Chapter 3: Peppermint, Plates and Prospero
Many things got accomplished at Louie's that day. Louie showed the Baudelaires a menu from the old Pizza Pie in the Sky, and he showed them how to use his oven. They successfully baked a pizza with the works, minus the anchovies and mushrooms. Klaus asked Louie and Launchpad to come into the kitchen.
After Violet set the pizza down on the counter, she said to Louie and Launchpad, "We want you two to be the first to taste it."
Both Louie and Launchpad took one slice, and after the first bite Louie said, "Kids, this is the best pizza I have ever tasted!"
"Ooh!" Sunny cooed. "Thank you so much, Louie. I brought the herbs and spices from an island the three of us lived on."
"Yeah, the ingredients taste really good together" Launchpad said.
Louie observed, "This doesn't taste like the crust I used."
"That's because it's whole wheat crust," Violet explained. "It was Phoebe's idea to have more options for crusts."
"Did you kids decide to let us taste it first because of our reactions to mushrooms and anchovies?" Launchpad asked.
"That's right," Klaus answered. "You see, all three of us are allergic to peppermint."
"All three of you?" Louie asked. "That's a shame."
"Good thing peppermint isn't a common ingredient for pizza," Launchpad said jokingly.
"It's also a good thing that we only react to it after eating it," Sunny said.
Later Atrus asked the Folcharts and Larabee to practice setting the tables. But Louie said that all the dishes were dirty. The Baudelaires offered to wash the dishes, and Louie let them. Then Dogbert and a seven-foot-tall green dinosaur who was wearing sneakers walked into the restaurant. The dinosaur was holding a big cardboard box.
"Who are you?" Mo asked.
"I'm Bob the Dinosaur," the big reptile said.
"Did you come from a linking book or a 'book-book'?" Larabee asked.
"Uh..." Then Bob the Dinosaur whispered to Dogbert, "Did I come from a linking book or a 'book-book'?"
"You came from a linking book, the same linking book as me," Dogbert replied. "Go get the rest of the stuff."
"Yes, deputy." Then Bob set the box on the floor and left.
"What's in the box?" Meggie asked Dogbert.
"They're collector's plates," he said. "Here are sixteen 'French Guy in Hat' dishes." Dogbert handed Meggie a plate. In the center was a picture of man's face, and the man was wearing a flat cap.
"But, Deputy Dogbert," Larabee said. "I don't think you should serve pizza on those dishes. What if they were made in the year 1943?"
"They are collector's plates, but they're new from when I came. And they're not for eating on, they're just for decoration. By the way, why 1943?"
"I think I understand what you're trying to say, Larabee, although I never would have thought of it like that," Meggie said. "Deputy Dogbert, it doesn't really make any sense to use dishes with a whimsically French design as decoration for Pizza Pie in the Sky, unless we're serving French food also."
"Now that you mention it, Meggie, that is quite strange," Larabee said. "We better wait until the Baudelaires have cleaned Louie's dishes."
"You are such a spoil sport," Dogbert said to Meggie. And then he said to Larabee, "But this is only role play. You know, like drama class."
"I prefer acting in plays that are as realistic as possible," Larabee said.
"Don't worry, because these dishes are actually the 'Italian Guy in French Hat' collection. I got mixed up for a moment."
"Now that's more like it."
Mo took a careful look at one of the dishes. "Deputy Dogbert, this is a picture of an acorn with a face drawn on it."
"Oh, wow, Mo! You certainly have a vivid imagination. No wonder you're such a good storyteller."
Mo rolled his eyes. Why is he the Deputy of Common Sense? I'd say that he has less common sense than any one of the Four Nuisances.
"Beret!" Larabee exclaimed.
"What?!" Dogbert asked.
"Beret! I believe that's the word you're looking for. You know, for a French hat? Would you like to borrow my crossword puzzle dictionary?"
"No, I would not like to borrow your crossword puzzle dictionary. My Dogbert English Dictionary is much better than any other dictionary. Guaranteed! Do you think you're smarter than me? Do you?"
Before Larabee could say anything, Resa said with delight, "Finished." She had set the first table with the "Italian Guy in French Hat" design for eight customers. "You should go next, Larabee, so you can work on your idea for the uniforms with the others."
"Right, Resa," Larabee said, and he did as he was told.
Later, Resa and the Four Nuisances were drawing pictures of their ideas for uniforms for the new Pizza Pie in the Sky. Larabee showed his idea to Kimmy. "What do ya think?" he asked her.
"It looks like a picture of us wearing a dull gray suit just like yours," Kimmy said.
