Chapter 3

It's currently 5:41 P.M. and some of the co-workers, including Percy, stood behind the glass frame of the bat habitat exhibit... waiting. They're at the canopy level of the exhibit —two floors up— as they see the forest floor below.

"Why did Josh call everyone here for?" Steve asked, now in his regular attire and lab-coat.

"Beats me?" Percy lied.

"Well apparently he wants us to witness something?" Lalita said.

"If that's the case, can he hurry up!" One of the male co-workers said impatiently. "Everyone else left work four minutes ago!"

"By the way, where's Diana?" Steve asked.

"Hey! I see him opening the entry into the exhibit." One of the female co-workers said. "And Diana is with him!"

Percy, and everyone with him, saw enter the exhibit as the glass door closed automatically behind them. The bat species that kept in the exhibit fluttered in the air as the humans entered in their territory.

"Josh, why are we here?" Diana asked with raised eyebrow.

"The speakers are on?" Steve said.

Lalita pulled out her tablet and viewed it as she then said "Josh must've turned half of them on. We can hear them, but they can't hear us."

"Diana... Do you remember when we first met?" Josh asked.

"Of course silly. I was getting picked on by some boys until you came to my rescue and began to beat the crap out of them."

"Hey, when I see a pretty lady in need of help, I gotta step in."

"But you almost got expelled you moron! You're lucky you got off with a day of suspension!"

"Nay, I'm just lucky that way."

Diana then turned away from Josh with a "Hmpf".

"Then we became friends a few days later." Josh added which Diana's expression slightly softened with a small grin. "And at the first year of high school, you became my girlfriend. Afterwards we've been dating ever since."

Diana's expression completely changed as she stared at her boyfriend adoringly.

"And now I got this big question to ask?"

Josh was about to kneel, earning him a skeptical look from his girlfriend, as he said "Diana Conlan, will y— WHOAH!"

A bat swooped in and almost hit Josh.

"Are you alright?" Diana asked with concern.

"Yeah I'm fine." Josh replied. He was about to kneel, again, asking "Diana Conlan, w— OKAY SOMETHING IS ON MY BACK!"

Diana stared at him funny. She went to see his back as she said "Are you alr— OHMYGOSH!?"

Everyone gasped, Percy on the other hand faked one, seeing what's is on Josh's lab-coat.

Two bats, of opposite gender and of the same species... mating.

"WHAT THE—?!" Steve exclaimed.

"OH MY?!" Lalita said with wide eyes.

Percy is disgusted at the scene before him. And at the same time, he's trying his hardest to contain his laughter.

After seeing Diana's reaction, Josh then tried to see what's on his back. He got a glimpse of the two lovers and looked alarmed. "HEY YOU TWO, CUT IT OUT!"

Then more bats began to join the party, one by one, as Diana tried to gently swat the them away from Josh while helping getting his jacket off. But to no avail as the weight of extra bats pushed him flat on the ground. Diana let out a short worried scream as the co-workers immediately ran to Josh's aid.

"Percy, stay here." Lalita instructed.

"Uh-huh."

Lalita then ran to catch up with the others. When they're both out of earshot and view, Percy began to laugh out loud.

"OH MAN!" Percy laughed. "I OUTDID MYSELF THIS TIME!"

When Lalita and the others arrived, they tried to help Josh managing to pry of the bats off of him while wearing protective gloves. Percy noticed that Steve wasn't among them... until he arrived. With a fire extinguisher.

"DON'T WORRY GUYS! I GOT THIS!"

Diana saw him with the extinguisher in his hands as she warned with a worried expression "STEVE DON'T—"

It was too late as Steve began to spray Josh. It worked as the bats immediately flew off of him. But unfortunately, Josh is now cold... and violated.

Percy then continued to laugh, even louder, as tears began to stream from his eyes. Almost blinding him.

