Chapter 14: Her Emotional Problems
Weeks have already passed and we were on the final weeks of September. As usual, me and the boys shared a little chatter, we did homework together, and I still pretended to be someone else when as the Kunoichi.
Today was just like any other day. Normal, but with the exception of stanked students and robot attacks. Me and the Ninja de-stanked a few teens, one of them being the band geek Bucky and many others. We also beat up a few uprising RoboApes.
We finished with the battle by breaking an unicycle belonging to some clown guy. I saw a large group of teens joining the Ninja in a circle and chanting...
"Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!"
...while I stood on another corner with just a few pair of teens saying "You did good, new ninja." And "See you later." then they left to join the Ninja with the massive group of teens.
That made me feel a little upset. "How come they love the Ninja more than me? I did fought alongside him. Maybe they just know more about him than about me. Besides, I'm new to this Kunoichi stuff, so what's the difference?"
I smokebombed out of there and returned to being the same kid who's always sitting on a corner. Well, that's what I did during my free time.
I know I shouldn't be feeling like that, but it was just so unbearable inside. I wanted to be recognized as the Kunoichi by these guys just like the Ninja. Not saying that I wanted some popularity, but they just love the Ninja so much! I did too, though, but I wanted them to love me as the Kunoichi too.
As I sat down, resting my back on a tree, I pulled out my NinjaNomicon and stared at its many details as I thought of how the Ninja was way too loved by people.
"NinjaNomicon, I don't get it. People, myself included, love the Ninja so much! Why can't they recognize me as the Kunoichi and admire me just like him?"
The Nomicon flashed.
"For first, I'm not jealous, nor I want to be. And why? I'm a female ninja, I've got almost the same stuff he has. Secondly, I don't want too much popularity, just to be recognized and loved by, maybe a few at least."
The book opened itself and I got my consciousness absorbed in...
"Arg!"
...
I landed softly on a cloud as a message from the Nomicon was revealed...
"Fame isn't a proper tool for a Kunoichi."
"See? That's what I meant! Thanks! By the way, can you teach me some new moves and Kunoichi powers so I won't have to do the same thing all over and over?"
The cloud disappeared and I fell into the same dojo. There were these paper lamps with different arts of Ninja.
"The Art of Invisibility... the Art of Telepathy... the Art of Healing... The Art of Flying?! Yes! I want to learn how to fly!"
The paper lamp with that art revealed a LONG list of different Ninja spells for the Art of Flying. I read through the long list, trying to find an easy one, but they were all complicated and with a lot of steps.
"Okay, I'll try this one."
At the school library...
While Jennifer was out on her free time inside the Nomicon, Randy and Howard were having a pretty hard time doing a science project. Mrs. Driscoll had said that if they never made that project, they would have an F on science class. Something that disliked Howard too much.
"This is WAY past difficult, Cunningham. Too difficult! And if we don't do this, we'll be getting an F. THERE'S NOTHING WORST THAN AN F! YOU KNOW THAT!"
"Howard, relax. We just have to find out the names of those four thingys the DNA structure has. Just that, more information, build up a model, and BOOM! We're done!"
"It's not that simple, Cunningham. A project like this one kills my brain off!"
"That's why science books are for. Just read up a little, maybe you'll find out something."
"I assure you, if we get an F, we'll be stuck from going to the Whoopie World this weekend."
"Hey, now that you're mentioning it..."
Howard stopped Randy from saying a word by jamming his mouth. "DON'T YOU EVER SING THAT! IT STILL GETS STUCK IN MY HEAD!"
Randy removed Howard's hand from his mouth and looked at him with an "Are you serious? I wasn't going to do that." kind of face.
"Well, I was thinking. Maybe we should invite Jennifer out. Since the Kunoichi and the Ninja have been fighting monsters and robots, I've been noticing her kind of sad, or depressed, or something. I haven't received a crushing hug from her during the day either. I wonder what's wrong with her."
