Aqua Aussie: Can't… talk… too… tired… (Collapses)

Lenny: The author is too tired to talk right now. Why? Because she's had to run around her school two times and she's been drooling over boys in her school.

Aqua Aussie: (Glares) shut up or I won't put what I was thinking of putting in this chappie.

Lenny: (Gasp) you mean… you were thinking of putting…

Aqua Aussie: That's right.

Lenny: ALL RIGHT!

Aqua Aussie: But I'll only put it in if you don't give out anymore info.

Lenny: I'll shut up now.

Now it's time for my usual shout-outs! BTW, this chappie is dedicated to the following people:

The Crouching Tiger Shark
Lav'O'Dolphin
MononokeShojo
Insane Pirate Dragon
BritishRose

Now here come the shout-outs!

Insane Pirate Dragon: You thought things were bad enough? The bad things happening before are nothing compared to what might happen in a later chappie. Yeah, poor Lenny… he has to go on a date with Carlotta. I wonder if this gives anyone any ideas…?

The Crouching Tiger Shark: No! Not your baby! I feel sorry if the gun-fish ever crosses your path… Yeah, poor Lenny has to go on a date with Carlotta… it sure won't be a peaceful night. So… you think you know who's behind the shooting, huh? You might be right… but I'm not so sure… you might want to look at everyone who might want to hurt Rube for some reason… oh, thanx for the Reuben spell check. Glad to know that you loved the song choice I picked for Lenny… that song is cool… wait… (Reads the end of The Crouching Tiger Shark's review) You're a lost fan? (Hallelujah chorus starts playing) There is a God! (Returns hug) Yay!

Lav'O'Dolphin- Ha, glad to see that you've got a sense of humor… some people I know would've cussed me out if I put their name like that… but you do know that I'll be calling you Scotty from now on, right? As for when Lenny goes berserk and kills Lamont and his gang, it depends on how dark my mood is.

Just as a warning, there'll be dirty minded humor during the date scene. That being said… Lenny?
Lenny: On wit da story!

Chapter Nineteen: Shocking Surprises

Angie slowly opened the door to Reuben's room. Visiting hours were open, and you can bet that she was going to visit her friend. She was expecting to see Reuben eating oatmeal without a care in the world, but was surprised to hear silent sobs.

"Reuben?"

Reuben quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and pasted on a fake smile.

"Oh, hi Ang. Didn't see you come in."

"Why were you crying?" Angie asked.

"I wasn't crying." Reuben lied. "Something just got in my eye."

"Rube, I heard you before I came in." Angie said with her fins crossed. "Plus, your eyes are red."

Reuben's fake smile turned into a frown. "That obvious, huh?"

"Yup." Angie said, sitting next to Reuben on his bed. "Now tell me what's wrong."

"The doctor says that if I don't get a blood donation, I won't be able to live for long. I've only got three days time, and the chances are low of me getting a donator because not many fish know their blood type." Reuben said sadly.

"I know. The doctor told me yesterday." Angie said.

"I don't wanna die, Ang." Reuben blurted out suddenly, tears threatening to go down his face. "I like it here. I've got friends and family that'll miss me if I pass away. I wanna be able to live my dream as becoming a keyboardist and I haven't been able to ask you my question yet…"

"Question? What question?" Angie asked.

"Oh!" Reuben exclaimed, surprised that he had blurted that out. "I… uh… well… there was this question I wanted to ask you last night… but I never got around to it…"

"I'm listening." Angie said, motioning for Reuben to go on.

"When I first tried to ask you, you shushed me because the movie was starting." Reuben continued.

"I remember that." Angie said.

"Then, I got another chance to ask you, but I wasn't sure if I should ask you or not because you might've still have feelings for Oscar…" Reuben saw Angie put on a look when he mentioned Oscar's name, so he added jokingly, "That and because I'm a wimp."

Angie laughed and said, "Can't argue with that."

"But now since I might not have the chance to ever tell you, I've gotta ask you now." Reuben said. "Ang, I wanted to know if… uh… lemme write it down…" He reached for the paper and squid-ink pen that just happened to be on his nightstand. He scribbled something down and handed it to Angie.

