Good day to you all! Welcome to our second Summer Special!
Creativity: This one is gonna be really mean to Grey.
Author: Yeah… Jeez I almost feel sorry.
Almost… Heheheheheh…
ANYWAY! It's the end of June as I'm writing this one. The outline of what I want the third and final 'season' for this story is getting close to completion. Plus, I've got a few ideas for potential short spinoffs. Aside from the ones I already mentioned.
Creativity: Still can't get over what we're about to put poor Grey through.
Author: Try not to think about it too much.
Anyway, as I said originally (I think. Too lazy to go back through) I intend to return some time between August and November. Progress has been slow-going, so my money is leaning towards the latter side of the two.
But, them's the breaks. In the meantime, enjoy the second Summer Special!
Sabrina groaned as she hauled herself out of bed. She was currently in one of the guest suites at Monarch's Ontario campus, subbing in for Grey who was on vacation in Arizona with his friends. More specifically, they were visiting Jessica's relatives for a week. Checking the clock, she realized that she had about half an hour before her first 'class' started. She was going to be working with a class consisting mainly of cross-species who were capable of flying or gliding. According to what Grey had left for her, they were focusing on building strength in whatever their method of flight was, then trying to figure out technique.
Sabrina groaned as she stretched and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Once the was done, she threw on a dark green T-shirt and her preferred workout shorts as she waited for her toast to pop and coffee to finish brewing. After breakfast, she made her way through the campus down to where the 'class' was being held. Along the way, her mind drifted to Grey and his friends' vacation.
Jessica had started visiting more, due to Arizona being a more hospitable climate for her, and Monarch being willing to cover the costs. Grey occasionally went as well to act as a guest instructor at a nearby Monarch campus. Grey had mentioned Jessica was considering trying to transfer there, since it would probably be more comfortable and she could see her extended family without having to fly so often. But this time, Grey didn't have any 'work' related stuff to keep him occupied, so he booked a hotel and travel accommodations for himself, Tobi and Max for a week-long stay.
She'd met them once or twice and ended up getting along rather well with Jessica and Tobi, but she wasn't really sure what to make of Max. He was always a little TOO nice to her and it became rather weird and/or off-putting rather quickly. Though, it did seem to amuse Grey a fair bit. Why he found it funny, she couldn't understand.
Jessica was the easiest for her to relate to, especially after the worldwide infection. Sabrina imagined that Jessica was much happier in Arizona right now, then in Canada. It was many times warmer, meaning she didn't have to pile on layers to maintain her body temperature, even during the warmer months. Being literally cold-blooded was a disadvantage that Sabrina was glad she didn't have to cope with. Still, the fact that they were both cross-species led to an easy common ground, then to friendship. Jessica had opted to seek residency at the British Columbia Campus, which was an expansion of the original Vancouver facility, seeing as the climate was much warmer in general than the closer Ontario location.
She snapped out of her musings when she realized she was at the gym. She was still a few minutes early, so she decided to do some quick stretches, wondering what Grey was doing in Arizona right now.
Meanwhile, in Arizona…
"So, it's a carnival?"
"Sort of…" was Jessica's reply to Grey's question.
"It's kinda small to be considered a carnival. I mean, they got a few rides, stage shows and concession stands, but its mostly just local businesses setting up an outdoor market. Still, it's a pretty good way to spend a day!" Jessica continued. Grey did find it rather interesting and who knew if he would be able to make it to the next one.
After throwing on a dark blue T-shirt with a black asymmetrical nuclear warning sign emblazoned across his side, as well as some beige shorts, he stepped outside and waited for everyone else. Jessica was the next one out, wearing a red top and jeans. She wasn't as concerned about hiding she was a cross-species out here, since Arizona had just slowly developed to have the densest population of reptilian cross-species in North America, no doubt due to the consistently hot weather. Max and Tobi were out next, still slathering themselves in sunscreen. Grey felt a vague pang of sympathy for his friends, seeing as how he and Jessica no longer had to worry about sunburn. Or how swelteringly hot it was. Grey didn't have quite the same affinity for Arizona's midday summer sun as Jessica, but he was certainly more comfortable than Max and Tobi.
And so, they set off for the carnival. They ended up walking since Jessica's family lived rather close to the site where the event was set up every year; a parking lot near a large stretch of open, flat land. Most of the rides were set up in the parking lot, while the small stage shows and the stalls displaying the wares of the local businesses were all in the flat stretch.