"Well, we can deal with that later. First goes our priority, which is to finish our science project, then we can get to Jennifer and have some fun. By the way, you've been talking about that girl too much since we met her. Are you sure you don't have a crush on her?"
"Are you serious? Of course not! And in her mind, she thinks the Ninja is someone else. When she sees the REAL me, she just blushes, but she doesn't talk to me that much. That has been since the end of August, after the Feather Dress Festival thing."
"I can be honest with you, Cunningham. That kid's acting REALLY weird, like ALL types of weird."
"I just hope Bash doesn't have fun bothering the juice out of her." Says Randy concerned.
"Can we focus? This thing of talking about such kid interrupts my thoughts."
On some point of the forest inside the Nomicon world, me as the Kunoichi, decided to practice the Art of Flying.
"Okay, so it's stretch out the wings... touch the air... flap the feathers... and..."
I was dying of laughter after the "flap the feathers" part. I couldn't do this!
"This is all types of crazy! Flap the feathers? Couldn't you make up something else?"
There was a thunderclap that scared the juice out of me.
"Okay, okay. I'll try again."
I held out my hands, the maze-like symbol appeared in front as I chanted the flying spell.
"Okay, so... Wings..." I separated my arms to my sides. "Air..." I raised them up. "Feathers..." I moved them forward again as the little maze symbol in front of me flashed and disappeared into me. Also, a sketch of wings appeared behind my back. "Art of Flight!"
I took a nice run and jumped. I really did it! I was flying! At first I felt freaked out, but then I let the bruce sensation take over as I kept flying. It felt so good and it filled me with such freedom. I felt like a free bird.
"This is so bruce! It's beyond the brucest things I've done!" I exclaimed laughing.
After a few more minutes of flying, I landed back to the ground.
"Thanks, Nomicon. I'll use this ability when I need it."
And I left the Nomicon world, returning to reality.
...
I walked through the halls in search for the school library. I also had to do that little science project, but since I had no classmate to join, I decided to do it on my own. The project had to be done on pairs, and Randy and Howard were already doing one. That's why I chose to do mine alone.
I finally entered the library and saw them chatting. It was clear that they were having problems with the project. Since I already set up information for the project, I didn't hesitated to give them a helping hand. My blush grew more and more as I walked towards them.
"Hey boys, um... Do you need some help?"
That was a really stupid question. Of course they needed help! But I was just too shy to say "Let me help you guys with that."
"Oh! Jennifer! We..."
"Of course we need your help!" Said Howard. "This stupid project is burning out our brains. It's all too complicated."
"How much complicated is it?" I asked, looking down at their papers.
"Enough like to make our brains explode!" Says Howard kind of upset as he laid his head on the table.
I sighed and sat next to them. "What's with the long faces? I thought you guys were-"
"Me and Howard are about to fail on science class. If we don't do this project, it's a big F for both of us." Said Randy.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I never knew that from you two." I said with a sad face. Then changed it to a happy one. "But if you have me, you don't need to worry about a single F."
"Huh?" Both boys looked at me with a question mark above their heads.
I smiled and pulled out some papers containing information. "These papers will answer all your questions. I just have to print two more copies. As for me, don't worry. I'll try my best on making the information different." After that, I got up and nicely said "Excuse me." then went to the printers, leaving the boys looking at the papers with their jaws dropped.
I blushed so bad after that. I haven't been talking to them that much since the last week of August. My lips shivered, a huge smile was formed.
"Wow, that's so nice of that kid. Did you saw all those papers? It's like we found a bar of gold!" Said Howard with such happiness.
"Totally bruce!" Replied Randy, pumping his fists.
I heard that from the boys as I finished with the copies. I sat again and helped the boys with the project, explaining everything I knew about the DNA structure. My information was like a bar of gold to these guys. They smiled at my intelligence as they kept listening and writing down all the information they needed for their project. That made me smile too, because I was glad I helped them out greatly.
...
