Angel: Um...this is gonna be awkward since it's been like a week or so since I last updated...for one, I moved out of my house (I am not in Florida yet, I'm staying with my aunt in Georgia until school is over...which it is not ^^' I don't officially leave Georgia until halfway through December) and it was really stressful, more so than when I moved to Georgia over 3 years ago. I didn't even want to move, but we are anyway (I don't really get consulted about this type of stuff anymore, my parents just make decisions and tell me things last minute nowadays). And my wifi was down for a good two days too...
And also, this is probably gonna bore others or make it seem pointless to tell, but I was just not in a good place even before I was packing. I think it started when I got back from California. Jumping into 3 midterms and a paper AND work stuff as soon as I got home was not easy, and certain stuff I keep asking to be done with people I know personally wasn't getting done (even though this stuff was important!). I even had to take a midterm at midnight just because of packing, and it was a miracle I even passed it, let alone focus on it since I was sleep-deprived. There was also a cheating announcement from one of my classes, because some of my classmates were cheating. For a few days, I thought I was involved because I had a midterm incident where the camera got stuck on a screen, where I used my phone for IT help, and using phones is not permitted during the test, and I was being recorded. Thankfully I'm not being looked at for that mistake since I managed to complete the test after an hour of being stuck on that screen!
And the...um, let's say discouragement from several stories put me down further along with all of that stress I mentioned just now. Some of the guest reviews discouraged me so much that I didn't even let them be seen by other people since I moderate reviews. No, it's not to delete discouraging reviews, I started doing that like two years ago since I get stuff that's...weird ^^' I'd rather not say which stories those discouraging reviews were from since I'm not gonna call people out on it, especially if they didn't know my situation at the time. And I also don't want other people calling them out on it.
Normally, I don't let discouragement from certain reviews bug me, I haven't for a long time since not-so-pleasant reviews happens. But with everything that was going on, it just got into my head that 'oh, I'm not good enough to continue writing' or 'I should just quit since people are getting tired of my content nowadays.' And that's not usually who I am! I'm usually inspiring others to make art based off my content or to write their own stories, whether I'm aware of it or not.
Umm *bites lip nervously* After certain stories such as this one or the Big Hero 7 series gets done, I'm not really sure if I even am gonna continue with what I had planned. I don't know, after mentioning all that, a part of me is still feeling like I shouldn't continue writing after those two stories. And don't even get me started with the stuff that happened lately this year where something bad had to happen, like the tire incident -_- Or the plagiarism from my stories that happened like 3 times this year. It's like...I'm in that depressing corner where I don't wanna come out, but I'm slowly crawling away from it?
I'm sorry if that was disappointing to some or boring to others, or even if people just wanted to skip through that eyesore, I just had to explain myself...
"So the music class is cancelled until further notice," Principal Slimovitz is giving the morning announcements. "In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you send...a note!" He holds up a purple music note.
"School announcement zing!" Bucky taps his triangle.
Randy and Howard's faces are full of boredom as Amy is reading a book to pass the time. "And finally, quicksand has been found in the creepy swamp behind the school," This is what gets the boys' attention as their eyes go wide. "So don't go in the creepy swamp. There's quicksand!"
The two perk up and lean in towards each other. "Did you hear what he said?" Randy whispers to him.
"Yeah! Go in the creepy swamp, there's quicksand!"
Randy laughs at him as Amy looks up. "No, he said don't-oh, why do I even bother?" She rolls her eyes.
Once they arrive at the swamp, Howard frowns at the keep out sign. "Oh, bad news, RC. There's a sign."
Randy grunts as he's carrying a cinderblock for some reason. "And a fence," He pants a little.
"Oh, I didn't even see the fence!" Howard whines at it. "Looks like we dragged that cinderblock all this way for nothing."
"No, Howard, I," Randy drops the object onto the ground. "Dragged this cinderblock all this way for nothing," He hands Howard his bag, which he drops onto the floor. "And I won't let it be for nothing!" He pulls out his mask as Howard beams. He transforms into the Ninja and pulls out his sword.
