A/N:
I think that's the longest one I wrote by far!
thewookie1: Ha! That's a good idea haha. Colored days XD
Marvelmyra: Yeah, I know. I wasn't sure which word to write, but then again-English is my second language, so excpect some more grammer and spelling mistakes :) Thanks for correcting me anyway!
Enjoy!
It was the sixth cake I frosted and piped today. A chocolate-chip peanut butter vegan cake with chocolate frosting and dark chocolate cats, and I had to pipe 'Happy birthday, Mr. Snickerdoodles!'. I was just about to write the 'r' of the 'Mr.' when I heard the kitchen door slammed open. The 'r' turned into an 's'.
"I swear to Jimmy Page and his legendary Les Paul, you better have a good fucking excuse to-" I turned around and found Jon and Zee standing in front of the door, breathless.
"What happened?" I asked and put the piping bag down.
"They saw Ghost." Jon said. "We must go."
"WHAT?!" I raised my voice too much.
"More like, one of the rangers got a glance, but we really gotta to." Zee corrected.
I pinchend the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and hearing the doors open again. "Why were you running in my restaurant and scaring costumers?" I heard Dakota's voice. It wasn't his place but I didn't feel like correcting him. I let my hand down and opened my eyes.
"How?" I asked, looking at both of them.
"He found us in the forest," Zee said. "Jon wanted to introduce me to Ghost."
"What Ghost?" Dakota asked, totally out of place.
I sighed, turning my back to them and trying to scrape the 's' off the cake. That's one of the things that helped me concentrate.
"No, you just had to fucking go." I muttered, annoyed. If he'd come we could buy more time. Ghost was quiet more than anything, the rangers won't find him as easily as they would a human. That's bad.
"What did you want me to do? He's the only thing I've got here!" Jon said and sounded pissed off again. It didn't help my temper as I turned around.
Dakota was still confused. "Guys, what are you talking about-"
"You should've listened to me!" I said, taking a step closer to Jon, "You should've trusted me! I know that city. I know the people. I am the only one who believes you but you won't have any fucking patience!"
"There's a war, Andie. My people need me, do you really want me to do nothing? It's the third day I'm here and Ghost is still waiting. I can't imagine what happens back home." He gave me that annoying puppy-who-takes-himself-too-seriously look.
I turned around again, closed my eyes and putmy hands on my hips. Now we can't take more time. Now I can't prove my friends except for Zee that Jon is not from here. That we need to rescue a wolf bigger than a damn horse out of the heart of Manhattan without getting caught-because there's no way we won't be able not to catch any attention.
"Andie. Calm down." Dakota said. "I don't know what it's all about but please, the two of you. Shouting and fighting is not what's going to solve the problem."
I took a big breath and turned to face Dakota. Maybe I took it too hard. Maybe I got to upset. "Do you trust me?" I asked my favorite goth, and I already knew the answer.
"With my eyes closed ad my hands tied. With the exception of birthdays and pranks." He said and crossed his arms.
"I wanted to wait until our shift is over, but I guess we need to start now." I said, biting my lower lip and looking at Zee.
"I can take Dakota's place until the shift is over. I called in sick today, so Karen will be thrilled to see I got better." Zee said and smiled innocently. I knew the psychic did it to meet Jon at the park. Crazy supernatural woman.
"We need Sean and Mika." I said.
"Andie," Dakota said and opened the door to the kitchen. "I'll call them. Just finish your job in the kitchen so we'll leave a clean place for Karen." Then he got out and Zee followed.
My friends will trust me. We've been through enough. But are they going to believe the whole Ghost thing? They'll have to trust our word. Will they trust Jon?
I gave Jon a glace. He stood there, thinking what to say.
"Thank you." He said at last.
"Shut up." I answered sharply, turning away to finish my cake. It was a bit of a show. I couldn't be mad at people for too long, but I tried to make a point. "Turn up the music and grab a broom."
I finished piping and frosting, and packing the last cake when everyone arrived. Jon swept the floor and polished the working surfaces. Just after he cleaned one of the counters and the guys came in. Sean decided to sit on it, unaware of the long and hard work Jon just put into cleaning it.
"Alright," I said after I stuffed the box in the fridge. "So we have a mission."
