"And this is baby Rodentia!" Finny held a tiny black rat in his arms, nuzzling her. The baby cooed and stroked his whiskers.
"When you become un papí, bose?" Lucia nearly shrieked.
"He rescued her from a fire after a bus crashed into the community center. It'd crushed her mother to death and we couldn't find her family," Phillip answered, groaning as he sat down at the kitchen table. The house was a two-room shack, with sleeping mats all over the bedroom floor and very little furniture. The kitchen had a few cabinets, a high-chair, a table propped up on bricks, two chairs and a barrel half-full of water. A bed (also on bricks), a table and a small wardrobe were in the bedroom.
"Why did the bus crash into the building?" asked Kitty.
"It's kinda a long story," sighed Phillip. "Pietus and Bouki, the dog that got hurt in today's fight, they're old friends of mine. The Tomahawks are in a gang war with the Mongols. A while back they asked me to help, and when we still weren't doing good I asked Finny to join us. Then a month ago a student riot started up, I don't know all the particulars. All kinds of crazy things've been happenin' since then."
Kitty and the other girls slept on the bed that night, except for Jacinta who slept on top of the bedroom table. Finny and his dad slept next to the bed, with Finny holding Rodentia close to him. All the Africans slept in the kitchen, waiting for Bouki and Makena the zebra to return.
At the house of the Mongols, things were about the same. The girls slept on the bed, the American guys slept on the bedroom floor and the African guys in the kitchen.
At the Tomahawks, everyone awoke to Rodentia's cries. The newcomers jolted awake, everyone else slowly sat up rubbing their eyes. "What's wrong, Rodey?" Finny murmured, rocking the child in his arms. Finny proceeded to clean and feed the baby before sitting back down on his mat. Everyone else slowly drifted back to sleep except Kitty. She watched as her friend rocked his adopted daughter and sang softly to her.
One thing I know for sure, She was sent here from heaven
And she's Daddy's little girl, As I drop to my knees by her
bed, She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes, And I thank
God for all of the joy in my life, Oh but most of all, For
butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer, Sticking little white
flowers all up in her hair, Walk beside the pony Daddy, it's
my first ride, I know the cake looks funny Daddy, but I sure
tried, Oh with all that I've done wrong I musta done something
right, To deserve a hug every morning and butterfly kisses
at night. (Song title "Butterfly Kisses", just first verse)
The Rodentius family refused to leave the Tomahawks until the gang war was over, and the Americans refused to leave without them. Their blasters were a valuable asset to the Tomahawks, but so were the Chameleon, BirdBrain and his henchmen and their blasters to the Mongols. Eventually, a deal was made.
"Every year in the Gobi desert there's an ATV race. It's in a few days, this year our gangs will race. The first person from either side to cross the finish line determines which gang wins the war," Phillip explained. Koloko agreed to the plan.
Everyone managed to fit into the WhirlyBird, the T.U.F.F. Mobile (converted into a helicoptor), and the Chameleon in helicoptor form. When they arrived at the start of the race, everyone divided into pairs and found/bought/built an ATV to race on. The race lasts three days. The pairs were Snaptrap and Phillip, Finny and Kitty (with Rodey in a special carrier on Finny's chest), Ollie and Lucia, BD and LT, Josie and Jacinta, Mole and Larry, Shikibu and Makena, Jarvas and Jackson, Pietus and the Chief, Bouki and Keswick, Koloko and Sundiata, Erevu the warthog and Kopa the meerkat (any reference to "Lion King" characters Timon and Pumbaa not intended), Sipho the penguin and Scaramouche the hyena, Chameleon and Wangero, Owl and Ewe, Duck and Holy Cow, and BirdBrain and Zippy.
It was noticed that Phillip and Finny became increasingly uneasy as the day of the race approached. "Is something wrong, guys?" Kitty asked the night before as Team Tomahawk finished dinner.
"It's the Rodentius Family Curse," sighed Phillip, "My great-grandfather's brother David and his best friend were killed during this race. They were attacked by Mongolian Deathworms."
"Oh, not that curse business again," groaned Kitty.
"No, it's true!" declared Finny.
"Wait wait, what curse Mr. Rodentius?" the Chief interrupted.
"That is a very old story," began Phillip. "My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-gr andfather James Rodentius had promised to marry a gypsy girl. But he ended up falling in love with my grandmother instead. The gypsy cursed him, and anyone born under the Rodentius family name. Ever since, every member of our family born under the name Rodentius has had bad luck and encountered some type of monster. I fell under the curse when I was a junior in high school. My best friend, our girlfriends and I went for a camping trip out in the woods where we got lost and ran out of food. My friend's girl disappeared the fourth day after our food ran out. He..." Phillip began to tear up, "He started acting strange, he talked about a buzzing in his head and hinted at eating my girl, but I told him he was just dizzy from hunger. But then...that night, I noticed they were both missing...so I stepped out and saw 'em (sniffle, sniffle) She was lying on the ground and he was leanin' over her...I called 'What are you doin'?' (sob) and he looked up at me, but it wasn't his face! It was some monster, growling at me! I ran and found a cave to hide in until a pair of rangers found me, but still I was the only one to escape!" Phillip hugged himself as he wept. Finny wrapped his arms around his father as the Tomahawks rubbed his back.
"I was attacked by a monster, too," Finny looked to Kitty, "a buddy and our fishing guide were killed by a monster fish in White River. And Phil and our cousin Mark were attacked by a snake called Megaconda in a warehouse they were investigating for Mark's activist group."
"What are Mongolian Deathworms?" Snaptrap asked after a moment of silence.
"Is a creature in de sand," answered Shikibu, "it spit acid and electricity from ten feet away." An uneasy silence fell over the company.