After all the time we spent in the library, we finally left the school and went to Randy's house. The three of us were sharing McSquiddles I managed to pick from the fireworks from the festival and playing more and more Grave Punchers. We were totally having a good time!
After many, many minutes playing video games, the three of us took a break and sat down. Me and Randy sat on the nice furniture and Howard was seen sitting on a baggy seat.
As always, I started a new drawing of the Ninja and too many people surrounding him only. The Kunoichi wasn't in there. As I drew, I felt tears coming out. My little emotional strike* begun again.
"Fame isn't a proper tool for a Kunoichi." I thought. "Why am I like this? I should stop!"
"Nice drawing, but why isn't the Kunoichi joining them?" Says Randy, staring closely at my work.
"Oh, it's because I used all the space left for the crowd. Sorry." I lied with a fake smile, rubbing my eyes a little.
It was difficult to tell Randy that the Kunoichi wishes to be loved and recognized just like the Ninja. But I changed the subject and kept drawing until I was done and put my tools away.
"Hey Jennifer?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I'm not so sure if you like to hang out, but once we're done with the project, maybe we could-"
"Randy has a girlfriend! Randy has a girlfriend!" Chanted Howard mockingly.
"HOWARD!" Both of us screamed.
"Yeah? Once we're done with the project we can... what?"
"Never mind. I'll tell you later."
The next day, after school...
"Jennifer! We're leaving, honey!"
As usual, Mom and Dad had to go out of town for three days. When Mom told me that, I asked her if I could stay with my friends until they got back. And, guess what? She said yes!
It was a perfect chance because:
1. WEEKEND!
2. I needed more time for my science project.
3. I honestly needed to hang out with some friends.
Randy and Howard sure are good friends. I felt so excited! I was finally going out for some time! Yay!
I came out from my room with three packs full of everything I needed. My journal, eight pairs of shoes, five different dresses, three shirts, jeans and other clothes, my toothbrush, hairbrush, a small flashlight, money savings, my drawing tools, my phone and charger, my small pink bag, my red scarf, and not to mention, my Kunoichi mask and the NinjaNomicon, of course. I walked down the stairs, trying to pick the packs up because they were HEAVY, and went to Mom and Dad.
"Oh, Jennifer. It's not like you're staying with some friends forever, hon." Says Mom.
"I know. But I'll need my stuff and a few clothes. I also picked up a first-aid kit and some food just in case a blackout or something that can cause an emergency happens. Don't you worry about me. I'm always ready for everything."
"That's my girl." Says Dad. "We should get going by now. Our plane will take off in less than an hour. We'll drop you to your friend's house first."
"Okay." I nodded and followed them to the car.
...
"So, what's with you guys going out of town?" I asked.
"It's all about business, hon. Your father's wood industry is running out and we need to gather enough wood for constructions." Says Mom.
"Do they build things out of wood or something?"
"Yeah. The wood industry is like a toy factory. We build anything you can imagine. From house doors to small toys made of wood." Says Dad.
"That sounds really interesting. Maybe that's why you need more. But where do you get it from?"
"Natural trees. We just take the fresh ones down, so the wood we take looks like new."
"And what do you do when the trees are taken down? Do you plant seeds to grow new ones?"
"No, Jennifer. Woodsmen don't do that in there. We just take care of the wood from the trees. Nothing else." Said Dad kind of sadly.
"That's wonk! They don't make new trees grow? This sounds like a job for the Kunoichi!"
We finally stopped at Randy's house. I got out of the car, opened the trunk and picked up my heavy packs.
"Just remember: Always stay inside during the night, brush your teeth, do your homework, and no scary movies."
"I know that, Mom." I muttered, rolling my eyes.
"Have fun! We'll be back in three days!"
And with that, they left the neighborhood.
I dropped the heavy packs and sat on the floor. I sighed. Mom and Dad were always busy with their stuff. Thank goodness this time I've met some friends. Now I didn't had to spend the day all alone.
