Chapter 21: Cold As Ice! Part 2
The sun began to fall on the outskirts of Norrisville. The scenery of the day at sunset was beautifully decorated with the fallen snow. The cold breeze was calm and endless.
On top of every ceiling there was a black shade with a red scarf jumping and running here and there, seeking for something to heal a friend's sickness.
"Where's a first-aid kit when you need one?" Asks the Ninja to himself as he stopped on another ceiling.
From that height he could see two RoboApes in movement, and silently followed them all the way to McFist Industries.
Inside the quarters...
Ninja crawled on the ceiling of the dark quarters, following the two cyborg simians very silently.
And little did he knew that he was caught by an intruder detecting device...
...
On some part of the forest, the students of Norrisville cheered for the competitors of the snowboarding competition.
Actually, the Norrisville snowboarding competition was a mere plan created by the villains to find Jennifer, inject her with the compound and reveal its side effects, in that case, the formula that was mixed with the compound for colds to make her destroy the Ninja. They were also there to find out who is the Ninja of Norrisville.
"A snowboarding competition... How are we supposed to find the Ninja among so many people?!" Screamed McFist.
"Patience, sir." Says Viceroy with a smirk as he toyed with his pet Nicholas. "Once my little Nicholas finds the matching scent on every student, we'll discover the Ninja's true identity. All we need is a sample of the Ninja's scent."
"Well, do you have it or not?"
"Actually, the RoboApes are busy searching for a sample from the Ninja. It would take a while until they get something."
"A while or not, THIS IS MY BEST PLAN EVER!" Yelled the businessman, scaring the pet as it hugged its owner.
"Please, keep it down. You're scaring my Nicholas."
Before the start line were ten of the twelve competitors. And Howard was getting impatient. He wanted to race, but Randy and Jennifer weren't there.
He dug out his phone and texted to his friends.
"You guys better get back here. The competition's about to start!" He said as he texted and sent the message to Randy's and Jennifer's phones.
At Jennifer's house...
The sick teenage girl was the first one to pick up her phone and read the message Howard sent. She couldn't almost read it, her eyes were really tired.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes and stretched up. But even with that, her sickness was taking over her energy.
"Stupid honkin' sickness." She mumbled. "I wanna' go to that competition, and I can't even touch the snow! Why does this have to happen to me?!"
As she said this, her lovely mother came in with a bowl of warm chicken soup.
"Jennifer! Don't push yourself too hard, or you'll feel worst!" Exclaimed her mother as she dropped the bowl to the bedside table and set her down to the bed, covering her daughter's cold body with the sheets.
"Mom, I can't just stand here doing nothing! There's a bruce snowboarding competition out there, and I so have to go."
"Oh, Jenny." Sighed the lady. "I know you want to go, but right now you're sick, and you need to rest for the whole night. By the way, why don't you call your friends and tell them to come over?"
"With me like this, Mom? They can't get a few feet closer to me, or they'll get sick too."
"Sorry, hon." Says her mother as she patted Jennifer's head softly, then pulled her in for a hug. "Now, eat your soup before it gets cold."
"Thanks, Mom."
Her mother smiled, closed the door and left. Jennifer slowly picked the bowl full of chicken soup with noodles and ate bit by bit.
...
Once she was done with the soup, she dropped the bowl to the bedside table and picked up her phone. She read the message once again...
"Come over. The competition is about to start." She read. "Awgh! I so have to go to that competition!"
Despite her sickness and tiredness, Jennifer dressed up as quick as she could and made sure she was fully protected with her snowboarding apparel. Then she picked up her snowboard, which was black with pink hearts and flames, and looked back at her bedroom.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I promise I'll be here once it ends."
She dug out her phone from her bed and marked Randy's phone number. As she did this, she jumped out of her window and landed softly over the bushes, but ran away quickly before her mother could notice.
...
Randy, as the Ninja, went from busy to extremely busy fighting off a whole army of RoboApes using his katana. He flipped various times and punched and kicked, and also sliced the robots using different ninja techniques.
