NUEVE - ET TU, KENNEDY?
The "victory lunch" was at Weenie Burgers, of course. Mary had brought something special for one of her friends, and had planned to give it during their time here. Sitting in front of the jaguar and beside the coyote, she said, "Well, Fifi finally saw the facts, and I told her that if she wanted to talk, I would be there for her. I don't know if she'll lose her romantic personality, though."
The jaguar raised an eyebrow. "You offered her your time?" She nodded. "Then it seems you know more about the true meaning of friendship than she does."
"She, and all the 'STARS'," added Sweetie. "And now that they've seen true friendship, maybe they'll start thinking more carefully about who their friends REALLY ARE."
"And now that we've dealt with Fifi and Shirley, you won't have any more blocks, will you Mary, huh-huh?" asked Sneezer.
"I hope not. Being the one to deliver the blows isn't exactly my cup of tea."
"We understand, Mary," signed Calamity, lowering his ears a trifle. "But you do have to admit that it was best for a female to deal with females in those matters."
"Yes, you're right, Calamity. I'm just glad that's all over. Now I can be loony like everyone else, finally!"
"And you made a great start, I'll tell you that," signed Beeper.
"Yes, it's a start," she replied. "Today was only the start." She leaned back on the seat and sighed with a grin.
"You were excellent, Mary," said The J.A.M., his orange eyes burning deeply into her dark brown ones. "You're on your way to becoming a hilarious toon. Hey, you'll be breaking new ground with this! A loony black human female toon. I bet that's something no animation company has ever tried before!"
Mary's face shone like never before. "And it was thanks to you, and all of you guys, who helped me deal with the blocks and find my loony self. Thanks, Cal," she hugged the coyote, making him straighten his ears again. "Thanks, Beeper!" The roadrunner was on the opposite corner, so she just reached out and held his wing. "Thanks, Lightning, Sweetie, and Sneezer!" Carefully lifting the true tiny Toons to her cheek, she hugged them as well. Then, she put them down, and turned to the Mexican. "And thanks to you, too, señor!" She stood and hugged him, and she didn't know why, but she had to squeeze him tighter than she did with the others. Thinking for a moment, she finally realised why Elmyra wanted to cuddle him to death. Well, she wasn't sure if she wanted to kill him like that, but the cuddling seemed like a good idea. He returned her embrace, and she was surprised at how tight he hugged her as well. A moment later, they released each other with a slightly disappointed sigh, and looked at each other's eyes. Mary sat down again.
Suddenly realising he was holding her hands, The J.A.M. quickly pulled away, lowering his ears, trying to stop his spots from turning red, and stuttered, "Um, you're welcome, Miss Melody—"
"Hey, what did I say about that?" she asked with a slight smirk.
"Um, okay. Mary, you're welcome."
"And speaking of names," she added, "thanks for letting us in on your secret and letting us know yours."
"And now dat we're Waiteeng Ones, our minds are sheelded. Sheerley won't be able to get eento our minds to find out hees name!" squeaked Lightning with joy.
"Not unless she becomes a close friend," replied the panther. "And she knows what she has to do in order to become that. You all, however—well—I can truly say that you're the closest friends I've ever had. Thank you all." He looked at each of them with gratitude, but when he turned to the humanmaid, their gazes locked again. Mary felt something odd stir within her, and she wondered why her cheeks were receiving more blood supply.
As for the felid, he was trying to keep his spots from changing colour again. Suddenly he broke the gaze and stuttered, "Uh—I guess I'll see everyone tomorrow, then?"
Mary didn't know why, but she felt a trifle more disappointed when she heard him say that. "Uh, sure, I guess. I'll—we'll see you tomorrow, J.A.M."
The jaguar really didn't want to leave, but for some reason, it was getting hot inside the diner. So, he straightened his ears, stood, and declared. "I'll see you then. Until next time, remember: I AM THE J.A.M. Good evening." In a blink, (WARP!) he warped away. Everyone turned to the door, and saw it slowly close, just as Buster and Babs entered.
"Did anyone feel a breeze just now?" asked Babs. The others just chuckled a trifle, and Mary sat back and sighed. For some reason, she was looking forward to seeing her friend tomorrow. She certainly didn't expect to have such feelings for him, much less for any non-human, but for some reason that really didn't matter at this point. She would sort out just what it was that she was feeling and then go on from there. She shifted a trifle and placed her purse on the table—
A particular sound jolted her out of her pondering. Quickly, she opened her purse, and gasped.
"Oh, no! I forgot to give him his M&M's!"
"To help him RESTOCK?" asked Sweetie.
"Yes! You guys ate HALF of his reserves! I hope this one-pound bag helps him out!"
Calamity signed, "You can still catch him. He probably just warped to his bicycle and right now he's pedalling toward the forest." Her face lit up again.
"Oh, okay, thanks, Calamity!" With that, she stood, skated out of the diner, and proceeded to follow The J.A.M.
The panther, meanwhile, was happily pedalling his way through the Acme Acres, happy, his tail swaying behind him, because he had found close friends, finally, and maybe one who seemed to want to be closer than the others did.
I think I'm going to like it here.
He took a right turn on to a wide avenue, and moved to the yellow divider because he was going to make a left turn at the next corner. It was a rather long block, and since there was barely any traffic, he took his time and slowly coasted down the street.
