And now, to finally see where Mark ended up. Anybody who's watched the show should know exactly where this one starts. And trust me, he's not your run of the mill Reality Shifter. Just what will he end up doing, you ask? You'll have to wait and see.
Someone in a regal outfit was playing the piano in an upbeat, rhythmically fast way. Behind him, many people were dancing while surrounded by different primates. He laughed as they continued dancing, sinning each other around. "Allegro! Allegro my lords and ladies! Faster!" He began playing the song faster, and several of the primates snag out in harmony. The one playing the piano wiped the sweat off his brow and plopped it into a perfume jar, with a lot more already inside. He continued playing, speeding up the tempo again. "Dance faster!" He laughed again as everyone dancing started moving fast. "What's that you say? Even faster? Ok!" He laughed as he put his hands in the air, before slamming them back down, going even faster. "Play faster!" Everyone dancing spun themselves around even faster, dancing fast enough to just be blurs. Suddenly, something screeched above, and the one playing the piano snapped his fingers. Everyone stopped dancing as a flamingo came down. It landed within the circle of primates, before depositing two wolves on the group, wearing sacks on their heads. The flamingo pulled them off, revealing Billions and Billions. The two looked around at all the people that were panting, still in dancing positions, before focusing on the one sitting at the piano. "We have party crashers. How rude." He slammed his hands down on the piano, standing up. He turned around, revealing he was a Mandrill Mute. "Oh, the two eggheads!" He exclaimed. "Have you found my new army, yet?" Light Billions readjusted his glasses and feigned looking around again.
"Huh. Scarlemagne's palace, in the real." He refocused on the Scarlemagne as dark Billions sniffed the air.
"Smells like weird perfume in here." He said. Scarlemange snapped his fingers, making everybody who was dancing snap to attention in two sets of two rows.
"Oh, that?" He asked. "It's a, natural fragrance." He started walking towards the two wolves. "Made it myself. Literally, from my own pheromones." He held up the perfume bottle to emphasize, and one person fell to their hands and knees, exhausted. Scarlemagne shook his head. "Don't worry, it won't work on you canines. Just primates." He walked up to the guy who fell down, and spritzed him with the perfume bottle. He stood back up, again at attention. "But I only use it on a certain class of primate." Scarlemagne removed the guy's mask, revealing that he was a human. "The lesser ones." Scarlemagne slid a finger down the guy's sheek. "Even a monkey has his standards." He laughed, then looked at the two wolves again. "I renamed him Francis." He turned back to Francis. "He just learned the can-can. Show them darling." Francis began singing the can-can as he danced it.
"La la, lalalala la la, lalalalala la la, lalalalalala!" Scarlemagne chuckled.
"Never gets old. Now," he looked at the wolves again, "why did you have my flamingos bring you here?" Both Billions looked at him, frightened. Dark Billions suddenly elbowed his brother.
"Come on man! We did rock paper scissors! You tell him why!" Light Billions looked up at Scarlemagne, and looked down while putting his hand behind his head.
"Um, so, uh, you remember that telescope that we" he laughed nervously, "used to have? Scarlemagne scowled at them.
"Mmhmm?"
"Uh, well, it's kinda, been destroyed." Light Billions just looked at Scarlemagne as awkward silence filled the air. It was suddenly interrupted by a bright flash of light between the two, making everyone look away for a brief moment. When they all looked back, they saw someone standing there, in a torn up white outfit, caked with mud. He fell to his hands and knees, breathing heavily.
"Wh-where, am, I?" He panted, before he fainted, slumping on the ground. Scarlemagne looked at him, then at the two wolves.
"Who is he?" Asked Scarlemagne. "And why did he just appear out of thin air?!" Light Billions readjusted his glasses.
"Uh, well, it could be teleportation. But I just don't know what kind. The flash of light shows that it's not a wormhole. Perhaps quantum tunneling?" Scarlemagne looked at him.
"You know what, I don't actually care." He bent down and spritzed the guy with the perfume bottle. "Come on, up you go." The guy didn't move. "What?" Scarlemagne scowled, and stood back up. "Gerard!" He called. A large orangutan walked up.
"Yes, Scarlemagne sir?"
"Lock him up until he wakes up. And the moment he does, let me know!"
"Yes sir, Scarlemagne, sir." Gerard picked up the guy and walked away. Scarlemagne looked back to the two wolves.
"So, back to what you said about the telescope. What do you mean, destroyed?" Light Billions smiled nervously.
"Uh, you see, it's, well, irreparably damaged." Scarlemagne scowled at him for several long, uncomfortable seconds, then turned away.
"Take them away!" The flamingo suddenly reached down and picked them up again, before taking off. Scarlemagne walked up to his piano, brimming with rage. "Everyone!" He called. "Get your flamingos!" He slammed his hand on the piano, breaking off a key. "I've lost my eyes to the city! So I need new eyes!" He turned to everyone. "Eyes to find the humans, who escaped from that burrow! If there's a human out there, I want it dancing for me by dawn!" He did a little spin, emphasizing it. When he finished, he started laughing maniacally.
Fear of humans, fear of what they'll do
Fear of others, no matter where you go
Taken from your home, forever lost
One light in the distance,
But oh so far away,
Run towards the light,
Away from your fear
The group was climbing up the ladder to the billboard that had the message. "Three point two six two." Grunted Benson. "If your father was gonna leave a message, couldn't it have been something more simple? Like an arrow?"
"The simpler a message, the easier it is to follow." Called Atom. He was climbing up after Wolf, ready to catch Mandu if she fell off of Wolf's pelt.
"That's right." Said Kipo. "If it was simpler, then anybody could follow it. No, this is perfect." She hoisted herself up to the billboard's platform, then helped Benson up. "It's big enough so he knew I would see it, but only I would know it was a message." Wolf was brought up, then Atom. "Except, I have no clue what the message is."
"You know what this reminds me of?" Asked Atom. Everyone looked at him. "The school me and Kipo went to after we met. I recall her saying what a parsec is, and then mentioning how useless the information was." He smiled. "Not so useless knowledge, is it?" Wolf shook her head, then looked at Kipo.
"It must mean something to you. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here."
"Well, like Atom just said," started Kipo, pacing, "in lightyears, three point two six two is the length of a parsec."
"A what-sec?" Asked Wolf.
"A parsec." Answered Kipo. "It's an astronomical unit. Dad's a bit of a science nerd."
"Yeah, we're aware." Said Dave. He jumped up on the railing.
"It also happens to be my birthday." Added Kipo. "March 26, at 2 AM. That's why it was dad's favorite number." Kipo looked across the city. "And guess what day today is, Madnu." Mandu oinked at her, and Benson looked across the city as well, until he realized something.
"Laundry day!" Said Dave.