As he fought, his phone rang. It was...
"Jennifer? Really?"
He answered the call, despite the noise that kept Jennifer wondering what the juice was he doing. Her voice sounded happy to him when he heard her speaking.
"Hey, Ran! What's all that noise? Are you outside or something?"
Randy smiled under his mask at the nickname "Ran".
"Yeah! You see, there's a lot of those people who work with trash, and the noise seems endless!" He exclaimed as another RoboApe engaged, but he sliced it with the katana.
...
"Oh yeah? Cuz' I don't see anything from my view."
Jennifer ran all the way to find the forest where the snowboarding competition was being manifested. The wind was so freezing that it made her cough and sneeze various times.
"Well, are you okay?" Asked Randy through the phone.
"Yeah! Perfectly fine!" Panted Jennifer as she kept running. "So, Weinerman texted me. Did you got the message too?"
...
"Well, kind of." Says Randy as he performed a backflip, avoiding an attack from a RoboApe which arms were like electric blades.
But he was hit right before he could say something else.
"Randy! Are you hurt?"
"N- no! I'm perfectly fine! You know, we should talk later."
"Okay. But hurry, the competition is about to begin!"
He ended the call and hid the phone away, then attacked a few last RoboApes with the katana, ending the battle.
"Man, that was a lot of RoboApes."
He heard a recognizable monotonous laugh and turned around.
"Missed me." Says a RoboApe.
The robot almost got the Ninja by an inch using its blades, but it only cut a small portion of his scarf and fled.
"What the juice? Well, it only ripped my scarf a little. There's no way that RoboApe's going to attack me again."
He later smoke-bombed out of the headquarters and returned to seek for his friends in the snowboarding competition.
...
"For goodness sake, Cunningham. Where could you be?"
Jennifer walked around the forest in search for Randy and the spot where the competition was being set. She saw no clue of Randy while she walked. She was now wearing her snowboarding glasses to protect her eyes, and she slung her snowboard over her shoulder, a corner of it crawled in the snow.
She failed to notice a small spy camera on one of the few trees in that spot. The camera caught her image and a red dot flashed.
...
At the front of Norrisville High...
"Where were you, Cunningham! Because of you being such a slowpoke shoob, we missed the snowboarding competition!" Screamed an upset Howard.
"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened. But there's a sick kid who needs my help-"
"Jennifer can solve it on her own! This was our moment, Cunningham! You know that!"
"But she's..." Randy stopped himself for a moment to think. "Howard, you're a genius!"
"Why? I just mentioned that girl."
"Jennifer signed us in to the competition! We have to find her. She's the only one who can convince P. Slimz to restart the competition."
"Wow. Why didn't I thought of that?"
"Let's not waste our time and get to Jennifer!"
...
"Hello? Randy? Anybody there?"
She couldn't find him, after a few minutes of walking around the forest. If she were to stay there for more miutes, she would be highly exposed to the freezing weather, and her cold would get even worst.
An unseen gun fired a small syringe that contained the "McCold" to her butt. She yelped a little and removed the object.
"Ow! Just who dares to throw this thing at my butt?"
The compound ran through her system rapidly. Jennifer began feeling the healing effects. She smiled at the fact that she was feeling better...
But that was about to change.
...
"None of those varlets could be the Ninja! This was your worst plan ever!"
Viceroy cocked an eyebrow. "I thought this was 'your' plan."
"NOW IT ISN'T!"
Just then, a RoboApe came beside the villains and gave the scientist a small piece of the Ninja's scarf.
"Finally. A sweet sample of the Ninja's scent." Smiled Viceroy evilly and gave the piece of scarf to Nicholas so it could 'smell' it. "Go, my Nicholas, and find the Ninja!"
The little slimy pet left to find the Ninja's scent.
...
The boys were now among the multitude of students who waited for the competitors to reach the goal line. It was a round circuit, so the goal was actually the starting line.
"If you think we can enter the competition without her, I'm sorry to say we won't!"
"Howard, we will. We just need to keep our eyes open. If you see Jennifer, tap my shoulder."
