- Meet the Wolves.
About two weeks before the end of the school's year, Wally told me that his family agreed to receive me and my parents during the summer vacation, if I wanted; I had to think about it... like a centesimal part of a second! That night, I talked with my parents about that, and, at first, they were a little reluctant to go, but Percy helped me a lot; he convinced them that the whole thing would be like a luxury safari, but closer than Africa, and a lot cheaper. That argument convinced them in a snap.
My dad rented the most expensive RV he could find, one that looked like a little five stars hotel's room with wheels. My mother liked it so much, she actually convinced my father to buy it once we returned back home.
The day we left, Margot, Saphira, and T-Bad went to my place to say so-long. Margot was about to leave to Europe with her parents the next week, and wouldn't be back for almost a month; she asked me to send her greetings to our "pet". Saphira was really excited, because Rajshin invited her to India to meet his family; she told me later that the whole thing went great, and, before they returned, she convinced him to spend a few days with her family as well, also with good results. T-Bad was the only one, besides me, who stayed in the country, since she spent her vacations on Chicago, where her father works as a cars and motorcycles' designer.
Not surprisingly, neither Roderick nor Drake appeared, and I was fine with that. Roddy was, as usual, planning new ways to get even on Buster; now that I think about it, I guess it was during this time he designed most of his attack plan for the Acme Bowl. Drake excused himself saying he had to leave to South America later that same day to attend some family business... yeah, right, and I'm Minnie Mouse.
Even if I was eager to finally arrive at Yellowstone, I enjoyed the trip a lot. Besides spending a lot of time with my parents (something I rarely do), I could chat with Percy during most of the trip, since he was the driver and I sat next to him. At times, I asked him to drive a little, so he could rest for a while. Since we took the scenic route, our trip lasted almost a week... and, finally, we arrived.
Ruby was taking a little nap on her seat when Percy gently shook her shoulders.
"No, mommy... I am not the one who played throwing the disc with the silver dishes..." A half slept rat said, still dreaming. Her butler chuckled, and insisted with the shaking, a little more vigorous this time.
"Wake up, Miss Rhubella... is almost three o' clock, and you stopped taking naps when you were seven. We're almost there." Percy said, finally making Ruby to open her eyes, and look in front of the vehicle. The forest view made her to fully react, and smile.
"Percy, this place is great! Good thing Wally is waiting for us, or we would never be able to find him in this park." Ruby said, amazed because of the immensity of the forest in front of her. Sure, she had seen this kind of image countless times in pictures and movies, but it was a whole new experience to actually see the real thing. Percy smiled.
"Impressive, isn't it? When I was about your age, my classmates organized a few trips around the country, and I had the chance to visit both this park, and Yosemite as well. It will be a great experience to walk in these magnificent open space again." The butler commented. Ruby looked at him.
"Can't believe that." Rhubella said.
"Well, before meeting young master Wolf, you were never interested in camping, so I kept those stories for myself." Percy explained.
"No... I can't believe you once were my age." Ruby joked. Percy didn't say a thing, but smiled at the comment; his young mistress always enjoyed doing little jokes at his expenses.
An hour later, they finally reached the park's entrance. Since it was a high tourism's season, the road was filled up with several cars, and lots of rangers trying to keep them in order while pointing the tourists about the best places to camp, or, in the case of those who reserved a cabin, where they had to go. Percy had to slow down the vehicle to ask for directions; Ruby opened the window, and directed to a ranger who was showing his back to them while ending directing another tourist.
"Excuse me, mister ranger, but we are looking for one guy that works here, Willy Wolf. You surely know him; he is a black wolf with white muzzle, pretty eyes, and a very good temper." Ruby told the ranger. He turned back, and the rat smiled widely.
"Of course I know him. He had been waiting for his dearest friend from Acme Acres." Wally, who was the one in the ranger's outfit, directed to the rat, smiling, and blushing a little because of Ruby's comment about his eyes. He had already told Ruby that he was working half-shift as an assistant ranger.
