Katy finishes the ice cream she had with happiness as the tears that were once on her face evaporate entirely. Leo could swear he could see the word 'JOY' floating above her head.
"Nothing like ice cream to cheer a gal up~"
"Well, I'm glad that's settled with."
"Hey now, there's still the burgers! And the chance that I may want more ice cream~"
"Yes yes taskmaster." He laughs to himself as Katy lightly punches his shoulder.
"Rude! Come on! Let's get those burgers!"
"Oh so no seconds in ice cream?"
"Shut up, and let's go."
"Aight.
The duo head back over to the previous building to eat some more, after that happens they head on over to the massive child playground portion.
"The burgers were nice. But chunky and beard burgers have them beat. Fo Sho'"
"Hard to get accustomed to other brands when you've grown up with something you assume is better."
"Could go without the lessons Socrates." She playfully rolls her eyes and ends with a wink "Come on! We gotta hit the slides and the giant climbing jungle gym!"
"Aren't you a little to big for those things? Plus we just ate a ton so isn't that probably a bad idea?"
"Pffft, you clearly don't know me then! My stomach is tougher than that! I could eat thrice what we just ate and still do all these things with ease."
"Then why not go to the amusement park half of this place like the indoor roller coaster or the gravitron?"
"My stomach can't handle that!"
"But you just said-"
"I'm also a hypocrite when it comes to things I like and don't like."
"You don't say." an annoyed face lights up on Leo's helmet.
"Oh cheer up! It's my choice in the end ain't it?"
"True true…"
They head on over to the building wide slides that acts akin to a fast travel system more so than slides, but they are fun nonetheless for the rockband cat. They enjoy their time until Katy shouts to Leo that it was now a good time to head on over to the other thing. Leo exits the slide and waits outside the one where he heard Katy, but no one comes out.
"Huh?..." He peers in, but it's still empty "Did she leave before me?" He turns around, but just then Katy slides out and dive kicks Leo onto the ground "AUGHGHGA…"
"THAT'S for beating me at laser tag!"
"This is beyond petty...ow...sorry…"
"Apology accepted!" She dusts her hands off and walks off of him "Come on then! To the giant jungle gym!"
"I'll be there in a bit...gonna stay on the ground for a little while longer till I get the feeling back in my spine…"
Katy rolls her eyes with her arms crossing "You are such a wimp." She helps him up "Come on I know you're fine."
"I am, but that doesn't mean my body ain't in pain though after that!"
"Whatever. Catch up when you can!"
"I will I will. Just enjoy yourself in the meanwhile."
"You can count on that!" Katy zooms off and begins climbing on the multi barred obstruction. She hops from bar to bar as she goes even higher.
"Uh...Katy be careful from up there!..." Leo shouts from his position on the ground.
"Re-Lax! I'm totally fine!" Katy keeps climbing, missing a sign that said 'Do not climb past this point if you are bigger than the designated size'. She begins going along the monkey bars portion which was an elongated row over the entirety of the building. There were no bars below, allowing for a terrifying, yet fun, leg dangling experience from the tip of the ceiling to the ground below "Wow this is so over the top...I LOVE it!" As Katy goes from bar to bar she soon stops in place when she hears a creaking noise "Huh?" The bar she is currently latching onto plops out of place "Well...this is bad…" She begins plummeting towards the ground "W-WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Leo watches mortified as his helmet screen cracks "MO-...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE LEGS MOVE!" He bursts towards where she's falling and his jacket lights up. It molds off onto his back as it turns into a jetpack, allowing him to dash off into the air. He flies off towards Katy, catching her mid drop.
Katy simply stares at Leo "You have a jetpack?!"
"I am NOT giving it to you! Also WHY is that more important that you divebombing to the ground?!"
"Well it's not like I was in any real danger…" She points down "They have a safety net for this kind of occasion…"
"W-What?..." Leo looks down and sees the mentioned net that would've caught her effortlessly "O-Oh…"
"Can we go down now?..."
"Y-Yeah...let's go down..." Leo begins descending while holding onto Katy. As they slowly go down, Katy notices his Jacket is no longer on. He's wearing a red and blue sleeveless tee with a star on the center, the star has a frog icon in the middle of it. She could also see the fur on his arms, they were blue. She looks towards his cracked helmet screen. This caused the helmet itself to become a tad see through. She couldn't see the entirety of his face, but she could see his eyes. They were vertically oval, much like hers, but the pupil color was brown like Parappa's.
