(EDIT: This chapter was redone on the 05/10/2014, and as this was one of the most extensive edit, this notice is now at the begging of the chapter. The main content has been changed, and I very much ask you to read this version of the chapter, as it will much more relevant to where the story will be going. If you have the time, could you please comment on this edited version?)

Good day to you all!

I will try and get straight onto the chapter, as this mark around about the middle of Act 1, which reminds me: because I desperately want to finish this act before/near the end of this current year, updating may be earlier than anticipated. Anyway, as you could have guess from the title, this chapter centres the three 'Wickersham Brothers' contains more insight into the whole character of the jungle, and begins a horror run for Horton (and Kirsty).

I would love to thank mixaholic, Wildcroconaw, Ninja-Chan42 and PresidentMay for reviewing, as without your comments, I wouldn't be able to improve this story for your benefit. Also, a thankyou to Arixa23 for being my amayzing beta again!

Disclaimer: I do not own Seussical, any of its character or songs. That belongs to Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and the Dr Seuss Enterprise. I only own Kirsty and the names for the Wickershams and the Bird Girls in this chapter.

I hope you enjoy,

~Sophie

Chapter 13: Monkey Business

"Jay! Get your butt out here now before we all get it!"

The youngest of the monkey brothers gasped, quickly leaping out of his hammock, which he had been peacefully sleeping before he was rudely awoken. As he struggled to style his fur, he glanced at his alarm clock, which read twelve in the afternoon. He had no clue how he could have slept in that late, but he didn't have time to worry about anything except the matter at hand; he was extremely late for the Wickersham's meeting with the Sour Kangaroo. Rushing outside, he skidded to a halt, as he saw that the jungle was completely deserted and the sun had only just risen over the hills. As he tried to figure out what was going on, he heard someone snickering behind him, making him bang his head on the nearest tree in annoyance.

You can't be serious. Someone just shoot me now.

Rolling his eyes, Jay turned around, to see his older brother Kyle hanging on a branch laughing his head off. "You should have seen your face!" he exclaimed, hardly audible as he continued to laugh. "After sixteen years of living with me, he still falls for the same pranks I did to him when he was five. You never learn, do you little bro?"

"For once, I have to agree with Kyle on that," a voice agreed, which belong to the oldest of the monkey brothers, Chase. "Seriously Jay, when are you ever going to start acting like your blood?"

Groaning, Jay replied. "Maybe when you guys stop treating me like an idiot or stop tricking everyone else…whatever comes first. I saw what you did to those harmless kids yesterday. Why do we always have to get involved in everyone else's business?"

Kyle stared at him confused, not believing what his brother was saying. "Because that's what we do. Jay, you are a Wickersham whether you like it or not! You should start acting like one, for your own sake!"

As the two dispersed away from their youngest sibling, Jay let out a much awaited sigh. They weren't always like this; he remembered the days when they were as close as brothers could be as well as any other. Though as the years went by, and the older they got, his older brothers had become more distant, their age differences now clear. As he now didn't have the patience to try and go back to sleep- he knew that if he tried, Kyle would most likely try and prank him again- he slipped away though the trees and up to his own private hut, hidden amongst the high foliage.

Entering the room, his whole aura changed, the monkey now in his element. The space was small in comparison to the Wickersham's main residence, but this was much more a home to Jay. Filled with more musical instruments and equipment that you could count, he spent every waking moment up here, planning and creating the one song which would make him, and prove to his brothers that he did have a talent. Swiftly, he picked up his favourite electric guitar, ready to begin brainstorming. He knew what to play, but he'd yet to figure out the lyrics. The more he kept thinking about them, the more frustrated he became.

Why does this have to be the one day where I can't think of anything?! Or maybe my brothers are right; maybe I should just stick to accompanying those who have what it takes?

About to give up, a sweet voice stopped Jay in his tracks, the words sounding heartfelt, yet upbeat and catchy. Inspired, he looked out the closest window, desperate to find the lyrics' owner, to where he saw a girl sitting near the River Walloo, pen and paper in hand. Wait, she was that girl from the Biggest Blame Fool episode…that girl who was with Horton…

Curiosity taking over him, Jay decided to get a little bit closer to her. As he tried to swing over to the next tree, he lost his balance and slipped, falling right on top of someone. He quickly stood up, helping them get up and checking if anything was broken. "Geez! I'm so sorry! Are you-?" he began to ask, before seeing who it was who he had landed on, his face turning a light shade of pink. "Sammy…"

"I'm fine, Jay. A few bruises won't kill me." she told the monkey, brushing the specks of dirt off her yellow feathers. He wasn't surprised the way she just shrugged the incident off; in her childhood, she had been quite the tomboy. "How on earth did you manage to fall out of the tree like that? What ever happened to those amazing monkey reflexes of yours?"

Jay laughed. "Uh, yeah…must have skipped me or something…" Sammy laughed, which sounded just as sweet as her voice, making the monkey go into a daze. "How about you come inside and see my place? I-I mean…just to check if you're really oka- If…if you want to, t-that is…" He fumbled over his words, trying not to give her the wrong idea.

