A/N: Welcome everyone! I am super excited to post an all new chapter to Max and Chloe's adventure with their new friend Everest! And it's going to get even better from there because the story continues right now! Enjoy!
Previously on Life is Abominable...
Last night, Max and Chloe successfully managed to break into the Burnish Research Facility where the mysterious creature causing Max's visions was being held captive. Zara almost caught them in the act, but were able to evade capture thanks to Max's rewind. The two hijacked a Burnish truck and managed to escape before the building's alarm system sounded off and alerted everyone that the creature was gone. Max, now realizing that the creature they have rescued is a Yeti, fully understands she has a telepathic bond with him, and has given him the name "Everest". Now that Burnish employees are out looking for them, Max and Chloe must think of a plan in order to keep Everest from being captured once again...
Shanghai, China. 8:00 AM
Chloe made her way to the roof of the apartment complex, the two plates containing the Bigfoot Bacon Omelettes she had just cooked sill in her hands being carefully balanced to avoid them falling off. Once she got to the top, she saw that Max and the Yeti were still inside the blanket fort they slept in last night. Max was gently scratching behind his ears, which made him tap his foot on the floor like a dog would.
"Morning you two. Bet you guys are hella hungry, huh?" Chloe asked as she sat down and crossed her legs on the floor before handing Max her plate and took some silverware out of her back pocket she was able to sneak onto the roof without Yi's mother noticing. Max then stopped what she was doing and got super excited when she saw what was on the plate and sat down right next to Chloe.
"Oh my dog, Chloe... it's been YEARS since I've had this omelette" Max said happily as she took a knife and fork from her blue-haired friend's hands.
"I know. I figure I'd try cooking it while we were here. I'm just lucky Yi's family had all the ingredients I needed in the fridge" Chloe replied as she watched Max devour her omelette slowly, savoring every bite and it's delicious taste.
"Mmm! It's still as delicious since the last time I had this dish. And that was when I was thirteen" Max said with her mouth slightly full of her omelette. A loud rumbling caught the two girls' attention and they turned their heads to see Everest's stomach growling, and both his hands placed on his belly as he whimpered with glossy eyes.
"Aww, you're hungry aren't you, Everest?" asked Max as she scooched closer towards Everest.
"Everest? Is that what you call him?" asked Chloe in confusion.
"Yeah, I thought it suited him" Max replied before cutting off a piece of the other omelette and held it up to Everest with her fork.
"You want it? It's really yummy" asked Max as she held her fork up. Everest looked at it in confusion and sniffed it before smiling with his eyes closed and letting out a small hum of delight.
"That's right. Have a bite" Max gently encouraged him. Everest then took the fork into his mouth and ate the omelette that was resting on top of it. Everest then licked his lips and let out a gentle "mmm" to show he loved what he just ate.
"I think he likes it, Max" said Chloe.
"I think you may be right, Chloe. Hold on, let me try something" Max replied before cutting off another piece of the omelette and held it up with her fork again. Max decided to test her newly formed telepathic bond with Everest, she needed to understand the extent of this bond and how it worked, and she figured the best way to figure that out was to experiment with it a little bit. She then held the fork out again.
"You like it don't you?" she asked Everest. But she didn't ask that question with her voice, she said it in her thoughts. Everest nodded happily, which surprised Max. She then smiled at this and decided to speak with her thoughts once again to confirm this was real.
"You want some more? The one right next to mine's just for you. You want it?" Max asked. Everest nodded excitedly with more enthusiasm in reply to her offer of more food. Max nodded back and fed Everest the piece of omelette on her fork. She then looked to Chloe who was now in complete awe at what she was witnessing.
"That was amazeballs. I got chills on the back of my neck. You and Everest have a genuine telepathic bond! First time powers and now the power to communicate with mystical creatures using your thoughts? This is the greatest thing ever!" Chloe said as she watched Max feed Everest some more.
"I still have no idea why he chose me though. I mean, he needed help getting out of that giant prison, but... there's gotta be another reason as to why I was chosen" Max said as she continued to feed Everest his omelette.
