Hi everyone, I'm finally on my vacation!! Thanks for the reviews and without further ado, here's chapter 14. Hope you all like it and disclaimers go as usual. ^_^
*****
Icing Frenzy
It was five minutes 'til five when Heero finally entered the bakery.
"You're sure cutting it close."
Heero stood in silence as Duo kept a curious eye on the clock. "You know what I'm here for."
"Let me just go grab the cake now. Just wait right here." Duo had a nervous look on his face, acting as if he was guilty of a crime. "All right, Duo, stay calm...you still have at least three minutes or more...well maybe." He was sidestepping his traps that he had setup just thirty minutes before and within a minute, he was at his locked refrigerator, where Relena's cake was heavily guarded. After unlocking the various locks and security system that he had personally installed, he lifted his frozen masterpiece and gently placed it in a white box. "Come on Duo...come on..." he looked at his watch and it was now five. "This is going to be interesting."
Back outside, Heero waited patiently for Duo to reappear with the cake. As he was waiting, he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye within the bushes. "That's funny." He continued to look in the direction of the bush, but whatever was there, was now gone. Heero called out, "Hey you back there, are you finish yet?"
Duo responded, "In a minute." He then muttered to himself, "Who does he think he is? These cakes are delicate." He finished adding the final touches to the cake by adding small green petals of icing, "I'm coming out now." With that, Duo did his dance of dodging the various traps meant for Wufei until one of the corners of the box snagged the string leading the to the trap set for the flour barrage. "Uh ohh...this is not good."
Both of his hands were supporting the bottom of the box, in which he then resorted to moving backwards in hopes that the string would slip off. With his steady hands, he took several steps backwards, but the string continued to hang on. "All right, this is not good at all. Not a good sign at all." He thought to himself about moving a step forward, but he knew that would leave him looking more like a powdered doughnut. "Should I call him or not? He might even get hit with something. This is a chance that I have to take." He cleared his throat, "Um...Mr. Yuy...could you come in here...I'm kind of stuck right now."
Heero heard the awkward request, he replied in his monotone voice. "All right then..."
"Before you come in, I suggest that you don't push the first kitchen door too far because I rigged the door with a trap. And once you step in, I advise you to look around for various strings..."
Within Heero, he knew something was terribly wrong.
*****
Relena had ordered Trowa to take to Shinigami's and Chang's Bakery, since Quatre finally slipped out Heero's position. The drive seemed to be endless, but along the way, Quatre begged her to have Trowa to drive them all back to the embassy. Relena refused his pleas and was determined to get to the bottom of Heero's true mission.
"Why on earth, would he go to the bakery so late in the day? I'm just analyzing this too much or am I just going crazy?"
Quatre replied, "I think you need a vacation."
"Oh quit it, Quatre. If it weren't for you, Heero wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. I guess...it's time for you to face your fear of the bakery." She gave him a wink, while Quatre cringed at the thought of the "mad baker" and his cohort.
"I have a feeling that I'm going to get targeted for no apparent reason."
Trowa then called out to the two from the driver's seat, "We're just two blocks away from the bakery, what should we do then?"
Relena then replied, "Let's park the car here, just in case some "snoopy" reporter is around."
"Wouldn't this be a bad idea? What happens if we need to make a quick getaway?" asked Quatre, who was already getting nervous.
"I'll just park this car myself then, if you two can't decide."
"All right then, you'll park the car, while Quatre and I will look for Heero." replied Relena. She began to look out the window to find a inconspicuous spot for Quatre and her to get off. "How about that intersection right there, right by the café?"
"Fine with me," responded Trowa.
*****
"Anything happening yet?"
"Not really, all we know is that our subject is now in the bakery."
"Is there anything really going on?"
"Wait a minute, someone is approaching the bakery..." An assistant in one of the white vans fingered in the back of the vehicle for a pair of binoculars, "Found it." She then scooted over to one of the windows and looked towards the direction of the bakery, but the sidewalks were now empty. "I could have sworn that a couple was walking over there." A perplexing look was seen on her face.
A voice over the walkie-talkie was heard again, "Maybe it was just your imagination, with Treize commanding us 24/7, we'll become crazy at any given point."