"-Jay!" Sammy interrupted, before adding kindly. "I'd love to come and see your place. You're so nice." The two quickly went up the tree, Jay at the lead, going up near the top, to where his secret hideout was, with Sammy flying close behind.

Soon enough, they arrived, Jay opening the door, causing Sammy to gasp at the contents of the room. "This is awesome! How on earth did you manage to find a place like this?"

The young monkey rubbed the back of his neck, beginning to fidget. "Y-you like it?"

Nodding, she laughed, spinning around the room. For what seemed like hours, the two chatted like old friends, bringing back memories of when the two were younger and how played together when their parents used to catch up on the weekends. The small room filled with laughter, especially when the two started to experiment with the various musical instruments that were strung across the room, the two swapping between accompanying and singing for the other.

After a while, they both paused, looking into each other's eyes, wide smiles adoring both their faces. Sammy slide closer to Jay, nudging him with her wind. "You have a beautiful voice, Jay. You should do solo more often." The young bird giggled again as her friend tried to hide his embarrassment. Sighing, she lay down, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "Why did we ever stop doing this? You know… hanging out, making music together…."

"Those were the days," he remarked, joining her on the floor. "Do you remember the time I escaped to your place, after my brothers decided to curl my fur as a joke? Or the time we decided that when we were older we would be pirates and go in search for the perfect song?"

Sammy tried to supress a snort, the memories, even now, as funny as it was years before. "I wish that life was still like that, you know, all the time."

"Me to," Jay admitted, before realisation dawned on him, as he sat back up. "…but it can't. We both know that."

That remark broke the light-hearted mood, replacing it with a sober tone, the two friends knowing all too well the reality of that dream. It had started when all the adults disappeared, and the Sour Kangaroo became their leader, splitting everyone into their separate groups as part of a new regime to keep peace and order in the difficult times. With these new rules in place, and with the addition of an extra agreement between Sour and the Wickershams, Jay and Sammy's two families never came into contact with each other. It was especially hard for Jay to deal with, not really having much in common with his brother, and also with the added fact of his secret crush on Sammy.

"Who says that we can't still be friends?"

Jay's eyes went wide, hearing Sammy's voice. "You know, you don't always have to be who your brothers want you to be. They don't own you, Jay." Sitting up, her voice grew determined. "If you want to be a musician, then be one! We shouldn't be limited by our older siblings. They need to understand that the only way they can ever understand us is for us to be able to be ourselves, without pressure from them."

"We should make a promise," she suddenly said, putting her hand on her heart simular to when they had made oaths in their childhood. "To always stay true to ourselves, and to never try and change who we are to follow the crowd." Spitting into the tip of her wing feathers, she held it out to the monkey. "You promise?"

Slowly, Jay did the same, shaking his own paw with the bird. "I promise. Now, can we please stop with the serious stuff? You're reminding me of Sour!"

A smile returning to her face, Sammy did as she was told. "Sure. Hey, I have an idea! We should-"

Their moment alone was cut to a halt, Jay hearing his two brother's voices coming closer to ear level. Knowing that they would have a fit if they saw him with one of the Bird Girl's, let alone what the kangaroo would do to him if she found out, Jay started to panic. "Sammy, you have to get out of here! Quickly, go out that side window! My brothers won't see you that way."

Quietly, Sammy went to the window, while Jay set everything back its normal place, before he sat back down, ready to act as if the past three hours hadn't happened. "Jay!" Sammy shout-whispered to him, her head poking out from the other side of the window. "Thank you for today. Hopefully we can see each other again sometime." Blowing him a kiss, she silently slipped out the window.

Why does she have to be so dreamy? Jay's face had gone almost fully red, in an absolute daze of love. Luckily for him, it quickly subsided, as his brothers came into the room.

"Hey Chase. Kyle. What's up?" he asked them, pretending to be figuring out lyrics, like he always did when his brothers came into his space uninvited. Mentally, he prepared for the usual outcomes, the most likely being the two snooping at his work, or in Kyle's case- using his sheet music as paper planes. Surprisingly, nothing happened, the two monkeys only staring at Jay with blank expression.

"Come. Now."

Those were the only words Chase told his brother, before they both vanished amongst the trees, soon becoming figures in the distance. "Guys! Wait for me! Where are we going?" Jay tried to ask them, struggling to keep up with his brothers. Soon after, Chase grinded them all to a halt in a darker area of the jungle.

As he continued to pant, Jay gave his brothers a strange look. "Will any of you tell me what's going on? Why are we here?"

"We need to talk to you, Jay," Kyle told him, his voice not as happy as its usual tone. "It's something that we have wanted to talk to you about for a long time."

Putting his arm around his younger brother's shoulders, Chase sighed, before continuing from where Kyle left off. "Jay, when the rest of our family disappeared, your brother and I, we made a vow. A vow that no matter what, we would always be there for you, we would never leave you alone in the dark, and that we would never abandon you, or lead you down the wrong path. We're family, and if our blood is in danger, we will do anything to protect it."

Kyle nodded. "This is the reason why we joined Sour, so that we could stay together. To make sure that you don't get hurt, or your heart doesn't get broken."

