Animal Crossing In Action: Duo Of Justice
Chapter 7: Vicki's Unusual Surprise
Robert sat down on the bench while he was watching the ocean waves. He couldn't help but to think about the vision he just saw few weeks ago. He remembered the time that he was trapped in the fire somewhere in the building. But he didn't remember of what he was doing there or what building he was in. It gave him more suffering that it was starting to haunt him. Suddenly, his smartphone rang so he took out from his pocket and answered.
"Hello?" Robert answered the phone.
"Hey Robert, it's Nick!" Nick called. "Just wanted to call you that tomorrow is Vicki's birthday."
"Ah, her birthday is tomorrow?"
"Yeah, dude! We decided to throw her a birthday party at the town plaza. So, if you and the others want to come, be my guest!"
"Hey, I will love to-I mean, we will love to come! I will tell Lorelei and Darren about this!"
"That's awesome, man! So, see you later...lover boy."
"Wait, what's that you say, Nick?"
"Uh...I said see you later, Robert!" Nick quickly hung up his smartphone right away.
After Robert was talking to Nick by the phone, he began to smile and laugh at the same time. He completely forgot about the fire incident that he was now focusing on what to give Vicki for her birthday. So, he went shopping at GracieGrace, which it was on the top floor of the Nooklings' store. He saw some expensive furniture, wallpaper, carpet, clothes, shoes, hats, and others. All of the sudden, he saw Sammy and Jimmy who were obnoxious about the prices of each item.
"Sammy, those prices blew up my mind..." Jimmy complained. "I'm feeling a little dizzy right now."
"You're telling me, Jimmy," said Sammy. "At the beginning, you will see the single number. Until the end, you will see lots of zeroes after that..."
"Why does this floor have to sell in the expensive prices than the other floors that sell in the cheaper prices?"
"Why don't you ask that to 'Miss Graceful' giraffe over there?"
Suddenly, the giraffe named Gracie walked up to the twins and started to glare at them. "You two have a problem with that?!" she asked.
The Slapjack brothers turned around and saw Gracie who was standing right behind them. They both stammered and shook their heads before they quickly left the floor. Robert began to chuckle and shook his head after he saw them gone down the stairs. While he was looking for something, Gracie walked up to him in case if her help was needed.
"May I help you, young man?" Gracie asked.
"Actually, there is," Robert answered. "You see, I need to find something for Vicki's birthday, which it is on tomorrow."
"Ah yes, then I'll show you my recommendation. Just follow me, sir!" Gracie headed to the display, where the dress with the butterfly design was, and presented the dress to Robert. "You see this butterfly dress here? I would suggest that you will give this to her as a birthday gift."
"Alright, so how much is it?"
"It cost you 7,200 bells!"
"Then, I'll take it!"
After Robert paid Gracie for the butterfly dress, he headed back to the hotel room and talked to Lorelei and Darren about Vicki's birthday party. While he was inside of the hotel, there was a shadowy figure appeared between the buildings with the red flashing eyes. All of the sudden, the figure disappeared into the shadows without a trace.
The next morning, Vicki woke up as her big day had finally came. She got out of her bed and changed her clothes. When she was about to go outside, Nick quickly stopped her.
"Morning, sis!" said Nick. "Uh, where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going to the town hall to reveal the results from the draw," Vicki replied.
"Um, why don't you just stay here for a bit? The results can wait, you know."
"Oh, why do I have to stay here? It's not like I can do this everyday, you know."
"Yeah, I know that. But this time, I'm begging you to wait here until I'll call you, okay?"
"Well okay, have it your way..."
Inside of Serenity's house, Serenity was baking a cake for Vicki's birthday. She was planning to make a chocolate cake from the scratch. When she heard someone knocking on the door, she answered it right away and saw Nick.
"Hey Serenity, how's the cake?" Nick asked.
"It's baking right now, Nick," Serenity replied. "When it's done, it's time to add the frosting and the decorations!"
"And the birthday cake will be completed!"
Serenity nodded as she and Nick started to look at each other and smiled. Their faces were getting closer to each other that they began to kiss on their lips. Few seconds later, their faces moved away from each other that they needed air to breathe and sighed softly.
"Nick, I'm so glad that you chose me," said Serenity. "Because your sister accepted me as her best friend in town."
"Yeah, she sure does!" said Nick smilingly.
Serenity sighed. "Nick, if Vicki and Robert will become lovers soon, what would you think of him?"
Nick sighed heavily as if he had never thought about it. "Hmm, that is a good question...I'd say I would've been proud of him."
At the hotel, Robert was having a hard time for picking a good outfit at Vicki's birthday party. He scratched his head a couple of times which made his hair all messed up. After his several attempts so far, he had finally decided of what to wear. He put his shoes on, grabbed a present, and left his room. While Lorelei and Darren were waiting for him, they stared at him and began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Robert asked.