"I think something is about to happen. You should send someone close to the window of the bakery."
"Why?"
"Woman's intuition, that's why."
*****
Back in the bakery, Heero gently pushed the door aside and when he looked up, he saw a red bucket filled with a dark-colored substance. He nodded in disbelief as memories of him being bombarded with chocolate chip cookies and strawberry jam came flooding back. He looked towards Duo, who was standing still by his workstation table, holding a box in his hands.
"Why are you standing like that?" Heero then noticed that a corner of the box was snagged on a small translucent string. "One question...why are you rigging the entire kitchen with traps?"
"Let's just say that my partner went a little too far with his antics, and I'm just getting a little payback." By the time Duo was finished with his statement and he closely watched one of the spoons that was ready to launch the flour. "Um...I think you want to be careful because that spoon is ready to aim at us."
"Shh." Within minutes, Heero managed to cut the box loose, without triggering the rows of spoons that were ready to launch the flour at their targets.
"Thanks...that was a close one."
The two stepped out into the main lobby of the bakery, with Duo still holding the box in his hands. "How much do I owe you for this cake?"
"It'll be $21.00."
With that, Heero paid Duo and picked the white box up into his hands, and left the bakery. Once he stepped out into the spring night air, he still noticed that a white van was parked in the same spot. He decided to walk a little further down the street and as he turned around the corner, he noticed a pair of binoculars was present at the front windshield. He continued to take a couple of steps before a nagging feeling sent an impulse to his brain to go back to the bakery.
*****
Relena and Quatre were just a block away from the bakery and both of them noticed, a couple staring at them from the café just right across the street. "Do you think they're the reporters after Heero?" asked Relena.
"It could be. I think we should continue walking, before we both attract more attention to their story."
With that, the two continued down the street as they saw someone enter the bakery with boxes of bakery ingredients.
"I have a feeling that something isn't right...I think we should go back right now."
"You've already said that before, Quatre, and I don't see why we can't go to the bakery and see for ourselves."
"Like I said, Heero was at the bakery. Case close."
"But, I didn't send him on any bakery run for the afternoon."
"Well...I have a confession to make...I sent him for cookies for the staff. I just thought it would be a nice treat."
"A nice treat, Heero could have gone to the supermarket for cookies. If that was the case, I think..."
By this time, Quatre had quick hopes that Relena would change her mind, and that the two wouldn't have to go to the bakery at all. "Please let her change her mind, please..."
"Well, since we're here now, I might as well see this bakery for myself then."
Quatre's face then dropped, "Nooo..." he kicked a small pebble on the sidewalk. "So, much for my wishes.... all right then, don't say that I didn't warn you."
As the two were continuing down the street, the reporters that were clustered around the café, all noticed that it was Ms. Peacecraft herself that was walking down the street.
"What is she doing here?" asked one of the reporters sitting with a newspaper in hand.
"Beats me. Oh well, Treize and Une will get their story on the front page for sure. Does everyone have their cameras ready for some close-ups?"
Sounds of cameras advancing their films could be heard all around.
*****
"Duo, I'm back with the bakery ingredients," Wufei called out from the lobby. "Duo?" He thought to himself, "I guess he's up to no good again. It seems like I'm always stuck with these ingredients. Something doesn't look right." He scanned the bakery for anything that was out of place, but everything was in order. He shrugged his shoulders and picked up the boxes. With that, he went through the first kitchen door.
"What the ..." before he could finish his sentence, a cascade of chocolate rained from the red bucket and right on to Wufei. "Maxwell!!! I'm going to get you for this." He tried regaining his stance, but kept slipping on the chocolate glazed floor.
In front of Wufei, Duo placed a Viking helmet on his head and began to play the "Ride of the Valkyries." "It's time for some serious payback!" He then pulled out his pastry bags that were filled with the icing and directly aimed it at Wufei. Colors of red, blue, and green blended on Wufei's face and shirt. By this time, Wufei looked more like a sherbet colored ice cream.
