"This is big, Cunningham and Smith," Howard states as the three are walking down the hall together. Randy is walking between Amy and Howard. "First day of home Ec."
"We're already a group in Science, Gym, Spanish, and lunch," Randy counts off and Amy is about to open her mouth, to tell him that lunch isn't a subject. But then she closes it with an amused smile, shaking her head. Howard would protest otherwise that it's his favorite subject. "When we're officially logged as baking buddies, we'll be a group in every class!"
"We will have achieved the Freshman class-fecta," Howard states, throwing his hands in the air with Randy.
"You guys are idiots. How does Amy put up with you?" Flute Girl says before she walks off. They just ignore her, doing their signature handshake.
"And, Ames is a great cook, so we can't fail this class," Randy smirks as he gestures to her.
"Oh, I'm not that great," She chuckles at him, hugging her books close. "I just cook at home a lot for myself and my grandpa sometimes too."
"Are you kidding?" He raises a brow at her. "Your cupcakes are the BRUCE! Why even pick this elective, anyway if you already cook?"
"Umm," She scratches her cheek and Howard smirks at her.
"You just want the recognition, don't ya, Smith?"
"Is that so hard to ask?" She shrugs undeniably with a sheepish smile.
"Eh, there's nothing you could do that makes me think you're a bad cook," Randy tells her.
She smiles, closing her eyes. "Thank you, Ran. That's sweet."
He sighs dreamily to himself.
Howard rolls his eyes at them and opens up his bag, digging into it. "I took the liberty, hope you don't mind." He holds up three chef hats with their names on them in cursive.
"Those are ridiculously awesome!" Randy's eyes shine at it.
"Wow, thanks Howard," Amy takes hers into her hands.
Howard opens the door as they're wearing their hats. "After you, Chef Cunningham," Howard gestures inside the classroom.
"Oh, no, no, no, Chef Weinerman, I insist," They both try to squeeze in, and they both step back. "Where are my manners? Chef Smith, after you."
"And they say chivalry is dead," Amy grins as she steps inside. Then the two squeeze into the classroom.
"Greetings, fellow foodies," Jerry greets the class.
"Mr. D's teaching a few classes, so he can take me on a tan line optional cruise," Mrs. Driscoll puts her arm around the skeleton. Then she leans in towards the class, pointing towards the skeleton. "Don't tell him I know, it's supposed to be a surprise."
"That skeleton's gonna teach us how to cook?" Morgan asks skeptically.
"Well, she sure isn't. Look at me, I'm all bone," Jerry waves around his arms, and Bucky chuckles.
"Delicious zing, Mr. D."
"Brown-noser," Amy murmurs quietly, causing her friends to laugh.
"He so is," Howard shakes his head.
"Before you pick your baking buddies, I'd like to introduce our foreign exchange student. Put your oven mitts together for the new kid, Franz Nukid," Jerry gestures to the door, but it doesn't open. Mrs. Driscoll blinks for a few seconds.
"I am Franz," A blonde kid with a German hat is in front of the class. "I was just enrolled in your education factory. Hallo."
Crickets chirp as it's dead silence from everyone. "Now you say hallo," He points at the class.
"Um..." They all mumble a greeting.
"That was excellent hallo!"
Amy raises a brow at him. He's certainly...eccentric. "That guy is so weird," Howard points at the boy. "What is up with that shoobtastic hat?" He glances at Franz, watching him take a seat not too far from them. Howard's hat flattens a bit as Franz turns around and waves to them.
"Howard, he's new. Give him a chance," Randy states as Amy waves back in a friendly way. "Not everybody has it locked down as we do, and Ames was just like him."
"Ran's right, he just started here. Maybe when I get a chance, I'll give him some tips on being the new student," Amy crosses her arms over their table. Randy grins widely to himself at hearing the nickname again.
"Let's get rolling. Time to pick your baking buddies," Jerry announces as Randy's backpack flashes behind him. He turns around and gets his bag, taking off his hat.
"What are you doing?" Howard whispers as the two glance at Amy. Thankfully, she's too busy paying attention to Mrs. Driscoll.
"Ninja Nomicon," Randy whispers back, pointing to the inside of his bag. "It could be important."
"Nothing is more important than the class-fecta," Howard says louder, Amy glancing at him.
"Just tell Mr. D we're a group. I don't have to be there for that, right?" Randy shrugs at his friend.