Angie turned the paper around (Reuben had handed it to her upside-down) and began to read it. She was surprised to see what it said:

You wanna go steady? You know… like going out to places and stuff?

Angie looked up from the note and stared at Reuben with a surprised look on her face. She couldn't believe that Reuben had written that! Reuben avoided her eyes and looked down at his bed sheets, blushing in embarrassment.

"I'd understand if you answered no… I wasn't really expecting a yes or anything but…" Reuben wasn't able to finish what he was going to say, because he was cut off by a kiss.

Angie's kiss.

Reuben was too shocked to kiss back, but the two stayed like that until…

"Ahem!"

Dr. Finn was floating in the doorway, blushing because he hadn't meant to catch Angie and Reuben in a situation like this. "You know… if you're in the middle of something, I can always come back later…"

"Uh… no! It's all right!" Angie said, breaking the kiss and trying to compose herself. "Now uh… what were you going to say?"

Dr. Finn stared at the couple suspiciously for a while before saying, "Well, I'm afraid I've got some bad news concerning your blood problem."

'Oh no.' Reuben thought. 'I hope nothing poisonous got into my blood.'

"Remember how I said that you only had three days to live?" Dr. Finn said, waiting for Reuben to nod his head for continuing. "Well, unfortunately, our information was wrong. You only have one day to live; and that day is this one."

Reuben stared at Dr. Finn with horror sketched all over his face. "You mean… this is my last day…?"

Dr. Finn nodded his head sadly. "Unfortunately, yes. I'm sorry, Reuben." Dr. Finn swam out the room to go check on his other patients.

Reuben stared at the doorway Dr. Finn had just went through, and then stared at Angie. Angie noticed the sad look in his eyes.

"You might wanna forget what I wrote on that sheet of paper." Reuben said sadly, tears welling up in his eyes. "There's no chance of that happening now."

"Rube…"

"Excuse me miss, but you've gotta go now. We've gotta find out if we can help Reuben live."

Angie looked at the nurse in the doorway and nodded her head. "I'll be right out." She waited for the nurse to go and told Reuben, "I'll come back as soon as I can. Don't get too depressed, all right?"

Reuben nodded his head and managed a small smile.

"Okay then. I guess I'll see you later." Angie said with a smile. "Bye." With those words, Angie swam off to work, hoping that she wouldn't be late and that Reuben would be okay.

Scene Change

"You can't get out of here Lenny."

"Oh yes I can. Just watch me."

Lenny was trying to find a way to get out the city. He was thinking about when to leave, but C.J. was trying to tell him that he couldn't go.

"No, you can't." C.J. said. "You know what'll happen if you leave the city! Lamont and his gang will hunt you down and kill you!"

"They've gotta catch me to do that." Lenny said.

"Huh?" C.J. said in a confused tone.

"Everyone always told me that I was fast." Lenny replied. "And if everyone was right about me being fast, then I shouldn't be caught."

"Okay, so they may not be able to catch you if you swim away," C.J. said, "But they'll find you and continue to hunt you down until they're sure that you're gone! You'll have to keep swimming for the rest of your life."

Lenny's eyes widened in realization. Sure, he could probably escape, but he'd have to keep swimming for the rest of his life… and he was tired of swimming away.

"Why do you have to have a point?" Lenny sighed. "Now it's no doubt that I have to go on that date with Carlotta!"

"Aw, c'mon, it can't be that bad… oh snap, who am I kidding!" C.J. said. "I'd hate to be in your fins right now."

"Thanks for the comfort." Lenny mumbled sarcastically.

"Sorry." C.J. said. "But still, you've gotta admit, you're in a tough spot right now."

"Yeah." Lenny said. "And I can't try to escape at the date either; Carlotta will have a phone on her you can bet that she'll be wearing that poison lipstick."

"Too bad we don't have access to her purse, 'cause that's where she keeps her phone and lipstick." C.J. said.

After C.J. said that, Lenny was struck by an idea. "That's it!"

"What's it?" C.J. questioned.

"We'll take Carlotta's phone and lipstick from her purse and put replacements in it so she won't notice!" Lenny explained. "It's simple, really! All we have to do…"

"Oh, let me finish that for you." C.J. said. "All we have to do is sneak into Carlotta's room without getting caught and take her stuff. Hopefully, when we have to get out the ship, nobody will notice us and try to rip off our heads." C.J. shook his head. "It's not gonna work Lenny."

