A/N: The is a sequel to my previous story, Ultimate Christmas Present. Sorry if there are typos, I haven't had as much time to revise this as most of my stories.
A Normal New Year? Not on This Ship! By Tiger002
"Woody wake up!" Zack screamed while knocking on his friend's door.
"Zack, why are you waking me up so early?" a sleepy Woody said as he opened the door.
"It's 1pm though."
"Yea, but it's New Year's Eve, so we don't have classes."
"That much is true Woodchuck, but that also means we have to get ready for the New Year."
"I don't like that evil smile," Woody said as he started backing up in fear.
"Don't worry, you will be perfectly safe. I just want to give my little brother a new year to remember, and I need your help."
"Are you going to wrap him up like a Christmas present again?"
"I have more evil ideas this time."
"I don't have an option to say no, do I?"
"Nope"
"So, what do I have to do for this plan?"
"All you have to do is keep both of you out of your room until he comes back after the party.."
"I was hoping to spend the end of the year with Bailey though."
"Don't worry about that. I was able to talk London into going out with him tonight, so you will take Bailey to dinner and keep an eye on him."
"What are you going to be doing?"
"Well," Zack said with an evil smile, "Did Cody ever tell you about the time a movie scared him so much Mom had to clean his room with holy water?"
"No, and even if it's true, I doubt he'll be scared as easily now."
"I welcome the challenge. I'll give you a call when it's ready, although you might want to stay back for a while."
"Okay," Woody said as he went into the room to get dressed while Zack began unloading various Halloween decorations out of his closet. One of the benefits to having his own room was that no one would questions the strange objects he kept.
_
"Ew, Cody, why are you wearing such horrible clothes."
"London, remember, this is my towel boy uniform?"
"Well, take it off then."
"What!?"
"Yea, I bought you a fabulous suit designed by Antonio Vincel."
The younger twin's heart calmed down as he returned to his job. "London, I can't just leave; my shift doesn't end for another two hours," Cody said as he picked up several towels.
"Well, luckily for me, I already took care of that," the heiress turned to the stairs and clapped her hands. "Oh, replacement towel boy," she called.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," the replacement said coming down the stairs.
"Woody, what are you doing here?"
"Taking your shift of course. You and London deserve a day to yourselves."
"She paid you, didn't she," he said knowingly.
"Big time, so you two love birds have fun, and don't worry at all about your job, or anything else."
"What are you talking about?" Cody asked. He sensed something in his friend's words, but before he could do anything about it, London dragged him away for a evening of fun.
Once the two were out of ear shot, Woody pulled out his phone. "The chicken has left the coop."
"Good," Zack responded. Woody could hear objects falling among the ground and heard Zack scream in pain. "Stupid box!" he yelled.
"You okay?" Woody asked.
"Yea, but you might not want to put too much on the shelf above Cody's bed." Woody closed the phone and returned to his new job, glad that Zack thought he was the one that actually broke the shelf. At least Cody wouldn't be yelling at him now.
_
The two love birds made their way to the top of the sky deck. London was in one of her favorite outfits, a fuchsia dress that went down to her knees along with golden high heels. Her diamond earrings gently dangled from her ears. Cody stood beside her, wearing a black dress shirt, tucked neatly into his dark dress pants. He gently placed his arm around his date as they gazed out over the horizon.
"This is so beautiful," London said as the sun started dipping below the water, casting a mired of colors along the sea and sky. "Not even money could buy something like this."
"And yet, it's not even the most beautiful thing here," Cody said sweetly before gently placing his lips against her cheek.
She turned and their eyes met. "Not by a long shot," she said with a huge smile across her face. Their lips met this time, as their arms began wrapping around each other.
_
"So, has everything been taken care of for Cody's new year's surprise?" Zack asked his two friends.
"I made arrangements for them to have dinner at the Neptune room for them," Bailey said.
"Although, they seemed to be enjoying just being with each other," Woody said, "Our little Cody is growing up."
At this Zack's eye's widened. He wasn't sure exactly what Woody meant, but he was kind of jealous that his brother had a girlfriend like that. It had been a while since he had gone out with a girl for more than a couple weeks, and he never thought any thing serious would come of it. His brother on the other hand…
"So, when are you going to reveal what you have planned?" Bailey asked, snapping the older twin out of his thoughts.
"I'm sure you'll all here about that next year, "Zack said with a smile, "Besides, we have a new year's party to get ready for."
_
The day proceeded as any other. All the guests on the ship were attending the annual New Year's Eve Festivities, which Moseby had been tirelessly preparing for.
