Chapter 20: Welcome to the UnderGround
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! Lammy is jolted awake by the sound of something being banged against the bars of the cell she was resting in, it felt like she was experiencing an outer body experience, as she was used to the sound of her goofy alarm clock. Once she was able to come to her senses, she looked up, seeing Rammy enter her the cell and crouches down, wearing a pair of sunglasses, despite the fact it looked like the sun wasn't even up yet.
"Wake the fuck up, samurai." She said, taking the sunglasses off, nodding her head. The tired and confused lamb just stared at her. "We got a city to save."
"Is…is that a reference?" Lammy questioned, rubbing her face.
"Yeah, it…know what, never mind. Come on, lazy ass. It's time to get going."
"Rammy, come on. Let her sleep in." PaRappa's voice is heard behind the monotoned sheep.
"…Are you shitting me, Mutt?"
"No, and no, we are not having this discussion again." He crossed his arms, staring at her.
"…We so fucking are now." She stood up, and put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him away from the cell, giving the red head lamb to approach the door to listen in. "We agreed, if they aren't a kid, they need to get to work!"
"Yeah, but, come on! She just got here, probably disoriented from traveling through a wormhole into the future, she should have time to adjust! It ain't fair to have her go at it on the first day!"
"Fair? You really wanna talk about fair? All of this is her fault, we are in a never-ending fight on the losing side, and you wanna give her time to adjust?! What, you gonna bring her meals to her too?!"
"If it's anyone's fault that we're in this mess, it's yours, Rammy! You and your stupid obsession with being better than her, if you had just left it alone, not work with Gaster and maybe got along with her, then we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Oh, kiss my ass, mutt!" She snarled, both of them clenching their fists, looking like they were getting ready to throw punches. PaRappa was growling but stopped when he saw Lammy watching them. Rammy would follow his gaze, looking at the young lamb before huffing in annoyance and walks away, giving Lammy a flick on the nose before leaving. "At least some people around this hell hole are with me on this…" Lammy's ears fold as she watched Rammy walk off. There was clearly some tension between the others about her being here. Maybe if she's lucky and keep her head down, she can just avoid causing any further issues. Still, seeing PaRappa getting aggressive like that, it didn't sit right with her. Her attention is drawn to him sighing.
"Don't worry about her, everyone's been a little on edge, lately." He tells her. "If you want, you can get some more sleep, just make sure you're up before noon. Paula and Matt get kinda antsy when anyone sleeps in."
"What?" Matt's voice rose up as he approached, having heard the previous conversation to see if everything's alright. "We do not!"
"You guys threatened to throw my beanie into the ocean if I didn't get out of bed once." The shorter dog crossed his arms, glaring at him.
"Yeah, and you called our bluff, remember?" Matt smirked, bending his torso forward a bit as he crossed his arms.
"Touché…"
"But yeah…I heard the commotion; are you guys alright?"
"I-I'm fine…" Lammy said, awkwardly rubbing her arm as she stared at the floor. The two dogs looked at each other, a bit concerned by the look on her face. They could tell, she was going to have a very rough time here. They don't remember when it started, but a lot of people, a few of the teachers and several of the others in the underground, either blamed Lammy, Rammy, some combination of the two, Scratch, or themselves for not getting out of town when they had a chance. There wasn't one thing everyone could come to an agreement on, and despite PaRappa's wishes, the debate went on for a long, long time, and didn't seem to show any signs of stopping until this whole fight was over, which, who knows when that'll ever happen. Matt got an idea.
"Say, Lammy, why don't you, Katy and Ma-San spend some time together? Might be good for you three to reconnect after all this time!" He explained, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Y-You think so?" She looked up at him, slightly tilting her head.
"Positive! They should be in the mess hall getting breakfast." He told her, nodding his head. Thinking about it, she decided to take Matt's advice, as she never recalled him ever misleading her and the others before. With a yawn and a stretch of her arms, she walked away from them.
"You sure about this?" PaRappa asked.
"Honestly…I'm praying it works. They were so close back then, there's no reason for them not to get along all over again…Ma-San might drag her feet a bit, but I'm sure she's glad to see her too."