"Well, you don't have to go in, but I am." Lenny said, swimming out the door. "I'll be back in thirty minutes or so."

"You're crazy man!" C.J. shouted out the door. "But I've gotta admit; you've got guts."

"Thanks." Lenny replied with a smile. He swam out the apartment and headed for Lamont's ship…

Scene Change

Lenny slowly opened the door and swam in. He was careful to close the door when he was inside, and tried to keep it from squeaking. He was in Lamont's ship. He was going to take some things from Carlotta's purse and replace them with two small rocks he had found along the way. If anybody caught him doing this, he would be in a lot of trouble… but he wasn't thinking about that right now. He was too busy trying to find where Carlotta's room was.

Peeking his head from around the corner, Lenny saw that the coast was clear and swam through the hallway. He may not have known where Carlotta's room exactly was, but he did know that it had to be down a hallway. After all, he did live on a cruise ship before.

'You know, it would be really great if her room was to just pop out at me…' Lenny thought. Something must've heard his thoughts, because right in front of him was a door with the name 'Carlotta' on it. He put his ear to the door and listened; nobody was in there.

'Yes!' Lenny thought as he opened the door. As soon as he was in Carlotta's room, he took a look around. Everything was pink. 'Her canopy bed, her walls, her floor, her purse… her purse!'

Carlotta's purse was sitting on top of her vanity (which was also pink.) Lenny swam over to the nightstand and opened Carlotta's purse. Inside of it were five clams (which Lenny stole) Carlotta's phone and, of course, her poison lipstick. Lenny took the lipstick and cell phone and replaced it with the two rocks he had found. As long as Carlotta didn't open the purse, she wouldn't notice anything different; with the rocks in the purse, it weighed the same.

'Mission accomplished.' Lenny thought as he swam out the room. 'Now all I have to do is get back to the apartment and wait until the date.'

Lenny was halfway down the hall when he suddenly bumped into somebody.

"Ahhh!" He shouted.

"Shhh! It's me!"

Lenny looked up and saw C.J. staring at him. "C.J.? Jeez, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Almost everything gives you a heart attack." C.J. pointed out.

"What're you doing here?" Lenny asked.

"I thought that you might need some help." C.J. said. "So, I came down here. And it looks like you need some help."

"What do ya mean?" Lenny asked. "I was able to get the lipstick and cell phone without getting caught."

"Yeah, but where are you gonna hide it?" C.J. asked.

Lenny looked down at the two stolen goods in his fins. "I don't know."

"C'mon. I know where you can put them." C.J. said, motioning for Lenny to follow him. Lenny followed him, and ended up in… the kitchen?

"What're we doing here?" Lenny asked.

"We're gonna hide the stuff under this counter." C.J. replied. "Hardly anybody eats in this kitchen anymore, so they might not bother to look under this counter. So, all you've gotta do is place those things under the counter. I'll be waiting outside; you know, to see if anyone is coming." C.J. swam outside to keep watch.

Inside the kitchen, Lenny placed the two things under the counter and felt something else. 'It feels like paper…' Lenny pulled the unknown object out and was surprised to see a sports magazine. 'I didn't know Lamont was into sports.' He opened up the magazine and was surprised to see that the inside wasn't about sports; Lamont had put the sports cover on the front. It was really a Playboy magazine! Lenny stared at the thing for a while, and C.J. came in to see what was taking him so long.

"Lenny! What…" C.J. began, but stopped when he saw Lenny with the magazine. He put on a sly smirk and said, "Lenny, I didn't know you were hot-blooded."

Lenny blushed and began to stutter. "But… I… I didn't know…"

"Yeah, yeah." C.J. said in a non-believing tone. "That's what they all say. Now c'mon! Lamont might be back in any minute!"

So, Lenny and C.J. swam out Lamont's ship, and Lenny waited until the date to see if his plan had worked.