After about ten minutes of walking, they reached the carnival. It was surprisingly busy already, considering it had only started half an hour ago. It was a little past midday already and the carnival was already packed, though not uncomfortably so.
"So, where should we start?" Grey asked.
"I'd say we get the rides out of our system before we decide to eat anything. I don't feel like spewing my lunch everywhere after going on one of those twister rides." Tobi suggested. Everyone agreed the sentiment, so they opted to go on the aforementioned 'twister' ride. It was a pretty standard sight at events like this. A set of pods that rotated along an axis, going up and down inclines, but were anchored in place by a pin that allowed them to rotate freely. It wasn't much of a wait before they were paired off and strapped into the pods. Jessica and Tobi were in one pod, while Max and Grey were in another. The ride lasted only a couple of minutes, but that still left them good and dizzy. Max and Grey especially, since Grey's added weight made the pod spin much faster. They stumbled away and let the world stop rotating before moving on to a tamer ride. Unfortunately, there wasn't one. There was a bog-standard roller coaster, a swinging pirate's ship, the twister, and a few children's rides, but that was about it. So, they decided to go browse what the local businesses had to offer. As they were doing so, Grey couldn't help but wonder how Sabrina was doing, subbing in for his vacation. She already did similar stuff back in one of Brazil's campuses, though it wasn't quite the same.
Back in Ontario…
Grey was right on it not being quite the same. Sabrina was actually having it rather easy. They had gone through a pre-planned exercise regimen, designed to strengthen their lungs as well as each cross-species method of flight, and were just finishing up with the technique portion of the session.
It was somewhat hard for her to help with the technique portion of things, seeing as she didn't have wings of any kind, but there weren't any cross-species that had the experience to teach others. Still, it was going smoothly, all things considered. They had started by trying to perfect a glide, for those who had wings capable of gliding, by setting up a raised platform above several gymnastics safety mats. The goal was to leap off the platform and glide over all of the mats to a finish line at the end. For those who had wings capable of gliding to begin with, this exercise wasn't unfamiliar, though they hadn't had many successes yet. Today, everyone had successfully started a glide, though only about half of them were able to maintain the glider, and even fewer maintained it all the way to the finish line, successfully landing without using their faces.
There were one or two who had insectoid wings, they had their own exercise of hovering in one place as long as they could before losing balance. Once they could hold it consistently for a few minutes and repeat the exercise without fail, they could begin working on movement.
By the end of the session, Sabrina was quite satisfied with everything they got done. As everyone left, she checked her schedule and found that she had an hour to kill before the next group. Sabrina's first thought was to go get something to eat, but that was before she realized that she reeked from the exercise. Quick shower first, snack afterwards.
She quickly ducked into the nearby showers and gave herself a brief scrub down before heading off to the cafeteria and grabbed half a light sandwich. The small meal was enough to tide her over for the next session.
Said session was going to require a bit of setup, so she went back to the gym and walked over to one of the walls. It a climbing wall of sorts built into the wall, as well as several rope ladders attached to the ceiling. Sabrina pulled the safety pins out and dragged the setup out of the wall, single-handedly. It normally would have required more effort, but her enhanced strength made it much easier.
Once everything was in place, she replaced the safety pins and made sure that everything was properly locked in place. Satisfied that everything was safe and secure, she went over to the benches along the far wall and took a seat, waiting for the next group.
It wasn't long before they showed up. This group was specifically for climbing, hence the strange setup Sabrina had been hauling out.
There was a much greater dispersal of secondary species than the flying group; ranging from mammals, to reptiles, and several others to name a few.
They went through a few warmup exercises before moving into climbing. They had different types of surfaces to accommodate different methods of climbing. For those who used claws to climb, they had a special wall that simulated surfaces that would be used to climb, such as tree bark or rock cliffs, just to name a few. For others, such as varying species of monkey, there was a rope gauntlet to train with. Some were alternating between the two.
Sabrina ended up taking part in the rope gauntlet, since her increased strength and endurance did lend well to this sort of exercise.
All in all, the session went just as well as the flying session! Sabrina was starting to consider whether or not she should start doing more work like this, since it was going so well!
Meanwhile, at the carnival…
"Say what?"
"You heard me."
"You seriously are daring me to…"
"Yep."