"…C'mon, maybe we can convince them." The two nodded to each other and walked behind the young lamb to the mess hall. Everyone was already sitting down, eating their breakfast. Lammy stopped when she saw Katy and Lars sitting together, eating, chatting, having a good laugh. Her ears folded, thinking it probably wouldn't be a good idea to interrupt them, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked to see PaRappa, who just pointed at the couple, trying to encourage her to talk to them.
"…This is payback for when we kicked you out of the bush, isn't it?" She questioned, just to see him nod his head before shoving her forward. She turned, getting ready to say something to him.
"Hey, Lammy!" Katy greeted, getting her to freeze up a bit.
"Morning, kid!" Lars smiled, seeing the lamb turn to face them, sweating just a bit. "What's up?" She paused a bit, twiddling her fingers nervously.
"I-I was wondering, if…if Katy and Ma-San wanted to h-hang out." She managed to spit out.
"Oh, uh…" Katy paused, tapping a finger on the table, looking at Lars. "Me and Lars kinda…"
"Ahh, don't worry about it, babe." Lars smiled, giving the cat a few pats on the back. "We can have our date some other time. You girls missed hanging out together, right?" he looks over his shoulder to see Ma-San, who was sitting behind them, eating her breakfast of some sausages and pieces of toast. "Why don't you take the old motorcycle for a spin for a while and catch up on old time sakes?"
("…I'll pass.") The mouse squeaked, waving them off.
"What? C'mon, Ma-San, it'll be fun!" Katy argued.
("And I don't doubt that, I'd like to go, but I'm busy. Weapons need calibration, some need repairs, and a few of the jeeps need some work done. Not really in the mood to go on a road trip for supplies. So, you girls have fun down memory lane, I'll be here making sure we're ready for a potential fight.") She stood up and walked off, taking her meal with her.
"Someone's a bit moody…" Lars comments, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Y'know what? Whatever, her lost." Katy crossed her arms, a roll of her eyes as she released an annoyed sigh. Lammy was a bit surprised. Sure, Ma-San and Katy would have little spats in the past, but this? This seemed a little more passive-aggressive in a way, like they were trying to not be on speaking terms, and someone trying to get them to talk to each other just sets them off. "C'mon Lammy, let's go take a ride!" The cat stood up and started walking away from the table, tail flickering in annoyance. Lammy took a look at Lars, who just quietly shook his head before she followed the cat out of the mess hall.
"Well, it seems our worries are right…" Joe Chin says as he flips through a few photos. "Thanks to our recon team, it's clear that they're tightening up their security. More patrols, a puppet on every single street corner, noodlizers focused on every single window and passing car, they're even paranoid enough to focus on each other, thinking they could be one of us in disguise."
"Well, they are dummies for a reason." Matt smirked a bit, crossing his arms, getting a few laughs from the others as they watched the projection.
"Hmm…it's pretty clear why they're on high alert." General Potter said as he stood up from his chair. "They're going on high alert now that they're aware Lammy's here. Scratch wants her desperately enough to put every soldier available out on the streets. Getting around will be harder than ever before…Though, I think if Lammy stays away, things should be fine."
"True, but she was able to get into their main base." Colonel Noodle spoke up. "If she can do that, she might be a key player here! If we get her prepped up, she could sneak in, and easily get the noodle dummies back on our side!"
"So can the rest of us, Noodle." Matt retorts. "Besides, not only does she not have the training for stealth missions, all the hours we'd have to put her through VR training is nauseating enough, but if she gets caught, that'll be it! We might not get her back without pulling off a full-on frontal assault."
"We can just disguise her then. They might be good soldiers, but they're not smart ones. A wig, change of clothes, maybe something to change her voice and, obviously, give her a small change of name, and we'll be good to go! Even if she gets caught, they'll still think she's someone else! You can't tell me it won't work!"
"Alright, sure…maybe it will work, but it's one Hell of a stretch. Plus, all the training we'll have to put her through specifically, that's time I don't know if we have."
"She's a smart kid, I'm sure she'll pick up on everything just fine."
"If she doesn't crack under pressure." Potter crossed his arms, taking a puff from his pipe.
"She's gotten better about that, Mister Funny." Joe said, crossing his arms.
"How do you know? She hasn't been around in thirty years!"