Loneliness... Just thinking of how alone I felt during those old days of my life brings tears to my eyes. I struggled against the deep sorrow, and it did faded when I felt a finger tapping my left shoulder. A small smile replaced my sad face as I got up to face Randy.
"Hi." I said calmly.
"What's with all that stuff?" He asked, looking down at my three packs.
I squeezed my lips. "Um... well... Since you and Howard are the only friends I've got, well... My parents went out of town for business stuff, and I was wondering if I could stay for... three days. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course you can!" He said smiling. Then he helped me with the packs and invited me into the house.
Inside...
"Thank goodness is Friday. A bruce weekend awaits us!"
"Bruce as in you, me and your best friend going to Whoopie World once we're done with the project?"
Randy made a BIG smile. "Yeah! That was exactly what I was thinking!"
"Oh! So that was what you wanted to tell me back then." I said, realizing that little thing. "Thanks for inviting me! I really need to have some fun. I can't hold on to my emotional strike."
Hours later, at the Whoopie World...
"...and the guy with the shorts entered the room screaming HELP! I BURNED MY UNDERWEAR!"
A classic joke from my family. The three of us laughed so hard!
"That was so funny! I haven't laughed this hard in a long time!" Said Randy, laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.
"And it's nonsense! Just how did he burned off his underwear if he had them on?"
We stopped when Howard said that, and the three of us died with laughter. I have to admit, I haven't been laughing this hard in a long time.
I sighed. "I dunno. But indeed it was a good joke from my family. So, what are we going to do next? I mean, we already ate some cotton candy, played some shooting games and won a huge bag of McSquiddles!"
"So bruce!" Says Randy, pumping his fists.
I took a good eye on the amusement park. Everything was so cool and happy and fun. I really liked it. Even though we still had to do that little science project, we needed some distractions after a few hours of work, so we just went straight to the amusement park.
"Hey Jennifer, how's about we share the front seats on the roller coaster?" Randy suddenly asked.
My eyes almost popped out. I thought Randy was going to invite Howard to sit on the front seats. I mean, he's his best friend. I was just another classmate of theirs, so come on!
"On that thing? Um... sure. Why not?" I said and walked to the line of people that also went to the roller coaster.
"What the juice was that, Cunningham? I thought I was sitting with you in the front seats!" I heard Howard say.
"I know, Howard. But give her a chance. Jennifer deserves some goodies too."
"This is no goodie, Cunningham. You're just inviting her because you LIKE her!"
"I DON'T LIKE HER! SHE'S JUST A FRIEND!"
"Oh really? What will you two do on the front seats then? Kiss each other?"
That caught me, activating my nerves, making me shiver with anger and squeeze my fists. I felt like if I had lightning running inside. "He better zip it up before I explode!"
"Kiss each other? Are you kidding me?!" I heard Randy yell as I stomped closer to them.
"I know you like her. Since that girl came to Norrisville, you've been mentioning her non-stop! In fact, she's already ruining our friendship!"
That was so mean of him. The second I stopped and heard that, I dropped my bag of McSquiddles and ran out of the park crying.
"Great. Look what you did. Now she'll be stanked." I heard Randy said with such a tone before I left.
"Okay. So, she left. Now, can we get to the front seats before anyone else does?" Asked a hurried Howard.
"No."
The ginger-haired boy gasped at his best friend's serious tone. "No?"
"Listen, Howard. I don't know what's up with Jennifer, but you just humiliated her in front of me. Between her and me is just friendship. Now if you excuse me, I have to stop her from being stanked."
...
The poor teenage girl ran all the way to the exit, pushing a few people on her way as she cried. She even pushed off the Whoopie World's pet.
She kept running around the streets to find her neighborhood, but unfortunately, she got lost.
Jennifer never gave it up, she ran and ran all around the city, panting as she went. That was until she began feeling exhausted. On that time, a small rainstorm began forming, darkening everything around her. She didn't even care she got wet.