"A mission?" Sean asked. "Like that fashion show sabotage with the peanut butter and the gummies?" He looked excited.
"Sorry to disappoint, but it's something more serious than that." I said and took my phone out. I got into a local news website, and as accepted there was a live broadcast from the Central Park area. There were a few police cars and Animal Control vans. The rest of the dozens of vans belonged to various news teams. "It's a rescue mission." And then I turned the volume on.
'The large beast was located earlier today by a park ranger. It is not clear yet what animal it is, but it's probably big as a bear or more. We are waiting outside of the park as a special Animal Control unit is making its way. The public is asked to stay away from the north-west part of the park, and definitely not get into the northern woods.'
"Andie," Dakota said slowly. "Did you free a fucKING POLAR BEAR from Central Park's zoo?"
I sighed, "No." I said. "I wasn't joking when I said we're going to meet Jon's giant wolf today."
"Yeah... sure." Sean just had his mouth hanging open. "Which ever huge animal it is, I think it's going to be the biggest project we had since… since we…"
"Since the beginning." I said. "Please. Please believe me."
"It's kinda hard to." Mika said. "But I do trust you." I could almost see the gears in his head turning, as he was already thinking about a way to do it.
"We have to do it," Jon who was silent up until now spoke, "He can't fall into the wrong hands."
Dakota gave Jon a look, probably trying to read him. "How big is that wolf exactly?" He asked.
"Bigger than a stallion." Jon said. When Sean jumped off the counter he wiped it with his towel, just to make sure it was shiny as it was before Sean decided to sit on it.
"Alright, I'm in." Sean said.
"In." Mika said, still thinking.
Dakota looked around and made sure the kitchen was clean. "Ok, me too." He said. "Let's do it."
There was a moment of silence. Not the awkward kind, but the brain storming kind. But then Jon had to interrupt.
"Don't get this as ungratefulness or disrespectfulness, I really am happy for any help," He said carefully, "But you don't look like a very skilled team to me."
I lifted my eyes from the floor, looking at Sean. We both laughed like crazy people.
"Jon, dear," Dakota said, "You are the luckiest giant-wolf owner in NYC."
"We are actually really good when it comes to handle authorities, you see," I said, smiling, "We're all ex-convicts."
"What?" Jon said, scanning me with his eyes, "You don't look like a criminal."
"We were all minors." I said. "We used our talents to screw the system, kind of."
"And still do." Sean said with a wink.
"Occasionally, when we want to make a statement." Mika said and slurped his smoothie, Wait, when did he get that?
"What did you do, then?" Jon asked.
"I hacked into government computers when I was ten." Mika said and played with the strew with his lower lip. "Took fifty percent off the congressmen's salary and moved the money to the education ministry budget instead."
Jon stared at him, "I don't even sure I know what you meant right now." He said.
"But really, where are you from?" Dakota asked again, not getting the clue that Jon is not from fucking here.
"Dakota was caught selling the original stolen Scream painting when he was fourteen. If you need something, almost anything, he's the guy to get it for you... for a price." I stopped asking Dakota how he finds and get those things. He always shrugged me off, saying he has his 'resources', while he was actually everybody's resources. Sometimes he took a price that's worth more than money, like favors from powerful rich people. "And Sean. blessed that hyperactive kid's soul, and I worked for the same drug cartel since we were, I don't know, twelve?"
"Yeah, well all I did was smuggling. But you, on the other hand were one of the best-"
"Yeah, lovely childhood." I rudely interrupted his sentence. "So don't worry. We're fine. I hope." I looked at Mika, waiting for him to spread out his ideas before Jon will ask more questions.
"We'll need your place as home base." He said. "I was thinking… using the abandoned subway stations. Playing a little with the security camera, causing some delays…"
"I got you." Sean said.
"What do we need except for Mika's tech thingies?" Dakota asked.
I wrote down a list and handed it to Mika and Sean. "Yes," Mika said. He passed the list to Dakota who snored with a quirked eyebrow, "That's it?"
"Yup," I said. "Let's do it.