The planning room had quickly turned into another shouting match as the group began to picker amongst each other. PaRappa, having heard the shouts starting, while he didn't know how it started, he knew what they were going on about. He sighed and sat a breakfast platter for them down on a table by the door before heading back for the mess hall. Everybody was on break, aside from Sunny. It was her turn to do the dishes, but he decides to join her by helping her dry them.
"Well…the past few hours have been pretty exciting…" She comments.
"No kidding." He shook his head. "An old friend comes back, and everyone's on more edge than usual.
"What are we going to do, PaRappa?"
"…I wish I knew, Sunny, I really do…" He sighed. "We're just going to have to wait and see how things play out. I don't think there's enough believing to get us through this." The two went quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying the silence of the moment, finishing up the dishes and putting them away. Once they finished, they went up to the roof, to relax for a little bit. In the distance, they could see Lammy and Katy driving off in the distance on the lambs old motorcycle.
"…Still can't believe we kept that thing up and running…"
"We wanted to honor Lammy, remember?" PaRappa smiled softly, putting his hand on Sunny's. "Besides, it kinda paid off for us in the end."
"Yeah…" She paused, sighing softly as she rested against PaRappa, letting him move his hand to wrap an arm around her. "Do you think we'll still be together if we fix the timeline?"
"You bet I do. We've had a lot of rough patches these years, but we've always gotten through them together…I'm sure whatever happens in the real timeline, we can get through them too."
"…I think so too." Sunny smiled, closing her eyes. "Heh…Ma-San was right…your optimism is really infectious."
"That's just who I am." He says, looking to the sky above. "As long as at least one of us keep looking on the bright side of things, we can get through anything. Just wish the others were on my side about this."
"You'll always have me, Parappa, don't forget that."
"Heh, I wouldn't dream of it!" He looked to her, smiling softly. "I love you, Sunny…"
"I love you too, PaRappa…" The two went quiet after that, taking the time to enjoy the rest of their break in each other's arms.
Lammy pulled the motorcycle over at an old, abandoned amusement mile, a pier with broken down rides, ruined food stalls, and liter all over the place. It was miles away from any of the major towns, even DJ Heights, which had become more or less a ghost town over the years. Nobody was willing to live there after the prices of renting or owning a home skyrocketed, so, whatever supplies the Underground needed, either had to be grabbed in what used to be PaRappa Town, or someone had to go out much farther to one of the bigger cities and shop there.
"W-What are we doing here, Katy?" She questioned, getting off of the vehicle, looking up at the older feline as she got off too.
"This is just where I come to when I need to think. Or I just want to get away from it all." Her voice chirps through the speaker on her collar as she looked at the sight and damage of the area. "Being around the others just isn't the same anymore, and hearing arguments about you, or how some fool proof plan backfired horrifically, kinda wears you down a bit. And I don't think it's going to get any better now that you're actually here…So, I figured, we'd stop here for a while, until everybody's had a chance to calm down."
"I guess…I guess that makes sense." She watched Katy walk pass before following her onto the pier, silently, keeping her eyes open until she suddenly felt something brush between her legs. Looking down, she saw the culprit was none other than an old newspaper, hanging onto her leg. Curiosity got the better of her, and before it flew off, she grabbed it, and held it up, soon greeted with an image of Gaster and his cronies, and that shit-eating grin of his.
"Biggest takeover ever! Gaster J. Rabbit ceases control of PaRappa Town! Future of bright and colorful town uncertain!" The headlines read. She didn't want to read the rest of the article and let it go, watching it blow in the wind before disappearing between two food stalls. She looked up to see how far Katy had been walking while she was distracted, and she quickly started to run just to catch up. Once she was able to slow down, she looked around, listening to the sounds of the wind blowing, the seats of the rusted Ferris wheel creaking and groaning as they swayed back and forth, and the crackling coming from a barrel that was currently on fire. Once at the edge of the pier overlooking the ocean and hearing the waves break against the supports of the pier, Katy would sit down, looking out into the waters. After a moment, Lammy would slowly join her, looking up at Katy before looking out into the ocean. She slowly tapped her finger against the wooden board, expecting the feline to say, anything…anything at all, regarding what happened that night, her being taken away from everybody again, how she met Lars, but she was quiet, taking the time to enjoy the sounds of the waters below. She could see a smile on her face, her eyes closed as she just took it in. Hoping to break the silence, she thought it'd be best to start asking questions.