"Yes!" Howard laughs happily. "Chop it down! Chop it down!" The Nomicon glows from Randy's backpack and he falls onto his knees. He knows exactly what's going to happen when Randy goes into the book. "No! That book's going to ruin everything! It would've been even worse if Smith came with us!"
They had asked her if she wanted to go, but she refused, and decided to not partake in this shenanigan.
"Not this time!" Ninja declares to him. "Nomicon don't own me! We came to swamp, we gonna swamp!"
"In your face, Nomicon!" Howard brags, lightly kicking the bag. The Nomicon then starts vibrating from inside.
"Ninja Slice!" Ninja jumps up and slices at the fence, creating a hole.
Howard gasps as Randy takes off the mask. "I cannot believe you did that!"
The Nomicon pulses again, this time out of anger, but is ignored. "Howard, what say we go find ourselves some..."
"Quicksand!" They both exclaim, Howard dancing as Randy crouches to get his bag. He notices the book still pulsing, but pushes it down deeper into his bag. It goes quiet and he puts the bag over his shoulder, standing up.
They run through the hole and into the swamp, unknowingly going through a sensor. A skeleton nearby has a camera activated by the sensor, and it sets off an alarm. Someone walks up to the three cameras, noticing the boys.
The duo run up to a fork in the swamp with two signs that have 'quicksand' on them in two different directions. The two look at each other with smiles.
"You check left," Howard points behind Randy.
"I'll take right!" Randy points to the right. They run down the paths, and Randy gets caught in a trap, hanging upside down by a rope. "I've been snared like a possum! Or is it opossum? An opossum? A opossum? None of these sound right, Ames would know. Anyway, these guys don't know who they're messin' with!"
He pulls out his mask and puts it on, only for nothing to happen. He looks at his body in confusion. "Hello? Suit?" He puts on the mask repeatedly, but there is still no reaction. "Dangling in mid-air here. Could kinda use my suit and my weapons and...why isn't this working?!"
Amy's Nomicon flashes from her bag while she's in the library doing homework. Her eyes widen slightly before she looks down at her bag next to her chair. She picks it up and looks around to make sure no one is watching.
She opens it and gets shloomped in, falling onto the ground.
Amy falls inside orange space, a big card in front of her. The King of Clubs holds a toy bear, with the sound of a crying child being heard. Doodle hands sneak up and take the crown away.
The Jack of Clubs is surrounded by money until the doodle hands take away the sword.
Then it's the Ace of Clubs with a Ninja on it, but it's not Randy. The doodle hand takes away the mask to reveal that it's Mac Antfee.
The card moves away to show Amy the message.
"If you abuse the power, you lose the power," She reads it, tilting her head. "...Oh no, this is about Randy, isn't it?"
She gets a flash in response. "He got into some trouble, huh?"
The Nomicon flashes in confirmation, and the book pushes her out. She sits up and closes the Nomicon, placing it back in her bag.
"I knew this was gonna backfire on them, but nooo...apparently quicksand is more relevant than listening to me or the Nomicon for that matter," She rolls her eyes as she slings her bag over her shoulder, leaving the library.
She runs into the bathroom and gets into a stall. She pulls out her mask and puts it on...but like with Randy, nothing happens.
"What?!"
Leaves rustle nearby, and Randy looks around in a panic. He quickly hides the mask, using himself to spin the rope. He comes face to face with a short man that has red-brownish hair with a beard, scars, and a pouch hanging around his neck. His eyes actually glow purple.
Randy yelps and the man gets closer. "Well, how're you doin' over there, partner? My name Catfish. Catfish Booray."
"Hello, Mr. Catfish," Randy waves nervously. "My name's Ran...ginald Bagel. Ranginald Bagel, that's me! It seems I've been mistakenly caught in your trap."
"Oh, there's no mistake 'bout it, Mr. Bagel," Catfish smiles before he narrows his eyes, pointing to himself. "I'm the best trapped in these here parts. Or any parts." He chuckles before he gestures to Randy. "You danglin' cause you criss-crossin' on my popaty."
"Oh no, no, no, sir," Randy protests rapidly, "I would never criss-cross on your 'popaty.' This is all just a big misunderstanding."
