"Revenge is Bittersweet," Chapter Two
by DragonShadow83 and VTBOTS
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Parappa sulks down the sidewalk under the sunset suburban neighborhood of the craziest town in the world. He stuffs his paws into his pockets, remembering all the happy and troubling times he and Sunny Funny spent as boyfriend and girlfriend... before they officially broke up for good just a few minutes ago. Such news is devastating on the poor, lonely puppy. At least, he feels lonely. Sure there's PJ, but... well, you know PJ. Katy Kat is nice but she appeals to him more like a big sister that likes to tease her little brother, even though they're pretty much the same age. Ma-san... well, unsure about her; they don't even speak the same language, so he could never tell what she's saying to him, though he knows it's mostly smart-alecky comments. And then there's Lammy...
Lammy... what about her? She's really shy, but she's an awesome guitar player. Generally an all-around nice girl... easy to get along with... very cute and pretty...
'Cute and pretty?' Parappa suddenly gasps to himself, 'Did I just think that?' He shakes his head quickly, as if to shake that little last opinion of Lammy out of his head, but to no avail-- it sticks there. Somehow he can't help but picture that cute little lamb face that he only met a couple of months ago. He grits his teeth at the frustration of the illustration sealed into his brain. Of course, such concentration can distract one from his surroundings. Which is what happens next, as he accidently slams into the last person he would want to see right now....
"Hey, watch it!" Lammy shouts out.
Parappa apologizes to her in a low voice after shaking himself off. He finds it hard to take his eyes off of her all of a sudden.
"What's wrong with you today?" Lammy smirks as Parappa helps her off the ground.
"Everything," he replies with a sigh.
"Like what?" Lammy asks. Parappa explains to her how he lost his little name game with PJ ('Which isn't too bad', he says), then tells her how he tried to 'make-up' with Sunny but discovers the break-up is official ('Which was VERY bad', he says). "I see," Lammy responds with a nod. "Well... um... there are plenty of fish in the sea."
"Really?" the puppy asks, looking to the redheaded girl curiously.
"Well, yeah... So buck up, buddy."
"Sure... buddy," Parappa says, smiling a bit.
They stand there, not saying anything, under the beautiful sunset, which is beginning to fade into the nocturnal, their paws stuffed into their pockets. Lammy smiles back at Parappa nervously, unsure of whether she's nervous about the silence or whether she's nervous about his presence. She starts to play with her hair in slight frustration over having nothing else to talk about, when Parappa suddenly speaks up, "Do you want me to walk you home?"
Lammy merely responds by turning her head to two other people present, with eyes that say "Should I?" Parappa looks over and discovers that he's been so distracted with this pre-- friendly girl that he didn't even notice Katy and Ma-san behind her. He blushes a bit when he hears them holding back snickers.
"Yeah, go on ahead," Katy says in response to Lammy's question. Then, aside to Lammy but audible to Ma-san, she whispers, "Besides, the poor little guy could use some cheering up."
"An invite to bed would definently perk his spirits up!" Ma-san grins before being punished with Katy's foot on hers. "Ow!"
Lammy replies to Parappa, "Well, sure."
"Great!"
"Remember to wear protection when you get there, dogboy!" you-know-who smirks.
"Huh?"
"Forget about it, Parappa," says Katy with a sigh as she drags Ma-san away. "I'll just go home and wash this little girl's mouth with soap. See ya!"
"H... hey! Lemme go! C'mon, I was just kidding around, sheesh!" whines the little... whatever she is. Parappa just scratches his head in confusion.
"Let's just go," sighs the redheaded lamb. She tells Parappa where she lives, and he gentlemanly takes her paw to lead her there, walking together under the setting sun, which very slowly fades into the evening night. For some reason Lammy has a bit of a smirk on her face. Parappa doesn't notice, however, as he is trying to solve the puzzle of these strange feelings developing inside him, which seem to rise in intensity a bit when he touches her soft paw. As he fits bits and pieces together, he begins to wonder... if he's... if he's....
"...said we're here."
Parappa nearly jumps up and looks quickly around him to find himself in front of the apartment complex. He bonks himself on the head, frustrated at his recent distractions as of late.