Rhubella couldn't contain herself, and opened the door, jumping down the vehicle and giving him a tight hug. Wally was a little surprised, but immediately hugged her back. Percy shook his head, slightly smiling. At that moment, Rupert approached to his butler.
"Why we had stopped, Percival? And where's Rhubella?" Mr Rat asked. Wally and Ruby broke the embrace, and then he cleared his throat to get Rupert's attention, as well as Roselyn's, who had approached to the RV's window. The wolf made a formal salute, and directed to the rats at the vehicle, in his usual polite tone.
"Welcome to Yellowstone Park, Mister and Ms Rat, and Mister Percival. I'm glad to receive you here at my home, and to inform you I'll be both your guide and host during all the time you stay, hoping you all will enjoy your visit." Wally said.
"Oh, Wallace, nice to see you. Au contraire, we are glad you invited us to this beautiful place. Please, come on board." Rupert replied, motioning both Wally and Ruby to get into the vehicle; the rat girl had already told her parents that Wally was one of the park's employees, but they were okay with that, since Mister Rat had always appreciated a hard worker.
Wally kept the door open for Ruby, and assisted her to get in; he sat next to the window, and, after shaking paws with both male rats, and gently saluting Roselyn, he started directing Percy. During the ride, Roselyn taped everything she saw while Wally, attending his guide's duties, informed the rats about the things they were seeing, from the kind of trees to the geysers. Rupert listened every detail, asking some questions about anything he was doubtful. Ruby, even if she was enjoying the view and the explanation, was more interested on the fact she and Wally were next to each other, and she took the chance to place her paw on his. Wally blushed a little, but hold her paw in reply while giving her a fast glance.
They arrived to Wally's home almost two hours later. It was one of the less visited parts of the park, since it was reserved for the employees' homes; this particular one was a very big cabin, the type you see in western movies or TV shows, rustic, but nice looking. The moment Percy parked the vehicle, a little seven year-old wolf girl, with totally brown fur, wearing a white shirt and blue shorts, dashed out from the cabin, and, when Wally opened the RV's door to jump down, she jumped on top of him.
"Yourfriendishere? Yourfriendishere? Yourfriendishere?" The girl said in a fast and excited voice. Wally motioned her to calm down, while Ruby, chuckling, jumped down from the RV as well. Wally already had talked to her about this particular relative of him.
"Yes, Vicky, she is. Ruby, she is my little cousin, Vicky. Vicky, she's my friend from Acme Acres, Rhubella, or Ruby for friends." Wally made the formal introduction. Vicky dashed next to Ruby, and keeping her excited tone and mile-per-minute talking, shook her paw.
"Hi! How are you? My name is Virginia, but everyone calls me Vicky because otherwise there are many jokes about the whole "Who Fears Virginia Wolf?" topic, but that doesn't really matters to me because I like my name anyway. So, you're my cousin's friend, uh? He is always talking about you, and his other friendfrom Acme Acres, but I think she is a duck, and you are a rat, right? I know because he talks about you the most, and how nice you are, how pretty you are..." Vicky was cut by Wally's paw on her muzzle. The wolf boy gave Ruby a nervous smile, while the rat was doing her best to avoid rolling on the floor laughing because of the little girl's speech.
"Nice to meet you, Vicky. Your cousin had mentioned you some times when we chat on line." Ruby said to Vicky while leaning, giving her a friendly smile. Wally retired his paw from Vicky's muzzle when he noticed Ruby's parents and Percy were walking down the vehicle. Virginia moved in front of the elder rats, and leaned respectfully.
"Good evening. My name is Virginia Wolf, but you can call me Vicky, as anyone else. We are honored for your visit to our home; please allow me and my cousin to help you with your baggage." Vicky said, in an amazingly polite and calm way. Percy and Ruby's parents thanked her, and told the girl that they would sleep on the vehicle, so there was no need to take down any baggage.
"She only acts this way with the grown-ups she isn't familiar with. To the rest of us, Vicky is like a sugar-high Speedy Gonzales." Wally whispered to Ruby, explaining his cousin sudden change of behavior.