"Hey Leo?..."
"Yeah?..."
"Think we can go back to your club?..."
He warringly looks towards her "Whyyyy?"
"That's the last spot I pick. I'm calling it a day, right now I just wanna dance."
"Oh um...aight." The land on the ground and Leo gently places Katy down.
"Mind giving me a sec? Gonna message Parappa and Lammy."
"Why?"
"Just wanna check if they're fine and stuff."
"Aight take your time. My club ain't going nowhere."
As Katy types away she questions Leo over his jetpack "Just how many things did you 'borrow' from your dad?"
"Eheh...quite a lot of stuff…"
"Won't he be needing em?"
"Technically no...they...kinda were for me. I just took them before they were ready to be mine when I decided to run away."
"Uh huh…" Katy was curious over something, but she couldn't figure out a way to word it "You have nice fur and cute eyes...reminds me of...oh I dunno…"
"Come agai-" Leo looks down to see his jacket is currently his jetpack and that his screen is heavily cracked "EEP…"
"Relax that's all I could see...what are you? You don't seem to have a tail, at least a visible one."
"Uh...w-who knows…"
"Right…" She finishes typing "Done and done!"
"That took a bit. What'd you say to him?"
"Oh you know. 'How's it goin?' 'Are you and Lammy doin ok?' 'Any mind blowing nerd stuff revealed?' 'I know what Leo looks like!' 'Could you bring me a souvenir!'-"
"Wait was that second to last thing?"
"Ohhhhhh...I dunnoooooo...Just potentially caught on to what you've been hiding!"
"You do not know…"
"How do you know? You're clearly a cat!" Leo freezes in place.
"W-Wrong…" I mean...she kinda is.
"I could feel the dread from here boyo! And I sent it all to him!"
"You did not!"
"How do you know? You can't see my phone~" Leo tries to grab the phone from Katy "Whoa there~ Sorry~ No touchy!~" she sticks her tongue out as she winks at him.
"Give it here!"
"Nuh uh~" She keeps avoiding Leo's grasp while continuously taunting him "Not there!~ Uh oh!~ So close!~ No cigar!~ Oooooh you almost got it!~" She then tosses her phone up in the air "Whoops!~"
Leo reaches up and snatches it "GOT IT!" Katy immediately grabs onto his helmet. Did I really just fall for that...
"AND I GOT YOU!" She plucks it right off his head, revealing what he's been hiding.
"E-Eheh...well...that happened…" Leo stares at the girl in front of him, but she stares back more intensely. A mix of emotions try to express themselves on her face at the same time. Unlike PJ however, she immediately pieces together what's happening.
"Y-Yo-Y-You're…"
"Huh?..." Leo gulps "I'm?..."
"M-My kid…" She begins wobbling "O-Our kid…"
"U-Uh...n-nooooooo...I mean...w-whose kid? W-Whatcha talkin bout….h-h-hehehe…"
Katy stays wobbling in place as her imagination starts running wild causing her to stumble in place exponentially "Y-You are…" Her mind goes rampant as one song soon begins flooding her thoughts, cutting off what little control she had on her body.
All that she can hear and see is the song that is beginning to play in her mind as everything else, fades out of existence to her.
Within her mind there is nothing but PaRappa Town, all normal, bright and lovely! Parappa and Katy are walking hand and hand down a street during a gorgeous sunny day, both staring happily at each other as stars and hearts glisten in their eyes. On said held hands, each have a ring. Beautiful diamond rings that signified their relationship. Parappa and Katy were wearing matching shirts that read 'Parents to be'. They tilt their heads, enamoured heavily, as they begin singing, Parappa leading off.
"Time for you and me to have a family!"
"With a baby, we should live so happily!"
"Could be a boy or girl whichever we don't mind at all!"
"Our newborn treasure shall bring tons of love, and peace to all!"
"Uh-huh!" The light flares up as the setting changes, Katy's stomach is now marginally bigger.
"I can buy him trucks and tree house!"