"Whoa, Kipo, is today yoru b-day?" Asked Benson.
"If you mean, did my dad and I decorate this date in my calendar back home with balloon stickers? Yes!"
"Heck of a coincidence." Said Atom, as he turned to look over the city with Kipo and Benson. "Perhaps too coincidental?"
"Kipo's first birthday topside!" Called Dave. "Don't know why, but it sounds big!" Benson turned to Kipo.
"We should go out! For a city where nothing's open ever, there's surprisingly a lot to do here." Kipo sat down, groaning.
"Ugh, I can't celebrate until we figure out this clue." She started mimicking her father. "Kipo, the answer is in front of you. Apply yourself." She switched back to herself. "I'm trying, dad! You know you made this really difficult to solve!" Back to her dad. "Because challenges build character." Back to herself. "I don't need any more character. I just need to find you!" She huffed as she leaned against the railing.
"Uh, did she just have a whole conversation, with herself?" Asked Benson. Wolf turned to the billboard.
"Yeah, she did." Said Atom. "It can help visualize the potential avenues to a solution, sometimes." Wolf suddenly started yelling as she used Stalkie to slash apart the billboard. When everybody looked back at her handiwork, everyone but Atom gasped. Wolf brushed the hair out of her eye, smiling.
"Now we're the only ones who know about this clue, and only we can follow it. You're welcome." She stepped to the side.
"There's a word I'm looking for." Said Dave. "Uh, what is it? Overkill!" Atom turned to the billboard, and drew his sword.
"No." He said. "I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Dave. It's still readable." He started cutting off specific points of the message, trying to make them as parallel as possible, then slashed them across to make them completely unreadable. He looked back at the others to see Dave looking at him the same way he looked at Wolf. "What? I'm still frustrated from earlier at the observatory because of you. Just let me vent in peace." Kipo looked up at the destroyed message, talking to herself.
"Parsec, parsec, parsec." She said, before sitting down. Atom shook his head.
"Benson, do you still have that chalk I saw you swipe?" Benson sighed.
"Yeah." He rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a green stick of chalk. He handed it to Atom, who handed it to Kipo. She got to work, writing equations and formulas, leaving everyone else to their own devices. Wolf and Benson spent a lot of time looking out over the city, while Atom put himself behind the billboard to talk to Leo. He pulled him out of his pocket, and motioned for him to be quiet.
"You're still frustrated?" Asked Leo. "How come?"
"I'm not sure." Whispered Atom. "Something's been up since the fight. I can't place it, exactly, but it's definitely there."
"What are we going to do about it?" Asked Leo. Atom sighed.
"We just have to wait and see what comes of it. There's still so much we don't know yet." Leo looked down for a moment.
"Was there anything else?" He asked.
"Not that I know of." Atom put Leo away and walked back around. Time continued to pass, eventually leaving Atom and Wolf looking out as Dave, Benson, and Mandu slept against the railing as night fell. Kipo sat down in front of her equations, finding an answer she was trying to calculate.
"Just one is nineteen trillion miles." She said, writing down the number 19. She underlined it, then looked at all of her work. "Ugh, maybe that's how far away my people are." She slumped a bit.
"Well, I think we can rule that one out." Said Atom. "Pretty sure interstellar space travel is outside the realm of possibility." Benson groaned.
"Kipo, you've been at it for hours." He said, semi complaining. Kipo looked back at him to see Dave snoring next to him. "Look, sometimes Dave and I do old crosswords. And when we get stuck, we put it down and we go away for a little while." Dave woke up a bit and stretched.
"Yeah, and then the answer presents itself." He leaned back again, falling asleep almost instantly. Kipo turned back to her math.
"So, maybe we pause the clue cracking." Suggested Benson. "How old are you turning?"
"Thirteen." Replied Kipo. Atom looked at her.
"Thirteen?" He asked. "That's an important milestone."
"Yeah!" Agreed Benson. "That's a big deal!" Dave snapped awake again. "We have to celebrate!" Benson looked at the others for a moment before he looked back at Kipo. "I'm sure your dad, wherever he is, would want you to take some time to have fun today." Kipo turned to him.
"I do love birthdays." She agreed. She looked at Atom and Wolf. "How about you guys? When's yours?"
"January." Said Atom, without thinking. He put his hand over his mouth the moment after he said it. "Get me every time." He muttered.
"I don't know." Said Wolf.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Asked Kipo. "Everyone knows their birthday."
"Not this everyone."
"The wolves who raised you never once threw you a par" Wolf glared at Kipo, shutting her up quickly. "Oh! Right. You don't talk about them." Kipo stood up. "Well, guess what Wolf. We're going to be birthday sisters today!" She leaned over the railing, and Wolf turned back to the city. "I'm going to celebrate my first surface birthday, and you're going to celebrate your first birthday." Benson stood up.
"This is a great idea!" He said. "But first, you have to get each other presents!" He grabbed Kipo's arm and pulled her to the ladder.
"Wait, presents?" Asked Wolf.
"Of course!" Called Kipo as they went to the ladder. "They're the best part of birthdays!" She started climbing down. "Meet back here when you find something." She climbed down, then popped back up. "By the way, I like things that are purple. And board games! Good luck!" She slid down, and Atom looked at Wolf.
"You can take care of yourself. I'll go with them to make sure they stay safe." He started climbing down the ladder. "I'll see what I can do about finding things for the both of you. No guarantees with anything, though." Wolf frowned, then looked back at Dave and Mandu.
"I get stuck with the two Mutes?" Dave smiled at her. "Great."
As they went down, Atom thought about what they were doing. "Birthdays are important, that's for sure. But we need to be careful about how we go about this." He looked down at Kipo and Benson. "I'm not Wolf, but I will not let them get into danger if at all possible." The trio made it down to the ground, and Benson started walking, leading the way. As they walked, Kipo looked for something she could give to Wolf. Benson eventually led the other two into a long abandoned store, and Kipo began poking around some more.
"Somewhere in here, we'll find Wolf the perfect gift." She started looking around the shelves.
"Right!" Agreed Benson. "Like they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure." He looked around slightly. "And uh, we found ourselves a real treasure heap." He walked to another shelf as Kipo looked lower down. Atom went around the outside edge of the store, half looking for something for the two girls, half keeping an eye out for anything that could endanger them.
"Things really go downhill after the pandemic, don't they?" He wondered. "The one time I'm glad to not be home." He noticed something on one of the shelves, and dug it out. "Hold on, is this?" He pulled out a decently long piece of something, and grinned. "Score!" He said. "I can't believe that there's paracord here!" He pulled it all out and measured it along his wingspan. "Looks like just enough to make something decent." He took another look at it, trying to determine what color it was. "Hard to make out the color. It's definitely a cold color, though." Something crashed over by Kipo, and Atom quickly got up and looked.