A moment later, a brown wolf lady, wearing a red dress, a green necklace, and a white apron, with a matching bracelet, walked out from the house, and gave the rats a nice smile. Ruby recognized Wally's mother from the pictures she had already seen.
"Good evening, sirs. My name is Guadalupe Wolf, but you can call me Lupe, or Lupita. I'm glad to finally receive at my place the family that was so kind with my son during his time in Acme Acres." Lupe said, in a very kind tone. The rats thanked for the greeting, and then all walked inside the house to chat until dinner's time.
Larry, Wally's dad, arrived about an hour later, alongside with Vicky's parents and a few other wolves, who were relatives as well. Larry looked a lot like a taller version of Wally (he was about the size of Wile E. Coyote, ears and all), but their eyes were different, since Wally had his like his mother's. They all sat for dinner, who consisted mainly on a large pot of stew; besides that, there were tortillas, some salad, rice, and a dish with plenty of home-made biscuits. Percy wanted to help serve the food, but Lupe, Wally and Vicky did it; the wolf boy insisted Percy with the fact was a guest as well, so, at least during the meal hours, he shouldn't need to work at all. Wally sat between Ruby and Vicky, and then they all started eating. Wally was the only one who wasn'ttaking anystew, having mostly biscuits instead.
"Delicious meal, Mrs Lupe. May I ask you what kind of meat is this?" Rupert asked Lupe while preparing himself another taco with the stew.
"Bison." Lupe answered. "Since we are wolves, we are allowed to hunt a large animal once in a while. Wally used to eat a lot of this, but he had lowered a lot his meat's ingest since he knew he would attend school in Acme Acres." The wolf lady commented. Wally nodded, and entered the conversation.
"Well, as I already told your daughter, Mister Rat, I think it would be very uncomfortable to eat real meat in front of a guy who belongs to an edible species, so I had been looking for a substitute for meat on my diet. Actually, Rhubella helped me a lot with that, because she introduced me to many cheese-based meals, and those work well with me. These biscuits, for example, are made of potato and cheese." Wally pointed while grabbing another biscuit. Roselyn entered the conversation.
"That's curious... you know, when we have a party or dinner at home, we serve several kinds of meat, and our guests had never felt offended. Now that I think about it, I once saw one of our associates, a duck, eating eggs." Roselyn commented, realizing about the cannibalistic tendencies of some wealthy toons; she had even seen chickens and ducks eating poultry.
"Well, maybe he doesn't consider eating that as a cannibal thing because, sadly, as I noticed in Perfecto, many of the wealthy toons had forgotten they are animals. Back in the Prep, the only ones I ever saw doing animal-like things were some guys who were there because of a sports' scholarship, and just because they had some useful natural skills. I know we are civilized animals, but we must not forget that we're that, animals. Even if I'm trying to control my carnivore side, I still like doing some things according to my species." Wally told the rats. Rupert pondered about the speech for a moment.
"You know, Wallace, that might be a good stress-relieving therapy. I'm comment about it to my associates at home. You have a good point about that animal-heritage topic; sometimes, the only thing that reminds me I am a rat, is the fact I like cheese a lot." Rupert commented. Larry cleaned his muzzle with a napkin, and directed to his family.
"And talking about animal instinct, it's almost time." Larry said, making all the wolves to nod.
"Time for what?" Ruby asked Wally. He cleaned his muzzle as well before answering.
"Part of our job is to howl a little every night; tourists like that a lot. Helps to complete the whole wilderness picture." Wally replied. A few minutes later, when everybody ended eating, and Lupe, Wally, and two of his cousins cleaned the table, they all walked out from the house. It was already dark, and the moon was up, giving some illumination.
"The best moment to do the howling is like this one, when the moon is visible, even if it's not a full one. That eliminates any fear-related feelingfrom the howling; otherwise, when it's totally dark, it can be a little scary for the people hearing it." Wally told Rhubella while her mother was preparing the camera to tape the wolves.
"Can I do the first howling? Can I? Can I? Can I? Pleeeeease?" Vicky asked the other canines; they chuckled, and nodded. Vicky cleared her throat, and howled.