Scene Change

Oscar sadly looked through one of his first photo albums. It had all of the pictures with him and Reuben in it. He smiled sadly when he got to the picture with their kindergarten class. Why was he going through the pictures at that moment? Well, Oscar knew that Reuben had been shot. How he knew that Reuben had been shot, however, was a mystery. The shooting wasn't shown on the news, and even if it was, Oscar wasn't watching the news. But then again, everybody was talking about the shooting at the Whale Wash, and Oscar could've been down there while they were talking about it.

Unfortunately, Oscar wasn't down there while they were talking.

Oscar stopped flipping through the pages of his album (it brought back too many memories) and sat down on his couch. He began to watch the news, but was too sad to sit through the morning weather forecast. Then, he did something he hadn't done in a ling time.

He cried.

'Stop crying!' A voice in his head told him. 'I don't know what you're so sad about. You know that it's your fault this happened!'

Oscar stopped crying and wiped the tears from his face. The voice in his head was right. It was his fault that Reuben was shot.

But for some reason, even though he was still sad, a thought of determination passed through Oscar's mind.

'It may be my fault that Reuben's in the hospital right now, but I can still help him out.'

Scene Change

"Uh… Angie? You okay?"

Angie looked up from her desk and saw Hugo the whale floating outside the receptionist office.

"Oh, yeah. I'm all right." Angie said unconvincingly.

Even though he wasn't convinced, Hugo didn't mention it anymore and said, "Oh. Well, I'll like a wash with extra soap please."

"Would you like a wax with that? We have a special edition one all week." Angie said.

"What does it do?" Hugo asked.

"It makes you smell like sea berries instead of… well, wax." Angie replied. "But it'll be an extra five clams."

"Eh, why not?" Hugo said. "Maybe the wax will help me get a girlfriend this time."

Angie laughed and said, "Right this way for your wash."

Hugo paid Angie and swam through the wash thingy. Everything was doing fine; the graffiti was completely erased from his body, his tongue was scrubbed with clean brushes; yep, everything was all right; until Hugo got to the wax.

You see, it happened like this; the turtles had completely waxed Hugo, and he did smell like a sea berry… unfortunately, he was colored like a sea berry too.

"Ahhh! I'm purple!" Hugo shouted.

Everybody stopped working to look at the purple whale.

"It's okay, calm down!" A fish said, but Hugo wasn't listening.

"Calm down? How can I calm down when I look like Barney the dinosaur?" Hugo shouted.

"What's going on here?"

Everybody watched as Sykes swam down from his office, with Ernie and Bernie not too far behind.

"Well, for some reason, the new wax made Hugo turn purple." A tongue scrubber said casually. "And now he's shouting about how he looks like Barney."

"Barney?" Sykes said in a confused tone.

"He's that dinosaur that everybody makes mean songs about." Ernie said.

"Yeah, you want us to teach you how they go?" Bernie asked.

"No! Right now we have to find out why the wax turned the guy purple!" Sykes said.

"Oh yeah." Ernie and Bernie said. After a long silence, Bernie said, "Wait, the wax turned Hugo purple?"

Angie let out a sigh of frustration and said, "I'll go find out what's wrong with the wax." She went to where the wax came from, took off the top, and looked inside.

"There's grape jelly inside here!" She shouted.

"Grape jelly?" Everybody said at once.

"Yeah, and by the looks of it, it'll be hard to get out." Angie said.

"Who in their right mind would put jelly near the wax storage?" Sykes said angrily.

"Well, you see, I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich…" Ernie began.

"You poured the jelly in there?" Sykes shouted.

"It wasn't my fault! Bernie startled me and made me spill the jelly!" Ernie said.

"Hey, I didn't make you do anything!" Bernie protested. "It's not my fault you're such a scaredy baby!"

Sykes sighed and rubbed his head. "I don't know why I keep you two around."

"Ooh, I know why!" Ernie said. "It's because we help you find your happy place!"

"Right now, my happy place is far away from you two." Sykes said. He turned to Hugo and put on an apologetic smile. "Sorry 'bout this, Hugo. We'll get the purple off you right away and plus, we'll give you a twenty percent off coupon."

"Good. I don't want to swim around like this." Hugo said.

Everyone went back to work as if nothing had happened.

Scene Change

Nine' o'clock.

