Chapter 9: The Exam Of Paradise Planning
Somewhere in the islands, there was a pink otter whose brown hair was tied to a bun with the cream-colored flower, a red muumuu, an aqua bracelet, and aqua sandals. Her name was Lottie, and she's the manager of the housing company called the "Paradise Planning." She has two assistants joining her business. One assistant was the gray langur wearing the yellow-banded hat and the red aloha top. Another assistant was the manatee with dark brown hair, wore a boater hat with the red ribbon, red aloha top, and tan pants. Their names were Niko, the gray langur and Wardell, the manatee. Lottie set up the flyers all around the world by mail; and they stated about taking the exam if anyone's interested before they would join the team of Paradise Planning.
"Whew, that should do the trick!" said Lottie, as she removed the sweat from her brow. "Ever since I opened up my own business in this island, I'll be waiting for someone who is good at planning the vacation house in order to make the clients happy!"
"Do you really think so, Lottie?" Niko asked.
"Yes, I really do think so, Niko!"
"Oh well, then, let us hope that whoever will pass the exam..." said Wardell calmly. "That is, if they are interested, then they should be here at anytime after you sent out the flyers, Lottie."
Two weeks later, Vicki and Robert checked their mailboxes and received the flyers from the Paradise Planning. They read the flyer and nodded intently until they saw the name of the Paradise Planning's supervisor.
"N-No way! I-It can't be!" Vicki stammered, as her eyes were wide opened.
"There is no mistaking it whatsoever..." Robert pointed out. "The supervisor of the Paradise Planning is none other than-!"
"Lottie?!" said the duo surprisingly.
"Hmm, it looks like she wanted us to come over there to take the exam if interested," Vicki explained.
"Ah yeah, she also said that she will select the people who passed the exam," Robert added, "and they will become the member of the Paradise Planning."
"Very well! I'll choose to take the exam no matter what!"
"Y-You? You want to take the exam over there?"
"Of course, I'll take the exam; and I'm ready for it!"
Vicki explained to Robert that her younger brother, Nick passed the exam at the Nook's Homes. He finally became the employee of this housing business and worked there for some years before he got promoted to become the mayor of her former town StarLily. Robert once remembered that his younger sister, Lorelei used to work at Nook's Homes before his former town, Emblem was in ruins. This was all because of his childhood friend who turned out to be his enemy, Allen Parker. Vicki wasn't aware that Lorelei was working at Nook's Homes, too, before she met Robert and the others.
"So anyways, when are you planning to go to the Paradise Planning to take the exam?" Robert asked.
"Ah, that's a good question!" said Vicki, as she hit the palm of her own hand with her own fist and put the brilliant look on her face. "I'm planning to take it by tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, huh? Sounds like a good plan!"
Suddenly, Sammy and Jimmy went to see Vicki and Robert and tell them about their news. Since they received the same flyers as them, this could only mean one thing.
"Hey guys, guess what?" Sammy asked.
"If either of you haven't heard, the Paradise Planning is looking for someone who passed the exam and become the member of this team!" Jimmy explained.
"Yeah, we already know that, Jimmy," said Vicki with the wry smile, as she and Robert showed the flyers to the Slapjack brothers as proof. "Robert and I received the flyers, too, you know."
"Ah well, that's good to know," said Sammy.
"Anyways, I've decided to go to the Paradise Planning to take the exam tomorrow. What about you two?"
"We're also going to take it by tomorrow as well."
"Yeah, we're going to take it by tomorrow as well," Jimmy repeated, as he turned to Robert. "What about you, Robert? Are you going to take it as well?"
"No, I'm going to have to pass," Robert answered. "Besides, I've already got the job as an island representative."
"Oh right, that's fair enough," said Sammy dryly.
The next day, the four humans from Triforce were heading to the Paradise Planning by the airplane. As soon as they arrived, they immediately got off the plane and saw the beautiful scenery. A few seconds later, they met the gray langur with the hat and the red aloha shirt whose name was Niko. He greeted them first and then guided them to the Paradise Planning. When they were inside, they met the pink otter and the manatee.
"Hello there, travelers, welcome to the Paradise Planning!" Lottie greeted them. "Are you all here to take the exam?"
"Oh yes, we are!" said Vicki, before she pointed at Robert with her thumb. "Except for him, he's not taking the exam."
"That's right...so, is it okay for me to wander around the island since I'm here?" Robert asked.
"Sure, feel free to look around the island anytime with your heart's content!" Lottie answered with the smile, as she turned to Vicki and the Slapjack brothers. "And as for you three, Wardell will show you upstairs to the locker room. That way, you will get changed into your own uniform."
While Wardell was leading Vicki, Sammy, and Jimmy to the locker room, Robert was heading outside to wander around the island and watch the scenery. Few minutes later, the three humans got changed into their uniforms and headed downstairs. Lottie guided them outside and headed to the table where the few people had been waiting for their exams. Suddenly, Sammy and Jimmy were eyeing on two of the ladies who were sitting side by side. Sammy sat next to the girl with light blonde hair tied in a ponytail and had green eyes. Jimmy sat next to the girl with short, light brown hair and had hazel eyes. Vicki just shrugged it off and sat between two random people who she never met.