HOOOWWWWLLLLL!
A second later, all the wolves were howling in a very melodic way. They stopped a few minutes later, and then there was another howling in the air, not nearly as melodic as the original.
"Those are the tourists. They like to howl in reply. Wanna try?" Larry informed the rats, inviting them to join. They hesitated a little, but Ruby set the example by walking next to the pack, clearing her throat, and placing both paws in a megaphone-like way. She took a deep breath, and started howling, in a more or less decent way. This encouraged the other rodents, and they howled a little as well... except Ruby, who joined the wolves when they started howling again.
Those vacations were great. My parents actually allowed themselves to relax and enjoy the forest, even if they spent most of the time near the cabin, chatting with Wally's mom. Percy offered to baby-sit Vicky, so they were together most of the time; I guess Percy missed the days when I was Vicky's age, because I swear he looked like ten years younger when we finally returned home. And me, well, I spent those days alongside Wally and his dad, watching them working; after a couple of days, I knew enough to, at least, assist them without messing with the job. I really liked being useful... and, truth be said, that ranger's outfit fits me greatly.
Of course, Wally had some recess, and used that time to show me everything and everyone. He introduced me to the rangers and the other animals he was friend with. The second day he introduced me to Miss Hooter, an owl who teaches in the local school; therefore, she used to be Wally's professor. He later showed me a little outdoors gym where he learned to fight; his trainer was Mister Bruin, a grizzly bear the size of a van, and kind of tough, but he surprised me with his manners, who were better than the ones from many guys at Perfecto. He even offered himself to show me some moves, and I accepted; sure, I can't fight like most of you, but I learned enough to kick a tail or two, just in case.
But most of the time, it was just the two of us; Wally and I could walk for hours chatting about anything. As usual, he always cut the serious talking to joke and make my laugh, and I tried doing the same. so we could be having a normal chat one moment, and the next one of us was laughing like crazy. By then, I was totally sure I felt something more powerful than a crush for him, something even stronger than the feeling I had when Roddy and I were on our best moment. Now, the only thing I needed to know was if Wally was feeling the same.
Two days before the Rat family's departure date, right after Lupe called everyone inside the cabin for dinner, Wally motioned Ruby to talk alone with her. So, they stayed outside while everyone rushed inside the house.
"Ruby, I want to ask you something. You see, my dad told me that we have to disperse a little tonight when we do the howling, so we can be heard all across the park... and I'll go to a section who is a little far away from here, and... I was wondering if you would like coming with me." Wally said to the rat, blushing slightly. Rhubella smiled.
"Sure, why not?" The rodent replied, making the wolf to smile as well. Then they entered the house to eat with the families. Once everyone ended dinner, Wally told his parents and Rhubella's about her going with him to howl, and they all agreed.
Wally and Ruby left the cabin a while before everyone's else started howling, because they had to cover some distance, and needed to be there before the other wolves started howling. Once they were a few yards away, Wally had an idea.
"Hey, Ruby, why I don't change into Wolflash to run there? I can carry you without problems." Wally proposed. Rhubella got a doubtful look.
"I don't know, Wally... I mean, you are really fast with that identity, and, well, I just had dinner." Ruby told him. Wally chuckled.
"Don't worry. I'll keep my speed under Mach-1, and I am always very careful when running. Trust me." Wally said to the rodent. Ruby smiled and nodded.
Of course, that argument was a winner one. I trust him entirely.
"Okay, Wally, but, just in case... safety first." Ruby said while taking a helmet and protective goggles out from her body's pocket. Wally wide-opened his eyes in surprise.
"When did you learned to do that?" Wally asked. It was the first time he ever saw Rhubella, or any Perfecto, using a toon trick.
"Recently; I wanted to surprise you, and it seems I did it. Since your toon tricks are very useful, I decided to learn a few on my own. Sure, I can do only the most basic ones, but I'm improving." Ruby explained while putting on her protection. Once she was done, the rat placed her paws around the wolf's neck, and he carried her bridal-style.
