Chapter 11
"The surprise event of this year – Beauvillage´s Miss contest has once again drawn the country´s population to their television sets. And once again no one was dissapointed. The third round had once more shown the qualities of the young competing ladies of this peculiar yet amazing contest. Also the judges have also once more shown us just why are these lovely ladies competing for their hearts so feverishly. Beauvillage´s two Men with Hearts of Gold have made most people laugh hystericly at their seemingly neverending antics. Another refreshing wave of humorous antics came from the guests – Monsieur Michell Saveur, Mrs Beth Hubbub and Mrs Violet Tofu. However in the end we were all surprised by the announcement of another – a bonus round, where the remaining ten girls will compete in a few days. The details of the round are still unclear. When asked, the organizing pair – Mr Martin Skylark and Beauvillage´s mayor Johnatan Haveitall have said, that the round´s objectives are to be a secret. However the judges enlightened us, that it will be an amazing round indeed.
"Don´t you sweet people worry. It´ll be a blast for sure. Our genius-boy is on the job."revealed Michael Miles.
The refered boy-genius – a boy from Beauvillage named Chichi Tofu – the younger brother of one of the show´s narrators – Lola Tofu, has however refused to reveal what his desighn for the bonus round will be.
"Me and my crew will be working on it in the next few days."said the bright boy, who is responsible for the supporting work for the contest and very much appretiated by both Mr Skylark and Mayor Haveitall.
However he declined to announce any other piece of information. Mayor Haveitall noted, that the bright boy is very secretive as well as capable and that he has his full confidence. Also our sources inform us, that the boy was rarely seen in the last two days aside from school. As we tried asking at the Tofu household, but we came up empty-handed. Mr Jacob Tofu remarked, that his son and his friends are off working on the equipment for the round, but couldn´t tell us where. Also absent was Lola Tofu who was reported to be spending time with her best friend Lily Robins – the author of the new bestseller book The Great Mystery. It seems that Beauvillage certainly has its generous share of talented youngsters, who´s talents are now coming out for all to see. On that note it was also promised by another of the judges – Detective Frederick Wiseman, that the rumors of cheating on the contest are looked into by another three talented youngsters – his aids, members of the crime-solving Brotherhood of the Wise. He also affirmed, that the Brotherhood is doing everything in its power to make sure no foul-play would come to pass over the course of the rounds.
Now that only ten contesting girls remain, the contest is bound to get more heated and everyone is looking forward to seeing what happens next and most importaintly – who will be crowned Miss Beauvillage. More information about the contestants will be issued in tommorow´s special edition dedicated to this fabulous contest. It can also be found on the Beauvillage´s web-site and another web-site dedicated to this contest will be made available as of tommorow."
"C´est impossible!"exclaimed Mayor Jean La Jolie, banging his fist on his neatly cleaned work table as his son Jaq finished reading the front-page article of the National Times newspaper.
Sitting in the comfortable couch of his father´s grandious office Jaq put the newspaper down, scrowling just like his father in pure disgust.
"This is even worse than we thought. I cannot believe that they are doing so well... dispite the mediocre judges, settings and... everything else. Humph... people actually like this... this... ordures?!"
Nodding in agreement to his son´s statement, Jean La Jolie stood up from his chair and started to pace around the office.
The Cygnuville mayor´s office was about three times larger, than that of his Beauvillage collague. In fact to some who had the privilege of visiting it, the office seemed like a miniature museum. It was stocked full of the finest art, the town had – numerous paintings, sculptures, amazingly woven rugs, beautyfull statuettes and many other pieces of art – some of which dating back to the founding days of Cygnuville, the pieces being brought in by the original settlers. Every single piece was being taken care of very carefully and very expensively – something the Cygnuvillan mayors never failed to neglect, no matter what it cost. Jean La Jolie never failed to take great pride in being the "keeper of this amazing treasure". However now, he did not acknowledge any of it. Instead his sights were fixed on the ground as he was deep in thought.
"Something HAS to be done, Jaq... Haveitall somehow manages to get past every addition or rule I make to our bet. If we don´t do something fast, he´ll win the bet and... I... I´ll have to... for an entire day... WORK! As a mere SERVITEUR!"
Jaq stood up in a single swift move, his face fierce.
"JAMAIS! That would be the height of shame to the family name! We must protect the honor of the family!"he exclaimed, his fists punching the air for emphasis.
Patting him on the shoulder as he passed, Jean moved past him, behind his desk and towards the large window which overlooked Cygnuville´s main square.
For a small moment he looked upon the wonderous square – the National Grand Theatre, the amazing fountain in the middle of the square, importaint buildings placed neatly and orderly – all of which a masterpiece of sorts.
"It is not just the family honor we have to protect, mon fils..."he said beckoning Jaq to his side.
Obediently following his father´s request, the youth took his place at his father´s right side. Jeand placed his right arm around his shoulders while gesturing broadly at the view with the other.
"Look... this is our Cygnuville – the country´s oasis of good art and fine taste among a desert of foolish, ignorant and stupid dullards. We must protect its prestiege and reputation at all costs. We can NOT let some small insignificant town tarnish its precious name."he said dramaticly.
Jaq nodded smilingly and placed his right palm over his heart and closed his eyes.
"Le cygne qui brille aux yeux de tous ... Le cygne appelé Cygnuville."
Jean´s heart was swelling with utter pride as his son cited the age-old motto of their hometown. The town his ancestors lived in for the last two hundred years since its founding days. The town, where generations of the La Jolie family reigned as its mayor. A small moment of silence passed, then a confident smirk appeared on Jaq´s face.
"Have no fear, papa... I know exactement what to do."
Jean raised an eyebrow in question even as his son reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell-phone.
"I have read the few articles about this concours. There were a few intéressant rumors there... and I think its time, that they become a painfull reality. I will leave for Beauvillage tommorow in the morning. But I won´t go alone... its time to call my trusty fonctionnaires."he said, smirking deviously as he dialed the familiar number.
The devious smirk was mirrored on the face of the elder La Jolie, for he now knew full-well whom it is, his son is calling. The pair, that Jaq aqquainted in his very first grade of Elementary school. The pair, that most of the town´s young ones fear for more reasons than one. The pair, whom his son enlisted into his ranks knowing how usefull they would be.
"The Robuste siblings – The Two Ton Twins."
...
"Aaaaand... three... two... one... HERE WE GO!"exclaimed an overjoyed male voice before the flashes of a photo-camera illuminated the large party-room of Beauvillage´s Splashland.
The large room was situated above Splashland´s swiming pools and often served as a place, where some of the social events of the town were held, including many events dedicated for the teenage population – even if those events were very rare. This made the place very desirable for nearly every teenager of Beauvillage. The room was grand, held many tables, a small stage and a large bar-table. It was decorated loosely by pictures and paintings of famous stars or movie legends. Also many plants and a small fountain were present to liven up the room. Splashland itself was town property and one of Mayor Haveitall´s contributions to Beauvillage – something Beauvillagers, young and old greatly appretiated. It also gave rise to Beauvillage´s swimming and water-polo team – both of which are doing quite well thanks to the training in great conditions – something which greatly pleases Mayor Haveitall.
Today however Splashland is playing host to an entirely different event.
The NATMA board of directors have decided, that after round three it was ideal time for more publicity. Mayor Haveitall was extremly overjoyed about this prospect and Trashbin was appointed to take charge of the publicity operation. Since 7am, Splashland hosted reporters from almost every media group of the nation, all of which were very interested in finding out as much as they possibly could. So since early morning, the contestants, the narrators and the judges were interviewed a few fimes. That meant that all of them, the day being Friday, were given time-off from their duties – school duties and in the case of judges Philips and Wiseman – teaching and police duties. However the media were greatly interested in also interviewing the members of the Brotherhood and Beauvillage´s genius boy. The four of whom were very surprised, when Mayor Haveitall payed them an unannounced visit yesterday during Mrs Starchy´s class. Both Nick and Chichi didn´t really want to attend the interviews, but the mayor had reminded them that it was their duty. Chichi instantly took up the oppoturnity to secure attendance not just for him, but also the other members of the crew – a gesture mimicked by Nick, who secured places for their allies (even if it meant, that the girls would just be sitting there with not much to say). The mayor allowed so jovially and now most of the party-room was packed with teenagers. Upon hearing such attendance, Angie had swiftly provided refreshments from a few Beauvillage´s shops and charged it all to her father, who upon hearing this froze in complete shock.