"Be honest," she started, "do you guys think they'll be ok out there? M-my people?" Benson walked back over to her. "Because everywhere you go, something's trying to capture you, eat you, step on you." She rounded a corner and gasped. Benson walked over to see what she had seen. Atom quickly shoved his find into his pocket before walking over as well, only to see a cutout of a family, graffitied badly. "Or worse." Above it were the words 'Human Scum'. Benson looked at her.
"Sometimes you see stuff like that around. It's best to just ignore it." He smiled at her, before rummaging in his backpack. "How about some tunes?" He pulled out his music player and turned it on, putting on some upbeat music to lighten the mood. Kipo turned around and looked down at another pile of stuff, noticing something important.
"Huh. Benson, Atom, look!" She bent down, and the two boys took a look as well.
"Wow, that's, a , treasure, all right." Said Benson.
"It looks to be in perfect working condition." Said Atom. "But, are you sure that's what you want to get her?"
"It is." Answered Kipo. "It's the perfect gift for Wolf." She picked it up and put it in her pocket. She stood back up, all smiles, and walked towards the exit. "Mission accomplished, a little sooner than expected." Atom and Benson looked at each other.
"Did you find anything?" He asked. Atom smiled.
"I did." He pulled out a bit of paracord from his pocket, accidentally pulling Leo out with it. He bounced on the ground, grunting a bit. Benson's attention turned to him.
"Uh." He looked back at Atom, who wore a terrified expression. "You okay?" Kipo turned back to the two as Benson looked at Leo again.
"What's holding you, two," Kipo followed Benson's gaze and noticed Leo as well. She kept quiet.
"Atom, did I just hear that marble make some noise when it bounced out of your pocket?" Asked Benson, turning back to Atom. Atom glanced around nervously, trying to come up with some kind, any kind of excuse, but came up blank. He sighed.
"Yeah." He admitted. "Leo, care to introduce yourself?"
"Leo?" Asked Benson. Leo popped open and floated up to Benson.
"Hello." He said.
"Wah!" Yelled Benson, jumping away from Leo. "That marble, it just talked!" Atom grabbed Leo and stood up, holding him out to Benson.
"Yeah. That's because he's not a marble. Benson, meet Leo, my partner." Benson looked at him closer, then over at Kipo.
"Why aren't you freaking out about this? This is amazing!" Kipo laughed nervously.
"Well, I've, uh, already met him." She said. "It was kinda hard not to after I caught Atom talking with him before I went to save Yumyan." Benson looked at her with surprise.
"Wait, you met him that long ago?! How come you never told us?" Atom sighed, but Leo answered.
"Because," he started, "knowing about me can be dangerous. I'm not exactly from here."
"Neither am I." Admitted Atom. "But, like I told Kipo, it's a can of worms best kept closed for now. It would shatter everything you know about the world." Benson just looked at Kipo again, then back to Atom, then back at Leo, before looking back at Kipo.
"Am I the last one to find out about this?"
"No." Said Atom, shaking his head. "Only Kipo knew before you. Dave and Wolf don't know about him."
"Okay." Said Benson, drawing out the word. He stretched his arms. "I'm just, you know, gonna push it from my mind until later." He walked up to Kipo. "There's something I want to show you." He rummaged around in his backpack again. "It's my present for you." He pulled out a can of spray cheese.
"Canned cheese?" Asked Kipo, reading it. "Made with 12 percent real cheese." Atom blinked a few times.
"Uh, how exactly is that, you know, a gift?" Kipo looked Benson in the eye.
"What's the rest of it made of? Know what? Don't matter. I love it!" Benson laughed, looking between the two.
"Aw, look at your faces." He started walking again. "No, that, that's not it. The real gift is way better. Come on!" Kipo started following him, and Atom put Leo on his shoulder.
"Well, both of the people we're with know about you. Might as well let you out for a while to look around, right?"
"Sounds like a plan." Atom left the store to follow the other two.
Wolf jumped down from a pile of rocks, followed by Dave and Mandu. Dave looked down, and bent over to pick something up. "Ah ha! Yes!" He said, lifting it up. "Look what I found!" He ran up to Wolf and held up a hubcap to her. "Boom! Nailed it!" Wolf looked at him, confused. "Could be a hat, could be a frisbee." Dave lowered it to his side, still looking at Wolf. "Kipo loves fashion, hat!" He put it on his head. "Kipo loves fun, frisbee!" He took it off and held it out to Wolf again, who frowned and narrowed her eyes at him.
"Frisbee?" She asked.
"Yeah, check it out!" Dave turned around and flicked it over Mandu, before it crashed into a glass storefront, shattering it and making a bunch of noise. Wolf got Stalkie on guard and looked around, before glaring at Dave.
"Next time you ring the dinner bell, we are done, Mute!" She slammed Stalkie onto the ground, and began scratching a circle into the ground. "From now on, this, this right here, is a Mute free zone!" Mandu ran over and sat down at Wolf's feet, glaring at Dave. Dave looked at her before looking back up at Wolf.
"Oh yeah? Well, this is a Wolf free zone! No Wolfs allowed over here!" He attempted to create his own circle, but slipped and fell on his back. He grunted as he did.
"I can live with that." Countered Wolf. She turned and kept walking, leaving the area as Dave picked himself up and ran after her.
"What kind of gift we looking for, anyway?" He asked.
"I'll know it when I see it."
"Oh? Going with your guy? I like that! That's how I roll too."
Benson led the way through an alley. Atom looked around a bit, starting to question where they were going. And it was clear he wasn't the only one. "So, Benson," started Kipo, "where are you leading us, exactly?"
"I've been wondering that too." Added Atom. "You seem to be walking without direction." Benson looked back.
"Hey, trust me. This is gonna be cool." Kipo's eyes widened as she looked at Atom, who shrugged.
"He hasn't betrayed your trust yet." Said Leo. "Why would he do it now?" Benson walked out of the alley, leading the other two into a courtyard. Kipo looked around a bit, seeing all of the anti-human messages.
"Oh wow." She said. "It's so, festive?"
"Jeez. Some people don't like humans much, do they?" Benson turned back to them, and walked up to Kipo.
"Sometimes on the surface," he started, grabbing her hands, "there's more than what you see on the surface." Kipo looked down at their hands.
"So, don't judge a book by it's cover?" Asked Leo. "I'm surprised that idiom has survived this" Atom put his hand over Leo, interrupting him. The two looked over as Atom smiled nervously.
"Well, he's not wrong." Said Benson. "Most Mutes don't look deeper than the surface." He let go of Kipo and held up the spray cheese, before he shook it up. He turned away and knelt down, spraying a decent amount on the ground in a pile before standing back up and backing away. Kipo looked around a bit, confused.