Wufei finally regained his balance and went directly to the kitchen pantry and pulled out a jar of strawberry jam and began to grab handfuls and threw it at Duo. "Miss me! Man, Wufei, you throw like a girl."
"Why you smart aleck. Come and fight me, man to man."
"No way!!" The two continued to run around the kitchen as the music blared through Duo's boombox with the drums bashing in the background. Duo lead Wufei to his first set of traps that included the flour barrage from the teaspoons and tablespoons. A sea of white engulfed the area, as Wufei emerged with flour clinging to his entire body.
"Maxwell!!!" Unknown to Wufei, Duo was leading him to his ultimate plan, which involved the bag of feathers.
Duo was standing close to the doorframe, "I wouldn't get to close, if I were you." He pointed his finger up, and as Wufei got distracted, another batch of chocolate rained down on him and within minutes, Duo pulled the string that initiated the fan to blow feathers at Wufei. "Now this is my ultimate payback for messing my cake in the first place."
Wufei stood in the kitchen, dumbfounded for a minute, since feathers were still floating about his head. He was about to speak but feathers came out of his mouth. After coughing out small feathers, "It isn't over yet." He chuckled to himself evilly and Duo noticed that fire burned in his eyes.
Duo immediately began to run in the other direction as Wufei gathered one of the pastry bags that Duo had dropped before. "I'll get you for this!" The two started an icing tag game with flour blasts occurring left and right in the bakery's kitchen, but the two didn't hear their chiming of the bells.
Outside in the front lobby, Relena and Quatre had already entered the bakery, but they couldn't hear what was going on in the kitchen.
"Why is it so quiet in here, Quatre?"
"Don't look at me...I'm leaving now."
"No you won't (she pulled him on his collar)...you're going to stay here and face up to your fears." She looked away from him and cleared her throat, "Is anyone in here?"
Right then, a blue frosted Duo with flour smudges on his face came barreling out of the door with Wufei right behind him, who was all decked out with feathers, chocolate, and green frosting. The two continued their warfare in the lobby, ignoring that they both had customers in the bakery.
"Um...Relena...you better find some cover NOW!!!" Quatre pulled her over towards a counter as they watched the two bakers squirt endless icing at each other along with small handfuls of flour.
"I can see why you were hit with flour in the first place. We can't even leave, since these two are blocking the main entrance. I don't think we should risk going through the kitchen because after seeing them, the kitchen would look more like a disaster zone of bakery ingredients." She looked towards Quatre, who was scrounging around for something that he could use in his own defense. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find something that I could use, just in case they aim something as us." He crouched on his arms and crawled to one of the cabinets that was situated close to the floor. He peeped inside and to his amazement, he found a small stash of flour. "This is going to be good."
"Now Quatre, don't you do anything that you'll regret."
"I'll be careful." He got up and entered the crossfire between the angry bakers and threw flour in their faces, but that didn't have any effect on them. Before he knew it, Quatre was dusted himself and he was hit with green icing. He crawled back the hiding spot, where Relena was at.
"I warned you. We need to stop this somehow."
"Well, don't look at me...look where it got me." Relena eventually left Quatre's side and made her way to the bickering bakers.
"Why did you do that for?" asked Duo.
"He's not my problem. This problem is between you and me." Wufei then changed his pastry bag to another one that was filled with red. "Looking for this?!"
Duo picked around his pockets with his eyes widening, "Oh no, that's mine!"
"Well, finder's keepers. I think the odds are even now, since your blue pastry bag is now empty, I presume." Wufei fired a spray of red icing at Duo.
"Stop it you, two. Can't you see that you're making a mess of things!"
"Stay out of this WOMAN." Wufei fired another spray of red icing meant for Relena, even though he didn't know whom he was talking to.
Before she had any time to react, she was knocked to the floor. When she looked up, flashes of light came through the bakery's window, as the reporters sent their cameras into overdrive for their main story.
"Heero," she whispered. She noticed that his shirt was stained with the red icing. He pulled her up from the floor. "Thanks," she blushed in response.
Quatre then yelled in horror, "The CAKE!!!" He began to cringe as he saw the two stained bakers inch closer to the white box.
Heero's face then dropped in agitation and knew that his mission was far from over.