Catfish just walks right past him towards a pile of logs. "Boy, it don't matter," He takes out a blade and cuts the rope holding Randy. He falls onto his back, only to be met with Catfish standing over him with rope in his hand. "Now you're my popaty."
Amy arrives at the fence, blinking at the hole in it. She steps forward and examines it further. "Judging by the marks from the fence..." She eyes it closely, sighing knowingly. "He used his Ninja Sword to cut through...so where do I go from here?"
There was the possibility of tracking their cell phones, but not without a computer. She's surprised that a signal even works out here.
She jumps through the hole, walking through. "And why isn't my mask working? I'm not the one who abused power, it was Ran!" She huffs slightly at her Nomicon, which just flashes in response. She's about to say something else when she notices the book stopping. She takes out her book and holds it out, and it blinks a bit slower than normal.
"Hmm..." She glances around and looks at the dirt to see a sensor. "Oh no...they must've triggered an alarm or something," She steps over the red line and continues forward. Because she didn't trip the sensor, the camera doesn't activate from the skeleton.
Kind of a faulty security system, she must say. Not even McFist is that bad. But then again, this is a swamp.
She notices as she gets to the fork, that the book is glowing a little faster than before. She turns to the right and it blinks this time.
"Huh..." She walks to the right and decides to hold off on calling anyone, so that she can take Randy by surprise and scold him later.
Catfish has Randy tied to the front of his truck. His phone goes off from his pocket and he answers the call from Howard.
"Howard?"
"Cunningham? Cunningham! Found the quicksand. I'm dangling over it!" He's trapped in the same manner that Randy was not too long ago, dangling over the same quicksand that they wanted to see. "I need the Ninja and Kunoichi! Hurry!"
"Okay, okay. Don't panic. I'll be right there," Randy glances around. "Actually, not right there, 'cause I'm sort of, kinda tied to the grill of a psychopath's pickup truck. And my Ninja suit doesn't work, and Ames has no way of finding me."
"Get off of speaker phone!" Howard holds his phone away from him. "It sounded like you said your suit doesn't work and that Smith has no way of finding us!"
"It doesn't. So just hang in there."
"Word play? At a time like this?" Howard asks in disbelief. The line then cuts off, to his dismay.
"Call dropped."
Amy follows the Nomicon to the snare trap that Randy was caught in. She gives a blank look and picks up a stick. She taps the ground with it and sets off another snare trap, looking up at the tree. She has her hands on her hips, shaking her head.
"Can't say I'm surprised if there are more traps around here..."
She notices the first trap and the type of cut from the rope. "This is definitely a blade cut, but..." She rubs her chin. "It's not the same cut from Randy's sword, since this looks different from the fence. So I doubt that he went Ninja and cut himself free. Though if his mask isn't working either, then that would explain things a bit better."
She looks down and sees footprints, drag marks, and then tire marks. She quickly glances at them, noting that the bigger footprints can't be the smaller ones. Randy has smaller feet, and the bigger footprints don't belong to Howard, so that means...
"Oh no," Her eyes widen as she realizes what must've happened.
Catfish and Randy arrive at the home. Inside, Randy is thrown into a cage. "Oh boy," He murmurs as he notices animals surrounding Catfish, such as a bear, alligator, and turtle. All of them notably have purple eyes, just like the man did when Randy first met him. Catfish places his feet on top of the turtle's shell.
"Get yourself some cozy, cher. This here is your new home."
"What. The. Juice?!" Randy exclaims at him.
"I'm the boss of this here swamp. Me," Catfish explains to him, gesturing to the animals. "All these critters? They do what I say. Ain't that right? I said, ain't that right!" He takes a turtle and gives it a noogie. The animal just nods in agreement, and he looks up at Randy.
"Ooh, a skinny mullet like you gonna make me a nice coat rack yet. I just gotta fit you with a collar. So what size collar are you? I'm gonna say about a 15, 15 and a half..."
Randy stares at him, baffled. "What-why would I know that?"
Another alarm rings and Catfish looks up to see Howard dangling over the quicksand. Since it was a trap triggered, there was a camera watching him. Though all of them are still unaware of Amy's presence in the swamp.