"And that's supposed to?" Asked Atom. Benson laughed.
"It should be here any second." Atom and Kipo looked at him like he was crazy, before their attention was drawn away by a van driving up quickly with music blaring. It screeched to a halt, turning suddenly to pull next to the cheese pile. Someone opened the passenger door and reached down, grabbing some of the cheese. The rear passenger door suddenly opened, and Benson gestured inside for Kipo. "Your chariot awaits, birthday girl." He looked back at Atom. "Come on, let's go." Kipo looked at him reluctantly, then climbed in. He got in after her, and Atom looked around. "It'll be fine, guys." Atom sighed, then climbed in, and the door closed behind them. They barely had time to buckle up before the van got moving, and it was moving fast.
"I never imagined anything like this was still functional." Said Atom. Kipo just looked ahead, concerned, and then looked at the rat Mute driving.
"So, my friend won't tell me because it's supposed to be a surprise, but where are you taking us?" Leo hopped onto her shoulder.
"What's the worst that could happen?" He asked. Kipo flinched to the side, nearly knocking him off.
"Sorry!" She said. "Didn't expect you to just, you know, pop up!" The rat Mute suddenly turned the car, sending both Atom and Kipo flying to the side. Leo was sent off of Kipo's shoulder as she slammed into the door, where he then crashed into the window and bounced back into the backseat. Atom managed to keep himself from toppling over by holding onto his seatbelt, but he still almost bowled over Benson, who just sat there calmly. Leo slowly floated back up the seat.
"That one hurt." He said. Kipo refocused ahead, then started yelling. Uh, wall. Wall!" Atom looked forward as she pointed at it, and quickly braced himself against the seat in front of him. Kipo averted her eyes as the rat Mute honked the horn, and the wall parted, letting them in as the rat Mute quickly slammed the brakes, making Leo smack into the windshield before he was tossed around the van as it spun to a stop. He smacked into Atom's head before landing on his shoulder, dizzied and in pain. Atom slowly removed his hands from the seat, letting blood flow back into them after unclamping them. The rat Mute looked back and removed her sunglasses.
"Bonjour, y'all!" Kipo uncovered her eyes to look at her as Benson just kept sitting there, smiling. "And je m'appelle Amy." Atom shook his head, trying to clear it. "That's French for 'My name is Amy.'" Another rat suddenly opened up the car's dashboard and leaned in.
"Hola and bienvenidos abordo!" He said. "I'm Brad." He backed up and closed the dashboard up again before the hood popped open and he got out, followed by Amy. Atom looked at Kipo and Benson to see that the former was just as confused, while the latter just kept grinning away. Amy opened up the door before she and Brad got into position, taking off their hats in a welcoming gesture.
"Welcome to Ratland!" Said Amy. Some fireworks started going off, almost perfectly timed as the group slowly stepped out of the car and looked around. Kipo walked ahead, astonished and amazed, nearly unable to form words. Atom just looked around, shocked.
"Who would've guessed that there was an Amusement Park in this city?" He asked aloud.
"Head, still, spinning." Replied Leo. "Can't, really, think, too, well." Benson walked up to Kipo.
"See? I told you it would be good."
"Not this good." Kipo nearly whispered, still utterly amazed. Atom grabbed Leo and looked at the others.
"I'm going to explore around a bit. And maybe see about helping out a friend."
"Hold on!" Said Amy. She walked up to him and gave him a piece of paper with a less than stellar map on it. "There you go. We're tour 5 on it, when you want to catch back up." She walked back over to Brad.
Mandu watched out a store window as some flamingos flew overhead, before running back to Wolf, squealing. Wolf was pulling something out of a box, some kind of pendant with a purple gem in the middle. "Ah ha! It's perfect!" She held it in both hands, looking it over as Mandu ran up and crashed into her leg, trying to get her attention. Wolf glared down at her. "Not now, pig. I'm busy." She looked at the pendant again as Dave suddenly opened the curtain behind her.
"What'd ya get?" He asked. Wolf turned to him, then looked another direction. She held the pendant out to the side.
"It's a, mace." She started swinging it. "See?" The amulet portion of the pendant suddenly snapped off, getting launched away from the three before it crashed into something else. Wolf tossed away the chain. "That wasn't the right gift anyway."
"Well I found the greatest gift of all time!" Said Dave, closing the curtain quickly. Wolf stared at it for a few moments before Dave opened it again, wearing a familiar looking jacket. Wolf's glare softened. "For me, though. We still gotta look for Kipo." Wolf suddenly leaned down towards him, smiling.
"That's it!" She exclaimed. "It's just like the one she liked in Cactustown! It's perfect!" Dave mostly ignored her and looked in a mirror, checking himself out in it. Wolf's smile dropped as she walked up behind him. "We have to give it to her." Dave held it closer to himself.
"Who made you jacket boss?" He countered. Wolf glared at him.
"Fine." She said, straining a bit. "Since you found it, you can wear it back. But then I'm taking it off of you, one way, or another." Dave's eyes widened slightly before he recovered.
"Long as you don't enter the Wolf free zone." Wolf backed away from him, but stopped when she felt something tugging at her pelt. She looked back to see Mandu biting it tightly, preventing her from moving.
"What's gotten into you?!" She complained. "Is every mute this annoying?" Dave quickly turned to her.
"Hey! I take offense to that!" His body suddenly creaked, and he quickly assumed his muscled up form, ripping the jacket into nearly indistinguishable scraps. He looked back at Wolf. "Oops." Wolf turned away from him.
"You are truly useless Mute!" She started towards the door, fully intent on leaving. Dave watched her go.
"You know what I think?" He asked. "I think that girl really doesn't like Mutes. Because I am full of uses!" He looked away from her, thinking.
Atom wandered the park a bit, just looking around. Leo kept shaking himself, trying to recover from the drive over. "Ugh, everything's still spinning." He groaned. "I, I can't even tell if that's a building or a statue." Atom shook his head.
"Come on Leo, focus. Deep breath in, close your eyes. Deep breath out, open them again." Leo took a deep breath, then let it out.
"Nope, still spinning." Atom sighed.
"Hopefully that drive didn't completely cripple you." He bumped into someone. "Oops, sorry." He looked at the elephant Mute he had bumped into.
"Respect the rules of the park!" He said, angrily, before he grabbed the hand of a smaller elephant Mute and walked away.
"Someone's a bit cranky." Said Atom. He started walking again, but bumped into someone else. He looked up to see a snake. "Uh, sorry about that."
"Watch where you're going." Replied the snake. "This may be a safe zone, but that doesn't mean you can get away with that." She slithered away, leaving Atom confused.
"This place is a safe zone?" He asked. Before he could continue walking to look around a bit more, someone bumped into him.
