Leftover Alphabet Soup

A/N: Hello there! Akira here, with the next installment of Leftover Alphabet Soup. Just to avoid any confusion over how the story goes with the title, here's a quick definition:

Kleptomaniacal n. An obsessive impulse to steal regardless of economic need

Disclaimer: I don't think JP procrastinates because he's too busy reading Harry Potter fanfiction.

K is for: Kleptomaniacal Kangaroos
By Akira43

The zoo. Meant to provide hours of entertainment and enjoyment, providing an opportunity for people to see exotic animals of all kinds in the comfort of their own city and familiarity of a concrete jungle. Kids especially love the zoo, as they are still young enough to imagine what it would be like to see the animals in their natural environment somewhere half way around the world, giving them a sense of adventure.

Right now the only adventure I wanted to go on was to anywhere but here.

Once again, we found ourselves sneaking into the zoo with a group of schoolchildren, still on the run from Erasers. Or flyboys. Or whatever else it was that was chasing us nowadays. Anyways, in the zoo now.

Cue the nauseous memories, courtesy of whoever thought it was a good idea to display hundreds of animals behind iron bars and missal-proof glass.

Luckily, at this particular zoo, not all animals were behind bars, as we were about to discover.

"Max! Max! They have a place where you can walk with the kangaroos! There's a path, and then there's all sorts of kangaroos around you, and if you're lucky, one may even come up to the path and you can pet it! Can we go Max? Please?!"

Such was the plea from the younger members of the flock that prompted me into agreeing, and soon I found myself on said path, surrounded by said kangaroos.

The flock was having a grand time, completely disregarding the signs reading "Please Stay On Path".

"Gazzy! Get back over here!" I scolded for the umpteenth time, gesturing towards the sign.

"Aw, but Max, we don't technically have to stay on the path. It's just a request—see? The sign says 'please', not that we have to!" he replied without a moment's hesitation.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, even if the sign is only requesting, I'm demanding, so you better get your butt over here or I'll—"

My mouth dropped open mid-sentence. Gazzy, who had been focusing all his attention on pleading with me, looked confused for a moment. Then his eyes grew wide, and he slowly turned to follow my line of sight.

A few yards away from him stood a kangaroo, holding a small ball with a couple of wires sticking out of it.

"Gazzy," I said, trying to stay calm. "Is that kangaroo holding a bomb?"

"Well, er," Gazzy stumbled, just as distraught as I was. "I wouldn't exactly call it a bomb. It's more of a, um, small explosive device."

Iggy, who had been standing a short ways away, immediately picked up on the situation, and muttered a quiet "This isn't going to end well."

My mouth had gone dry. I opened and closed it a few times, trying to find something to say. "Uh, Gazzy? It, uh, it wouldn't happen to be armed, would it?"

Before he could answer, a soft "click" came from the object held by the mischievous kangaroo.

"I think it is, Max," Gazzy said, now frozen in fright.

"Gasman! Take five steps northeast of where you're facing, then rush sideways towards 8 o'clock!"

Without wasting a second, the Gasman followed Iggy's instructions. Moments later there was a loud "oof!" followed by a brief scuffle, with Gazzy emerging victoriously, clutching the stolen bomb.

"Well done Gazzy!" Nudge cried from where she stood next to me.

"Yes!" Iggy shouted, and pumped his fist in victory.

"Gazzy, I think you should disarm it now," Fang said quietly. I looked over at him, and despite his calm voice, his tense posture told me that he was anything but at ease.

"Right!" the Gasman shouted, his excitement still persisting. Half a minute later and the "small explosive device" was back in his pocket, successfully disarmed.

"Well, I'd say that went well," he concluded as he made his way back to where we were standing.

Not even my death glare was able to wipe the grin off his face for the rest of the day.

A/N: So I realized that we keep forgetting to thank our reviewers (and that I continually forget to reply to reviewers thanking them). Therefore, without further ado,

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR AMAZING WONDERFUL AWESOME REVIEWERS!!!!!

Next up: L is for Luscious Lemons, brought to you courtesy of Ninja C (remember to keep it PG13!)