Unlike all those previous parties, Zack was content going alone. He had been so busy the past few days with planning Cody's New Year's surprise, that he didn't have time to flirt until he found a date. There was something about tormenting his brother that brought out a sense of happiness in him. Since he wasn't going with someone, he didn't bother dressing up as much as some of the others, just a button down red shirt and black pants.
"You did a good thing Zack," Bailey said to the older twin as he leaned against the wall watching the dancers.
"You sure he isn't just going to hate me?" Zack asked while taking a sip of the punch.
"Well, he might not appreciate your plan tonight, but I'm sure he'll laugh in the morning, especially after your Christmas present."
Cody elegantly led London through the various dance steps. With their bodies swaying to the music as one, neither of them had ever been happier. The older twin looked on from a distance, pouring his drink down his throat, glad to see his brother so happy.
"You want to dance Zack?" Bailey offered.
"What about Woody?"
"He says he doesn't dance. Something about not having good balance with his strange toe configuration.."
"Sure, why not?" the older twin said as he led the farm girl onto the dance floor.
The music started picking up, switching to the song, 'Listen to Your Heart'.
_
There was less than an hour left of the new year. The various dancers were tired after going at it for so long. Zack had enjoyed his time with Bailey, and felt a little jealous that she had ended up with Woody instead. Not that he wasn't happy for his friends, they all ended up with great people… but he wondered if he'd just be alone now.
He contemplated this as he refilled his drink and took another chug of the red drink.
"Uh, Zack?" Cody asked.
"Waz up dude?"
"You are aware that was red wine you just chucked, right?"
"You're crazy bro," Zack said putting his arm around his brother, "I been drinking that all night!"
"Zack, I think you are a bit intoxicated," Cody said as concern started building.
"I promise Cody, I'm fine," Zack said standing up straight for emphasis. He soon started wobbling on his feet.
"Yea, if you're fine, say the alphabet backwards."
"The alphabet backwards," he said sticking out his tongue. Cody shot him a glare, showing his worry and concern. "Fine, it's z-x-b-y-q-t-r-s-v-i-b-a…" He paused for a brief second before saying "I think I missed a few."
"Yea, let's get you out of here before Moseby sees you drunk."
"Who are you, my mom?"
Cody was beginning to get worried. Moseby would have no mercy if he saw one of his students drunk, so he had to get his brother out of here before he made more of a scene. He couldn't let Zack be expelled for that. "No, but Mom left a dozen chocolate chip pancakes in your room."
"What are you waiting on, let's go!" he said as he ran/wobbled toward the door.
"Yep, he's drunk," Cody said to himself as he followed his brother out of the party.
"Where are you going Cody?" London asked, seeing her date leave.
"Uh, sorry London, Zack needs me now. Thanks for the wonderful night though."
The twins made their way to the elevator with Cody quietly reminding Zack to avoid drawing attention. With all the party goers consumed with having fun and possibly less than sober themselves, he hoped they could made it down to their deck before anyone noticed. They made it to the elevator, and as Cody went to hit floor 5 for their rooms, Zack hit random buttons, earning him a glare from his brother.
"What, I like the 'ting' sound it makes when the door opens." The younger twin just shook his head in response, knowing that a logical argument wouldn't do any good now. It was going to be a long night.
After four tings, the door finally opened at the correct floor, and the twins exited and went to their rooms. As they walked down the hall, they saw Moseby walking toward them. "Evening boys. I'm surprised you two aren't at the party."
Zack's mouth opened, causing Cody to fear what he was going to say, so the younger twin jabbed his brother in back, and whispered, "be quiet," in his ear before turning to the manager. "I convinced Zack to make a new year's resolution to study harder, so we're going to get a head start on that."
"Well, good luck with that," Moseby said as he walked into the elevator.
They made it to their rooms without any more disruption, and Cody's curiosity got the better of him. "What were you going to say to him anyway?"
"That his head looked especially shiny tonight," Zack said with a goofy grin across his face.
"How many glasses did you drink at the party?" Cody asked.
Zack paused for a second as he racked his brain for the answer. "Um… what comes after 4?"
"Five?"
"No, that can't be it."
"Just unlock your door, so you can lie down," Cody instructed. He was starting to get annoyed at his brother, but it didn't surprise him that much alcohol would make him act even stranger than normal. It surprised him though that Zack didn't notice the difference sooner though.
"Um, Cody, I don't have my key."
"Where did it go?"
Suddenly a memory from the night's party came to Zack's mind, which he felt compelled to share with his brother. "Those key cards make good Frisbees," he happily said.
"I guess you better stay in my room tonight," Cody said as he guided the intoxicated one to his door and slid in his key card. As he opened the door, he noticed that he was having trouble pushing it. "That's weird," he thought aloud.