"Sorry. I was thinking about something."
"Really? Like what?"
"Well... I'm not really sure what I'm thinking yet, to tell you the truth."
"I see. Well, thanks for walking me home."
"You're welcome, Lam." He watches her as she turns to go inside, not seeing the little smile forming on her face. But then a thought occurs in his mind. "W-Wait!"
Lammy stops. "Hm?"
"U-Ummm... M-Maybe we oughta s-spend more time together..."
"... Like?"
"Like, I don't know, get to know each other better. We don't meet that often, and when we do it's often because one or both of us are in some crisis or something."
"That's true, I guess. Well, we only met each other through Katy... So... when do you want to?
"I dunno. Maybe tomorrow, perhaps? It's late."
"Yeah, maybe. Well... goodnight," Lammy says before going inside quickly, shutting the door. 'Was he hitting on me?' she asks herself as she flops on the couch. 'What on earth is going on? This is getting weird.'
Parappa thinks to himself in equal confusion. 'What's with me today? Ever since I ran into Lammy, I keep... feeling something. Is it because I... no way! A shy, nervous rock 'n' roll lamb girl and a talkative, dorky rapdog that thinks too much... together? That could never happen. ...could it?'
* * * * *
In a dark theater in a secluded island from far, far away, the sinister being of darkness is thinking its evil thoughts as it marches through the hallways, holding a hi-tech microphone in its hands, until it stops outside a dressing room playing music. The song, familiar to it, boils a hidden rage and... jealously inside it, and it pokes its head in.
A pitbull guy in the dressing is staring into his little television, just pressing play again after rewinding the video tape. The sounds of the door opening causes his ears to rise and he looks over to that one person behind it...
"Oh hello, Miss! Get a look at this," he says as he shows her a video of MilkCan's first gig. The crowd goes wild as Lammy jams her guitar, Ma-san goes beserk on the drums and Katy Kat sings her groovy singing voice for their first song ever to hit the public. "Someone was nice enough to tape this. It sounds really great, doesn't it?"
"It sounds like a cat with lyringitis," she replies in disgust.
"Well, I still think it sounds good," he says, shrugging and continuing watching. Big mistake. The feminine evil frowns and throws her microphone at the TV and it immediately bursts into flames. "Hey!" the dog protests, but the she-darkness' glare of absolute death incarnate tells him to back down or else. "(gulp) I mean HEY, great job destroying the television! What an absolute display of your mighty power!"
She simply snorts and slams the door shut, not hearing the 'bitch' remark from the TV's owner... And that's a good thing. She stomps back to her room in a furious huff and flops unto her chair, her facial expression twisting into many mixes of negative emotions. "I know that girl," she says to herself in a low, dark voice, "she thinks she can upstage me with my own crew? I'll show her..."
* * * * *
"Okay, girls, it's time for another gig," says Katy to her MilkCan partners the next day.
"Already?" asks Ma-san.
"Well, yeah. Our first was such a big success, I thought we'd hold another one!"
"Uh-huh," mumbles Lammy as she peeks out the window, looking distressed.
"What's up, Lammy?" asks Ma-san curiously after noticing how strange the taller girl is acting. "You look as if you're expecting something. Or someone."
"If you think Chop-Chop Master Onion will pop up out of nowhere and keep quoting something to you, forget it," says Katy. "He's doing a new TV show now, and I don't think he'd have time to do stuff like that anymore."
"No, it's Parappa," Lammy replies with a sigh. "I think he's stalking me."
"Stalking you?"
"Yeah, I swear I caught him following me here this morning."
"Maybe it's because he likes you a lot," smiles Katy Kat.
"Well, it's kind of creeping me out."
"Well, he is a bit of a lonely kind of guy," says Ma-san seriously. "Sunny was the only other person he spent a lot of time with other than PJ, but PJ... well, you know how he is."
"So, there are other people out there, why me?"
"Well, you two do have a lot in common," says Katy with a "Mmm-hmm, I'm right as always" nod.
"Like?"
"You're both shy..."
"You both ran into trouble and had to do stuff for a lot of grown-ups..." adds Ma-san.