When we left the bakery, Karen just got in. She suspected us, of course. She knew we did some stupid shit sometimes, but most of the times she was supportive. I mean, who wouldn't want to see the corrupted senate member being humiliated with evidence jumping on the TV screens behind him as he gives a speech? Who wouldn't want to hear about the cancelling of a fur fashion show being sabotaged, because some crazy activists somehow snuck in and stuck gummies and smeared peanut butter all over the expensive coats and accessories? We were basically anarchists master prankers. We made people smile.
Well, some people.
Now I was readying my living room for the operation. A fitting song played in the background, and I sang to it.
'All my friends are heathens take it slow,
Wait for them to ask you who you know
Please don't make any sudden moves,
You don't know the half of the abuse.'
"That's the song you chose to listen to?" Jon asked as he moved the kitchen table into the living room as I asked him.
"It's not me. It's the radio," I said between lines, jamming to the song and pointing to where I wanted to table to be. Mika is going to need a lot of sockets for his equipment.
"One time it's you who control the music that I am still not sure where it is coming from, and the next another mysterious being named 'radio' is choosing it for you?" Jon asked, confused as he pushed the table to where I was pointing, while I moved to coffee table more to the center and farther from the couch.
"It's not a being, there are people that work in the radio station that send-urgh, nevermind. Yes, it's a great being. The type of great beings that play only three songs in a row and then tries to sell you shit you don't need for thirty minutes. No one needs your landscape design service, Larry! We're in fucking Manhattan!" I stopped my rant to find a very amused looking Jon in front of me.
"I don't know the half of what you said," Jon said and took the broom to sweep the floor, "But it was rather funny how angry you've got with Larry."
I rolled my eyes, listening to the song again on a perfect timing, lip-syncing as I stepped closer to Jon,
"Why'd you come? You know you should have stayed, I tried to warn you just to stay away," even though the lyrics were dark, the situation was amusing. I got close enough to Jon to snatch the broom from him to use it as my fake microphone and he let out a chuckle.
"And now they're outside ready to bust, you look like you might be one of us," then I ran my finger on the bridge of his nose playfully, shoving the broom back to his hands. Jon stood there for a moment, looking at me as the song changed into commercials. There was something about landscape design and Larry who's a very trusted guy, but I wasn't really listening.
That weird moment was cut with the secret knock on my door. I opened to find Sean and Mika with their hands full of equipment. "There's more downstairs," Sean said as they got in. "We need your help."
"Alright," Mika said as he plugged in the seventh screen. He moved to adjust something in his two drones. I made him a smoothie (and set up a small smoothie station for him in the kitchen), and Sean went to get pizza. He's always eating a pepperoni pizza before we go. I wasn't able to drink or eat anything before a mission. I was too nervous, but like always, I knew how to hide it. I listened to some music, opening the door to Sean with his stack of pizzas and soon after Dakota with two big black suitcases.
He didn't have any make up on and wore normal jeans and t-shirt. Dakota might look handsome as a 'normal' guy, but for me he wasn't him without the black and the spikes and the dark lipsticks.
Jon spread his small Manhattan map on the coffee table. I took a big rolled map from the back of my TV screen. "Really, Jon? Very unprofessional." I said. He moved his tiny tourist map and I opened our big Manhattan map that covered the whole table.
"You really are an outlaw." Jon said and looked at the map. A big red circle marked my home.
"More like psychopaths." I said with a shrug. Dakota opened the suitcase with the costumes-that weren't actually costumes. They were genuine Animal Control uniforms. I don't know where and how Dakota is able to get all of those things so fast, and I learned not to ask-he always says he 'has his resources'.
"Who's going first?" He asked and took a pair of pants and shirt out. "That looks about your size, Andie."
We were standing around the coffee table. By the time I was changing Jon took care of the map-he improvised with the things I had in the living room. A Totoro figurine stood in the northern woods of Central Park. A Batman and Wonder Woman figurines stood on the red circle. Around the park, in the north and the west, were a bunch of purple skittles that represented the police, and green skittles that represented the news teams.
I'm still not sure what's worst.
We looked horrible in the uniforms. Good, it's convincing. I mean, Jon looks like a fricking model, and didn't look good even on him.
