Sweetpea Beauty

"Life as a Fairytale"

It was a cold Friday night and the crew was preparing for their activities with their friends and family for the weekend. Exiting the studio were Petunia, Larry, Bob, Madame Blue and Archibald. The five decided to walk home, though it was a late hour. They stopped by the 24 hour store.

"I'll just get some things in the store." Petunia informed.

"Sure," Larry replied.

Madame Blue and Petunia entered the store and grabbed a few groceries. But they didn't know that they were being followed. A veggie guy with a mask quickly ran and tried to snatch Petunia's bag, which, by the way, contains a lot of valuables. But Petunia had such a strong grip; she was dragged along with her bag and the thief, running outside the store to a dark alley.

"Hey! Let go of my stuff!" Petunia insisted.

The thief pulled out a bottle and sprayed something on Petunia's face, releasing a gas that made her unconscious. When Petunia was unconscious, he continued to run away. Madame Blue, who only saw Petunia and the thief exit, went to the boys for help.

"Bob, Larry, Archie, there was a thief in the store and he grabbed Petunia's bag and Petunia with him!" Madame Blue panicked.

"Petunia's bag?" Archie asked.

"Thief?!" Bob interrogated.

"PETUNIA?!" Larry panicked.

Archibald immediately pulled out his phone to call 911 while Bob and Larry went on the pursuit to stop the thief.

Meanwhile, the thief thought it was a bad thing to leave a victim unconscious in the middle of the alley so he took Petunia with him and hid her in a place where the policemen can't find her. After that, he scampered off. Due to that, he was a little delayed to his escape which meant that Larry and Bob caught up with him.

"Hey, you thief, put down Petunia's bag this instant!" Larry ordered.

"I don't think so." The thief replied.

His speed and agility provided him an easy escape by climbing on top of buildings.

"How're we supposed to catch a criminal with that speed?" Bob panicked.

To his surprise, Larry managed to climb the building and chase the thief. Since Bob can't do anything like that, he thought of helping in some other way, leaving the "knight in shining armor" alone on his quest.

In the meantime, Larry eventually cornered the criminal to a dead end and he faced him angrily.

"All right, thief. I've got enough of your games. Give me Petunia's bag. NOW. You're going to jail." Larry scowled.

The thief had to admit, Larry's tone and expression was threatening. It was as if he was outnumbered ten to one. But he still kept his cool and went with his backup plan.

"Let me go or you'll never see your girlfriend again… alive." The criminal threatened.

"W-What?" Larry stiffened.

"I kept her to some place where people can't see. I can only push this button, that place blows up and your unconscious girlfriend sleeps for eternity." The thief explained.

"But… I—"

"I'll give you ten seconds to make a decision."

The criminal started to count to ten. Larry was so frantic. If he let this criminal go, he might harm more people. But if he doesn't, Petunia's life will end. He'll have no future with her and he can never tell her how he always felt about her. Should he sacrifice the one he loves for the welfare of other people?

"… four, three…"

God, please help me. I don't have the strength to be the warrior here. I need your help, Larry prayed.

"…two, o—"

Sirens blared, lights beamed and policemen surrounded the parameter. Along with them were the trio left behind.

"Larry! Are you alright?" Bob asked.

"I'm fine, Bob. You guys came just in time." Larry exhaled.

The policemen arrested the thief and talked to the group a bit. A little while later, Larry realized that Petunia was still missing.

"Chief, would you mind if I borrow your motorcycle. My friend is trapped somewhere by the criminal and I have to find her." Larry requested.

"Oh, we will just go and get her." The policeman suggested.

"You can catch up. I need to be there really fast." Larry begged.

"Okay. We'll just follow you. Take this tracking device so we may know where you are." The chief explained.

Larry hopped on the motorcycle and drove like a madman around the city. While doing so, he kept on thinking: If I were a master criminal, where would I put my hostage? I hope Petunia's okay. He spotted an old, abandoned 20- story building and figured Petunia would be in there. So he stopped in front of the building and hastily climbed up to the highest floor and peeked in a room to see Petunia asleep on an old office table.

"Petunia!" Larry exclaimed.

He ran to Petunia's side and cradled her in his arms, trying to shake her awake. But she still remained unconscious, hanging on Larry's "arms" like an empty sack. Tears started to well from Larry's eyes as he worried what condition she may be in now.

"Petunia, please. You have to wake up. God has still so much plans for your life… We need you, Petunia." Larry chocked.

I need you.

Moments passed, Petunia still didn't wake up. Larry fought back his tears. When he thought Petunia was never going to wake up again, he kissed her forehead, left her on the office table and started to walk away to report this to the policemen who were on their way to the top floor. Suddenly, Petunia cringed.

Larry heard Petunia's faint whisper and turned his attention to her. She was moving. Her eyes fluttered open and she was trying to control her dizziness and stop this blurriness.

"L-Larry?" Petunia croaked.

"Oh, Petunia!" Larry rejoiced, hugging Petunia.

"Where—where am I? What happened?" Petunia asked.

"It's okay, Petunia. I'm here." Larry assured.

"Larry, I'm scared." Petunia shivered.

"Hey, I'm right here. Help will come."

Some more moments passed, Petunia and Larry were outside the building with their friends. Petunia was sitting on the ambulance, holding an icepack on her head. Larry was right beside her, rubbing ointment on his bruised side. The policemen inspected the building, in search for the bomb planted inside the building.

"Next time, we'll take the car." Archibald quivered.

"Larry, how did you manage to climb on that building? You couldn't even hop that fast!" Bob exclaimed.

"I don't know. Adrenaline?" Larry guessed.

"You climbed on top of a building?" Petunia asked.

"Well… yeah." Larry blushed.

Madame Blue raised an eyebrow. "Hmm… I didn't know chivalry was still existent these days. Do you, Bob?"

"I heard fairytales, but I haven't heard and seen one in action." Bob agreed.

"Looks like some fairytales can inspire a lot of people," Archibald smiled.

"Okay, okay. You've made your point. I was worried. What was I supposed to do? Leave a friend dying?" Larry reasoned.

"We were also worried. You just worried more than we did." Bob replied with a mischievous smile.

"You did superhuman feats and had more motivation than we did." Archibald stated.

Petunia blushed. "I guess that makes me the damsel in distress."

"And that would make Larry…" Madame Blue said.

"The knight who braved dragons and beast on the quest to save the damsel?" Bob suggested.

"Exactly!" Madame Blue giggled.

"Hey… just because I saved a friend, it doesn't necessarily mean chivalry!" Larry moaned.

"I know someone who'd disagree." Archibald hinted.

Larry gave him a confused look. "Who?

Archibald nudged his head to Petunia. Larry spotted Petunia beside him, blushing hard, shrugging at him and giving him a grateful smile. Larry smiled back.

"I think it was chivalry." Petunia whispered.

I wrote this out of writer's block so forgive me if this story's not as good as it is. Review the new stories and check out my profile for a few updates about the soon-to-be published stories. Yes! We're getting closer and closer to the MacLarry and the Stinky Cheese Battle story. You'll know why I'm excited. Anyways, advance Merry Christmas! :)

-Katherine RhubarbVT