"You're both animals."
"You're both great in some form of music."
"You have a more defined personality, hee hee hee."
"You both are wussies sometimes."
"Yeah, and... Ma-san!!"
Ma-san smirks. "Like you saying that Sunny has hardly any personality isn't bad. Besides, we had to put in a joke in the 'what you have in common' list eventually, it's kinda an unwritten rule."
"Well, I'm not interested..." sighs Lammy with, well, disinterest.
"Come on... I'm sure dogboy is very good at things other than rapping... if you know what I'm trying to say..." the little 'whatever' winks.
"Ma-san," Katy frowns, "must you always be so suggestive?"
"Yep," smiles Ma-san shamelessly.
"Well, maybe, but YEEEEAAAAAAHHHH!!" Lammy suddenly screams and jumps back when she sees Parappa's face plastered in the window.
"Whoa," is all the blue cat could get out of her mouth.
"Gosh, he must really dig ya, Lammy," says Ma-san, using her drumsticks to scratch behind her head.
"Hi Lam," says Parappa innocently. "I was just wonderin' if you, you know, want to go to the movies with me or something." 'No, no, that's too advanced, start with the beginner stuff!' Parappa shouts in his mind, then speaks out loud again, "Make that a walk."
"Um... maybe tomorrow... We have to rehearse for our next gig."
"Oh... Okay. Well, see ya later Lam," he bows and leaves with his paws in his pockets.
"At least he left," shrugs Katy. "It coulda been freakier if he just stayed there like an idi-- uh, I mean like a really, really hyped-up fan."
"No, you were right the first time, he stood there like an idiot," says Ms. Smartymouth.
"I don't know what to do," whines Lammy in worriedness, "is there a way to let him down without, you know, provoking a homicidal rage?"
"Parappa doesn't seem like the kind of person who would go that crazy, even if he is dumped..." Katy says.
"Maybe... Well, he's probably just getting over Sunny Funny by going after me... yeah, that's it..."
"Yeah, that could be it," smiles her cat friend optimistically. "Maybe he hopes he'll stop being depressed about Sunny by hanging out with you more."
"Still," Ma-san speaks up, "you ought to ask him to calm down with the following you thing, before he really starts invading your... personal space, if you get what I mean."
"For once, Ma-san is right."
"Yeah...," Ma-san smiles before suddenly frowning and whirling to the cat, "What do you mean 'for once'?"
"My personal space?"
"Well, how would we know that next time he takes you home he won't try to go in, without asking?"
The lamb shakes her head in disbelief. "Parappa wouldn't do that... would he?"
"No way," Katy says, playing optimism again but glaring at Ma-san, "Ma-san is just being naughty again, aren't you Ma-san?"
"Only trying to help..."
Lammy simply rubs under her chin curiously, 'Hmmm'ing and pasting around.
"Anyway," says Katy after an unsettling silence, "we need to start rehearsing again if we want our next gig to be big as well,"
"Yeah, that's right," nods Lammy, more than happy that the subject finally changed.
The little whatever cracks her knuckles as she readies her drumsticks. "Time to go again, my babies!" she says to them in baby talk before pounding on her drums like a madgirl.
So MilkCan does as Katy said, though Lammy, despite playing her precious instrument, can't help but still feel distracted. She looks out the window as she thinks about her recent 'stalker,' wondering where he would strike next... and when.
* * * * *
Well, Lammy has no need to worry about him right now at the moment, for Parappa is much too busy worrying about his behavior as of late, especially from earlier. "I wonder if it's okay with me bugging Lammy like that?" he whispers to himself. "She didn't exactly seem happy to see me. But I can't help it... I don't get what's wrong with me. Hmmmm. What should I do...?"
He stops his thinking however as he spots PJ Berri laying in the street randomly, asleep. He shakes his head. "Geez, Peej would sleep anywhere, not even caring if a car or skateboard, whatever, comes at him... Yo! Peej, wake up before something bad happens to ya!"
The live teddy bear slowly awakens, rubbing the sleep dust from his eyes. "Wha... what?" he yawns.
"You're sleeping in the middle of the street."
