TITLE: Return to Goozburg
AUTHOR: JackPhillipsGirl
DISCLAIMER: I don't own So Weird, In A Heartbeat, The Jersey, Even Stevens, Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire, Brink!, or the Zoogs. This story is the result of my extreme boredom and from watching too much Disney, so don't take it seriously. Enjoy!
Chapter One
Annie lay back on her bed, smiling contentedly with herself. "Once again, Annie Thelen, you are a genius," she praised herself aloud.
"What was that? You call that solving the mystery of Goozburg? Even I could have done better," a deep voice interrupted.
Annie sat up straight, scared stiff. "Who - who said that?" she asked, trembling.
"Who do you think it is? It's me, your panther." Just then Annie's panther appeared before her.
Annie stared at the panther, aghast. "You've never talked to me before," she whispered.
"Yeah, and I should have thought of it sooner," the panther replied, annoyed. "Jeez, why did they give me you?"
"Huh?" Annie said, confused.
The panther sighed. "Never mind. Look, I've come here to deliver you a message. Your family isn't happy about the way you've been handling things. You can't just have Fi do all the work for you."
"What do you mean? And who's my family, you mean like my mom and my dad?" Annie asked.
The panther shook his head, his aggravation growing with each passing second. "No," he said slowly, "not your parents. I'm talking about your real family. The one on your home planet."
"So I really am an alien!" Annie exclaimed.
"Well, what other explanation could there be for -" the panther began, but stopped himself. "The point is, we have to do this whole little Goozburg situation over. And you have to really find out what's going on this time, no cheating and asking Fi, like you always do."
"But I don't under -" Annie started to say, but before she could complete her sentence, there was a flash of colors and blinking lights.
Chapter Two
When Annie could see again, she discovered herself walking alongside Ren Stevens.
"Well, I hope you find your friend," Ren said with a smile. "Bye!" She turned around and walked away.
"Uh, bye?" Annie mumbled. She was standing in front of the tour bus. Her watch read 4:43. Well, I might as well go in, Annie thought. As she entered the community room, she saw Jack sitting on the couch. Okay, so the exact same thing is happening all over again. This was pointless!
Jack leaped off the couch, throwing his magazine aside. "You have to help me," he said quickly.
"Jack, I was just looking all over for... wait, what?"
"I'm not Jack!" Jack exclaimed. "Something happened, the jersey, it went haywire..."
"Okay, wait, let me guess," Annie said with a slight smile. "You're Peter?"
"No, it's me, Nick!" Jack - or Nick - shouted.
"Nick? You mean the guy with the ugly yellow sweater?" Annie asked.
"The jersey," Nick corrected her. "It's supposed to take me into the body of a star athlete, but it malfunctioned somehow... and now I'm in the body of Jack! Come on, jersey, let me out!" He tugged at his shirt, to no avail.
"Okay, just hang on, I'll get you out of there," Annie promised. "I know someone who will be able to help." She began to walk over to her laptop but stopped short. "Oh, wait. I forgot, I can't do that anymore." Annie shrugged. "I guess you're stuck." She sat on the couch and picked up the magazine Nick had been reading.
"NO! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! YOU HAVE TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Nick screamed, stamping his feet like a small child throwing a tantrum.
"All right, all right, just stop yelling!" Annie said. "Um, well, let's see. How do you usually get out of the jersey?"
"I don't know, it just happens," Nick responded, in a calmer tone.
Annie sighed. "You're a big help," she said sarcastically. "Look, just stay here - and if Clu and Carey come back, try to act like Jack, okay? I'll see what I can do."
Chapter Three
Annie stepped off the bus and looked around at her surroundings. In reality, she didn't have the faintest idea of where to begin. "Come on, Annie, you can do this," she said to herself. Just then she noticed two girls and a boy approaching her. "Oh no, not them again..."
