AN: This takes place right after Vol. 1 Issue 4 of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. It is generally spoiler free, and just a fun little one-shot that includes references to The Emperor's New Groove (though not enough to be considered a crossover).

Movie night with a super hero.

Well, it wasn't like Nancy hadn't had movie nights with her before. But this was the first one since she'd discovered that Doreen was a super hero. And she thought this movie would be On Theme. But subtly so.

Doreen, ever eager, was already sprawled out on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in her lap and a squirrel on her shoulder. Her large bushy tail was draped over the side, which Nancy was glad for. It meant Doreen felt comfortable enough to be herself here. And the excited tail twitches made Nancy smile, too.

"I know it's been out for basically ever, but I haven't actually seen this one," the redhead said.

Nancy paused. "You've never seen The Emperor's New Groove?"

Doreen shook her head with a massive grin. "Nope! So I'm super excited to see it!"

Nancy wasn't sure if the word "super" was supposed to be a pun. Knowing Doreen, it probably was. "Oh. Well, you'll like it. There's squirrels in it."

Somehow Doreen's smile got even bigger. The squirrel on her shoulder said something, to which Doreen replied, "You did not already know that, Tippy!"

Tippy Toe, trusty squirrel sidekick extraordinaire, continued to chatter. Doreen translated as Nancy sat down and the trailers began to play. "She insists that every movie has at least one squirrel, because everyone knows that squirrels are naturally the best actors."

Nancy thought about how often Doreen and Tippy Toe nearly blew their secret just by talking in public. Not to mention Doreen's constant terrible excuses that amused Nancy every time. "She's right," Nancy said. Best actors indeed.

Doreen told Nancy about all her favorite movies, which then turned into an anecdote about playing improv with squirrels in the park. Nancy listened to every word. And then the movie began.

"Shh!" Doreen exclaimed. "It's starting!"

Nancy didn't mention that Doreen had been the only one talking.

The movie progressed for a while; both girls (and squirrel) laughing at all the right parts. Nancy loved Pacha and his wife, while Doreen seemed to particularly enjoy all the scenes with Kronk.

And then came the squirrels. Specifically, the scene wherein Kronk spoke his own version of Squirrelese. Nancy, knowing this part was coming, ignored the TV in favor of observing her roommate's reaction.

Doreen blinked. Blinked again. And asked to rewind it.

Nancy obliged.

As the scene ended, Doreen paused the movie. "I don't know how, but the Squirrelese isn't completely wrong."

Nancy thought the verbal "squeak"s in the movie sounded nothing like Doreen's perfect squirrel noises, but she wasn't any sort of squirrel expert. "How?"

"Well," Doreen nibbled her bottom lip in thought. "The dialect is definitely weird, and the accent is… human. But the tone and the length of the...squeaks… is actually right. Like, if I already knew what he was trying to say, it would kind of make sense."

"It's got to be a coincidence," Nancy said. "Nobody but you actually knows Squirrelese."

"Yeah…" Doreen trailed off.

Nancy watched her for another moment before resuming the movie. As the action and humor continued, it seemed that the random squirrel-speech had been forgotten.

Until the end of the film, when Squirrel-Speak was used again. Doreen's head was tilted to the side, in a manner that Nancy had to admit was at least slightly adorable. She was muttering something under her breath. Nancy thought she was simply repeating all the false Squirrelese.

"The word order he uses is weird, like he just translated word-for-word directly from English," Doreen mused as the credits began.

Nancy nodded. "So like a Pidgin Language."

Doreen furrowed her brow at Nancy. "No, it's a squirrel language."

Nancy shook her head, stopping the laugh that threatened to come. "A pidgin language is just a thing that happens when someone translates word-for-word like that, and doesn't take into account that the other language would have a different word order."

"Oh!" Doreen smiled. "Then yeah! It's a Pidgin Squirrel Language!"

Nancy laughed.

"But how did the writers figure it out? They didn't even get an actual squirrel to voice the squirrel!"

"Either someone else knows Squirrelese, or you'll time travel to the past some day just to help with this movie," Nancy suggested.

"Aw yiss!" Doreen cheered. "I hope I time travel! That would be awesome!"

Nancy smiled. "So, what did you think of the movie?"

"There were squirrels in it," Doreen said matter-of-factly. "So I give it five stars."

Yeah, Nancy had been counting on that.