Disclaimer: Don't own anybody 'cept my characters & muses. Now go away. :P
a/n: This chappie is dedicated to those who hate the Champ siblings. Namely, almost all of you. XD
Chapt. 2: Champ Bashing, Ghost Stories, and the Hair Battle
By the time they got back to the center of the island (and by the time Mary woke up), it was almost nighttime. Mary was all muddy and dirty from her little trip into the mud puddle. "I can't believe no one caught me..."
Ryou coughed and rolled her eyes. "Your problem, not ours."
"I wonder how big that shark was...?"
Ice Dragon heard Mel's question and snickered, "As big as Kali's ego."
"HEY!"
"Probably as big as that thing," Bit yawned as he pointed to a shadow that was moving towards them. Everyone else halted and traded glances.
"...Uuuuhh...What thing?"
"THAT thing of course! That huge dog—" Bit halted and swallowed. Hard. "Umm...Did I just say 'huge dog...?'"
The said huge dog let out a low, rumbling howl like a foghorn. Mary squealed and fainted. Everybody stared at her.
"...Does she really think somebody's gonna even TRY to catch her?" Seighart wondered aloud. At this, Mary's eyes snapped open and she glowered at Harry. "You were supposed to catch me!"
Everybody else sweatdropped.
"Hey, everybody!" Mel pranced forward and slapped the giant dog's foreleg. "Meet my Organoid! His name is Tyson!"
Once again, everyone stared.
Raven looked as if he didn't know whether to laugh or just look at them expressionlessly. "...That FREAK is your Organoid?"
The dog let out another rumble and licked Mary. Everybody turned green. Mary turned white and fainted again.
"Freak or not, it saved us from the evil Mary Champ!" Van declared.
"YEAH!"
"Auuuurooouuuu..."
Evening found all of them gathered at the base camp around a campfire. Hotdogs and marshmallows were being toasted. Mel passed around some chocolate bars and graham crackers. "Since the place is being cleaned up, we have to wait out here until, say...11 o' clock!"
"Yes! We get to stay up late!" Ryou high-fived Jamie, who was also grinning. "This'll be fun!"
"Let's tell ghost stories!" Robert said. "Who wants to go first?"
Maelgwyn raised his hand and cleared his throat. "I will! Who among you have heard the story of the Myrtle Plantation? (1)"
A few of them raised their hands.
"...Okay, I'll tell you the story, then. There used to be a plantation in the US. It belonged to this wealthy judge. Now, the judge had an African slave named Chloe. Chloe was jealous of the judge's wealth. She also wanted revenge because he had cut one of her ears off."
"That's inhumane! Nobody can do that!" Karl protested. Icey sighed and elbowed him lightly. "Karl, in those days, people were slaves."
"Oh. Sorry." Karl settled down again. "Please carry on, Maelgwyn."
"Thanks...So, Chloe devised a plan. On the day of the judge's birthday, she was assigned to bake a cake. She saw her chance for revenge and gathered some poisonous herbs, which she mixed in with the batter."
There were a few gasps. Blackie was frowning. "What happened?"
"You can probably guess what happened."
"The judge died?"
Maelgwyn shook his head. "Worse. It was the judge's family that died. His wife and children. And the worst part was that all he could do was stand there and watch them die."
"What happened to Chloe?"
"I can't remember. I think she was executed."
"That's awful..."
"That's life.The winner takes it all, but there's always a consequence," Raven said solemnly. Maelgwyn nodded in agreement. "...And since then, the ghosts of Chloe and the judge and his family can be seen wandering the halls of the Myrtle Plantation. The end."
There was silence for another moment. And then...
Loki jumped up. "I have another story!" he yelled.
Everybody groaned. Mel quailed.
"Really! It's good!"
Everybody groaned louder. Mel quailed some more. "Run away...Run away and never return..."
"Okay! Listen up! Once upon a time, there were these two teenagers. (2)"
"This sounds suspiciously familiar..."
"...And they were madly in love with each other."
Everybody made faces except for Silvana, who was too stoic to care, and Mary, who thought it was cute. "Eeeeewww..."
"So, one night, they went on a picnic."
More groans came from the audience. Tanner stood up with her guitar. "Ummm...I'm gonna practice a few. See you later!" she said as she left the circle. Loki didn't seem to notice, and he went on, in a dramatic voice, "And as they were returning to their homes, they saw a severed hook hanging from their door!"