"Heartbroken? What do you mean?" Jay asked, worried to hear what would come next, especially if it involved Sammy.

His brothers shrugged, before Chase let him go. "What we are trying to say is that what we do isn't something that you should try and not be. We are just having some innocent fun, that's all. What's wrong with taking a few risks or wanting to be popular?"

"So, what do you say, little brother?" Kyle asked him, sincerely. "Are you willing to take the pact and be a Wickersham?"

Jay turned to both his brothers, deep in thought. He had never seen them this sincere before, and now, he could see where they were both coming from. This decision could mean that finally, he could feel like he belonged in this family. "You betcha."

As Kyle ruffled his fur, Chase smiled, giving him a supportive nudge on the shoulder. "You made the right choice, Jay. But now, it's time for you to prove yourself, and we have the perfect way."

"The best trick ever, and best of all, it'll get Sour off our back for a few weeks!" Kyle cheered, before he leaned into his brother's face. "You think you're up to it?"

"Just a quick question, but what exactly is this job?"

"Let's just say…it involves that flower that Horton keeps." Chase whispered to him. "Sour says that he's been living the easy life for way too long and that someone needs to teach him a lesson, or in similar terms; make his life go haywire!"

Jay started to fidget, nerves beginning to show. "What are you going to do?"

Kyle shook his head, chuckling. "You mean what WE are going to do with them. Don't worry, Jay. Stop acting all scared! You're not chicken, are you?" The monkey soon began to make hen noises in his brother's ear, which made him want to slap his sibling in the face to shut him up.

"No, I-I'm not chicken!" Jay retorted, brushing him away. "I-I just don't want any violence, that's all…"

Chase laughed. "Seriously, Jay…who do you take us for? That's not our style, and you know it!" He put his hand out, Kyle soon after putting his on top of it. After a second wait, Jay put his hand in, ready and eager.

"Yeah!"

"There's a rustle in the bushes. There's a tremble in the trees," Chase sang, his ears picking up a conversation of interest nearby. "Hear it like a whisper, smell it on the summer breeze."

"Mm-hmm!" Kyle and Jay agreed, following him.

"Somethin' big is getting nearer," Kyle continued. "Somethin' big is comin' through. Got some monkey business-"

"That's what we intend to do," Chase and Jay joined him, splinting into different harmony parts, before coming back together to create a dance routine high up in the branches. "Come on! I wanna monkey, monkey around. Come on! I gotta monkey, monkey around. Come on! We're gonna monkey. Ooh, we're gonna monkey around! Ooh!"

Soon after, the brother spotted their two targets below them, and cunningly descended down to the jungle floor, ready to strike. Not aware of the chaos that awaited them, the two targets, who were none other than Horton and Kirsty, continued on, both deep in conversation.

"So, you still don't know how or why you got a cat's tail of all things?" Horton asked her, his trunk tightly gripping the clover. "Why did you even have to take the pills in the first place?"

As she shrugged, Kirsty continued to walk forward, not looking where she was going. "I told you, I don't know…if I knew, I probably wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place-"

Suddenly, she froze, noticing she had just bumped in someone. Kirsty slowly looked up, to find Chase looking back at her, while Horton shook nervously behind them.

"Well, well, well…" Chase said, with a cheeky grin upon his face. "If it isn't the girl who tried to stand up to the Sour Kangaroo that day in May? We never got to properly introduce ourselves, did we, boys?"

Immediately, Kyle and Jay jumped down from their branches. "The Wickershams… uh, hello," Horton tried to appear assertive, however that was short lived.

"Well, it's bigger than a breadbox," Kyle observed, the brothers beginning to circle the nervous pair.

"Mm-hmm!" Chase and Jay laughed.

"Hey, it's wider than a whale!" Chase agreed, poking Horton in the stomach.

"Mm-hmm!" his younger siblings added.

"Peanut butter breath!" Jay exclaimed.

"And scared to death from head to tail!" they all sang, before they started to move their attention to Kirsty, who was quivering at this stage.

Chase put an arm around her, getting a little close for comfort. "So you're still talking to dust, oh, that's hot!" Chase laughed.

"A dust speck that's all full of Whos who are not!" Jay told her, going on her other side.

"There aren't any Whos. Why, I don't hear a sound!" Kyle stated, facing her directly and staring straight into her eyes.

The monkey looked to each other, just as Chase disappeared back into the above greenery. "Come on! We've gotta monkey... Monkey around!" they all sang, as Chase suddenly appeared above Horton, who was distracted by the two remaining brothers, and snatched the clover right out of Horton's grasp.

They took off, without another word, leaving Kirsty and Horton in shock. When Horton realised what had just happened, Kirsty hopped onto his back as he chased after them. "Hey! Give that back! Stop!"

A little way ahead, the music transitioning, the three brothers were celebrating the first completion of their job. At the centre of the excitement was Jay, until he saw a flash of yellow in the distance, Sammy and the rest of the Bird Girls coming into view. Her words slowly came back into his mind, the promise he had made, which quickly got shoved back, the young monkey too busy- though at this stage it would be more correct to say he was slightly worried-to face any consequences of his clearly made choice.