"It is not dull, and they're not all the same. See? I gave all of us different-colored neckties and handkerchiefs."
"Why?"
"So the customers can tell us apart."
"Oh. Now take a look at mine." Kimmy showed her idea to Larabee.
"Yellow and purple do not look good together."
"Sure they do!"
"I agree with you, Kimmy," Phoebe said. "It's a complementary color scheme, like blue and orange, my favorite color combination."
"Hey, everybody!" Launchpad exclaimed. "Look at my design." He showed his idea so that everybody at the table could see it."
"You men have no imagination," Kimmy said. "I like you and all, LP, but I don't understand why you decided to use your pilot's uniform as the restaurant's uniform."
"Well, first of all, this is Pizza Pie in the Sky, and Atrus and Violet said that they could help Baloo come up with ways to make deliveries on the Sea Duck in Cape Suzette and the vicinity so that they won't conflict with his deliveries for Higher for Hire. So I think it would be fitting if we all dressed like pilots. And second of all, I'm not sure whether Resa would be able to figure out how to tailor a uniform for somebody with my physique...and webbed feet."
"I think I can, Launchpad," Resa said.
"Now take a look at mine," Phoebe said. "It's a nautical-inspired design." Phoebe's idea for the uniform included a navy suit, a white dress shirt, a navy blue necktie, navy blue shoes, and a white sailor hat. "It's sort of a combination of 'navy pilot,' 'sailor,' and 'flight attendant.' I thought that I would be appropriate because of the pizza deliveries made by sea plane and the fact that the restaurant is located on an island."
Launchpad looked pleased. "I really like yours, Phoebe."
"You know what? So do I," Larabee said.
"That's my favorite, definitely," Resa said.
"What, no orange?" Kimmy asked in shock.
"I'm sorry that I disappointed you, Kimmy," Phoebe apologized.
"That's okay. I think Duane would like it, anyway."
"Who's Duane?" Resa asked.
"My boyfriend. One of our favorite places to go on a date is at a seafood restaurant at Pier 39 in San Francisco, and your uniform design reminds me of the uniforms they wear at that restaurant. Duane's in the same plumbing business as his dad. He's also a Shakespeare buff. Hey, Resa, do you think that Mo or Meggie could read out the characters from one of Shakespeare's plays so that Duane could meet them?"
Resa shook her head. "I'm not too sure about that," she said. "You see, Kimmy, plays are primarily dialog, that is, the actors' lines, and then there are stage directions and brief descriptions of scenes. For Readers like Mo and Meggie, it is easiest for them to read characters from books that depend strongly on narration, which plays often lack."
"Oh."
"But maybe Atrus has a linking book in his library that has a movieverse version of a Shakespearean play. Which play would you like to try first?"
"Uh...How about The Tempest?"
"That's a good suggestion. I'll make sure to ask Atrus, Catherine, or Yeesha about it."
"That would be fantastic." Kimmy paused. "To be honest with you, Resa, I'm not that much of a reader."
"There are many people like you, Kimmy. Some don't read much because they're lazy, while others don't read much because of a learning difficulty. Maybe if you start with books that are a light read and then gradually increase the level of difficulty, you might eventually be as much of a reader as your friend DJ."
"You really think so?"
"Certainly."
"Thanks, Resa! That's very encouraging."
"You're very welcome."
"By the way, what's your idea for our uniforms?"
"It's not nearly as good as Phoebe's. It's just a 'medieval peasant' look." Resa showed her drawing so that the other four could see. "That's the style of clothing that I'm used to making for nine of the past ten years of my life."
"Actually, I don't think it's that bad," Larabee said. "But if Phoebe's idea is your favorite, I guess we'll have to go with it."
As the group of five celebrated the decision, the Deputy of Common Sense walked up to their table. He shook Resa's hand and said, "Congratulations on getting the Four Nuisances to get along. Whose design did you choose?"
"I chose Phoebe's."
"Phoebe's?!"
And at that moment, Deputy Dogbert fainted.
"Is he unconscious?" Phoebe asked.
Resa took a good look at the dog deputy. "Yes," she confirmed.
"Good." Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief. "At my old school we never had a dog faint during art class."
THE END
Author's Notes
About Atrus: Atrus is one of the characters you encounter several times in the Myst games series. I never finished Myst and I barely started Riven. Those games were just too tough for me. (I'm more of an action-game person than a puzzle-game person.) A lot of the info about Atrus, Catherine, Yeesha, and Tomahna I acquired from D'ni: The Myst Wiki and from walkthoughs of Myst III and Myst IV that I watched on YouTube. I made a few changes to Tomahna. Even though the Myst games existed when I first made "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics, Atrus was not from my first "Pizza Pie" stories from the mid-1990s, but it would have been great if he was. The description of Atrus belongs to G'lek. I decided to change the order and the words a little bit.