"I can buy her rings and a doll house!"
"The child must be strong! The child must be sweet!"
"We'll give, our child, love forever long!"
"Doesn't matter strong or weak cuz it's our own!"
"If it's good for you, it's good for me, we're not alone!"
"The thumping beats of our new baby sounds so heavenly!"
"I can't believe that we created life, just you and meeeeee!"
"Indeed!" Her stomach is now even larger after the light cloaks everything again.
"You can give him food, change his diapers!"
"You can pay the bills, do the dishes!"
"You can babysit!"
"Only if I'm it!"
"Why don't we just flip a coin?"
"No!"
"I will do the work!"
"I'll be glad to work!"
"Time for you and me to have a family!"
"With a baby, we should live so happily!"
"Could be a boy or girl whichever we don't mind at all!"
"Our newborn treasure shall bring tons of work, and peace to all!" The light flares one final time as the duo are at a home around a crib, they pluck a baby out as they both hold it close while they huddle up in a new family hug. Kissing the baby before each other.
"Our newest little baby!"
Once the song ends Katy's brain begins shutting down as she falls over onto her back. Completely out for the count. Her tail curling into a heart before her collapse.
"K-Katy!" Leo panics as people start to crowd around them "P-Pay no mind here y'all! S-She just took a look at me without my helmet off and f-fainted!...F-Fangirls am I right?...h-hehe…" They all release a collective 'Oooooh' before carrying on to their own activities. Leo heaves a relieved sigh "Oh boy...I gotta get ya outta here...what a mess…"
Lesson 1:
Aight chillax Parappa, she said she doesn't like singing...so maybe she's no good at it? So far she seems to be the opposite to Lammy in every regards...maybe I'll get lucky!
"Back from Hell…
Need I...Ring a bell?"
"Rammy, is that a name that you've heard?
Thinkin of beatin me? That's just absurd!"
"You're gonna fall! You're gonna fail! You're gonna get de-stroyed!"
DAMMIT SHE HAS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL!...And a sadistic one at that… "I'll stand tall! I'm gonna prevail! That's something I'll-avoid!"
"Feel the fire burning deep inside of me, boiling hatred and- agony! And it's all because of that cursed red sheep!"
"No that simply can-not be! Who you really angry at, her or me? Care to just listen, I got a promise that I plan to keep!" Both strum their guitars in a heavy metal beat as they circle around each other, their playing ignites life in the machines around them as they start bouncing up and wildly.
"NOOOOOO. I won't listen! It doesn't matter, it doesn't matterrrrr to meeeee."
"My victory is written. It does matter and I'll make ya see!"
"Here my beat and flow will e-ra-di-cate and de-cap-i-tate all your hopes and dreams!"
"Well ya gonna have-ta-wait cuz I don't get-da-hate! My future isn't as it seems!"
Leo, whilst driving with the unconscious Katy, suddenly sneezes greatly out of the blue "Augh...what the heck was that about?!"
"Pitiful faces, lost in her traces…NOOOOOOO" Fire burns around her from the sparks the fly off her chords as a pillar begins sending her upwards.
"Keep your bases! Calm your graces! Here we GOOOOO!" A pillar erects under Parappa sending him after her.
"Think you can keep up? Think again! Down to hell you go, that's where you'll be sent!"
"Think I can keep up? Of course, now and then! Oh is that so? I ain't spent!"
"I'm gonna put you down, gonna know your place!"
"Can you do it out of town? While we're in space?" Both are now in space suits as they wobble in space on their toppling pillars. Lammy watches in horror from below.
"Doesn't matter, where or when! My desire, my fire, will win in the end!"
"Now all you doin, is treatin me like a hasbeen. When in reality, I still got tricks you can't comprehend!"
Lesson 2:
"It doesn't matter...not at all to me…
But this I will win! I'll make you see!"
"She took it all from me, but not this!
I'll finally win and leave this abyss!"
"You will stare and you'll cry with a yelp,
As you reap what you sow, trying to give me help!" the twinkle in her eye returns again causing her to stumble on her pillar. Rammy dizzily regains her composure, but her demeanour becomes softer for a bit before her anger takes over over again. Not fully however.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER! NO IT DOES NOT MATTER. I'LL MAKE YOU SEE THAT THERE'S SO MUCH MORE TO ME THAN JUST A DOUBLE!"
