California. Home sweet home. Well... almost like home. After taking down Muggshot and stealing back sections of the Thievius Raccoonus, the gang and I decided to take a little vacation. I remembered in the game that there was a cutscene where Sly and the gang went to Hollywood and that Sly stole stars from the walk of fame. It took about twelve hours to get from Utah to California and another two hours to get to Los Angeles. Once we made it to Los Angeles, Jack and I turned on our watches and change. We went with raccoons this time, but our fur were a dark brown that matched our hair color.
"Ahhhh... man. That was a long drive." I stretched out my arms and legs once we got off the van.
"Yeah but we're here." Jack was also stretching. The two of us took a moment to let it all in. The two of us haven't been to our home state since we were transported into this world. It almost felt like we were back home. The sights, the smells, and the atmosphere felt like home but the people were not human, so it was close to home.
"What should we do now we're here?" Murray asked as he dressed up as a tourist with a Hawaiian shirt and novelty sunglasses that were star lenses.
"I was thinking we head to Hollywood. I heard there's loads of scammers and swindlers that earn some stealing from me." Sly grinned at his idea.
Jack and I looked at each other and we both knew what we wanted to do. I went up to Sly and told him "Hey, would it be alright if we take the van. Jack and I want to go somewhere for ourselves since we're here close to our hometown."
Sly gave me a look of understanding and smiled, "Sure. First we go to Hollywood and you two can take the van."
I took the wheel and headed to Hollywood to drop off Sly and the others. After dropping the three by the Chinese Theater, Jack and I headed to the one place we would always go to when we were kids, Venice Beach. It took about a forty minute drive to get to Venice Beach but we made it there in no time. I parked the van by the beach and started going for a walk together.
I took a deep breath to get in that sweet beach smell, "Man this feels like home."
"You said it, bro. What should we do first?" Jack questioned.
"Let's grab a bite first. I'm starving since Mesa City." I suggested as my stomach growled.
We both grabbed our acoustic guitars out of the van just incase he wants to jam in the beach. We looked around to find a place to eat but we found a couple of food stands around the beach and there was one that caught our attention. It was a taco stand called "El Cerdo Loco" which was Spanish for Crazy Pig. We went in line and saw the owner of the stand who was an actual pig.
"Hola. ¿Qué les traigo? (Hey. What can I get you?)" the pig asked with a thick accent.
Luckily, me and Jack already know Spanish. I started ordering in Spanish, "Tengo una asada y dos pollo tacos y él tiene uno pastor y dos asada tacos por favor. Y dos Coca-Colas. (I'll have one asada and two chicken tacos and he'll have one pastor and two asada tacos please. And two cokes.)" I asked politely as the pig wrote down our order in his note pad. I handed the pig a twenty and he gave us our bottled cokes and a number for our order.
"Gracias. (Thank you.)" we thanked the pig.
The dining area was outside and it was packed. All the tables and benches were filled with dogs, cats, squirrels, reptiles and more. We try to find any seat that were open but no luck. Our number was called so we went to pick up our trays of food and went back to see if there was a table was open. A family of bears left the table and it was our chance to take the table. As we were gonna sit down, two girls were about sit at our table.
"Oh sorry. If you're gonna take this table, we'll find somewhere else to sit." one of the girls apologized who was a Vixen with tan colored fur wearing a bikini top and short shorts and has short blonde hair and green eyes. In a way she kinda reminds me of Inspector Fox.
I didn't want to be rude and send her and her friend to leave so I offered, "It's okay. There's room for four in this table. We can share."
"You don't mind?" the other girl asked who was a wolf with long dark brown hair and was wearing a black tank top and shorts and she had brown eyes.
"Yeah. We don't mind." Jack smiled at the girls as the four of us sat down together.
"Thank you. This place always gets crazy." the vixen mentioned how this was a hot spot for tacos.
"Yeah I can understand. I'm Nolan and this is my brother, Jack." I started introducing ourselves to the girls. The two sees us as raccoons so it was an opportunity to act as ourselves without raising suspicion.
"Natalie. And this is my bestie, Lara." the vixen introduced herself and her friend.
"Nice to meet you." Jack smiled at them as was I.