"Um, big brother...y-y-your hair," Lorelei stammered. "I-It's...you know..."
"What about my hair?" Before Robert could say anymore, he looked at the mirror and found out that his hair was a mess. He rushed to his room and combed his hair very quickly. "And I thank you for letting me know!"
Robert, Lorelei, and Darren left the hotel and headed straight to the town plaza. When they arrived, they saw a table full of appetizers, bowl of juice, and the birthday cake. They even saw the balloons tied to the table and the town tree. Nick and Serenity waved at them so they came by and joined them.
"Hey guys, you're finally here!" said Serenity happily.
"Of course we are here!" said Lorelei excitedly, as she was starting to look for Vicki. "But where's Vicki?"
"Oh, I told her to stay in the house for a bit until our preparations are done," Nick replied. "Once we have everything settled, I'll call her to come out soon."
"Sounds like a good plan," said Darren.
"Oh man, I just forgot about something!" said Robert, as he put the present on the table with the other birthday presents. "I'll be right back, you guys!"
As soon as Robert rushed to Main Street, Nick and Serenity were looking at each other in a curious way; and so did Lorelei and Darren. Isabelle brought the box to the town plaza and wiped out her paws.
"Hey Isabelle, is that the box for StarLily's anniversary draw?" Nick asked.
"Yes, it is!" Isabelle answered. "So, I decided to bring it out here and let Mayor Vicki announce the winner while celebrating her birthday!"
"That sounds like a great idea, Isabelle!" said Serenity excitedly.
Suddenly, everyone saw a female warrior with the sword carried in her hand. She was not alone; she was with her henchmen and surprisingly, the ninja rabbit. Nick and Serenity defended Isabelle while Lorelei and Darren moved away as they could. And the rest of the crowd were afraid of the villains.
"Darren, it's Blade!" Lorelei exclaimed. "What could she be doing here?"
"Well, whatever she's planning, it's not a very good sight!" Darren replied.
"Snake, take out the smoke balls and throw them to the crowd!" Blade exclaimed.
"With pleasure, bunyip!" said Snake, as he was starting to throw the smoke balls in front of everyone.
While the smoke balls began to spread with smoke, everyone began to cough. Few seconds later, they collapsed and fell asleep on the ground. Nick quickly sent Vicki the text message before he passed out. As soon as Robert came back from Main Street, he saw the smoke spreading at the town plaza. This could only mean one thing, everyone was in trouble. So, he quickly hid behind the bushes and trees and began his transformation.
Meanwhile, Vicki was inside of her house to draw a picture. When she heard her smartphone rang, she took a quick look at it and received the text message from Nick. As soon as she read his message, she was devastated when StarLily was in trouble. She ran downstairs and began to transform.
Everyone, at the town plaza, was unconscious because of the smoke balls Snake threw at them. Blade was planning to break the box that Isabelle brought to the town plaza until someone threw a hat to stop her. She and her henchmen saw of where the hat was coming from and found out of whose it belonged to.
"Hey Blade, you and your party crashers almost ruined the mayor's birthday party!" Masked Swordmaster exclaimed, as he put his hat back on and tipped it. "This is the exactly the main reason why we don't invite enemies, like you, to the party!"
"Well, well, if it isn't Masked Swordmaster, I'm not surprised at all," said Blade.
"And don't forget about me, samurai lady!" Phantom Angel exclaimed, as she flew down to the town plaza and joined Masked Swordmaster's side. "I'm the one and only Phantom Angel! So, you'd better surrender now or else!"
"Okay, like, one hero is really bothersome, but two heroes are super beyond bothersome!" Blade exclaimed, as she was getting irritated. "Men, go crush them now!"
Phantom Angel and Masked Swordmaster fought Blade's henchmen one by one. They knocked them down by the tree, pushed them to the river, and threw the fruits at them. After the henchmen were out cold, Blade began to leap over the bridge. Phantom Angel and Masked Swordmaster finally had her cornered.
"Now, it's your turn to be defeated, Blade!" Phantom Angel exclaimed, as she took out her star compact and called out her attack. "Heavenly light beam!"
"Samurai sword slash!" Blade shouted, as she quickly drew out her sword to cancel out Phantom Angel's attack. "Sorry, your magic tricks won't work against me!"
"Then, try me instead!" Masked Swordmaster exclaimed, as he drew his sword and began to spin it. "Earth sword shaking!"
When Masked Swordmaster tipped his sword to the ground, the shaking part made Blade lost her balance. Phantom Angel slapped her face and pushed her over the bridge to the river. As soon as Blade's head was out of the river, she spitted out the water from her mouth and coughed at the same time.