"S-So…you and Lars, huh? When did he join up with you guys?" She asks, tapping her fingers together.
"…Six, maybe seven years ago, I wanna say. He just kinda showed up, saying he heard about our problem and wanted to try and help. He's been doing pretty great as a field agent, all things considered. After some time, me and him just hit it off…he's cute, funny, knows how to fight, loves music, helps PaRappa keep everybody's spirits up…he's a great guy, Lammy…"
"…Is there a but after that?" She asked, getting a small chuckle from the cat.
"I was getting to that. Didn't think traveling through time would make you impatient." She shook her head a bit. "But I wish I could've spent the last three decades with you."
"…Even after I nearly killed everyone?"
"Don't beat yourself up about that, I promise it's-"
"Fine? Okay? PaRappa thinks so too, but…it just feels like you're saying it to make me feel better. I mean…look at your arms! You still have the burn marks from when you hugged me to stop me from blowing up! I hurt you, Katy, intentional or not, I gave you singed marks on your fur and clearly burned your arms to a point they can't be healed, how is that okay?!" Katy listened to the other put her thoughts on the table and looked down at the marks on her arms, not really phased by the facts her friend had brought up.
"Sure, it kind of stings every now and then when enough pressure is on them, but I've gotten used to it. The ice powers helped out a lot, so they don't hurt like they probably should, but that's not important, Lammy, not to me, at least…what's important for me, is being able to forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago…" She reached over, resting a hand on the lambs shoulder. "Everything that's happened back then, it was…poorly handled on every end. We should've waited, we knew you were going to come back that night of the concert, but…the fear that something would go wrong, the transporter glitching and sending you somewhere you shouldn't be, breaking down before you went in all the way, or just straight up failing before you could've used it…and all the time you were gone was getting to me so badly…I felt there wasn't much else of a choice but to get Rammy on board and sign the contract with Scratch."
"…Speaking of Scratch…" She paused, thinking it would be time to change the subject. "Did…did she really overwork you, Ma-San and PaRappa to the point you're…like this?" She asks, pointing to the collar around Katy's neck. She could feel a bit of a shift in Katy's mind. She looked remorseful, even exhausted just thinking about it. The cat sighed as she pulled her hand away, rubbing her face tiredly.
"It's not…entirely true. I mean, as someone who came from Hell, she's probably one of the more respectable and professional producers we could've worked for. She told us to make sure we were taking breaks from practicing, getting rest and eating, all of that. We were paid pretty well too."
"S-So what happened, then?"
"…I was stubborn that's what happened. Every day when we're practicing a song together…something was missing. Your guitar…your sound…you in general, Lammy! Our songs just weren't the same, even with PaRappa and PJ coming in to help. Each passing day, it just drove me nuts, I got angrier because nothing about our songs were sitting right, so, I started demanding more takes, and despite how exhausted we got, I still wanted us to keep going, despite Scratch trying to get us to stop. I just wouldn't listen to reason. I practically dragged PaRappa and Ma-San down with me, to the point where our bodies ached, and our vocals were getting worn out…So, Scratch had us sign a new contract…"
"Oh no…w-what was the new one?"
"She would preserve our talents…let us go from the record deal, but…we had to give up said talents. She showed us just how badly damaged they were thanks to me, and constantly trying to push our band into hitting this perfect spot that we could never get without our guitarist. She said once they were fully healed, she will release them, and they would come back to us. But she doesn't know when they'll fully heal, so we're not sure when we'll get our voices back or when we can take these off." She looks down at the metallic gloves she wore.
"What about Gaster?" She questioned. "Why is he and his friends working with her? And why is Groober on our side?"
"…Not to sound like I'm annoyed or anything, hon, but I wasn't expecting to answer so many questions today…Gaster, he and his friends moved in some time after me, Ma-San and PaRappa stopped working with her. I can only assume that they're helping her trying to find you in exchange for letting them have total control of PaRappa Town… I still don't know what it is she wants with you, all I know, is that it involves you and your guitar, and not knowing what her plans are for you, isn't sitting right in my stomach…As for Groober, he saw where everything was going, and wanted out of it. He just wanted to cause stupid mischief, not take everything over."
"I just have one more question…there was an old guy in the workshop I snuck into. A gray mouse…who is he…and what does he do?"
