A/N: Hey guys, MCN here, with another late update. Yeah sorry for the long wait for updates, but I'm a really slow writer, so they're going to take a while. Well, like I said before this is going to be another filler chap, and probably not a very liked one either, yeah this is really just a chap filled with random unrelated plot points used to give an excuse for the group to be at Alchemax, so yeah. Just bare with this chap and I promise we'll get into the good stuff next chap. Well, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kung Fu Panda or Alchemax, just my own OCs.
Bells of the Ball
The group eventually made it to the Alchemax corporate building, just on time as well, for Darvel's watch now said the time was 7:30 PM.
"Wow, we make pretty good time." Darvel said. "Alright guys, here it is, the Alchemax corporate building." He announced to the group as they admired the structure.
"Wow, it's so tall." Baboon said in awe.
"Says the guy that lives in a flying palace." Darvel joked, gaining chuckles from everyone. "Alright everyone, follow me." He said as he led everyone into the building. The group marveled at the interior of the complex as well, gaining some odd stares from fellow attendees. "What can I say, they're tourists." Darvel said sarcastically to said attendees. Eventually, they made it to the entrance of the ball room, where Mr. and Mrs. Richeen, as well as Tyler and Lucas, were waiting for them.
"Hi everyone." Darvel greeted, gaining their attention.
"Darvel, you actually came." Mr. Richeen said in disbelief. "Welcome Masters, so good to see you here." He greeted the masters to which they replied with bows.
"DARVEL!" Lucas exclaimed with Tyler holding him back before he could tackle the middle brother.
"Well well well, Darvel Richeen wearing a full dress suit, I never thought I'd live to see the day." Tyler teased gaining a giggle from Lucas.
"Well you better take a good look bro, because this is only going to happen once in a blue moon." Darvel replied sarcastically.
"Well I think you look quite dashing son." Mr. Richeen said.
"I agree, my handsome boy." Mrs. Richeen cooed as she fixed Darvel's fur.
"Ah come on mom, not in front of my friends." Darvel complained, just then he noticed something. "Hey, where's Cindi?"
"She had some things to do, something about volunteer work for collage or whatever." Tyler said.
"Ah, well that's one less thing to worry about today." Darvel joked.
"Well then, shall we." Mr. Richeen said as he opened the door to the ballroom. The group walked into a big, beautiful ballroom, a mix of modern and more traditional decorating, filled with people in fancy clothes. Some were mingling, others were dancing on the dance floor, and there was a live band to play music for the festivity.
"Wow, so this is what a real ball is like." Eagle said.
"Yep, this is it, but like I said it's not my thing." Darvel said unenthusiastically.
"Well I can already tell that it's going to be my thing." Spider said as she began swaying to the music.
"Well we hope you all enjoy yourselves." Mrs. Richeen said.
"I'm sure we will Mr. and Mrs. Richeen." Master Chen responded.
"Speak for yourself." Darvel said.
"Darvel, don't be rude." Mrs. Richeen slightly scolded.
"So Darvel, when is this mystery girl of yours going to be arriving?" Mr. Richeen asked.
"I told her to meet us at the front door at this time; I guess she's running a little late." Darvel replied. "You guys go on and do whatever I'm going to wait here until she shows up."
"Well who knows when that will be?" Tigria said a bit irritably.
"Uh, Darvel." A voice Darvel recognized as Alison's said from behind him. He turned around and his heart practically skipped a beat when he saw her. She was wearing a beautiful green dress with a gold flower pattern. She also wore some blush and red lipstick. "Darvel, Darvel, you in there?" Alison said, causing Darvel to snap out of his daze.
"H-huh, what, oh, uh I… I, uh, he he." Darvel stammered awkwardly, causing Alison to giggle a bit. "Uh, hi Alison, sorry about that, it's just… you look great." He said as he blushed madly, not used to saying stuff like that.
"Well you don't look to bad yourself." Alison said as she too blushed a bit.
"Thanks."
"Ehem." Tigria cleared her throat in annoyance, regaining Darvel's attention.
"Oh yeah, I should probably introduce you to everybody." Darvel said as he walked Alison to his family.
"Well, I guess I'll start with my family, uh this is my mom, Elaine Richeen, my dad, Aiden Richeen, my older brother Tyler, and my younger brother Lucas. Everyone, this is Alison, my… girlfriend." Darvel introduced, a little nervous about how they'll react.
"It's very nice to meet you." Alison said as she began shaking hands with them all.
"Are you kidding, the pleasure is ours." Mr. Richeen said.
"Yes, after all we've been dying to meet you." Mrs. Richeen added.
"Yeah, after all Darvel here isn't really much of a hit with the ladies." Tyler teased a bit.
"Yeah, Darvel mentioned something like that, though I find that hard for believe." Alison said with a chuckle, which made Darvel blush madly once again. She then turned to Lucas who shied away from her. "Well hello there." She said as she looked down at him.
"Hi." He quietly said as she made his Kamen Rider action figure wave at her, which made her giggle. She could tell he was too shy to greet her normally, so she just left it at that.
"Alright, up next are… uh, who are you people again?" Darvel said as he led her to the others, His nervousness, causing him to forget who the Five and Chen were momentarily.
"Uh, Kung Fu?" Baboon reminded.