"What are you talking about?" Amy eyes him suspiciously. Ever since she suspected that he was the Ninja, she's been very cautious, watching his expressions. Especially when he suddenly gets out his math book, which makes no sense to her, since he sucks at it. And Randy almost never studies. Of course she wasn't going to confront him, because he'd deny it. She's no better keeping a secret from him, and she should leave Ninja's identity alone, but...this was her best friend she's suspecting. Even though they trust each other, somewhere deep down, she wants to know what he's hiding.
"Uhh...a text message! That I have to answer! Right now," Randy smiles nervously at her.
"Your phone didn't even buzz."
"It's on silent," He says quickly.
"Then how'd you know you got one from your bag if you couldn't hear it?"
Her own bag buzzes because of the Kunoichi Nomicon, causing her to flinch. "Oh look at that, I just got a text myself! I need to answer it..."
"Your phone didn't buzz," Randy places his hands on his hips, looking at her suspiciously and she smiles nervously at using his own excuse. Similar to how she suspects him, Randy still hasn't disproven that Amy isn't hiding something. He'd think that if she's hiding that big of a secret, she would've told him already. Why else would she act so weird? Then again, she is a girl, and girls tend to hide a lot of stuff.
She's never in the same room as the Kunoichi, and she's appeared in places that she couldn't have been in...but she doesn't have white hair like the Kunoichi does, and neither does any girl in school for that matter. Though their hairstyles are similar...
"Just wait two seconds," Howard stops Randy's hand from grabbing the book for Amy to see. "Buddy up with us, and then answer your text."
"Give me my bag," Randy narrows his eyes.
"No," Howard answers stubbornly.
"Give me the bag," Randy repeats again, snatching it. They wrestle for the bag.
"Class-fecta," Howard insists again.
"Class-fecta isn't a real thing," Randy states, to which Howard gasps. His friend falls onto the ground. Amy stares at him wide-eyed. Even she didn't believe in that, but she wouldn't tell Howard. She knew better at this point.
"I'm the Ninja," The taller boy whispers to him. "I like being the Ninja. It's my duty, but I wouldn't expect you to understand what it means to have a duty."
"One," Howard holds up a finger, laughing. "Duty. And two...how dare you?" He points an accusing finger at Randy.
"Whatever," Randy turns away, crossing his arms. Howard does the same thing. Randy crawls into a cabinet as Amy's bag flashes pink. She bends down and grabs her bag, while Howard isn't paying attention, grumbling to himself.
"I'll show that wonk...class-fecta..."
She sighs a bit as she gets into another cabinet. The two open up their books at the same time, shloomping into their Nomicons.
"What the juice, Nomicon? Howard is so wrong on this one. Right?"
"Hm?" Kunoichi is now more confused than ever. Both of them are in sitting positions.
Words appear in front of them. "The most dangerous enemy often wears the mask of an ally," Ninja reads, two ninja doodles appearing in front of them. They fist bump, just like Kunoichi and Ninja do. Then the one on the left starts attacking the other. "Thank you. Howard is totally being a huge enemy right now and Ames doesn't look so clean right now either!"
Kunoichi turns to him nervously. "What exactly is this regarding, Ninja?"
"One of my best friends is hiding something. Let's just say that I have my suspicions." She bites her lip anxiously. "The second I vloomp out of here, I'm gonna tell that guy what's up."
The swords stop clashing and they look at Ninja in disapproval. Kunoichi raises a skeptical brow at him.
"Ah, what's up?" He glances between the three of them. Lasers come in and cut holes underneath the two, causing them to fall with a scream. Randy hits his head against the ceiling, rubbing his head. Amy crawls out first, secretly putting her book back into her bag.
"I will just look in this cabinet for the dill weed."
Franz opens the door and Randy falls out of it. "Hey, you found the dill weed," Howard gestures to the boy.
"Hallo," Franz points at him...wearing Randy's hat. Randy's name has been crossed out in favor of Franz's.
Randy stands up, quickly hiding his book behind his back so that Amy doesn't see. She stands up, adjusting herself. Randy pulls Howard away so they can talk.
"Howard, why is Nukid, the new kid, wearing my hat?" Randy jerks a thumb at him.
"What new kid? Oh, you mean my baking buddy, Franz!"