We started have conversations with each other and eating our food. We got along quickly. I started asking, "So are you two from here?"
"We actually just moved here. We share a place together. And you?" Natalie said as she had her arm around Lara.
"Well we are from here but we're traveling around. We came back from France, Great Britain and Utah to visit friends." I had to stretch out our lie to avoid any suspicion by calling the our enemies "friends." The girls eyes light up when I mentioned that we traveled to Europe.
"France? I actually have a cousin who lives in France." Natalie questioned.
"Really? Well that's interesting." I said as I took a bite of my taco.
The girls noticed our guitars behind our backs and Lara asked, "You two play?"
"Yeah. We play. Can you?" Jack responded.
"A little." Lara acted a bit shy.
"I can see you being a musician. You gat that rocker girl vibe." Jack commented as Lara was blushing a bit and turned away like a shy schoolgirl.
Natalie and Lara looked at each other and turned to us, "Do you want to hang out? You two seem nice. Why don't we have some fun?" Natalie suggested.
Jack and I looked at each other and thought it would be fun to make some new friends. We turned at the girls and replied at the same time, "Yes." After eating, we walked around the beach and saw a bunch of vendors and shops that made it feel just like home back in our world. Luckily, we blended with the crowd by being raccoons while in disguise. I was wearing a buttoned shirt with shorts and flip flops. Jack was shirtless and only wore cargo shorts and sandals. The four of us walked around the whole beach and decided to relax pm the beach. Natalie actually had a beach towel that could fit the four of us to sit down.
"This nice." I commented of the quietness and was relaxing with the sunlight on my face and smelling the fresh saltwater from the ocean with my brother and the two girls we just met.
"Yeah. It really is." Natalie agreed with the quiet atmosphere as she turned to look at me.
Jack got up and suggested, "I'm gonna head to the water. Anyone want to join?"
"I'll go." Lara got up to join my brother to play in the water. I saw my brother and Lara playing in the water by splashing each other and playing games like kids. It makes me happy that Jack was enjoying himself, even though we got stuck in this world and no idea how to get back. I was alone with Natalie and I looked at her to see that she was beautiful. Even though she was a fox, she is still a woman to me. It actually got really quiet because we didn't know what to do or talk about. We both kept looking around the beach and we both felt a bit awkward.
I try to start a conversation with Natalie, "Soooo... Um, why did you came to L.A.?"
"Well me and Lara actually just graduated college and we decided to live here when we got jobs here." Natalie explained how she got to California of how she is working at law firm. She is currently in an apprentice program to gain some experience before taking the Bar Exam so that she can become an attorney herself. She told me that she came from a family of law enforcement where her father was a cop.
"That's really interesting. Hope things goes well." I rooted for her.
"Thank you. And you? You said you're from here but your currently traveling. What do you do for a living?" she asked me why I traveled. I had to tell her something with our saying that I'm a thief so I came up with an idea.
"I'm a translator. I actually graduated last year with a degree in Linguistics and the ability to speak seven different languages. I travel around for corporations, celebrities, and projects that need help with translations." I was able to say about the truth that I majored in Linguistics back in my home world. I was able to tell her something that was believable.
"So that's why you travel. That must be fun to travel around. To see all sorts of places, doing new things and eating exotics foods." Natalie leaned back and looked up in the sky and thinking how exciting it must be for me to travel. I could not tell her that I was a thief, let alone I'm a human in the inside of my disguise. Jack and Lara got back from playing in the water with both of them soaking wet.
"Hey bro, how about we put a little show?" I told Jack as I grabbed both of our acoustics. Natalie smiled at me as she seemed to excited to see me play.
"I'm game. What should we play?" Jack asked. Since we were in SoCal, I thought of playing one of our favorites.
"Ill go first." I placed my hand in a G bar chord and strumming in a reggae pattern. Jack realized already knew what song I was playing as he started to follow along.
