Meanwhile in the man nest
Ray was happily standing over a stove with a spatula in his hand and a man flap in the pan. Chapa and Miles came up just as Schwoz came in from the sliding doors. "Okay Ray, I'm here," Schwoz said. Ray looked over to a nervous Chapa and Miles then gestured between them, "Where's Bose and Mika?". Chapa and Miles looked at each other for answers then started blabbing at the same time, making up ridiculous excuses.
"They're in Space"-"Canada",-"for a Science project "-"wanted to try the best bacon"- They stumbled on every word.
"Vhat?" Schwoz question.
Ray wasn't the most attentive but he learned a few things about the kids as they worked together. For starters, he always knew when they were lying...most of the time...occasionally...every 1/3...okay he didn't know, but something about the way Chapa and Miles overlapped their sentences, stood together, and odd facial expressions, let him know that something was going on.
Ray wiped the smile off his face slowly and placed the spatula down. "Okay, then why don't you call them from space Canada so I can have a little chat with them," Ray cooly shrugged. Chapa tightly shut her eyes and Miles nodded his head swinging his arms. They should have properly made up an excuse beforehand.
"You see the thing is- they're probably busy," Chapa clapped her hands together with a beyond fake smile on her face.
"Right! besides the reception is really bad around...-Candian Mars-" Miles added.
Scwhoz and Ray weren't buying any of it. "That's fair, then why doesn't Miles just teleport and bring them on over," Ray walked over dramatically. Chapa and Miles turned to each other thinking, don't snitch.
Chapa moved closer to Miles and warped her arm around his confidently, "Because he can't lift his arm-"
"Vy can't he lift his arm-" Schwoz butt in.
"I hurt it from lifting," Miles quickly lied.
Ray started to annoyingly cackle and they rolled their eyes. "You two obviously don't wanna tell me where your friends are, which means you're withholding information from me, which means you know I'll be mad when I know, which means they're doing something they're not supposed to be, which means you leave me no choice but to get the truth out of you the hard way!" Ray exclaimed.
"Oh boy," Schwoz sighed sitting on the couch.
Chapa and Miles glared at Ray in poise, there was nothing he could do that would crack them.
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Meanwhile at Manetta's
Mika and Bose sat at a table near the center of the restaurant. People chatted amongst them, waiters went from table to table, customers came in and out. At first, Mika and Bose felt kind of awkward about the whole thing but then Bose made a joke about the parmesan shakes and it was smooth sailing from there. Mika ordered the lasagna and Bose had the Risotto. Manetta's definitely lived up to their expectations.
"Okay last one," Mika giggled after taking a bit from her Lagana, she and Bose had been engaging in a game of would you rather over dinner.
"Would you rather have a rewind button or a pause button on your life?" She asked.
Bose put his drink down and quickly answered, "Rewind, duh".
"How come?" Mika questioned.
"Well for starters I've said some pretty ridiculous things during my life," Bose said and Mika laughed at that, agreeing. "However after tonight, I would want to go back to this moment so I could keep looking at how perfetta you are..." Bose complimented, Mika blushed and looked at her lap. That was definitely something she would fall asleep to. Bose silently congratulated himself that he was making her flustered, it's when he found her the cutest; a second after when she's working on something she's really focused on.
Mika cleared her throat and looked up at him again, smiling. Bose had his hand out across the table and she reached up to hold his. His hands were huge compared to hers, in a way, it made her safe.
"My hands are sweaty," Bose acknowledged.
"Very," Mika quickly agreed. They laughed it off and she held his hand tighter.
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Chapa looked horrified as she stared at the mirror in front of her. She sat on a stool with Scwhoz over her, looking at her face which was caked in god-awful makeup he had done. Just then Miles and Ray had teleported in the middle the of man's nest. Ray looking satisfied, Miles looking traumatized. His locs were messy, his sweater sleeve was torn, and he was missing a shoe. Chapa immediately rushed over to him with a blanket she got from the couch and put it around him when she noticed he was shaking.
"What did you do to him?!" Chapa cried out.
"So many butterflies!" Miles blurted out shaking himself back to reality.
"I took little buddy over her to the Cockrell Butterfly Center, and he sure put a good fight," Ray uncontrollably laughed, "but that was until he bumped into a cage, which then fell over, and a swarm of butterflies came at him all at once," Ray added. Chapa gasped, that was evil, even for Ray since he knew Mile was terrified of them. Miles started to glare at Ray after he was done with his fit.
Schwoz rolled his eyes and went over to his set up in the corner. Ray bent down so he was at their height and harshly whispered, "Shall we move on to phase 3,". Whatever phase 3 was, it had to be worse than what he had already put them through, nearly 3 hours of torture. Miles gave Chapa a fearful glance before trying to bolt at Ray, "I cave!".
Chapa held him back to try to calm him down but he wouldn't budge.
"We-can't-let-him-win," She managed to pin him to the ground, pressing his arms against the floor.
Ray stepped over their little match and went into the back room coming out with two garment bags on hangers. Chapa and Miles looked at each other and then at Ray. "What's that?" Chapa questioned helping Miles off the floor.
Ray unzipped the garment bags and Chapa immediately got flashbacks from the prank wars between Rivilton and Swellview. Inside the bag was a cowgirl outfit with a bright red sparkly tutu, cow prints top, a fluffy collar, and a red cowgirl hat with silver stars to top it off. "Since you still won't rat your friends out, this baby girl is phase 3!" He announced.
"and what exactly is phase 3..." Miles trailed off. Ray unzipped the other garment and it was another costume. "I signed you and little missy here up for the international hoedown pageant Swellview is hosting in a couple of hours!" Ray cheered. Their eyeballs practically popped out of their sockets and they slowly started backing away. "You mean the one that's going to be live-streamed around the entire country..." Chapa questioned, painfully knowing the answer. Miles swallowed the lump in his throat. Ray wouldn't actually go as far as nationwide humiliation just to know where Mika and Bose were? Would he?
"Exactly, people from all over the country are going to be tuning in to see Volt and Awol, Swellviews beloved superheroes, perform an all-out country musical with the musical styling of Billy Goefeder!" Ray threatened.
"Ray you wouldn't," Miles slightly begged.
"Oh but I would," Ray fake pouted.
Once again Chapa and Miles looked to each other for a way out. Was all this really worth it just so Mika and Bose could live out their lovey-dovey fantasy? But this had become so much more than just protecting Mika and Bose's date. This was now about Chapa and Miles's pride, which they would lose either way if they snitched on Mika and Bose or let the entire country see them in such tacky get-up singing country.
While all this was going on Schwoz had found a way to secretly track Mika and Bose's phone to see where they were. He pulled up the map on his tablet and zoomed in a blue dot that read Manetta. What was so bad about that? Schwoz thought. But then he realized why Chapa and Miles were working so hard to hide their location from them. A soft smile appeared on Schwoz face before looking down at the table. Mika and Bose were on a date, he connected the two. How cute, he thought.
"Awh," Scwhoz gushed and Ray immediately looked at him. "What?!" He questioned storming over to him. "Nothing!" Schwoz quickly out the tablet behind his back. Ray tried to grab it but Schwoz wouldn't let him.
"You're fired if you don't give me the tablet!" Ray threatened.
"Oi!" Schwoz handed it over.
Ray looked at the screen and zoomed in on the blue dot. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Oh-my- busted-" He clenched his jaw.
Chapa and Miles groaned in defeat.
"Everyone in the man buggy!" Ray shouted so loud that no one hesitated to run to the tubes.