"Hi, I'm Lizzie, and my show stars my best friends Gordo and Miranda." She paused, and frowned. "Nothing really happens to us, though."
"Yeah," Gordo agreed, "our lives are boring."
"Even her family's Dullsville," Miranda added, rolling her eyes.
"Okay, look, I don't care," Annie interrupted. Lizzie glared at her. "Can you guys just tell me what you know about the jersey?"
Lizzie folded her arms across her chest. "After you've been so totally rude to us? Like, I don't think so."
"Yeah, like, whatever," Miranda said, quickly imitating the way Lizzie had folded her arms. Gordo did the same.
Annie groaned. "Never mind, I can do this myself." She turned around and headed down the street. "I just have to find what I'm looking for first." She came to a halt as she laid her eyes upon the most handsome man in the world.
"Jett Jackson," Annie breathed. Sure enough, there he was, alone in the front yard of his house. He was taking out the trash. Suddenly he looked up, noticing the blond girl staring at him.
"Um, can I help you?" he asked. "Hey, aren't you that girl I signed an autograph for earlier today?"
Annie's breath caught in her throat. He remembers me! Timidly, she approached him. Somehow, without Clu and Carey, and the dozens of people on the set, she felt a million times more nervous. "H-H-Hi, yes, I'm that girl. My name's Annie."
"Hi Annie." Jett smiled warmly. Annie thought she might pass out any second. Jett stared at her expectedly. "Well?" he asked.
"Um, um," Annie stammered. "I, uh... I didn't know you have such a normal life. I mean, I just have this whole picture of you in my mind... taking out bad guys and all."
Jett winked. "I've got it covered." He grinned. "Well, I think it's time for lunch, so I better go inside."
"Yeah," Annie said, "I bet you've got great toast."
"What?" Jett gave her a strange look, and then shook his head. "See you around."
"See you," Annie repeated, her eyes following his retreating figure until he was no longer in view. She sighed, and then snapped out of her trance. I need to find Jack, she reminded herself, and began to walk down the street again. Suddenly her eyes widened at who she saw walking along the sidewalk, hand in hand.
"Clu!" Annie called, running over to him and... Val. Annie felt her stomach churn.
"Oh, hi, Annie," Clu said lazily. "You know Val." He gazed at her lovingly.
"Yeah, I do," Annie replied dully. "Um, Clu, shouldn't you be looking for Jack?" Annie asked, desperately trying to get him away from Val.
"No, it's okay, Clu and I are going to look for him together," Val said in her sickeningly sweet tone of voice. "Right, honey?" she prompted.
"Right," Clu agreed quickly.
"Don't worry, we'll let you know if we find him," Val promised, squeezing Clu's hand more tightly. This is sure to make Tyler jealous, she thought with an evil glint in her eye.
"Oh, goody," Annie said sarcastically. Unable to stand being around them any longer, Annie headed off again on her never-ending journey down the road. By this time it was obvious to anyone that at the rate she was going, Annie was never going to find Jack. That is, it was obvious to everyone besides Annie.
Chapter Four
Annie suddenly heard cheering in the distance and ran in the direction of where it was coming from. "It's those skaters again!" she exclaimed. She sat down in the stands and decided to watch the in-line skating competition.
"And now, Andy 'Brink' Brinker," the announcer's voice boomed over the speakers.
I still can't get over how much he looks like Clu, Annie marveled. At the end of the competition, Annie ran over to congratulate team Pup 'n Suds, who had won, of course.
"You guys were great!" she exclaimed.
Oh no, it's that psycho from earlier, Peter thought. "Thanks," he said, looking away in hopes that maybe she would leave.
Annie peered at Peter's face more closely. "It's amazing how much you look like my friend Jack," she commented. Peter just stared at her. "So, umm..." Annie continued, beginning to feel uncomfortable. "What do you guys know about the jersey?" she blurted.
"Nothing," Peter snapped.
