Life: Next chapter is here!
(Kelly is sitting in a corner, bound and gagged)
Seven: Humorous Memories
Note: Long flashback chapter!! Please enjoy regardless!
"Gather round the table, everyone!" Delia sang as she poked her head into the living room. "Dinner is ready to be served!"
Everyone walked into the dining room, with those who were so eager to run being restrained. They all sat down.
Note from Life: Seating chart! Delia-Ash-Brock-Gary-Tracey-Misty-Elizabeth-Maia-Prof. Oak-Jenny-Lia-Jessie-Meowth-James-Delia. Pikachu's on the floor under Ash's chair.
"I'll be right back, everyone!" Delia said. She hurried into the kitchen.
Silence. Then Ash burst out, "Thirteen people plus Pikachu and Meowth! This is insane!"
"Will you be quiet?" Lia snapped.
Ash slumped in his chair. "This is insane," he muttered.
"Well, I'm looking forward to this!" Professor Oak said. "I didn't make it to the lunch, but from what I hear, it was quite the occasion!"
"Yeah, several supposed attempts on people's lives were made," Jenny said. "Speaking of which..." she eyed Misty, who shrank back in her chair. "Don't worry, Misty. As far as I'm concerned, you get a clean slate. For now."
"Gee thanks," Misty muttered.
"A big lunch?" Elizabeth said. "What did you eat then?"
Dutifully Maia recited the list. "Grilled cheese, soup, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, chips, cookies, and Kool-Aid and soda."
"You remember that?" Lia asked.
Maia nodded happily.
"I remember that the meal was cut off because of a certain stupid twerp," Jessie cut in suddenly.
Ash blushed. "Well, it wasn't my fault!"
"Sure it was!" Jenny replied. "You thought I put poison in Misty's Kool-Aid, so you retaliated by knocking over every glass of Kool-Aid you saw!"
Flashback...
Misty lifted the glass to her mouth.
Ash gasped. She was about to--!
The next few moments seemed to move in slow motion.
"NOOOOOOO!!" Ash slow-motion cried He slow-motioned himself out of his chair and dived over Jenny, slowly knocking her backward. Her foot hit the table and upset three plates of food as Ash threw his arms forward and knocked Misty's glass out of her hand. The red Kool-Aid splashed all over Maia's hoodie and Gary's sleeve. Maia slowly let out a squeak and accidentally slow-motion threw her glass of Kool-Aid in Gary's lap. Trying to avoid it, Gary's hand knocked into his glass and he splashed his Kool-Aid on James.
There was silence. Then Delia interrupted. She looked angry.
"Ash Ketchum, what is the meaning of this?!" Delia cried. "Why are you making such a mess?!"
"I-I saw Jenny put something in Misty's drink!" Ash defended from the floor. "It had to be poison or something! I was only trying to save her!"
End flashback...
"He did?" Elizabeth asked. "You thought it was poison, Ash?"
"Well..." Ash was sinking farther into his seat.
"It was only extra sugar I was putting in my own glass," Jenny said. "But Ash blows everything out of proportion. That's why I like him so much. He's weird."
"I'll tell you what's weird," Brock said. "The dib fights!"
"The whats?" Lia asked.
"Something that will not happen today, right guys?" Misty asked, giving both Gary and Ash a look.
"What happened?" Elizabeth asked. "Was it funny?"
"More like frightening," Misty said emphatically.
Flashback...
"This waffle looks good," Ash heard Gary say. Quickly he sat up.
"Don't touch that waffle!" Ash yelled, just before Gary took a bite out of it.
Gary glared at him. "Why not, Ash?" he demanded.
"Because, I just said I was going to eat it!" Ash protested. "See, I even have syrup on my plate and everything!"
"Whatever," Gary said. He cut off a piece of the waffle and ate it.
"Stop!" Ash roared. "I said I have dibs on the last waffle!" he fumed.
"Too late, Ashie Boy, 'cause I just took a bite out of it!" Gary taunted. "Ha ha!"
Ash lunged at Gary, butterknife in hand. No one would take his waffle!
"Ash, do you wanna chill?" Misty said from her seat beside Professor Oak. That stopped Ash, and he slumped in his chair angrily as Gary ate the waffle triumphantly.
Ash reached for a sausage when he noticed that there weren't any. "Hey, there was a sausage on this plate!" he said.
"What, you mean this one?" Gary taunted, holding up a small piece of sausage.
"Argh!" Ash growled. "Not again! I already had dibs on that!"
Misty secretly slipped Ash's butterknife out of his hand.
"Dibs? Dibs don't matter if you don't eat it!" Gary said. He ate the last of the last sausage in front of Ash's angry eyes.
Misty pulled Ash's fork away from him as well.
"MO-OM! GARY ATE MY SAUSAGE!!" Ash cried.
"Ash, I have plenty more sausage waiting on the stove," Delia replied primly. She disappeared into the kitchen and returned with more sausage as if to prove her point.
Gary smirked at Ash and got another sausage.
Ash reached for the big, juicy burger he had put dibs on. He wanted to eat it now. Only...it wasn't there.
Ash's head immediately swung around to face Gary. Gary was eating a big, juicy cheeseburger.
"GAREEEE!" Ash screeched. "I HAD DIBS!!"
Gary smacked loudly to anger Ash. "I coulda sworn we've already been through how useless dibs are," he said as he bit into the cheeseburger.