She sat on some point beside a small vent and pulled out her journal and pencil from her pink bag. Then she began writing...
"How do I feel today? Angry. EXTREMELY ANGRY AND DEPRESSED! Mom and Dad shouldn't have planned on moving here! Because of that shoob saying that their 'friendship' is being ruined by me, I now have no other choice but to stay alone. ALONE! Like FOREVER!"
Her hand couldn't write anymore. She was shivering too much in anger that she snapped her pencil in two and closed her now wet journal, busting in tears.
"I hate this... I hate everything!" Cried poor Jennifer.
Her intense negative emotions echoed through the vents and the sound of it all traveled down to the Sorcerer's underground prison.
"Hmm... Sorrow, anger, depression and loneliness are in the air. I can also taste some delicious hatred. Yum!"
The little rat squeaked.
"Time to create chaos!"
The evil Sorcerer conjured the green mist and it flew through the vent that led to Jennifer. She was still crying, holding her journal within her arms.
"I hate them! What was I thinking? They both are a pair of shoobs!"
She just continued crying, even if she heard a voice calling her name in the distance. Randy had caught up with her. He seriously had to talk to her about what happened recently.
"Jennifer, talk to me. Howard didn't meant what he just said."
"Oh yeah?" She said kind of challenging. "If he didn't, I wouldn't be running away from you both! You know what? It's over! I'm NOT gonna' deal with you guys anymore! And I HATE both of you!"
She picked up her pink bag and walked away, but Randy stopped her.
"Jennifer, please! He's just jealous because I invited you to the front seats."
"Jealous or not, I don't care! Go with your best buddy and leave me alone!"
At that point, the green mist surrounded Jennifer and her journal, the object she held most dear.
"Oh, and one more thing..." She sniffed and turned to face him. "I am definitely NOT helping you with the science project! You can have it your way or get an-"
Before she could end, she began feeling the alterations in her body and later became her monster form, letting out a horrendous and noisy scream.
"Great. She's stanked. I guess it's Ninja O' Clock."
He hid behind a trash can and wore on his mask, becoming the Ninja in less than a second. He then leaped out from his hiding spot and faced Jenny-monster once again.
Randy saw the monster girl dropping a car, terrorizing people.
"Stop it, Jennifer!"
Without even thinking, she came at him and burped at his face.
"Awgh, stank breath! Shnasty stank breath!" He said in disgust and performed a backflip to dodge a swipe from her.
The Ninja charged at Jenny-monster, borrowing a rope from someone else in the way to tie her up. He caught up her wrists and pulled to make her fall on her body. He flinched a little and made an "Ouch" gesture with his face. He went to her then.
"I'm really sorry, Jenny. Are you okay?"
"ME HATES THEM! ME WANTS TO CRUSH THEM! ME WANTS TO BE ALONE!" Cried Jenny-monster.
Ninja rolled his eyes. "Just let me de-stank you and talk about them, okay? How can I even de-stank you? What makes you feel like this?"
Jenny-monster kicked him off and broke the rope that held her wrists. She took a metallic rod (Those you see with the red octagon-shaped thing that says "STOP" in them, only without the red octagon-shaped thing.) and ran at the Ninja with it. Luckily, he knew what to do. He pulled out his katana and both collided their weapons back and forth. He performed more backflips to avoid every of her attacks with the rod.
"How can I de-stank her?" He asked to himself, dodging the rod with his sword. "What's she holding most dear?"
There were arrows pointing at her journal, in which she held in her left hand.
"Journal! Match."
He slid on the ground and almost snatched the journal from her hand, but she took a grip on the Ninja's scarf and pulled him up, then threw him to the ground.
"That... hurt." He groaned. "Man, she's definitely getting tough. There's nothing toughest than a fan girl turned monster."
Randy saw as the stanked teen came at him with the rod in hand and almost caught him up with it if not for him jumping out of the way. The rod made a small hole on the ground instead.