"Ugh, you two will pay for that next time, and I'll be back!" Blade shouted, as she suddenly disappeared.
"Well, that takes care of her," said Phantom Angel. "Now, let's move on to the small part..."
"Wait, what's the small part?" Masked Swordmaster asked curiously.
Phantom Angel showed Masked Swordmaster of what she meant by that. She was pointing at Snake who was trapped in a hole and could not escaped. They both laughed very softly at the ninja rabbit.
"H-Hey, where did that hole come from, bunyip?" Snake asked. Until he saw two heroes who were standing in front of him, they grabbed him by the arm and took him to the police station. "Hey, p-put me down! Where are you both taking me?!"
After the heroes put Snake behind bars, they left the police station and walked across the bridge. While they were standing there, Phantom Angel was very curious about something.
"Say, Masked Swordmaster, can I ask you something?" Phantom Angel asked. "Even if you can't answer my question, then that's fine with me. But the question is who's the mayor of Emblem?"
"Oh, the mayor of Emblem...?" said Masked Swordmaster in amazement. "T-The mayor of that town is...Robert Goldstein."
"R-Robert Goldstein?" Phantom Angel was surprised that Robert didn't mentioned he was a mayor of Emblem to anyone, not even to her normal version, Vicki.
"Y-Yeah, he was a mayor..."
"Until his town was destroyed by the evil forces? But at least, he's okay after he and the others made it out alive, right?"
Masked Swordmaster nodded. "Yeah, he and the others are alright right now. I did all I could to save Emblem, but I'm afraid it's too late now...I failed to save that town."
"Oh, come on! At least, you saved everyone from that town, correct?"
"Not everyone...Remember I told you about some animals didn't escaped from Emblem in time and ended up becoming the slaves of evil?" Masked Swordmaster sighed heavily and looked down at the river. "I...don't feel so successful anymore. I mean, I was before, but not anymore."
"Oh, don't be such a downer! You may have failed to save your town or anyone else from evil, but that does not make you a failure! Heroes don't fail so easily; all they ever did is to protect the town and everybody from evil. You have got to remember that!"
Masked Swordmaster gasped as he was glancing at Phantom Angel for a moment. "You know, you're absolutely right about that. I just can't give up now; and I'll do anything to protect everybody and the town of StarLily, just like you always did before. Especially, I want to protect you with all cost even if it means my own life!"
Phantom Angel blushed slightly. "Wow, I-I kind of like your style. But anyways, that's a spirit I wanted to see and hear! Now, we're talking!"
Few hours later, everyone got recovered from the knock out gas and started celebrating Vicki's birthday. Robert came to see Vicki and brought her a beautiful flowers. She slowly took the flowers from him and began to smell them while she was blushing.
"Thank you so much, Robert!" said Vicki. "Those flowers are so lovely!"
"You're welcome, and there's one more present I want to give you," said Robert, as he gave one more birthday present to Vicki. "Here you go!"
Vicki took the present from Robert and began to open it. Finally, she was so surprised when she saw a beautiful butterfly dress. "Oh my god, this is too cute! Thank you once again, Robert!"
Suddenly, Isabelle rushed to see Vicki and reminded her about something. "Mayor Vicki, it's time to announce the winner of StarLily's anniversary draw!" she said.
"Oh right, let's do this!" Vicki grabbed everyone's attention by clapping her hands while Isabelle put the box next to her. "I would like to thank everyone for celebrating my birthday! So, now is the time to announce the winner of StarLily's anniversary draw. Let's find out of who will win one hundred thousand bells! Here we go!"
While everyone was so anxious about who the winner might be, Vicki opened the box next to her and began snatching one of the folded papers randomly. Less than two minutes later, she finally took one folded paper from the pile. As soon as she unfolded the paper, she blushed and giggled a little after she found out of who it was. Lorelei and Darren stared at each other in a curious way and so did Nick and Serenity.
"The winner, for one hundred thousand bells, is...Robert Goldstein!" Vicki announced.
Robert was surprised that he won one hundred thousand bells from StarLily's anniversary draw. Everyone gave him a cheer and a round of applause, including Lorelei and Darren. So, Vicki gave him the prize money and Robert was very happy that he actually won. Sammy and Jimmy, on the other hand, were not very happy about this because they never won the draw.
"I can't believe that Goldeneye freak won the prize!" said Sammy.
"But Sammy, I just realized something," said Jimmy. "We didn't entered the anniversary draw, we only entered the video project one..."
"Just shut up, Jimmy! Until next time, we will win that prize money no matter what!"
"Yeah, you're right about that!"
After the announcement about the winner of StarLily's anniversary draw was over, Sammy and Jimmy decided to go home because they were done celebrating for one day. But the rest of the villagers were still celebrating Vicki's birthday until the night sky came to end the party.