This is a song chapter, so there will be many characters singing. So, to make sure you don't get confused...
Enrique - "!"
Gente de Zona - "!"
Enrique, Sean Paul, and Descemer Bueno - "!"
Sean Paul - "!"
Chapter 3 - Bailando
Swoops flew valiantly for an hour through the storm, and even though it got worse, he finally made it out. And he smiled when he saw the sun, and that the winds finally died down.
"Yes! Whoo-hoo! What a ride! You were right, Crusher, we made it!" Swoops cheered, but his cheering soon stopped when he not only realized he didn't hear anyone, but that he felt much lighter too.
"Guys? Guys?" Swoops called, but when he got no answer, he finally realized the worst, "oh, no! They're gone! What do I do? What do I do?! I…I gotta go back for 'em! Yeah, no truck left behind!"
But just when Swoops attempted to fly back into the storm, an even bigger lighting bolt than before suddenly struck down a few inches in front of his face, immediately making him stop.
"O-ok, goin' back fer help sounds like a MUCH better idea!" Swoops whimpered and turned around, remembering the way back to Axle City, but he still felt guilt that he couldn't go back and get the others.
"Wherever they are, I hope they're ok."
Tiana groaned and slowly blinked her eyes open when a few drops of rain splashed in her face rudely awoke her.
But when she fully woke up, she finally took in her surroundings; she looked down to find a slanted hill covered in trees and bushes and other kinds of forest vegetation, and she realized that she was lying in the prickly foliage of a really tall spruce tree.
"Well, look who finally decided ta wake up!" a familiar voice called, and Tiana looked to her right to find the voice belonged to Crusher, as he and Pickle were hanging upside-down from Pickle tow cable(which was still connected to Crusher), as it was caught on the branch of a tall oak tree.
Tiana then remembered Swoops and that they fell out of him on accident, but it couldn't have been that long ago because the worst part of storm was over, and now it was just sprinkling.
"Are you guys ok?!" Tiana called down in concern.
"I kinda have a headache, but other than that, we're fine! Thank you for asking!" Pickle called back politely.
"You wouldn't have a headache if you'd just let go, Pickle," Crusher grimly pointed out.
"Oh, ok!"
"No, no, no, no, no! WAIT!" But before Crusher could tell Pickle to stop, the said small and green monster truck suddenly let go, causing Crusher to fall and hit his head on every branch on the way down, and he finally landed at the truck of the tree, painfully on his back.
But Pickle was lucky and graceful enough to hop down from each branch, and he landed gently.
"I can sleep in, Ma, it's not a school day!" Crusher called hysterically when he was still delusional from the fall, and it could be proven as his eyes were still rolling around in their sockets with a daze.
"Did anyone see which way Swoops went?" Tiana questioned while looking up at the sky in search of the said helicopter, and that's when Crusher suddenly stood back up on all four wheels and violently shook his head.
"Ya know, it's rather hard ta see which way a helicopter went when I'm plummeting!" Crusher stated angrily, and he glared at Tiana in an accusing way.
"I no lo entiendo. Are you blaming ME for all this?" Tiana asked with surprise.
"Yes, I am! If you had just helped Pickle to catch me, we all wouldn't have fallen out. But NOOO! You had to get all chicken, and let Pickle try to pull me back up on his own, which he CLEARLY CAN'T DO!"
"I was trying not to fall myself! Besides, you should've been more careful!"
"What else was I supposed ta do?! That lightning was RIGHT THERE! Did ya think I was just gonna go up to it, and give it a kiss?! I don't think so!"
"Hey, calm down! This isn't helping us get any closer ta home!" Pickle snapped while stepping between them when the two were face to face with rage, and he pushed them apart before things could get ugly.
"De acuerdo, he's right. If we keep fighting like this, we'll never make it back in time for the wedding," Tiana sighed in defeat.
"Then what do we do?" Crusher asked impatiently.
"First, we should really get out of this rain before we get sick. Ven conmigo," Tiana pointed out and suddenly turned around to drive down the mountain.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Crusher called.
"Back to Motormoros. I hope you were planning on coming with me," she replied without stopping or turning around, and Pickle immediately smiled at Crusher and then followed Tiana.
But Crusher didn't feel like following her, so it took an intimidating rumble of thunder to "convince" him to finally go with them.
Upon return to Axle City, the sun was close to setting, and Swoops was becoming more and more worried for Crusher, Pickle and Tiana, especially since it was getting darker.
So, the western-accent helicopter reluctantly flew to the Monster Dome to find Blaze and Rain, and he was afraid to break the bad news to the soon-to-be-wedded.
When he landed at the main entrance of the Monster Dome, Starla quickly drove out of the said building with happy smile, her husband following closely behind with a very worried expression on his face.
"Where are you going?" Stripes asked quickly while driving in front of Starla and stopping her from getting any closer to Swoops.
"I'm just goin' ta say howdy ta Blaze's childhood friend. Is there anythin' wrong with that?" Starla asked with a smirk.
"There is if you get too close to Swoops in your kind of condition. Just look at those blades, they're huge and dangerous!" Stripes went on hysterically, and pointed up at Swoops' blades as they slowly powered down.