"Yeah, uh, maybe you should try the mayor," Jordy joked. "He knows about everything that goes on in this town."
"Oh really? Where's the mayor's house?"
The four skaters looked at each other skeptically. She's actually buying this? Brink thought.
"I was just k -" Jordy began, but Gabriella stamped hard on his foot. "Ow!"
"One block left, one block right, two blocks left. You can't miss it," she said.
Annie smiled. "Thanks!" she said happily, and skipped off down the road. She didn't really know if the mayor of this town would be able to help, but then again, the mayor of Hiveburg was able to help when Annie was there.
Suddenly the mayor's house came into view. Annie gasped. "It's huge!" Cautiously, she approached it. A man with dark hair saw Annie coming and ran to the entrance.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"I'd like to see the mayor," Annie said.
"I'm sorry, the mayor isn't -" he stopped short as he looked at Annie more closely. "You... you..."
"What?" Annie prompted, wondering if she had something on her face.
"Nothing," the man said quickly. "Yes, I'll take you to see the mayors - I mean, mayor, right away."
"Okay," Annie replied, shrugging off his peculiar attitude. She followed him into the house and up a winding staircase, which seemed to have no end. Panting, Annie asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Mortals can't make it all the way," the man said. "Only you..." his voice trailed off. And then, just like that, he was gone.
Chapter Five
Annie blinked. "Where'd he go?" she asked herself aloud. "Oh well. That was weird." She continued on her way up the stairs until finally she saw a door. The door almost seemed to be outlined in a glowing bright light. Annie brought her hand to the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door swung open to reveal the same flashing colors and blinking lights that Annie saw every time she arrived in Goozburg. This room had no boundaries, not even a ceiling or floor, and no furniture. All it contained were the splotches of color everywhere and seven floating cartoon-like creatures.
"It's like another dimension," Annie breathed. She was still standing in the doorway.
"You can come in," a creature with pigtails and glasses said.
"But won't I fall?" Annie asked.
"No," the creature replied. "It's okay." Annie carefully stepped into the room, and to her amazement, was able to just float around like the others.
"Where am I?" she asked. "And who are you?"
"You're in the Zeether," another creature replied. "And we are the Zoogs. My name's Joe," he said. "And this is Zoogina, Dotcom, MZ, Twitch, the Gatherer, and Browser," he introduced the others.
"Zoogs?" Annie repeated. "Of course! That's why this town is called Goozburg. Gooz is Zoog backwards!" she exclaimed triumphantly. About a million questions were running through Annie's mind, but she decided to ask the one that would hopefully answer everything. "Why am I here?"
"You are one of us, Annie," Dotcom piped up. "You are a Zoog. That's why only you could make it all the way to us. Right now you are in human form. As a Zoog you were beautiful..." she trailed off.
"We have been looking for you, Annie. We knew you would make it here one day," the Gatherer said.
"So this is my home planet?" Annie asked.
"Well - no," MZ said. "This is really only our vacation home on Earth. There are millions more of us, back home."
"You're not taking me back now, are you?" Annie asked, alarmed. "I kind of like it here."
"No, not yet," Twitch said. "You will know when it is time, Annie Thelen."
"Oh..." Annie said slowly. "Okay. Bye!" She began to run off towards the door.
"Wait!" Zoogina called. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Annie stopped in her tracks and brought her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... I don't think so..."
"Don't you have to bring back Jack?" Dotcom asked.
"Oh yeah!" Annie exclaimed. "Do you guys know where he is?"
"We took him as bait to bring you to us," Joe explained. "But you're going to have to answer a few questions to get him back."
Chapter Six
"Okay," Annie responded. "What do I have to do?"
"Well, every week, we conduct a few polls of the people here in Goozburg. Then we store the data in a safe spot, until we can finally fully understand humans," Dotcom said.
"We're going to ask you three questions, and if you can guess what the most popular answer was, we'll bring Jack back," Zoogina added.