As the teenager slowly calmed down while wiping the tears from his eyes, he then continued looking the scene below him. Then he went silent as he saw his sister, piercing him with a furious and serious frown as she already guessed —no, KNEW— that he was the one behind this.

Uh, crud.

The drive back home was dead silent as Diana is still angry at her little brother for not only breaking his promise... but also for pranking her boyfriend. As they arrived back to their house, Diana's watch say's it's 6:02 P.M. as she parked her car as they then both entered inside their home. When inside, Percy placed his backpack upstairs in his room as Diana pulled their pre-prepped dinner, spinach ricotta lasagna with tomato beef sauce, from the fridge to cook in the oven.

Percy didn't dare play his video games due his sister being upset with him as she started to do her college homework, on her laptop, to pass the time. He instead sat in the living room, which is connected to the kitchen without walls, as they waited for their dinner. He was uncomfortable with the silence as he then broke while trying to lighten up the mood.

"Well at least we know that the pheromone works." He said with a nervous smile.

Diana slammed both her fists on the table angrily as she then said "YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE PERCY! NOW BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO COME WITH ME BACK TO THE CHIRO SANCTUARY ANYMORE!?"

Percy couldn't believe his ears. This was too good to be true. "HALLELUJAH!"

"THAT'S NOTHING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT!?"

Diana then let out a loud sigh. "Poor Josh."

"What? I apologized! After you forced me to by the way!"

"NOT GENUINELY!?" She reminded. Diana faced away from Percy as she then said "I don't understand how he laugh it off like it was nothing! Josh said it was nothing compared to than after falling through the roof into a room full of strippers and lethal drug dealers back in New York. While running away from a gang he messed with!"

"That is one interesting story." Percy said. And he meant it. "I would like to hear it from him sometime."

"WELL THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN SINCE YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED BACK AT THE CONSERVATION." Diana reminded him. "Plus he hardly visits our house do to work and college. We're lucky enough to have a date seven times a month! You should be glad that Josh still likes you at all after that stunt you pulled of!"

"I still don't understand why you're still upset about the whole conservation thing. It's not like I was ever going to be interested, or even, like bats anyway."

"I was trying to help you get cured of your chiroptophobia! Plus that's not the only reason!"

Percy stared at her funny with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I was hoping to get you interested in other branches of zoology." Diana explained. "Why else would we visit the Natural History Museum here in Los Angeles during work!"

"What makes you think I want be a zoologist like you, mom, and dad! Mark didn't choose that career!"

"Alright then, what are your interests?"

"Huh?"

"What career do you want to have?"

Percy never thought about it before. Not even once! He was totally laid back that he didn't consider what he wanted to do in the future.

Diana was still waiting for his answer as she stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well?"

"I... uh... um...— I don't know?" Percy replied while unsure. "I'll probably decide after high school!"

"NO!? It's during high school when you decide what to do in life?!"

"WELL I DIDN'T THINK THAT FAR AHEAD! UNLIKE YOU 'MISS PERFECT'!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME! MY LIFE ISN'T PERFECT AS YOU THINK!" Diana argued. "YOU KNOW I'M BUSY WITH COLLEGE WHILE LOOKING AFTER YOU, MARK, AND ROSKO!"

"MARK DOESN'T NEED TO BE LOOKED AFTER! HE LOOKS AFTER US SINCE HE'S OUR GUARDIAN!"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!? I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING HE'S DONE FOR US! AND LOVE HIM BECAUSE OF IT! BUT YOU AND I BOTH KNOW HE CAN ACT LIKE TEENAGER MORE THAT AN ADULT SOMETIMES!"

"THAT'S WHAT MAKES HIM FUN!"

Their argument continued what seems like an eternity even though it's actually thirteen minutes. This is by far the worst fight they ever had in their lives. So bad in fact they change subjects from "how annoying they are" to other unnecessary nitpicking and out-of-topic things. Their argument has reached to the boiling point that the Conlan siblings might say something that they will regret.

"FACE IT! YOU WISH I DIED ON THAT PLANE INSTEAD OF MOM AND DAD!"