"I guess you don't need to do that."
Behind Randy and Howard appeared a tired Jennifer, who held her hands on her knees and panted heavily.
"Jennifer! It's great to have you here!" Exclaimed Randy and gripped her arm, then walked off with her and Howard.
"Wha- Cunningham! What the juice?!" Exclaimed Jennifer, who tried to pull her arm off Randy's grip.
She finally pulled her arm back and stared at Randy severely.
"Can you two explain why are you dragging me like that? We were supposed to be in the snowboarding competition with the rest of the snowboarders. I thought you guys were actually competing when I wasn't around."
"We quit the competition to help you, Jennifer." Says Randy with concern.
Jennifer stood silent for a second, then a smile was built up on her lips. "You gave up the coolest snowboarding race to help me?" She asked softly. "Aww! That's so kind of you, Randy."
"Well, I..."
Randy's words were interrupted when he received a warm hug from Jennifer. He stood with his eyes widened before he shared the hug with her. They stood hugging themselves for less than a minute before Jennifer involuntarily blacked out.
"Uh... Jenn? Hug time's over."
When he let go of her, she fell to her back. The boys stared at her with widened eyes.
"Maybe she took a fiver." Says Howard as if nothing happened to her.
"No, you chowder head, she fainted!" Exclaimed Randy as he kneeled to Jennifer. "This is bad, all types of bad. If the whole school finds out we're holding a fainted girl, we're in deep cheese!"
When he got up, he swore he could see McFist and Viceroy in the distance.
"Well, way deep cheese. Howard, we've got to get out here now." Said Randy with utter seriousness.
"Hey, what gives? We've got to do something to wake this kid, convince P. Slimz to restart the competition and then we can race!"
"We can't! Let's just get out of here before-"
In that moment, the slimy pet passed by and 'smelled' Jennifer's hand, then the red scarf she held. It recognized the Ninja's scent on her and quickly fled.
Now both Randy and Jennifer were in huge trouble.
"What was that about?" Asked a baffled Howard.
"That's Viceroy's pet Nicholas! If McFist finds out Jennifer has the Ninja's scent, he'll believe she's the Ninja and he could harm her!"
"Well, how could it recognize the Ninja's scent in her?"
Randy thought hard. Then he remembered the time when he, as the Ninja, received a crushing hug from Jennifer, and when the RoboApe cut off a portion of his scarf.
"I think this began when she gave me that crushing hug, and when the RoboApe cut off a piece of my ninja scarf." Said Randy a bit frightened.
"Well, nice job, Cunningham!" Said Howard sarcastically and repeatedly punched Randy in the arm, much to his anger. "Now we, correction, you have to fix this before something worst happens!"
And the worst was already happening as they noticed Jennifer had disappeared.
"Uh... where'd that kid go?"
A 'brainwashed' Jennifer was seen lifting people using her own hands and smelled their scents. There were good and disgusting smells everywhere. After she smelled each person, she threw them behind her back.
Fortunately, the Ninja had arrived and saved the students from hitting the ground one by one. He charged to Jennifer, but she gave him a good kick at the guts.
"Wow. Right in the guts." Said Howard, admiring Jennifer's moves.
The Ninja recomposed himself. "Jennifer, what the juice is happening to you?"
She ran at him and both collided in a hands-only ninjutsu fight. Jennifer performed many moves, but Ninja blocked every move she did with her arms and legs. The fight lasted a bit long before the Ninja pushed Jennifer to a tree and kept her stuck using two ninja sais.
He quickly pulled out the NinjaNomicon from his suit and opened it.
"Nomicon, what's happening to Jennifer? I need quick answers- Arg!"
...
Randy flew by many pages of the ancient book until he saw a new message.
"The remedy is rarely worst than the disease."
"What the juice? From what I know, Jennifer hasn't taken any healing remedies yet... right?"
His consciousness was pushed back to reality after he said this, and the Nomicon force-closed itself.
"Let me go so I can get rid of you!" Cried Jennifer.