TBC
*****
Will Heero save the cake in time? Until next time!!! ^^
*****
Icing Frenzy
It was five minutes 'til five when Heero finally entered the bakery.
"You're sure cutting it close."
Heero stood in silence as Duo kept a curious eye on the clock. "You know what I'm here for."
"Let me just go grab the cake now. Just wait right here." Duo had a nervous look on his face, acting as if he was guilty of a crime. "All right, Duo, stay calm...you still have at least three minutes or more...well maybe." He was sidestepping his traps that he had setup just thirty minutes before and within a minute, he was at his locked refrigerator, where Relena's cake was heavily guarded. After unlocking the various locks and security system that he had personally installed, he lifted his frozen masterpiece and gently placed it in a white box. "Come on Duo...come on..." he looked at his watch and it was now five. "This is going to be interesting."
Back outside, Heero waited patiently for Duo to reappear with the cake. As he was waiting, he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye within the bushes. "That's funny." He continued to look in the direction of the bush, but whatever was there, was now gone. Heero called out, "Hey you back there, are you finish yet?"
Duo responded, "In a minute." He then muttered to himself, "Who does he think he is? These cakes are delicate." He finished adding the final touches to the cake by adding small green petals of icing, "I'm coming out now." With that, Duo did his dance of dodging the various traps meant for Wufei until one of the corners of the box snagged the string leading the to the trap set for the flour barrage. "Uh ohh...this is not good."
Both of his hands were supporting the bottom of the box, in which he then resorted to moving backwards in hopes that the string would slip off. With his steady hands, he took several steps backwards, but the string continued to hang on. "All right, this is not good at all. Not a good sign at all." He thought to himself about moving a step forward, but he knew that would leave him looking more like a powdered doughnut. "Should I call him or not? He might even get hit with something. This is a chance that I have to take." He cleared his throat, "Um...Mr. Yuy...could you come in here...I'm kind of stuck right now."
Heero heard the awkward request, he replied in his monotone voice. "All right then..."
"Before you come in, I suggest that you don't push the first kitchen door too far because I rigged the door with a trap. And once you step in, I advise you to look around for various strings..."
Within Heero, he knew something was terribly wrong.
*****
Relena had ordered Trowa to take to Shinigami's and Chang's Bakery, since Quatre finally slipped out Heero's position. The drive seemed to be endless, but along the way, Quatre begged her to have Trowa to drive them all back to the embassy. Relena refused his pleas and was determined to get to the bottom of Heero's true mission.
"Why on earth, would he go to the bakery so late in the day? I'm just analyzing this too much or am I just going crazy?"
Quatre replied, "I think you need a vacation."
"Oh quit it, Quatre. If it weren't for you, Heero wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. I guess...it's time for you to face your fear of the bakery." She gave him a wink, while Quatre cringed at the thought of the "mad baker" and his cohort.
"I have a feeling that I'm going to get targeted for no apparent reason."
Trowa then called out to the two from the driver's seat, "We're just two blocks away from the bakery, what should we do then?"
Relena then replied, "Let's park the car here, just in case some "snoopy" reporter is around."
"Wouldn't this be a bad idea? What happens if we need to make a quick getaway?" asked Quatre, who was already getting nervous.
"I'll just park this car myself then, if you two can't decide."
"All right then, you'll park the car, while Quatre and I will look for Heero." replied Relena. She began to look out the window to find a inconspicuous spot for Quatre and her to get off. "How about that intersection right there, right by the café?"
"Fine with me," responded Trowa.
*****
"Anything happening yet?"
"Not really, all we know is that our subject is now in the bakery."
"Is there anything really going on?"
"Wait a minute, someone is approaching the bakery..." An assistant in one of the white vans fingered in the back of the vehicle for a pair of binoculars, "Found it." She then scooted over to one of the windows and looked towards the direction of the bakery, but the sidewalks were now empty. "I could have sworn that a couple was walking over there." A perplexing look was seen on her face.
A voice over the walkie-talkie was heard again, "Maybe it was just your imagination, with Treize commanding us 24/7, we'll become crazy at any given point."