"Hallo!" Franz pops up between them, Amy staring at the three. "Now you say hallo."
Randy pushes the obese boy away again, but this time towards the brunette. "You just blew the class-fecta on that guy?"
"Ho ho! Look who suddenly gives a squirt about the class-fecta," Howard mocks him. Randy glares at him, clenching his fists. The timer goes off, and they turn to Franz.
"Howard, the buns are ready, yah?"
"Excuse me," Howard holds up a hand. "I have buns to butter." Randy stares in disbelief as Howard butters the buns. Randy grumbles, turning around to Amy.
"Don't you think he's overreacting?" He gestures to the two.
"Well, that text was apparently more important to you than the 'class-fecta' in Howard's eyes," She glances at Franz and Howard.
Randy groans as he sits next to her, sagging his arms. "Hey, you'll get past this," She places a hand on his shoulder. "It's you and Howard. You two practically define bros. I'm sure that you'll work out whatever it is you have to work out."
"Thanks," He smiles weakly at the girl. "I guess until then, it's just you and me..."
"So long as you didn't bet on this happening," She winks at him.
"No...but I am concerned about what you do when the Ninja and Kunoichi show up-"
"Oh, you know what? Let's just focus on the recipe!" She pulls out a piece of paper, looking anywhere else but him. Anything to get his mind off on her and finding out her 'secret.'
A koala hugs a bunny, a ferret running around them. Viceroy walks up to the play area, picking up the ferret. He's not wearing his lab coat, his briefcase covering up his pants. McFist walks into the laboratory.
"What's with all the fuzz, Viceroy?" He asks in disinterest.
"Mother told me these shorts were too short. I should've listen," He moves away the briefcase, as he's wearing purple shorts that show his hairy legs.
"Ew," McFist comments, looking away in disgust. "And I was talking about them!" He gestures to the three animals.
"Oh, that. That's my latest plan to take down the Ninjas," He places down the ferret.
"It doesn't seem very deadly," He stares at them.
"It's the exact opposite of deadly," Viceroy puts on his lab coat, snapping his fingers. The door opens to let in his robotic assistant. It floats nearby and shows a hologram of DNA. "Through genetic engineering, I extracted the adorability of a bunny, the naivete of a koala, and the weaselyness of a weasel. Then I encoded it into a robotic exchange student!"
He gestures to the hologram of a robotic body, which actually belongs to Franz Nukid! McFist lets out a yawn.
"I'm sorry. I must've checked out during the part where you talked about destroying the Ninjas!"
"He's not a destroy-bot, he's a befriend-bot," Viceroy elaborates and the hologram Franz waves.
"Hallo!"
"Thanks to his extremely high LQ, or lovability quotient, my robot will have no trouble collecting voice samples from every student at Norrisville." Viceroy snaps his fingers again. "Then, we compare the voices to the samples we have on file for the Ninja and Kunoichi respectively."
"Say hello to my ninja eye poke! Say hello to my ninja eye poke!" The recording repeats for the Ninja.
"Hello, stankage! Hello, stankage!" Kunoichi's recording repeats.
"Once we find the matches, we'll know who the Ninjas are."
McFist pets the koala. "And then we'll destroy them?" He asks in excitement.
"And then we destroy them," Viceroy deadpans in a duh tone.
"Ooh! This is my best plan yet!" He shakes his arm, the koala hugging his robotic arm.
"Please, sir," Viceroy steps forward. "You're scaring the koala." He puts down the scared animal.
"Makes me think that some people can't..." Flute Girl talks to Theresa as they're sitting with Bucky, Julian, Juggo, and a female student. "The way that they say they can."
Howard and Franz walk up to him, the obese boy smiling proudly. "I'm Franz Nukid. Hallo. Now you say hallo," He points at Bucky.
"Uh! Oh, me? Hello," He says into the finger, which is actually a voice analyzer. Franz plays it back. "Hello."
"Say hello to my ninja eye poke!"
"Voice match negative," A male voice deduces. "Not the ninja."
"Excellent hallo. You win!"
"I do? Hooray!" Bucky throws his hands into the air happily. "I can't help but love this guy," He says, the others laughing along. Randy and Amy walk over, having gotten their lunches. Theresa gives Amy a death glare.
"Howard, I'm willing to forgive you-" He drops his lunch, skidding over between Juggo and Franz. "Why is Nukid sitting in my seat?"