"B...but... Angie..."he stammered in his office yesterday as he saw the bill.
"Now, Dad... you told them its their duty to attend... it is also our duty to reward them for all the help and support."she responded as she and Rodney placed down a few last boxes of drinks.
"Well...yes... I suppose so..."said Mayor Haveitall meekly as he sat down into his chair.
At the small cheeky wink Angie gave him, Rodney had to do all he could not to laugh – even now as he remembered yesterday´s exchange in the office.
Fixing his sights on the two groups of teenagers – the Brotherhood with their girls and Wiseman on one side and Chichi, his crew, Lola and Miles on the other – both groups relaxing from the interviews.
"Phew... finally the interviews are over."said a voice behind him, one that brought a smile to his lips.
Turning, he saw Angie walking towards him as her father immediatly turned to the bar for some refreshments.
"I agree... they were a bit tiring."Rodney nodded as Angie came to a halt besides him.
"But still... its very good publicity."she nodded before her face took on a devious smirk.
"THAT should put ol´ La Jolie in his place."
Rodney couldn´t help but chuckle a bit as the pair made their way towards Chichi´s group.
"Yes... but I have to admit, you organized most of this Spalshland interview event quite nicely, Angie. You really grew up to be a highly capable Deputy-mayor."
Angie fixed him a radiant smile.
"Weeeell... its not like you had nothing to do with it, Professor."she said sweetly.
Rodney´s face was immediatly crimson.
"I have no idea what you´re talking about..."he said evasively, but inwardly wrestling with a very fuzzy feeling – the temptation was becoming harder and harder to resist by the day.
Angie fixed him a cheeky "Yeah, right" look (which only intensified Rodney´s inward struggle) and instantly fixed her sights on the teenage group as they came to a halt by them.
"Hey guys..."she greeted the group.
Unsurprisingly Billy, Lola and Miles flashed her happy smiles, the rest waved in acknowledgement, but their sights remained glued to Phil in the middle of the table. Phil was typing something on to the screen of his new tablet with a small black tablet-pencil. The sight at once stirred Rodney´s interest.
"What´s that you´re doing there, Phil?"he asked curiously as he moved closer.
Phil grinned at him and turned the tablet, so that he could see the screen.
"The brand new Miss Beauvillage website. It should be up by evening. Just as soon as..."
Suddenly another flash illuminated the room and a wail of happiness rang across the room.
"MAAARVELOUS! AND AGAIN...!"boomed the voice, before another flash came up.
Martin "Trashbin" Skylark was jumping up and around, photocamera in hand and fully enjoying the task of taking photos of the contesting girls in many different and impressive poses. Miles let out a snickering laugh.
"Heh... Trashbin´s in his element."he snickered, with Chichi, Phil and Billy following him in chuckles and snickers.
"Guess its true what they say about him... he really loves the opposite sex."snickered Chichi, earning himself a cold glare from his big sis.
"You got it, Chich. Well... never up to the point of being disrespectfull or anything, but he worked himself up to a real Casanova in his teen days... heh... hell, we used to call him Casanova junior..."explained Miles.
Lola and Angie exchanged an eyeroll as the boys at the table chuckled. However as they looked at Trashbin, the girls seemed to be very flattered by his bright interest – many taking up poses happily as he photographed them.
"Perfect, Tammy dearest... and another one... perfect... the camera loves you, girl... so do the boys by the way, so gimme a bright and happy smile..."Trashbin boomed as he snapped away, Tammy Hoodwood happily changing poses from one to the other looking very comfortable and relaxed.
Lola sighed, but shook her head with a smile.
"Well... he does have his way with girls, that´s for sure..."
"Anyways... the photos will go up for the website. Plus the newspaper´s special Miss Beauvillage Edition."explained Chichi as he returned his sights on Phil´s tablet.
Angie fixed them all an affectionate smile.
"If it hadn´t been for you guys... this entire contest would be next to impossible."
Chichi flashed her his infamous grin.
"Think nothing of it, Angie... besides... we´re having waaay too much fun with this project."he said, as he reached for the lemon-beer one of the waiters brought for him.
"Not to mention all the free-time from school we´re getting."added Billy, smirking at his girlfriend´s little brother.
Chichi flashed him a cheeky look.
"Business."
As the table erupted in happy laughter, Nick scrowled at them.
"Look at ´em... laughing stupidly not even concerned about the mysteries around here."he said in disgust.
"What are you talking about, brother?"asked Tex confusedly.
"The sabotage of the second round!"he responded, turning on his so fiercely, he cringed.
"And the first."added Wiseman nodding.
"But that wan´t..."started Archie, but he instantly stopped as Mia elbowed him into the stomach under the table.
"Quiet! We WEREN´T there...!"she growled so silently, that even Emily who sat at his other side didn´t hear it.
"But... but there was no sabotage during last round..."said Emily analyticly.
"My point´s exactly. Something´s wierd here and I don´t like it."growled Nick, folding his arms.
Wiseman gave an aprooving nod.
"That´s our brother Nick for you... an ace detective if I ever saw one."he said, clapping Nick on his shoulder.
Mia, who sat on his other side snorted in laughter.
"Got a problem with that, blondie?!"growled Nick rounding on her.
"Wouldn´t have... it if were a fact not fiction."responded Mia smirkingly, folding her arms.
"Why you..."started Nick, but Wiseman stopped him.
"That´s enough you two... I have... a small confession to make."
Nick, Mia, Archie, Emily, Tex and Abbygail fixed him with a surprised stare, but Wiseman took no notice of it.
"Seeing as you two chose to follow our brother Archie´s example and find an ally..."
The six teenagers were instantly red in the face. Archie fixed Emily a lovesick smile and she giggled giddingly. Tex seemed to be frozen on the spot and his normally pale face was blood-red. Abbygail swiftly turned away from him red-cheeked and determined NOT to look anywhere near him. Nick and Mia exchanged an open-mouthed look at eachother – their blush intensifying and at once both rounded on Wiseman.
"YOU GOTTA BE INSANE!"
"NEVER, BROTHER FRED!"
Wiseman however took no note of this and fixed his sight on the girls, who were photographed by Trashbin.
"You see, my friends... there is one more mystery to be solved here... one that I chose not to inform you about..."
"This secret admirer you have, right?"
At Archie´s question, Wiseman snapped his head towards him swiftly.
"H... how o you know?"he asked, his cheeks reddening – he was sure, that no one had known about the love letters.
Archie snickered at that.
"Easy, brother Fred... we took a peek at the letters you´ve been getting and investigated into it. We al..."
Suddenly Archie´s responce was cut off by Nick, who reached over Wiseman and clapped a hand to Archie´s mouth, but too late.
"Y...you... looked into it? Without my knowing?"asked Wiseman quietly geniually shocked.
"We didn´t do it on purpose, brother... we just saw the letters and decided to look into it..."said Tex apologeticly, hoping to straighten things out.
"Yeah. We wanted to find out who the admirer is."nodded Nick fiercely.
"So that we could find out if this girl is worthy of our brother Fred."said Archie once he succeeded in removing Nick´s hand from his mouth.
Wiseman sat there in silence for a few moments, during which noboy dared move a muscle, wonering how would Frederick Wiseman take this bit of news.
"MY BROTHERS!"exclaimed Wiseman, at once embracing Nick and Archie with one hand and reaching for Tex with the other.
"You... you were concerned about me..."he whispered in an obviously moved voice.
"Of course, brother... we look out for eachother, remember?"Archie piped up happily in the embrace, the comment only making Wiseman grip them tighter.
"We want you to be happy, brother Fred."nodded Tex earnestly.
"Plus it could´ve been a ploy... and we can´t allow that to happen."added Nick with a small sneer at the prospect.
Wiseman wailed in obvious happiness and his grip tightened once more.