"Oh yeah, right, right." Darvel said. "First off, this is my Kung Fu master, Master Chen."
"Pleasure to meet you." Master Chen said with a bow, which Alison politely returned.
"And these are my fellow students, the Furious Five." Darvel said, redirecting her attention to the Five. "This is Eagle, Baboon, Spider, cobra, and… Tamera, no... Tamlyn, no... Terra, no that's not it..." he stammered to remember her name.
"Tigria!" She shouted, annoyed beyond belief.
"Tigria! Wow, I was way off." Darvel said, gaining chuckles from the group. Tigria growled as quietly as she could and clenched her fists as well.
"Uh, it's very nice to meet you Alison." Spider said quickly, in order to stop Tigria from getting too angry.
"Likewise, I've wanted to meet you all, ever since Darvel told me about you." Alison responded.
"He's told you about us?" Eagle said quizzically.
"Yeah, on our first date, and during our Wrist Com conversations." Alison explained.
"And what exactly did he say about us?" Tigria questioned as she crossed her arms.
"Just what you were all like, how you guys train, you know that kind of stuff." Darvel answered a bit nervously.
"Is that so?" Tigria said with a raised eye brow.
"Don't worry; Darvel has also filled me on your "truce", so no worries Tigria." Alison said, assuring that she had no negative thoughts about her.
"Well, as long as you know?" Tigria said, wanting to just drop the subject. There was a bit of an awkward silence until Cobra broke it.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I see some assorted cheeses that have my name on it." Cobra said as he made his way over to the food table.
"You don't say." Baboon said as he fallowed the serpent.
"Yeah, uh, I'm going to go mingle, see what these city people are like." Eagle stated.
"Mind if I tag along?" Spider asked, to which Eagle nodded in response. "Great, Tigria, you in?" She said to her friend, who seemed uncertain.
"Well I…"She began.
"Come on, it'll be fun, plus we should probably leave these two alone, right?" Spider said the last part a bit teasingly, knowing that that was the last thing she wanted to do. She considered declining, but she knew she would hold it over her for a while, so she sighed.
"Ok, fine." She said as she followed Spider and Eagle.
"Hun, I think we should leave them be as well." Mr. Richeen said.
"Alright, just let me do one thing…" Mrs. Richeen said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a camera. "Smile." She said as she took a picture of Darvel and Alison. "Alright, now could you two scoot a little closer for the next one?"
"Mom!" Darvel groaned in annoyance and embarrassment.
"Um, I think one's ok for now mom." Tyler interjected as he covered the lens of the camera and lowered it.
"Really, because it wasn't even really a good one…" Mr. Richeen began.
"Alright Hun, come on, let's go talk to my coworkers, ok." Mr. Richeen said as he led his wife away from the group.
"Well ok, have fun you two." She said back at her son and his date. Darvel let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for that bro." Darvel thanked his brother.
"Anytime." He responded. "Well if you two are all set I'm going to go chat with my friends on the force, come on Lucas."
"Aww, but I wanted to stay with Darvel." Lucas said with disappointment. Darvel felt bad about this, sure he would've liked to have been alone with Alison, but he hated to his little brother sad.
"Hey, I have an idea, why don't we all go to the punch bowl, get some refreshments, is that cool with you Alison?" Darvel asked, hoping it would be.
"Of course." Alison said, not minding a bit.
"Yay!" Lucas said with glee as he took Darvel and Alison's hands and led them to the punch bowl.
"Sorry." Darvel whispered to Alison.
"It's fine; you're just being a good brother." Alison whispered back. Once the group was at the punch bowl Darvel served punch to the group. Darvel looked around for his comrades. Baboon and Cobra where at the next table over, scarfing down all the fancy food and such. Tigria, Spider, and Eagle were talking to some of the other attendees, and Master Chen was chatting with his parents as well as others that he couldn't quite make out.
"So Alison, my dad said that you're the one that convinced Darvel to come, you must be quite the sweet talker." Tyler said as he took a sip of his drink.
"Not really, I just told him the truth; that I wanted to see him." She said sweetly as she wrapped her arm around Darvel's, causing him to stiffen a bit.
"Wow Darvel, I didn't expect you to be the kind of person to be swayed by a pretty face." Tyler teased.
"I'm not, I just, uh… hey by the way Alison, what made you think of coming here in the first place?" Darvel questioned, partially just to change the subject.
"Well, truth be told I was going to come here either way, I'm actually here on business." Alison said.
"What kind of business?" Darvel asked.
"Well, I'm interning at a local tabloid and the reporter that was supposed to cover this event got sick, so they gave the job to me, thought it would be a good way to start my "training". After this ball is over and done with I'm going to write an article about it that'll hopefully be good enough to get published in the next issue." She explained.
"Wow, that'd be awesome." Darvel said. "But if that's the case, then why did you invite me, I mean wouldn't I be a bit of a distraction?" He inquired.
"Well, that's the idea." Alison said flirtatiously as she took a sip of her drink, causing Darvel to flinch nervously. Tyler just smirked at this, and Lucas was confused.
"More please." Lucas said as he held out his cup.
"Huh, oh yeah, sure thing." Darvel said as he grabbed Lucas's cup and began to fill it with more punch.