Reuben was sitting in his bed, looking at the clock next to him. In another hour, he would be dead. He would've enjoyed his last hour on Earth if Angie was with him; but she couldn't be. For some reason, the doctors said that she couldn't see him, which made both Angie and Reuben very sad.

'Oh well. At least I got to tell her everything…' But his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" He shouted.

Dr. Finn came into the room with a huge smile on his face. "Reuben, I have good news. We've found a blood donor for you."

"Really!" Reuben almost shouted in joy. "Who?"

"I can't say. The fish told us not to tell you." Dr. Finn said. "However, we took a blood test, and the fish's blood type is the same as yours."

"So, you mean… I'm not gonna die?" Reuben asked.

"Yep, that's exactly what I mean." Dr. Finn said with a smile. "You'll be in the blood transfusion room in about ten minutes." Dr. Finn swam out the door to get everything ready.

Reuben shouted "Yes!" and would've done a victory dance if he had the strength. 'Oh boy, won't Angie be surprised when I show up to work tomorrow!'

But, even though he was happy, Reuben couldn't help but wonder who gave him the blood donation.

Scene Change

Lenny swam into Lamont's office. This was the time when he had to take Carlotta to that fancy restaurant.

"I see that you came." Lamont said to Lenny, who nodded his head. "Carlotta's still getting ready. Before you two go, lemme just get things straight again. If I get a call from Carlotta saying that you're not cooperating, I'll come over there and personally take care of the problem. You got that?"

"Yes sir." Lenny said.

"Daddy? Can we go now?" A whiny voice said from the doorway.

Lenny turned around and saw Carlotta in a blue dress. 'So this is what that song meant when it said the devil with a blue dress on.'

"Of course you guys can go sweetheart." Lamont said in the sweet voice he only used on Carlotta.

"Thanks daddy! Buy!" Carlotta took Lenny's fin and pulled him out Lamont's office.

"Now, remember what my daddy said." Carlotta said once they were outside. "I've got my purse right here, and do you know what's in my purse?"

"No." Lenny lied.

"I'll tell you then. I keep my cell phone in here, and I'll use it to call my daddy if you try to escape or don't cooperate." Carlotta said. "Don't think I won't call him."

"Oh, I believe that you'll call him." Lenny said with a smile.

Carlotta narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, just that I believe you'll call your pops if you have to." Lenny said with a shrug. 'Too bad you won't be able to.' He added in his mind.

Scene Change

Lenny and Carlotta had made it to the restaurant. They swam inside and met one of the waiters.

"Table for two please." Carlotta said with a smile.

The waiter looked at the two a glanced at the list he was holding. "Ah yes, Miss Carlotta and her date."

"Her date has a name you know." Lenny growled.

"Oh really?" The waiter said in a mocking voice. "What is it then?"

"Lenny."

The waiter looked like he had gotten a bomb dropped on his house. "Lenny?" He gulped.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." Lenny said with a smile. He knew why the waiter was kind of afraid of him. You see, the sea creatures this far out had heard that Lino had a bloodthirsty son… they just didn't know what the son's name was. So, since the waiter didn't know who the son actually was…

"Oh, well please forgive me sir!" The waiter stuttered. "I'll show you two to your table now. Right this way…"

Lenny and Carlotta followed the waiter to a table and sat down across from each other.

"Here are your menus." The waiter said, handing the two their menus. "Another waiter will be here to take your order in five minutes." He added as he swam off to meet the next couple that was coming through the door.

"Don't we have to pay for our food?" Lenny said. "I don't have any money."

"We don't have to pay for anything. My father got us in for free." Carlotta said.

"Oh." Lenny said quickly as he went back to reading his menu.

Carlotta noticed how Lenny was trying to avoid her as much as possible and an idea quickly formed in her mind. "Lenny…" She said in a sugary sweet voice, "Why don't you sit by me?"

"No thanks." Lenny said without looking up from his menu.

"Okay, let me rephrase that." Carlotta said. "Sit by me or I'll go over to that phone over there and call my father."

"There's a phone here?" Lenny asked in shock. 'I took her phone for nothing!'

"Of course there is! All restaurants have phones." Carlotta said. "Now, are you gonna get over here, or will I have to give you some… persuasion?"