"MAYBE I DO!—!?"

Diana immediately placed both hands on her mouth after letting out a horrified gasp with her eyes filled of deep regret. Percy on the other was immediately hurt by his sister's reply while over shocked. He quickly then glared at his sister as she quickly said "Percy, I didn't mean—"

"Yeah, you did!" Percy said with resentment. He immediately headed straight to the door while grabbing his electric skateboard.

"Where you going?"

"Eating out." Percy replied. "Away from YOU!"

"You can't do that! We're having lasagna!"

"MAKE ME!" Percy shouted as he slammed the door behind him.

Diana was about to go after him when something strong hit her nostrils.

"THE LASAGNA!"

She quickly turned around as she saw smoke coming from the oven. She quickly pulled their dinner out, with protective cooking gloves, and placed it on the counter. The lasagna is ruined beyond fixing.

Diana turned towards the door to go after her brother, but knows that he was far ahead. She could catch up to him in her car, but she was full of so much emotion and regret after what she said to Percy as her eyes began to fill up with tears. Then, she caved in and sobbed loudly on her folded arms against the counter.

At the Venice Boardwalk is a hippy, retro, and surfer kind of restaurant called Palate Haven. It's a local joint and hangout for teenagers and young adults while also where families go to for a cheap and fun eating experience. The eatery has a coffee bar that serves not only coffee, but all kinds of juices, sodas, and teas. Besides the beverages, Palate Haven also serves Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, Indian, Philippine, French, British, Irish, Scottish, Greek, Brazilian, Mexican, Hawaiian, Canadian, and the regular American dishes both in either a unique or authentic style with a Californian twist. The restaurant began it's business in 2014 and was a big hit a few weeks after its grand opening.

Percy sat the bar table as he already finished his usual meal at Palate Haven: a saucy buffalo-chicken burrito filled with bacon, mashed refried beans, rice, and cheese-wiz (from a can; it's optional since its usually served with regular cheese sauce instead) while sitting on a small bed of a salad with sweet-and-spicy corn-chip strips, blue cheese, and blue cheese dressing. And for his beverage: red-bean flavored bubble tea with red-bean flavored bursting boba.

The restaurant is empty as Percy sat there all mopey. Well not really alone. The owner was there with him. Nando Rodriguez, a twenty-eight year old Hispanic young man with black hair and goatee. He was lucky to arrive at the establishment in time since Nando was closing early and all of his staff have left.

Nando almost knows everyone in Los Angeles. And like a bartender, he makes conversation with his customers while becoming friends with some of them. Percy and both his friends and family were no exception.

"Man... that fight with your sister must've been rough."

"It's the worst argument we had so far." Percy added.

"Surely Diana didn't mean what she said. She even tried to explain that to ya before you stormed off."

"Yeah... but what she said was still uncalled for."

"What's 'uncalled for' is what you did to Josh. You ruined his proposal dude!"

"I told you the reason why I did it!"

"You should've just told him how you felt."

"You know I'm not good at that kind of stuff." Percy then ate the last of the paste from his empty beverage. "Besides, the good thing out of all of this is that I'm no longer allowed at the bat conservatory."

"Yeah, I guess." Nando said while not entirely agreeing with him.

The owner then looked at his watched and reacted with sheer alarm.

"HOLY PIMIENTOS!?" Nando exclaimed. "It's past seven!"

"WHAT?!"

The curfew that the American government made for everyone is that they should be home before seven. It's strictly for those under the age of eighteen while those above are to proceed with caution when out. But that's not the only reason why Percy is worried.

"Oh no! Mark is probably home by now! He's gonna ground me for not being back on time!"

"Not to mention what happened today both at Chiro Sanctuary and with Diana." Nando added.

Percy groaned miserably. He then quickly picked up his electric skateboard was about to head towards the door until Nando called him. "Excuse me?! Where do you think you're going?"

