down. …When he used a small firecracker to stun the burly man and punch him while he was disoriented.
"High five, dude," Shadow said, holding up a hand.
Rico eagerly slapped her five.
Looking at a clock on a building, Shadow noticed the time. She calmly said, "Dude. It's four-forty-something. I think we should start goin' towards that ice cream shop. I could really use a cold one after beating up all those white belts." (AN: no, not a cold beer. a cold ice cream)
"Hehe," Rico chuckled. "Karate."
And so the two cracked jokes and cracked up as they made their way to the ice cream shop.
"Man. They shoulda been here by now," Cori stated, looking at the door to the ice cream shop as she held tightly to her- no, wait- the boy's book.
It was 4:58PM. Corinne, Destiny, and Stolen Book Guy were the only ones inside the ice cream shop (besides the one worker who was completely engrossed in her 12 text conversations).
"He did say five o'clock, right?" Cori asked, looking to her cous- sorry- sister.
"Yeah. I think so," Des answered.
"Seriously, guys. I need my book."
"Don't talk to me. Talk to her," Des said, pointing a thumb at Cori.
The book stealer continued to stare out the window and, without looking away, she waved a hand dismissively and said, "Yeah, yeah. Wh'tever. Just sit 'n' eatch'r ice cream, dude."
"My name's not 'Dude.' It's Danny. And all right. I'll just eat my invisible spoon to eat my invisible ice cream." Danny pretended to do just what he said he would and said, smiling, "Mmmm… Delicious. Invisible is my favorite flavor."
Cori saw him from over her shoulder, laughed a little, and turned to Danny. "…Yer a cool dude. Ya know that, Danny?"
"I try," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"There you guys are! Where've you been?" Des exclaimed, causing Danny and Cori to look where Des looked.
Shadow and Rico had just walked into the ice cream shop and seemed to have not noticed the shout. As the two passed Des, Shadow mussed up her darker friend's hair.
Des fake pouted, sticking out her bottom lip and furrowing her eyebrows.
"Calm down, Des," Shadow said as she and Rico sat down at the table, seated across from Des and Cori. "We weren't gone that long. It's not even five yet."
"Well it's gonna be 'n a minute! Ali 'nd K'walski aren't ev'n here yet!"
"Huh. That's weird," Shadow commented.
Rico's eyes caught something and he nudged Shadow. When he got her attention, he pointed to Danny and quietly asked, "…Who…?"
"… I have no idea."
"This 's Danny. Cori stole 'is book from 'im—"
"And I want it back!"
"… …Cori stole 'is book from 'im an' then'e followed us here," Des explained.
"Huh," Shadow replied. "So what kinda ice cream are we gettin'? …And how're we gonna pay for it?"
"… I nev'r thoughta that," Cori muttered.
"I could probably pay for it," Danny said.
"…There's nine 'f us, plus you," Cori noted. "I don'think you wanna spend tha'much money."
"Don't worry. I can paint myself silver and go out on the street, pretending to be a robot to get enough."
"…I'd love t'see that," Cori said, smirking a little.
"Then let's go," Danny joked. "I'll get some paint from House Depot or something."
"We… made it…," breathed Kowalski as he and Ali burst into the ice cream shop.
"Cool! Si' down, guys!" Des said happily.
Kowalski and Ali eagerly complied and sat next to each other, Rico on Ali's right and Kowalski on her left.
Ali looked straight forward and saw Danny. Tilting her head a little in confusion, she asked, "…Who's this?"
"Danny," Cori explained. "Long story short, I stole 'is book 'n' now he wants t'become a street performer so he c'n pay fer all 'f our ice cream."
"…Uh…" Ali was confused.
"He's a dude, all right?" Cori stated.
"… Okaaaaay…," Ali said.
"So what are we paying for the ice cream with?" Kowalski asked.
"A logical question, my good buddy. I do believe that the intuitiveness of our illegibility can be uprooted into the most indifferent an' exponential way," Cori said. "… That didn't make a lick 'f sense." After seeing her friends' baffled faces, her eyes widened in shock. "Oh no. I'm being… countrified!"
"Hey. Stupid. We're not in the country," Shadow said.
"… Oh. Right."
"Moron."
"True dat," Shadow said, smirking as she stuck out her hand, palm up, to Rico.
Rico was more than happy to oblige with a hand slap.
"We're here. And perfect timing, too," Skipper announced, entering the ice cream shop with Private and Marlene as he looked at the clock on the wall just as it turned 5:00PM. He sat at the head of the table, next to Kowalski.
Marlene sat across from Kowalski, next to Danny.
Private took a seat at the other head of the table, across from Skipper.
"Skippah, ahre we going to get our ice cream now?" Private asked curiously.
Shadow leaned back in her chair, eyes closed and arms folded behind her head. "Yeah. I feel like ice cream. Someone get some for me." Getting no response, she opened an eye and told Cori, "…Hello? That means you."
Cori stuck her tongue out at Shadow then said, "I'll hit you with Danny's book and make it look like he did it."
"Hey…!"
"… Skipper?" Marlene asked. Usually he would have responded by now.
"…Who's the rookie?" Skipper asked, staring suspiciously at Danny.