"Here you go little guy." Darvel said as he bended down and handed Lucas the cup. Just when he was about to get up…
"DARVEL!" A high pitched voice said as she jumped on to Darvel's back, causing him to stagger. Everyone was surprised by this, especially Lucas, who hid behind Tyler.
"What he shock!" Tyler exclaimed.
"Hi Darvel, did you miss me?" The little girl said with a smile. Darvel then looked over and realized who it was.
"Janya?" He said, to which the girl nodded.
"Hey Darvel, is this your little sister?" Alison inquired, remembering Darvel said he had one. "She's so cute."
"I am, aren't I?" Janya said with a smile, for she liked it when people called her cute.
"She sure is, but she's not my sister, she's…" Darvel began but was cut off.
"She's our sister." Said yet another familiar voice. The group then turned their attention to it and Darvel and Tyler's eyes nearly popped out of their heads at what they saw. Standing before them were Jana and Janika, both in beautiful ball gowns. Jana wore a black dress with tears at the legs, which also showed off some cleavage, and Janika wore a pure white dress that really made her shine.
"J-Jana, Janika?" Darvel stammered, both stunned by their looks and surprised to see them at the ball.
"H-hello Darvel." Janika said nervously as she blushed a bit, embarrassed that they were staring at her and her sister.
"Well, I have to say I didn't expect to see you here." Jana added.
"You're telling me." Darvel said, as he was thinking the same thing.
"Janya, mother said not to run off." Jana said to the little Jackal girl on Darvel's back.
"I know, but it was getting boring talking to those guys, they didn't even notice me." She said with a pout.
"Even so, you had us worried." Janika interjected. "Now… get off of Darvel please." She said, to which Janya reluctantly complied.
"Gah thanks Janya." He thanked as he was relieved from carrying her weight.
"Your welcome." She responded.
"Darvel, do you know these people?" Alison asked softly, trying not to sound rude.
"Uh yeah, I met them during my training; they visited the Jade Palace not too long ago." Darvel explained. "Oh, where are my manors, these are the "Jackal Sisters", they're the daughters of Master Jackal, the keeper of the Topaz Palace. This is the eldest, Jana, the middle child, Janika, and the youngest, Janya." He introduced.
"Don't forget Kummy." Janya reminded as she held up her teddy bear that was wearing a bow tie for the occasion.
"Ha ha, and this is Janya's teddy bear, Kummy." Darvel said, humoring her. "And girls, these are my brothers." He continued, directing their attention to the other two tailless foxes. "This is my older brother, Tyler, and my younger brother, Lucas." He said, causing Tyler to come out of his "Jana" induced trance and for Lucas to peek around Tyler's legs. "And this is Alison… my girlfriend." Darvel said as he put an arm around her and nervously scratched the back of his head. The three girls were surprised by this, especially Janika.
"You're… girlfriend." She said dejectedly as her ears fell flat on her head in sadness.
"Yep… well I don't really know if she can be considered my girlfriend since we've only ever been on one date. Not to mention the fact that due to time constraints because of my training we've decided on an open relationship and thus are not exclusive. But I've been calling her my girlfriend all this time so I guess…" Darvel rambled on until he was cut off by Alison.
"The point is, we're romantically involved, but he is right, we aren't really exclusive." Alison clarified.
"Oh, I see." Janika said, still a bit saddened, but relived that the two were not exclusive, which didn't go unnoticed by Jana.
"So, are any of you seeing anybody?" Alison said with curiosity.
"Uh…no, we're not, truth be told I've never even had a…boyfriend." Janika answered, becoming crestfallen once again.
"Really, huh, that's actually really hard to believe." Alison said in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, look at you in that dress, you look amazing, I would think you'd have men lined up for a chance with you." She said with certainty.
"Well thank you, but really it's Jana that has men falling all over her?" Janika said modestly.
"It's true, but you know what they say, looks run in the family." Jana said, trying to cheer up her sister.
"Who says that?" Darvel asked.
"I did." Jana responded.
"Well it's true, you both are absolutely gorgeous, and Janya is just the cutest thing I've ever seen." Alison said as she pinched Janya's cheeks, making her giggle with delight.
"Can't argue with that." Darvel added.
"Neither can I." Tyler said, still staring at Jana, which she made a note of.
"Oh, there you ladies are." Said a voice from the other side of the room.
"Oh boy." Darvel said, recognizing the voice. They all looked over and saw none other than Rex and Nolen, weeding through the crowed to get to them. "I'm going to guess that those are the guys that were hitting on you two earlier?" He inquired, receiving nods from the girls.
"Hey there, we've been looking for you." Nolen said as he and Rex stepped in between Darvel and the sisters.
"Yeah, where have you been, did you uh find your sister or whatever?" Rex added. Just then he felt a sharp pain in his shin and yelped in pain. He looked down to see that Janya had kicked him.
"Yes, as a matter a fact we have." Jana replied in an amused tone.
"What was that for?" Rex asked as he rubbed his leg.
"You ignored me before, you're mean and I hate you." She said bluntly before she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Ohhhh, are you going to take that Rex." Darvel joked.
"Hey, I may be a womanizer most of the time, but I don't hit little girls, especially not ones this cute." Rex said, gaining Janya's attention.
"I am cute aren't I?" Janya said with a smile.
"You sure are." Rex said as he rubbed Janya's head playfully, making her laugh.