"You are the greatest friends I ever had!"he exclaimed.
The girls watched the exchange. Emily and Abbygail shared a happy giggle, while Mia sighed deeply, whispering "Oh, brother..." under her breath, nevertheless even she sported a small smile.
Once the embrace was broken, Wiseman took a small breath and looked at the trio with a look of gratitude, before his expression turned serious.
"And who well did you fare? Have you found out who our culprit... I mean girl is?"
Archie and Tex exchanged sad looks. Nick however "humphed" furiously and folded his arms.
"Well... no, brother Fred..."admitted Tex shamefully.
"We tried, brother Fred... honest... but we couldn´t find out who she is."said Archie imploringly.
"But we are very close to finding out."said Nick in a strong voice, fixing his sight on the contestants.
This comment drew shock from nearly everyone at the table. Except Mia, who gave out a soft snort of disbelief.
"Judging from all the evidence... the culprit has to be... among those 10 girls."said Nick, his eyes narrowing at the girls.
Abbygail and Emily shared a confused look, while Mia smacked her forehead. The brothers however looked at eachother impressed.
"Ingenius, brother Nick... it seems, that great minds think alike. With all four of us on the job, I´m confident we can solve this mystery and find my secret ally."boomed Wiseman happily.
"You got it, brother Fred! We´ll get to the bottom of this..."nodded Tex happily, holding out his arm into the middle of the table.
"There´s no mystery the Brotherhood of the Wise can´t solve."said Nick fiercely, placing his hand on top of Tex´s.
"You´ll help too, won´t you Emmy?"asked Archie as he placed his hand too.
Emily thought about it for a moment, but with the puppy-eyed look he was giving her she just couldn´t say no.
"Of course, teddy-bear... its for a good cause afterall."said Emily with a sweet smile at her boyfriend and placed her hand too.
Abbygail smiled as well and placed her hand too while shooting a smile at Tex. All of them, Nick in the lead turned towards Mia.
"What about you, blondie?"asked Nick, his eyes looking at her face.
Mia raised an eyebrow, her arms still folded. She really seemed to be thinking it over.
"Well okay... just this once. As long as you don´t do anything stupid."
Wiseman wailed happily.
"Marvelous! I knew I can count on you."he said as he added his hand on theirs.
Together they made a unified gesture before separating their hands.
"All right... first thing we do... gather all the information we can trough observation. We have to..."started Wiseman as the entire table looked at the girls, but a loud voice cut him off.
"YO, WIIIIISEEEEEEEEY!"
The entire table jumped and turned to see Michael Miles standing next to them.
"If you guys are done making plans come on down. Now that all the work is over, let´s all take a dip in the pool."said Miles grinning at them and pointing to the main door of the room with his thumb.
They all stared at eachother, remembering now just why they all bothered to bring their swimming suits along.
...
As evening came to Beauvillage, many adults and teens alike went down to town to enjoy themselfs a bit before weekend as it was the tradition. Well for most years it was purely the tradition of the adults, since the teenagers had a rare few places to go. That however changed over two years ago with the arrival of Mr Evergreen. A kind and "hip" man, about Mom Tofu´s age, he was very fun to be around, but just wasn´t meant to be a businessman. Having taken over a large old space he inherited, he was unsure what to use it for. Becoming fast friends with Pop, Mom, Beth and Titus, the place underwent many changes since everyone wanted the place to serve a different purpose – the "adults" squabbled yet again, while Mr Workalot also had his eyes on the location and nearly succeded in aquiring it, if not for the party the teens threw at the place – the idea of only Chichi´s class attending getting out of hand and turning into a massive turnout, just as Workalot, Mayor Haveitall and the other adults came to see what all the racket was about. And so Beauvillage´s first and only teen club was opened, with the help of many teens including Chichi and the gang. Only Chichi made a small goof when he made the sighn for the club. His electric sighn misspelled one single syllable and Club-house became known all over Beauvillage as Club-horse, before Chichi had the time to repair it. Nevertheless for nearly two years Club-horse is almost always crammed full on every Friday evening. And today was no exception. The tables were full, many groups chatting happily among eachother, Mr Evergreen serving at the bar-table, music playing, laughter and also... lots of smoochin´ among teenage lovebirds. However a large group of girls were seated among some of the contesting girls, who wasted no time in telling them about their day in Splashland.
"... and the boys ended their "Coolest Jump" contest with Miles jumping a sommersault straight into the pool."said Tammy Hoodwood as some of the other teens looked at awe.
"He must be very athletic."commented Zoe, before she took a small sip from her milkshake.
"You´ve said it..."nodded Irene before giving out a lovesick sigh.
"He´s sooooo amazing... I really hope I win the contest, so I can become his girlfriend."
Several girls at the table gave her a dark glare.
"Well, we´ll have to see after the bonus round."said Tammy shrugging.
The very mention of the bonus round prompted a very excited chatter among the other girls.
"Have you found out what´ll it be about?"asked Florence, her curiosity mimicked by many others.
"Yes, the judges informed us about it before we went to the pool."nodded Irene happily.
"But... its supposed to be a secret. We swore we won´t tell anyone."said Tammy in a matter-of fact voice.
At once the entire table gave a dissapointed "awww" and tried their best to persuade the girls to reveal the secret – unsuccessfully. Suddenly their attention was directed to the door as the familiar brotherhood trio entered. However Nick was wearing a deep-green sky-mask on his head. Tammy and Irene at once exploded in giggles.
"Are we missing something here?"asked Mary confusedly.
Still giggling, the two girs told them of what happened at the pool. The brotherhood was very diligent in their new investigation. Nick and Mia took up the post in the rear of the pool, Archie and Emily on the other side and Abbygail stuck with Tex, who kept his feet in the water as he wrote down the numerous observations with Wiseman. However Wiseman wasn´t very able to glimpse much, because Miles took him by the arm and jumped into the water with him following the "Coolest Jump" contest. Wiseman was furious about it and spent a good half-an-hour chasing Miles in the water – much to the amusement of the others there. However when Nick and Mia had their argument – Mia saw the observations as "perving" and Nick retaliated with an obvious observation about Candy having something her younger sister was clearly lacking. That was when Mia slapped him across the face so hard, that he fell into the pool. However as he made his way back up to her, it became plain for all to see, that he left something swimming in the pool. He hurriedly jumped back into the pool, but it was waaay too late. Splashland´s roof almost flew up as Mia´s hysterical scream mixed in with everyone else´s hilarious laughter at the sight of Nick´s naked backside.
"OH, JUST DROP IT ALREADY!"
The attention of the giggling girls was once more diverted as a red-faced and furious Mia came trough the front door along with Candy. Candy by contrast was looking like she couldn´t possibly be happier.
"You don´t have to deny it, you lucky thing. We only saw the back, but you..."
Mia´s face was almost glowing in red color. She couldn´t deny, that she saw much more than the others, since Nick climbed out directly in front of her.
"Sh- SHUT UP! I COULD´VE DONE PERFECTLY WELL WITHOUT SEEING THAT!"
The girls at once erupted into giggles as Mia and Candy came to the table.
"You should be happy, Mia... do you know how many girls would love to see their boyfriend naked?"asked Candy, her cheeks reddening at the prospect and some of the girls at the table nodding with sickly sweet smiles.
Mia flared once again.
"First up – I DON´T care! Second – he´s NOT my boyfriend! And third – I´m NOT a stupid hormone-head like you! If you like it so much, go find a boyfriend yourself and stare at his... thing all day for all I care!"she yelled, slamming her fist into the table – the entire club now listening to the conversation even as the table once more erupted into girlish giggles.
On the other side of the club, Nick hid himself under the table that he and his brothers were occupying.
"They´re talking about you, brother Nick."noted Archie, while gazing at the table occupied by the girls.
Following that embaressing moment, Nick literraly ran into the changing rooms with a blood-red face and the sick sound of laughter in his ears. He was fairly certain, that he won´t be able to forget this for a very long time. Wiseman had tried to solve the matter of embaressment, by giving him a police sky-mask often used by special forces. But by the looks of it, it won´t be of much use. Since Mia´s overjoyed sister have taken up to re-telling the story to everyone who listened. Which meant that thistime tommorow, the entire town will know the tale.