"Oh... why am I here?"
"I was just about to ask you that."
"Sleepwalking, I guess..."
"Well, you better be careful next time," lectures Parappa as he brings his best friend out of the street, "you could've gotten hurt."
"Well, don't blame ME."
"Chill. I got a headache."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever... So what's your problem?"
"I don't know why but I keep following Lammy around," says Parappa worriedly as he pastes around. "And I'm afraid it's scaring her."
PJ simply shrugs, "So stop."
"That's what I'm thinking of doing. I don't want to scare off two girls...!"
"Well, good then," says PJ with a doubting smile.
"Here's hoping I won't run into her again. I might start acting like a jackass again."
"Well, I wouldn't worry TOO much about it."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because who cares what they think?"
Parappa wrinkles his nose a little, "...well..."
"Well what?"
"Well," Parappa stuffs his paws into his pockets with droopy ears, "I don't want them to be scared of me... or dislike me."
"Who cares?"
"I do."
"Well, I don't," says the bear unsincerely.
"I'm not saying you do. I just... wanted to talk to someone since I don't have anyone else."
"Well, why do you need anyone else to talk to?"
"Because if I talk to myself I'd look weird?" Parappa almost laughs.
"Just talk to me."
"Mmmkay, buddy," says the puppy, shrugging and scratching his head over this weird conversation. "... what were we talking about again?"
"Stupid girls."
Parappa blinks. "Oh... yeah." Then after a pause, his curiousity gets the best of him and he asks, "Why do you hate girls so much, anyway? Did something... happen to make you feel that way?"
"They're just greedy little... whatevers."
Parappa shakes his head doubtedly, "Something tells me it could be more than that. But," he shrugs, "I won't get into it right now. ... so what should we do? Rehearse? Go home and do whatever? Hope and hope some more that we don't run into Lam-- uh, MilkCan?"
PJ catches his mistake, however, and he looks over him, smirking. "I put up with Sunny for so long and now you're going to fall for someone else?"
"I, I, I'm not in love with Lammy...." says Parappa in a low voice, blushing feverishly.
"Suuure you're not," PJ grins. Then, seeing his friend blush even further, he adds, "Admit it."
"I... I'm not..." Parappa turns his head away, his face becoming a hot tomato, "Whew, it's getting hotter out here, and it isn't even summer yet... Weird, huh?"
"Uh-huh," says the bear sarcastically as he just walks straight ahead.
"I'm not in love with Lammy... am I?" mutters Parappa as he follows him.
"Duh," PJ says as he looks over at him. "Don't think out loud."
"Doh!" grumbles Parappa to himself as PJ laughs at him.
'Maybe... mabye PJ is right,' Parappa thinks, taking PJ's advice in keeping his thoughts to himself. 'Maybe I am having a crush on Lammy. But how? I just had a crush on Sunny Funny, how could I have another one so quickly?'
"So, what now?" his bear friend suddenly asks, breaking his train of thoughts.
"Well, we need our own studio if we are to be a rap band. If we practiced at our homes people would complain about noise pollution."
"Well, where can we find a studio?"
"I dunno. Maybe an abandoned one will conveniently come out of nowhere in typical cartoon fashion and it'd be ours for the taking?"
"... Nope," says PJ, after looking around blankly.
"Rats, I thought it would work. Hey, I know," shouts Parappa with a snap of a finger, "how about we and MilkCan take turns using their studio? ...wait, that won't work, huh?" he then says, his ears drooping in discouragement.
PJ just rolls his eyes. "Can you go five sentences without saying Lammy or MilkCan?"
"Sure. Okay. PJ, I'll do that. I'll do that thing you just said. So I'll go five sentences without saying that," smirks Parappa, every sentence dripping with sarcasm.
"Thank you," PJ smirks back. "So... where are we by now?"
"Hmm, looks like we're by..." Parappa looks around and... is overjoyed--and yet at the same time, dismayed--to see Lammy's apartment complex right in front of them. He sweatdrops and nearly facefaults. "Uh, some big building. How did we get here, anyway...?"
"I wonder," PJ replies with a smirk, staring at him.
