A.N: Welcome back everyone to "Masked"! I'm SO sorry, I know it's been a very long time since I've updated, but college this semester has been so crazy. Luckily, I've been inspired to write for this story since the premiere of Season 7. I really like it so far :)
Speaking of which, PLEASE DO NOT talk about Season 7 in the comments of this story. I always try my best to avoid spoilers while the season is happening, so please be respectful of that.
Anyways, with that out of the way, welcome back :) This chapter was a hard one to write. The way that this chapter started and how it played out in the beginning was VERY different compared to what the final version is. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy it anyway! Enjoy!
Butterfly walked from the living room and into her kitchen. She had a small stack of dirty plates and glasses from a lunch she had just shared with a certain houseguest.
"It's so good to see you, dude." She said, looking over her shoulder.
"It's nice to see you too, Butterfly." A male voice replied from the living room,
The sparkly Rhopalocera carefully loaded the dirty dishes into the sink and returned to the living room, dusting her hands off. "I'm sorry that you made such a long trip out here." She said,
Sitting on her couch was a yellow caterpillar with pink fur lining his body. His face was freckled and his eyes were wide and innocent.
"Aww, you know I always have time to visit my big sis." He replied,
Butterfly sat down beside the fuzzy larva and threw her arms around him in a sweet hug.
"Oh Caterpillar! I've missed you so much, little bro!" She said getting emotional,
Caterpillar smiled and rolled his eyes. "Butterfly, relax. It's only been a few months since I saw you last." He told her,
Butterfly pulled away and smiled at him proudly, tears were brimming at the corners of her emerald compound eyes. "I know, but still. It's not often that I get to see my little brother." She playfully ruffled up the pink fuzz on his antennae.
Caterpillar laughed and shoved her hands away. "Butterfly! Stop!" He laughed,
Butterfly giggled, "Sorry." She cleared her throat and properly crossed her legs. "So, how's college going?" She asked, Caterpillar was currently studying abroad in London. He was one of the brightest students in his year.
"It's going great! I'm meeting so many cool people, life on campus is fun, and I'm so close to getting that degree I need to pursue Interior Design." He replied enthusiastically,
"Have you gotten your butterfly wings yet?" Butterfly asked curiously,
"Nope, not yet." Caterpillar sighed, shaking his head. "But I've been eating a lot more. I feel that my time to become a chrysalis is coming any day now." He perked up at the end.
Butterfly gasped as she put a hand to her heart. "Really? Oh, Caterpillar, that's wonderful! All I want for you is to metamorph into a gorgeous butterfly like me and mother."
"Do you think that I'll become a beautiful butterfly?" Caterpillar asked sheepishly,
"Absolutely. I bet you'll outshine them all." Butterfly said, she hugged her brother again who just hugged her back.
Butterfly's phone buzzed on the coffee table. She picked it up and saw the message.
"What is it, sis?" Caterpillar asked curiously,
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a reminder that Flamingo's birthday party is this weekend." Butterfly said,
"Oh! It's almost Flamingo's birthday!?" Caterpillar said, his eyes lit up.
"Yeah, we're all throwing a huge surprise party for her." Butterfly explained, "Her birthday is actually on the 24th of October, but we figured we'd have the party on a Saturday so that everybody can be there."
"Do you guys need help getting things ready? I'm more than happy to lend a hand." Caterpillar offered,
"Sure! We need all the help we can get. Let me just text Missy real quick and let her know." Butterfly replied, she texted a quick message to Miss Monster to inform her they had one more helper for the party. She then set her phone face-down on the coffee table before resuming the conversation with her brother.
The next few days came and went in a flash. The two days leading up to the weekend were rather uneventful for the town of Maskglen, but there was a slight change in the weather that seemed peculiar. There were more clouds forming in the sky and the winds were getting a bit stronger. Even the ocean seemed strange. But nobody was really affected by it as it was October and that's when the weather tended to change anyway. Before everyone knew it, it was finally Saturday; The day of Flamingo's surprise birthday party.
Butterfly, along with Kitty and Black Widow, took Flamingo out for a 'girl's day' to get a full spa treatment and do a little shopping. But really, it was all a ploy to get her out of the house so that everyone else could set up the surprise.
The whole gang worked together to get the pink avian's home ready for the celebration. The backyard was decked out in sparkly pink streamers as well as pink and white balloons. A banner with the words: "Happy Birthday, Flamingo!" hung from the back fences. Night Angel was the one who handled all of the decorating. Miss Flower and Miss Bee made food and sweets for the party, and Ladybug was in charge of picking out the music. All the while Miss Monster was orchestrating everything.