"Muto. The dude showed up while you were in Hell. He's a demented scientist, who believes music, if used properly, can stop you from aging…I think it holds water, because it's been thirty years, and he doesn't look like he's aged from the minute I first saw him. He joined up with Gaster and the others while you were in Hell, and when they took over, he started giving the syndicate dummies upgrades, mostly with their weapons…they're still pretty dumb. I probably wouldn't mess with him if I were you, I feel like there's more to him than what he's letting on…"
"R-Right…" She nodded, looking down. "…Back to Scratch really quick, if she was nice to you guys while you were working with her…why is everybody so angry with her? Didn't you try to explain what was happening?"
"We did! We all did! The only ones who seemed to believe us were those in our friend circle. Everyone else saw we were hurt, and with Gaster and the others taking control over night with her allowing it, nobody would listen to us. Leave it to the Underground to start accumulating members from people who want to take the town back, and everyone wants to go to war."
"And I guess after a while, they started sharing the opinion that this is my fault?"
"Not everybody, but yeah, a few do see it like that…" Katy nods. "You can thank Rammy for that one."
"Of course…I'm not surprised she's the one who started it…" Lammy groans, hugging her legs to her chest before resting her head on her knees. Katy looked at her, shaking her head a bit before placing a gloved hand on her friends back.
"Hey, don't worry about it…just don't give anyone who talks crap about you any attention. It'll be okay, as long as we stick together." She smiled softly, moving her hand up and down her back before pulling her a little closer. "We're together again, and honestly, that's all that matters to me…if anyone in the Underground even thinks of starting anything with you, I will beat the snot out of them. Same goes to any of those stupid dummies…"
"…Thanks Katy." Lammy smiled softly, relaxing against the older feline as she closed her eyes, feeling that old feeling of comfort and safety when around her once again. Still, she wished it could've happened under better circumstances; back home, during the big show that could've rocketed their popularity…did they even get to perform that night? Probably not, was her guess. Maybe if she fixes this whole situation, they'll be able to play!
After an hour or so, relaxing on the dock, it was time to head out. Katy would direct Lammy to one of the neighboring cities, Otamatone Way. The lamb wasn't familiar with this town, assuming it only popped up during the last few decades she was away. She was greeted by odd beings, which said a lot given she lived in PaRappa Town. They all appeared the same, big white heads with beady black eyes…then she heard how they communicated, speaking to each other with odd techno beeps that sounded close to being vocalizations. Katy had her pull up to the market, and they got off, walking to the door. Lammy saw her messing with a dial on the collar, and she wasn't sure why, but once they got inside and we're greeted by the creature at the door, she heard the cat speaking his language. Even sharing a laugh. Not only was that device able to let her communicate, but it seemed to be a translator of sorts. Once they walked pass the greeter, Katy turns the dial back.
"Pretty cool, huh?" She smiled down at the lamb.
"Y-Yeah!" Lammy nodded as they walked about the store, grabbing whatever they could; ingredients that were on a list that Katy had brought along, and snacks like sodas, chips, popcorn, and a lot of candy. They even stopped at the electronics section and picked up a few vinyl records to listen to later on, finding some old classics that helped inspire their music for MilkCan. They figured it'd help calm things down, maybe charm Ma-San into not being angry with Lammy anymore. Only one way to find out. Once everything they needed had been acquired, they made the journey back to the old prison. But something was bugging Lammy along the way.
"Learning quite a lot today, aren't we?" A familiar voice rang in her ear, and looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow lamb from her nightmare, and she was floating by her side in a casual manner, resting on her back, a leg over the other leg, and her hands behind her back. Lammy furrowed her brows a bit and kept her eyes on the road, listening to this lamb got her here, listening to them now would be disastrous. "What? Ignoring me now? There's a lot we should talk about right now…most of your friends hate you, your home's gone, and everyone's miserable! All after you're little explosion of bitter jealousy! It's a little funny when you think about it." Once again, Lammy stayed quiet, but still focusing on their words, she didn't realize she was driving faster the more they was speaking..
"Oh, I get it, trying to look sane for your ex, huh? What, you think she'll take you back or something? Wouldn't hold your breath, she's already got someone new in her life…someone her age, someone actually cuter than you, someone who isn't crippled by their own social anxiety and horrific streak of bad luck. It's a miracle you've managed to escape an eternity in hell. Talk about pissing all the good luck away, twice…didn't even think that was possible."