"Thank you, everyone, for coming to Paradise Planning!" Lottie announced. "Before you will begin, each of you will receive a clipboard from one of my assistants. Next, you will take one of the cards from the jar, which another of my assistants is holding. Once you got the card, it will tell you of who the client is requesting what kind of vacation home he or she wants. Be aware that there is no point of refusing the client nor taking the card back and get the new one from the jar! You will have to stick to the one that was assigned in your card! Understand?" Everybody nodded in agreement before Lottie continued her speech. "Now then, are there any questions?"
"How long does the exam going to take?" Vicki asked, raising her hand.
"Ah, there is no time limit for the exam. Take as much time as you want even if you take a long time. Whenever you're finished, you can head back to my office and let me know right away! Are there any other questions?"
Since there were no other questions, Lottie let the participants to start their exams. When Niko handed out the clipboards to everyone, Wardell shook the jar of cards before each participant only took one card from it. After they got their own cards from the jar, they started reading theirs to see who's their client requested for what vacation home he/she wanted.
Meanwhile in the shadow realm, Viridian scurried over the pictures to find the dreamer as her next target. Until suddenly, she found the one who possessed the dream life force. She immediately teleported herself in order to find that dreamer.
Back to the islands, Robert was wandering around and noticed that there were some animals enjoying the scenery. He figured that they must've been the clients from the Paradise Planning. Few seconds later, he bumped into the shady girl who wore a black hat and sunglasses.
"Hey, just watch where you're going, Red, geez!" said the girl arrogantly, as she shoved Robert to the sand and walked away.
"Talk about someone who was being rude..." Robert murmured, as he quickly stood up and glared at the mean girl.
Robert witnessed the shady girl who was taking one of the clients from the Paradise Planning. The client appeared to be a male hamster who wore a big-star tee, and his name was Hamlet. When she took him somewhere private, the dark aurora suddenly appeared and the hamster started to scream. Everyone was rushing to see of what's happening. They saw an insane, athletic monster who was steering the snowboard. Vicki got pulled away by Robert, and they immediately hid somewhere far away from the group. Finally, they began their transformations before confronting the enemy.
The shady girl began cackling while she was holding the dream life force. She revealed her true identity in front of everyone, and that shady girl was Viridian. She ordered the monster to freeze everyone and turned them into ice sculptures. The nightmare monster used his ice powers to freeze them with his snowboard. Everyone, including Sammy and Jimmy, began to scream and defend themselves until they became ice sculptures. When Viridian ordered him to destroy the sculptures, he used his snowboard to dash right through them. But suddenly, he was stopped by the shield wall and was knocked to the ground.
"Hey, where did that massive shield come from?" Viridian asked. As soon as the shield wall disappeared, she saw none other than the Duo of Justice who were standing behind the ice sculptures.
"Hmph, turning people and animals into ice sculptures before shattering them, shame on you!" Masked Swordmaster exclaimed.
"And what's even worst is that you stole the dream life force from one of the Paradise Planning's clients!" Phantom Angel exclaimed. "So, this is a job for..."
"The Duo of Justice!" said the dynamic duo in unison.
"Oh, blah-blah-blah, like who cares!" said Viridian scornfully. "This nightmare monster will shut you down for good! Oh, my faithful little hamster, freeze those Duo of Justice or whatever they are with your giant-sized snowball attack!"
The monstrous hamster rolled up the snowball as big as he could. Once it has gotten bigger, he pushed the snowball at the Duo of Justice. The duo quickly avoided the giant snowball before they got crushed. Then, the monster summoned the multiple snowballs, just like the size of the baseball, and started throwing at them. Masked Swordmaster quickly used his fiery shield to melt the snowballs. Phantom Angel used her heart compact mirror to reverse the monster's attack. When the snowballs came right back at him, he was beaten by them until he couldn't even move a muscle. Finally, the angel used her staff to turn Hamlet back to normal. Viridian was frustrated that she quickly got away, and everyone, who got turned into ice sculptures, had return to normal as well.
Several hours later, the participants had completed their exams and reported them to Lottie. She informed them that the results would be sent by mail whether they passed or failed. As soon as she dismissed them, they were finally heading back to their own islands. Vicki met up with Robert who was waiting for her. Sammy and Jimmy, on the other hand, were very anxious about the two girls they met for the first time before the exam started. Neither of them had any idea of what to say, but they tried their best to speak up to them.
"H-H-Hi there..." Sammy stammered, as the light blonde-haired girl caught his attention. He mustered up his smile as he could to attract her. "So, um, w-what is your name?"
"Oh, my name is Claire," the girl replied, "and you are?"
"Sammy is the name, and I'm your guy! Err, what I mean is it's a pleasure to meet you, Claire!"
"M-My name is Jimmy if you didn't catch my name though..." said Jimmy, being hesitated while talking to the light brown-haired girl. "And you must be...?"
"My name is Sonia, and it's very nice to meet you, Jimmy," she answered politely, while looking at him with the big smile on her face.
While the twin brothers were having a chat with the girls, Vicki and Robert shrugged and grinned at the same time. Since the duo were not in a big hurry, they continued watching the Slapjacks who were exchanging numbers with the two girls they met in a very first time.