"Sounds easy enough," Annie said.
"All right, here's my first question," Dotcom began. "What do Zoogburgians say that their favorite key on the keyboard is?"
Annie thought for a moment. "The enter key?" she guessed.
"Yes!" Dotcom exclaimed. "Okay, here's the second one: what would make the worst new reality show?"
"Definitely one about spoiled brats," Annie said, thinking back to Lizzie.
"Wow, I can't believe she got that one," Joe whispered to the Gatherer.
"That's right!" Dotcom said. "And the final question is, what word is so last millennium?"
"It has to be 'da bomb'," Annie replied. The Zoogs didn't say anything, and Annie was scared that her answer was wrong. Then suddenly, there were the all-too-familiar flashing colors and blinking lights, and when Annie could see again, she was back on the tour bus. Jack was sitting on the couch, a magazine in his hands.
"Well?" he said.
"Jack?" Annie asked, hoping it was really him this time.
"Yeah..." Jack said slowly. "Annie, what do you want?"
"Oh, sorry," Annie said quickly. "I was just surprised to see you, that's all. I was looking all over town for you!"
"Okay then," Jack replied, and looked down at his magazine again.
Suddenly Clu and Carey tumbled into the room. "Jack!" they both exclaimed.
"It's already been established," Jack replied. "I was here the whole time! I decided to take a little nap."
"What?" Carey asked in disbelief.
Jack shrugged. "It's true. Sorry, I guess. But anyway, I had the craziest dream... I was in the body of Manny Ramirez! Isn't that weird?"
Just then, Molly, Ned, and Irene came onto the bus.
"Everyone ready to go?" Ned called out. Within moments the gang was on its way out of Goozburg. Annie went into her room and looked out her window to catch one last glimpse of the town.
The faces of the seven Zoogs appeared in her window. "Goodbye, Annie!" they called.
"Bye!" Annie replied, and lay back on her bed, finally happy with herself.
THE END
AUTHOR: JackPhillipsGirl
DISCLAIMER: I don't own So Weird, In A Heartbeat, The Jersey, Even Stevens, Famous Jett Jackson, Lizzie McGuire, Brink!, or the Zoogs. This story is the result of my extreme boredom and from watching too much Disney, so don't take it seriously. Enjoy!
Chapter One
Annie lay back on her bed, smiling contentedly with herself. "Once again, Annie Thelen, you are a genius," she praised herself aloud.
"What was that? You call that solving the mystery of Goozburg? Even I could have done better," a deep voice interrupted.
Annie sat up straight, scared stiff. "Who - who said that?" she asked, trembling.
"Who do you think it is? It's me, your panther." Just then Annie's panther appeared before her.
Annie stared at the panther, aghast. "You've never talked to me before," she whispered.
"Yeah, and I should have thought of it sooner," the panther replied, annoyed. "Jeez, why did they give me you?"
"Huh?" Annie said, confused.
The panther sighed. "Never mind. Look, I've come here to deliver you a message. Your family isn't happy about the way you've been handling things. You can't just have Fi do all the work for you."
"What do you mean? And who's my family, you mean like my mom and my dad?" Annie asked.
The panther shook his head, his aggravation growing with each passing second. "No," he said slowly, "not your parents. I'm talking about your real family. The one on your home planet."
"So I really am an alien!" Annie exclaimed.
"Well, what other explanation could there be for -" the panther began, but stopped himself. "The point is, we have to do this whole little Goozburg situation over. And you have to really find out what's going on this time, no cheating and asking Fi, like you always do."
"But I don't under -" Annie started to say, but before she could complete her sentence, there was a flash of colors and blinking lights.
Chapter Two
When Annie could see again, she discovered herself walking alongside Ren Stevens.
"Well, I hope you find your friend," Ren said with a smile. "Bye!" She turned around and walked away.