"Wow, there really isn't any girl who's heart Rex can't worm his way into." Darvel said out loud.
"Well, I think that Tigria girl you train with would disa…"Rex began but stopped once he realized who he was talking too.
"Darvel?" The two said in unison.
"Yo." Darvel said casually.
"Hey man, long time no see." Rex said as he grabbed Darvel into a headlock and gave him a nogy.
"You can say that again. By the way, hi Tyler, hi Lucas." Nolen greeted the brothers.
"Hey." Tyler responded.
"What are you guys doing here?" Darvel asked as he escaped from Rex's grip.
"Shouldn't we be the one's asking you that?" Rex replied.
"Yeah, I mean you're always saying that you wouldn't be caught dead at these things, and yet here you are all dressed up and mingling, what gives?" Nolen inquired.
"Uh, well I…"
"I convinced him." Alison said as she stepped forward. "In fact we're actually on a date right now."
"Oh really, well looks like you guys are getting along pretty well." Rex said.
"Well, a second date is definatly farther than I ever thought I was going to get." Darvel replied rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Oh, trust me Darvel; you're getting a lot more than a second date." Alison said flirtatiously, shocking Darvel quite a bit.
"My sentiments exactly." Jana said in a similar manner, which just made Darvel that much more tense. Just then, Darvel felt someone pulling at his pant leg and looks down to see that it is Lucas.
"Darvel, can I have a cupcake?" The little fox boy asked
"Uh, sure Lucas, but you really don't have to ask permission, you can just take it." Darvel stated.
"But I want that chocolate one up there, and I can't reach it." Lucas said as he pointed to the multilevel platform that held the cupcakes.
"Oh, well then yeah I'll get if for you." Darvel said as he grabbed a chocolate cupcake and handed it to his brother. "Here you go."
"Thanks." He said as he happily started to eat it. It was this interaction that made the three girls fully notice Lucas, since he was hiding behind Tyler during his introduction. Janya then smiled, happy that there was another kid at the party.
"HI!" She greeted happily as she walked up to him. This startled Lucas and he once again hid behind his older brother, though this time it was Darvel. "What did I do? All I did was say hi."
"It's not your fault Janya; he's just a little shy that's all." Darvel reassured. "Come on Lucas, say hi to the girls." He insisted but Lucas just shook his head. Darvel then kneeled down to Lucas's height. "Hey, what do you think Kamen Rider would in this situation?" Darvel asked as he pointed to his action figure. "Do you think he would shy away from them like that?"
"No." Lucas answered.
"No he wouldn't, now, you be brave like Kamen Rider and introduce yourself." Darvel encouraged, stepping aside so Lucas could do so. He timidly walked up in front of Janya and spoke.
"Hi… I'm Lucas… and this is Kamen Rider 1." He said as he held up his action figure.
"Hi, I'm Janya, and this is Kummy." Janya introduced cheerfully. "And these are my sisters, Jana, and Janika."
"Hello." Lucas said a little less timidly.
"Well, look at that Janya, looks like you have your own little Mini-Darvel." Jana teased, causing Janya to chuckle at the prospect. Jana then notice that Lucas was staring at her. "What?" She asked.
"Your… pretty." He said.
"Aw, thank you, and you're such a cutie." Jana thanked as she kneeled down and kissed him on the forehead.
"Well Rex, looks like you have some serious competition." Darvel joked as he patted his friend's shoulder.
"I'm not the only one." Rex replied, turning everyone's attention to the Furious Five, with Eagle, Baboon, and Cobra having shocked expressions on their faces.
"Oh boy." Darvel said with an exasperated sigh.
"Man, even the nerd's six year old brother has better luck with the ladies then us." Baboon stated.
"Ok I don't know about you guys, but I think that's a wakeup call to start making some changes." Cobra deduced.
"I hear that." Eagle agreed.
"Well you all obviously remember the Jackal Sisters." Darvel said sarcastically, but the three guys of the Five didn't seem to hear him.
"Wow, I didn't expect to see you three here." Spider said as she jumped onto Tigria's shoulder.
"That goes double for me, why are you here anyway?" Tigria inquired.
"Nice to see you too Tigria." Jana replied sarcastically.
"Answer the question." Tigria demanded as she crossed her arms.
"We were invited by Mr. Holk, the CEO." Janika answered.
"Wait, seriously?" Darvel asked in surprise.
"Yep, you guys aren't the only ones that test weapons for Alchemax." Jana confirmed.
"Really, you guys test too?" Darvel said.
"Yes, we, as well as our father's other students test out various types of weapons." Janika answered. "Mr. Holk said something about wanting to develop weapons for multiple forms of combat, so I guess that's why they sent weapons to us as well as you, since we practice different forms of martial arts."
"Well, I bet you girls are great product testers, probably even on my level." Cobra interjected, slithering in between the sisters and the rest of the group.
"And with some time you could probably get up to my level." Eagle added, walking up next to Cobra.
"Oh please, we all know I'm the go to guy when it comes to weapon testing, you should see the high tech stuff they give me to test." Baboon said boastfully.
"Well, I may not know about Kung Fu or weapon type stuff, but what I do know is how to show a lady a good time." Rex interjected, shooting a wink at Jana.
"Ugh, here we go again." Tigria said exasperatedly.
