All of Chinatown smelled like one giant fried dumpling. Sam's mouth couldn't stop watering. Every storefront window on the narrow street was packed with a brightly lit display of food, either a rack of hanging meats or ducklings or doughy pastries. Most of it looked fairly gross, of course, but the smell was incredible. The blonde sucked in a deep breath of the cool afternoon air. She couldn't believe she'd never discovered this neighborhood. Chinatown was tailor-made for somebody like her; somebody who could live on desserts and fried food until their heart gave out.
A gentle squeeze brought her back to reality and to the mission she was currently burdened with. "I promise cream-cheese wontons with sweet and sour sauce on the way out," Carly promised indulgently. The slim brunette was less appreciative of the sights and wanted to leave as quickly as humanly possible. Abashedly, Carly got nervous in unaccustomed territory with unfamiliar people milling about. This was evident in the way the taller girl had her pinkie finger wrapped with Sam's to ensure they wouldn't get separated. It was a habit the shorter of the two found to be completely unnecessary and innocuous but which she tolerated out of affection for her friend. Ahead of them, walked the leader of their little expedition.
As of the moment, he wasn't doing such a dynamic job at leading. "I'm just not finding it, these streets are twisting back and forth and intersecting in a way that's not matching the maps I downloaded." Surveying his maps, Freddie noticed a water spot in the upper right hand corner of one of the sheets. He tilted his head up to look at the rainclouds gathering above them. "I think we're going to get a little wet pretty soon too."
"Tell me again what we're looking for?" Carly politely requested.
"A local distributor of the Happy Giraffe cereal. The closest one I found listed is an oriental dime store called The Taozhou Bazaar. It's supposed to be somewhere around here but all I can see are these little marketplace stalls…" Freddie looked around to inspect his panoramic view when something caught his attention. "Hey! Did you see that?"
"What?" Sam and Carly both asked, bobbing their heads around to look over their shoulders. Nothing stood out to either of them, just shoppers, shoppers and more shoppers. Also, a few chickens running free in the street, but that wasn't an uncommon sight either, considering the setting.
"I thought I saw a guy ducking behind a corner after I caught him staring at us." Freddie testified, suspicion lurking in his voice.
"A lot of people are staring at us Poindexter." Sam noted observationally, "You're the only guy here over five foot four inches. We're the only girls here who aren't Asian. I feel my eyes getting slantier by the minute. Gah! Walking through this place better be making me smarter at math."
"Sam, what did I tell you about stereotyping?" Carly reminded.
"I'm mostly right but it's not politically correct to do in public," the disgruntled blonde grumbled before being hastily pulled out of the path of a silk vendor's wagon. "Hey, watch where you're going!"
"Tow… towzoooOo…" Carly sounded out, "Is that the place we're looking for?" She pointed across the street at a quaint little corner store with thick red and gold banners draped over the windows. A copper statue of a heavyset Buddha sat outside of the entrance, his arms gesturing towards the door invitingly.
"It looks like it. Let's get inside before it starts pouring." Freddie held the maps atop of his head as he launched into a jog and made a beeline for the destination. The two girls ran after him, hand in hand, weaving back and forth as to avoid the puddles pooling on the cobblestone road. Freddie held open the creaky oak door for them as he stood aside and let them walk through first. As soon as Freddie let himself in and shut the door, the tinkling of a wind chime sounded and an elderly Chinese man with a braided white beard peered at the trio from behind a glass counter. He rose from his barstool and shakily gripping at his cane, left to his storeroom.
"Dal nah hoo say zong Gramps! I'm almost done!" The aroma of jasmine incense wafted through the air while tiny lights of flickering candles illuminated the tall aged shelves of the cozy emporium. From the stockroom door, a slender Asian girl looking just older than themselves traipsed out, shouldering a cardboard box full of long black bottles topped with green caps. She sported a purple tank top with a black mesh shirt over it, a khaki skirt, a pair of sandals and a mop of dreadlocks tucked underneath a striped beanie where a red and blue Obama patch had been sewn into it. Heavy eyeliner accented her eyes, making her look more abrasive than she otherwise would seem. "Oh 'sup, some white suburban kids. We don't get too many of you in here," she sociably expressed while kicking a small wooden ladder towards the shelves. Stepping onto a rung, she began filling the highest shelf with bottles of soy sauce, "Mostly just little old ladies stopping by to find an herbal remedy to make them look more youthful. I'm Michelle. What can I do for you?"