Everybody laughed.
"That story is so OLD!"
"Ha-ha! I haven't heard that one since I was in preschool! Ha-ha-ha!"
Pierce was smirking as she poked Loki's arm. "And besides, it's supposed to be a severed hand!"
"No, really! It was a hook!"
"A hand, my brick-headed friend. It was a hand."
"What's goin' on?" Tanner inquired.
"Oh, are you done practicing already?"
Mel's eyes lit up like torches. "Hey, Tanner! I've got an idea!" She knelt down and whispered in Tanner's ear. Tanner listened, then an evil smile spread slowly across her face as she nodded. "...Alright. Heh-heh-heh..."
Mel clapped her hands. "Attention! Tanner would like to sing a song!"
Tanner nodded and strummed the strings of her guitar. "...Dedicated to all those who hate Harry!"
Harry gulped.
"OK...We now present...a parody of the song 'Tom Dooley!'"
Tanner sat back down. "...One, two, three!"
With Tanner strumming her guitar, she, Mel, and Loki began singing.
Hang down your head, Har-ry Champ!
Hang down your head an' cryyyyy...
Hang down your head, Har-ry Champ!
'Cause of you, Leena's bound t'diiiiieee...
It was all so unexpected (and Loki kept on goofing off) that by the time they finished, everybody was laughing. Except for Harry, who was crushed. O'Connell frowned and poked his ribs. "For someone who's supposed to be a champ, you sure are a crybaby."
Harry cried.
Soon, however, the guest house was cleared up. Harry was still sniffling a bit as he dragged his way inside.
"Cheer up, Champ!" Van was grinning as he gave Harry a slap on the back. "It's only one song!"
"Yeah...Sure..." Harry trudged off—revealing the sign Van had stuck to his back: "I'M A DORK. GIMME A WEDGIE!"
"Hee-hee-hee..."
Blackie couldn't resist giving Van a poke. "That was mean..."
"I know...Hee-hee..."
Brad shrugged. "He deserved it."
"I know that, too..." Van ran off to crack up. Meanwhile, Harry was still feeling down. Pierce passed him just as he complained how mean everyone was to him. The lady pilot ruffled his hair. "Don't let them get to you, Champ!"
As he walked off, Pierce's smile grew wider. She'd stuck lots of glue onto Harry's hair. "Oh, yeah..."
Everybody received a rather rude awakening when Harry's scream split the air the next day...Loki fell out of bed.
"AAAAAAAACK!"
WHUMP!
"Ouchies..." Loki winced as he staggered up. "My butt..."
Karl sat up in bed. "What's going on here!"
"Yes..." O'Connell was yawning. "Where's the fire?"
"It's Harry...," Van mumbled as he rolled over. "Nothin' to see here people...Go away..." He drifted back to sleep.
Harry pounded into the room, hairbrush in one hand. His hair stuck out in stiff spikes and clumps. "MY HAIR! MY HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIR!"
Raven threw a pillow in his face. "Go back to sleep, you immature freak!"
"Your hair...is a total disaster zone," O'Connell muttered. Loki eyed the Republican's hair and grinned evilly. "I've seen worse!"
"I beg your pardon! This is my hair's natural color...!"
"At least MY hair isn't blue-green!"
"At least I'M not a chicken-man!"
The door opened as Brad came in, sipping from a mug of coffee. "What's all the fuss about?"
"Huh! You can ask him." Raven threw his remaining pillow in Harry's face just as the latter opened his mouth to protest. "Crybaby-freak here decided to wake us up."
"My hair...!"
"Your 'hair' looks like something Bit dragged in from the junkyard."
"Hey, where are Bit and the others?"
"It's 10 o'clock, Military Boy," Brad replied dryly. "They were up hours ago."
"Oh? Then why are you drinking coffee?"
"It ain't illegal to drink coffee at ten in the morning, you know! Besides, there've been announcements of a zoid battle this afternoon, so they decided to check it out."
Van popped up in bed like a zombie. "Zoid battle...?"
"Hmpf! I knew you would say that!"
"Zoid battle...?"
"Yeah. What's it to ya?"