"Took the words right out of my mouth." Darvel agreed.
"Hey Janika, did your parents come too?" Spider asked as she hopped onto Janika's shoulder.
"Yes, uh, there they are, over there talking to one of the scientists." Janika said as she pointed over to Master Jackal and Janeira talking to some very familiar tailless foxes.
"Wait a minute, those are my parents!" Darvel announced, gaining everyone's attention.
"Huh, really?" Jana said.
"Yeah, that's my mom, and that's my dad." Darvel confirmed.
"Wow, now that you mention it there is a resemblance, I'm kind of embarrassed I didn't see it sooner." Janika said.
"Well you have to admit, it's kind of hard to miss." Darvel joked as he pointed to where his tale would've been.
"Oh yeah, you guys don't have tails either!" Janya said in realization as she noticed that neither Lucas nor Tyler had tails.
"Yeah, it's kind of a dead giveaway that we're all family." Tyler said.
"So, your parents work at Alchemax?" Janika inquired.
"Just my dad actually." Darvel corrected. "He's actually one of the head scientists."
"Really?" The girls said in unison.
"Yeah, some people even go as far as to say that he's the most intelligent person in the city." Darvel pointed out, which very much impressed the sisters, as well as the entire group for that matter. "Oh, that actually reminds me, I have to talk to him. Uh, will you all excuse me for a second?" Darvel said as he left the group to go talk to his father.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Richeen, as well as Master Chen, were speaking with Master Jackal and Janeira.
"Darvel is your son?" Master Jackal said, surprised at the realization.
"Yep, our own flesh and blood." Mr. Richeen confirmed.
"Wow, well isn't this quite the coincidence." Janeira said. "I'm actually a bit embarrassed that I didn't figure it out sooner, what with the… unique trait that you all share." She continued a bit awkwardly.
"Oh believe me; we're actually glad you didn't." Mrs. Richeen joked, gaining a laugh from the others.
"Well, I think the real coincidence is meeting you here so casually, after all this is the last place I would've expected to bump into you." Master Chen said.
"Well, we were going to stop by the Jade Palace on our way back to our village, mostly because Janika and Janya were begging for another chance to see Darvel again, but since we're all here I would it's much more convenient, I suspect that the girls and your students will run into each other eventually." Master Jackal replied.
"Sooner than you think." Mr. Richeen interjected as he gestured to his son's, the Five and Alison talking to the Jackal Sisters by the punch bowl.
"Wow, so those are your daughters, they are absolutely gorgeous." Mrs. Richeen complimented.
"Of course, they have their mother's looks." Jackal said, prompting Janeira to blush and peck him on the cheek affectionately. Just then Darvel walked up to the group.
"Uh, excuse me." Darvel said, gaining the groups attention.
"Oh, hi son." Mr. Richeen said.
"Is something wrong?" Mrs. Richeen asked.
"No, nothing's wrong, I just need to talk to dad and Master Chen for a minute. It's kind of important." Darvel stated. Master Chen immediately realized what he was talking about.
"Ah, I see, well in that case I think we should include Master Jackal as well." Chen suggested, confusing the master.
"I would?" Master Jackal said quizzically, to which Chen gave him a look that said it really was serious. "Yes, I would. Uh hun would you mind giving us some privacy?" he said to his wife.
"Absolutely not, I'll just be over here if you need me, Elaine would you care to join me?" Janeira asked the tailless fox.
"Uh, sure, I'll be glad too." Mrs. Richeen obliged, leaving the group for the four males to talk.
"So what do you need Darvel?" Mr. Richeen asked with curiosity.
"Well, you remember the X-Ray machine I borrowed the other day?" Darvel said, to which his father nodded. "Well, here's the reason I needed it." Darvel then pulled out the relic and showed it to his dad.
"What is it?" Jackal said quizzically.
"That's just it, we don't know what is; The Ruby of the Soul guided Darvel to it." Master Chen explained.
"We did some research on it but all we really found out was that the writing on it is written in the Dragon Language." Darvel added.
"So, you wanted the X-Ray machine to examine a stone cylinder?" Mr. Richeen said.
"It's not just a stone cylinder dad; it's emitting a slight magnetic frequency, so I used the machine to check it and… this is what I found." Darvel then gave his father pictures of the inner mechanisms of the relic, causing his father's eyes to widen in shock at the sight of them.
"Wait, you mean this is the inside of this thing?" He said as he snatched the photos and examined them.
"I know, I was shocked too, especially since I've done some carbon dating and this relic is definitely hundreds of years old." Darvel stated.
"But, this all looks like something that we would make in the lab today." Mr. Richeen said in complete awe.
"I know right, it's crazy." Darvel agreed. "And that's why I brought it here. I was wondering if you could do some testing on it, I figure if anyone could figure it out, you could."
"Well, I suppose I could take a look at it, if anything I should be able to figure out exactly what this thing is." Mr. Richeen complied with his son's request.
"Awesome, thanks dad." Darvel said with gratitude as he handed him the relic.
"We appreciate you doing this for us Mr. Richeen." Master Chen said with an appreciatory bow.
"It's no big deal, anything for my son." Mr. Richeen said as he Darvel's fur on the top of his head. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang from a nearby refreshment table followed by someone saying "ouch" in pain. The group was surprised by this and walked over to said table to see what it was. Darvel kneeled down and looked under the table cloth to find Lucas and Janya, with Lucas rubbing his head, apparently hitting the table with it.