"Come on, Mia... share with us a bit."prompted Zoe with a pervy smirk.
"What?!"exclaimed Mia, her face and nerves once more reaching red points as the girls came closer to her – curiosity evident in their eyes.
"Yeah... is he a... big boy?"asked Tammy, her eyebrows wiggling.
The entire club shook as Mia pounded the table with her fist with all the strength she could muster.
"SHUT UP! IF ANYONE ELSE ASKS ME ABOUT THAT AGAIN, I´LL PUNCH THEIR FACE IN! GOT THAT?!"
"A bit loud in here, isn´t it."noted a new arrival.
A tall, shaggy blonde-haired boy viewed the club over his big black-rimmed glasses. Dressed in simple jeans and a red t-shirt. Behind him stood two even taller and well-built boys. Their faces were identical and even their red hair was the same length. Their shirts were sleeveless and showed their big muscles.
"What do we do now, patron?"asked one of them.
"Nothing for now. Just mingle and find out as much as we can. And don´t speak french... it might give us away."said the blonde-haired boy in a quiet vioce.
"Oui oui, patron."replied the other one.
Rolling his eyes the boy made his way towards the bar. Looking around himself, he smirked slightly – no one would recodnize him in his disguise.
"All those hours in the Drama club have paid off."thought Jaq La Jolie smirkingly, proud of his acting skills – he didn´t wish to leave anything to chance, he had a mission afterall.
Once getting their drinks, they made their way towards an empty table on the corner of the club, where the brotherhood was sitting. Once seated, his sights settled behind them to the other tables in order to make sure that they can overhear a few conversations. Suddenly someone tripped near them and fell to the floor. The two muscular boys tensed prepared for a fight, but upon a small hand signal from Jaq they remained seated even as Jaq turned to the bispectaled light-red haired boy who fell near their table.
"Sorry about that."he apologized as he tried to pick up his order on the tray.
"Its okay."said Jaq smilingly as he bent over to help, instantly recodnizing the boy as one of the teens he met during the National Outdoor Sales Day – one of the teens he knew was part of the contest crew.
"You´re not from here, are you? I don´t remember seeing you around here."asked the bispectaled boy brightly, as he finished picking everything up.
"No... I am just visiting. Along with my friends."said Jaq convincingly gesturing to the two.
"Oh... well I hope you enjoy your visit. I´m Steve, by the way."said the boy offering his hand.
Smilingly Jaq took it, inwardly congratulating himself on his good acting.
"My name is... Jack."he said as he shook hands.
"So I hear that the Miss Beauvillage contest should be on this Sunday. The bonus round I mean..."said Jaq, wanting to start up a conversation so he could find out more about the round.
"Oh yeah... it´ll be on... if you´re in Beauvillage till then, you´ll see it live."
At Steve´s responce, Jaq inwardly smirked.
"Oh... where will the round be held?"he asked.
Steve scratched his head a bit.
"Well I can´t say for now... it´ll be announced at Town Hall on Sunday morning."
Jaq almost scrowled in dissapointment, but he held his composure. He was about to press him a bit harder for information but before he could do so, someone called out Steve´s name. Steve´s face at once sported a delighted smile.
"Sorry, Jack... the lady is waiting for the order so I´ll talk to you later."he said and hurried away towards a table not too far behind them in the far corner of the room.
Jaq looked on as Steve sat besides a black-haired girl he recodnized as one of the contestants.
"Sorry for the wait, Cherie."said Steve as they helped themselfs to the snacks he brought along with the drinks.
"That´s okay, Stevie. I´m glad that you invited me out. I really didn´t want to hang out with the girls today."she said.
It was true. For some mysterious reason, when Steve asked her about coming here she felt compelled in doing so. Thinking about it, she really enjoyed Steve´s company lately. Eversince the cooking lessons in fact. Since then she always got a very warm and pleasant feeling when being around Steve. It mystified her, but the feeling was something so nice, that she suspected could be addictive. It just felt out of this world, having his support and attention. Like after the cooking round as he gave her a look of utmost pride, or even today at the pool as she chaught him staring at her in her new swimsuit. She gave a small giggle when she remembered his blood-red face as she flashed him a mischievous wink and posed a bit for him, troughoutly enjoying his blushing reaction.
"So... Cherie... what do you think about the bonus round?"asked Steve quietly, bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Well... I have to admit, that it sounds...fun. I really have to say it for the eco-brat. He really thought of a cool thing thistime."
Her reply made a frown appear on his face.
"Please don´t call him that, Cherie. Chichi is actually very resourcefull and fun to be around. And I really wish you´d stop doing that too..."he added imploringly as she pulled out her cigarettes.
"Oh come on, Stevie. One isn´t going to hurt."she said rolling her eyes.
Steve sighed a bit as she lit up her cigarette and took a small puff.
"But I have to say, Stevie... you were right about the cheating. I really don´t need to cheat. I mean... I got this far and the contest really seems to be loads of fun."
Steve´s eyes widened and a very happy look replaced the frown.
"Of course you don´t, Cherie. You´re the best girl in Beauvillage. You can win this fair and square."
Cherie´s eyes turned gentle as she heared that. She placed her soft palm on Steve´s cheek and Steve did all he could not to close his eyes in complete bliss.
"You´re right, Stevie. But its only because I have such an amazing friend on my side."
Now Steve´s cheeks picked up a shade of red. He grinned sheepishly as she withdrew her hand.
"Heh... so you´re sure you can win the Dingy-basher race without any "help"?"he asked teasingly.
Cherie giggled a bit and winked at him.
"You betcha. I´ll be the fastest paddler in the Aquapark."
Sharing a small laugh, Steve´s face once more took on a serious look.
"I´m happy for that, Cherie... the brotherhood and even Chichi are on the lookout. I don´t want you getting in trouble."he said sincirely.
Cherie smiled affectionately and shook her head.
"I told you. I´m done with cheating. I´ll fight fair and square. Promise."she said, offering up her pinky finger.
"Pinky-swear."she added happily.
Steve´s heart fluttered as he linked his pinky finger with hers. Both of them failed to notice, that a certain someone was sitting fairly close. Close enough to hear everything.
"I know all I need to know."thought Jaq with a devious smirk.
...
"Aaaand full-house, gentlemen."announced Mr Theodore Weatherby as he shown the cards in his hands.
"Not again, Theo... I swear you have the strangest luck."sighed Sydney Knowmuch – the principal of Beauvillage Elementary as he laid down his cards.
Smiling nischievously Weatherby pulled the stacks of chips toward himself.
"Now now... no sore losers, Principal."
Sighing deeply, Rodney Philips also set down his cards but unlike Principal Knowmuch didn´t really mind Theo winning yet again. In fact, he was finding it very dificult to focus on the game, or anything else for that matter. For almost three years it became a tradition among the three men to visit the local bar and play poker every Saturday. However thistime, due to the contest´s spirit, which had brought just about everyone in Beauvillage out tonight, they decided to also join in dispite the tradition. Rodney always enjoyed their little sessions for more reasons than one. He knew both of them for most of his life and had a very good relationship with them. In fact, Theodore Weatherby used to be his homeroom teacher during his time in Beauvillage Elementary. He was the teacher he was on best terms with and who inspired him to become a teacher himself. For a moment it seemed funny how the years have passed. Rodney remembered as if yesterday those days as a carefree child. Running out of class when the bell rang, having fun with Ezekiel and Balthazar or his other friends, babysitting Angie...
Rodney cringed. There it was again. Angie...
He now realized and very painfully too, that he was head over heels for the said girl. No matter how many times he scolded himself for it, no matter how many times he sternly told himself to face the facts... the feeling just did NOT go away. It was holding onto him very strongly. Almost stronger than when he was dating Farrah – he knew very well what the feeling was. It seemed so stupid – he was a grown man and yet this feeling was making him act like a lovesick teenager. What´s more, today´s pool adventure made him realize that Angie had grown from an adorable little girl into a mature and attractive young woman. The sight of her in her swimsuit has reduced him into a blushing, stuttering moron. He just couldn´t help but stare at her...