Me:
Ho ohh whoa ho ho no ohhh
Hoo ooh oh oh oooh oh
Jack:
Well this is how it starts, Two lovers in the dark
On the run, from the one That they called Sheriff Spark
Six guns by their side and bullets around their waist
Two shots to the sky
Signal sound for the chase
The safe was nearly empty and They were nearly free
But were seen by the Good eye of the mean Billy Green
And he screamed at the top of his lungs They're on the run
It's the two outsiders Grab your horses and your guns
Me:
I said I wish that
We could stay here,
But I fear our time has come
We could ride out in the darkness
Chasing the rising sun
We gotta pack our bags this instant,
We're heading south-bound to the next town
And if we all arrive there so safely,
Baby you can
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Jack:
Well it's the story of the two
Always on the move
They got nothing left to lose
'Cept their guns and their wounds
Now they're crossing borders
Sheriffs posse on their tail
They'd rather die together
Than be stuck up in a cell
They drank up all the whiskey and They partied every night
Like it could be the last The bounty said shoot on sight
So they chased the endless summer Though it came with the pride
They wouldn't stop running till They found a paradise
But the sheriff finally found them with his eyes seeing red
So the lovers had to shoot him down and fill him full of lead
They were finally free To find a place to lay their head
And when they finally did he looked at her and then he said
Me:
I said I think that we can stay here,
'Cause I feel our time has come
And we can walk down to the ocean,
And sit with the rising sun
So unpack your bags this instant,
No more running from town to town
And now that we've arrived so safely,
Baby you can
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Me and Jack:
Well you're my green-eyed girl And I've been running around with you
It's the afternoon and we got nothing left to do
So wipe the dirt off, or Take your shirt off,
And we should go hit the cantina, We got work off
I said it's hot outside Let me go swimming in your eyes
We've been running for a while
Why don't you lay down and make smile
I could never ask for nothing better than this
It's just tequila and the beach, that's why its salty when we kiss
I said I think that we can stay here,
'Cause I feel our time has come
And we can walk down to the ocean,
And sit with the rising sun
So unpack your bags this instant,
No more running from town to town
And now that we've arrived so safely,
Baby you can Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Lay me down
Natalie and Lara looked very surprised with both of them looking speechless and their jaws dropped. I looked around and the people around us at the beach looked at us and started clapping. They looked just as surprised as Natalie and Lara, too. I was getting confused of how they reacted until Natalie said something.
"That was amazing. Where did you come up with that?" Natalie asked.
Then it hit me. This world is based in the year 2002. The song we played was made in 2008 from our world. I messed up this time without realizing we just played a song that wasn't made yet. Now everyone around us thinks we wrote this song and not the band The Dirty Heads. I had to come up with something but couldn't think and responded, "Y-Yeah. We've been working on a couple of songs when we were younger." Jack looked at me with the 'You've got to be kidding me' kind of look. But he went along with it just to avoid any trouble.
"You two should form a band. And it looks like you two got your first fans." Lara smiled at us as Jack and I laughed at each other and continued hanging out with Natalie and Lara.
Jack and I hangout with Natalie and Lara for a while. We played volleyball together, had some ice cream, and had a bond fire together when the sun set. It was a fun experience. I sat next to Natalie and she gotten closer to me and had her tail around my waist as I had my arm around her. I moved my "raccoon tail" to wrap around her waist as well. With sand on our feet, the fire warming us up, this was night to remember. Natalie was a sweet and so nice that I was starting to have feelings for her.
"This is nice. I'm glad we met." Natalie was feeling comfort around me.
"Yeah, me too." I replied.
Jack and Lara were sitting next to each other. Jack actually looked happy. I would've assume that he wouldn't go for a nonhuman woman, but he seems to be doing well with Lara. The two were getting close just as me and Natalie. Nothing could have ruin this moment I thought. Boy was I wrong.
"Calling Nolan. Come in Nolan. You read me pal?" it was Sly with my communicator going off in my ear.
"What was that noise?" Natalie looked confused with the sound of Sly's voice in my ear.
I came up with an excuse by grabbing my phone and saying, "Sorry. It was my phone." I pretended to check on my phone to check who it was. "Dammit. It's work. I've got to take this." I walked up a few yards away from the bond fire so that no one listen into my conversation with Sly.
"God dammit Sly. You kinda ruined a moment for me." I yelled softly.