"Uh oh." Janya said as she hid behind Kummy, realizing their cover was blown.
"Lucas, Janya; were you spying on us?" Darvel said in a fake stern tone.
"No." They said in unison, gaining a chuckle from Darvel.
"Come on out guys." Darvel said, prompting the two ten year olds to come out from under the table.
"Janya didn't your mother and I tell you that eavesdropping is wrong." Master Jackal said, having had this conversation with his youngest daughters before.
"Yes, but we were board daddy, and we wanted to see what Darvel wanted to talk to you about, right Lucas?" She explained and looked to Lucas for back up, but he shied away at the sight of the angry looking kung fu master.
"I don't care what the reason was Janya, eavesdropping is still wrong, understand?" Jackal scolded.
"Yes daddy, I'm sorry." Janya said as her ears slumped down in guilt and sadness.
"Well, as long as you don't do it again." Jackal said as he kneeled down and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I won't daddy, I promise." Janya said enthusiastically.
"That's my girl." Jackal then hugged his daughter affectionately.
"Well guys, I'm done with the thing I had to do, so what do you say we go back to the others?" Darvel suggested.
"Yeah!" The two tikes said with glee as they each took one of Darvel's hands and led him back to the group, causing the three men to laugh at the scene.
"Your son is very good with children." Jackal commented.
"Yeah, he's always been like that, I just sort of wish he could be that social with people his own age, you know?" Mr. Richeen said, knowing all too well that Darvel wasn't really that social with his own peers.
"Well, he seems to get along with most of my students, that's for sure." Master Chen said.
"Well that's a relief." Mr. Richeen replied.
"Yes, it is for me too." Chen said, as he had previous students that didn't get along with the Five, especially not with Tigria. "By the way Mr. Richeen, how is the… favor I asked of you coming along?" He asked cryptically, but Mr. Richeen knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Well, it is completed for the most part, but I would like to make a few adjustments before I give it to you for a test run.
"Well, let me know when it's ready, we may need it sooner then we think." Chen stated.
"Understood, well I'm going to go put this in the lab." Mr. Richeen then left the ball room, heading up to his lab.
Meanwhile, Janeira and Mrs. Richeen were getting drinks while watching Darvel be pulled back to the group by their respective youngest child.
"Aww, you're daughter Janya is so cute." Mrs. Richeen cooed. "She reminds me of my daughter when she was her age."
"You have a daughter?" Janeira said, having not heard of the Richeens having a daughter.
"Yes, Cindi, she's graduating high school this year, oh we're so proud." Mrs. Richeen said with pride.
"You should be, so is she here at the ball?" Janeira asked.
"No, she had other things to do today, so it's just my three boys." Mrs. Richeen replied.
"Yes, your three boys, actually I was wondering…" Janeira began.
"What?" Mrs. Richeen said out of curiosity.
"Well, if it's alright with you, I think it would be wonderful if your sons would marry my daughters." She said, causing Mrs. Richeen to nearly chock on her drink out of shock.
"Excuse me but… did you say "marry"?" She asked.
"Yes, I mean my daughter Janika is quite smitten with Darvel, and aren't Lucas and Janya just precious together." Janeira said optimistically as she watched Janika shyly converse with Darvel, and Lucas and Janya pretending that Kamen Rider and Kummy were talking to each other.
"Well, yes but marriage…" Mrs. Richeen began but was cut off.
"And I admit Jana is a bit of a… well flirt, but if anyone can make an honest woman out of her it's Tyler." Janeira commented.
"Well, I'm sure he could but…"
"Oh, if only I had a boy as well for your daughter then it would be perfect, well I suppose it can't be helped" Janeira continued, further ignoring Mrs. Richeen. "Oh I could just see it now; we could have a triple wedding, your boys on one side, and my darling girls on the other."
"That does sound nice, but I really don't…"
"But wait, how is Jackal going to lead all three down the aisle… well we'll think of something. Now about the ceremony…"
"Janeira!" Mrs. Richeen snapped, finally getting the black jackal's attention.
"What?"
"Look, no offence, but I'm actually not a big fan of arranged marriages." She admitted. "And truth be told Darvel has a girlfriend, Tyler just got out of a bad relationship, and Lucas is much too young for us to be thinking about marriage, the same goes for Janya." She said, explaining why she felt awkward with it.
"Oh… um yes of course, your right. I'm sorry I got a little carried away there." Janeira apologized with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"It's alright, I guess, for now, we're just going to have to settle for our children being good friends." Mrs. Richeen said with a warm smile, gaining a smile back from Janeira.
"I guess I could live with that." Janeira said as she and Mrs. Richeen clanked their glasses together.
"And then drop kicked his head and that seemed to have done it, he was down for the count." Darvel said, as the entire group listened. He was telling the story of his first mission, in fact it was insisted that he should tell it since he wouldn't exaggerate in order impress Jana. "And that's how my first mission with the Five went." He concluded.
"Wow, you did that?" Nolen asked in amazement.
"Of course he did, because Darvel's the Dragon Warrior!" Lucas exclaimed.
"Yeah, the greatest hero ever!" Janya added with glee.
"YEAH!" Lucas agreed.