"Ah, my weak little brother," Zack said trying to push the door open, but found he had similar problems. Not to be defeated by the door though, the older twin backed up and ran at the door at full force, knocking it open. However, due to the impact combined with his intoxication, he fell to the ground.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," Cody said as he helped his brother into the room. As he flipped on the light switch, instead of the lights coming on as he expected, organ music began playing.
"Zack…" Cody asked nervously, "What's going on here?"
"Pretty music," the nonsober one said clapping his hands. Suddenly the door slammed shut, making Cody's heart jump to his throat. The organ music seemed to surround them and then a figure emerged from the dresser. She started off being no more than a foot tall, but as she grew, her green skin and her large hat became more apparent.
"Don't let her hurt me!" Zack screamed, hiding behind his brother.
"A witch?" Cody asked trying to make sense of the bizarre situation.
"You have angered us, now you must pay," the creature said as she laughed evilly at them.
Cody tried to make sense of the situation while Zack stood back in fear. Witches weren't real, right? Had he somehow done something to anger the supernatural though? No, it couldn't be, it had to be a trick, an illusion. Maybe Zack wasn't the only one who had accidentally consumed alcohol that night.
Loud moaning started coming from all sides of the room. "What's going on here?" Cody demanded. He was getting worried, but couldn't let them know that.
The door opened revealing a person who seemed to be decaying. Its bones could be seen through the rotting flesh, and it slowly started walking toward Cody. Soon several more similar fiends appeared around the room.
"Zombie!" Zack screamed as he tried to run from the monsters, but everywhere he turned to flee, there was another undead ready to consume him. He had seen zombie mom too many times, so he knew how the story ended.
"I'm not afraid of you," Cody said as he tried to convince himself that none of it could be real, but the one monster continued to approach him, holding out its claw. Moans continued to fill the room signaling the impending doom for the twins. Zack continued screaming, obviously too impaired to think about anything but staying alive. The one zombie continued to make its way toward to Cody, who instinctively reached out for its arm and flipped the fiend onto the ground.
"Ouch," the monster said in a feminine voice, a voice that Cody recognized.
"Bailey?" the younger twin said in disbelief.
"Happy new year Cody," she said as she removed the mask.
Meanwhile Zack was in the corner, curled up in a ball, pleading for the other zombies to leave him alone.
"Why is he so scared of the holograms?" Bailey asked, "Especially when he set all this up."
"Did he now?" Cody asked as evil thoughts of revenge started filling his brain.
"Yea, he said he wanted to kick of the New Year right, by pranking you," she said as she turned off the haunted room switch, and everything returned to normal
"I guess he didn't plan on getting so drunk he forgot what he did today," Cody said shaking his head, seeing how everything his brother planned came together.
"Yea, he wanted to make sure he hadn't lost his touch," Bailey explained.
"I must admit, he went all out," Cody said and then turned his attention to his brother who was still worried that zombies were going to eat him, "Maybe a bit too far."
"What happened to him?" Bailey asked worriedly.
"Apparently he drank too much wine at the party thinking it was punch," the younger twin replied somberly.
"Will he be okay?" the farm girl asked.
"Other than a hangover in the morning, he should be fine. I'll just let him sleep in here tonight, and then everything should be back to normal in the morning."
"Just give me a call if you need anything then," Bailey said as she left the room.
Cody walked over to his brother who was drifting between the realm of reality and the realm of his dreams. "Come on Zack, let's get you to bed."
"I'm tired Codes," he weakly responded as the younger twin bent down and helped lift his brother to his feet.
"Yea, but you can't just sleep in the corner. Your breath stinks too," Cody said, contemplating forcing his brother to brush his teeth, but realized his lack of motor skills would probably lead to him poking an eye out.
"Cody?" Zack asked, trying to find the right words. He felt that his brain should know what he had to say, but it seemed like everything was just a cloud of grey.
"What's wrong?"
The older twin looked down, still trying to find the right words.
"Um, I feel weird."
"Like you're going to be sick?"
"No," Zack said shaking his head, "its normal, but I have to…" Zack paused until he finally broke through the cloud in his mind, "pee! I have to pee!" he said triumphantly, glad that he finally figured it out.
"Well go do it then," Cody instructed, but he feared what Zack's response would be.
"I don't think I can walk that far," he replied.
"Zack, I'm not helping you go pee," the younger twin responded.
"I guess I could just go in here," Zack contemplated.
"Let's go," Cody said as he helped his brother to move forward, "This would have been so much easier when we were younger." After several seemingly endless minuets, the made it to the bathroom while Zack stood over the toilet, fiddling with his zipper.