"Zoid battle! I'm there!" Van threw his blanket and pillows aside and tore out the room. Loki frowned. "I hope the girls aren't up yet. He hasn't changed out of his PJ's..."
There were a few shrieks from outside, followed by lots of thumps, banging, and swearing. Brad smirked and muttered, somewhat belatedly, "Yep. They're up."
Of the zoid battle Brad had told them about, there was a notice tacked to the tree outside...
NOTICE:
There will be a zoid match this afternoon
at 3:00 pm at the island's arena. Contestants,
in order to qualify, must have their own zoids.
You may battle either alone or in teams ofup
to 4 warriors.To join, see Mel or Silvana for
details and rules. Registration is until 2PM.
"Yeah! Matches!" Van paused. "...What are zoid matches...?"
"A zoid match is when a team pilots challenges another team...," Bit explained. "It's usually for fun or profit..."
"Hmmm...Doesn't sound bad. Now all I need is my Blade Liger..." Van clammed up.
"Van...? What's up?"
"...MY BLADE LIGER! WHERE IS IT!"
Robert was reading the notice. "...I wonder if Organoids are allowed..."
Van overheard him. "AND ZEKE! WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS!"
Seighart walked up with Dracunis at her heels. She smiled wryly. "Come on, Van! Your Blade Liger and Organoid are both alright!" Dracunis growled in agreement.
"Yeah...They're in that hangar over there!" Blackie pointed to a huge building nearby. "...And your Organoid should be in a paddock beside it..."
"Thanks!"
"Anytime...I'll go find Mel and Silvana."
Raven moved aside to let Blackie pass, and he smirked as he watched Van run off. "What a loser..."
"Ah, if it isn't Raven and his lump of coal..." Seighart was still smiling. Icey popped up behind her. "Are you gonna enter the contest, Raven?"
"I don't battle with kids like you."
"Either that, or you're just chickening out," Seighart replied coolly.
"I DO NOT CHICKEN OUT!"
"Prove it!"
"Fine! I will!" With a last scowl, Raven spun on his heel and strode off. Seighart shook her head. "What an uptight guy..."
"Yeah..." Icey got an idea just then. "Hey, Seighart! What say we team up and show him who's the best of the lot?"
"...You mean pair up as a team?"
"Sure! What do you say?"
Seighart turned to her Organoid. "...Dracunis...?"
"Sure..."
"Alright. We'll team up."
"We'll show him!"
Dracunis winked. "Till next time, folks!"
TBC...AUAA...
(1)-I think it's a true story; I've read about it...
(2)-I can no longer recall from which book I drew this story from, but just so you know, I don't own it.
A/N: I apologize for giving some of you one-liners.
It isn't easy dividing the lines equally, you know!
Besides, you will all have your moments...
To nintendestined64:
Loki: Yeah! Scary movies!
CF: We'll add 'em to the story! Don't worry!
Me: Havin' fun? Good luck with your job!
All 3: That's all! 'Till next time!
To Seighart:
CF: I'm around...I'm Mel's cyber-body!
Me: When I'm in a cyber-world, for example,
a fanfic, I automatically merge with CF. I hope
you don't mind being IceDragon's partner.
Loki: Heh-heh...Go get Raven, Seighart!
All 3: Good luck in the battle!
To Wolfpup:
Me: Ehi! It IS quite annoying, isn't it? The 24
hours thing? But you must be psychic! I was
thinking about the bloopers thing...I even have
a chapter stowed away in my folder! I forgot it,
though...Thanks for reminding me!
Loki: Whew! I'm glad you meant the REAL chickens!
CF: I hope you like that "Tom Dooley" thing up
there...points up
All 3: Surf's up, Tanner!
To Blackie:
Me: Aww...Thanks!
Loki: Soap is delicious, no?
CF: What flavor...I mean, scent of soap do you like,
Blackie?
All 3: We give unto thee...SOAP!
To IceDragon:
CF: Hope you don't mind having Seighart as
your partner in the battle!
Me: And thanks for telling me what "glomping"
is...Ja ne...Jane! XD
Loki: I hope nobody glomps me... (shudders)
All 3: Beat Raven up! Good luck! (wink)
To n64freak:
Loki: Not much to say here...
CF: ...except perhaps thanks for reviewing.
Me: Will you join the battle...?
All 3: Good luck, then!