Carly had to let herself adapt to the newfangled appearance of the hipster stock girl in an otherwise very traditional looking market. Her silver lip-ring caught the light and distracted Carly momentarily. "Oh! We were hoping that you could tell us a little bit about this," she offered the caricature drawn napkin to her. "We were just curious, yes, full of curiosity, like cats! I mean… I really like cats and I heard that in China, they enjoy them too. Not that I'm suggesting anything about your culture and the way they treat cats, it's just… what I mean to say is that… no. No, we're not interested in buying any soup from you. Thank you."
A chuckle resonated as the girl cordially accepted the scrap of napkin. "You're joshing me right? Your friend's a trip." She winked her eye at Carly with a flirtatious smile. "Hm…" She pressed his lips together as she thoughtfully studied the sketch. "You're asking about Happy Giraffe cereal? Oh, no way man, we definitely don't carry the brand anymore."
"Why not?" Sam asked, her eyes roaming over the black dreadlocks approvingly.
"We could never sell it. Probably because of the rumors circulating. Old wives gossiping among themselves trying to find excitement and drama where they could. It's pretty tasty stuff too, but the parents who shop in this neighborhood refuse to buy it for their kids. My only complaint are the lame prizes that come with it. How many miniature figurines of giraffes does a kid really need?"
Freddie nodded to himself as he thumbed the whistle hanging around his neck. It was tucked underneath his tee shirt, hidden from view. "What kind of rumors are going around?"
Reaching on the bottom shelf, Michelle grabbed a price labeler before climbing back up and stamping the bottles. "Now this flies straight into sci-fi territory with just a dash of historical accuracy. They say that the weird sicknesses that the rare kid gets when they eat this stuff isn't accidental. It's this big government conspiracy. Have any of you heard of the Phantom Secret of the Third Reich?" Three heads shook no. "Well there's documentation somewhere, probably in a vault or something that details how the Nazi regiment in Germany dedicated a branch of their military scientists in trying to produce a serum they could disseminate to the soldiers to make them… super soldiers. Like to make their eyeballs shoot out lasers and have them blow things up with a thought and give them the powers to fly! "
"Were they ever successful?" Freddie self-consciously solicited.
"Not that anyone knows of… shoot, give me a second." Michelle frowned at her jammed label gun before picking up a small screwdriver from the shelf and tinkering with it. "Well, anyways, back to Happy Giraffe cereal. The whispers and rumbling is that the stuff wasn't manufactured for public consumption. Some people think that the recipe was originally the Chinese government's pursuit to create their own super soldiers and the formula must've been leaked to a clever businessman. I don't know though. Most kids with weak stomachs just eat it and get sick. I haven't seen any superheroes flying through this joint." At that, Sam, Freddie and Carly all gave awkward laughs.
"Ha.. Hahaha.. Ha." Freddie finished with a cough.
"Is there a bathroom around here?" Sam asked, fidgeting back and forth.
"And, we'll take three sodas," Carly added, making sure that they didn't seem rude for walking into a store, asking questions and not buying anything.
"Yeah, we have a co-ed restroom in the back, right through those double doors." Michelle pointed the way while climbing down the ladder to ring up the purchase.
"Freddie?" Carly appealed.
"Got it," he whipped out his wallet and took out a five dollar bill, already anticipating what he was being asked for. Carly shot a smile at him and ran after Sam through the double doors.
"So what do you think about what she said?" Carly asked Sam as they both washed their hands at adjacent sinks.
"I don't know if this is the right place to talk about it." Sam whispered, nudging at Carly, directing her toward a stall where feet could unmistakably be seen. Carly put a standstill to the conversation. Sam was right, there were only four stalls in this restroom and everyone was in pretty close quarters so secrecy couldn't be expected. Carly turned off the faucet and walked over to the hand blower, hitting the button with a clean elbow.
"We should hurry, Freddie's waiting for us outsi-" Just then, the stall door swung open and the arm of a brawny thug shot out, grabbing Carly and settling a knife underneath her chin. She whimpered in fear. He smiled in sick delight.
"Get off of her," Sam growled.
"Oh yeah, what are you gonna do about it?" he asked gruffly, amusement flashing in his eyes.
Sam came closer. She spoke loudly and enunciated her words clearly. "Get off of my friend. Let her go."
The thug shook his head. "Is this your business? I don't think so. Why don't you step aside sweetheart? The kid didn't ask for you." He tilted his head sideways and a smaller man stepped out behind her, his arms folded in typical tough-guy fashion.
Sam decided to protect her conscience by being absolutely clear about her intentions. "I'm warning you. I'll kick your ass if you don't leave immediately." They both guffawed at her.
"Alfonso, grab her," the big one instructed the smaller guy. When he reached for Sam's arm, she backhanded him hard against the side of his face, catching him by surprise. He staggered sideways. Sam kicked him hard in the chest and watched him slam into the hand-drying machine and slide to the floor. Alfonso was disappointingly easy to beat.