"Oh, stop bein' such a worry wuss. And quit hurtin' Swoops' feelin's," Starla demanded while rolling her eyes.
"Oh, don't fret, I'm not offended, Starla…but I do got bad news," Swoops pointed out reluctantly, "do you know where Blaze is?"
"Yeah, he's been inside all afternoon, practicing for the ceremony," Stripes replied while pointing a tire towards the Monster Dome entrance. And without another word, the helicopter drove inside, and looked around for Blaze.
The said red monster truck was just on the other side of the stadium, standing at the end of the white isle, quietly mumbling what Swoops assumed were his vows.
"Hey, Blaze?" Swoops piped up while slowly approaching his friend, and he managed to not scare him.
"Oh, hey, Swoops. That was quick. Where are the others?" Blaze asked with an excited smile.
"Y-yeah…about that…don't get mad at me fer this, but…they didn't quite make it back," Swoops replied sheepishly, and Blaze's smile instantly disappeared.
"What do you mean?"
"Ya see, th-there was this storm, a-and I lost control…and I dropped 'em!"
"You what?!"
"I'm so sorry, Blaze! I swear, I thought they were still there at first, but when I realized they weren't, the weather was still too bad to go back for them!"
"It's ok, it's ok! I'm not mad at you, ok? I'm just worried. We need to rescue them."
"What about your wedding?"
"We'll have to postpone it until they're all back safe and sound…just don't tell Rain."
"Don't tell me what?" As if on cue, Rain herself approached them, and she was curious as to what the boys were talking about.
"U-um…" was all Blaze could say.
"Rain, please, don't get mad—but Crusher and Pickle didn't make it back with Tiana," Swoops explained nervously.
"There was a bad storm while I was flying them back…but something bad happened, and they fell out…"
"Oh, no! Are they ok?! We have to find them! We can't have the wedding without them!" Rain exclaimed firmly, taking Swoops and Blaze by surprise with how ironic it was.
"Y-yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. But are you sure you want to wait longer to get married?" Blaze asked with concern.
"Hon, believe me, I'd marry you right here, right now. But right now, our friends could be lost out there somewhere, and they might be in danger. We can't just sit idly by when they need help," Rain replied gently and gave Blaze a little kiss on his forehead, "I promise, it'll be worth the wait."
…
"Ahem!" Swoops coughed awkwardly, "so…what's the plan?"
By the time Tiana, Pickle and Crusher made it down the mountain and back to Motormoros, the sun has already set, and a clear, starry night blanketed the sky, but the city was brightly lit up with brilliant lights.
"Wow. Even at night, this place is too bright," Crusher complained while rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, you'll get used to it. Es bonito, very beautiful," Tiana pointed out with a smile.
"I agree!" Pickle sighed in awe.
"If you're in the mood ta sing and dance, then come see Enrique and his singing gang!" a male voice announced from down the streets, and numerous other trucks started following it.
"Oh, impresionante! C'mon, you guys are going to love this!" Tiana laughed giddily and sped down the street, and Pickle and Crusher followed her out of curiosity.
When they arrived at the end of the street, they pushed through the crowd, there was a band that was striking in a Hispanic musical tone, and there five trucks that were performing.
Enrique Iglesias, the lead truck, standing in front with a microphone, was a tall and slim male monster truck with tan paint and brown eyes; standing next to him was Sean Paul, was a short and buff male monster truck with light brown paint, he wore black sunglasses, and his hair was done up in a black Mohawk; to Sean and Enrique's right was Gente de Zona, a singing duo of dark brown male monster trucks, one shorter than the other, and they both wore dark purple sunglasses; and last, but not least, to the far left was Descemer Bueno, a tall and slim, dark blue male monster truck wearing a grey trilby hat.
Soon, the music really started picking up, and everyone cheered when they knew they were about to sing.
"Enrique, sing for dem!" Gente de Zona cried out.
"You look at me, and girl, you take me to another place! Got me feelin' like I'm flyin', like I'm out in space!" Enrique sang loudly with a smile, "somethin' 'bout your body says 'come and take me'! Got me beggin', got me hopin' that the night don't stop!"
"Bailando!" Gente de Zona sang out.
"Bailando!" Enrique, Sean and Descemer backed up.
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Tu cuerpo y el mio llenando el vacio subiendo y bajando! Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Ese fuego por dentro me esta enloquecieno me va saturando!"
"Girl, I like the way you move! Come and show me what you do! People tell me that you want me! Girl, you got nothin' to lose! I cant wait no more!"
"Ya no puedo mas!"
"I can't wait no more!"
"Ya no puedo mas!"
"She can call me for a fit-it 'cause you nah say me not pretty! Me-a tell you no for pit it! Anytime when me get it, and it's time that we get it! It's gonna be alright! We take it to full fly, so we do this all night!" Sean Paul's singing echoed, as he had the loudest and deepest voice.
As the song continued, more and more trucks coupled up and danced around, even if they didn't know each other, and they laughed and danced around like it was the time of their lives. But there was one truck who was a little too embarrassed to join in the dance, and that lonely truck was Crusher.