Lenny growled and sat by Carlotta. Shortly after that, he felt something on his fin…

"Why are you holding my fin?" Lenny asked.

"You got a problem with that?" Carlotta said, the threat to call her father in the tone she used.

Lenny sighed angrily and said, "No."

"Good." Carlotta said with a smile. "So… what're you gonna order?"

Lenny just scowled and looked at his menu.

"I'm gonna order the shrimp scampi." Carlotta said, ignoring the fact that Lenny was ignoring her.

Once again, Lenny said nothing.

"Well, somebody is being anti-social." Carlotta said. She thought for a few seconds and added with a smile, "But I bet I can change all that…"

Lenny was about to say something when he felt a slight tickling feeling on his fin. Then, the tickling feeling moved from across his fin to his stomach, and down from his stomach to his-

"Whoa!" Lenny shouted, jumping up from the table and moving back to his old spot across from Carlotta. "You don't have a peace treaty to make with the general and his private!"

"Who said I wanted a peace treaty?" Carlotta asked. "I just wanted some…"

"Okay! Don't finish that sentence!" Lenny said quickly. "I don't know why you're trying anything anyway? I bet you're not even tall or old enough to ride the rides at the state fair!"

"I can too ride the rides at the fair!" Carlotta said. "Especially the roller coasters…" She added a bit suggestively.

'What have I gotten myself into?' "Well, you must be this tall to ride this roller coaster (Lenny held up his fin higher than Carlotta's height) and you are not this tall."

"I can grow." Carlotta said with a smirk. "And I'll probably that tall in another year or so. And since there's a chance that you'll be here next year, you know what that means…"

"Uh… no." Lenny said. "Nice try, but no."

"I'm calling my father." Carlotta threatened, reaching into her purse.

"You do that." Lenny said with a small smile. "Go ahead; I don't care."

Carlotta reached into her purse and pulled out a rock that Lenny had put in there. "What the…" She said angrily. She looked up at a smirking Lenny and pointed to him. "You! You have something to do with this, don't you?"

"Now how could I have done something like that?" Lenny said innocently, the smirk still on his face.

"Where's my cell phone? And more importantly, where's my lipstick?" Carlotta asked heatedly.

"I'm not telling you." Lenny said. "Next time, check your purse before going out with me." He waited a minute before saying, "Oh yeah, I stole five clams from you too."

"That's it! I'll use the phone down the hallway!" Carlotta said, swimming over to the phone.

'Now's my chance! She's not watching me, so I can swim away!' Lenny thought. Looking over at Carlotta to make sure she wasn't watching him, Lenny snuck out the restaurant and swam away. Unfortunately, he had swum past a window…

'Hey! He's swimming away!' Carlotta dialed her dad's number faster than she usually would. As soon as she heard him pick up, she said, "Hello, daddy? Lenny's swimming away from me… yeah, he's going down deeper into the projects. Thank you." Carlotta hung up the phone and smiled evilly. Her father had two boys of his hiding around the restaurant to check on them. The two guys were following Lenny as she floated there. 'Meanwhile, I think I'll go see what they'll do to him…' Carlotta swam out the restaurant and followed Lamont's boys.

Scene Change

Lenny swam as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going, but as long as it wasn't anywhere near Lamont's ship, he was all right.

'Hey, I've never seen this part of the city before…' Lenny thought, but he wouldn't be able to stop and look at the sights.

"Hey, there he is!"

"Let's get him!"

Lenny looked back and saw the outline of two killer whales swimming after him. Lenny swam through the maze of empty streets in order to get away from the two hit whales, but nothing seemed to work. Finally, Lenny seemed to have lost the two, but knew that he had to hide somewhere. He swam into a dark alley… and bumped into someone there.

"Oh, sorry about that. I should've watched where I was going…" Lenny was going to say more, but stopped. His eyes widened. There, in front of him, was the last person he ever expected to see.

"Ronnie?"

TBC…

Gasp! Lenny has seen Ronnie? And Oscar feels like it's his fault that Reuben was shot? Hmm, I wonder why. Will the two whales capture Lenny? Will Oscar ever tell the truth? Only one way to find out, and that's to stick around for the next chappie!

R&R pleez!