"Lam-LAMMY!" Katy shouted through the speaker on her collar, snapping Lammy out of her internal conversation, and making the shadow lamb vanish.. "PULL OVER!" She wasn't used to getting snapped at by Katy, but she quickly, and safely, pulled over on the side of the road. She looked over her shoulder and saw the face of an agitated feline whose fur was riled up. "What was that about?!"
"S-Sorry…" She says, her ears folding down a bit. The cat sighed, closing her eyes.
"Here, I'll drive the rest of the way. You take the side car." She says, picking the lamb up with ease, and sits her in the side car attached to the motorcycle before sliding up into the driving position. "You are lucky people don't even use this road anymore, otherwise we would've been in trouble. I know things have been pretty stressful, for you especially, hon, but you need to relax! What were you even thinking, driving like that?!" She looked down at the lamb, who was now just keeping her head down, ears as low as they can go, staying quiet. Katy sighed before revving the motorcycle and began driving.
"Ohh, you're in trouble~" The mocking voice of the shadow lamb rang in Lammy's ear again. She wasn't expecting to get scolded by Katy. She did things that might've annoyed the cat, sure, but, to get scolded like she was a child…not what she needed. And now, she had this obnoxious imaginary friend sticking with her. If she hadn't listened to them, none of this might have happened.
After a few hours, the two finally arrived back to the hideout, bags in hands, but once inside, Lammy was suddenly blindfolded, and she yelped, dropping her bags, which PaRappa and PJ grabbed.
"Initiation time?" Katy questioned.
"Yup." PJ nods.
"Matt and a few of the others think she's ready for it." PaRappa nodded as Sunny takes the bags from him and PJ, before the two walked Lammy off. Moments passed as she's walked to…somewhere in the old prison, before suddenly finding herself being stopped. She could feel leather belts tying her down. Once the blindfold was taken off, she found herself in a dark room, though she only had a few seconds to process what was happening before something else was placed over her face. It felt like some sort of virtual reality headset.
"H-Hey, what's going on?!" She questioned, looking around in a bit of a panic.
"Don't worry." Colonel Noodle spoke up, carrying the power supply for the headset. "Just relax, and this'll go smoothly." He carefully held the lambs head before plugging the power supply in. The headset would power to life, and Lammy was greeted by a sudden bright white light. She would find herself floating in what looked like a white void. Slowly, she saw some sort of black cloud forming, spreading all around her till there wasn't a hint of white space anymore. She could see patterns…familiar patterns…green triangles, pink squares, orange circles, and blue X's. They were all flickering between the different symbols. Suddenly the sounds of stage lights powering on could be heard from above her, and standing before her, were Matt and Joe Chin, wearing trench coats and sunglasses.
"Come." Joe Chin says, holding his hand out to her, and she started to float forward. "Come closer."
"Enter." Matt followed up, holding has hand out too. "It's time to begin your journey, down." The two pointed down, and Lammy found herself falling down into a long tunnel before landing on a small platform, face first. She groaned a bit and slowly pulled herself up, seeing the two dogs standing on their own platforms.
"You found us. Now, you've been chosen, to join us in the UnderGround." Joe said.
"The PaRappa Town, UnderGround." Matt nods, crossing his arms. "And this, is your initiation, Lammy."
"To a select few, we will dispatch news about upcoming games, special offers, demos…"
"…Joe that's the wrong UnderGround speech!" Matt huffs, taking his sunglasses off.
"Oh, geez…they're just so similar!" Joe tilts his glasses up and pulled a few papers out from his trench coat.
"I know I said this before, but this is the last time we let PaRappa write our scripts!"
"Is…Is this part of the initiation?" Lammy questioned. The two looked at each other, a beat of sweat running down both of their faces.
"J-Just a sec!" Matt said before the two got closer together, facing away so they could look over the scripts. The lamb just blinked in silent confusion and looked around. Was this a constant thing? After a few moments, they turn back to her.
"Okay, you know what, forget the speech." Joe said, taking the papers in hand and tossed them over his head. "Long and short of it all, we think you have potential to help us take back your guitar, and we want to put you through special training, so you'll be ready to take on the dangers in the town!"