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a hero, I mean really the Furious Five did most of the…" Darvel began, but stopped and froze in the middle of his sentence. The Five noticed his change in behavior, as well as Rex, Nolen, and Tyler having a similar change, and wondered what could've caused it. They saw that Darvel ears had perked up as well, as if he heard something. The group listened to their surroundings but all they could here was a song playing; Only You by The Platters.
"Darvel, are you ok?" Alison asked out of concern, but Darvel didn't seem to hear her.
"Darvel… Darvel?" Lucas called to his brother, getting more and more distressed with each passing second that he didn't answer. "Mommy, Daddy, something's wrong with Darvel!" The young todd called for his parents, who came rushing over with the others, already having a good idea of what was happening.
"Darvel, are you ok sweetheart?" Mrs. Richeen said in a motherly tone as she placed a hand on Darvel's shoulder, which seemed to get his attention.
"Huh, what…" He said, coming out of his daze. "Oh yeah I… I'm fine I just… I need to get some air, excuse me." Darvel said before he rushed out of the ball room.
"Darvel wait." Rex called out to him, but Darvel was already out in the hallway. "Man, they just had to play this song." He said with a sigh
"Yeah, things were going so well too." Nolen said with equal distress.
"Why, is there something wrong with the music?" Master Jackal asked curiously.
"I think it's kind of nice." Jana commented.
"Yeah, it's really sweet." Janika added.
"It's not the song that's the problem; it's the person who used to listen to it." Tyler clarified a bit.
"Who?" Chen questioned.
"His grandpa." Mrs. Richeen said solemnly.
Darvel burst through the doors of the ball room and walked into the privacy of the hallway. Darvel leaned his back against the wall trying to keep his cool, but it was no use. Even in the hallway he could still hear the song that his grandfather loved so much. Alfonso Richeen would often play the song while Darvel was over to visit, or be listening to it as Darvel arrived; it was a timeless classic, and the old fox's favorite song. Hearing it made Darvel feel like he was a kid again, brought back all the wonderful memories of his time with his beloved grandfather. However, it also brought him pain, the song reminding him that those happy times with his grandpa were gone, and he would never see him again. He lowered his head, trying to fight back his tears, but they dripped from his eyes regardless until her just let them flow.
"Grandpa." He mumbled as he let out small whimpers of sadness. He stayed like that for a minute or two until the music stopped, and that was when he was finally able to calm down. He whipped the tears from his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling that he was ready to go back inside. Suddenly, he felt a little squeeze on his butt. "Hello!" He said in surprise as he turned to see what had done it, but no one was there. He looked around the hallway to try and find who did it, but there was no one in site. He was about to just dismiss it but then his eyes were covered by two paws that came from behind.
"Guess who." Said a feminine voice in a playful tone. Darvel became flustered by this sudden act, he felt like he recognized the voice but he couldn't place where he heard it.
"Uh… uh, Alison?" Darvel guessed, though he was almost certain that it wasn't her.
"Ha, not even close." The voice scoffed. "You know girls hate the name flub." She then retracted her hands allowing Darvel to see again. He then quickly turned around to finally see who it was and saw that it was a female snow leopard wearing a form fitting gray dress that showed off some cleavage.
"Uh, yeah I know." Darvel said, as he remembered his first meeting with Alison, back when she was still dating Rex. Darvel couldn't help but stare at the leopard's body, and she definitely noticed.
"Like what you see?" She said flirtatiously, regaining Darvel's attention.
"Y-yes, I-I mean no, I mean… I got to go." Darvel stammered as he tried to walk back into the ball room, but the leopard held him back by his shoulders.
"What's the rush handsome?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck from the back.
"H-have we met before?" Darvel asked, the woman's actions seeming familiar to him.
"Maybe." She whispered in his ear, sending a chill down his spine. "Oh loosen up will you, I mean we're at a party you know." She teased, noticing his discomfort.
"Well, parties have never really been my thing." Darvel replied a bit sarcastically.
"Just stick with me hot stuff, and they'll become your thing." She teased even further as she let go of his neck and circled over to his front, caressing his caller bone with her right hand. Unfortunately, we're going to have to take a rain check on that, I actually have a little… errand to run." She admitted.
"Oh, well too bad then." Darvel said, but secretly relieved.
"Yes, it really is, well I better be on my way. It was nice seeing you again… Darvel." She said as she walked past him but not before licking him on the cheek, shocking Darvel immensely. However, this subsided a moment later as he finally realized who that leopard was.
"Wait… Wuye?" Darvel questioned as he turned around, but once again she was nowhere to be found. "It couldn't have been… could it? Ah whatever." He said as he decided he should just let it go and he reentered the ballroom.
The group was waiting around patiently, yet worriedly, for the young grief stricken fox to return to them. Eventually Darvel reentered the ballroom, gaining the entire groups attention.
"Uh, sorry about that." Darvel apologized as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Are you ok Darvel?" Tigria, Alison, and Janika all said at the same time as they stepped forward.
"Yeah, I'm fine, no worries." Darvel assured, but it didn't do much to ease they're worries.
"Are you sure?" Janika asked.
"Cause, we heard about your grandfather, and…" Alison added.
"It's just…I know how much it hurts for you to think of him." Tigria said, almost disregarding that the other two even said anything.