"Oh, this is awkward," Howard glances away, a small smile on his face. "My ex-lunch partner just caught me with my new lunch partner. Franz is teaching us a fascinating game from his homeland. So bruce! Smith, come join us as a group."
"I don't think so, I don't wanna get involved in...whatever this is," She waves a hand nervously. She already has enough to deal with thanks to Randy keeping an eye on her lately.
"Now you say hallo," Franz points at Flute Girl next.
"Hallo. Was that okay?"
"Okay? It was excellent hallo!" He deems to her, "You win!"
Everyone except Amy and Randy are laughing. Randy grumbles as he leans forward. "How could you replace me with that guy?"
"Hey! You were busy with your big, fat, hairy duty," He points at the tall boy, annoyed. Amy glances between the two, feeling a bit awkward. "But me not understand duty, me stupid. Me just want friend to eat with."
"I am not the one acting like an enemy here," Randy points to himself. "You are. The special someone even said so."
Howard gets into his face. "Well maybe you should have lunch with that special someone. Smith, are you on his side or our side?"
"The side that says this is ridiculous!" Amy places her hand on her hips. "Can't you just talk this out?"
"Why? He's said enough!" Howard glares at his 'former friend,' taking Franz's hat. "I'm gonna go abuse my friend Franz's exchange student discount at the snack cart." He holds up the card, putting on an innocent look.
"Hey!" They hear a voice, turning to see Bash bullying Franz. "What are you supposed to be, huh? Tell me!"
Everyone gasps, because Bash doesn't go easy on any new students. They look scared of what's going to happen, Juggo even biting Julian's fingernails. A crowd gathers around the two as Bash punches his fist.
"I am Franz Nukid," Franz introduces himself. "Hallo. Now you say hallo."
Randy facepalms at this as Amy pinches her nose. "It's official, he's a goner."
Bash glances around before speaking up. "Ha-llo?"
"That was excellent hallo," Franz compliments him. "You win!"
"Yeah! I win. Ha!" Bash punches the air. "I love this guy. I don't know why, but I love him! Come here, you little munchkin!" He gives the boy an affectionate noogie, the crowd cheering. Then they begin saying hallo to each other.
"Excellent hallo," A boy places his hand on Randy's shoulder and he storms off.
"Who cares...saying hallo."
"Ran..." Amy sighs as she catches up with him. "Just earlier today, you didn't mind him when he was the new kid. But now that he's Howard's friend, you're jealous of him?"
"Howard is being a total shoob," Randy argues back to her as they approach Franz. "And I'm not done figuring you out."
She places a weary hand on her forehead. It's times like these that she wishes she could tell him, but they've already had this discussion.
"Check, one two. Two. Check, check." He notices the two standing in front of him. "Oh, hallo! Now you say hallo."
"Franz, I know you think Howard's your new best friend and all, but actually, he's our best friend," Randy gestures to himself and Amy crosses her arms, glancing at him knowingly. "Okay, we're kind of having a thing right now," He admits once seeing her look. "And you got caught up in the middle of it. So, it'd be the cheese if you could find someone else to 'hallo' with."
"I don't know, hallo is actually kind of riveting to say," Amy shrugs next to him.
"Say hello to my ninja eye poke!" The recording plays back from the Ninja.
"Hello, stankage!" Then the Kunoichi's, and both are a match.
"Ninja and Kunoichi identified."
They both glance at each other weirdly, as he hasn't said anything for about a minute. "Uhh, Franz? Did you hear what he said?" Amy blinks at him, tilting her head.
"Hallo, Ninja and Kunoichi," He says, startling them both.
"What did you just say?"
"What?!" Amy holds her head, her mouth wide open.
"I said, hello, Ninja and Kunoichi," He repeats to the two.
"Huh?!" They both stare at each other in shock. Could it really be true? She sees him everyday...and he turns out to be her trusted partner...both of them talked about each other, and they didn't even know it. They confided in each other about crushes on other people...when it was really them. She suspected him, and yet his reaction to Franz's statement just confirmed it!
His jaw doesn't wanna reconnect as he stares at her. "It-" He stutters a bit, "What the-you're the Kunoichi?"
She flinches a bit, closing her eyes. It was finally time to come clean...she can't really deny it since it was told right to his face. "Are you...mad that it's me?" She asks slowly.