"W…What, me?!" Her mouth dropped in disbelief.
"Yeah! You did manage to sneak into their base without ANYONE seeing you! And let's be frank, if anyone is going to get that guitar back, it should be its rightful owner!" Matt explains, a hologram of Lammy's guitar appearing right next to him before a simulated field was created before the lamb, made of mostly black blocks with blue outlines, illuminating the area around her. There was a virtual Noodle Dummy standing at the end of the room, a noodlizer in hand.
"We'll start with something basic!" Joe smiled. "There are small hiding spots in this hall, try sneaking pass the dummy, and reach the red marker at the last hiding spot!" He explains as a red pyramid appears at the end of the hall. "Think you can do it?"
"I-I don't know, but…you're on!" Lammy nodded.
"That's the spirit! Feel free to start whenever you want, and don't get caught!" Matt smiled, holding up a stopwatch. Lammy looked down at the ground, remembering a few things she learned during a spy movie marathon that the group watched together before the whole Hell situation. She couldn't hear any sounds from her foot tapping, so she knew the dummy might not hear her running unless she was right next to him. Sticking her tongue out, she darted for the third hiding spot, and Matt started the stopwatch.
Once in the hiding spot, Lammy hugged her back against the wall, waiting. Once she saw the dummy walk pass, she snuck out of the spot, and once she was sure she was safe, made a quick dash for the last hiding spot, grabbing the marker.
"Time!" Matt presses on the stopwatch to stop it and looked at it carefully. "Not bad, twenty-five point three seconds!"
"Oh, just barely beating Rammy's time!" Joe commented. "…Right on the nugget, too! Not bad, Lammy! Let's go on to the next lesson!"
"So, she just started speeding?" Rammy questioned with a raised brow, sitting with Katy, Paula and the other girls. "Out of the blue?"
"Yeah! I don't know what, but something was bugging her, I could tell, the fur on the back of her neck was starting to stand up." Katy explains, resting her arms on the table.
"I think it's a bit obvious." Paula shrugs. "Hell? Traveling into the future? Seeing what looked like her closest friends abandoning her? She's got her own personal demon to deal with."
"A personal demon?" Rammy raised a brow. "That's so fuckin' cliché, P…"
"It's easy for you to say that." The fox rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.
"Says fuckin' who?" The ram huffs, standing up.
"Says me!"
"Hey, hey! Both of you, knock it off!" Katy stood up, putting her paws on their chests. "Look. Rammy, I'm sorry, I have to agree with Paula…bu-"
"Save it, Kat. I get it." Rammy steps back, crossing her arms. "I'm going to the training grounds, call me when dinner's ready." She huffs off, mumbling about how the others were lucky that she even considered bringing Lammy back to begin with.
Hours would pass, as the two dogs would teach Lammy everything she needed to know. From sneaking around, taking out enemies non-lethally, jam cameras and scanners, how to disguise herself and paying attention to her surroundings. They were impressed with how fast she had learned, and knew, she was ready. The two would fist bumped, smirking to themselves.
"Dinner's on!" Sunny would call from down the hall.
"Alright, I'm starving!" Joe grins, taking off his trench coat and sunglasses as they start to detach Lammy from where she was being hold up. The only problem was that she had been tied down for so long, her legs had fallen asleep, and she would fall forward, face planting onto the ground.
"…You okay, Lammy?" Papa Rappa questioned as he stood up from his desk, seeing her lay there on the ground.
"Yeah…just…numb…" She moans, resting her cheek against the floor.
"Are you able to stand?" Noodle asks.
"No…" The four looked at each other before Matt and Joe helped her up to her feet and walked with her out of the room as they all head for the mess hall. There was a certain smell that made the lamb perk right up.
"Is that Pizza?" She questions.
"Yep! Every Wednesday is Pizza night!" Matt smiled. "All home-made, PaRappa and Sunny make some killer pizza sauce!"