"Sorry to ruin the fun, but listen. We need you and Jack back with the van. Vacation time is over, buddy. We have to head to Haiti tomorrow. It's time to head back to the safe house. I'll see in a bit." Sly hang up on me.
I sighed as Natalie walked up to me and noticed I was in distress, "Is something wrong?"
"Hm? Oh no. It's just work. They want me in Haiti tomorrow. A company needs a translator to understand French at a short notice." I lied with a straight face to see if Natalie would buy it. She did. I just could not let her get in the way from what I'm doing.
"Haiti? When will you back?" she questioned as she looked worried for me.
"I don't know? My boss mentioned of possible trips after Haiti. I'll be gone for a month." I already knew that we were going to China and Russia to face Panda King and Clockwerk after facing Mz. Ruby, so I had to make another excuse for being gone. I didn't really want to leave yet, but duty called. Natalie looked disappointed but she understood. I actually felt guilty for leaving after all the fun we had today.
"Hold on." Natalie head it back to grab something from her bag. It was a little notebook as she wrote down something and tore the page she wrote on and gave it to me. It was her name and phone number on it with the XOXO and heart shape on the paper. I started to blush a little and was a bit baffled.
Natalie cupped her hands with my hand and said, "You're really sweet, Nolan. And I want to get to know you more. Just promise me you'll call and let me know when you're back. Promise me." she commanded me. Natalie then gave a kiss on the cheek and that cause me to blush more. She giggled of how I reacted.
"T-Thanks. Well, I uh... w-we should get going. B-But, I uh... well we will be back and, uh... I'll call to let you know." I swore that I'll call her as I was being baffled like an idiot. I shouted out to Jack, "Jack. We gotta go. Work called."
Jack pouted but he got up and walked towards me. He looked at Lara and told her, "Sorry Lara, but we got to go."
"Don't worry. We'll be back." I told the two that I'll keep my promise. We waved goodbye to Natalie and Lara and started to head back to the van. An hour later we made it to the rendezvous point where Sly told me to meet them on the way over there. I parked in an alley in down town Los Angeles. Sly, Bentley and Murray saw the van as Jack opened the back doors.
"Welcome back." I greeted.
Sly was carrying a bunch of stars from the walk of fame and Bentley and Murray were still in their tourist disguises with some souvenirs like fake Oscars and license plates. Sly then mentioned, "You missed all the fun. Murray got a chance to meet Vin Diesel and Bentley met Bill Gates in Beverly Hills." as Sly showed me photos of Murray with Vin Diesel and Bentley with Bill Gates. The Vin Diesel in this world was a muscular Chimpanzee with the shaved head and was wearing a white tank top and black leather jacket in the photo (like the Vin Diesel from our world). The photo of Bentley and Bill Gates was really weird. The Bill Gates in this world, get this, a turtle as well, only he was a bit taller than Bentley and was wearing a blue sweater, glasses, and had brown hair.
"That's really cool guys." I said.
Sly noticed something as he stared at the pocket of my button shirt and noticed a piece of paper sticking out. He swiped the paper from my pocket. "Hey! Give that back!" I told Sly.
"Hoho... Look what we have here." Sly gave me the mischievous grin as he read the paper I had. "You were out with a girl? And she gave you her number. Way to go pal." Sly praised me for getting Natalie's number. This made me feel proud of my self but that wasn't the point.
"T-Thanks." the thought of Natalie made me blush. I shook my head to realize what was important.
Bentley butted in, "Um, guys. We should really head back to Paris and set out a plan for Haiti."
"Bentley's right. Vacation's over boys. Let's get a move on." Sly tapped his cane on the van as Murray got to driver seat and head out back to the safe house.
During the drive, I stared at the Natalie's number and thought to myself, 'Should I really be thinking about a girl who I just met? Or should I focus more what's important? I don't know. I just hope she doesn't find out who I really am. How would she react seeing my true self? I just hope she doesn't get involved with this."
Hey guys. The song I put on this chapter was Lay Me Down by The Dirty Heads. I do not own the song what so ever. This chapter was more lengthy than what I'm use to, but it was fun. Quick shout out to Deltadragon373 for the praise and giving confidence to type. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next time.