Dakota gave us badges and dart guns. "Each has twenty mini injecting bullets with enough stuff in them to make a grown man faint in seconds." He said, "I have more for Sean, cause, ya know, he's not the best shot."
"Hey!" Sean protested but still shoved the extra dart pack in his pocket.
"How do I use those?" Jon asked, peering into the barrel. I took it down before he'll accidently shoot himself.
"Well, I don't have time to really teach you how to use those," I said, "For you it's a part of the disguise." He gave that look he had before he started to argue, "You could hit one of us or yourself." I explained myself.
"Then how do you suggest I will be of any help?" Jon asked. I thought for a moment. He does need protection, and I won't let him have his sword or a knife. I don't want any serious injuries. "Alright," I said. I showed him my gun, "That part," I pointed at the butt of the gun. "You can use it to knock someone off." I showed Jon where to hit the person, using Sean as the example. "Quick with not too much strength." I pointed at the part of his skull Jon should hit and did the movement without really hitting him.
Jon nodded.
"Good," Sean said. "Now get the hell away from my precious ginger head you psycho!" He took his tongue out an I returned the gesture.
"Ok, children," Dakota said in a fake British accent, "Let's go over the plans."
"So, with the amazing uniforms Dakota got us we're going to get in there as Animal Control," I started, moving the super heroes on the map to the woods. "Then, we take off our clothes after we spot Ghost-" "Wait, what?" Sean stopped me.
"That's why we have black clothed under the uniforms. Pay attention." Dakota said.
"So we change," Jon said, "And put the uniforms in Dakota's bag."
"Then we go to the southern part of the woods, with Ghost. That's where the complicated part start." I said.
"You two," Jon, the leader he's probably used to be in his world, continued as he gestured to Dakota and Sean, "Will be a distraction. We will have to take down any Blue skittle on our way, but you should do it with more…"
"Flare? Glitter? Showmanship?" I suggested.
"Showmanship."
"You'll take the 100th street exit, near the Tarr Family playground." Mika said.
"And then we split." Jon said.
"Then we split," Sean agreed, looking at me worried. He didn't know Jon well. He wasn't sure he'll do a good job, but I told him I trust him.
"Sean and Dakota are going to pull as many forces after them south as Jon, Ghost and I are going to run west, then north through the allyes," I said, looking at Mika and giving him the stage.
"Then both of the teams are going to go down a closed subway stations and wait for me for orders. I'll turn of the security cameras on your routs and try to screw as much as possible with the police radio," Mika said. "Be careful."
We all placed our hands on top of each other's above the table as Jon looked at us, not understanding what we're doing. I took his hand and placed it above mine.
"Team Jokers, whoop-whoop!" I called.
"Whoop-whoop!" Dakota, Sean and Mika called as we lifted out hand up. That was our stupid moral thingy we did before going out on missions.
Jon didn't seem to understand, but I didn't care.
"Alright motherfuckers, we have a wolf to save!" I shouted and we went out of the door, Mika staying behind.
"I don't like it," Jon said as we approached the police barrier.
"Which part?" I asked quietly, "The stupid uniform or the crazy police car lights?"
"Both, but I don't understand why I couldn't bring a knife,"
"I told you, we're not killing them, we're just… disarm them and shoot darts with sleeping juice in them."
"But you didn't teach me how to use that thing properly," He pointed at his gun.
"You don't need to with Andie on your team." Sean said. We were stopped by an officer.
"Good evening, officer." Dakota said formally.
"I though you already sent a team?" The officer asked and looked at us. I had my blue hair hidden under a blond wig in a braid. We were too young for this job, but I hoped the low lights will confuse him.
"They needed reinforcement," Dakota said and showed his fake badge.
"Alright," the officer said, then he leaned towards Dakota, "They say it's something else," He whispered, "Something way smarter than a polar bear."
Dakota nodded slightly, "Don't talk about it with the press." He said with his 'I am the one who knows' voice. The officer nodded back as he let us all step inside.
We walked into the forest, changing out clothes. I looked at Jon, "Are you ready?" I asked.
"Aye, I've had worst." He said and lead our way in the search for Ghost.
A/N:
Sooo... what did you think? I had some fun writing that chapter (and the next hehehe :) )
Till next time,
~A Girl Has Many Names~