"OH! Sorry. I almost forgot."

Percy went to the counter where Nando was at as the teenager then pulled out a twenty from his wallet and gave it to him. The food he ordered cost like $12.32 (that includes the tax) but Percy always tips Nando extra because of his friendly service.

"I appreciate that you remembered, but that's not what why I called you."

"Then what?"

"You know you can't go alone due to the curfew! You probably get kidnapped like the rest! And I can't have that on my conscience!"

"Come on!" Percy slightly complained. "I can take care of myself! Plus I can out run who's ever after me with my skateboard."

"That's out of the question!" Nando then pulled out his cellphone and began dialing. "I'm going to call you're uncle to pick you up."

Percy's eyes are wide with alarm.

"And if he says he's still busy with work, I'll ask him if I can drop you off myself." Then Nando started to headed toward his office. "I'm going to get my keys. So please stay put until I get back."

As Nando went inside his office closing the door behind him, Percy frowned both annoyance and frustration as he then exited out of Palate Haven and rode off on his electric skateboard.

Nando just got out of his office with his keys in his left hand while on the phone on the right.

"Yeah Mr. Colton, Percy is right h—!"

Nando's eyes went wide with worry as he saw that Percy is no longer here. "Oh nueces."

Percy is skateboarding on the sidewalk of Crystal Park while thinking about the events that transpired today. He was only seventeen minutes away from home, by electronic skateboard (it would actually take thirty-three minutes if he walked on foot), but he decided to stay out a little longer to collect his thoughts.

"Maybe I should've let Josh propose to Diana." He said with spitefulness. "That way, I can have my friends over when I'm alone at the house."

Percy then sighed contritely as he continued "I know that Diana is trying to help and all. But I can't overcome my phobia of bats. No matter how hard she tried. HECK! I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN OVER MY FEARS OF HEIGHTS AND FLYING!"

He continued skateboarding as he then did a trick on the railings and jumped of off it with a perfect landing. But that didn't change is his current state of dejection as he continued riding on.

"It would be awesome to have Josh as a brother if I didn't ruin his proposal to my sister." Percy sighed again. "God I'm an ass."

The teenager looked at his watch seeing that it's 7:13 P.M.

Might as well face the music with Mark rather delay it any further.

Percy then realized he's at the spot where Ange was kidnapped since there's a memorial at he bench. There's a picture of her which is surrounded by flowers, notes of prayers towards her, ribbons, and candles (some are still lit while others are extinguished). He even noticed a single rose with two pictures of a heart red-velvet woopie-pie and a smile emoji sticking its tongue out while winking attached to it.

Wyatt must've been here recently.

"And Diana's right. I need to find out what do before high school ends. Maybe the counselor from school can help me find out what my potential career choices are— WHAT THE?!"

Percy flinched as something got caught in his right sleeve of his sweater. He then looked at his arm and saw a syringe dangling with its needle pierced through the fabric of his overwear. He then plucked it from his sweater and began to examine it. The barrel appears to be made of hard plastic while its contents looked like... blood? Well it isn't thick as blood since he could sort of see through it. And besides the liquid, Percy can see what appears to very small and half to 1/4 of specks changing colors from that of a rainbow while having a fading, in and out, and small glinting hue of two colors changing from gold to silver and vice-versa.

Also there appears to be writing on it as well, but he couldn't tell what it says due to the difficult scientific-like. And what's more frustrating is that it should be easy to read since its all in English!

"What the?—?!" Wait a minute? Wasn't Ange shoot with a syringe before—!

Percy immediately went behind the bench, not before grabbing his electronic skateboard, as another syringe was shot barely missing him as the needle bent upon impact against a tree closes to the bench. It bounced towards him as he slowly picked it up, now holding two syringes of unknown blood-like substances.

"Great... JUST GREAT!" Percy said with annoyance. "LIKE THIS DAY COULDN'T GET ANY WORSE!"

Well it is your own fault for leaving instead of waiting back at Palate Haven.