"Rodney!"
As though coming back from another world, he saw that his two collagues were eying him in concern.
"What´s wrong Rodney? You seem so... distant today."asked Weatherby in concern.
Shaking his head as if to clear it, he fixed them a smile that didn´t reach his eyes.
"Its nothing. Just thinking about the contest."
The two men smiled a bit.
"So... mind telling us, just what has young Chichi come up with thistime?"asked Sydney grinningly.
"Not telling, gents. I´ll merely say, that his idea is very good. You must be really proud of your student, Theo."he said, happy for a change of subject.
Weatherby smiled happily.
"Oh... I am. Chichi, Phil Conners, our detective trio and also some of the others in my class... I really have to say, that I´m teaching an exceptionall group thistime."said Weatherby with a look of pride.
"I´ll drink to that."offered up Sydney and raised his glass.
The three toasted and Rodney started to shuffle the cards.
"But I always had the luck for exceptional students. One such case sits right here."said Weatherby happily.
"I´ll say. Heh... when I remember, some of them really made it far. The Conners siblings, Robert Spock, Alexander Robins and Julia, Joeseph Liferich and the list goes on and on."nodded Sydney.
"Now also young Lily Robins... who would´ve thought she has such a writing talent. Also Lola Tofu... you must also be proud of your students, Rodney."grinned Weatherby.
"Insanely proud, Theo. In fact I really hope, that I become Chichi and Phil´s homeroom teacher. I´ve really taken a liking to them during the contest."
Weatherby grinned at his former student.
"Be careful what you wish for, Rodney. Those two can be hard to handle – the escapades they sometimes get into."
"You can say that again. I can´t seem to remember such a pair in all my years of teaching."noted Sydney happily and the three men laughed.
"Nevertheless I believe both of them will be amazing contributions to this town. Who knows, one of my students may even become the mayor of this lovely town once ol´ Haveitall retires."said Weatherby musingly.
"Unless Angela succeeds her father first."noted Sydney.
The very name was enough to start Rodney´s emotions again. His two companion´s attention was at once on him again as the cards dropped from his hands.
"All right, Rodney... what´s going on?"asked Weatherby urgently.
Shaking his head and picking up the cards Rodney took a deep sigh.
"Forget it... its stupid."
The two older men looked at eachother.
"So tell us. We won´t laugh."prompted Sydney.
"Yes. Just get it out. You´ll feel better."nodded Weatherby.
Sighing Rodney thought about it. Well... he DID trust them and perhaps he really should tell it to someone...
"All right... you see... I ended up in a very... strange situation..."he started and dealt the cards.
For almost half an hour he told them everything – the entire conficting jumble of emotions he felt for his long-time friend. Weatherby even brought them more drinks.
"All right... so basicly you fell in love with Angela and you say, that you´re too old for her."said Weatherby summing it all up.
Gulping his drink, Rodney nodded with a deep sigh.
"That´s nonsence, Rodney. Sure, its a 10 year difference, but Angela is twenty five now. And from what I´ve seen, she seems to be as smitten with you as she was when I taught her."said Weatherby.
Rodney frowned.
"B...but... the 10 year difference. Angie deserves someone young and..."
"But she wants YOU, Rodney. And believe me – if there is one single person who can tell you, that age differences don´t matter in love, its ME. Just look at me and my Sophia."said Sydney referring to his wife.
Rodney thought about it, already knowing the story. Sydney was a bachelour for way too many years, but one day almost six years ago he fell hopelessly in love with a girl he once taught – a girl who was half his age. They started spending time together and Sydney found out, that his feelings were returned. So it happened, that a fourty year old man married a twenty year old young woman.
"I sometimes still remember her on her very first day in school when I became her homeroom teacher. She was such a little cutie even then."said Sydney smiling fondly.
"And Sophia always said, that you were her best teacher. Anyway it just proves the point, Rodney."nodded Weatherby.
"In any case, while her parents scoffed at the idea at first, they eventually softened up. You, Rodney... as far as I know, have always known Mayor Haveitall. He holds you in great regards and that´s a major plus."said Sydney.
Rodney bit his lip.
"I´m not sure. What will he think if I...?"
"He´s a father, Rodney. He´ll want the best for his daughter. And since he knows you, I´m sure he won´t be against the idea."noted Weatherby.
Rodney was suddenly feeling a small glimer of hope. He closed his eyes for a moment and thought about Angie – the lively little girl he used to babysit, the bright-eyed 12 year old that told him she loved him, the careless teenager he used to teach, the young deputy-mayor who keeps an eye on her father...
"I will give you one piece of advice..."said Sydney, bringing Rodney once more to reality.
"GO FOR IT!"
...
"Aaaaand welcome back everyone. We´re coming to you live this lovely sunny Sunday from the Beauvillage Aquapark."announced Angie to general applause.
The Aquapark was crammed full and the entire event was overseen by Trashbin´s crew, who operated most of the equipment. The giant wide-screen was once more active, showing the basic picture and underneath it was the stage, where the contestants were standing along with the narrators. Chichi and his crew had worked tirelessly to build up additional ports at some of the turns, where the red-flagged poles were placed in the water. Also Trashbin and his crew lend a hand to build a few ports, so that the cameras could tape from many angles and at the same time, give the audience a place to stand on and be closer to the action. And indeed many Beauvillagers – most of them teenagers could not resist the oppoturnity to do so. On the edges of the large wide-screen stage there were the cabins for the contestants, where they can stash their stuff and get changed for the contest. On the other side of the screen was a large tent, built for the judges and the narrators. On the very end of the aquapark was a large finish-line post, where a large table was set not too far from the fence, that separated the crowd from the finishing area – also present was a one-man operated camera which would monitor both the commentary table and the finish line. At the table sat Titus Hubbub and Pop Tofu, who had taken up the roles of being the commentators for the race. Along the line were many billboards which shown the logos of the many Beauvillage sponsors, who contributed greatly to this round. Giant poles were placed here and there, each holding a big speaker, so that everyone could hear the narrators speak.
"Now the time has finally come to reveal the secret bonus round."announced Lola into the microphone.
"You got it, Lola. But before that, let´s call our beloved judges. Aaaaand here they are. Everyone let´s have a round of applause for... Rodney Philips..."
Loosely dressed, Rodney made his way up to the stage, fighting down the blush as he took his place next to Angie.
"... Frederick Wiseman..."
Wiseman came up walking importaintly, dressed in his trademark detective coat.
"... and last but definitely not least, Michael Miles..."
Miles stared from the judge´s tent before his eyes found Trashbin.
"Hit it, TB!"he commanded and Trashbin gave a small signal to one of his boys.
At once the main theme of a popular show The CoastWatch started playing from the speakers and Miles jumped from the tent dressed in swimming trunks, a floating vest and holding a large yellow rubber duck instead of the surf-board the main characters of the show had. The sight at once prompted hilarious laughter even as Miles walked cool-as-ice towards the stage accompanied by the theme, his sunglasses gleaming in the sun. Lola rolled her eyes, though she too couldn´t help but giggle thistime. Wiseman however clapped a palm to his forehead.
"Is THAT how one is supposed to look?!"he exclaimed as Miles took his place between him and a chuckling Rodney.
"Come on, Wisey... what if one of these cuties doesn´t know how to swim? Someone has to be at hand to save them from the watery depths."he said, grinning at the girls and giving them a thumbs-up, making most of them giggle.
Rodney laughed.
"And the rubber duck, Miles?"he asked pointing to it.
Miles gave him a pouty look.
"Surfboards are old and laaaaaame."he said as though that explained everything.
The crowd laughed along with everyone else. Once the laughter died out, Angie came closer to pass the microphone to Rodney. Her sweet smile and the brush of her fingers as she passed him the mic made him feel dizzy and he took a small moment to compose himself as she moved away.
"All right, ladies... The objective of this round is plain and simple. Reach the finish line first. The course has been marked by the red flags. For this we´ll be using the Aquapark´s trademark Dingy-Bashers."he said pointing to the bashers, already prepared in the water.
"As most of you know, these genius contraptions bounce from one another. We´ve decided, that this type of fun should not be prohibited..."