"Sorry." Said the frog Mute. Atom watched him walk away, before another mute bumped into him, followed by another, and soon he was being basically trampled by a crowd of them.
"Hey!" He tried to say, but he was muffled by everyone else as they all rushed past him. He eventually popped out of the crowd, slightly annoyed. "So, humans might be welcomed here, but we're certainly not fully equal." He expected Leo to reply, but got nothing. "Leo?" He patted at his shoulder, and didn't feel Leo there. "Leo?!" He started looking around, trying to find his partner. "Just great!" He complained, his frustrations growing. He started after the crowd, thinking that Leo was with them.
"Welcome to the Ratland Mute cruise!" Said Amy, helping Kipo and Benson into a small boat next to a statue of a Mega Mute. "Remember to keep all tails, paws, and wings inside the boat at all times, s'il vous plait." Kipo looked around a bit as the boat got moving.
"This place is amazing!" She said. "How did you even know it was here?" She looked at Benson, who looked back at her.
"Well, when you live up here long enough, you learn a few things. Believe it or not, it's not all danger all the time." He looked back at Amy and Brad. "In fact, the rats made this a safe zone. All species welcome." Amy looked back at them.
"Little known fun fact." She said. "Easily the best cruise in this part of town, if I don't mind tootin' my own horn." She squeezed the bulb of a mounted horn on the boat, making it honk. Three skunks suddenly came around a bend in the river on jet skis.
"Hang on!" Said Brad. "Looks like a real party down there, Amy!" The three skunks passed the boat as Benson took a deep breath and covered Kipo's nose and mouth. When the stench passed, Benson let out his breath and let go of Kipo, who was blushing.
"Careful," he warned, "you do not want to get downwind of those three when they're excited! Woo!" Their attention was suddenly drawn to the front again my Amy.
"Oh Brad, look out!" She said. "Dead ahead! Is that a Mega Pug I see?" She jumped off the boat and ran ahead, getting behind the strange statue of the Mega Pug, before it suddenly lit up and a little jingle played. The head of the Mega Pug rose up, and it began barking.
"Don't worry Amy!" Called Brad. "I think his bark is worse than his height!" The Mega Pug shut down as Amy ran out from behind it, rushing back to the boat. Kipo leaned over to Benson.
"These are some of the worst jokes I've ever heard in my life." She whispered. "I think I love this ride!"
"Rats do love cheese." Said Benson, elbowing her. He looked forward again, contemplating what he just said. "Oh man, now I'm doing it too." He glanced at Kipo again, and the two laughed. Kipo looked forward again.
"I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my birthday." She looked back at Benson. "I really appreciate this." The two just looked at each other for a bit as some music played nearby, before Kipo suddenly got a handful of water splashed on her face. Benson scooped up another handful and threw it at her, smiling the entire time. Kipo returned the smile before throwing her own handful of water back at him, laughing. Benson started laughing too before he threw another handful.
Gerard walked up to Scarlemagne, who was playing the piano. "Scarlemagne, sir, he's awake." Scarlemagne suddenly stopped before pushing himself up, making a very sour note on the piano. He turned to Gerard.
"Excellent. Bring him to me." Gerard turned to leave, but Scarlemagne reconsidered. "Actually, I'll go to him myself." He started walking away, confusing Gerard. Scarlemagne left the room and quickly went to the cells of his palace, eventually coming up on the one that the strange guy was locked in. He was pacing around, thinking aloud.
"I was running, and then I tripped and they surrounded me. Then, then," he flung his hands in front of himself. "Then what?! Ugh, I just don't remember what happened!" He slammed a fist into the wall. "And then I was up here, trapped in some kind of cell!" He sat down and curled into a ball. "I probably got captured again by them." Scarlemagne cleared his throat, and the guy suddenly jumped up, looking at him. "Wh-who are you?" He asked, afraid.
"Let's save my introductions for later. Tell me, how did you appear out of thin air in the middle of my ballroom?" The guy just looked at him like he was crazy.
"I appeared out of thin air? In a, ballroom?" He put a hand to his head. "Everything is still so fuzzy. All I remember is running, running away from those, those, those scientists!" Scarlemagne's eyes widened at that. "And their stupid, painful experiments. I was just trying to get away." He slumped down again. "Trying to find someone who could help me." He buried his face in his arms as Scarlemagne looked at him closely.
"Interesting." He said. "I think I may have a deal for you." He unlocked the cell door and lifted it up. "How would you like a place to stay? Away from those other pathetic humans, with people willing to help you?" The guy raised his head again, and Scarlemagne gasped at his eyes. They were no longer human, and resembled more of a wolf's eyes than anything else.
"Do, do you mean it?" Asked the guy. Scarlemagne smiled.
"Of course. You could be one of my nobles in my empire." He pulled out the perfume bottle and sprayed the guy, who coughed a bit.
"Oh, that smells so bad! What is it made of, bentonite and sulfur?" Scarlemagne looked at him confused, before quickly coming up with a lie.
"It's something to get rid of that human smell of yours." He lied. "I can't stand the stench of them." The guy coughed a bit more before looking back at him.
"You can smell them too? I thought it was just me after those genetic experiments they did to me." He shivered. "So, many, needles." Scarlemagne looked him over once more.
"Tell me, what is your name?" The guy slowly stood up to look Scarlemagne right in the eyes.
"They called me Mark. Or 0128. I don't remember if that's the name I had since birth, or if that's just what they called me." Scarlemagne smiled, and held out a hand.
"Well Mark, I think this is the beginning of something big." Mark shakily took it, unsure of himself.
"Just please don't betray me. I don't think I could handle another fake friend." As his mind drifted to the one person who gained his trust before dashing it all away, his arm shook a bit as silver fur sprouted from it. He paid it no mind, but Scarlemagne did.
"Intriguing." He thought. He refocused on Mark. "Do not worry. As long as you're with me, you'll never be betrayed."
Atom pushed through the crowd, calling out. "Leo!" He called. "Leo?" He was finding it difficult to get past all the Mutes to search, but eventually found Leo in the paw of a young wolf. "Leo!" He walked up to the young wolf, who pulled Leo away from him.
"Hey! Finders keepers!" Atom glared at him.
"Not in this case. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." The wolf boy smiled.
"Hah, it's not like you humans can do much!" He growled. Another wolf suddenly walked up.
"Apologies, young man." He said. "This one can be a bit possessive of what he finds." He reached down and pulled Leo from the boy's hand. "Sorry for the trouble." Atom graciously took Leo.
"Thank you!" He said. "You couldn't understand how important he is to me." The wolf man smiled.
"Of course." He looked at the young wolf. "Come along now. We have just enough time for one more ride." He pulled the young one away, who looked back and stuck his tongue out at Atom. Atom glared at him, gritting his teeth, before he took a deep breath and looked at Leo.