"Okay, Ruby, here we go." Wally told her, and then dashed away. As promised, he wasn't using his top speed, but it still was a good one.
That ride was really cool. Even if he wasn't running at full speed, I could have an idea about the way he sees the world when running that fast; is just amazing. Everything seems to be frozen in time, and you see hundreds of color lines in front and aside of you. Sure, I felt like throwing up a couple of times, but, just tightening my grip a little, and leaning my head on Wally's chest, was enough to control that sensation.
When Wally approached his final destination, a cliff, he sprinted to run on the rocky wall. Less than a second later, he and Ruby were on top. Even if the ride lasted less than 10 seconds, the whole "freezing time" effect made it feel to be like a 5 minutes one.
"Enjoyed the ride, Ruby?" Wally asked the rat on his arms. The rat got an awe expression, and looked at him.
"It was wonderful! How do you know when you are arriving to the place you're going? I honestly thought we were about to exit the park!" Rhubella asked. Wally shrugged.
"When I change into Wolflash, my whole body adapts to the speed, including my reflexes and sight. That helps me to have a good vision of the place I'm going, and prevents tripping or clashing with obstacles." Wally informed her. Rhubella nodded, and blushed a little.
"Uh... you know you can put me down now, right?" The rodent asked. Wally blushed a little, and put her down gently. The rat removed her helmet and goggles, and then turned to see the view in front of her. This cliff was really tall, so it was easy to see a good part of the park.
"Wow! This place is great!" Rhubella said, excited. Wally changed back to normal, and moved next to her.
"Yes. This is one of my favorite howling spots. Look, the moon is on the right position." Wally said while pointing to the sky. Rhubella nodded, and, a couple of seconds later, they both started howling; since she now had more practice, her howling was more melodic, and made a good chorus with Wally's. They stopped after 10 minutes or so, and sat next to the cliff's edge, hearing the other wolves and tourists' howling.
A great view in a private place, the moon on top, and a handsome guy... that was the perfect chance.
"Wally..." Ruby said, rubbing her arms, "... about that conversation we once had about you getting a mate... had you found any suitable candidate?" The rat asked, a little nervous. Wally rubbed his neck, and replied.
"Well... there's one girl... but, I don't know... it's not easy for me to have a relationship with her." Wally told the rat, avoiding the eye contact..
"She isn't a wolf?" Rhubella asked.
"No... but that's not the problem... I love her the way she is. But... well, I can't offer her all the things she is used to have, and, well... there is also the detail of the whole loyalty and commitment between a couple. You know how much I respect that." Wally said, looking down.
Of course I knew what he was talking about... and of course, I also knew what I had to do.
"I'll break up with Roderick." Ruby told him, making Wally to do a double take.
"You... really?" Wally asked, more excited than he wanted to show. Rhubella nodded.
"Yes... I tried to keep the flame on as much as I could, but there's no use. He no longer cares about our relationship, and we now are a couple only by title, or habit, maybe. But the weird thing is that it doesn't hurt as much as I would think, because I already like someone else... more than a million times than I ever liked Roderick." Ruby said, blushing a little. Wally gulped, and smiled nervously.
"And, this guy... is from school?" Wally asked, waging slightly his tail. Ruby smiled fondly at him.
"He WAS a classmate... not the wealthiest guy around, but his qualities are more worthy than any bank account. And... if he tells me what I want to hear... I wouldn't care if we aren't from the same species, or school, or whatever." Ruby winked an eye to Wally. The wolf stared at her, and took a little breath before talking.
"Ruby... as you said, I'm not the wealthiest guy around... and I know it will be difficult to have a relationship because of the whole social classes junk, and that silly rivalry between schools... but I can promise you something, and you know I always keep my word. Nobody will care, support, or love you the same way I do." Wally said, holding paws with her. Both toons stared at each other, and then the moon was covered by clouds, darkening the scene. And, when the moon was visible again...
"We walk, we walk, walk, and then stop." A blond woman, dressed with a red tourists' guide outfit and holding a megaphone, directed to a group of tourists following her, right on top of the cliff. She made a signal to stop, and then directed to them while smiling widely.