"In other words, girls... BASH AWAY!"exclaimed Miles, as he took the other mic from Lola.
A giant over-excited roar from just about everyone rang trough the aquapark.
"There are rules too!"announced Wiseman as he snatched the microphone from Miles.
"Rule number one – anyone who falls into the water is OUT!"
At once several of the contestants looked at eachother uncertainly.
"Don´t worry ladies...!"exclaimed Miles as he pulled the microphone from Wiseman.
"Me and Sweettooth here will save you, if that happens."he said raising the rubber duck (which had a large toothy smile) into the air for all to see.
"I CAN´T BELIVE IT! YOU EVEN NAMED THE DAMN THING?!"exclaimed Wiseman as he tried to wrestle the microphone from Miles´ grasp.
"What´s up?! Its a cute name!"protested Miles.
"THAT´S NOT THE POINT, YOU CRAZY HOOLIGAN!"
Looking at them, Rodney quickly raised the microphone.
"And the second rule – once a dingy-basher passes beyond the racing area marked by the red flags, its considered a ring out. The first five who reach the finish line will pass the round. Other than that, ladies... you have a free hand. Or should I say, feet..."he added happily before passing the microphone back to Angie.
Lola quickly moved towards the two bickering boys and snatched the microphone from them.
"Now that our mature judges have explained the rules..."said Lola, shooting the pair a scrowl.
Miles scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, while Wiseman pouted, crossed his arms and shot her a "He started it" look.
"Its time to introduce our girls..."announced Angie happily to general applause.
Lola and Angie moved to the end of the port, where the numerous dingy-bashers were floating on the water´s edge. However the dingy-bashers at the port weren´t the only ones in the water. A few of them were at different other sides of the aquapark. Besides them stood Chichi, his crew and the trio of the brotherhood – all tasked to be on hand should somthing happen during the race, each of them watching the wide-screen as the first girl was stepping up on the port.
"... Tamara Hoodwood..."announced Lola and a large applause acompanied Tammy, who was dressed in comfortable grey short pants, a bright red t-shirt with a large sunny yellow star on it and simple sneakers.
"... Allana Aberforth..."introduced Angie as Allana, dressed in her swimsuit and a signature light-blue jacket of the Beauvillage Swimming Team came to the end of the port besides Tammy.
"...Cherie Peters... "
In the spirit of professionality Lola didn´t let any of her feelings show as she announced the name, but inwardly scrowled as Cherie came up. In her swimsuit and large sunglasses she walked up, showing off a bit here and there – completly in her element, even as numerous wolf-whistles mingled in with the cheers. Looking at the screen, Billy turned his look at his best friend and was not dissapointed. Steve was gawking at what he saw, his mouth wide open, face completly red and looking as though he was in a sort of trance. Chuckling to himself, Billy thought that he couldn´t really blame him – not since he himself was staring at Lola like that during the Splashland pool party a few days ago.
"... Candy Liferich..."
At once the wolf-whistles rang even more than the applause – coming from almost every single boy, teenager and younger men in the crowd as Candy was walking towards the end of the port clad only in her bright pink bikini, giggling like a little school-girl. Her bare skin looked flawless and her figure... was undoubtably one that aroused many male´s attention – reducing them to blushing, wolf-whistling and overreactive fools in the opinion of the female population. Indeed several girls in the crowd positively growled in rage, many scoffing and humphing at the show Candy was putting up and coldly glaring the boys. April swiftly turned her sights on Chichi however she instantly breathed a sigh of relief, for Chichi unlike too many boys around was looking completly neutral at the sight, as was Billy, Steve and Phil. Joe and Maurice were red-faced and staring as though they couldn´t believe their eyes and even tiny Victor was left with his mouth wide open positively drooling.
"STOP OGGLING AT HER, YOU LONG-NOSED PERVERT!"
Mia´s all-mighty yell was heared even among the crowd´s cheer. Nick, still with his sky-mask on turned to the sound.
"I´M NOT OGGLING AT ANYONE YOU CRAZED BLONDE-HEAD!"he yelled back, waving his fist in the air angrily.
Archie and Tex looked at eachother and Nick immediatly rounded on them.
"ONE word and I´ll pound you, understand?!"he threatened menacingly.
Chichi, Phil and Billy, who were standing close to them stiffled their laughter, but also said nothing.
"...Lis Milo..."
At Lola´s announcement, Lis came up. Dressed in light-blue short pants, stylish sleeveless red tank-top and black racing hand-gloves, which left her fingers bare. Her mask ever-present on her face, she looked like a real race-competitor.
"WoooOOOOW! YA´ SEE THAT?! COOOLNESS!"exclaimed Miles wildly slapping Wiseman on the shoulder with his free hand franticly.
"STOP THAT! I SEE HER ALREADY!"yelled Wiseman, jumping away from Miles.
Lis couldn´t help but grin to herself.
"... Hazel Summerville..."
As Hazel was stepping up, the two tall, muscular red-haired boys were surveying it from the main viewing post, but apparently had no interest in the entire thing. Suddenly a blonde-haired boy wearing glasses came up and stood infront of them.
"We were begining to worry..."said one of the pair to him.
With a small smirk, Jaq turned to answer him.
"You have nothing to worry about, Gerard. I know I took longer than I thought, but..."
"Where were you all this time, patron?"asked the other one.
Rolling his eyes Jaq looked at him.
"Where do you think, Gabriel?!"
Gabriel thought to himself for a small moment, while the name of Irene Ivory was announced.
"La toilette?"he asked dumbly.
Jaq resisted the urge to slap his forehead.
"NO, you buffoon! I was at the contestant´s cabins finishing my grand desighn."
The two twins shared a confused look.
"But we have done everything at midnight..."noted Gerard.
Jaq´s patience was growing thin.
"Our mission is to create a scandal. Which is why we need to point the blame on someone. And I had the perfect victim chosen for it."he said, smiling deviously.
However upon looking at his two cohorts, he saw that their faces were completly clueless.
"Mon Dieu..."he sighed and shook his head as Dana Pennyfeather came up to the end of the port.
It was completly clear to him by now, that The Two Ton Twins seemingly got all their physical strength in order to compensate for their pitifully low intelligence. Shrugging the matter off, he returned his sights to the main port, where Dorothy Nightly and Anabell Richerly joined their fellow contestants, the devious look once more prominent on his face.
"The real show is about to begin."
...
"Welcome to the race, dear fans... most of you know me, Titus "Hotwheel" Hubbub..."announced Titus into his mic at the commentary table, pointing to himself with his thumb as the polite applause rang.
"And me – Jake "Greenthumb" Tofu..."waved Pop good-naturedly as another wave of applause went with Mom, Buba, Bee, the Spocks and the Robins in lead.
Titus took one exaspirated look at Pop, rolling his eyes at Pop´s attempt to copy his nickname, but said nothing and returned to his microphone.
"We will be your guides during this amazing race. Since all the girls were already introduced, all that´s left to do is wait for Judge Wiseman to start the race."
The girls all jumped into their respective dingy-bashers – each of them as determined as the next. A wave of silence gripped the entire Aquapark as Wiseman stepped up to the end of the port, a small pistol in his hand. Knowing exactly what an expert pistol-marksman Wisey is, Chichi insisted that they use a smoke-marking pistol, often used as a signal for help. The girls all turned over their shoulder to look at Wiseman, who eyed them all in turn.
"Now I want a nice clean race... from all of you..."he said surveying them all, his sunglasses gleaming in the sun-light – Wisey was obviously determined to put up a tough front.