Gary will PAY before lunch's over, Ash promised himself as he glared at Gary. If looks could kill, Ash would have been wanted for murder.
End flashback...
Lia stared at Ash, and then at Gary. "You really did that? What's the matter with you guys?" she asked.
"So that's what I missed the first time," Jenny said. "I do hope that doesn't happen today."
"I'll tell you something I don't want to happen today," Gary said.
Flashback...
Brock looked up and saw Jenny. "Huh?" he said. Then he realized, he was struck.
"Ash, watch out!" Misty cried.
It was too late. Brock crashed into Ash, sending them both to the floor. Brock got up, rubbing his head and feeling quite embarrassed, until he spotted Jenny again.
"AH!" Brock cried. He stepped on Ash's head to grab Jenny's hands. His face turned romance red. "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on! I am drowned in your radiant beauty!"
"Get off me or I'll drown you in the sink!" Jenny ordered.
Ash dragged his head out from under Brock's foot. He stood up, rubbing it.
Misty sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "When will you give me a break?"
"You know Ash or something?" Misty asked her.
Jenny eyed her suspiciously. "I just met him. Is there a problem with it?"
Misty shook her head. "No, of course not. My name's Misty, and this is Brock and Gary. We're all Ash's friends."
"Why are you his friend, you womanizer?" Jenny asked Brock bluntly.
"I'm not a womanizer!" Brock protested. Then his face turned red again. "You're my only love!"
"If I only had a weapon..." Jenny trailed off. "Just do not touch me again. My name's Jenny."
Ash was the only person sitting between Brock and Jenny. Brock saw this as his chance. He got out of his seat, skipped across the room, and grabbed Jenny's hands again.
"I could've sworn I said keep your hands off me!" Jenny yelled at him.
"I couldn't help it! I love you!" Brock said, lost in Dreamland.
"Well, I most certainly don't even like you!" Jenny replied.
Brock stroked his chin and smiled. "Playing hard to get, eh? That's all right. I can wait!"
For just a moment, shoving Brock's head into the soup tureen was tempting to Jenny. She probably would have tried it, too, if Ash hadn't come back with a girl trailing him.
Brock thought he saw another chance to try and win Jenny over. So he got out of his chair and leapt in lovestruck strides to Jenny's side. He grabbed her hands again.
"Do I need to punch you for you to get the message?!" Jenny yelled at him.
"There is nothing either of us can do against fate! I swear by the sun, moon and stars that I will win your heart!" Brock pledged dramatically.
"Get away from me," Jenny said.
Everyone except Brock did just that.
"There's no use denying it!" Brock said, his face so romance red that it was nearly aglow. "Someday you too will admit that you and I were meant to be together!"
Crack!
Waterfall tears streamed down brokenhearted Brock's cheeks. Jenny had just slapped him across the face. "NO!" he cried. He melted into a puddle of despair. "What will I do without my true love?"
Brock cleared his throat. "I have to go, too," he said.
"Why?" Ash asked.
Brock's face turned romance red. "Because I just realized that Maia is my true love!" he said. He skipped out the door on his tiptoes, hearts in his eyes and swirling around his head.
Ash, Misty, Gary and Pikachu stared after Brock with a poor-Maia-I-hope-she-gets-away look.
End flashback...
"Wow," Elizabeth said, staring at Brock like he was an alien.
"And he looks like he'd be mature, doesn't he?" Jenny commented.
"Hey, what am I, an item on display?" Brock protested.
Misty looked at Gary. "I didn't know that ever bothered you, Gary," she said. "You never said anything about it."
"Because he was too busy stealing all the food I put dibs on!" Ash cried.
Elizabeth giggled.
"Dibs won't eat it for you, Ashie Boy," Gary said exasperatedly.
Ash shuddered, thinking of his nightmare.
"I don't think I missed anything," Lia said. "You all sound kind of psychotic."
"Gee, thanks for the compliment," Gary muttered.
"Is there a problem?" Lia asked, staring hard at him.
"Nothing that your disappearance wouldn't fix," Gary sighed.
"Say that again over here," Lia dared.
Gary stood up, walked over to Lia's chair, and stood beside her. "Nothing that your disappearance--"
"Dummy," Jenny muttered.
Lia hit Gary in the neck with her arm and knocked him onto the floor. Jenny slapped her a high-five. "Nice one," she said.
Gary glared at Lia, then went back to his seat and plunked himself down.
Ash was secretly cheering Lia.
Life: Phew! That was a long one!
Leien: Anybody need water?
Life: All right, we'll see you next time!
Extreme measures to keep the guests safe...
"What's that camera for?" Elizabeth asked.
Delia mounted the camera on the wall behind Ash. "It's an idea Gary gave me. I would like this dinner to be safe and accident-free so I'm going to videotape my son and make sure he doesn't try to smuggle any food away!" She held up a hand-sized TV monitor she'd had in her pocket.
Ash blushed and slid down in his seat as several people snickered. Gary seemed to be enjoying the moment the most.
And just what did Pikachu get? Maybe you can guess...
Delia left and came back with a plastic container in her hand.
"What's that?" Ash asked.
"Something for Pikachu!" Delia said. She loosened the top and handed it down to Pikachu.
Pikachu pulled the top off, and its eyes danced when it saw...
That's next in chapter 8, "A Shadow Of Insanity"!