After that, Jenny-monster began smashing everything she saw like crazy with the metallic rod. Ninja side-stepped out of the way to prevent being smashed as well while thinking of something else he could do to change Jennifer back to normal.
He finally managed to break the rod with his katana and kicked her in the arm. When he was sure she was off-guard, he launched his Air Fist attack to her left arm, making her drop the journal. Finally, he snatched it away with his stretchy scarf and sliced it with his sword. The green mist disappeared around Jennifer as she returned to normal and fell to the ground unconscious.
...
The green mist traveled back underground and the glowing sphere fell back down. This angered the Sorcerer.
"I'll get you next time, Ninja."
The little rat squeaked as if it were laughing. The Sorcerer annoyingly flicked it away.
...
The Ninja ran to Jennifer's side and kneeled to her, then shook her by the shoulders.
"Jenny... Jennifer, talk to me!"
He had no other choice but to carry her bridal-style back home.
Back at Randy's house...
Randy carefully laid Jennifer on the couch and also placed her bag beside her.
"So Jennifer got stanked because she got mad at me?" Asked his best friend.
"Well, we would've been in that bruce roller coaster right now enjoying the moment, but somebody ruined it and I had to fix the problem." He replied.
"You mean all of this was my fault, right?"
"Yeah. But it doesn't matter now, Howard. We've got an unconscious kid here. If she doesn't wake up soon, we're both in big trouble."
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be grounded for a whole week. And I think I should apologize."
"Hey, I accept your apologies, buddy." Says Randy as he patted his best friend in the shoulder.
He silently went to Jennifer and sat at the edge of the couch.
"Jennifer mentioned something about an 'emotional strike' back then. I wonder what the juice does that mean."
Before they could say another word, Jennifer began to stir and moan.
"Jennifer, you okay?" Asked Randy softly as he helped her sit up.
"What the juice just happened? I can't remember what occurred after I ran away." Said Jennifer weakly, holding her head with a hand.
"Did the stank affected you?"
"Stank?" Jennifer shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe another emotional strike thing hit me. Or was it a blackout?"
"What's an emotional strike?" He asked her.
"It's just a lame name I give to my negative emotions. It's no big deal."
"Of course it's a big deal! It's not right on you." Replied Randy, staring at Jennifer, but she looked aside.
"Can you please? I can't wait to get on that roller coaster."
Jennifer breathed out like a bull when she heard that.
"I knew it was a blackout. Because now I remember everything well-detailed." She said, getting up. "YOU caused this! Because of YOU, I got turned into I don't know what and the Ninja fought hard to save me! YOU will pay for this!"
"Jennifer, chill. Howard just wants to apologize." Says Randy, resting a hand over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I never meant that. Okay?" He sheepishly smiled at Jennifer.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Fine. But please, don't do something like that ever again."
And so...
The three friends went back to the roller coaster. Randy had offered Jennifer the front seats, but she refused this time, and sat behind them along with a few people who wanted to enjoy the ride. Randy took that moment to give Jennifer her broken journal back.
"The Ninja believed this was what you held most dear."
Jennifer took it from his hands. "This was my favorite journal. But, screw it!" She tossed it behind her. "I don't need a stupid journal to write down such events of my life. I can enjoy them more with you guys! Who cares about a pencil and papers when you can always remember every single thing, like, forever?"
Just then, the machine went on, the ride was about to begin.
"Oh, and other thing. Count on me for anything. I would never let my best friends fail any class. But anyways, this is about to get fun! You know, I've never got into a roller coaster before."
"Then this is gonna' be the brucest day of your life." Said Randy, smiling back at Jennifer.
Then the dashing roller coaster fun began. Everyone screamed out loud, and so did a happy Jennifer.
Author's note:
*Emotional strike: Just a name I made up. It happens when Jennifer gets depressed when it's about her past, her other personal stuff, or when she gets scared of the Ninja when she does wrong. Hope you enjoyed Chapter 14! Review, please! :)