"Good night. I'm your guide, Miss Information, and we are in one of the best viewing points of Yellowstone Park. From here you can see almost all the north section of this natural wonder, as well as a section of our neighbor park, Jellystone; it's almost as pretty as our park, but they have a lot more problems keeping the bears away from the picnic baskets. If you look behind me, you'll see the magnificent nocturnal view of the park, and, next to the cliff's edge, an interspecies couple sharing a romantic moment." Miss Information said to the tourists, who made an "awww" expression when looking at Ruby and Wally, kissing tender and deeply while gently rubbing each other's back, totally oblivious to the crowd looking at them.
Miss Information, after looking at the scene for a few moments, and allowing the tourists to tape the scene and take some pictures using special night vision's lenses (needed to take good shots at night without disturbing the animals with a flash), directed to the group again.
"Now, friends, even if looking at the animals' natural behavior is one of the park's main attractions, I think it would be proper to allow them to have some privacy, so we'll better leave. We walk, we walk, we start leaving, we take a last picture, we leave the scene, my cameo ends, we walk..." The blonde said while motioning the tourists to follow her, leaving the couple alone. Wally and Ruby broke the kiss almost three minutes later, thanks to the toons natural resistance, and looked fondly at each other, with little hearts flying around their heads.
"I love you too, Wally... and, I have the perfect way to prove it." Rhubella said. Wally chuckled while rubbing her hair.
"Well, I really doubt anything can be better than that kiss... but I'm more than willing to try." Wally said, half-joking. Ruby giggled, and shook her head slightly.
"Me too, but I'm trying to be serious for a moment. Look, I want to be your girlfriend in an open and free way, without anyone to mess with us... I know that might be hard, but I want to do my best to make this relationship to work. So, I'll ask my parents to allow me to enter the Looniversity." Ruby told him. Wally smile grew even wider.
"You mean it? Really?" Wally asked, excited. Rhubella nodded, and Wally couldn't hold a happiness' howling. Rhubella laughed, and waited for Wally to cool down before talking to him again.
"Don't worry about my parents; I mean, they already like you. Once they know how much I really want to attend the Loo, I'm sure convincing them will not be so hard. And, who knows? Sure, the guys from Acme aren't going to receive me with a parade, and it might take a while for them to trust me, but maybe I can make a friend or two in there." Rhubella said. Wally pondered about her speech, and then snapped his fingers.
"I have an idea. Look, you need some preparation to enter the Looniversity with a good placement, and that will take some time, so maybe you can take a month or two to prepare yourself, with a little help from yours truly, of course, and enter Acme later on the semester. Mrs Cat, the lady who attended me, told me there's always a group that can't start the classes alongside the rest of the school for different reasons, so they do it about one month after the beginning, and they still can work at the same rhythm of the other students. Also, maybe you shouldn't break up with Roderick yet, but after you get your placement at Acme. Otherwise he will be extremely furious during the Acme Bowl, and you know how he acts on that state." Wally explained. Ruby smirked.
"So, you finally are developing a little criminal mind, uh?" Rhubella said, in a joking tone. Wally chuckled.
"And you're developing your toonity. Guess we are a major influence on each other." Wally told her. Rhubella hugged him, and he returned the embrace; a few seconds later, they continued with their first making-out session.
The first of many to come.
END FLASHBACK.
Rhubella ended her story, sighing and staring at the space. The other girls chuckled, and tried to make her react; Sweetie succeeded by whistling on the rodent's ears, making her to shake her head to fight the stunning.
"Sorry, I guess I got trapped in the memory." Ruby said, smiling and poking her ears to try clearing her hearing.
"Zon't worry, Ruby. Zhat was a beautiful amour´s szory." Fifi said, sighing a little. The other girls nodded.
"Yep. I usually don't care about fluffiness... unless it involves my own love-life, of course, but, yes, I liked the story." Hillary pointed.
"No wonder you said my trick could had been useful during the time Wally and you were separated, Ruby. You are crazy for the guy." Gosalyn said, half-joking. Ruby nodded, and directed to the girls again.