Danny quickly realized what kind of person- penguin- whatever!- Skipper was. He snapped his back straight and placed his hand to his eyebrow in a salute. "Name's Danny, sir! I am here on an important mission. A retrieval mission!"
"Hm. A soldier, huh?" Skipper said, smiling as he rubbed his chin with a fist. "What were you sent to retrieve?"
"My book, sir!" Danny said, pointing to the book in Cori's hands with his own free hand.
"Ah. Lemme let you in on a secret. You won't get that book back."
"What? Yes'e will! Here, Danny!" Cori exclaimed, pushing the book into Danny's chest. "You gotcher book back!" She crossed her arms and smiled smugly. "Ha! You were wrong! He got'is book back!" A moment of silence passed and then her smile turned to a frown. She facepalmed and said, "Aw man! Reverse psychology sucks."
"Psychology only works on people with brains, Cori," Shadow said, without opening her eyes.
"Shutup!"
"Welllllll… Not that it hasn't been… greaaaat talking to you all, but… I gotta go. Maybe I'll see you guys again sometime," Danny said, looking at Cori when he said the last sentence.
Cori smiled and felt as if she were blushing (AN: you can't see her blush because… well… … she's… "darker"…).
"Bye, guys!" Danny said, walking out of the door with his book under his arm.
"Ice cream!" Rico shouted excitedly.
"Yes, Rico. We'll get some ice cream," Skipper said.
"Yeaaah!" Rico exclaimed.
"I'll go order 'em," Ali said. "Wha'would ev'ryone like?"
"Vanilla!"
"Vanilla!"
"Strawberry!"
"Matcha."
"Frozen yogurt."
"Hokey pokey, please!"
"Choc'late!"
"Chocolate."
Shadow and Rico looked at each other, blinked a couple times in unison, then laughed.
"All right. So…," Ali recapped, "Vanilla fer Corinne an' Destiny, strawberry fer 'Walski, …matcha…? …fer Marlene…?"
"It's green tea ice cream," explained Marlene.
"Oh. Okay." Ali continued, "Frozen yogurt fer Skipper, hokey pokey fer Private –that's a special flavor of British ice cream; 'm I right?" After getting an affirmed nod from Private, she smiled a little more and proceeded. "And… choc'late fer both Rico an' Shadow." Everyone nodded, so Ali smiled and headed to the counter. "Okay, be right back."
It didn't take long for Ali to return with the ice cream (and frozen yogurt), all eight dishes in her arms. "Here you go!" she said happily as she delivered the ice cream around the table. When Rico reached for the last dish of ice cream, she said, "Oh. Tha'one's mine." She opened the top to reveal the green ice cream with brown flecks inside. "See? Mint choc'late chip. My fav'rite."
"… Mine?" Rico asked.
"Oh. I thought you two w'd like t'share," Ali stated, looking slightly confused between Shadow and Rico.
Shadow grimaced. "Wh-why would you think that…?"
"Well, b'cause you two li—"
"Nowedon'tjustgethimanothericecream'causeI'mnotswitchingthisoneGO!"
Everyone looked curiously at Shadow except for Des and Cori, who smirked smugly.
"… … … …Eh-heh." After a couple more seconds of silence, Shadow just stared at the wood of the table and began to wolf down her ice cream.
Ali went to go get another chocolate ice cream for Rico.
"…Brainfreeze…," Rico noted, grinning a little as he got his ice cream from Ali.
"I don't get brainfreeze, dude," Shadow smirked.
"Ali?" Kowalski began. "How did you acquire these frozen treats? I don't believe any of us had money…"
"… Who'needs money?" Ali said.
"… … … …Whot?" Private asked.
Ali smiled, a little mischievous glint in her eye as she pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the worker who was slumped over the counter.
"…Uh… Is she…?" Marlene started.
"No, she's not dead. I just pushed a couple pressure points and knocked her out."
"…" Silence engulfed the ice cream shop. Well… Close to silence. Shadow, Cori, and Des were eating their ice cream while everyone else stared, mouth agape, at Ali.
"… …What? I w's taught hum'n pressure points 'n'th' resistance."
"… … … …" Skipper, Rico, Private, Marlene, and Kowalski all slowly turned to their frozen treats and ate.
Ali shrugged her shoulders and started eating her ice cream, too.
"Wow!" Marlene said, through a mouthful of matcha ice cream. "Thish ish reawwy good!"
"Affirmative," Skipper agreed, continuing his consumption of his frozen yogurt.
Soon, everyone was happily eating their desserts.
"Stho," Cori started, munching on a spoonful of ice cream. She swallowed and continued. "Where's the serum t'turn us back intuh animals?"
"Yeah. Bein' human's fun 'n' all, b't I'd rather be a penguin. Life's much simpl'r tha'way…," Des agreed.
"… … … … …Uh… See… Funny thing… a-bout that…," Kowalski stuttered, laughing nervously.
"Lemme guess. You didn't make a 'turn-us-back' serum. Did you?" Shadow asked.
The tall former penguin smiled sheepishly.
Marlene sighed. "Same old Kowalski…"
So did you guys like it? Again. Sorry it took so long. I'm truly TRULY sorry. If you want, you can review, but it's alright if you don't. I don't deserve any reviews for my lame excuses... ... -snif- ... ... ... babbitrulez... -snif- out...