"IT SO DOES MATTER! IT SHOULD ALWAYS MATTER! YOU ARE! ALWAYS BEEN, BUT LEAVE HER OUT, NO NEED TO CAUSE TROUBLE!"
They ignite a shockwave that cracks their pillars heavily. "Nooooo, leaveeeeee me beeee!"
"Not until i've helped you! Can't you see?..."
"HELP THIS YOU DAMN INFERNAL MUTT!" Her next chord flick causes the pillars to shatter and drop the two of them "Noooo I will be left alooooooone. Agaaaaain."
"This isn't how I'll let your story end!" Neither of them panic, they simply glide downwards while continuously singing and playing.
"My fates intertwined, I must win to be freed of this inner pain! Doubled down, tossed around and left to rot!"
"One to the other, but no fightin needed! Black and red, bruises on the heart that's beatin! I know there's more to you than you've got!"
"Demeure allure? Insecure? Inferiority galore? What does it matter? Compared to her, my life's already out the door!"
"Demeure allure? Insecure? Inferiority galore? You mean her or you? Are you less than or more?"
"Hell no! I'm bold, with a style that won't grow old! But that is all you'll ever be told!"
"More like so cold, your style is certainly one to behold! But in the end, you still neva got the gold!" Lammy spots the two skydiving towards the ground at a hectic speed, this leaves her at a loss of what to do. She could try to catch Parappa, but Rammy would spot her. It's not like the plan was feasible however, from their height and velocity, trying to catch him would probably not end well for either of them…
"You're one to talk! You're so sad, by the end of this you'll be in a body bag!"
"What's wrong? Why ya mad? Your anger is a facade, but now it's time to end the gag!" Two stray rocks from their respective pillars glide below them, and the two quickly find their footing on them. They use the rocks as a makeshift hoverboard to slow their decent as they glide much more manageably towards the expo.
Lesson 3:
"I can spit the fire, and keep a good tune,
But you're just a flat out liar, lookin like a goon!"
"Freefallin, skydivin or whatever you please it,
I'm still the best one here, and so you betta just quit!" The spark fades away as she regains her brash attitude once again.
"Here we go so I hope you're ready to recede!"
"Not when I just gotta believe!"
"Nooooooooooooooo! It just doesn't matter to meeeeeee! All that I care for is that I must impede!"
"It should matta! Don't just let things just be, or else in the end it'll be your heart that will bleed!"
"Sing against meeee, in this song of anger and agonyyyyy! You will submit, you cannot resist my beat!"
"Sing with you! In a tune that invokes camaraderie and harmony! I'll never give it up! I won't be burned by this heat!"
"Troubling faces, messed up traces of...fameeeee. Lost to the fault of that copycat doppelganger! I'll make sure to bring. Her. DOWN!"
"Things end up hard, they need to be earned. Life ain't no easy game! Don't blame the others for what is normally hard to gain! That way of thinkin and actin will never happen as long as I'm around!" The rocks they're riding on shatter even further as they reach the hole they made within the roof over the back room. They make a safe landing however as the electronics that were forced into powering on by their playing catch them due to one being a machine that was a cat wash, but because of its malfunction, created large bubbles that catch the duo who are back in their regular attire. As they safely land on the ground the machines encircle them as they begin repeating Rammy's lines like a broken tape recorder.
"You cannot stop me! Why can't you let me be? I am the one that knows that this is right!"
"You wanna bet? You wanna test me? I said I'll help and here you'll see! I'm simply here to stop this plight!"
"All you'll do is get in the way, I must make her pay! I know today is the day!"
"That's how it's gonna be? Then I gotta, in-ter-vene! Not while I got something to say!"
"Buzz off! You're no hero, just a flashy talking, fake steppin Z to the E to big RO!"
"Stick and stones won't be breakin my bones! I'm the young pup who will make the crowd sing and say-"
The machines stop repeating Rammy as they finish the line Parappa was about to say "Ho!"
"Say Ho Ho!"
"Ho! Ho!"
"Say Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"Now scream!" The inventions release a loud static whir as they collapse on the ground, seemingly out of power.