About Baloo: Of course he was from my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comic series! Will readers Mo and Meggie discover a connection between Baloo von Bruinwald XIII from TaleSpin and Baloo from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling? Perhaps, if a pop culture trivia buff like Kimmy blabs, or perhaps not if Agent J uses his "flashy-thing." I got the idea of how to describe Baloo from old issues of Disney Adventures Magazine and an article from Wikipedia.
About Louie: Louie is another TaleSpin character from the animated movie The Jungle Book. And, yes, according to the TaleSpin episode "Pizza Pie in the Sky," anchovies did make Louie crazy. I got the idea of how to describe Louie from old issues of Disney Adventures Magazine and an article from Wikipedia.
About Agent J: Agent J is from the Men in Black movies. Agent J was not from my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics. But doesn't it make sense for an ultimate crossover to have a character who has a memory-erasing "flashy-thing"? Thanks to TheNew959 for giving me a description for Agent J.
About Dogbert: Dogbert was in my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics, only he didn't work at the restaurant, he was a villain. "Dogbert: Deputy of Common Sense" was a bit that cartoonist Scott Adams used in his comic strip Dilbert. The "French Guy in Hat" bit was also from the Dilbert comic strip.
About Violet: If I were to bring up Violet's inventing skills in future stories, they would most likely be inventions from the computer game, the video game, the movie, or the books. She would also show interest in inventions from other worlds. The description of Violet is partly Wisteria Stargazer's and partly mine.
About Klaus: I should have much less trouble with incorporating movieverse Klaus's photographic memory than Violet's inventing skills. The description of Klaus is partly Wisteria Stargazer's and partly mine.
About Sunny: I should have the least trouble with Sunny's biting and cooking skills. I made Sunny a three-year-old who speaks perfect English because in Book the Thirteenth, The End, Sunny is a three-year-old girl who speaks perfect English. The description of Sunny is partly Wisteria Stargazer's and partly mine.
About Mo: The description of Mo is partly Goldencity's, partly Cornelia Funke's, and partly mine.
About Meggie: The description of Meggie is partly Goldencity's, partly Cornelia Funke's, and partly mine.
About Resa: The description of Resa is partly Goldencity's, partly Cornelia Funke's, and partly mine.
About Launchpad: Launchpad was in my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics. This is the DuckTales Launchpad, not the Darkwing Duck Launchpad. Frankly, Darkwing Duck is too dark for me, so don't expect any characters from Darkwing Duck. Back then I noticed similarities between him and Baloo. Did you realize that Launchpad's plane at the beginning of DuckTales: The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp looked an awful lot like Baloo's Sea Duck? That's a plane I had Launchpad refer to at the end of the second chapter. There was an episode of DuckTales in which Launchpad said that mushrooms made him sneeze.
About Phoebe: Phoebe was in my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics. I must admit that at the beginning of The Magic School Bus, Phoebe did get on my nerves whenever she said "At my old school..." But I started to like her more later in the series when there were a couple of episodes about her. This story has some references to specific episodes of The Magic School Bus, for example, how Phoebe thinks orange and blue look good together is from "The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow." The description of Phoebe belongs to Wisteria Stargazer.
About Kimmy: Kimmy was never in my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics. This may come as a shock to you, but Kimmy was my favorite character on Full House because I thought she was the least annoying. I got the idea of Kimmy saying that yellow and purple looked good together from an Andrea Barber quote I found on Nightcrawlerlover's FanFiction profile. The description of Kimmy belongs to Foxcat93.
About Larabee: Larabee was never in my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics. I did watch Get Smart either during or before the "Pizza Pie" fan comics, but I didn't remember him being a character on Get Smart, and he was one the show a lot. Many of Larabee's quotes in this story were his quotes from Get Smart because Maxwell Smart had about twenty catchphrases, but Larabee didn't really have any. He did occasionally share a quote with Max. The description of Larabee is partly Foxcat93's and partly mine.
Miscellaneous: The characters from my "Pizza Pie in the Sky" comics that weren't in this story were Slinky Dog from Toy Story, Shawn from Barney and Friends, and Gloria from Kids Incorporated. Larabee asking Kimmy whether the chewing gum loses its flavor under the theater seats overnight is based on a conversation between Max and Larabee in Foxcat93's Get Smart/Bill Dana Show crossover, "Stealth in Manhattan." Bob the Dinosaur is a character from the comic strip Dilbert.