"Shut up." Percy whispered to himself.

The teenager deeply regretted irritably for not taking his cell phone with him.

He then cautiously peered over to see who's trying to shoot him. His eyes went wide as he saw three men dressed in all black, head to toe, wearing nigh-vision goggles while looking straight out of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series! Each armed with assault rifle like weapons with clear magazines showing their syringe ammunitions.

"What the heck?! These guys look like they're from either the military or a private militia!" Percy whispered.

One spotted him as he aimed and shot. Percy quickly hid back as the syringe barely missed him... again.

Thinking quickly, teenager began adjusting his electric skateboard. I going to try to boost up the speed so I can out run these guys. I hope the battery and motor don't overheat and fry before I escape from them. Good thing I got these huge off-terrain wheels for my skateboard back at Seattle.

Percy crouched onto his skateboard slowly began to countdown as it slowly started up.

3... 2... 1... GO!

The teenager hightailed it standing straight up as his electric skateboard dashed forward as his pursuers began to give chase while shooting at him. All of the syringes missed as Percy zig-zag left to right. He's not used going this fast on his skateboard as it have him a hard time staying on.

"I think I get home half the time! Then I can show these syringes to Mark and he'll take them to the— OH CRUD!"

Another man dressed similarly to the other three appeared from being the tree in front of him and took aim. Percy then turned as he rode his skateboard off the sidewalk and onto the grass into the forest to the left. Once again, the shots missed the teenager as he was forced to take an alternate route.

"Okay, Plan B! There's a biker bar five minutes from and stays open till eight! Luckily Mark mentioned this four days ago during dinner! The owner's father got nabbed two-and-half weeks before Ange was! He will gladly help me out!"

Percy zoomed by the trees until he saw a clearing. He rode through it as until he saw the street. And at the other end is the bar. The teenager smiled with both relief and exhilaration.

Smoke then began to rise from the motor as he drew near to his destination.

Oh come on! Please! Just hold out a little longer!

Percy was close to the sidewalk of the bar. "I'm going to make it!"

But he spoke to soon.

A syringe struck him on his right shoulder. Percy yelped in at the sharp pain as he accidently swerved in which he tumbled and rolled over, hard on the ground, into the alley where the bar dumps their garbage in the large dumpster. The syringes slipped from his hand as they rolled under the dumpster as his electric skateboard crashed into the side of the bar.

Percy slowly stood up on his butt, groaning in pain with a slight bloody scrape on his left temple, as he removed the syringe from his shoulder. The contents already gone, filling the teenager with dread. He then saw his electric skateboard in shambles. "Awww man! It took me a thousand lawns to mow to get the money to buy that!"

Then all of a sudden, he began to shiver abnormally as he then saw four of the men walking towards him. In terror, Percy crawled backwards until he saw a glimmer of hope. A security camera! And it's on!

"HELLLPPPPP!" He screamed. Then suddenly he began to feel abnormally hot as intense pain struck every part of his body as his veins felt like its freezing and boiling at the same time.

As the men arrived, they (including Percy) heard a concern commotion in the bar upon hearing the teenager's scream.

"You two. Switch to tranquilizers and put them out." Commanded one of the men. The two switched their magazines as they forcefully entered the bar and began shooting everyone inside the vicinity.

Percy then screamed in intense pain as his body lurched and spasmed out of control. His insides felt like its being compressed while his limbs twisted and turned painfully. Percy thought the pain couldn't get any worse... until his fingers, toes, arms and legs began to bent backwards, sideways, and back in place repeatedly.

The pain was more he can bare as the teenager then quickly blacked out into unconsciousness as the remaining to men approached him.

Author's Notes

Nando Rodriguez is basically a Hispanic version of Norbert "Shaggy" Rogers form the Scooby Doo franchise.

"Palate Haven" is fictional restaurant of my own design.

"Pimientos" means "peppers" in Spanish.

"Nueces" means "nuts" in Spanish.