Rammy ruffles her hair in anger, her tiny tail whipping to and fro as her eyes start spiraling "Why does it matter to you?! What I do! You're just a nobody. So you better just flee!"
"Why does it matta? It just who I am! So you won't get me to scram, gotta help you with your plea!"
"JUST LEAVE ME BE!" the inventions once again jolt about as they fire off electricity that rebounds off of Rammy's guitar towards Parappa.
Parappa dodges the bolts as best he can "YIPE!- WAIT! I MEAN-" Parappa gets hit by one of the bolts, he gets comically electrocuted as his body flashes like an x-ray. This was a sign that he dropped the beat "O-O-O-O-O-O-O-OOPS!..." Parappa drops to his knees once the shock stops, Rammy laughing as she increases the intensity of her strumming, causing the devices to levitate into the air once more. Parappa gets back up as he stares at her dead on. Though dazed, he still refuses to yield even with a slight blunder. This angers the ewe again, however...
Lesson 4:
"Persistent, resistant and all to inconsistent!
The only one with the problem is you! That's existent"
"Why you keep at it if you know that I won't allow it!- Rammy's eyes grow technicolored as she moves like if she were the one zapped by electricity, her guitar playing becomes more disorderly and flat. The spark in her eye flaring in and out of existence, struggling to get her to yield much more effectively thanks to Parappa's constant persistence in playing against her. Rammy however, still keeps on trying to best the dog, but her eyes grow more psychedelic as they vibrate with a garbled assortment of colors showing how hectic her mental stability currently is "M-Maybe there is a problem I may have to admit!" She slaps herself after saying that line outloud.
"Weak voiced, shallow step and rundown like a back alley!
Get ready you damn mutt cuz here comes the finale!"
"NOW YOU'LL FINALLY GET TO SEE THE REAL ME!" Rammy scowls heavily due to saying that line, but can't stop herself as her head 'malfunctions' further with more confliction between her inner self and outer self.
Parappa's eyes widen "Have I finally managed to see your hidden side free?!"
"NONO STOP IT, IT DOESN'T MATTER! IT'LL NEVER MATTER! LEAVE ME BE, LEAVE ME BE, LEAVE ME BE!" She strums to an exaggerated degree that she snaps one of her guitar chords.
"I'll get to you! I just gotta breakthrough! Your facade I will shatter! Can't stop me, can't stop me, can't stop me!" Parappa's next riff ends up blowing Rammy back from the intensity, causing her to fumble even more so than she already is.
"I'LL NEVER MATTER, I'LL NEVER MATTER! I'M JUST SOME SIDEGRADE TO THE BETTER GUITAR QUEEN!"
Parappa flinches, her playing was become more and more faulty, she wasn't even holding her guitar properly anymore. He had achieved his goal and was nearing victory, but he didn't exactly feel good about it. Nevertheless he kept playing and singing, but Parappa didn't know how to continue from her line. So his brain defaulted to what it usually did in a situation like this, repeat his instructors verse… "You'll never matter, you'll never matter! You're just some sidegrade to the greater guitar queen!" W-WAIT! I-I DIDN'T MEAN TO SAY THAT!...
Another of Rammy's chords snap "W-WORTHLESS...I AM SO WORTHLESS NOW...SO USELESS, USELESS USELESS….U-USE...LESS…" Her voice was breaking, but Parappa was breaking entirely.
NOOOO...THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANTED… "WORTHLESS! YOU ARE SO WORTHLESS NOW! SO USELESS, USELESS USELESS USE LESS!" WHY CAN'T I STOP REPEATING HER?! WHY CAN'T I CONTINUE WITH MY OWN LINES LIKE HOW I WAS DOING MOMENTS AGO?!