"I don't think I'm going to make it"
"Zack, I'm not helping you get it out," the younger twin said. He had gotten his brother out of strange situations before, but nothing quite like this. An idea came to him that would make this slightly less awkward. "You should probably just sit down."
The older twin did as he was instructed and sat on the toilet. "I don't think its helping."
"I meant take your pants of first."
"Ah that makes sense."
"Good, now call me when you're done, I'll be in the other room making a bed for you on the floor."
" 'Kay"
Cody couldn't believe the strange things his brother got involved in. They had said it was a phase that he'd grow out of, but if anything their unusual adventures have gotten even strange since coming to the sea school.
He glanced at the clock as he gathered several blankets out of his closet. "12:13, not quite the way I wanted to spend the first minuets of the new decade, but I guess something normal would be too much to ask for." After he made a makeshift bed on the floor, he noticed the desire to sleep was taking over his body too, so he went to his dresser to gather his pajamas to change into. He figured Zack would probably want something clean too, so he pulled out an extra set.
After he was changed, Cody heard his brother call from the bathroom, so he once again helped his brother up. "Um, Zack, please pull your pants up."
"Gotcha," he nodded following his brother's instructions. Once they were once again in the bed room, Cody set his brother down where he would be sleeping.
"You should probably just use my pajamas, so the scent of alcohol won't stay on you as much." Using what little motor skills he still had, Zack managed to get his pants off, but his button up dress shirt was causing him more problems. He looked up at his brother with innocent eyes.
"Fine," Cody conceded and began unbuttoning his shirt for him. However, the intoxicated one decided now was the time to start swaying. "You're not making it easy."
"Yea, but music is fun."
"Let's try this instead," Cody said as he knocked his brother onto his back. The sober one leaned over his brother and was able to undue the buttons much easier this time.
At this point, the door opened, and Woody entered the room. The first thing to catch his eye was the half naked teen on the floor, with his younger brother removing his shirt. His eyes widened as his mind quickly jumped to conclusions. "Whoa! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt! Um, wow, I would have never thought that you and him would be…um yea, I got to go!"
"What was that about?" Zack innocently asked.
"You're explaining this to him in the morning," Cody said assertively, while he quickly covered his brother's body in the clean clothes.
"Night Zack," Cody said as he flipped off the lights and climbed into his bed.
"Good night Cody," the older twin responded in an overly joyful tone. The sober twin tried to let his mind relax, but he was worried about his brother. Once he heard snoring coming form the pile of sheets on the other side of the room, he was able to relax enough to fall asleep as well.
_
"Cody, my head hurts."
The younger twin awoke from his light sleep, to see his brother standing over him. "You'll probably feel like that for a while," he calmly said as he gazed at the clock. 3:49AM
"It feels like I got run over by a truck," Zack complained.
"I'll see if I have some Tylenol," the younger twin said as he got up and sorted through the contents of his dresser. "Swallow these," he said handing the pills to his brother.
"Thanks," Zack said as he tossed them down his throat. "These are making me sleepy."
"They don't work that fast," Cody said as laid back down in his bed. He was soon joined by a heavy force colliding into the mattress. "Zack, what are you doing?"
"Sleeping," he wearily replied.
"Just don't take all the blankets," Cody said, deciding he was too tired to argue for his own bed. "Just remember you owe me big time in the morning."
A couple minuets had passed, and Cody was just about to fall asleep when his brother spoke up again. "Cody?"
"Yea?"
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
"Yea, but I made you leave your date with London."
"Don't worry about it. If I had to spend the start of a new year taking care of someone who was drunk, I'm glad it's you."
"Sorry about scaring you too," Zack said softly.
"It was a great plan, if you were sober enough to remember what was going on," Cody admitted.
"I just wanted to do something for the two of us, y'know?"
"Really?"
"Yea, with you so busy with London, we hardly see each other."
"Don't worry Zack, we'll always be brothers." Zack wrapped his arms around his brother, who quickly returned the embrace.
"I love you Codes."
"Love you too Zack."
_
Woody couldn't believe how late it was, or that he had spent the first four hours of the New Year with Bailey. He had snuck back to his cabin, glad that he didn't run into anyone that would make him explain where he had been.
He had brushed of the sight a few hours before as just his mind playing tricks on him. He opened the door and turned on the lights. "Sorry for coming back so late," he said to his roommate who he was sure was still asleep, but to his surprise, he saw two heads resting on the pillow.
The surprised teen quickly ran out of the room and burst down the hall, trying to remove many unwanted images to his mind.
_
A/N: Well that's what you get when I want to do a sequel to a romance story, while listening to emotional music, after being inspired by Cherry Bombs. So much for a short little one-shot, instead it's my longest one-shot yet.