Pointing the pistol into the air, he was ready to start the race making one more step forward. However his foot didn´t reach onto the port, but instead came into contact with nothingness. Trying desperately to regain his balance he jerked from one way to the other – his pistol-held hand going in all possible directions. As his hand flew behind him a loud BANG rang trough the aquapark and those behind him quickly ducked as the color-projectile flew across the port narrowly missing the wide-screen and flying straight to the Judge´s tent. There it exploded with a BOOM, spraying its colorfull contents into the tent, almost lifting it off the ground in the process. Rodney, Angie, Lola and Trashbin were instantly happy that they didn´t leave any of their belongings in it, Miles though he did payed no attention to it at the moment. With the BANG sound, the crowd went wild and the girls wasted not a second in stepping on the bashers´ pedals as hard as they possibly could. Too hard as it seemed, for all ten bashers were instantly away from the port in such speed, that it raised a small tidal-wave, that Wiseman who just regained his balance was sprayed head-to toe by. That instantly messed up his balance and thistime the frantic waving of his arms didn´t stop his plunge into the water a second later. Many of the crowd couldn´t resist the urge to laugh and that went double for the cast at the wide-screen. Miles also wasn´t able to resist.
"CLUMZY COP OVERBOARD!"he yelled happily into the mic, only increasing the crowd´s laughter.
"Aaaaand they´re off... and oh boy, what a start."commented Titus a second later.
"You´ve said it, Titus... all these lovely roses seem to be in top condition... to be so fast..."nodded Pop happily.
At the crew´s side, Chichi scrowled at what he was seeing.
"Too fast..."he grumbled, biting his lips and squinting one of his eyes – something was a miss over here...
"What´s up, Chichi?"asked Billy, swiftly catching on to Chichi´s behaveour.
Watching the racing dingy-bashers in race with his binoculars, Chichi´s dark look only increased. Walking towards one of the bashers parked by their side, he double-checked them, squeezing the rubber with his tumb and index finger. A puzzled look came over him and he swiftly gazed at the racing bashers once more, pondering on something. Suddenly his face took on a shocked look and he gave a loud gasp. Turning around he looked at Nick, Tex and Archie.
"Take your walkie-talkies! Signal Wiseman to stop the race! NOW!"he commanded urgently.
The trio looked at eachother in alarm, but at once rounded on Chichi.
"Who are you to boss us around?!"exclaimed Tex angrily.
"Yeah! And why should we stop the race?! Nothing´s wrong!"piped up Archie.
"This isn´t the time to argue! Do it, NOW!"yelled Chichi and at once turned to his crew, who were gazing at him in alarm.
"Billy, Joe, Maurice, into your bashers FAST! Swim towards the racers an stop them before they have a chance to bash eachother!"
Recodnizing that the urgent tone in his command was no laughing matter, each of them obeyed Chichi´s order without a single thought and ran for their bashers.
"Phil, you and Steve keep an eye out for the crowd, make sure everyone runs away if a basher flies this way."
Phil and Steve instantly sped towards the crowd. During his run, Steve was shocked and puzzled at what could be wrong.
"Oh no... please don´t tell me she..."he thought panicly as he took up his post and watched out for any basher coming their way.
"Vic, alert Pop and ol´Hubbub that something is wrong! Have them stop the race!"commanded Chichi and Victor wasted not a second, speeding towards the commentary table.
Wthout so much as a second glance at the brotherhood, Chichi moved – jumping into his dingy-basher and taking off at a considerably slower speed than the contestants. At the wide-screen, the cast looked on at what was going on even as Wiseman was desperately trying to pull himself up to the port – failing miserably.
"What´s going on?"asked Lola, seeing that her brother, boyfriend and two other boys occupied their bashers but were moving slower than the girls towards them.
"I have no idea. D´you think something has gone wrong?"said Rodney.
"Come on, let´s help Fred out of the water."suggested Angie, sencing nothing wrong and already moving towards the end of the port as Titus´ commentary sounded troughout the Aquapark.
The girls were racing at high speed, some faster than the other, some changing directions in an effort to bash their opponents away.
"Oh... and Tammy is changing direction. We can expect the first bash in mere seconds."announed Titus to general cheer, the crowd happily anticipating the thing with as much glee as Titus.
"Wait!... Wait!..."came a youthfull voice, which was out of breath.
Pop turned towards the source of the voice and spotted tiny Victor stopping at their table, completly out of breath, Titus completly preoccupied with the race to notice.
"Oh... didn´t notice you there, little bud... you wanted to share in making the commentary?"he asked kindly, smiling at him.
Victor was panting, trying with all his might to catch his breath.
"N...no... Chichi... Chichi... said... to... stop..."he tried getting out, trying to warn them, but too late.
"Aaaand here´s the first bash!"exclaimed Titus happily as Tammy´s dingy-basher came into contact with Hazel´s.
The two bashers instantly flew from eachother with such power, that both girls shrieked as the bashers litterally flew across the water for several feet.
"Why you...!"exclaimed Hazel, determined to get even and at once paddling her basher towards her.
Suddenly however Irene´s basher came into contact with hers and they once more bounced from eachother with incredible power. Hazel was sent flying along with her basher towards the wide-screen port along the considerable distance. Irene on the other hand wasn´t so lucky. Her dingy-basher was sent spinning out of control. Irene let out a terrified shriek as the basher, spinning violently flew across the water and came in contact with one of the boundary flags, breaking it on contact. At once a sickeningly loud BOOM rang trough the aquapark as Irene´s dingy-basher exploded, sending her flying into the water. The crowd gave a collective gasp as Irene ended up in the water and was visibly coughing and spitting out water – completly in shock. Suddenly however, a dingy-basher sped up towards her and instantly Irene felt a hand grasp onto hers, pulling her towards the basher. The girl wasted not a moment, using the hand to help herself into the stafety of the basher. Coughing violently, trying to catch her breath she even failed to see the face of her saviour.
"Are you all right? Anything broken?"asked a boy´s voice as she felt the basher paddle moving them away at a lot slower speed than she rode with.
Recodnizing the voice and finally catching her breath, she double-checked herself for any injuries before smiling up gratefully at the paddling boy.
"Luckily not... thanks for the save, Chichi."
At the same moment, Hazel´s basher was on a direct course for the main port, where Angie was pulling her cousin out of the water. With a loud SMASH the one of the port´s main wooden poles were brocken upon contact with the basher, sending the basher flying back towards the finish-line with even greater speed. However the contact shook the entire port and sent both Wiseman and Angie flying into the water.
"ANGIE!" exclaimed Rodney in horror and in a heartbeat he ran as though for his life, jumped from the ruined remaines of the port and dived into the water.
Franticly reaching for her underwater he pulled her to the surface.
"Angie! Are you all right?!"he asked in panic as she coughed and spat water.
"Yes... I... I think so..."she struggled to say.
Breathing a sigh of relief Rodney swam out towards the shore, keeping a firm hold on her, his mind painfully reminding him of the dangerous fall and the possible concequences.
Hazel´s dingy-basher once more came into contact with two others, sending the others flying away, while still spinning hers once more almost on spot.
As Dana and Dorothy flew away into separate directions, Dana´s basher came into contact with Billy´s who was coming to help, sending both of them flying into the water.
"BILLY!"exclaimed Lola in terror, but upon another look, she saw her boyfriend´s head pop out of the water and instantly swim towards Dana.
Dorothy shrieking in terror hit the basher which was occupied by Lis, sending Lis flying trough the barriers towards shore, where she flew out of the basher and landed with a thud on the sandy ground. However the basher flew straight trough the billboard´s middle, showering Lis´ body with woody rubble of the brocken sighn. Gasping Miles swiftly threw aside the rubber duck and swiftly started running across the shores in an effort to reach Lis.
The only one enjoying the thing it seemed was Candy. Giggling like mad, she troughoutly enjoyed being thrusted into several directions by Cherie´s basher, sending her basher up front towatds the finish-line in a rocket-like speed.
"EVERYONE RUN OUT OF THE WAY!"roared Phil to the crowd as they saw Candy´s basher flying in their direction.
The crowd didn´t need telling twice. At once almost everyone was trying to get out of the way. Victor also alerted Pop and Titus, but at the same moment all three froze for Candy was approaching waaaaay too fast. At once grabbing Victor, Pop jumped out of the way, forcing himself to the ground while trying to shield the young boy. Titus also jumped out of the way on the other side, spraying himself on the ground as Candy´s basher litterally flew across the finish-line and banged straight into the commentary´s table, breaking it into a milion pieces. However the impact sent the basher flying into the air, spinning violenty and on a direct course for the almost deserted fan-sector. Mia shrieked in terror as she saw, that her crazy sister´s basher was right above her head and the fall would most certainly catch her in the impact. Suddenly however she felt someone grab her arm and yank her fiercely out of harm´s reach. With a powerfull CRASH Candy´s basher landed on the woody surface of the fan section´s fence, breaking everything with a sickening CRASH. Mia opened her eyes to see, who pulled her away from certain injury, only to come face to face with a dark-green sky-mask.