Two more of Rammy's chords snap, the voice breaking stops as she flat out cries the next verse "USELESS! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN USE-LESS...I DON'T MATTER! I DON'T MATTER! I DON'T MATTER! I'VE NEVER MATT-ERED!...NOOOOOOO I'M JUST A WOOOOOOOOORTHLESS DOUBLE NOOOOOOOOO. LOSER. LOSER. LOSER. LOSER. LOSER. LOSER! LOSER! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
"It doooooooesn't matteeeeeeer…" The machines that hover around Rammy chant this on repeat tormenting her further. It's the only line of hers that they now choose to mimic.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO NEVA DID! I'M THE WORST GIRL IN EXISTENCE COMPARED TO PRETTY PERFECT MISS…! LAMMY RAMMY LAMMY RAMMY LAMMY RAMMY LAMMY...r-ra...m...my…" The final two remaining chords snap as she yells in anger, resentment, pain and anguish. She begins slamming her guitar on the ground repeatedly like a jackhammer. The entirety of the building shakes violently as it feels as if the place was about to be knocked entirely to the ground from her tantrum, however...her guitar breaks first. Rammy then falls to her knees as her hands wrap around her head. She tries to also cover her ears to avoid hearing the continuously chanting machines who still sing.
"You neveeeeeeer matteeeeeeered..."
"Will neveeeeeeer matteeeeeeer…"
Parappa stares in complete horror of what he had done, but his hands continue to play. He had won, but the song was still not over...his hands were on autopilot as they strum to the chanting of the machines. He hated his hands, he wished to break the guitar so that they could no longer strum it, but alas he had to watch as he continuously added to Rammy's pain. Parappa had won this battle, but it is the first time ever that Parappa wished that he instead could've lost.
Lammy, who had watched the whole ordeal was overwhelmingly happy that he had won...but she also feels the pain that both Rammy and Parappa are feeling. It was a bittersweet feeling through to the end.
After a while, his hands stop strumming, and the devices die out as they fall to pieces onto the ground. Parappa throws his guitar out his hands, completely disgusted with himself, and runs to Rammy. Rammy stays huddled down, teardrops hit the floor, but there is no crying, or sniffling...only the air of complete and utter devastation "H-Hey...R-Rammy."
"Go away…"
"I...c-can't do that you know…"
"...I know...you won...yadda yadda...story of my fucking life…"
"Hey now come on…"
"Come on nothing...I lost to you...a fluke of a guitar player...a broken record of a singer...but I guess that's expected of me now…"
"...this has been eating away at you for how long?"
"Since I ran into that stupid...always better than me redhead...Always one upping me…"
"S-She doesn't do it intentionally you know…"
"Like I give a damn if it's intentional or not...she still does it…"
"A-Ah…" Parappa was at a loss for words. She wasn't wrong with that logic.
"My life spiraled down the shitter after I met her. She stole my job for Yoko...and so I challenged her...and I lost seven times in a row...I took my lumps, I cut my losses and wanted to end it at that...but no...when it came to my job as a freelance guitarist...it was hell...every time I got hired...she always ended up being taken in place of me last second...this happened time and time again...for the past five years…" More teardrops hit the floor "I couldn't catch a break...I was deemed a pathetic waste of space...I was called the inferior one despite the literal personality of my 'clone' being the definition of inferior...it hurt...It got to me...but I would never admit it...I went rampant at my house...but you know that...you saw it in that damn head of yours…"
"So you…"
"Knew about you? Yeah…I didn't expect it to happen so soon…I thought it was my brain telling me…'you can finally regain what you lost starting here!', but no...it was just more...failure… It affected me so much that I couldn't even get hired anymore...I've hit rocky waters with my girlfriend Kitty...and...I just..."
"Wanted to get back at her one last time?..."
"If I won...I thought I could end it all…"
"But if you lost?..."
"I would end it all myself…"
Parappa's heart stops, to hear someone blatantly tell him that they would kill themselves was certainly not something anyone wants to hear "You're...not gonna do that anymore though right?..."
"I don't fucking know...my life's in shitty shambles as is...so why bother stickin around when that's all I got?..."
"What if I could help?..."
"You can't help me…" She plucks her face from her hands "No one can anymore...why would they want to anyway?..."
"No one deserves to be in pain…"
"I'm a nobody...so do I still count?..."
"You are a somebody! Can't I help make you see?..."
Rammy sighs in defeat "Well I did lose to you and that was our condition...even though I really rather not…" She looks towards him "Tell you what...I'll hear you out...if you can get me to laugh and smile…"
"Is...that all?..."
"Yeah...good fucking luck getting me to do that now though…"
He extends his hand to her "Trust me when I say, that won't be a challenge!" He gives her the signature Parappa smile and thumbs up with the hand that isn't extended out towards her "When it comes to helping out another, I got what it takes! Care to walk with me to prove it?"