"It looks like someone else been criss-crossing on my popaty!" He opens up the pouch that was around his neck, putting some purple dust in his hand. He then throws it into the bear's eyes. "Now you keep an eye on Mr. Bagel. He act like a couyon, you have yourself a skinny mullet po' boy!" He laughs evilly, sprinkling some more dust onto the other animals.
"Y'all rest, follow me!" And with that, he leaves, Randy putting on his mask again. Like last time, he doesn't transform. He digs into his bag and pulls out the Ninja Nomicon.
"Ninja Nomicon, I've been trapped in a cage by some kind of swamp...wizard. Why won't my Ninja suit work?"
He opens up the book, shloomping inside. He's met with the same cards as Amy, the crown getting taken away. Then the sword, and then the mask.
"If you abuse the power, you lose the power. So I lost my Ninja powers because I abused them. But not forever, right? I mean, h-h-how do I get them back?"
He gets no answer in return and is pushed out of the book. "Fine. You won't tell me? Then I'll just do this without the suit," He takes off his mask just as Amy arrives, clamping her mouth shut. She peeks into the doorway to see Randy in a cage, guarded by a bear. Her eyes widen as she gasps, backing away slightly.
"Oh no, that's Ran in there! And based on what my Nomicon told me, he must've lost his powers because of cutting the fence. He can't use the suit...and because we're partners, I can't use my suit either," She deadpans at the last sentence. She wished that she knew about this beforehand. That way, she could've knocked some sense into that boy.
The bear sniffs around, looking outside. It sees the silhouette of Amy and breaks a hole into the door, grabbing her arm and pulling her inside. She yelps, gulping nervously at the bear. Randy's mouth goes wide at the sight of her.
"Ames?! How'd you find me?"
"The Nomicon played a big part, and led me to the trap. Then I followed the tire tracks here. I guess I should've snuck around the back, though..." She sweats a little as the bear holds her to face him. She chuckles nervously, but the bear throws her into a cage right next to Randy. She glances to her friend to glare at him.
"Psst. You help free us, I'll help you stop being a sofa," Randy suggests, only to get a roar in return. The bear swipes at the cage, Randy leaning back. He gasps as he sees one of the bars loose from his cage. Amy sees it too and he smirks. "You hungry?" He nods at Amy and they wiggle their legs out of the cages.
"How'd you like a bite of couyon leg?"
The bear growls, swiping at the cages, and this time, they break. They slip out, run around the bear, and jump out the window. Randy sighs in relief as Amy dusts herself off.
"You wanna tell me what's going on?" She turns to him, and before he could, a scream is heard. "Was...was that Howard?"
"I'll explain on the way. We're comin', Big H!"
They pant as they run. "Can't you Kuno out?" Randy asks her and she shakes her head no.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen."
He skids to a stop, turning to her. "Wait, you can't use your suit either? Why? I'm the one who abused power and lost them!"
"Because apparently, they're binding, so if one of us abuses the power, both of them can't use them!" She glares at him slightly. "There should be a warning about that somewhere. But you shouldn't have done this, Ran!"
"I know, I know!" He exclaims as they run again. "The Nomicon's mad at me too for ignoring it." They pass something, walking backwards to see a fan boat. With two seats, in fact. She sees the boat and gives a deadpan look at his smirk.
"Randy, no."
Yet they're driving it anyway a few minutes later. "And my mom said all those hours playing Swamp Puncher: Grand Theft Fan Boat would amount to nothing," Randy replies smugly as Amy is steering.
"So stop me if I'm wrong," Amy speaks up. "You and Howard went into the swamp, separated, you got into a trap, and then this Catfish found you, and now he wants to...make you into a coat rack? All because you stepped into his...popaty?"
"I know, crazy, right?" His phone rings and he answers it, on speaker. "Howard? Ames and I are coming to save you."
"What?" Howard shouts over the engine, animals surrounding him.
"We're coming to save you!" Randy shouts into the phone.
"I can't hear you! It sounds like you're on a fan boat."
"We are on a fan boat!" Randy yells in elaboration.
"Oh man, I miss everything," Howard complains into the phone. "Also, heeeeeelp!"