"Hmm, that's a hella good question Mad-Max. Why not just ask him?" Chloe suggested. Max gave one lone nod, it was a pretty good suggestion. Eventually, Everest finished the last bite of his omelette and his hunger was satisfied. The yeti then began rubbing his now full belly in delight that was shown with a wide smile on his face. Max then put the plate down next to Chloe and began asking questions using her thoughts.
"Where are you from?" asked Max. Everest turned his head to the small opening through the blanket walls and pointed up to a billboard showing the Himalayas. Chloe looked to see the billboard and walked up next to Max.
"Is that where you come from?" asked Chloe.
"Is that your home?" Max asked in her mind. Everest nodded and began to look sad. Max became shocked and covered her mouth as she gasped.
"Oh my God. Chloe, he was taken away from his home. That's why he chose me, he wants me to take him home" said Max in realization, but then she remembered something.
"Wait... when we ran into Zara before I used my rewind, she said something. She said "Why is the Yeti out of it's cell?". Chloe, I think Everest is a Yeti" Max told her blue haired friend. Chloe was now gasping and a huge smile appeared on her face.
"Are you serious? We're actually in the presence of a real life Yeti? This is the greatest moment of my life!" Chloe cheered.
"Chloe, calm down. We don't want anyone else hearing on this conversation alright? Besides, Burnish and Zara could still be looking for him" said Max. Chloe then cleared her throat and scratched behind her head.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that. But anyways... if we're gonna get fluff-butt back home we need a plan. We can't just buy plane tickets to the Himalayas and expect everyone to not freak out because a Yeti's sitting in coach with them" she explained. Max knew Chloe was right, they needed a discreet plan to get Everest out of Shanghai without being spotted. Max then looked out into the distance and spotted a large shipping port with gigantic boats and ships docked closely.
"I have an idea. But first I need to go out to that port all the way over there and get some information" Max said with her finger pointed all the way out to the port in the distance so Chloe could see.
"Alright. Anything you need me to do while you're out?" asked Chloe.
"I need you to stay up here on the roof and watch over Everest. Make sure he doesn't leave that small fort under any circumstances and make sure he behaves. And while you're at it, I need you to do some research on this Burnish guy. Find anything in his background that gives some form of explanation as to why he'd resort to kidnapping a Yeti and holding it against it's will" Max replied. Chloe had a serious look on her face and gave one nod.
"You can count on me, Super-Max. If you say this'll help us get Everest home, then I'll do whatever you ask. I trust you" Chloe told her. Max then walked up to Everest again and spoke to him using her telepathic bond.
"I'm going to be leaving to do something. Auntie Chloe's gonna take care of you while I'm gone. Will you promise to be a good boy for Auntie Chloe?" she asked. Everest then sat down like a dog before nodding and smiling.
"Alright then, I'll see you two later" Max said with her voice. Chloe then stopped her before she could walk away.
"Hey uh... before you go, maybe you should swap clothes. You're still wearing your Oceans Eleven outfit from last night" Chloe said, pointing out her clothes were the same ones from their escape mission.
"Oh right, thanks Chloe" Max said before giving her a hug and walking over to the edge of the building. Once she had climbed down the scaffolding, she sneaked into Yi's room and made her way across the hall to the room she and Chloe shared. She then swapped the outfit she had on now for the white t-shirt with an abstract picture of some silhouettes inside a picture frame, a red flannel shirt that was lightly torn at one of the shoulders, as well as some ripped skinny jeans. It was the outfit that once belonged to Rachel Amber that she was given by Chloe when she stayed the night at her house.
"That's better. Now I don't look so suspicious" Max said to herself as she placed the strap of her camera bag across her shoulder before exiting the room. The apartment was now empty, Yi, her mother, and Nai Nai were not there. The young brunette then exited through the front door and walked all the way down the stairs before she made her way outside.
"Alright, that port looks pretty close to the Burnish building. So I'll just take the same route from before only I'll take a left instead of a right" Max said to herself as she began to cross the street. The long walk had now just begun, and she noticed there were armed guards she recognized from the Burnish compound all over the place, asking individuals if they had seen anything suspicious. She could only guess they were out looking for Everest.
