Chapter 4: Meeting Zadavia

Jeanine's POV

It was a Sunday morning. Ace and I were supposed to meet at our special tree, Old Sulky. I put on my signature red beanie, a sweater that Granny June made me (which was itchy beyond belief), one of my skirts, and a pair of light-up high tops. Then, I went out my bedroom door.

I walked in the living room to find my parents watching TV, and Granny June was napping. Anya was waiting for me outside in her car. I told my parents goodbye, but before I could leave, Mom stopped me. "Sweetie, where are you going?" I said, "Ace and I are meeting up at Old Sulky. We need to talk about something." "Okay, but please be careful. Love you." Dad told me. I then picked up my skateboard, but then Dad yelled, "Jeanine Roseanne Duff! What have I told you about leaving your skateboard in the house?" "To not do that, because somebody could get hurt?" "That's my girl. Well, have fun." "Ok." I then ran out the door.

I walked over to Anya's car, opened the door, put my phone and skateboard inside, and then sat down. "Right on time." Anya told me. She then asked me, "So, what's this quote-unquote emergency meeting for?" I got a little worried when she asked this question. I hadn't told my family about what happened to my arm yet, so Anya also didn't know about it. So, I calmly responded, "It's something private." "Oh, by the way girl, can you hand Ace this note?" She handed me a piece of paper. I said, "You're finally gonna tell him?" "Yeah, I'm going to read it to him once you guys are done. I wonder what he'll say." In case you don't know, Anya has a crush on Ace, and she was finally going to tell him. I was a little upset, because I had feelings for Ace too. I had since the day we met. So, I was kinda hurt. I then wondered, What's Ace up to, anyway?

Ace's POV

I put on my clothes, and began ta walk out of my room. I pulled out my phone and texted ta Jeanine, "Leavin' now. I'll be dere in a few minutes." She texted, "Ok. Got something I want 2 tell U." I walked into the kitchen, where my mom was makin' breakfast. When I was about ta leave, Mom asked, "Ace, where are you going?" I knew my parents didn't want me goin' out due ta da meteor. Dey were scared since I nearly died in the accident, and they didn't want another child ta be gone like wit' Sonia. Anyway, I told Mom, "I have studies today. It's really important." I knew it wasn't right ta lie ta my mom, but what was I supposed ta do? If I told her about da strange beams dat were comin' out of my eyes, she likely wouldn't believe me anyway. "Oh, okay. Have fun." Just d'en, my dad entered da room, and I knew I would be caught.

"Good morning, honey. Morning, son." He walked over ta Mom, and hugged her. "You mind driving Ace to his studies today? I've got three different deadlines I'm trying to meet for work." Dad looked at Mom wit' a confused look on his face. He d'en took out a planner. He looked at it briefly. D'en, he walked over ta me and asked, "All right, Ace. What's going on?" I knew he had figured out. I asked him in a worried tone, "Dad, what are ya talkin' about?" Dad replied, "You don't have any studies today, and you never do have studies on weekends. So, where are you going?" I knew I couldn't lie ta my father, because he was sharper d'en a knife. Not meetin' my father's gaze, I replied, "I'm just gonna go hang out wit' Jeanine fer a while. I'll be back soon." But before I could open da door, Dad motioned for me ta stop.

"After what happened yesterday, there's no way your mom and I are letting you go anywhere." Yes, my parents had a right ta be concerned about me, but I was perfectly fine (minus da eye beams). Mom d'en jumped in. "Jackie, Ace's perfectly fine. Even if the meteor did strike him, Jeanine and Melanya, he wasn't harmed." "I know, Evangeline, but I do not want to end up losing another kid. Somebody needs to run the dojo after we pass!" Yeah, tat's my dad for ya. My great-grandfather opened our martial arts center back in 2634. Dad thinks of it as, like he says, "the crux of our family history." Another thing ya should know is tat Sonia was my dad's favorite. She was originally planned ta run the dojo after Dad, but after Sonia passed away, I was chose ta be da heir. But, I wanted ta be in da film and TV history jus like my ancestor Bugs Bunny. But, my dad has always been against dis. Anyway, back to our story.