"You okay?" Leo shook himself open.
"Aside from being swept away by a large crowd, stepped on by several children, and getting tossed and kicked around, perfectly fine." He looked up at Atom. "I knew you'd be able to find me."
"And I'm glad I did. Made all the frustration of getting through that crowd worth it." Atom put Leo back on his shoulder before turning. "Come on, let's go find Kipo and Benson."
Kipo and Benson walked in front of a Ferris wheel, eating cotton candy. Kipo was nearly done with hers, but Benson still had a ways to go. He suddenly flipped it off the stick, getting it all over his face and blinding himself. He tossed the stick down and put his hands out in front as Kipo laughed. She grabbed his backpack and guided him towards the Ferris wheel, gently pushing him up the stairs as an Elephant Mute climbed off one of the chairs. "Let the riders off first!" He said, grabbing a smaller Elephant Mute and pulling him along. "Respect the rules of the park!" The two lumbered off as Benson finished eating what he could of his cotton candy. He pulled the rest off and groaned.
"Annual pass holders." He explained to Kipo. "You can spot 'em a mile away, they practically live here." He got onto the newly vacated seat, and Kipo climbed in next to him before pulling down the safety bar.
"At least they're not chasing us." She said, relieved. "In fact, this is the first time we've seen Mutes and haven't had to run." The ferris wheel got moving.
"I wasn't kidding about that safe zone." Said Benson. "You can relax here." He stretched his arms out, cracking his knuckles before leaning back. "Stretch your arms, enjoy the view." The two looked away from each other, across the park as they rose higher and higher. Kipo leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands as she braced herself against the safety bar, looking out. She suddenly laughed, breaking the tension. Benson pointed at a star.
"Which one's that?" He asked. Kipo looked up at it.
"That one, is Arcturus."
"How 'bout, that one?" Asked Benson, pointing to another bright dot in the sky.
"Mm, not a star." Corrected Kipo. "That's a planet. It's Mars." She looked at him, and he looked back.
"Wow. There's so much up there I don't know about." He looked up at the sky again, as Kipo just continued to look at him, semi-staring at him. Benson looked at her again, before his expression turned confused. "You all right?"
"Yeah." Replied Kipo, kinda slowly. Benson glanced away, then back at her.
"Sure about that?" Kipo realized what she was doing and gasped, quickly looking away.
"Oh, uh, you know, just wish everyone else was here too." She laughed nervously. "Wolf and Dave are missing out on all the fun, and who knows where Atom and Leo got off to?" She looked at Benson again and again laughed nervously. Benson smiled at her.
"But actually, I wanted to get you here alone." Kipo glanced away before looking at him again.
"You did?"
"Yeah." Replied Benson. "To see this." He gestured to the park, and Kipo smiled at him, before looking down at it all. "I wanted you to know that not everything on the surface, is bad. That there are places where, it's ok." He suddenly turned to her. "Better than ok! That there's hope for your people." He stood up, emphasizing his point. "That's my real present for you." He put his hand on her shoulder, and she blushed at him. "And I didn't want anybody, not naming names, Wolf, to spoil that for you. I love our girl, but she's been known to rain down on the occasional parade, so, you know." The Ferris wheel came to a stop as the two reached the apex, and Benson sat back down. Kipo glanced at him, blushing, before she turned to him.
"I don't know if it's that I'm turning 13, but, I feel different right now." She nervously played with her hair a bit. "And I just, feel like, I need to, tell you that," she stopped herself for a moment, completely focusing on Benson. She crossed her hands, turning away for a moment but still looking at him, before taking a deep breath and turning back to him. "I think I like you." The air around them suddenly became very uncomfortable as Benson slowly looked away from her.
"Oh." He said, not realizing what she was saying at first. "Oh! Oh." Kipo gasped.
"You don't feel the same." She stated, turning away from him. Benson turned to her quickly.
"Oh, no! No! I like you too. Really, really like you! You're all kinds of awesome! But, you should, know, something." He let out one quick, nervous laugh.
"You like me as a friend." Asked Kipo, turning to him again.
"Yes!" Agreed Benson. "Because, I'm gay." Kipo looked at him for a moment, then looked down.
"Oh." She gasped. "Oh!" She turned to him again. "I totally misread your signals! Is it ok if I curl up into a ball right now?" She started doing just that, covering her eyes before suddenly sitting back up. "Thank you, though, for just uh, I don't know, being, you?" She chuckled nervously. "Ok, that was a really, dumb thing to say." She took a breath. "I think I'm just trying to say," she reached out and pulled Benson into a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her too, "I'm glad we're friends." The two embraced for a bit, before Benson glanced up at a noise.
"Huh?" He asked. He saw a flamingo coming at them quickly. "Kipo! Duck!" He pulled her down, and the flamingo barely missed them. Kipo looked at their attacker.
"I've seen that flamingo before! It works for Scarlemagne!"
"That's bad. Really bad." Said Benson.
"I thought you said this was a safe zone!"
"Unfortunately, Scarlemagne does NOT obey the safe zone!" The flamingo came around again and rammed into the seat, knocking it off the Ferris wheel and sending Kipo and Benson falling, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Down below, Atom was wandering around, trying to find them. "Now, where could they be?" He looked up as he heard the screams, and gasped as he saw Kipo and Benson falling from the top of the ferris wheel. "No!" He ran up to the ride and looked at the rats operating it. "We need to get them down!" One of the rats looked at him.
"We need to do what?" Atom looked up again to see that Kipo had managed to grab onto a support beam and was holding Benson up by his backpack. Up above, Kipo was struggling to hold onto both as Benson panted from fear. Kipo's hand slipped a little as the flamingo took another turn to come at them again. She tried to pull Benson up again as it drew close, and something again changed within her. Magenta fur sprouted up her right arm as he grip suddenly dug into the metal support, leaving an imprint of her hand in it. She swung Benson up before climbing up, narrowly avoiding the flamingo as it went at them. The two looked around quickly at their options before Kipo pointed at something.
"Roller coaster!" Benson looked at the carts coming.
"No Kipo! It's too far a drop! Keep climbing down!" He started moving as Kipo watched the flamingo come over again.
"You're taking too long!" She yelled, charging at him and picking him up, running across the arm of the ferris wheel before jumping towards the roller coaster. Benson yelled as she held on tight to him, and Atom gasped down below. The two landed in the roller coaster car, knocking it off track a bit. Atom did some quick checking and noticed a sharp bend in the track ahead of them. He started running as the cars passed him, heading towards a specific building. He tried to pour on the speed, but couldn't keep up.