Ninja got close to her and released her from the sais that kept her trapped, but held her by the arms to keep her from attacking him.
"Jennifer, you have to tell me what's wrong with you."
"I don't have to explain anything to you! I just have to destroy you!"
She punched the Ninja in the arm, releasing herself to fight against him once again.
Just then, McFist and Viceroy came to view...
"Don't waste your time, my minion! Destroy the Ninja!" Yelled McFist.
"Yes, master." Responded Jennifer with a deadly voice.
"Wha- Why is she obeying to your commands?!" Asked the Ninja with confusion.
Glowing symbols from the Nomicon appeared around Jennifer as she prepared her stance.
"The remedy is rarely worst than the disease."
The Ninja gasped, then became serious. "So you gave Jennifer the wrong medicine. And she ended up brainwashed!"
"I presume he already noticed." Says Viceroy.
"Jennifer, I don't wish to fight against you. You're my greatest fan!" Exclaimed the Ninja sadly.
Jennifer let out a battle cry as she charged at the Ninja, but he blocked every punch and kick from her. As he fought, he remembered how he reversed the 'brainwashing' effect on Jennifer. His face saddened and he leaped out of her way.
He sighed. "I'm sorry to do this to you, Jenny." He said sadly. "NINJA TRIPPING BALLS!"
Jennifer ran at him again, but she tripped on the small balls and fell forward, her head hit a small rock. She then blacked out.
Ninja carried her unconscious body in his arms and smoke-bombed out of the spot.
"I'll admit the formula still remains temporary. I'll just need to alter the effects to make it permanent."
McFist looked like he was throwing smoke out of his ears and his face was red like the Ninja's scarf.
"Jennifer... C'mon, Jenny, wake up."
The Ninja had brought Jennifer back to her house safe and sound. At least her sickness was gone, though her skin was pale and cold, and she was trembling. Even her teeth were shiveeing from the severe coldness.
"Ninja?" She moaned and weakly moved her head. "I'm... in my house?" Then she sat up gasping, with widened eyes. "I did it again, didn't I?!"
The Ninja never responded, he just gave Jennifer a nice hug.
"Whatever happened, it wasn't your fault. Speaking of, can you remember what happened?"
"It was all types of crazy!" She began. "Some kind of gun thingy fired a needle at my... lower back, then I felt much better. But then, when I hugged Randy I passed out. I guess I was healed by some unknown-"
"McFist did this to you. That's what happened."
"Why- Exactly! That shoob is gonna' pay."
"Sometime after, Jenny."
They shared another hug. This time, Jennifer held on for dear life, just as if she depended on him.
"You're so warm." She softly said. "Thanks for bringing me back home. I really appreciate that."
And then she kissed the Ninja's cheek. Thank goodness he had a mask, because now he was blushing severely.
"Uh... I think I should be off by now." Said the Ninja.
"Yeah. I guess you have to solve more evil schemes somewhere around the city." Smiled Jennifer.
"Well, catch you later. SMOKEBOMB!"
...
Everything finally returned to normal, and because of Jennifer's sudden 'brainwashing' and attack, Principal Slimovitz decided to restart the snowboarding competition thanks to Jennifer's convincing words.
"Wrong remedy, fixed. And thank goodness Jennifer finally healed."
"And finally, we're so entering the competition!"
At that moment, Jennifer passed by and smiled at the boys.
"You're welcome, boys." She smiled and walked off.
"That kid's a genius!" Says Howard smiling.
"I thought you were going to say she was still so weird."
"Are you kidding? She's the brucest friend we've met!"
Randy patted Howard's shoulder and smiled. Thankfully, this didn't bothered him. "She sure is, Howard. She sure is."
"Yo, boys! Let's go!" Called Jennifer, who picked up her snowboard and adjusted her snowboarding glasses.
The twelve competitors prepared themselves, and then the snowboarding fun began.
"SO HONKIN' BRUCE!" Screamed the three freshmen joyfully.
Author's note:
Whew! This second part took me long enough! Hope you guys enjoyed.
Reviews are always welcome!