Mom told Dad, "Really, honey, that's what you're concerned about? Ugh, I can't believe you." D'en, Mom turned ta me. She said, "Honey, you can go hang out with your friend, but please be careful. I love you." "Love ya too, Mom." I d'en opened da door, and walked out. I was so angry at my dad. He had neva really been dere fer me, and I was so upset dat he cared about me runnin' the dojo more d'en me. At dat moment in my anger, da strange red beams burst out of my eyes. Dey kept ricocheting off da front porch and d'en stopped at our grouchy neighbor's window and broke da glass. "My couch!" "Sorry, Mr. Baxter!" I yelled. I looked at my phone, and d'en realized tat I was supposed ta meet Jeanine in ten minutes! I began runnin' ta da tree, hopin' dat I could get dere in time.

Jeanine's POV

After driving for about twenty minutes, we arrived at the daycare. Before I got out, Anya said, "What's this emergency meeting about, anyway, Jeanine?" I couldn't answer because even if I did tell her, she would either be jealous of me or not believe me, likely the latter. Anya then said, "Come back at exactly 10:00. Mmkay?" I nodded, and then left the car. To be honest, I was kinda upset. If Ace did like Anya, it would just break my heart. We had been friends for fourteen years. But if he didn't like her, Anya would be upset and I didn't want that either. I walked past the Acmetropolis Daycare, and over to Old Sulky. To my surprise, Ace wasn't there yet. But, it was 9:00 exactly. I climbed on one of the nearby branches, and hummed for a while. Ace arrived fifteen minutes later. He looked out of breath. I asked him worriedly, "Dude, where have you been?" He told me, "Sorry I'm late. My dad and I were arguin' fer a bit." He grabbed the branch I was sitting on and sprang up.

Ace asked me, "So, what is it ya wanted ta show me again?" I said, "Well, this." I attempted to stretch my arm like I did the previous night, but it stayed it's original length. I tried again, but still nothing. Ace looked at me in a perplexed manner. He asked, "Um, Jeanine, are ya tryin' ta punch yerself?" I got mad, and my hands turned into fists. "No! I'm trying to stretch my arm like I did last night." Then, it stretched out, barely missing my face, and stretched until it reached one of the nearby branches. It didn't take long for the arm to be stretched out though. It thwapped back like a rubber band. "See?" I asked Ace. He nodded, and he was both awestruck and a little creeped out.

I then asked me, "So, what is it with your family?" He sighed before telling me, "Well, da usual stuff. Dad didn't want us to hang out together because of da meteor, and because if I did die, dere would be no one ta run da dojo." Ace and his dad did have somewhat of a rocky relationship. His dad took their martial arts center a bit too seriously. Ace did say he was proud of it too, but he wanted to live his own life. So, they often argued. Unexpectedly, red beams shot out of Ace's eyes, and they began to fly around faster than lightning. After about ten to fifteen seconds, the beams hit one of the nearby windows, causing it to break. We panicked, and instantly jumped down from Old Sulky. Then, the third strange thing that day happened.

A woman saw what occurred, and came running. Strangely, she was wearing a red cloak in order to avoid being recognized. But despite this, her voice indicated she was feminine. She asked, "Oh, my. What happened here?" Ace and I briefly exchanged anxious glances at each other. He said, "Um, sorry mam. I accidentally broke da window, but me and my friend can pay fer it. And that's the second window I've accidentally broken today." The woman said, "Oh, so those beams came from you?" We nodded. She asked, "What about you, kid? Have you been experiencing any strange occurrences?" I said bewildered, "Yes. My arm has been stretching out a bit, Miss, um..." "Oh, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Zadavia. I think you should come with me." Just then, I remembered something. The dream I'd had two days ago had a woman with that same name - Zadavia! I whispered to Ace, "We should go with her. I think this could be important." He reluctantly nodded. The woman, I mean Zadavia, signaled for us to follow her and we did.

After about an hour of walking, we arrived at a strange tower. It was larger than other buildings in the area. We entered the building after getting past a security system. We asked her who she was. She said in a mysterious manner, "I'll tell you what I called you here for soon." We entered some kind of elevator. She pressed a button, and we went up many, many, many, many floors. After a while, we stopped at the 134th floor of the building. I wondered, Eesh, how many floors does this building have? We exited the elevator to find a strange room, and five other people were waiting for us. Another bunny, a duck, a Tasmanian devil, a coyote, and a roadrunner. We didn't know it, but in a few minutes, we would find out everything we needed to know.

Note: Sorry if the ending was cliffhanger, and this chapter being longer than the others. I'll make up for it in the next chapter. Also, I'd like you to know that Loonatics Unleashed does NOT belong to me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!