"Okaaaaay," says the dog, wanting to leave the topic quickly, "I think we have nothing better to do. Maybe we'll have better with Para-- I mean PJ & Parappa tomorrow. Maybe we oughta just go home and retire for the day."
"Sounds good to me... I was home the last time I checked."
"Maybe next time you could strap yourself in case you sleepwalk again?" suggests Parappa with a smile.
"Maybe," smirks PJ again. "See ya later. And don't let the bed lambs bite."
"Ha ha, very funny..." mutters Parappa with a frown as he watches his pal leave. He looks back up at the complex then shakes his head. He quickly turns around and starts to head for his own home, hoping that Lammy would come from a different direction than he would.
But alas, it is not to be, for he slams into the brown-furred girl just as he walks away. "Ah!" she screams as she falls on her behind.
Parappa isn't too happy to see the person he's bumped into and he grabs his head in frustation. "NO!"
Lammy shakes the cobwebs from the dizzying blow and she finally notices the obstacle... and now is equally as unhappy as Parappa. "Oh... hey."
"Hey..." he sighs as he helps Lammy up for the second time in two days.
"What are you doing here?"
Parappa tries his hardest not to look into Lammy's entrancing eyes... "PJ and I were just walking along blabbering about our band and we just ended up around here. Don't ask how."
"Oh, okay. Well, it's getting late, so... goodnight," she says in a real hurry as she quickly heads up to her place. "Creepy, creepy..." she whispers to herself with near fright.
'Oh darn,' thinks Parappa, 'I gotta apologize to her for stalking her like that earlier...' Then says out loud, "Lammy, wait! Wait, don't run away, I have something to tell you!"
"Oh, no..." she mumbles with a shudder as she stops and looks down the stairs.
"I just wanted to say... sorry... You know, for stalking you earlier today and bumping into you... again."
"Um... no problem," Lammy smiles nervously, wanting to just get out of there now.
'Whew, got that off my chest!' thinks Parappa, walking away. 'Now I can walk away with weight lifted off my shoulders. ...I hope she doesn't move because of me, though...'
'Maybe I should move,' Lammy says to herself as she enters her place. 'This is getting creepy...'
* * * * *
That night, Lammy is sitting on the couch, eating a piece of cheesecake as she watches the television. (Naturally, her parents aren't around at this time, as has been happening to the other kids' folks for some mysterious reason...) On it, some kid is complaining about some girl in his school, in nearly the same distress as Lammy was back at the MilkCan studio.
"Mommmyyyyyyyy, there's a girl that keeps following me around!"
"Well, maybe it's because she really likes you, dear."
"But... it's scaring me," the boy responds in a low voice.
"Well, if you keep being scared of her and do nothing about it she'll continue to do it, because she would think you're enjoying it."
"Well... I'm not! I'm gonna run away!" he shouts, followed by sounds of rapid footsteps, a door opening and closing, and a sigh.
Lammy just smirks at the stupidity of it all, but her smile quickly fades away as an unfortunately familiar voice looms over her. "Gee, that poor kid must be scared out of his wits of that girl."
"Hm?" Lammy eyes widen and her ears perk up in alert.
"Maybe he just needs to confront his fears and just face her like a man, tell her straight out."
"Who are you?"
"Guess."
"I don't know," Lammy shrugs.
"Argh, darnit," grumbles the voice. It whirls Lammy around to see him. "Ring any bells?"
Lammy screams in instant fright, flinging the cheesecake into the air and backing off away from Parappa. The dessert is splattered right into Parappa's face, and he sweatdrops in annoyance.
"What are you doing here!? How did you get in!?" demands Lammy.
"What I'm doing is tasting the cheesecake you threw at me," says Parappa with a hint of sarcasm. He licks the remains of the dessert and his eyes light up in delight. "Mmmm, yummy. How I got in, who knows. This is a cartoon, it doesn't have to make sense, really."
"But if it doesn't make sense, this must be a dream!" To test her theory she pinches herself, then pauses. Nothing happens. "Dang, it's not..."