"No!" He exclaims immediately, holding her shoulders. "No, I-I-I'm not upset! I would never treat you like that! I...just can't believe it's been you this whole time. A-are you mad that it's me?" He gestures to himself.
"Of course not! You're loyal, protective, brave," She counts off. "And sometimes a shoob, but you always take responsibility for that in the end."
"And you're intelligent, understanding, and just amazing..."
They both turn a little red at the compliments, Randy rubbing his arm. Amy moves a bang behind her ear, smiling a tiny bit. Now that she knows his identity, just remembering that conversation they had about telling each other their identities...makes it just a little embarrassing. And also on the fact he betted on kissing her on winter break...
"No wonder why you kept disappearing all the time," Randy rubs his neck. "And that you couldn't tell me..."
"Yeah..." She smiles a bit, giggling. "Do you know how hard that was?"
"I mean, I suspected it was you, but I didn't know, you know?"
"I did too with you, but I didn't have any proof," Amy smiles sheepishly. "I guess we both had our suspicions when it was so obvious."
"I just can't believe that we know each other and oh man, it was only because he told us," Randy has a shocked look on his face.
Amy's eyes widen as she realizes the situation.
"Ninja and Kunoichi identified."
McFist lets go of the koala in alarm as he was watching the computer. "Who are they?"
"Ninja and Kunoichi identified."
"I heard you the first time!" He shakes the computer. "Who are they?"
"Ninja and Kunoichi identified."
"Who are the Ninjas?!" He holds his head out of frustration.
"Ninja and Kunoichi identi...fied." McFist decides then and there to punch the screen impatiently. He winces nervously as the door opens.
Viceroy walks in, holding up a device. "I just got an alert! The Ninjas have been..." He sees the broken screen and McFist reading a magazine a few feet away. "Oh, Hannibal, you didn't."
"It was like this when I found it," He stammers, the brain from his arm narrowing his eyes. McFist drops the magazine. "Send the chainsaw werewolves to retrieve Franz."
"But I can rebuild the Franz later-"
"SEND IN THE CHAINSAW WEREWOLVES!" McFist screams at the scientist.
"B-But we're not the Ninja and Kunoichi," Randy smiles nervously at the boy.
"T-That is so far from the truth," Amy coughs a little.
"But you are the Ninja and Kunoichi, I know this."
Howard drops the butter from his mouth in shock. "You told Franz? I can't believe you're trying to jack my BFF," He accuses them, gasping sharply as he places his hands on his cheeks. "WAIT, YOU'RE THE-"
Amy covers his mouth just in time. "Broadcast it to everyone, why don't you?! The whole school doesn't need to know that, man!"
"No, Howard, he just figured it out," Randy gestures to Franz.
"I swear, we did not tell him," Amy points at him. "He just stared at us and said that we were the Ninjas—wait," She turns around to Franz. "How can you know we're the Ninjas if you transferred here just today?"
He literally hasn't had a conversation with either of them until just now, and they barely know him. So how did he assume correctly when no one else can...?
"Franz, okay? You can't tell anybody," Randy turns to Franz pleadingly.
"But I must, it is my duty," Franz states, the girl staring at him weirdly.
Howard chuckles at the word again. "Ah, duty."
Amy steps a bit closer to Franz, furrowing her eyebrows. "He didn't say we were them until after we said hallo..." She gasps sharply, stepping back a bit. "Unless it's a trigger word for him. Ran-"
A giant hole is cut into the ceiling, causing everyone to gasp. McFist's hovercraft moves it away, the students running away screaming. Three chainsaw werewolves fall from the ship, landing around Franz.
"Oh, hallo," He greets them.
"Take him to McFist."
He's thrown over the shoulder of a chainsaw werewolf. "They're Franz-napping him!" Howard points up ahead.
"McFist could force him to give up our true identities. This kid doesn't know how much trouble he's in," Randy states and Amy turns to him.
"Then we gotta stop 'em!" They nod to each other, and Amy runs towards the bathroom. She skids to a stop as she hears someone come in behind her. She turns around to see that it's Randy. His eyes go wide as Amy glances around rapidly, feeling awkward. "Leave, leave now!"
"Sorry!" He runs back outside and goes into the right bathroom. Amy goes into a stall as red/black and white/pink lines come from the two bathrooms. They come out of the bathroom at the same time. "Never talk about that again?"