"I think something is about to happen. You should send someone close to the window of the bakery."
"Why?"
"Woman's intuition, that's why."
*****
Back in the bakery, Heero gently pushed the door aside and when he looked up, he saw a red bucket filled with a dark-colored substance. He nodded in disbelief as memories of him being bombarded with chocolate chip cookies and strawberry jam came flooding back. He looked towards Duo, who was standing still by his workstation table, holding a box in his hands.
"Why are you standing like that?" Heero then noticed that a corner of the box was snagged on a small translucent string. "One question...why are you rigging the entire kitchen with traps?"
"Let's just say that my partner went a little too far with his antics, and I'm just getting a little payback." By the time Duo was finished with his statement and he closely watched one of the spoons that was ready to launch the flour. "Um...I think you want to be careful because that spoon is ready to aim at us."
"Shh." Within minutes, Heero managed to cut the box loose, without triggering the rows of spoons that were ready to launch the flour at their targets.
"Thanks...that was a close one."
The two stepped out into the main lobby of the bakery, with Duo still holding the box in his hands. "How much do I owe you for this cake?"
"It'll be $21.00."
With that, Heero paid Duo and picked the white box up into his hands, and left the bakery. Once he stepped out into the spring night air, he still noticed that a white van was parked in the same spot. He decided to walk a little further down the street and as he turned around the corner, he noticed a pair of binoculars was present at the front windshield. He continued to take a couple of steps before a nagging feeling sent an impulse to his brain to go back to the bakery.
*****
Relena and Quatre were just a block away from the bakery and both of them noticed, a couple staring at them from the café just right across the street. "Do you think they're the reporters after Heero?" asked Relena.
"It could be. I think we should continue walking, before we both attract more attention to their story."
With that, the two continued down the street as they saw someone enter the bakery with boxes of bakery ingredients.
"I have a feeling that something isn't right...I think we should go back right now."
"You've already said that before, Quatre, and I don't see why we can't go to the bakery and see for ourselves."
"Like I said, Heero was at the bakery. Case close."
"But, I didn't send him on any bakery run for the afternoon."
"Well...I have a confession to make...I sent him for cookies for the staff. I just thought it would be a nice treat."
"A nice treat, Heero could have gone to the supermarket for cookies. If that was the case, I think..."
By this time, Quatre had quick hopes that Relena would change her mind, and that the two wouldn't have to go to the bakery at all. "Please let her change her mind, please..."
"Well, since we're here now, I might as well see this bakery for myself then."
Quatre's face then dropped, "Nooo..." he kicked a small pebble on the sidewalk. "So, much for my wishes.... all right then, don't say that I didn't warn you."
As the two were continuing down the street, the reporters that were clustered around the café, all noticed that it was Ms. Peacecraft herself that was walking down the street.
"What is she doing here?" asked one of the reporters sitting with a newspaper in hand.
"Beats me. Oh well, Treize and Une will get their story on the front page for sure. Does everyone have their cameras ready for some close-ups?"
Sounds of cameras advancing their films could be heard all around.
*****
"Duo, I'm back with the bakery ingredients," Wufei called out from the lobby. "Duo?" He thought to himself, "I guess he's up to no good again. It seems like I'm always stuck with these ingredients. Something doesn't look right." He scanned the bakery for anything that was out of place, but everything was in order. He shrugged his shoulders and picked up the boxes. With that, he went through the first kitchen door.
"What the ..." before he could finish his sentence, a cascade of chocolate rained from the red bucket and right on to Wufei. "Maxwell!!! I'm going to get you for this." He tried regaining his stance, but kept slipping on the chocolate glazed floor.
In front of Wufei, Duo placed a Viking helmet on his head and began to play the "Ride of the Valkyries." "It's time for some serious payback!" He then pulled out his pastry bags that were filled with the icing and directly aimed it at Wufei. Colors of red, blue, and green blended on Wufei's face and shirt. By this time, Wufei looked more like a sherbet colored ice cream.
Wufei finally regained his balance and went directly to the kitchen pantry and pulled out a jar of strawberry jam and began to grab handfuls and threw it at Duo. "Miss me! Man, Wufei, you throw like a girl."