Everyone else had been assigned very simple tasks. Thingamajig and Whatchamacallit were sent out to get some more chips and soda from the convenient store, Grasshopper and Monster went to go get the cake, and Caterpillar and Lamby helped bring everything into the backyard.
Miss Monster hustled to place down a tray of chocolate cupcakes that Bee and Flower made at the refreshments table.
"Okay, looking good, guys." She said, suddenly her phone vibrated meaning she got a text. She checked the text message. It was from Butterfly which read:
"Are you guys done setting up? I don't think we can distract Flamingo for much longer!"
Miss Monster replied to the text saying they were almost done and put her phone away.
"We need to hurry, Flamingo's going to be back any minute." She said,
Caterpillar and Lamby both came through the back door carrying various trays of food.
"Here, this is the last of it." Caterpillar said,
The pastel pink monster nodded, "Good, the other guests should be arriving soon as well."
Night Angel finished tying one more pink ribbon around one of the porch columns.
"Are Monster and Grasshopper back with the cake yet? We can't have a party without cake!" Night Angel exclaimed,
As if on cue, the cyan beast and the green insect walked through the back door.
"Got it right here!" Monster replied,
Whatchamacallit and Thingamajig followed right behind Grasshopper and Monster. Thingamajig held brown paper bags full of chips and pretzels while Whatchamacallit lugged two huge cases of soda.
"We're back too!" Whatcha said,
"Perfect!" Miss Monster clapped, "Put them on the table."
The monsters did as they were told. Monster, Thing, and Whatcha placed the cake and other snacks on the table.
"The guests should be arriving soon." Miss Monster said,
"Who else is coming to the party?" Thingamajig asked curiously,
A voice spoke up, "Like us?"
Everyone whirled around to see none other than Rottweiler and Rabbit walking in through the back gate.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Rabbit said waving,
"Rottweiler! Rabbit!" Monster exclaimed happily,
"You're back!" Night Angel added,
Everyone ran up to them, gleaming. They were so happy to see the dog and the bunny again after so many months away.
"Oh it's so great to see you guys!" Ladybug said,
"It's great to see you all too." Rottweiler said,
"How was the tour?" Thingamajig asked them,
"It was awesome!" Rabbit exclaimed, "Me, Rottweiler, and Piglet, the three of us rocked the country with our music!"
"Sounds like you two had a blast." Grasshopper commented,
"Yeah, but all-in-all it's good to be home." Rottweiler nodded,
Lamby walked over. "Hi, I don't believe we've met. I'm Lamby Fleece, I just moved here."
The two performers smiled.
"Hi, Lamby. Nice to meet you." Rottweiler said, he shook her hand.
"Hey." Rabbit said, he shook her hand too.
"Well this is great! Since you guys are here, maybe you can help us set up." Miss Monster said,
"Sure, we'd be happy to help." Rabbit nodded,
All of the invited guests showed up right on schedule. A majority of them were friends such as Seashell who brought her husband, Octopus, who was on the Maskglen Oddities basketball team with Thing and Whatcha. Other friends included Crocodile, Fox, Egg, Skeleton, White Tiger, Hippo, Baby Alien, and Peacock. A few of the other guests were people that Flamingo knew from work such as Serpent and Golden Pig. Eventually, everything was ready. Now, all that was missing was the bird of the hour.
"Okay, everyone. Flamingo should be here soon." Night Angel announced,
Suddenly, they heard the sound of a car pulling up in front of the house.
Rabbit peeked over the fence. His glowing red eyes caught sight of Flamingo, Butterfly, Black Widow, and Kitty getting out of the car.
"She's here." He said,
"Everybody get into position." Miss Monster said,
All of the guests stood silently.
The back door opened and Flamingo and the other three ladies stepped out onto the porch.
"What is up with you guys? Why are we going outside?" Flamingo asked them confused,
"SURPRISE!" Everyone screamed,
The pink avian gasped as she put a hand over her heart. "¡Dios mío!" She exclaimed, she hurried down the porch steps. Butterfly, Kitty, and Black Widow followed her.
"I…I can't believe this." Flamingo said, she cupped her beak in awe.
"Happy Birthday, Sweetie." Bee smiled, she and Flower were standing at the refreshments table.
"¡Feliz cumpleaños, amiga!" Rabbit said, he and Rottweiler approached her.
Flamingo's mascara-coated eyes widened. "Rottweiler! Rabbit! You're here!" She threw her arms around the two of them.