Up ahead, the trees fall and out of the bushes comes Catfish riding alligators. He screams in fright. "If I don't make it through this..."
"Howard, you're gonna make it," Randy tries to assure him.
"No, let me say this. In 7th grade, when I borrowed your underpants," He watches Catfish snap his fingers. "And returned them and said they were clean..." A couple of beavers bring over a boiling cauldron. "Not true! Not even close!"
Amy gags as she looks away, covering her mouth with a hand. "Wait, wait, wait," Randy gives his phone a tiny glare. "How not clean?"
"Adios, bromosabe and Smith," And with that, the line goes dead.
"Howard?" Randy calls out and Amy narrows her eyes at something.
"Ran...I think I know where Howard is." He looks in her direction to see smoke coming from trees up ahead. Randy slams down on the gas and the fan boat goes faster. Amy yelps a bit, but manages to steer it forward.
"Ooh, now we gonna make gumbo," Catfish says in delight as he looks up at Howard.
Howard screams and then Amy crashes the boat, causing them to fly into the air. They land side-by-side.
"Don't even think about it, Booray," They run up to him.
"You's supposed to be in your cage, boy!" Catfish points at him accusingly. "And who is this one?"
"Their friend," Amy narrows her eyes, jerking a thumb to Howard and Randy. "Your bear captured me and put me in a cage too," She clenches her fists, glaring at him. "I found my other friend over here trapped because of you! What is your problem?"
"You're not eating our friend," Randy points at Catfish.
"I ain't gonna eat your friend," Catfish gestures to the animals. "They gonna eat your friend. Then they gonna eat you and your little girlfriend."
Randy gulps at the animals, Amy cringing. They back away slightly towards Howard above the pot. "Would you two PJ up already?" Howard asks in fear.
"We can't! The mask is freezin' us out because I abused my power!" Randy looks at all the animals.
"It's affecting me too because it's binding. If one of us abuses it, we both lose it," Amy glances up at Randy.
"So, unabuse it and get us out of here!" Howard shouts at the two.
"Look out!" Amy points forward and he turns around to see a charging boar. He jumps over it and Amy backflips. He ducks his head from a snake and then Amy freezes. "Oh, that's a panther. That is a panther right there..."
The panther growls at them and it looks straight at Howard. Then it charges right towards him. "No!" Randy and Amy tackle the animal together. Because of their combined strength, they tumble right into the quicksand.
"Whoa," Howard replies in shock.
"I second that whoa two times," Catfish murmurs next to him. "Whoa, whoa!"
The quicksand bubbles and then it stops. Howard gasps sharply. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" He wails in agony for his fallen friends.
"Mr. Bagel and his girlfriend just sacrificed themselves for you. That was very noble...and stupid," Catfish comments, walking over to the rope. Some animals help him get to the end and he holds out a knife. Howard screams as Catfish is cutting the rope. Howard screams at his impending doom as Catfish's eyes glow purple. He covers his eyes, not prepared to be eaten.
The rope is about to be fully cut when two people rise out of the water: Ninja and Kunoichi!
"Power unabused!" They exclaim in unison as they land. Howard removes his hands from his eyes at their voices.
"Ninja! Kunoichi!" He cries out in relief. "Yes!"
"Ninja? Kunoichi?" Catfish asks in confusion. "Whatcha two doin' down there?"
The panther jumps up from behind, about to pounce on Kunoichi. Ninja kicks it away and they jump around to dodge it.
"Stupid...swamp...panther!"
Kunoichi throws her braid, capturing his waist and pulling him backwards to her side. "Oh, thanks Kuno!"
"Anytime," She smiles while holding her hair. The panther suddenly tackles him onto the ground, pinning him. Kunoichi falls onto the grass because Ninja is still around her hair. A shadow looms over them and they look up to see Catfish looking down at them.
"Oh, he name is Shaun."
"Shaun?" Ninja looks between the panther and Catfish. "Really? You named a panther Shaun?"
"Kind of mundane for a panther, gotta be honest," Kunoichi murmurs, trying to get her hair free.
"Get 'em, Shaun!" Catfish points to them both. The panther roars at the duo and Kunoichi eyes it closer, seeing the collar.