"NICK?!"she exclaimed in shock, then realized the position she was in.
Apparently Nick grabbed her by the arms and forced both her and himself on the ground when the basher struck. This left him laying on his back with Mia pressed tightly on himself. Mia´s face exploded in red color not only because she realized the position, but because he had come to her aid once again. Before she could say a thing however Nick gave a painfull moan. Looking at him, she saw that he pulled them into the woody ground and bruised himself considerably in the process.
"Nick..."she began, completly at a loss for words at his bravery.
"Ouch... drop it, Blondie... are you all right?"growled Nick.
As she nodded a girlish giggle rang from the crashed dingy-basher.
"I WON!"exclaimed Candy, as her head popped up from the basher, her face sunny-bright.
Mia saw red in one instant.
"YOU... You stupid brain-damaged COW! Can´t you see how dangerous this was?! Look what you did to Nick!"she exclaimed gesturing to Nick who was getting up, obviously battered and bruised.
"Its all good, sis... I´ve taken the lead!"whooped Candy happily in obvious joy.
Mia gave out a roar of pure rage and made to lash out at her sister, determined to beat some sence into her thick skull. However something grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back. Mia didn´t have to guess twice to know who it was.
"Lemme go, Nick! I´m gonna beat that stupid cow to DEATH!"she roared, but Nick dispite his bruises kept a firm hold on her.
"Forget it, Mia... We have a situation over here! We gotta make sure no one gets hurt!"he urged and Mia instantly defused a bit.
Turning in his arms, she looked at Nick´s still masked face.
"Fine... you win monkey-head... but first..."
Before Nick could say a thing, Mia pulled the sky-mask off his face and delivered a kiss on his cheek.
"That was for saving me again..."she said quietly adverting his gaze, her cheeks red.
Nick stood frozen on the spot, completly lost as to how to reply.
"J...just don´t read too much into it, long-nose... I´m gratefull, not stupid!"added Mia, determined to keep her pride.
Suddenly a loud crash made them come back to reality as Cherie´s dingy basher also came to contact with solid ground and thrust her onto it. With a loud gasp both of them could see Steve rushing to her aid.
"Come on, Mia... let´s help whoever we can..."muttered a still red-faced Nick and Mia nodded quietly.
As the pair sped away hand-in-hand, Steve was busy picking Cherie up from the ground.
"O...ouch... that sure hurt..."muttered Cherie, as she came to her feet.
At once she froze at the look in Steve´s eyes. One that was showing extreme hurt.
"C...Cherie... you...you promised..."whispered Steve, his voice only confirming the look in his eyes.
Cherie felt her heart break at the hurt prominent in her long-time friend´s eyes and voice. At once she knew, what he meant but... but thistime...
"S... Stevie... I didn´t... I swear I didn´t..."she breathed quietly, but at once knew that it did very little to persuade Steve of what she said.
She gasped as she saw tears forming in his eyes.
"I... I trusted you... I belived that... you´ve... changed and stopped cheating..."
Among all the pain she felt at the moment, a surpreme sence of panic gripped her and once more she was reminded of the pain she felt years back, when her machinations caused Billy Hubbub to yell at her. Only thistime... it was a milion times worse. The tears she saw rolling on Steve´s cheeks were affecting her stronger than anything in her life.
"WATCH OUT!"sounded a loud warning coming from Victor and the pair at once turned and saw with horror, that another dingy-basher was coming straight at them.
With only a split-second to spare, Steve grabbed Cherie´s shoulders and shoved her as far away from him as possible. Before she could fall to the ground, Cherie chaught a terrifying sight of Steve being hit directly by the dingy-basher, which bounced off him and with another bounce off the ground, landed in the water upside-down. Steve however was shot with powerfull force away into the fan-area, smashing trough the wood benches in the wake of his flight, before coming to a sickening stop at the large fence as Cherie fell to the ground.
"STEVIE!"squaled Cherie in fright the second she got off the ground.
Wasting not a second, she didn´t even look at Tammy Hoodwood, who emerged in the water next to the overturned dingy-basher. The world seemed to black-out completly and all Cherie could think about was getting to Steve´s side. In a heartbeat she sprinted to the crash-site. Her heart was going a mile a minute as she reached Steve who was laying on his front. She barely breathed as she turned him on his back and the sight chilled her bones. His eyes were shut, his glasses were centimeters from them both and they were completly ruined, most likely from the force of the impact. Cherie gasped as she saw blood rolling from the side of his head.
"Stevie...? Stevie, wake up..."she mumbled shaking his shoulders.
Steve however remained motionless no matter how hard she shook him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried yet again.
"Stand aside Cherie..."
Turning to the source of the voice, she saw to her great relief that Dr Robert Spock was standing there and moving towards them.
"He´s not waking up, Dr Spock... "she said hurriedly, trying to explain the situation, but Dr Spock was already looking him over.
"Oh no..."he whispered, at once signalling to some of his collagues, who immediately ran for the stretchers, something that shocked Cherie very much, for it seemed to be very clear how serious the situation was.
Without so much as a concious thought, she sped up, sprinting after Dr Spock and his collagues as soon as Steve was on the strechers – caring about only one single thing at the moment.
Michael Miles also cared about one single thing right now. Scanning the crash-site with his eyes before he reached it, he sped up his pace and was there in an instant. Quickly tossing aside the larger pieces of brocken wood in a frantic speed, he suddenly heared a small moan coming from beneath it. The smaller peices shook as Lis stirred.
"Lis, ´you OK? Anything broken, battered or missin´?"asked Miles quickly as the said girl was trying to raise herself from the ground, one hand on her head.
Swiftly assisting her, he tried to check himself for any sighn of serious injuries.
"I think I´m fine, Miles... a bit bruised but otherwise okay."said Lis weakly and Miles was shocked when he heared that voice – he recodnized it very well.
For a moment it seemed a bit wierd. Over the course of the contest Lis barely spoke in his presence and when she did, her voice was a bit deeper. Now however her voice was normal albeit a bit weaker and as she raised her head, Miles saw, that her mask remained on the ground. Lis gasped, noticing this too, but it was far too late. Even with the straightened hair, Miles´ eyes were wide open as he recodnized her.
"L...Lily...?"he breathed quietly, his face visibly in shock – something Lily was sure was not a good thing.
For a small moment they gazed at eachother, both unsure what to do or say as the world around them seemed to have come to a stop.
"WOAH! LIS´ MASK FELL OFF!"shouted Victor not too far from them, and the gathered people behind him gave a collective gasp – each as curious as the other in finding out, who the mystery girl is.
Miles turned a bit in their direction, but Lily gasped – the mixture of feelings echoing in her head so much, it was unbearable. Without another thought, she turned and ran as fast as she possibly could, climbing over the fence in the process.
"YO! WAIT...!"exclaimed Miles, but too late.
Lis... or rather Lily was already gone, determined to put as much space between her and the Aquapark as possible. As the crowd gave a collective "awww" of mixed concern for the girl and the dissapointment of not finding out who she was, Miles just stood there rooted at the spot – his mind AND head spinning. This girl... this cool mysterious girl, that Lola told him entered the competition to try and win his heart was... one of his friends...
...
A/N: Weeeeell... a few perv moments here and there and also a controversal thing too - Principal´s wife :D Btw... that´s whom he was talking to on "Operation Biorhytm" episode, when Chichi was sitting in his office :D Also I´ve taken the liberty of bringing back both Splashland (the place, where Lola and Lily were when Lola got a crush for Nick´s cousin) and also The Beauvillage Aquapark along with Chichi´s Dingy Bashers :D Shame... the Dingy Basher race would be a nice little race if not for... you know what :) Any case... working on the next chapter already :) Till´ then...
HK 07