Rammy stares at him in silence, swapping between his face and his open hand.
Lammy watches the two from the door in a tizzy. SAY NO!...wait...that's terrible of me!...S-SAY YES!...b-but what about m-me?...S-SAY!...I don't know… Lammy collapses onto her knees and begins to cry herself.
Rammy takes a long deep breath "Sure." And grabs his hand. He quickly helps her up. Parappa picks up the guitar he tossed to the side and places it on his back.
"Glad to hear it. Now let's get out of this room!...I don't wanna see the inventors of these things that we inadvertently destroyed...or get chewed out for the hole in the ground and roof…" they both share a nod as they head for the door. Lammy notices and quickly runs off to hide. From her new wall, she watches them walk off and simply stares at the ground dejectedly. She is brought to her senses when someone tugs on her tail.
"E-EEEEEEEEEEP!...o-oh...P-Pinto it's you…"
"Were you just rejected?..." Pinto points to her eyes.
"..." Lammy quickly wipes the tears from her eyes to give her the true answer, but as she looks up she sees Parappa trying his best to make Rammy smile and laugh "...Yeah...I think?...But I think it was for the greater good I suppose?...I don't know...I didn't even get a clear moment with him...and now I probably won't anytime soon..."
Pinto looks towards where she was looking "She your sister?..."
"N-No!..."
"Relative?"
"N-Not that e-either…"
"Friend?..."
Lammy stops and thinks about an answer for that last one "...after today...m-maybe?...Depending on what he does..."
Pinto notices the hesitation and tries to change the subject "Wanna look at some of these things with me?...I wanna get to know you better! I think I judged you to badly on the way here…"
Lammy wipes away the last of her tears and smiles "I'd like that very much." She grabs the tiny fourteen year olds hand as she leads her off with her back towards the wacky invention filled groups.
Katy blinked her eyes open slowly, immediately clutching her head which pounded as if Ma-san was hitting her with her drumsticks "Gah...where am I?..." She sits at the edge of the bed she woke up on as she scans the room she finds herself in.
"My place." Leo speaks up. His clothes were different, he didn't even bother hiding who he was to her anymore.
"Leo...augh...my head…"
"Well you did drop and hit the ground pretty hard when you fainted...plus it seemed like your brain was exploding from the inside as well at the time. So I would assume you currently have one hell of a migraine!"
"Yeah...now tell me this…" She taps her fingers together "Are you my son?"
"Eh…you're half right with that assumption."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You'll see eventually if i'm correct with my timing...but for now I guess I should explain the things I'm able to. I am Parappa's son. That much is true." His tail unwraps itself from his waist. It's long like Katy's, but the end is bushy much like Parappa's tail "I have come back from the future to help my dad out in preventing something that negatively affects his state of mind and his life. It affected him so badly that it spread to EVERYONE…"
"Well I mean it would make sense. Parappa is the beacon of joy to all he involves his life with! To have that go south...you go down with him."
"Yeah well...I didn't like what was going on...so young, idiotic, eight year old me got himself sent back-"
"You were EIGHT when you went back in time?!"
"Let me finish before you choose to get upset with me like PJ did."
"Alright…"
"I used an invention of my dad and grandpa that they accidentally made. It was a car that could travel through time. I thought I could go back in time and help my dad with the event that horribly affected his life. However...I overshot my target time period...and so I spent 12 years of my life trying to survive TO the point that I could help my dad and you all. So with the help of Mushi and a few others, I managed to make a living. Unfortunately...I forgot what the event that hurt my dad so badly was...all I can remember is that it happens around this age period of his life…"
"So that's why you were so cool with Mushi...who else helped you?"
"Some people who are unfortunately long gone...the only few remaining people are just Mushi and Nana K."
"Nana K? Who's that?"