"Why you smart aleck. Come and fight me, man to man."
"No way!!" The two continued to run around the kitchen as the music blared through Duo's boombox with the drums bashing in the background. Duo lead Wufei to his first set of traps that included the flour barrage from the teaspoons and tablespoons. A sea of white engulfed the area, as Wufei emerged with flour clinging to his entire body.
"Maxwell!!!" Unknown to Wufei, Duo was leading him to his ultimate plan, which involved the bag of feathers.
Duo was standing close to the doorframe, "I wouldn't get to close, if I were you." He pointed his finger up, and as Wufei got distracted, another batch of chocolate rained down on him and within minutes, Duo pulled the string that initiated the fan to blow feathers at Wufei. "Now this is my ultimate payback for messing my cake in the first place."
Wufei stood in the kitchen, dumbfounded for a minute, since feathers were still floating about his head. He was about to speak but feathers came out of his mouth. After coughing out small feathers, "It isn't over yet." He chuckled to himself evilly and Duo noticed that fire burned in his eyes.
Duo immediately began to run in the other direction as Wufei gathered one of the pastry bags that Duo had dropped before. "I'll get you for this!" The two started an icing tag game with flour blasts occurring left and right in the bakery's kitchen, but the two didn't hear their chiming of the bells.
Outside in the front lobby, Relena and Quatre had already entered the bakery, but they couldn't hear what was going on in the kitchen.
"Why is it so quiet in here, Quatre?"
"Don't look at me...I'm leaving now."
"No you won't (she pulled him on his collar)...you're going to stay here and face up to your fears." She looked away from him and cleared her throat, "Is anyone in here?"
Right then, a blue frosted Duo with flour smudges on his face came barreling out of the door with Wufei right behind him, who was all decked out with feathers, chocolate, and green frosting. The two continued their warfare in the lobby, ignoring that they both had customers in the bakery.
"Um...Relena...you better find some cover NOW!!!" Quatre pulled her over towards a counter as they watched the two bakers squirt endless icing at each other along with small handfuls of flour.
"I can see why you were hit with flour in the first place. We can't even leave, since these two are blocking the main entrance. I don't think we should risk going through the kitchen because after seeing them, the kitchen would look more like a disaster zone of bakery ingredients." She looked towards Quatre, who was scrounging around for something that he could use in his own defense. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find something that I could use, just in case they aim something as us." He crouched on his arms and crawled to one of the cabinets that was situated close to the floor. He peeped inside and to his amazement, he found a small stash of flour. "This is going to be good."
"Now Quatre, don't you do anything that you'll regret."
"I'll be careful." He got up and entered the crossfire between the angry bakers and threw flour in their faces, but that didn't have any effect on them. Before he knew it, Quatre was dusted himself and he was hit with green icing. He crawled back the hiding spot, where Relena was at.
"I warned you. We need to stop this somehow."
"Well, don't look at me...look where it got me." Relena eventually left Quatre's side and made her way to the bickering bakers.
"Why did you do that for?" asked Duo.
"He's not my problem. This problem is between you and me." Wufei then changed his pastry bag to another one that was filled with red. "Looking for this?!"
Duo picked around his pockets with his eyes widening, "Oh no, that's mine!"
"Well, finder's keepers. I think the odds are even now, since your blue pastry bag is now empty, I presume." Wufei fired a spray of red icing at Duo.
"Stop it you, two. Can't you see that you're making a mess of things!"
"Stay out of this WOMAN." Wufei fired another spray of red icing meant for Relena, even though he didn't know whom he was talking to.
Before she had any time to react, she was knocked to the floor. When she looked up, flashes of light came through the bakery's window, as the reporters sent their cameras into overdrive for their main story.
"Heero," she whispered. She noticed that his shirt was stained with the red icing. He pulled her up from the floor. "Thanks," she blushed in response.
Quatre then yelled in horror, "The CAKE!!!" He began to cringe as he saw the two stained bakers inch closer to the white box.
Heero's face then dropped in agitation and knew that his mission was far from over.
TBC
*****
Will Heero save the cake in time? Until next time!!! ^^