The dog and the semi-psycho bunny smiled and hugged her back. "Yep, we came back just in time for your birthday." Rottweiler said,
Flamingo looked back at everyone else. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Gracias, everyone. Muchas gracias. I…I don't know what to say."
White Tiger spoke up, "I do! Let's party!"
Ladybug turned on the stereo. The song "Shut Up and Drive" by Rhianna blasted through the speakers. Everyone began to dance.
Pretty soon the party was in full swing. All of the guests were dancing, laughing, eating, and overall having a great time. Miss Flower and Miss Bee's cooking had delighted the guests and the music was so fun to dance to. White Tiger was the one who was cutting loose and impressing everyone else with his dancing prowess.
Flamingo was dancing with her friends and having the time of her life. Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and a wide smile spread across her beak.
"Peacock!" She exclaimed,
The bluish green avian shot a wink at her. "Happy Birthday, Flamingo."
The sassy bird's pink cheeks grew even more pink at hearing her crush's kind words. "Thanks."
"Here, I brought you something." Peacock then revealed something from behind his back. It was a small present wrapped in wrapping paper that matched the color of her feathers.
"Oh Peacock! Qué dulce." Flamingo said, taking the package from him. She politely opened the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box to reveal a lovely silver necklace with a tiny opal gem.
The flamenco was at a loss for words. "It's beautiful."
Peacock smiled, it was now his turn to be shy. "A beautiful birthday present for a beautiful bird such as yourself."
Flamingo's smile widened as her heart started beating faster. Without even thinking, she leaned in and pecked a kiss on Peacock's cheek. Peacock's dark eyes widened in surprise and his gorgeous tail feathers fanned out.
"I love it. Gracias." She said,
The showman blushed a little. It was now his turn to be shy. He gave a bashful smile. "I'm…I'm glad you love it." He glanced at the ground before looking back at her. He offered his hand. "Care to dance with me?"
Flamingo smirked and took his hand in hers. "I'd love to." The two then went off together and started dancing.
It was just another day at the local news station. The afternoon news was currently being broadcasted on television with reporters Miss Raven and Miss Lips dishing out the news reports for that afternoon. Unfortunately, most of the news they received and discussed was rather negative.
Meanwhile, Ice Cube was hard at work at his station. Being the chief meteorologist, it was his job to find out just what kind of weather was happening out there. He closely observed the many computers which contained the readings that informed him of the always changing weather patterns. He quietly sat at his desk, checking out the satellite images on the monitors.
He smiled as he looked at the nice weather on the northern side of the state. "Everything seems good up near the northern border. Looks like this week will be sunny and clear." He said gleefully,
But the positive mood was quickly shattered by a satellite image on one of the other monitors. Ice Cube noticed this out of the corner of his eye.
He quirked a brow, "Huh?" He walked over to the monitor in question and squinted. "What's this?" He asked himself, he began typing at the computer and pulled up more information about the anomaly that he was seeing. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Oh no…" He backed away from the computer. Droplets started to form and drip down his icy head.
It was at that moment that someone else entered Ice Cube's office space. She was a shiny, golden sun clad in a simple yellow dress and heels. No doubt it was one of the other meteorologists.
"Ice Cube? What is it?" She asked concerned,
The man made of frozen water looked at her concerned. "Mrs. Sun, you should take a look at this…"
Sun walked over and looked at the monitor. As soon as she saw what Ice Cube was referring to, her eyes widened too.
"Oh my God…Looks like Mother Nature's having another one of her 'out of nowhere' fits." She said, she then cringed, looking back at the monitor. "Looks like a bad one this time."
Ice Cube began to scramble around his workspace. "Mrs. Sun, we need to send out an alert."
Back at the party, everyone was still having a great time. Serpent got an emergency call from the hospital regarding a sudden surgery. Golden Pig got a text from his wife saying he needed to come home. They both wished Flamingo a 'Happy Birthday' one more time and left. Eventually, White Tiger, Hippo, and Baby Alien each got tired from partying and left too.
At this point the party was starting to wind down. All-in-all, the day was perfect. It seemed like nothing could ruin it.
Just then, the sky suddenly became overcast. Clouds started slowly rolling in until they blocked out the sun.
Crocodile was the first to notice that something was off. "Hey guys, is it just me or is it really cloudy all of a sudden?"
After he said that, he felt a raindrop hit his pink snout. He curiously looked up and another drop came down and hit his eye. Suddenly it started pouring. The music stopped and everyone was confused.
"What's going on?" Black Widow asked,
Just when they thought things couldn't get any more weird, the wind suddenly picked up. They were gaining speed by the minute. The clouds grew even darker and lightning flashed in the sky. A loud boom of thunder followed.