"Uh, bye?" Annie mumbled. She was standing in front of the tour bus. Her watch read 4:43. Well, I might as well go in, Annie thought. As she entered the community room, she saw Jack sitting on the couch. Okay, so the exact same thing is happening all over again. This was pointless!
Jack leaped off the couch, throwing his magazine aside. "You have to help me," he said quickly.
"Jack, I was just looking all over for... wait, what?"
"I'm not Jack!" Jack exclaimed. "Something happened, the jersey, it went haywire..."
"Okay, wait, let me guess," Annie said with a slight smile. "You're Peter?"
"No, it's me, Nick!" Jack - or Nick - shouted.
"Nick? You mean the guy with the ugly yellow sweater?" Annie asked.
"The jersey," Nick corrected her. "It's supposed to take me into the body of a star athlete, but it malfunctioned somehow... and now I'm in the body of Jack! Come on, jersey, let me out!" He tugged at his shirt, to no avail.
"Okay, just hang on, I'll get you out of there," Annie promised. "I know someone who will be able to help." She began to walk over to her laptop but stopped short. "Oh, wait. I forgot, I can't do that anymore." Annie shrugged. "I guess you're stuck." She sat on the couch and picked up the magazine Nick had been reading.
"NO! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! YOU HAVE TO GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Nick screamed, stamping his feet like a small child throwing a tantrum.
"All right, all right, just stop yelling!" Annie said. "Um, well, let's see. How do you usually get out of the jersey?"
"I don't know, it just happens," Nick responded, in a calmer tone.
Annie sighed. "You're a big help," she said sarcastically. "Look, just stay here - and if Clu and Carey come back, try to act like Jack, okay? I'll see what I can do."
Chapter Three
Annie stepped off the bus and looked around at her surroundings. In reality, she didn't have the faintest idea of where to begin. "Come on, Annie, you can do this," she said to herself. Just then she noticed two girls and a boy approaching her. "Oh no, not them again..."
"Hi, I'm Lizzie, and my show stars my best friends Gordo and Miranda." She paused, and frowned. "Nothing really happens to us, though."
"Yeah," Gordo agreed, "our lives are boring."
"Even her family's Dullsville," Miranda added, rolling her eyes.
"Okay, look, I don't care," Annie interrupted. Lizzie glared at her. "Can you guys just tell me what you know about the jersey?"
Lizzie folded her arms across her chest. "After you've been so totally rude to us? Like, I don't think so."
"Yeah, like, whatever," Miranda said, quickly imitating the way Lizzie had folded her arms. Gordo did the same.
Annie groaned. "Never mind, I can do this myself." She turned around and headed down the street. "I just have to find what I'm looking for first." She came to a halt as she laid her eyes upon the most handsome man in the world.
"Jett Jackson," Annie breathed. Sure enough, there he was, alone in the front yard of his house. He was taking out the trash. Suddenly he looked up, noticing the blond girl staring at him.
"Um, can I help you?" he asked. "Hey, aren't you that girl I signed an autograph for earlier today?"
Annie's breath caught in her throat. He remembers me! Timidly, she approached him. Somehow, without Clu and Carey, and the dozens of people on the set, she felt a million times more nervous. "H-H-Hi, yes, I'm that girl. My name's Annie."
"Hi Annie." Jett smiled warmly. Annie thought she might pass out any second. Jett stared at her expectedly. "Well?" he asked.
"Um, um," Annie stammered. "I, uh... I didn't know you have such a normal life. I mean, I just have this whole picture of you in my mind... taking out bad guys and all."
Jett winked. "I've got it covered." He grinned. "Well, I think it's time for lunch, so I better go inside."
"Yeah," Annie said, "I bet you've got great toast."
"What?" Jett gave her a strange look, and then shook his head. "See you around."
"See you," Annie repeated, her eyes following his retreating figure until he was no longer in view. She sighed, and then snapped out of her trance. I need to find Jack, she reminded herself, and began to walk down the street again. Suddenly her eyes widened at who she saw walking along the sidewalk, hand in hand.
