"Rock, paper, scissors- SHOOT!" Craig and Octavio said in unison. Craig had drawn scissors, and Octavio drew rock. "I win!" exclaimed Octavio. "Now gimme that coin! I swear, I beat you in everythin'!" Craig scoffed, "Rock paper scissors ain't even skill based! It's pure luck! Not impressive at all!" Louis yelled, "DO TIC TAC TOE!" "Jeez, Louis. You talk loud as hell. But I agree! We outta play Tic Tac Toe, a game that requires, y'know, skill!" Octavio and Craig proceeded to have five rounds of tic tac toe, four of which were won by Octavio.
Octavio chuckled, and went back to cooking his crab cakes. When he was done, he gave a few to Louis and Craig. The moment Craig took his first bite, he was in love. "Oh- shit! This is amazing!" he exclaimed. Louis added, "Fuh real!" Octavio let out a deep laugh, "Glad you like it. My Dad used to serve it for me all the time, it's our family recipe." Craig demolished the rest of the crab cake, asking, "Yo, gimme this recipe! This shit- it's so good! This specific way of cookin' them is amazing!" "Alrighty! I'll write 'em down on paper for ya." As Octavio wrote down his recipe, Craig's attention shifted towards a few baskets containing fruits and vegetables.
"Yo, Octavio! Watch this!" Craig grabbed three apples from a basket which lay near, and smirked at both Octavio and Louis. He began to juggle the three perfectly, impressing Louis. However, Octavio stood unimpressed. "Is that all you can do?" he asked, in his usual deep voice. "Eh? What do you mean? You think you can do it better?" "Yes." Craig tossed the apples at Octavio, "Fine. Here you go. Wow me!" Octavio put the apples back into the basket they came from, "I won't be needing these."
Octavio took four pineapples out of another basket, Louis exclaiming, "Nah, no way you can do that!" Octavio smirked, "Watch me!" He tossed the four pineapples in the air, and proceeded to juggle them flawlessly. Louis' jaw dropped to the floor, and Craig didn't want to admit it, but he was impressed. It was a warm and sunny afternoon, and the three were all at Craig's home. Their first week at the academy had just ended, and they were now simply relaxing. Craig asked, "Oi, Octavio. Why do we never go to your place, eh?"
"I dunno. I mean, there isn't really anything to do there. And my Dad hates it when there's anyone but me inside the house." Louis replied, "When I imagine ya house, I imagine a big, gothic like mansion. And like, ya bed is a coffin. And there's one of those big pianos! What're they called- organs?" Octavio raised an eyebrow, "Huh? You think I'm a vampire, or somethin'?" Craig shook his head, "Wow. Are you sayin' that cause he's an octarian? Not cool, Louis. I expected better from you." "N-No! That's not what I meant at all!"
Suddenly, Craig's mother opened the door, carrying a large stack of envelopes. She passed the stack to Craig, telling him to find whichever ones were his. All were written to his Mom, except for a singular one, which was written for Craig, sent by Alija Aljo. Louis asked, "What happened now? Did ya do another good deed, or sumn'?" Craig shrugged as he opened the letter, saying, "Eh? Says she has an offer for us. If we do something, she'd be willing to pay us a solid amount." Octavio replied, "I think you're gonna have to be a tad more specific than just 'if we do something'."
"Nah, that's genuinely how it's phrased in the letter. All she says is 'if you do something'. Seems like she wants to meet up at her place to talk about it." Louis interrupted, "I want money! We outta do it!" Octavio commented, "We should go see what it is. There's ain't such a thing as too much money." "Sounds like a plan, then." Later in the day, the three took a cab down to her house, and arrived in about three minutes. Octavio knocked on the door, and Alija opened it and cheerfully greeted the three. "Hello! I'm glad you came! Come on inside!"
As the two sat down at the table, Alija asked, "Where are the rest? Ammoses, Gota, Casiopea? Did they die or something?" Octavio shrugged, "Don't really know. Haven't seen them in a couple days. I've seen them at school, but they don't seem to wanna hang out. Anyways- what's this offer you wrote to Craig about?" Alija sat down and crossed her hands. "Alright. So there's this man... he's a little well known in the science community. His name is Mr. Tallyhall, first name Minimall. As you may know, an upcoming election will soon occur, which my father will run in. There are rumors floating around that Tallyhall owns a certain object which is capable of ruining my father's career, and destroy any chances of him winning the election."
"I would like for you three to find out what this object is, and destroy it." Craig, Octavio, and Louis all looked at each other, before saying, "Yeah sure. We'll do it." Craig asked, "Our we gonna put ourselves in any danger? Like, can we get arrested, or beat up by this Tallyhall dude?" Alija sat silent for three seconds, before saying, "We will cross that bridge if we get to it." Alija reached into her pocket and pulled out a house key, "This is a replica of his front door key. Get inside, and search around for whatever this object could possibly be."
"You got it!" exclaimed Louis. Alija smiled, "Thank you for accepting! I sure hope you won't disappoint me." Craig said, "Trust me, we won't! I'll be the captain, and I'll lead us to victory! Call me Cap'n Cuttlefish!" Louis exclaimed, "Nuh uh! I'm the cap'n! Cap'n Flamingosis!" Octavio clicked his tongue, "Nope. Cap'n Octavio all the way! Can Craig juggle pineapples? Exactly!" Alija giggled, "Good luck."
To Be Continued