"Don't forget the pepperoni and cheese." Joe chuckled. Lammy smiled softly as the two talked about the home-made pizzas, thinking that a nice slice of Italian goodness would at least take her mind off of things. Once in the mess hall, the two sat her down at the table and went to get food for her, and it wouldn't be long before everyone got their share. While the others were eating, Lars began playing his guitar for everyone to listen to, which Lammy began taking note of a few small things; his guitar looked a bit old, what looked like it could've been a lipstick red guitar was now worn, it had a few scratches on it, and a string seemed to be broken. She did take notice that he was at least decent at it, Katy probably helped with that end, though she was sure there was room for improvement. It was pretty calming to hear someone at an intermediate level play on their own.
That night, after a few more hours of going through the virtual training, Lammy turned in for the night, taking a moment to kick her shoes off, rubbing her feet in exhaustion. Her ear twitched to the sound of the bars of her cell room being knocked on. Looking up, she was greeted by Lars, who was holding his guitar, smiling at her.
"Hey, kiddo. Got a minute?" He asks, leaning against the bar.
"Uh…s-sure." She nods before sliding over, letting enter the cell and sit down. "Did you need something?"
"Well, kinda…you see, I've been a fan of your band MilkCan ever since I first listened to your album Make It Sweet. You could probably tell I was a little rusty back in the mess hall, so, I was wondering…could you show me how to play better?" Lammy had a dumbfounded look on her face. Had she heard that correctly?
"You…want to learn from me?" She questioned, her head slowly tilting to the side.
"Yeah! I've been practicing for a while, a little after I joined the UnderGround myself. Rammy wouldn't teach me, and Katy could only teach me so much given she was more of an expert on bass guitar, so…maybe you could give me some pointers?"
"…Alright." She smiled softly at the older sheep. "But first, we need to replace those guitar strings."
"Way ahead of ya." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a box of strings before handing it and his guitar over to Lammy. "Managed to grab a few while in town."
"Cool." She says before getting to work, replacing the strings on the guitar. The two spent the next couple of hours, with Lammy showing him how to play properly. Slowly, but surely, she was able to teach him how to play her parts for their song No Cutting Corners, and he was able to play it pretty well, despite a few missed or sour notes here and there.
"How's that?" He asked after finishing the song.
"Not bad, but there's still room for improvement. You're getting there, though."
"Heh, awesome…" He chuckled a bit before putting a fist to his mouth, a few coughs forced themselves out of his system.
"H-Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah…don't worry about it, Lam…just have some bad lungs is all…"
"Y…You smoke?"
"Not while in the base." He said with a chuckle. "Your friends won't let me."
"Speaking of my friends, how did you guys meet?"
"Oh, wanna hear the origin story, huh? Well, it all started awhile back when your friends were still playing with that Scratch lady. I signed up to try and be their newest guitar player, but my guitar was pretty much in the same shape as it was before you fixed it…" He admits, sounding a little embarrassed. "But the part that shocked me, was that they liked how I played! Even Scratch enjoyed it, but with the state of my instrument, and the few sour notes I played, they couldn't let me join, at least not until I got my guitar fixed. So, I left to go get replacement, or at least I tried…"
"Tried? What do you mean?"
"Before I could get out of the building, the dummies, I'm assuming, confused me for you, because they grabbed me. I pretty much got trapped in one of their holding cells for a long time, until the UnderGround busted me out and some other people out."
"How long have you been in there?"
"Honestly, I've lost tracked…" He sighed before getting up. "Well, I should probably get to bed. It is late, and I'm sure you won't want anyone dumping more of their problems on ya. 'Night, kiddo." He smiled at her before stepping out of the cell, strumming away on his guitar.
She had to admit, she didn't know how she was going to react to Lars, the only thing on her mind was that he was Katy's new partner, but…he is a nice guy. He made Katy happy, he was getting along with the others just fine, and he had a passion for music, just like a lot of people in town! Thinking about it, she turned off the light, and got ready to sleep.
"Helping out your own replacement?" She heard a chuckle behind her. She didn't need to turn around; she knew who that voice belonged to. "You really are pathetic, aren't you?" She suddenly flashes in front of Lammy, making her flinch a bit. "A lot of people think that's kinda cute…you think Katy thought that of you? Pathetic, easily manipulative, an easy partner to handle…cute?" Lammy furrowed her brows before rolling on her side, facing the cell door.
"Ignore me all you want, Lammy…I'm your own parasite in that messy brain of yours. You'll never get rid of me…" A soft chuckle escaped the shadow before it vanishes, echoing in Lammy's mind before she slips into sleep.