"Clu!" Annie called, running over to him and... Val. Annie felt her stomach churn.
"Oh, hi, Annie," Clu said lazily. "You know Val." He gazed at her lovingly.
"Yeah, I do," Annie replied dully. "Um, Clu, shouldn't you be looking for Jack?" Annie asked, desperately trying to get him away from Val.
"No, it's okay, Clu and I are going to look for him together," Val said in her sickeningly sweet tone of voice. "Right, honey?" she prompted.
"Right," Clu agreed quickly.
"Don't worry, we'll let you know if we find him," Val promised, squeezing Clu's hand more tightly. This is sure to make Tyler jealous, she thought with an evil glint in her eye.
"Oh, goody," Annie said sarcastically. Unable to stand being around them any longer, Annie headed off again on her never-ending journey down the road. By this time it was obvious to anyone that at the rate she was going, Annie was never going to find Jack. That is, it was obvious to everyone besides Annie.
Chapter Four
Annie suddenly heard cheering in the distance and ran in the direction of where it was coming from. "It's those skaters again!" she exclaimed. She sat down in the stands and decided to watch the in-line skating competition.
"And now, Andy 'Brink' Brinker," the announcer's voice boomed over the speakers.
I still can't get over how much he looks like Clu, Annie marveled. At the end of the competition, Annie ran over to congratulate team Pup 'n Suds, who had won, of course.
"You guys were great!" she exclaimed.
Oh no, it's that psycho from earlier, Peter thought. "Thanks," he said, looking away in hopes that maybe she would leave.
Annie peered at Peter's face more closely. "It's amazing how much you look like my friend Jack," she commented. Peter just stared at her. "So, umm..." Annie continued, beginning to feel uncomfortable. "What do you guys know about the jersey?" she blurted.
"Nothing," Peter snapped.
"Yeah, uh, maybe you should try the mayor," Jordy joked. "He knows about everything that goes on in this town."
"Oh really? Where's the mayor's house?"
The four skaters looked at each other skeptically. She's actually buying this? Brink thought.
"I was just k -" Jordy began, but Gabriella stamped hard on his foot. "Ow!"
"One block left, one block right, two blocks left. You can't miss it," she said.
Annie smiled. "Thanks!" she said happily, and skipped off down the road. She didn't really know if the mayor of this town would be able to help, but then again, the mayor of Hiveburg was able to help when Annie was there.
Suddenly the mayor's house came into view. Annie gasped. "It's huge!" Cautiously, she approached it. A man with dark hair saw Annie coming and ran to the entrance.
"May I help you?" he asked.
"I'd like to see the mayor," Annie said.
"I'm sorry, the mayor isn't -" he stopped short as he looked at Annie more closely. "You... you..."
"What?" Annie prompted, wondering if she had something on her face.
"Nothing," the man said quickly. "Yes, I'll take you to see the mayors - I mean, mayor, right away."
"Okay," Annie replied, shrugging off his peculiar attitude. She followed him into the house and up a winding staircase, which seemed to have no end. Panting, Annie asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Mortals can't make it all the way," the man said. "Only you..." his voice trailed off. And then, just like that, he was gone.
Chapter Five
Annie blinked. "Where'd he go?" she asked herself aloud. "Oh well. That was weird." She continued on her way up the stairs until finally she saw a door. The door almost seemed to be outlined in a glowing bright light. Annie brought her hand to the doorknob and turned it slowly. The door swung open to reveal the same flashing colors and blinking lights that Annie saw every time she arrived in Goozburg. This room had no boundaries, not even a ceiling or floor, and no furniture. All it contained were the splotches of color everywhere and seven floating cartoon-like creatures.
"It's like another dimension," Annie breathed. She was still standing in the doorway.
"You can come in," a creature with pigtails and glasses said.
"But won't I fall?" Annie asked.