"Guess our little escape plan from last night didn't go unnoticed. I just have to look like I'm minding my own business and keep on walking like I haven't seen anything. If I look at any of those guys the wrong way I'm so screwed" Max thought to herself as she did her best to not make contact with any of the guards and kept on moving forwards down the sidewalk. After a few blocks she came across Yi lifting up a large garbage bag into a dumpster next to a food establishment.
"Uh, hi Yi" Max said as she now stood behind the young teen. Yi turned around to see her new foreign friend and smiled.
"Max, hi there. Didn't expect to see you here" said Yi.
"Me neither. I was just taking a walk" Max replied.
"Hey, that breakfast Chloe made, that was so delicious! I didn't know anything could taste so good" Yi complimented.
"Yeah, she gets it from her mom. Everyone in Arcadia Bay loved her cooking, it's why the Two Whales Diner was such a popular eating spot" Max explained.
"I'll bet, wish I could have seen it. Hey uh, how about tonight I give you that tour? I just have some things to finish up here and after I get myself cleaned up I'll take you and Chloe out to see some really nice places?" Yi offered.
"That actually sounds great. I'll let Chloe know as soon as I get back" Max replied before she saw a gas mask that a garage worker would wear when applying new paintjobs onto cars lying next to the dumpster on the floor.
"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Max asked Yi as she picked the mask up and handed it to her.
"Sure, what is it?" asked Yi, curious as to what it was.
"Can you wear that mask and stand right in front of those piles of garbage bags right there? I think it would make a really good photo" Max said as she took her Polaroid Spectra out of her bag.
"Sounds pretty artistic actually. I like it! Sure, I'll do it for ya" Yi said before putting the mask on and standing in front of the garbage bags. She didn't make any poses or anything, she just stood as still as a plank for the camera in front of the garbage bags with flies surrounding them. Max then got in the right position and took the shot. Once the photo was printed, she shook it to make it develop faster and put it and her camera back in her bag.
"Thanks, Yi. That's gonna look awesome" said Max as Yi walked up to her and took the mask off.
"No problem. I'm actually really starting to dig your form of photography. It's got it's own little charm to it, I like it" Yi told her. Max chuckled and blushed at the compliment.
"Thank you, Yi. But anyways, I have to get going. I'll see you tonight" Max said before waving her friend goodbye and continued her walk down the sidewalk. Once she got to the corner she took to get to the Burnish complex, she turned left and continued her way down to the shipping port when she saw a large ship at the very end of the road. Max had to walk about seven more blocks to get there, but she couldn't feel more relieved once she got there. She noticed that the security guard sitting at the booth that controlled entrances and exits was asleep with their hat covering his eyes.
"Heh, security isn't as tight here as it was back at the compound last night. Just makes my job all the more easier" Max said to herself as she crawled under the barricade bar and then stood back up before running as far away from the booth as possible. She also noticed there weren't really any guards on the lookout or on duty here.
"Security may be lax here, but I can't let my guard down. Even if I get caught I can just rewind and it's like it never happened" Max said as she began looking around for anything that could tell her of any departing ships that were to leave soon. Max then spotted a small shack sitting at the very end of the port, and right next to it was a bulletin board with some papers and fliers pinned to it.
"My best guess is that all the future departure dates for all the other ships are right on that board. I just gotta find the right document and take notes" Max said as she began to speed-walk all the way to the other end of the port. After she got there, she peeked into the shed to see if anyone was inside, but it was totally empty.
"Probably went to use the bathroom or get something to eat. I better take advantage of this opportunity while I can before they get back" Max whispered as she slowly pulled her head out the doorway and then made her way to the bulletin board. She was now face to face with several documents and pieces of paper. She kept on looking through several of them, one of them was a wanted poster for someone who was on the run from the law for bank robbery in Beijing, and another one of them was a newspaper article of a police officer being injured in some kind of freak accident that destroyed an entire block of a neighborhood in Seattle last year, and now police are looking for Sean and Daniel Diaz, whom lost their father before the explosion because their father who tried to resolve the situation was shot by the officer who was injured.