And when Pickle and Tiana noticed he didn't know how to join in the fun, they both grabbed him by his front tires and pulled him into the crowd, showing him the moves and how to dance together. But even with their help, Crusher was still awkwardly dancing.
"I wanna be contigo, and live contigo, and dance contigo! Para have contigo, una noche loca! Y besar tu boca! I wanna be contigo, and live contigo, and dance contigo! Para have contigo, una noche loca! Y besar tu boca!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Stay with me, girl!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Stay with me, girl!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Play with me, girl!"
"Oh, oh, oh!"
"Stay with me, girl!"
Maybe it was from all the dizziness of uncontrollably spinning out, but when Crusher was finally able to stop and calm down after the others tried to force him to dance, he suddenly noticed something about Tiana he hadn't before…something about her enthusiastic dancing, her smile, and even her laugh suddenly took Crusher by surprise, and he swore he felt his heart rate start to go up.
And the more he watched her dance with Pickle, the more he could feel his cheeks warm up, as he failed to notice that he was blushing a bit.
"I look at you, and it feels like paradise!" Enrique continued singing, "When you got me spinnin', got me crazy, got me hypnotized! I need your love, I need you closer! Keep me beggin, keep me hopin' that the night don't stop!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Tu cuerpo y el mio llenando el vacio subiendo y bajando! Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Bailando!"
"Ese fuego por dentro me esta eloqueciendo me va saturando!"
"Girl, I like the way you move! Come and show me what you do! People tell me that you want me! Girl, you got nothin' to lose! I can't wait no more!"
"Ya no puedo mas!"
"I can't wait no more!"
"Ya no puedo mas!"
"She can call me for a fit-it 'cause you nah say me not pretty! Me-a tell you no for pit it! Anytime when me get it! It's gonna be alright! We takin' it full flight, so we do this all night!"
"I wanna be contigo, and live contigo, and dance contigo! Para have contigo, una noche loca! Y besar tu boca! I wanna be contigo, and live contigo, and dance contigo! Para have contigo, una noche loca! Y besar tu boca!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Stay with me, girl!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Stay with me, girl!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Play with me, girl!"
"Oh, oh, oh, oh!"
"Stay with me, girl!"
When the song ended, most of the couples consisting of one boy and one girl ended with the boy respectfully dipping his female partner. But for Crusher, it suddenly ended with Tiana twirling him around and dipping him, instead of the other way around. And he awkwardly stared up at her, as she giggled and Pickle cheered and clapped for them both.
"You're very light on your wheels, Crusher. With a little more practice, you will be perfecto," Tiana complimented with a sweet smile, as she let Crusher go, and her nervously fidgeted before he was able to stand on all four wheels again.
"Yeah, Crusher, I didn't know you could dance like that!" Pickle added with surprise.
"Neither did I," Crusher mumbled with astonishment, "what the heck does…'bailand-ish' mean, anyway?"
"'Bailando'," Tiana corrected with a giggle, "it means 'dancing' in Spanish, and sometimes, Enrique and his friends will perform in the streets, just to make us all happy and dance together."
"He sounds like a really nice guy," Pickle figured.
"Si, he is," Tiana confirmed while nodding.
"Great, we had fun, whatever. But how did any of that solve our problem of getting back to Axle City?" Crusher asked impatiently.
"You wanted to go back to Axle City? Why didn't you just say so? I know how to get there," Tiana kindly pointed out.
"What?!" Crusher exclaimed with shock.
"You do?" Pickled questioned.
"Of course. My abuela and I used to visit her sister there when I was a ninita. Who knew Blaze went to live there when he moved out of Motormoros?"
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Crusher asked out of frustration.
"You never asked," Tiana simply replied, making Crusher grumble in disappointment.
"Can we just go already?" Crusher sighed in defeat.
"No, it's too dark. We'll leave first in the morning," Tiana replied firmly.
"Ooh, can we camp out here?" Pickle asked with hope.
"Por supuesto, of course we can. Just let me go to my house, and get some supplies, and we'll have a nice camping trip out in the mountains." With that, the strawberry pink monster truck drove away to retrieve the supplies they'll need for their trip, leaving Crusher and Pickle behind in the middle of the street to wait for her.
"I really like her," Pickle piped up with a bright smile, "what do you think, Crusher?"
But when the little green monster truck waited on an answer from his friend, he never got one; he then noticed how Crusher was staring longingly in the direction Tiana left, and when he saw the look on his face, and the fact that he didn't pay attention to anything else, Pickle smirked when he had a pretty good idea as to how this would all end.
"Bailando" belongs to Enrique Iglesias, Dente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Sean Paul, and Alejandro Perez. Please, support the official release.
Oi vey, you guys have no idea how hard it was to keep track of who was singing and the signs and all that junk. It was kinda exhausting, but totally worth it.
But some interesting things have happened in this chapter. Tiana taught Crusher and Pickle how to have fun, Blaze and Rain postponed their wedding until they know their friends are home safely, and it seems Stripes has become very overprotective of Starla all of the sudden. I wonder why that is. Hmm...
Of course, I know, but I'm not gonna spoil it for you guys;)
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!