"Holy shit."
Sam turned her head to see the thug pointing at her with his knife, staring at her with astonishment. She talked enough. She went after him. He was holding the blade, which made her approach trickier. She didn't hesitate, though. "CARLY, DUCK!" As the brunette shrank out of the scene, he stood to confront her, as she gambled he would, and she grabbed the knife-wielding arm by the wrist and bent it sharply behind him. He fell on his knees. She got behind him and wrenched his other arm back to join the first, forcing him down so she could lodge her knee in his back.
He groaned in pain. The blade clattered to the ground. Carly backed off into the corner, shivering.
Sam let his arms go. Now that the blade was out of the way, she could give him some room. He literally howled as he turned on her. He raised his arm to punch her in the jaw but she caught it long before it landed and took the force of his own sloppy effort to flip him onto the linoleum. It was kind of a trademark move of hers. Effortless. Fairly graceful. Totally satisfying.
She backed up a few steps and let him get up. She hated herself for enjoying the violence, but she did. This jerk deserved anything she gave him and much more. He'd obviously spent too long believing that he could intimidate whoever he wanted. Let him remember this.
It was all he could do to get himself back on his feet. He staggered towards Sam, swinging at her. She clipped his jaw with her right fist. She broke his nose with her second. She wanted to leave him a memento. He screamed through the pain and picked her up by her arms, pinning her against the tiled wall. Fighting to get free, she drove her palm upwards against his chin and chopped him in the throat with her other hand.
Choking and struggling to breathe, he fell back. His eyes displayed real fear now. She recognizing the signs. Wild, darting eyes, rapid, shallow breaths. Sam took that as her cue to finish him. She arced her leg and landed a hard, fast blow with her heel to a calculated spot under his ear. As expected, he crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Sam knew he'd feel like he had been run over with a steamroller when he came through, but that he'd still be alive.
Suddenly Carly was shrieking. Sam heard movement behind her. Much closer than she was expecting. Before she could regroup, Alfonso appeared in the corner of her eye and shoved her hard in the back, sending her sprawling across the floor. Sam got up but he was barreling towards her. Sam turned, smashing his face in with a roundhouse kick so powerful, she was sure she knocked him out. But she rushed the kick and threw herself badly off balance. She lost her footing and her head came down hard against the corner of the porcelain sink.
"Sam!" Freddie shouted as he ran into the room. He picked her up and cradled her head against his chest. "Michelle's on the phone with the cops right now. Carly, you have to come help her." The brunette sat still, paralyzed with fear. "Carly! Snap out of it! Sam needs you!" Carly's eyes refocused and she crept closer, taking Freddie's place and hugging the blonde to herself.
"Can you heal her?" he calmly propositioned.
"I don't know how." Carly shakily admitted, tears streaming from her eyes. "S-S-Sam, are you okay?"
"Urgh, yeah, you wouldn't happen to have a couple bottles of Adlenol or Tyvil? Would you?" Sam hazily responded.
Carly let show a sad smile as she sniffled, "I'm sure we can find some. Besides your head, is anything else hurting?"
"I think Allison has a bruise."
"Who's Allison?" Freddie's brow furrowed. He got up to check the four stalls to see if there was someone else in the restroom.
"Allison is Sam's left boob."
"Really?" Freddie deadpanned.
"Yeah, Hattie is her right." Carly explained. Sam snickered at the bizarreness of the situation, before groaning. She just found out that laughing hurt her ribs right now.
"Girls name their boobs?"
"Mmmhm."
"What are yo-"
"Jennifer and Christina," Carly responded, cutting him off. "Jenny really likes to read where Christy is more into partying." Freddie shoved his hands in his pockets. He would never understand girls, he decided, but that would never stop him from fiercely loving his two best friends. As the trio waited for the cops to show up, Freddie warily kept his eyes on the two other unconscious bodies in the room. Sam drowsily told jokes to make her friends laugh while Carly stroked her fingers through Sam's hair, keeping her awake.
"Carly?"
"Hmmm?"
"Am I still getting my wontons?"
Author's Note: Tell me what you think! This story came out really quick because of everyone's encouragement, I really appreciated it. ^_^ Thank you to SamAndFreddieIsSeddie, sockstar, cliche_catastrophe, and seddie-is-sexy for reviewing. I'm going to need a bit of help; in the iWant My Website Back episode, were the names of Nevel's lackeys Alfonso and Lorenzo or something completely different? And! Did everyone like what I did with their name suggestions? I only really needed one but because there were so many, I found myself feeling guilty if I couldn't work more of them into the story. Until next time, peace out. :)