"Yup," She agrees with him as he pulls out three Ninja rings.
"Ninja rings!" He cuts the lines, and all of them fall down. Kunoichi snatches Franz's waist with her hair, tossing him safely to the side. The chainsaw werewolves stand up with a roar, two of them getting hit with his sai. The third one flies into the air with rocket feet, chasing after the two.
They dodge the robot, and it comes around a second time. They jump onto the back, pulling it upwards. The lunch lady comes in with a pot of chili and Kunoichi grabs a table with her hair. Ninja holds onto her as they jump off, allowing the robot to suffer from the chili. It screams as it melts into nothing. They look at the lunch lady, who just shrugs.
Some stray chili flies onto Franz's face, who turns away and hides his face. Ninja and Kunoichi walk up to him.
"See, Franz. This is why you shouldn't know our secret. It puts you in danger."
"Hmm, I don't think he's really a kid," Kunoichi shakes her head. "I mean, he just came today, and he figured out our secret the moment we talk with him? That means-"
"No, Ninja and Kunoichi," He interrupts the girl as he turns around, revealing half of his robotic face. "It's you two who are in danger."
"You're a robot?!" Both Ninja and Howard exclaim at the same time. Kunoichi nods her head knowingly.
"I should've known. He's programmed to befriend others, while using this hallo business to analyze the voices of everyone at school. That's how he figured it out!" She explains to them.
"The most dangerous enemy often wears the mask of an ally," Ninja recites as they stare at the robot. "Oh! You're the enemy the Nomicon was warning us about."
"You. Not me," Kunoichi corrects him.
Howard clears his throat, crossing his arms. "Anything you'd like to say to me?"
They don't say anything because Franz punches them in the face at the same time. Ninja lands on top of a table as Kunoichi slides to a stop on the floor.
Viceroy takes out the chewing gum from his mouth, putting it on a broken wire. "There. Fixed it. We can still download the Ninja and Kunoichi's true identities." The bunny is running in a wheel to give it power. Viceroy holds up a button.
"WELL, PUSH IT!" McFist screams at him. He does so and the screen turns back on. Ninja leaps, landing on the floor. He helps up Kunoichi, pulling out his nunchuck. Kunoichi pulls out her bo staff, spinning it around. Franz runs right towards them. They spin around their weapons, slicing at his arms to reveal their robotic nature. He stares at the two with his robotic eyes.
"McFist is uploading my data. I win!" He grabs the chain from Ninja, and then the bo staff from Kunoichi. He spins them around and throws them into a room that has a lot of heat. It's full of chili inside and the girl yelps, scooching away from it.
"Hey Kuno...that's pretty hot, right?" Ninja asks her and she grins behind the mask, remembering what it did to the chainsaw werewolf. They turn around as Franz comes in, breaking away the rest of the door. He jumps on them, pressing his foot against Ninja's chest and Kunoichi's neck.
"Now you say goodbye."
"Get...off!" Kunoichi coughs slightly, trying to pull him off.
"Hey, Nukid," Howard speaks up, hitting him with a tray.
"Hello, Howard. What are you doing?" He approaches the obese boy, who backs away from him.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand this, 'cause you're a robot, but I also have a duty as a friend. Also," He laughs at the word once again. "Duty."
While Franz is distracted, Ninja grabs him by the scarf, throwing him over the edge. He grabs at Kunoichi's leg at the last second just as she's climbing up.
"Oh!" She gasps, her hands slipping a little. Howard comes in and grabs her hands, pulling her up. She turns around to Franz, kicking him into the pot. Howard brings her back onto the platform and they watch as the robot starts to melt.
"Hallo...hallo...hallo..."
"Well, I guess you have to know the difference between your Franz and your enemies," Ninja jokes and Kunoichi rolls her eyes.
"Ugh, too soon, Ninja, too soon..." Howard facepalms herself.
"Dude..." Kunoichi closes her eyes, turning to the obese boy. "Thanks for the save, Howard."
"Well, for one, he'd never let me hear the end of it," He jerks a thumb to Ninja. "And, well, because MY OTHER BEST FRIEND IS THE KUNOICHI!" He shouts in excitement. "We have to tell everyone!"
"You can't tell anyone," Kunoichi deadpans at him.