"Anyway, you girls know the rest of the story. When I told my parents about my decision, they freaked out a little at first, but they finally understood how much it meant to me after watching me practicing the tricks I was studying, and, when I told them about my problems with Roderick, they accepted my relationship with Wally as well. When he returned Acme Acres, he stayed a couple of days at my place before presenting the admission's exam, and during that time he and my parents had a long chat about us. My dad was actually impressed when Wally told him he would never ask for any monetary help, since he would be working at the Loo, something Wally arranged with Bugs shortly before coming back, thanks to Sylvia; Dad had always respected a working guy. And, as you girls can imagine, the thing ended well for Wally and me." Ruby ended his story.
"Like, we are happy for you two as well, or some junk." Shirley said while using her telekinesis to clean up the table where they had been eating.
"Yes, he is the best thing that had ever happened to me. That's why I want to be a better student, because I want to be the best both for him and myself." Rhubella commented, remembering about her fiasco on the spin-changing class. Babs rubbed her chin, and then lifted her ears, realizing something.
"Talking about that, Ruby... when Wally carried you as Wolflash, you were moving at a higher speed than the one we reach during a spin-change, right?" Babs pointed. Ruby nodded.
"And you said you had dinner right before that, and yet you could control the nausea." Mary said, realizing what Babs was thinking.
"Yes, but I wasn't the one running, remember? And besides, well, I know it sounds corny, but when I'm with him I feel like I can stand anything, so a little nausea was nothing at that moment." Rhubella pointed.
"That's exactly my point, Rhubella." Babs said.
"Yes, that it sounds corny." Sweetie giggled. Everyone rolled her eyes, and Babs continued.
"No, what I mean is that, when you are doing a spin-change, besides focusing on the aspect or impersonation you want to make, you must also focus on why you are changing... having fun, defend yourself, and so. If you can remember that feeling you have when you're with your wolf, I'm sure you'll be able to fight back the nausea, and maybe do more elaborate changes." Babs explained to the rat. Ruby rubbed her chin, thinking about the rabbit's speech; besides being totally logical, this explanation came from Acme's top spin-changer, giving it a strong back-up.
"Babs, I never thought I would say this... but you are a genius!" Ruby said, excited. Babs chuckled.
"Nah. I'm not a genius..." the rabbit then spin-changed into an Albert Einstein's impersonation, "... but I had played one on TV." Babs changed back to normal.
"So, it's decided. Tomorrow morning we'll help Ruby with her spin-changes to surprise everyone on Monday. Agree?" Mary proposed.
"Sure... and, if she still have some troubles, we can do a little extra practice on Sunday as well, or some junk." Shirley pointed. The other girls nodded.
"Hey, thanks a lot, girls, to all of you." Ruby said, excited. Babs couldn't resist getting a little laugh at the rat's expenses..
"You're welcome... plus, I can bring some bags and a video camera to the practice. That way, even if you don't improve, I'll still have some material for America's Funniest Home Videos." Babs chuckled, and, a second later, fell on her back because of the impact of a dozen pillows.
Babs shook her head, and spin-changed into her Groucho Marx's impersonation, while grabbing a pillow.
"Of course you know, this means war!" The rabbit said before jumping on the other girls, starting another pillows' fight. At one point, Ruby and Babs, still on her Groucho's disguise, fell next to each other.
"You girls are fine, but honestly, you can't be loonier! And I must be crazy as well!" Ruby said while grabbing another pillow. Babs, smiling, grabbed one as well, and prepared to strike the rat.
"Well, you know what I say; can't trust any club that accepts me as a member." Babs joked, a second after she and Ruby hit each other with the pillows.
(AN: For Wally's parents, I chose Guadalupe, a very common female Mexican name, that means "Hill of Wolves", and, actually, Lupe comes from Lupus, Latin for wolf; and Larry is a reference to Lawrence "Larry" Talbot, the main character's name in the original "Wolf Man" picture, by Universal, played by Lon Chaney Junior.)