"Come on, come on!" He said. "I need, to, go, faster! I won't, forgive myself, if they get hurt!" He felt a pressure in his legs as he started speeding up again, somehow. "Huh? No time to question it!" He continued towards the building as the roller coaster cars hit the turn and snapped off, being sent straight at the building, crashing through the wall of the upper floor. The flamingo tried to follow after them, but got stuck as the hole was too small for it to go through. Benson coughed from all the dust and looked up a Kipo.
"Oh Kipo! Are you o, k?" Kipo looked at him, exhaling loudly.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know what came over me!"
"Kipo?" Asked Benson.
"It was like something else was in control!"
"Kipo!" Kipo refocused on Benson. "Uh, what happened to your, arm?"
"My arm?" Asked Kipo. She looked at it and screamed. "What's wrong with my arm?!" She grabbed it with her other hand. "It's all furry!" She looked back at Benson. "Benson, why is my arm all furry?!"
"I know sometimes girls your age go through changes," he said, "although that's a pretty big change." He smiled nervously as Kipo pouted at him. "I'm not helping, am I?" The flamingo suddenly crashed through the wall, screeching. "Run!" Kipo leapt out of the car and was followed closely by Benson as she ran out of the room.
Wolf looked in an abandoned car as she passed it, trying to find something for Kipo. Dave suddenly landed on it, making a large crashing sound. Wolf backed away from it, holding Stalkie and ready to attack anything that moved. She attempted to attack Dave, who barely dodged out of the way. When Wolf realized who it was, she let out a breath. "We need to find another gift."
"We can go back for the hubcap." Said Benson, flying above Wolf. "I'll consider telling Kipo it's from the both of us." Wolf looked down, thinking for a moment.
"What was the name of that store where you found it?" She asked.
"I don't know." Replied Dave. "Parts, something. Oh! Parts Etcetera! Check out my mind, razor sharp!"
"Of course!" Said Wolf, as an idea came together. She looked to the side before breaking into a run.
"Hey, where you going?" Asked Dave as he flew after her. They stopped soon after at the store Dave had broken the window of, and Wolf looked at the store's name plate up above.
"P A R, S E C." She read. "Parsec. Dave, you're a geniou" she stopped herself before she finished as he landed next to her. "I mean, uh great jo, well, good job. Job. Dave, job." Dave shook his head.
"I did not follow a word of that." Wolf turned to him.
"We're done searching! We already found Kipo's gift!" Wolf realized something. "Wait, where's Mandu?" She looked back to see Mandu whimpering as she looked up, before she hid under a dilapidated car. Something squaked above, and Wolf glanced up to see two flamingos flying overhead. She readied Stalkie as Dave prepared to take off, before he suddenly stopped and his old self popped out of him, killing off the buff one. He landed on the ground, asleep. "It's like realizing you might be useful causes you to not be useful!" Noted Wolf as she grabbed onto him, pulling Old Dave and the corpse with her. She dove under the car as the two flamingos came down. One landed on the road as the other landed on the car. Gerard looked around a bit on the flamingo that landed on the car.
"Uh, sure you saw something down here?"
"You doubt my eyes?" Asked the other primate Mute on the other flamingo, taking off the mask that outlined her massive eyes as she blinked.
Benson ran right to the stairs and started racing down them as Kipo ran up next to him, nearly losing balance over the railing before she caught herself and jumped down. "I just want this to go away!" She complained as Benson started moving stuff out of the way of a door. "And it won't!"
"First things first." Interrupted Benson. "We can't stay here!" He started trying to move a massive board that was blocking the door, when he heard something thud against it.
"You guys okay?" Called Atom, pushing against the door.
"Atom!" Replied Kipo, before she gasped as the flamingo squaked up on the stairs.
"Humans, wait!" Called the man on it. "Scarlemagne wants you both to dance for him!" The flamingo started down the stairs.
"Clear the way!" Yelled Atom. Benson moved out of the way just as Atom rammed into the door with his shield, shoving the wood out of the way as he brandished it. "Run!" Both Kipo and Benson ran past him as he blocked the flamingo a few times, getting shoved back through the door. He slammed his shield into it with another one of its attacks, stunning it long enough for him to run after the other two. It recovered quickly, however, and gave chase to them again. They all went past another ride, and an Elephant Mute grabbed a smaller one.
"Respect the rules of the park!" He yelled. The man on the flamingo looked back at him for a moment, not watching here he was going as a van pulled up. The flamingo slammed into it, knocking it off balance for a moment as it made a very, very sharp right turn. Amy opened the back door.
"Get in!" She yelled. Kipo climbed in first as Benson started running low on steam. Atom grabbed him, then grabbed Amy's hand, pushing him in before he climbed in himself. Amy closed the door and got back in the front as Kipo looked back to see the man's mask fall off, revealing him to be human. She gasped.
"He's a human! Benson, Atom, do you see that? That's another human!" Benson stuck his head out.
"So that's what Scarlemagne does with the humans. No thanks!" Atom took several deep breaths.
"That, was too close." He said. He looked down, then pulled up his pants leg a little. He gasped at what he saw, some white scales going up it. He lowered his pants leg quickly as Amy got on the radio.
"Attention Ratland VIPs," she started, "the park will be closing early due to an unforeseen air raid." She looked at the dashboard. "Better step on it, Brad!" Brad opened up the dashboard again, holding out a sheet of paper.
"Before you go, can we ask you to fill out a quick survey rating your experience here at Ratland?" Benson took the survey and looked at Kipo, who shrugged. Atom looked at them.
"Do we have the time for it?" The van suddenly pulled into the courtyard again, and Kipo grabbed the sheet.
"I think we do." She said. Amy offered her a pencil and she started jotting stuff down as everyone got out. Atom sighed.
"Optional surveys. They get you every time." Leo popped out of his pocket.
"Yep. But it's the least we can do after they rescued us." Atom looked back up to see Amy and Brad watching Kipo fill it out.
"If you could try to forget the whole flamingo rider business we'd really appreciate it." Said Amy.
"Please give us a ten." Whispered Brad. "Please give us a ten."
"Stop it, Brad! You're gonna make them feel like they have to." Kipo handed them the sheet and they looked it over.
"Yes!" They both exclaimed. They looked back at the group. "Thank you for your time!" They both climbed back into the van and drove off as Kipo waved at them. Atom looked over at her.
"So, uh, what's with the fur?" He asked. Kipo looked at him, then back to her arm.
"It's still not gone?!" She asked. As she said it, her arm twitched. She brought it back down to see the fur suddenly retract. She gasped. "Now it's gone?" She looked over at Atom, who was lifting his pants leg. The small space showed some white scales as he sighed. Benson looked at him and gasped.
"This is strange." Said Atom. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself back down, then felt the pressure in his legs vanish as the scales retracted. Kipo looked at him, then at Benson.
"What's happening to us?" She asked, terrified. Benson looked at Kipo.