"Those poor boys. I hope they're doing alright" Max whispered in empathy for the boys mentioned in the article. She then found a document containing what she was looking for, attached onto the board in staples on the edges.
"Bingo. Now let's see which ship leaves sooner" said Max as she looked up and down on the paper. All of them were scheduled to leave four or five days from now, some of them for next week. She then spotted a ship that was leaving tomorrow at 8:10 PM.
"Alright, it's a ship carrying a shipment of soda. Departure point: Shangai China at 8:10 PM" Max read to herself out loud.
"This is perfect. We'll have to make it there without being spotted though. I've got to show this to Chloe" Max said before pulling her journal out of her bag and opened it up. After taking out a black fine point sharpie pen, she wrote down all the details of the ship and every bit of information she needed in order to make their plan successful. Once everything was written down in the journal, she put it back in her bag and began running back to the port's exit. After exiting and make it back to the other side of the street, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She picked it up and saw it was Chloe calling, so she answered the call.
"Hey Chloe. How's Everest doing?" she asked.
"He's actually really well behaved. How's your trip to the port?" Chloe replied.
"Good, I found out there's a ship departing tomorrow night. It's going all the way to another port in Southern China. Chloe, it's perfect for helping us get Everest out of the city" said Max.
"Awesome sauce. But Max, I did my research on Burnish like you asked and the stuff I found was hella strange" Chloe told her.
"How strange are we talking?" asked Max.
"Like, old crazy rich dude who's out of his damn mind strange. The guy used to be a famous explorer, he pretty much traveled all over China and discovered so many rare exotic animals that people actually began PAYING him for all his research on his findings. But when he began insisting mythical creatures like Yetis exist because he saw one on his latest expedition to Mount Everest, he lost all credibility and nobody took him seriously anymore. Nobody hears anything from him anymore, the dude's a total recluse Max" Chloe told her.
"Add that with Emily Zara who's got sadistic personality disorder and is a psychotic stalker, that's a deadly combination. What if they want to do the same thing to him?" Max added.
"I know. It makes me glad we saved him when we did. We gotta figure out a way to get onto that ship without being spotted by Burnish and his goons" replied Chloe on the other line. Max then looked across the street and saw a hardware store right below another apartment complex.
"Hey, Chloe. What's the color of the truck we drove out of the Burnish compound last night?" asked Max.
"I'd say it was a matte black. Why?" Chloe asked.
"I have a plan. But I'm going to have to buy some supplies to make it work. Could take me a while before I find all of them though. You fine with babysitting Everest until tonight?" Max explained.
"Yeah, sure. I can totally do that. I just hope this plan of yours is as brilliant as our breakout plan from last night" Chloe said.
"Don't worry, it will be. I promise. I'll see you tonight, okay?" Max replied.
"Alright. Be safe, Max. Bye" Chloe said before hanging up. Max then placed her phone back in her pocket and walked across the street to the hardware store.
7:53 PM
Shopping for all the supplies for her plan took a lot longer than Max anticipated. She was able to buy what she wanted from the hardware store she saw while she was on the phone with Chloe, which was two cans of matte black spray paint. But she couldn't find screwdrivers anywhere. No matter where she went, she couldn't find anyplace that sold or was fully stocked on screwdrivers. So she ended up having to improvise and bought a pocket knife sealed inside a plastic casing from a sporting goods store instead. She also bought two matching blue coverall suits and blank black baseball caps from a clothing store. And last but not least she bought some license plates with pre-printed words on them at an auto-part shop.
"Looks like I got everything I needed. Wasted a bunch of time trying to find screwdrivers though. At least everything I need to make sure this plan is successful is in my bags" Max said to herself and she began walking down the street to Yi's apartment complex. Deciding this time she'd come back up to the roof on the scaffolding to avoid looking suspicious to any of Burnish's men who were still out on the street looking for Everest. She then made it across the street to avoid making contact with any of the armed goons and made it to where the scaffolding began.
"Whew that was close. Now, to start climbing and tell Chloe my plan" Max said to herself as she began to climb up, but when she got to the fifth floor of the complex, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she stopped to answer the call.
"Chloe? What's wrong?" asked Max. She could hear roaring and a girl screaming in the background.