"Well that stinks," Howard pouts a bit. "First I can't tell anyone about the Ninja, and now I can't tell anyone about the Kunoichi..."
Ninja and Kunoichi look up at each other, smiling behind their masks. They certainly had a lot to talk about...
McFist waits eagerly as the loading screen is still going. "The Ninja and Kunoichi's identities are..." Viceroy starts off, but then the screen flickers.
"Transmission terminated."
McFist grunts slowly in frustration, squeezing the weasel in his right hand. The weasel glances around out of fear and Viceroy approaches him.
"Sir, please release the weasel." He takes it, but the business man is still grumbling, squeezing.
It's silence between Howard, Randy, and Amy as the shorter boy is mixing. Amy nudges Randy to speak up as she reads off the recipe.
"Howard, I acted like a total shoob. I thought my only duty was being the Ninja, but I was wrong. I have two duties. A Ninja duty, and a best friend duty."
Howard gives a little smile, chuckling. Amy rolls her eyes knowingly. "No, you can laugh," Randy encourages him. "I said duty a lot of times."
"You did!" Howard grins widely. "You said it like 100 times! It was awesome!"
"Of course," Amy murmurs to herself.
"Hey, so what do you say?" Randy holds out his hand. "Baking buddies?"
Howard holds out the two chef hats, having rewritten Randy's name. Randy puts it on his head as Amy takes hers, doing the same thing.
"Class-fecta!" The boys cheer, getting the attention of everyone else. The timer goes off as Howard pulls out a cake in Franz's likeness. Randy puts a dab of red icing on the right eye as Flute Girl comes by. She just scoffs at them.
"You guys are idiots."
The three just smile at each other. Amy pulls out a bowl of frosting that she finished a few minutes ago. "Now let's frost this bad baby!"
The three friends are walking home together, only making occasional small talk. It was honestly the longest she's seen either boy go without talking that much. Obviously, they haven't talked about the obvious yet...
"Welp," Howard stretches his arms once they reach his house. "I am gonna go play some Grave Puncher. Care to join me, Cunningham and Smith?"
"Uh...you go on ahead, Howard," Randy smiles slightly, Amy glancing at him. "I think Ames and I need to talk."
"...Alright," Howard shrugs in disinterest, walking off to his house. Randy leads her to her own house, and they sit on the front porch. Amy takes a deep breath.
"I'm sorry," They say at the same time, surprising each other.
"You're sorry? For what?" Amy asks him.
"For not telling you I was the Ninja..." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "I mean...I wanted to, but then I thought that it might put you in danger with McFist. Not that it makes a difference now, anyway..."
"I wanted to tell you too, Ran, but I couldn't risk it. Of course, that was before I found out that you're my partner."
"Heh," He looks away and they don't say anything for a few seconds. The stars in the sky glow and Randy stares at them, and then at her.
"The stars are beautiful tonight," Amy murmurs as the moonlight gives her body a soft glow in his eyes.
"Yeah, you are..." He whispers to himself and she looks at him.
"What?"
"Ah, um, nothing," Randy says quickly, waving his hands. So many thoughts are spinning in his head. His partner, the Kunoichi, is Amy Smith. As in the girl he's had a crush on since her first day at Norrisville. He smiles to himself as he remembers something. "So...you like someone?"
"Yup. Just like you," She grins towards him a little.
"Are you gonna...tell him?" Randy wiggles his eyebrows, causing her to laugh.
"Are you gonna tell her?"
"In due time," He places his hands behind his back.
"Then I guess for now, we're in the same boat," She lies down on her back, joining his side. "But I didn't really question who you were until I saw your sword balloon from my grandpa."
Randy groans, dragging a hand down his face. "Now that was embarrassing. At least now I know why he couldn't tell me it was you. Because he knew who you were from the start."
"Yeah, he knew all along," Amy sighs a bit. "Up until today, he was the only person he knew. But...I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, Ran. I thought it was for the best if we just didn't know who we were. I thought I could protect you."
"It's okay," He smiles a bit. "At least we don't have to sneak around anymore."
"That's true," She stands up, turning to look at him. "Ready for me to kick your butt at Grave Puncher?"
"Oh, it's on!" He points up at her, standing up immediately. They both run off towards Howard's house. Both of them knew perfectly well who they were talking about...but for the sake of their friendship, they'll continue to be partners for the time being. Both of them are just content with being best friends and a team for now.