"No," the creature replied. "It's okay." Annie carefully stepped into the room, and to her amazement, was able to just float around like the others.
"Where am I?" she asked. "And who are you?"
"You're in the Zeether," another creature replied. "And we are the Zoogs. My name's Joe," he said. "And this is Zoogina, Dotcom, MZ, Twitch, the Gatherer, and Browser," he introduced the others.
"Zoogs?" Annie repeated. "Of course! That's why this town is called Goozburg. Gooz is Zoog backwards!" she exclaimed triumphantly. About a million questions were running through Annie's mind, but she decided to ask the one that would hopefully answer everything. "Why am I here?"
"You are one of us, Annie," Dotcom piped up. "You are a Zoog. That's why only you could make it all the way to us. Right now you are in human form. As a Zoog you were beautiful..." she trailed off.
"We have been looking for you, Annie. We knew you would make it here one day," the Gatherer said.
"So this is my home planet?" Annie asked.
"Well - no," MZ said. "This is really only our vacation home on Earth. There are millions more of us, back home."
"You're not taking me back now, are you?" Annie asked, alarmed. "I kind of like it here."
"No, not yet," Twitch said. "You will know when it is time, Annie Thelen."
"Oh..." Annie said slowly. "Okay. Bye!" She began to run off towards the door.
"Wait!" Zoogina called. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Annie stopped in her tracks and brought her finger to her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... I don't think so..."
"Don't you have to bring back Jack?" Dotcom asked.
"Oh yeah!" Annie exclaimed. "Do you guys know where he is?"
"We took him as bait to bring you to us," Joe explained. "But you're going to have to answer a few questions to get him back."
Chapter Six
"Okay," Annie responded. "What do I have to do?"
"Well, every week, we conduct a few polls of the people here in Goozburg. Then we store the data in a safe spot, until we can finally fully understand humans," Dotcom said.
"We're going to ask you three questions, and if you can guess what the most popular answer was, we'll bring Jack back," Zoogina added.
"Sounds easy enough," Annie said.
"All right, here's my first question," Dotcom began. "What do Zoogburgians say that their favorite key on the keyboard is?"
Annie thought for a moment. "The enter key?" she guessed.
"Yes!" Dotcom exclaimed. "Okay, here's the second one: what would make the worst new reality show?"
"Definitely one about spoiled brats," Annie said, thinking back to Lizzie.
"Wow, I can't believe she got that one," Joe whispered to the Gatherer.
"That's right!" Dotcom said. "And the final question is, what word is so last millennium?"
"It has to be 'da bomb'," Annie replied. The Zoogs didn't say anything, and Annie was scared that her answer was wrong. Then suddenly, there were the all-too-familiar flashing colors and blinking lights, and when Annie could see again, she was back on the tour bus. Jack was sitting on the couch, a magazine in his hands.
"Well?" he said.
"Jack?" Annie asked, hoping it was really him this time.
"Yeah..." Jack said slowly. "Annie, what do you want?"
"Oh, sorry," Annie said quickly. "I was just surprised to see you, that's all. I was looking all over town for you!"
"Okay then," Jack replied, and looked down at his magazine again.
Suddenly Clu and Carey tumbled into the room. "Jack!" they both exclaimed.
"It's already been established," Jack replied. "I was here the whole time! I decided to take a little nap."
"What?" Carey asked in disbelief.
Jack shrugged. "It's true. Sorry, I guess. But anyway, I had the craziest dream... I was in the body of Manny Ramirez! Isn't that weird?"
Just then, Molly, Ned, and Irene came onto the bus.
"Everyone ready to go?" Ned called out. Within moments the gang was on its way out of Goozburg. Annie went into her room and looked out her window to catch one last glimpse of the town.
The faces of the seven Zoogs appeared in her window. "Goodbye, Annie!" they called.
"Bye!" Annie replied, and lay back on her bed, finally happy with herself.