A perfect speed for target practice.
On the roofs of four buildings in that block, one hand, two paws, and one wing opened four rifles' firing chambers, loaded their respective darts, shut the chambers, and cocked the rifles. Four sights then homed in on the feline's torso.
"Okay, he just turned into the street. I can take him out from right here!" whispered Plucky into his headset.
"Wait until he's in position!" growled Montana. "We can't risk anyone missing a shot, so we'll fire when he's right at the centre!" From above the buildings, one would have been able to see Montana Max on a building on the right side of the street, hiding behind a billboard. A few buildings ahead of him was Rhubella Rat, hiding behind a rampart wall. On the opposite side of the street, directly in front of her, was Roderick Rat, hiding behind a stone gargoyle. Completing the ambush, Plucky was hiding behind a lighted sign, directly opposite of Montana. All four were on the roofs of six-story buildings; their positions forming a square. On the centre of the square, on the pavement, two lines had been spray-painted earlier. They were white, adjacent to the yellow divider, but perpendicular to it. They were spaced two metres form each other, and were less than one decimetre long. From any cyclist's viewpoint they would have been unnoticed, but from their ambush positions, the two lines marked the "bull's-eye" where the target would be equidistant from each of the snipers, guaranteeing a sure hit.
Twenty metres from the bull's-eye.
"Okay, prepare to fire, on my mark!" whispered Montana. "You guys at the van, get ready to move!" The rifles followed their target as he approached the centre of the ambush. Around the corner, a black van with tinted windows turned on its engine. The rats' ears laid low in anticipation, and the duck's neck arched in silent anger.
Fifteen metres from the bull's-eye.
Moments after The J.A.M. turned into that street, Mary Melody turned the corner and skated down the sidewalk. She was planning to catch up with him and shout to him, and he would then pull to the sidewalk so she would give him his M&M's.
Ten metres from the bull's-eye.
Or perhaps she would follow him to the forest and see where things went from there. The afternoon sun changed her plans abruptly, however. Since the sun was on her left, and she was on the right side of the street, she was skating without any shadows to cover her.
Montana shifted to get a better position, bringing his left arm out to the sunlight.
And on his left wrist, he wore a Rolex.
Nine metres from the bull's-eye.
And for one instant, the glass cover of his watch reflected the sun directly to the sidewalk below.
A small flash above her caught Mary's attention.
She looked up, and saw what appeared to be a black tube.
Eight metres from the bull's-eye.
A white hand was holding the tube.
And the tube was following The J.A.M.'s position.
Seven metres from the bull's-eye.
In one instant, all her blood pooled to her feet, and in the next instant, all her blood boiled with adrenaline as she suddenly shot out to the street, toward the jaguar on his bicycle.
"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!"
Six metres from the bull's-eye.
"Huh?" asked Rhubella.
The jaguar heard a female scream behind him. Instinctively, he slowed down, and turned slightly.
He saw Mary Melody skating toward him as if she were trying to set a speed record.
Five metres from the bull's-eye.
Must—skate—faster—
If this had happened in Mexico, he would have said, "She was skating como alma que persigue el Diablo," i.e., "like a soul that the Devil chases."
Four metres from the bull's-eye.
Must—————skate—————faster—————
What was wrong with her?
She screamed again, "JAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMM!"
Three metres from the bull's-eye.
His nose detected her adrenaline, making his ears lay back.
"WARP! WAAARP! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRPPP!"
Two metres from the bull's-eye.
Must—————————skate——————————faster——————————
She wanted him to warp? Why? He wasn't about to be hit by a car or bus or truck or—
One metre from the bull's-eye.
"Mary?" asked Plucky.
She wasn't sure what powered her legs at that point.
Target inside the bull's-eye.
But she pounced on him.
HARD.
"Fire!"
Suddenly losing his balance, the jaguar toppled to his left. Since he was being held by Mary, he couldn't twist so he would land on his foot-paws. Both landed on their sides, hard, and the bicycle made a resounding WHAM as it also met the pavement.
"Oh (CENSORED)," said Roderick.
The J.A.M. struggled to get Mary off him, and he sat facing her. "Hey, just what the bleep do you think you're doing!" he growled. "Are you trying to get us killed or someth—!"
She just smiled at him, and mumbled, "…they didn't count on my cleverness…"
A black van rolled around the corner, headed toward them in the opposite direction, and a few onlookers began assembling.
And then Mary just zoned out. Her eyes remained open, but they were now unresponsive.
"Abort! Abort! Abort!" hissed Montana. The van revved its engine, passed them, and went on its way.
"Mary?"
No response.
Shifting closer, he asked, "Mary, are you okay? What h—" And then, he noticed something on her shoulders, and on her lower back.
Four darts, embedded in her body.
It was his turn for his blood to pool to his foot-paws.
"Mary?" he asked, fighting the panic that was welling within him. His ears were completely flat with fear, and his fur colour actually paled. He shook her arm a trifle, but she didn't blink. "MARY!" he roared, carefully plucking the darts from her. He kneeled in front of her and gently placed her head on his lap. From that moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, for him, at least. Looking up and seeing a small crowd of onlookers, he roared, "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" He looked down again, at his human friend, as she lay quietly on his lap, in what he hoped was just a deep sleep…