"I don't know, but, you saved our lives on that ferris wheel. And Atom saved us from that flamingo."
"I also grew fur!" Argued Kipo. "And he grew scales!"
"I've seen a lot of weird stuff up here," started Benson, "but I've never seen anything like that." He pointed at Kipo's arm. "Or that." He pointed at Atom's leg. Kipo glanced to the side for a moment.
"My dad's a scientist, maybe he'll know what's happening!" She looked down. "If we can find him." Atom got back up and walked next to Benson. "Until then, can we keep this, to ourselves?"
"Of course!" Agreed Benson.
"I'm not going to tell anyone." Said Atom.
"Nor will I." Added Leo as he floated up next to Kipo. Benson stepped next to her and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. She wrapped one across his backpack, and the two pulled each other close. Atom shook his head at the sight, smiling.
"Wish I was close enough to others to do that casually." Leo landed back on his shoulder.
"Who knew turning 13 could be so epic?" Asked Benson, rhetorically.
The two flamingos walked around as both primates kept searching. They looped back around to the car where Wolf was hiding with Dave and Mandu, and one of the flamingos dipped its head down. It suddenly climbed up on the car and peered over the other side, where it saw Dave's long dead corpse. It reached down and picked it up, then the other head made a grab for it, splitting in two, which both heads ate. Underneath, Wolf was clutching Dave close to keep him from doing something stupid as he slept. Suddenly, Dave snored, making Wolf gasp quietly before covering his mouth with her hand. A pebble flew in front of them. "Must've imagined it." Said the other flamingo pilot. "Wanna move on?"
"Yeah, this place is dead anyway." Said Gerard. The two flamingos took off, and the trio peeked out from under the car.
"Who is he calling dead?" Asked Dave. "I'm alive."
"Does this form have use?" Asked Wolf as she pulled herself out completely before heading to the store. She looked in. "Hello? Kipo's dad? You in here?" Dave just walked in without a care, and bumped into an abandoned bucket and broom.
"Excuse me young man." Wolf turned to him. "No, excuse me." She turned away and noticed something in the back corner. She readied Stalkie as she walked, just in case. She stared at the rubble pile for a few moments, before shoving it to the side. Under it, she saw a letter with a strange symbol on it. She picked it up as Dave walked over. "What is it? Also, where are we?" Wolf studied the symbol a bit.
"It's a ram's head. That's, Kipo's birth sign, Aries." She flipped the letter over and opened it up, pulling out a handwritten note. "Kipo, this will help you find, the second clover. Love, dad." Dave noticed something on the back of the note.
"Someone drew a spaghetti on the back." Wolf flipped it over, and her jaw dropped a bit.
"It's a map, grandpa." She muttered. "A map to the second clover." She looked up, realizing something. "Which means, Kipo's people have a second burrow."
"Oh my!" Said Dave. "This is the perfect gift!" Wolf looked at him. "Our little butterscotch will be so happy. She can finally head back underground with her mole-people and forget we ever existed. I'll always remember her." Part of his antenna broke off as Wolf looked him over, considering. She looked up, then sighed. She looked at the map again, waging a battle in herself over what to do.
Baby Dave was crying as Benson coddled him, rocking him in his arms at the billboard. "Sh sh sh!" He said. "All right, let's stop the waterworks. I missed you too buddy." Dave kept crying as Kipo finished telling Wolf what had happened.
"We saw those flamingo riders too." She said. "That may be why Scarlemagne's after your people. I think he wants to turn them into more of his weird Nobles." Kipo looked at her with sad eyes.
"Even my dad?" Wolf turned to her as she looked down at Mandu. Wolf glanced down as both Benson and Atom looked at them.
"Sitting on it will do nothing but hinder us." Atom suddenly said. "Even if Scarlemagne wants to use your people as his Nobles, if he doesn't catch you, he won't be able to." Mandu snorted, and Kipo smiled, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
"You're right." She said. "All right, present time." She looked right at Wolf. "This is supposed to be our birthday!" She stood up, followed by Wolf, and began digging something out of her pocket. She hid it behind her back as Wolf tentatively grabbed the letter, looking back as she did, considering one last time. She didn't notice Kipo reaching out for her until she was nearly touching her, and jumped back, surprised. She looked at what Kipo had in her hand, and stood still as she put it in her hair. "Because I noticed whenever you fight, your hair gets in your eyes." Kipo smiled at her as Wolf reached up to it.
"It's, uh, useful." She decided, smiling back at Kipo. "Thanks."
"Your turn, birthday twin!" Said Kipo. Mandu squealed excitedly as Wolf thought it through a moment longer.
"Uh." She pulled something out from her pelt and handed it to Kipo, who smiled widely.
"Aw, it's from the jacket I liked." She slid the sleeve onto her right arm. "I love it!" She looked at it as she moved her arm a bit, testing it out. Mandu looked back at Wolf in surprise. "Thank you."
Benson walked around the billboard to get a closer look at the two. "Sweet sleeve!" He said. "One man's trash,"
"Is another girl's fashion statement." Finished Kipo. Atom shook his head, then stepped forward.
"Well, everyone else has given their gifts." He said, pulling out something from behind his back. In his hands were two simple paracord bracelets, made out of purple paracord. "There wasn't enough there to make two complex ones, but I was still able to make one for each of you." He handed them to Wolf and Kipo. Kipo smiled at him, then put it on over the sleeve.
"Thank you." She said as Wolf took hers.
"Uh, thanks, I guess?" She said. Atom laughed a bit.
"It might not be as useful as a longer piece of paracord, but I think in this case, having two matching ones for both of you was more important." Kipo smiled again, and stepped back.
"I don't know about you three, but I am ready to get back to cracking this clue!" She walked over to the ladder. "Come on, I feel like walking." She started climbing down. "It's nice to know it's not always deadly on the surface." Benson walked over and began his descent, holding Dave in one arm. Atom looked back at Wolf as she put on her bracelet before he went over to the ladder as well. As he started climbing down, he noticed Wolf pull something else out. It was a letter of some kind, but it didn't look too important even as she looked down at it. Atom shrugged and climbed down, trying to catch up to Kipo and Benson. Wolf sighed, then turned back to grab Stalkie and met eyes with Mandu, who glared at her and growled. Wolf stood back up.
"What are you looking at?" She asked, defensively. She scoffed and turned away quickly, knowing exactly what Mandu was looking at her for. Mandu growled again in her direction as she went towards the ladder.
And there we go. Mark is now working with Scarlemagne, and has shown his own colors as both Kipo and Atom showed theirs. If anybody gets the Silver Wolf reference, here's a little tidbit of info. I originally planned Mark for that show, but ended up scrapping it because I liked Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts better. Plus, this goes better with the age limits I like writing with. Hopefully you all enjoyed!