"Max! It's Yi! She came up unannounced to practice her violin and she saw Everest. She's attacking him out of fear and he's scared. Max, hurry! I need help!" Chloe exclaimed on the other end of the phone. Max was now worried that Everest was exposed to the first friend they made in China and Yi was attacking him because she was scared out of her mind.
"I'm climbing up the scaffolding. I'm on my way right now" Max said before hanging up and picking up the pace on her climbing until she got to the top floor. Once her feet were safely onto the roof, she dropped her bags and ran over to Yi who was swinging her violin at Everest like it was a baseball bat.
"Yi! Stop it!" Max exclaimed as she stood in front of her while Everest was crying and whimpering in the blanket fort.
"Stop? There's a giant monster on my roof and you want me to stop!?" Yi asked in outrage.
"He's not a monster. He's just scared. Put the damn violin down, alright Yi? There's no need for violence" Max said in defense of Everest. Yi then lowered the violin down and began to take calm deep breaths to help herself cool off. Max then went inside the blanket fort and saw that Everest had a hand on his forehead above his right eye and Chloe was trying to comfort the crying Yeti.
"Chloe, what happened?" Max asked in worry as she speed-walked up to Everest. She began feeling this new sensation in her heart when she saw the Yeti in pain, it wasn't from her telepathic bond with him though, it was different.
"Yi was swinging her violin around like a maniac at Everest. When she swung it at him the fourth time, it hit him right on the forehead" Chloe explained in a distressed tone of voice. She was glad Max was here to help resolve the problem. Max turned her head around to face Yi who had just walked into the fort and now had a look on her face that usually a child would have when they know they did something wrong and were about to be yelled at by their parents.
"You HIT HIM!?" Max exclaimed in outrage.
"I didn't know he was with you. I-I-I'm so sorry, Max" Yi said with a frightened tone of voice. Max was furious right now, but she knew being angry would help make Everest feel better. She needed to give comfort to him and treat his hurt forehead. Max then walked up to Everest and began to rub the space in between his eyes in a comforting .
"Shh, it's okay. I know it hurts, buddy" Max said in a very calm and nurturing voice. It worked and got Everest to stop sobbing, but tears were still falling down from his eyes. She then got the idea to try comforting him using her telepathy.
"I know Yi hurt you. I'm going to help make the pain go away, alright?" Max thought while she placed a hand on his shoulder and began to rub up and down.
"Can I see where she hit you?" Max politely thought while staring into Everest's beautiful blue eyes. Everest did as Max asked and removed his hand. There was no blood, but a tiny little bruise that Max knew would go away after a few minutes. Max then got closer and stood on her tip-toes and gave the area where Yi hit him a gentle kiss.
"Better?" Max asked out loud this time. Everest nodded in reply with glossy eyes with tears threatening to run down his face. Max then took the sleeve of her flannel and wiped them away like a handkerchief. Everest then began to nuzzle Max affectionately, and she only hugged the fluffy white Yeti back. Deciding this would be the perfect Polaroid moment, Chloe sneakily swiped Max's Polaroid out her bag and took a photo of the two of them sharing a loving and tender moment. Everest began to shake in fear when he saw the camera's flash.
"Don't worry, it's okay. Auntie Chloe just took a picture of us. Nothing bad happened, we're okay" Max said gently. Chloe on the other hand, just crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow.
"Why are you calling me AUNTIE Chloe? I already told you you're not his mom" Chloe said.
"I'm not so sure about that. Have you seen how they interacted with each other? Looks a lot like a mother/son relationship to me" Yi said in observation, not taking her eyes of the brunette girl and her metaphorical "Son". The sound of a helicopter flying above them sent their hearts racing and all looking at each other. This was so bad for all of them, they had to do their best to hide and quickly.
A/N: Part 3 of this episode has finally concluded! So now Yi knows about Everest and Max has been able to figure out how her newly formed telepathic link with Everest works. And Max and Chloe have come up with a good plan to try and help Everest get home. And yes... Max is now Everest's "Unofficial" mother. But anyways, how are they going to avoid being detected? Find out when part 4 comes! Please review, thanks!