"Well yeah, but it's fine, after all it's ok to be a little sad sometimes, right?" Darvel replied, mostly to Tigria in reference to their conversation.
"Well, you seemed a lot more than just a little sad." Jana commented.
"Yeah, you seemed downright depressed." Baboon added.
"I can't even imagine how hard it must be on you." Spider said.
"Though it's understandable, your grandfather seemed like a great man." Master Jackal stated.
"Indeed, I wish I could have met him." Master Chen added.
"Yeah, I'm sure he would've loved to meet you." Darvel said. Just then he realized they were short one tailless fox. "Hey, where's dad?"
"He said he was going up to his lab to put the relic away." Master Jackal replied.
"Really, when?" Darvel questioned further.
"Right after you took the children back." Chen answered.
"Really, huh?" Darvel thought that it was strange that he wasn't back yet; after all it wouldn't take that long for one to go to a lab and place an object on some random table for a later time. "Well, I'm going to go check on him, see what's taking him; see ya." Darvel said as he once again exited the ballroom. The majority of the group then began to talk about other subjects, but Alison, Tigria, and Janika couldn't get their minds off Darvel.
"I really do hope he's ok." Janika said with concern.
"He'll be fine… he's tougher then he looks." Tigria said in an admiring tone, she also had a slight blush that didn't go unnoticed by Alison. She giggled a bit, gaining Tigria's attention.
"What's so funny?" She questioned antagonistically.
"Nothing, it's just weird how you show affection to people." Alison said.
"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Tigria said a bit flustered.
"Oh please Tigria, I know that you like Darvel." Alison replied, shocking Tigria even further.
"What! I-is that true Tigria?" Janika questioned, finding it hard to believe as she was usually so cruel to Darvel. Tigria's face turned bright red at the accusation and she turned away to hide this.
"D-don't be ridiculous, there's no way that I would…" She tried to deny, but Alison wasn't convinced.
"Don't even try Tigria; it's so obvious that you do, especially since you send out waves of jealousy whenever he's with another girl." She said teasingly, aggravating Tigria quite a bit. However, she could tell that she wasn't going to convince Alison.
"So… so what if I do?" She said, still looking away from them.
"Are you admitting it?" Alison pried, to which Tigria nodded her head in response. "Wow, I didn't actually think you'd admit it." She said playfully, which caused Tigria to growl in annoyance. "But you know you're not going to be much competition if you keep acting like that." She added, surprising Tigria and Janika.
"What?" Tigria said.
"Oh right, I'm suppose to tell you to "stay away from my man or else", right?" Alison said lightheartedly. "Well, unlike you, I'm not the jealous type. I mean, I can't really say I like the thought of Darvel being with another girl, and I do intend to win him over, but I'm not going to go clawing out the eyes of every girl that's in his life… especially since we're not even exclusive." She explained, saying the last part with slight sadness. Tigria was blown over by this, she had been jealous of Alison but it was hard to stay hostile toward her after hearing that.
"Well, that is very kind of you, but I don't think you need to worry about me." Tigria responded, confusing Alison. "Truth be told, she's your real competition." She said, referring to Janika.
"W-what, me?" Janika said, utterly shocked by Tigria's statement.
"Yeah, I mean me and Darvel just became friendly with each other recently, it's going to be a while before I can really… make a move on him. But you, you're like magnet for Darvel's kindness, as much as I hate to admit it, you have a way better chance with him then I do." Tigria admitted, causing Janika's face to turn bright red.
"W-well, I wouldn't say I have a better chance, I mean you do live with him, chances are he's going to feel closer to you then he would to either of us at some point." Janika pointed out.
"She has a good point Tigria." Alison commented. "So I guess I better watch out for both of you."
"Well, whether I have a good chance or not doesn't really matter, I'm not going to give up, so yeah, you should watch your back." Tigria said confidently, but also in a non hostile tone.
"I guess that settles it then, from now on the three of us are rivals." Alison said in a similar tone. Janika nodded her confirmation with a smile.
Darvel walked out of the elevator and into the hallway, making his way to his father's lab. He made it to the door labeled "restricted" and presented his ID to the security drone who gave him clearance to enter. The door swung open and he walked in. Darvel took a moment to look around at all the gadgets and blueprints that were scattered everywhere. Someday he was going to work in that very lab, and no legendary prophecy or Kung Fu terrorist group was going to change it.
"Dad, you in here?" Darvel called out as he looked around the room, but received no answer. "Dad?" He called again, but still no answer. He was beginning to think that his dad had returned to the party but that thought changed as he looked behind one of the tables. His eyes widened in shock and horror, as there was Mr. Richeen lying on the floor, half unconscious and slightly convulsing. "DAD!"
A/N: Well there you have it, the final filler chap. Sorry if you guys didn't like this chapter, it was a little random, but I felt it needed to be put in here, and so I did. Once again thanks to "King of 2211" for helping me, in fact the whole Alchemax ball thing was his idea, so if you don't like it blame him, LOL, just kidding, but really thanks King. Also on a side note today, July 20th, is my birthday, I am officially 17, WOOT! Also I'm going on a trip to Mexico tomorrow for 2 weeks, but my sis is bringing her laptop so I'll sill be able to work, so yeah. Well, later guys, and don't forget to R&R please.