Parappa instantly becomes worried as he stares into the scared look on Lammy's face. "Y'know, you oughta take lessons from that mother. Why don't you just, I don't know, scare me into not following. Heck, I want to stop me myself, but for some reason my body won't let me. It kinda sucks," he says, shrugging.
"Then STOP following me!" shouts Lammy, upset.
Parappa tries to walk away but his body won't let him. He just stands there staring, and gulps.
"GO!" shouts Lammy again, but this time her tone is that of anger. And no, not just any anger, but ticked off anger! Which is quite a rarity for Lammy. In fact, none of her friends can remember the last time she got seriously ticked... if she ever had.
This is more than enough to actually scare Parappa away, as he backs away to the front door, his mouth wrinkling up, feeling his life may be threatened if he doesn't get out of there. "I'm going, I'm going... Geez. Whole neighborhood could hear you."
"Goodnight..." Lammy says calmly. Parappa, unable to answer for fear of saying something that might upset Lammy even more, simply leaves.
Lammy heads to her room to crash in for the night. Climbing into bed, she secretly wonders whether that was enough to set Parappa straight... or whether she was a bit too angry at him that his feelings were hurt...
* * * * *
Meanwhile, at the theater, the she-darkness still is contemplating on her evil plans. But since she cannot come up with one yet, she decides to retire to her room, imagining various ways she can inflict pain and torture on her enemy. "How dare that girl upstages me," she growls to herself in a sinister voice. "I'll have retribution yet for what she did! Yes! I will have my revenge... And she and everyone else will realize the true power and talent of...
...Teriyaki Yoko."
Feeling hungry, she cooks some food in a bowl in her personal microwave, using her mysterious powers to speed up the process to her desire, and brings it with her, sitting on her couch and eating her grub, tasting it with delight. "Mmmm, nothing like teriyaki chicken to boost my powers... bwaha, bwahahahahahahahahaaaaaa!"
Meanwhile, a dark figure is watching from above with a sneer, using her stealthy skills to avoid detection, spying on the green-skinned woman below. This girl, Rammy--who looks almost like Lammy except black-and-white and 'evil', and her shirt is a little animal skull-and-crossbones instead of a smiley flower of some sort--growls as she glares at Teriyaki Yoko, and is even more annoyed at the maniacal laughter from a few seconds ago.
"That ungrateful bitch Teriyaki Yoko..." Rammy whispers to herself. "After everything I've done for her... Just wait till I get to you, you..."
Rammy trails off as Teriyaki Yoko turns on the TV, which shows Lammy on the screen. "Soon little crowd-stealer..." says Yoko with a deep frown. "In just a few days you'll see... or feel... the error of your ways."
"A few days?" says the dark lamb to herself. "So she IS planning to off Lammy, huh. I'd like to know how..., even though I'll probably stop this Yoko weirdo from getting her before I do-- I want to take her down badly, too; she stole my gig months ago, and because of her Yoko tossed me out!" Suddenly, she smirks, "Ironic Yoko is mad when she's the one who had her steal my job in the first place."
Suddenly Teriyaki Yoko looks around, and suddenly bursts out laughing just in case there's anyone to impress, "Bwahahahahahaaaaa!"
Almost immediately the 'cat choir' (from Stage 6, Vital Idol, of "UmJammer Lammy"), who happened to be nearby, shout at Yoko's door, "Very impressive laugh, Ms. Yoko!"
"Shut up!" she orders, feeling quite foolish. They simply walk away, still praising her amongst themselves.
"Suck-uppers..." grumbles Rammy with a shake of her head. "I better stick around a little longer, at least until this lady blabs about how and exactly when she plans to make Lammy 'pay'..."
"... I've revealed enough. Go away," says Teriyaki Yoko to apparently no one.
"Huh?" says Rammy in confusion, wondering if she's been discovered.
But Yoko suddenly faces the 'readers' and shouts "Go away already!"
"She's talking to herself," Rammy says, blinking. "Better stay away for now." She sneaks out of there stealth-like, not even leaving a trace of her presence. Both her and Teriyaki Yoko secretly imagine their enemies' screams of pain, their cries for mercy, their blood splattered over the area...
Both of them snicker insanely to themselves.....
* * * * *
TO BE CONTINUED