Grey was looking at his friends like they had just announced they were space aliens. They were currently standing by a stage with two long tables on them which had several plates. There was a massive wooden sign above the stage with a large scorpion with a fork and knife crisscrossing behind it.
"A scorpion eating contest." Grey stated, starting to look rather nervous.
"Yeah. It's kind of a staple event, here." Jessica informed them.
"You want me to enter a SCORPION eating contest." Grey reiterated. His friends all nodded, grinning at him. Grey shifted his gaze to Jessica.
"you knew about this, didn't you?" He questioned.
"Yep." Jessica responded, popping the p at the end.
"You told them about this before we came here." He continued.
"Almost as soon as you guys landed, when you went to the washroom." Jessica stated, her eyes glimmering evilly. Grey's eyes widened with fear and betrayal.
"Why do you want me to enter a scorpion eating contest?" He asked, his voice a bit higher than usual.
"Well, since you were a jerk by not telling us about being a cross-species, and scoring cheap laughs with that Halloween costume from two years ago, plus teasing me about having to add crickets and other bugs to my diet. But mainly because we really want to see you participate in a scorpion eating contest." Jessica explained, her grin widening.
"Oh, come on! I paid for you all to come visit me in Vancouver, I wasn't the only one teasing about the bugs, and getting mad over the Halloween costume is just petty!" Grey exclaimed. Jessica and the others shrugged.
"Perhaps, but we already spoke to the organizers and arranged for you to be signed up, Mr. Celebrity cross-species. No backing out now!" Tobi chimed, a diabolical grin plaster all over his face. Grey glowered at all of them
"Mark my words, there WILL be retribution for this. Violent and excruciatingly painful retribution. Cruel, and with no remorse." Grey promised them as he heard the call for the contestants of the scorpion eating contest to come to the stage. If one looked carefully, they could have sworn that they saw tiny ripples of heat rising from his skin. If they saw his eyes, they would probably describe them as vaguely murderous.
"Do you think we'll come to regret this?" Tobi asked after a few moments as they watched Grey take his seat at the table. They could see and, more importantly, feel Grey's glare as he waited for the announcer to begin.
"Welcome everyone, to one of the many highlights of today's festivities: The Scorpion Eating Contest! I believe the name is self explanatory, but I'll go over the rules briefly. Each contestant must attempt to relocate each scorpion on their plate to their stomachs as fast as possible! In addition to this, any contestant that finds themselves incapable of holding the contests of their stomach will be disqualified, and be provided with a garbage bag. Any questions? No? Well then, bring out the edibles!"
Several men and women came out from behind stage, swapping out the empty plates for plates with several large, but thankfully dead and de-stingered scorpions. Max could have sworn that Grey's very stare was going to set the 'food' on fire.
"ANNNND… GO!"
Grey immediately began to work down his first scorpion. Surprisingly, he was doing it rather efficiently.
"I've heard of emotional eating, but I don't think I've ever seen it in the context of being angry." Tobi quipped as they watched. Grey was already on his third scorpion and was in the lead. And there went another one.
Grey was starting the fifth scorpion when someone two seats down from them couldn't handle anymore and rushed off stage before the crowd heard him voiding his stomach of the scorpions he had eaten. This started a bit of a chain reaction, with two more fleeing the stage before vomiting in the background.
Grey was on his eighth scorpion now and showed no signs of slowing down, let alone stopping. His glower had not let up and his gaze was fixed upon his treacherous friends.
"Umm, I'm kinda starting to get concerned about his promise of retribution." Jessica said, a hint of fear in her voice. This was further compounded when he pointed with two of his fingers at himself, then back at his friends. Down went the tenth scorpion.
"He's actually doing it. He's actually going to win this…" Tobi gasped. It was true. Grey was in the lead by a very wide margin, and was finishing the fourteenth scorpion. He grabbed the final one and ate it as if he was determined to grind it to dust before swallowing and slamming his hands down on the table.
"WE. HAVE. A. WINNNNNERRRRR!" the announcer shouted as the other contestants stopped. Another one rushed off stage to vomit as Grey was presented with a small trophy with a golden scorpion on top.
He accepted it with as much feigned pride as he could muster as he walked off stage stiffly and back to his friends, who were now keeping their distance from him.
"I repeat, there will be retribution for this…" He promised before turning and heading back out to the market. Max, Tobi and Jessica all followed behind, fearing what retribution Grey was plotting for them.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful. They did some shopping, chatted with a few of the shopkeepers, but did NOT go to get any food or try any more rides. They weren't eager to push Grey's stomach after… that. However, they were rather concerned that Grey seemed to have acquired a few shopping bags and refused to let anyone know what he had purchased.
