Ain't I Just Despicable?
Disclaimer: I do not own or any of the characters or settings described in this story. They each belong to their own respective property owners.
Chapter 14: Sleepy Kitties and a Devious Plot
Meanwhile, back at the bank, Hammer's aide paged a message to her boss.
"Sir, your son is here."
"Very good," he replied, as he observed a picture on his desk of himself and his son... Mandark. "Send him in." Not too long after, Mandark entered the room.
"Hello father," Mandark spoke. "You wanted to see me, right?"
"Why yes, I did, Mandark-" Hammer began.
"I thought we talked about this," Mandark interrupted. "Mandark was a nerdy name; I mean, who could take someone like 'Vector' seriously if his real name rhymes with-" But before he could continue, Hammer shot an angry glare towards his son, silencing him.
"Do you know where the shrink ray is?"
"Back at my place, obviously." Mandark answered.
"Ah, that's wonderful then," Hammer said assuringly before his expression turned dire again, showing the boy a screenshot of Sheldon frozen and the girls peering into the camera. "Then that lucky idiot Sheldon must have one that looks exactly like it!"
Examining it closer, Mandark finally caught on.
"Wait a minute, those are the girls that sold me cookies!" he spoke up.
"Are you even aware how lucrative this moon heist could be, 'Vector'? I hand you this opportunity on a silver platter, and you just blow it!" Hammer continued, as Mandark furrowed his brow defiantly.
"No, it's not ruined yet. Not when I have the best invention to incapacitate him... the squid launcher! Ah-haha, ha-hahahahahaha!" Mandark declared as he fired off his squid gun letting out his signature laugh. "The moon is as good as ours!"
Meanwhile back at Sheldon's lair, he was busy getting the girls to bed, unfortunately having to deal with their hyperactivity.
"We can't go to sleep now!" Sally said, while Sweetie Belle picked out her favorite bedtime story, hoping Sheldon would read it to them.
"Could you read us a bedtime story?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"...I can read it, but I won't," Sheldon answered flatly.
"Pleeeeeaaaaaasssseeeee..." Sweetie Belle pleaded, giving her best begging face.
"I hate to say this, but it's still no, so go to sleep." Sheldon repeated as he got ready to leave.
"You know if you don't we'll just stay up all night long," Karin assured Sheldon, leading him to finally give in.
"Darn it," he muttered his breath as he picked up the book. "Fine, I'll do it. Now let's see... 'Three Sleepy Kitties'?"
"It's a finger puppet book," Sally told him. "You use it to tell the story."
"Ah..." Sheldon grunted before he began the story. "Three little kitties loved to play; they had fun in the sun all day. Then their mother called to them and said 'Time for sleepy kitties to go to bed'." He stopped as he gave the girls a look that read 'You seriously like this schlock?', only to turn back to the pages and continue.
"The three kitties started to bawl, 'Mommy, we're not tired at all!'. Then their mother calmly said with a purr 'Fine, but you should at least brush your fur'."
"Now you brush the fur," Sally pointed out as Sheldon reluctantly used a tiny brush to groom the felt puppets. Sheldon felt like sinking his teeth into a pillow and screaming at the top of his lungs, but still he continued.
"Three little kitties with fur all brushed cried 'We can't sleep! We feel too rushed!'. And their mother replied with a voice like silk 'Fine, but you should at least drink your milk'." Realizing what he had to do, he wriggled the puppets up and down against the page to 'feed' them. "Oh, Good Lord, this is taking forever." Sheldon groaned internally as he finished up.
"Three little kitties with milk all gone, rubbed their eyes and started to yawn. 'We can't sleep; we can't even try,' so their mother sang a lullaby. 'Good night kitties, close your eyes. Sleep in peace until you rise. Though while you sleep we are apart, your mommy loves you with all her heart.'" Sheldon wavered as he finished reading, touched to a degree by the story. Wordlessly, he then closed the book and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him leaving the girls to start sleeping.
"I like him," Sweetie Belle remarked to Sally. "He's nice."
"But scary."
"...like Santa!" Sweetie Belle concluded.
As Sheldon began to put the girls' toys away, Haymitch approached him.
"Everything is going according to plan for the launch, sir," Haymitch told his boss.
"About that... I was thinking of moving the day of the heist." Sheldon replied.
"Tell me this has nothing to do with the girls' dance recital," the man asked.
"What? No, that's absurd! It's just it's peculiar to do it on a Saturday, especially since it would be laundry night-"
"Sheldon, listen to yourself!" Haymitch snapped, startling Sheldon. "This is what we worked on for years, our chance to make history: becoming the man that stole the moon. But these girls you adopted are becoming a distraction! They need to go, and if you don't do something about it, I will!"
In defeat, Sheldon sighed and told him "I understand," as he walked off to attend to work before going to bed.
There goes another chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this update, and keep an eye out for what's coming up next. Remember to keep reviewing and I promise I'll do my best to not disappoint!