"Quickly! We need to get the food and presents into the house! Everybody grab what you can!" Miss Monster cried out,
All of the people at the party did as she said. They were quick to gather all of the food as well as Flamingo's presents before they rushed into the house. The decorations such as the streamers and the 'Happy Birthday' banner got blown away by the wind.
Inside the house, everyone was catching their breath from escaping the sudden storm.
"What on Earth is going on out there?" Kitty asked,
Fox looked out the window. The winds were growing stronger and it was now raining so much that it was hard to see anything.
He turned back to everyone else. "It looks like a freak storm." He said,
"Oh my." Egg said shaking a little,
Flamingo turned on her television and switched it to the news. Ice Cube was onscreen reporting the storm.
"So, it looks like Mother Nature herself is having one of her bad days again. The coastline of South Carolina is currently experiencing a sudden tropical storm." He said,
Everyone gasped at this information.
"All denizens are advised to stay indoors until the storm has died down and go into the basement if necessary. More information coming up after the break."
"This isn't happening! This cannot be happening!" Night Angel exclaimed,
"I can't believe this! We just got back and now there's a tropical storm!" Rabbit yelled, he began to twitch uncontrollably.
"Hey hey hey, come on now. There's no use freaking out." Skeleton said trying to reason with them,
"What are we all going to do? We can't go home." Seashell asked,
"Well, you are all certainly welcome to stay here until it's safe." Flamingo said,
"Are you sure, Flamingo?" Lamby asked unsure,
"Of course! Mi casa es tu casa." She assured them, "Besides, it's just a measly tropical storm. It shouldn't take too long to die down."
But the storm didn't die down. The winds and rains just kept getting stronger and stronger. Eventually, they became too strong to handle. The entire party opted to retreat to Flamingo's basement where it was safe. Although she didn't use it too much, Flamingo's basement was a pretty decent space. It had cream-colored walls and brown carpet flooring. There was a single gray couch and matching chairs with a small box TV and radio. Despite being a nice and cozy place to hunker down, no one was comfortable. All of the party guests were understandably frightened.
Lamby was walking around the basement, talking to her parents on her phone. They were really concerned for their daughter.
"Mom, Dad, it's alright. I'm okay. We're all currently hunkering down in the basement at Flamingo's house. Besides, the storm isn't all that bad."
"Oh, I don't know, baby. It sounds pretty bad on your end." Her mother, Woolma, said over the phone. Her voice was riddled with worry.
"Mom, trust me. I'm going to be okay. Don't worry." Lamby assured her,
"Well, it's hard not to worry, Lamby." Her father, Ram, explained. "You're our oldest daughter, you're living in a different state, and that state's currently being ravaged by a tropical storm." He was more composed than Woolma, but Lamby could still detect a hint of fear in his voice.
"I know, Dad." Lamby simply replied,
"Do you need us to come down there, sweetheart?" Woolma asked still worried,
"No, it's too risky." Lamby hastily replied, "You can come visit me after the storm blows over if you'd like."
"Okay, dear. Stay safe and stay indoors. Understand?" Woolma told her,
Lamby nodded, "Yes, Mom. I understand."
"That's our girl." Ram said proudly, "Keep your phone on you and we'll call you later."
"Okay, send my love to James and Dolley. I love you both." Lamby said,
"We love you too, Lamby." Woolma said,
"Bye." Lamby finished, she hung up the phone and looked at everyone else. All of a sudden the lights went out entirely bathing the basement in complete darkness.
"Oh that's just great!" Ladybug yelled sarcastically,
Flamingo used the flashlight on her phone to light up the room. Everyone else followed suit.
"Okay, everybody. Just calm down. I know I have candles around here somewhere." She strutted over to the storage area where there were a bunch of boxes. She began to dig through them to find what she needed.
Thunder boomed and cracked as it followed the many lightning flashes in the sky. The winds were high as the ocean waves thrashed the South Carolina coastline.
The power had yet to come back on. Luckily, Flamingo had finally managed to find some battery-powered candles that she had stashed away. The sassy bird evenly dispersed them around the basement so that each area had a bit of light. As the storm continued to rage on, everyone just sat there as they waited for the storm to calm down. Fox, Crocodile, Egg, and Skeleton were all having a humorous conversation. Caterpillar and Kitty were playing a game of Uno on the floor, Octopus was comforting Seashell, Miss Monster and Monster were snuggled on the couch with a blanket over the two of them, and both Flamingo and Peacock were just casually chatting in the corner.