"Abuse the power, lose the power!" Ninja sees the Nomicon's message above the panther and Kunoichi points to the panther.
"Look!"
"Ahh...that's it! The collar!" Ninja exclaims in realization, pulling it off. The purple eyes disappear as the color moves away from its eyes. "You're free, Shaun."
The panther just leaves them be as Kunoichi releases her hair from Ninja, sitting up. The two stand up to glare at the man for what he did.
"How dare you?" Kunoichi spits out at him.
"You were totally abusing power, Booray. Wild animals should not be controlled by magic collars. And that furniture was way wrong. Didn't even look comfortable. What's up with having uncomfortable fur-na-ture?"
"Animals should not be used for your purposes!" Kunoichi points at him. "Not only is it wrong, it's inhumane!"
Catfish simply snaps his fingers, pointing at the duo. The animals step forward towards them. "Multiple Collar Slicing Ninja Rings!"
Both of them take out their rings and throw them at all the collars. They cut them off and set all of the animals free.
"My swamp army!" He exclaims in dismay as all of the animals walk away.
The two stand back up on their feet.
"Getting a little light-headed here," Howard calls out to them, even looking woozy.
"Oops, our bad," Ninja replies sheepishly while taking out his sword. "Ninja Slice!" He jumps over Catfish, slices Howard free, and grabs him by the leg. He catches his friend and lands on the ground. "Let's go!"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Ninja and Kunoichi," Catfish states, growling at them. Ninja just gives a small laugh.
"What are you gonna do, Booray? Your beasts abandoned you," Ninja points up at him.
"You have nothing to defend yourself with," Kunoichi shakes her head, narrowing her eyes.
"Oh, I still got a little somfin, somfin, yeah," He holds up the pouch around his neck. "This here my gris-gris. I got the power of the swamp!" His eyes turn purple like the animals that were under his control.
"Oh, how Bruce for you," Ninja states in a sarcastic tone. "We got the power of smoke bomb!" He throws it, and all three of them disappear from the scene. They also knock over the giant pot that Howard was gonna be cooked in.
"You spilled my gumbos!" Catfish exclaims while holding his head. "Oh, mighty spirit of the swamp...conjure!" The pouch around his neck starts glowing purple from the inside. "Bewitch! Voodoo!" Purple energy is released from the pouch, creating a red sky above him. Purple and yellow lightning strikes the ground, and he laughs. The power ultimately transforms him.
While running, Howard looks back, and his foot gets into another snare trap. Ninja cuts the rope off and Howard doesn't walk that far before getting into another one. Kunoichi sighs and cuts him free with a ring.
"These traps are really starting to get on my nerves," She comments in irritation, watching Ninja cut through grass. Howard gets into another trap, but Ninja cuts him free.
"He booby-trapped the whole swamp!" He jumps onto Ninja's back just in case.
"Ninja Slice! Ninja Slice! Ninja Slice!" Ninja swings his sword left and right to cut the traps in front of them. Kunoichi grabs them with her braid, throwing them into the air. She slides underneath two logs that slam into each other.
Then they jump over another trap. Kunoichi gasps up ahead, skidding her feet as a flying mace is heading towards them. She finally comes to a stop as it barely passes them. Kunoichi sighs in relief, wiping off her forehead.
"Now that...was a close one," She comments to her friends.
"The fence!" Howard exclaims at the fence up ahead. "We made it!"
The leaves rustle behind them, causing the three to gasp. Something jumps out of the bushes, and Catfish, as a giant monster in overalls, looms over them.
"It's a pythanthigator!" Ninja states slowly, turning to Kunoichi. "Is that a thing?"
"Well, it is now," She replies back, a hand on her hip. The Pythanthigator roars at them and spit lands everywhere. "Schansty!"
"Quick, through the hole," Ninja points behind them.
"I'm not leaving without you guys," Howard says in determination. Kunoichi blinks at him, surprised that he even said that about her.
"Wow, Howard. I'm...a little shocked to hear that." In the past, he used to either be willing to not have her included or be concerned about something else.
"What? You're my friend too," He shrugs at her. "If you're gone, who's gonna buy me McSquiddles or make me lunch?"