Eventually, they all went back to Jessica's relatives' place, since they had left the car there. They were invited to stay for dinner, but politely declined on account of Grey. Though, they didn't explicitly state why.
Later that evening, Max. Tobi and Jessica noticed a distinct lack of the fourth member of the group in their deluxe hotel suite. Fearing his retribution was upon them, they hurried out of the hotel room until it was late at night, when they got a phone call.
"Where'd you guys go to?" Grey asked over the phone.
"Where did you go to!? You vanished over an hour ago!" Jessica exclaimed, with Tobi and Max peering over her shoulder.
"I thought I told Tobi that I got a call from Monarch and was going to step out for a bit. Then I started to not feel to well so I thought some fresh air would do me good. Anyway, I'm back in the room. Where are all of you at?"
Tobi looked confused for a second.
"We're still in the hotel. We'll be right back." Jessica replied and they started heading back.
"Did he say anything to you?" Max asked.
"Now that you mention it, I think he did say something to me before he disappeared, but I can't remember what it was." Tobi responded.
When they got back they found Grey sitting on the couch, watching TV. He looked a bit pale.
"I think those scorpions are starting to revolt." He groaned with a bit of strain in his voice. They could also hear some vague accusation in his voice. But they felt no guilt. However, they did feel a bit of fear.
But the retribution they feared did not come. But late that night, they heard someone rushing through one of the rooms to the washroom. They could all guess who.
After several minutes of listening to Grey relieving his stomach of those damned scorpions, they heard him mutter several curses under his breath before taking some medication and going to bed. The rest of the night was without incident.
Yeah right. Around half past midnight, they heard what sounded like an analog alarm clock going off in Jessica's room. Well, everyone except Grey, who was wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Then again, at five past one. Another one went off. And so, this continued until four in the morning, when alarms stopped going off.
The next morning brought about another form of disruption.
"WHERE IS MY UNDERWEAR?!" Max and Tobi both shouted in unison. They both turned to Grey, who was just pulling on a pair of shorts before shrugging and walking to the fridge and pulling out a carton of milk they had purchased for breakfasts. He poured himself some cereal and sat down on the couch, completely unperturbed by his friends panic over their missing undergarments.
They ran all over the hotel, occasionally glaring at Grey, who remained completely calm. Amused, even.
Eventually, one of them threw open the freezer door in desperation and froze in place.
"Grey, would you care to explain why our underwear is now inside two mixing bowls of ice?" Tobi asked through gritted teeth.
"Oh, is that where they went? How did they get there?" He asked with feigned ignorance. Max and Tobi looked ready to blow their corks. That all evaporated when they heard Jessica let out one hell of a shriek. A few seconds later, it was followed up by a bellow.
"GREY, I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!"
Jessica stormed into the room, holding what at first glance appeared to be a VERY large rubber tarantula. Until it's legs moved at least.
"You put a robotic tarantula in my suitcase?!" She shouted angrily, until she saw Tobi and Max in their pajamas, who looked just as steamed.
"What did he do to you?" She asked.
"He put our underwear in bowls of water and froze it." Tobi said through gritted teeth. Jessica looked at them, slack jawed.
"Seriously!?" She exclaimed. They turned their gaze back to Grey, who calmly put down his breakfast and stood up.
"I spent my evening sick to my stomach from you three convincing me to eat scorpions. I'm not done with you three. Not by a long shot."
And just like that, their anger dissolved back into fear.
What horrible vengeances did he have left for them?!
In truth, Grey didn't have any more plans left. Instead, he just made them think he did. And for the rest of the vacation, the thoughts of his next vengeance had them constantly looking over their shoulders.
And that was all the vengeance he needed.
So, I've wanted to do the scorpion eating contest for a while.
Creativity: The studio would also like to request that the fact we only chose a mini carnival in Arizona for the scorpion eating contest for the sole purpose that Arizona was the first place that came to mind that would have scorpions as well as what passes for modern civilization these days (Note, not a dig at Arizona, just a statement of the world as a whole right now), and is not meant to offend or insult Arizona or anyone who lives there. It was all just for one gag.
Author: Thank you.
Well then, I will leave you with the premise for the next Summer Special: Wedding gone wrong!