Butterfly peeked through one of the windows in the basement. She could still see the rain come pouring down, nearly flooding the street.
"When do you suppose it's going to let up?" She asked,
"I don't know, the weather channel said that it was a big storm, it could still be awhile." Fox pointed out,
Miss Monster sniffled as her eye welled up with tears. "Oh, Monster. What if we lose our home? Our gated community is almost directly on the beach! It could get destroyed!" She cried,
The aqua-furred monster soothed his fiancée. "Shh shh shh…It's okay, dear. Everything will be alright."
Lamby sat on the soft carpeted floor near one of the fake candles. She hugged her knees to her chest and shivered. Although Flamingo's basement was rather comfy and welcoming, it was also a bit drafty. The horrid weather outside made it even worse.
What also didn't help was that her wool was currently rather short. Much like how one has to occasionally get their hair cut, sheep like Lamby also had to get sheared every once in a while. She didn't mind, however. To her, it felt good to get sheared. Lamby always felt so clean afterwards. She and her family would even donate their wool to make sweaters and stuff for the poor. As is the norm for most sheep, Lamby got sheared twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall. She had actually gotten her wool sheared right before moving to Maskglen. But now in retrospect, she realized that was a very terrible idea.
The ewe was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts when she felt something being draped over her shoulders. She looked up and saw none other than Thingamajig who was placing his dark green jacket on her.
Lamby was surprised by this gesture and looked at him confused. He just gave her a warm smile.
"Here, you can borrow my coat." He said,
The sheep frowned and shook her head. She felt bad for taking his jacket. "Oh no. That's very kind of you, but I couldn't." She tried to slip it off but he stopped her.
"But you're cold," Thing retaliated, "Please take it. You need to stay warm."
"But won't you be cold?" Lamby asked quirking a brow,
"Nah, I'm good. My fur is pretty thick, so I'll be fine." He replied,
Lamby smiled as she adjusted the jacket on her shoulders. It was a little big on her, but the sheep didn't mind that much. Her cheeks flushed a little pink. "Oh, well...Thank you, Thing."
The monster winked at her. "Don't mention it." He then walked away and rejoined Whatchamacallit on the other side of the room. He was talking to Rottweiler and Rabbit.
But then all of a sudden the power snapped back on.
"Hey, we've got the lights back!" Egg said cheerfully,
"Hallelujah!" Night Angel praised,
It was at that moment that they also heard the rain cease outside.
"Did the rain stop?" Crocodile asked,
"Is it over?" Skeleton added,
Thingamajig ran up the basement steps, "I'll go check."
"Be careful, Thing." Miss Monster said worriedly,
"Yeah, it might be dangerous." Fox added,
"Relax, guys. I'm always careful." Thing replied, the tall monster bravely opened the basement door and headed back up to the first floor of the house. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Outside the window, he could see the storm was letting up. He stepped outside the house. The storm had died down a lot. Compared to the strong gusts and heavy rains he felt earlier, Thingamajig now only felt small speckles of rain hit him with the wind lightly tousling his spiky green hair.
"Thing? What's going on? What do you see?" Butterfly called from the bottom of the basement steps,
Thingamajig retreated inside the house and walked back to the entrance of the basement.
"It's safe to come up now. The storm's over." He called,
Everyone else slowly made their way out of the basement.
"Well, since the storm's mostly over, we should all probably take off." Monster said,
"Thank you guys so much for the party." Flamingo said,
"Sorry it didn't turn out so well." Miss Monster gave a sad smile,
"It's alright." Flamingo said, "I wish all of you a safe journey home."
"Bye, Flamingo." Rottweiler said, he walked to his car and took off.
"See 'ya later, Flamingo." Rabbit waved,
"I'll call you later. Happy Birthday." Black Widow said as she left with Grasshopper,
"Yeah, Happy Birthday, Flamingo." Whatchamacallit said as he and Thing left,
Everyone slowly went home until the last one there was Peacock.
"I'm really sorry this happened, Flamingo. Some way to celebrate your birthday, huh?" Peacock said,
The sassy bird smiled at the Peafowl. "Actually, this has been a really nice birthday. Sure, there's a storm raging outside, but I had all of my friends here with me…" Her cheeks flushed pink. "And of course…You were here too…"
Peacock blushed at those last words.
Flamingo smiled as she pecked his cheek.
And that was the long-awaited Chapter 9. Sorry once again for taking so long. This chapter went through A LOT of rewrites. Well, that being said, I will see you all in the next chapter! Bye guys!