"Of course," She rolls her eyes knowingly. A giant fist lands between the two.
"I'll see you on the other side," Howard makes a break for it. They watch him run and then Ninja pulls Kunoichi out of the way from an incoming foot. They flip to a stop and then Pythanthigator looks underneath. He wipes at the duo with his tail, but they dodge out of the way. Ninja kicks while Kunoichi punches him in the face. They dodge the tail again, pulling out their signature weapons.
They leap in the air and the creature knocks them into the ground with his tail. He then grabs Ninja's waist with his tail. Kunoichi looks up in concern.
"Ninja!"
She watches him get slammed into the ground, sliding in front of the fence. She runs over to him and then the creature stomps towards them. It gets hit with something, which is revealed to be a cinderblock once it lands on the ground.
The two look to the hole in surprise to see Howard standing there. "Ha! Did you see that? I hit him from over here. Me! You know how hard it is to throw a cinderblock?"
"I mean, Kuno can lift just about anything with her hair, so I'm not sure-"
"Uhh, Ninja?" Kunoichi interrupts him nervously, looking up.
"Uh-oh!" He exclaims at the angry growl as the creature is looming over them.
They jump out of the way, only to get hair and a red scarf caught in the mouth. "Ah!" Kunoichi yelps, both of them landing on the monster's face. The monster extends its neck and coils around the two, like a snake. It squeezes the two.
"How do we stop this thing?" Ninja wheezes out.
A few doodle arrows point to the pouch nearby. Kunoichi grabs it and throws it away. "Ninj!"
The Pythanthigator drops the two, trying to go after the bag. "Ninja Pouch Slice!" Ninja slices it into pieces. They look behind them to see the creature turning back into Catfish.
"See you later, pythanthigator," Ninja laughs, the other two rolling their eyes.
"Boo!" Howard exclaims from behind.
The destroyed pouch lands in front of Catfish. "You killed my gris-gris!"
"Serves you right for what you were using it for!" Kunoichi points at him angrily.
"And now that you lost your power, the animals want back they popaty!"
"Good luck dealing with that panther, you jerk," His partner grins, hands on her hips. The animals come out of the bushes and surround their former abuser. All of them look angry with him. Catfish gets onto his feet, raising his hands nervously.
"Oh whoa ho ho hold on now, y'all! Ain't no reason to get ornery, he he..." They just respond with angry growls. He turns around and runs away, with the animals on his trail. Kunoichi and Ninja both laugh at the display. Two gators hiss at them and they jump, going through the hole.
"We're goin', we're goin'."
The three friends place a new cardboard sign to warn others of Catfish and quicksand.
"Guys, the swamp has taught us a lesson today," Howard turns to them. "The secret ingredient in a delish gumbo is a pinch of me," Howard gestures to himself.
"Actually, it's hot sauce," Amy points out.
"True...and there's that thing about our Ninja/Kunoichi powers. Either of us abuse them, we lose them," Randy adds in.
"Although you did get them back, so clearly there's some wiggle room," Howard chuckles a little.
"Nope, this Ninja is emergencies only from now on. By the way, Ames, how'd you track me down to my exact location with your Nomicon?"
"Oh, it acted like a compass of sorts," Amy gestures to her bag. "I guess it has to do with our books being connected, that I can find you with my book should anything happen."
"Cool!" He smiles and they push away the bushes to reveal Mr. Slimovitz. The other two hide behind the bushes. "Mr. Weinerman, what part of keep out of the creepy swamp did you not understand?"
"Uh, the keep out part," Howard answers him.
"You just earned yourself detention."
"Smoke bomb!" Kunoichi and Ninja appear behind the man.
"It's okay, Principal Slimovitz," Ninja states, Kunoichi winking at their friend. "This young man was just helping us fix that fence."
"Which was broken when we found it," Kunoichi smiles, hands behind her back.
"And is something we do as the Ninja and Kunoichi. Fixing fences."
"Oh, in that case, detention waved," And with that, the man leaves the trio. Howard gives them a deadpan look, since in real life, he'd never help them...
"What? Wiggle room."
"And at least we got you out of trouble," Kunoichi points at Howard.