"Not even I know! She was just a nice lady who helped me out once she found me. I told her about my 'mission' and she quickly helped me find my way towards staying alive. And so with skills I learned and inherited from my family, i.e. you guys, I became 'Leo Steps! Performer extraordinaire!'" He slumps into an open chair "Now don't get me wrong...with a family like you guys, it was only natural I would follow in my dad's footsteps and become like that anyway...but I didn't enjoy this because it wasn't that I was doing it for myself...it was that I was doing it to survive and help out my dad discreetly…"
"So that's why you grew sick of the lifestyle…"
"And it's also why I stopped and dropped out for now since I had hit my target year." he yawns "This entire journey was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting...and to think it could've been for nothing SOOOOO many times throughout."
"What do you mean?"
"Well...I may not remember the event that messes up my family's life, but I do recall thanks to these books I 'borrowed' from them, that there are certain...intrusions along the way. My dad has a habit of finding himself into trouble it seems."
"You have NO idea…"
"Yes and so I decided to lighten the load with his current adventure that he'll be in."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The next big problem he'll face is one hell of a jerk. Who has...HAD...a ton of pawns. Thanks to my involvement in the music scene I was able to confront and lower the amount of supporters the guy had. Making it all the more easier for my dad to deal with him when the time would come! Unfortunately...this kinda made him act earlier than I would've hoped…"
"So now you made a problem bigger…"
"No no!...I think...Look I came back to help you guys and my dad and help I will! I won't let him do anything to you all! In my effort of helping I may have changed some things, but they didn't affect the overall time period!"
"The heck does that mean?"
"Well you see-" Leo feels his body static up again "Oh! Right on time! Now look here, this is what I mean by you being half correct with calling me 'your' son. See...as you said...Parappa seems to be apple in all your eyes right?...and likewise with him?"
"W-What's happening to you…"
"Answer my question please."
"Y-Yes?..."
"Well now I am living proof of his current incompetence! Watch as I now turn in the son combination of him and Lammy!" The static blur encases him entirely, however once it stops…
"Um…"
"I'm sorry to have made you assume I was an instant deal maker-"
"That's not Lammy's hair color…"
"Yes I know that's not Lammy's-...What?"
"Lammy has red hair…"
Leo rushes off to his dresser mirror to gaze at his current form "Oh no…" What he sees is that he does in fact look like a sheep...but not the one he anticipated. He had black and gray wool and black hair at the top while his blonde hair that made his pseudo dog ears were still there. His horns were longer than what they looked like if he were Lammy's son, but he wasn't, he was now...Rammy's son "Ohohoho nohohoho...Dad you are one son of a bit-"
"Uh...knock knock!"
"Fuck off..."
"Yeah that was a bad attempt…" Parappa scratches the back of his head "But uh...can't blame me for givin it a go!"
"Yes I can…"
"Yeah you can…" The two awkwardly walk about as Parappa still tries to do something to get her to crack a smile and laugh.
"So...how about these wacky inventions am I right? H-Hehe…"
"Feh…"
"Yeah real borin!..." Man I am sucking at this...well I can't really expect otherwise...I am trying to breakthrough five years of stored pain and suffering… "Uh...wanna go outside for a bit to get a breath of fresh, non hell air?"
"Whatever…" As the duo head for the exit, Parappa continuously tries every method capable of inducing laughter, but Rammy is still stalwart with her depressed state of mind. Eventually, Parappa's will feigns as he starts giving up...the two then slump on a bench outside and both heave a heavy joint sigh. Rammy takes this time to pull out a cigarette and lighter from her pocket and quickly lights it and puts it in her mouth.
Parappa notices her smoking and simply looks at her sadly, she glances at him and rolls her eyes, she then blows a puff of smoke. The wind blows it directly into Parappa's face and the pup dramatically begins coughing up a fit as if he were choking, and exaggeratedly falls off the bench onto the ground "GACK...AGH…"
Rammy's eyes continuously dart towards what he's doing on the ground, twitching like an absolute moron on the floor. Rammy soon then snorts a giggle out, but immediately covers her mouth. Parappa notices this, and decides to play it up a notch as he spazzes out even further before doing one final stretch and collapsing on the ground limp. His tongue sticking out as he holds out a flower. Rammy's mouth twists into a smile as she bursts out laughing "N-No fahahahahair!..."
Parappa hops onto his feet "All's fair in the name of helping!"
"B-Buhuhuhut you didn't even trhihihihy for this one!..."
"That's the funny thing about getting someone to smile and laugh. Sometimes you don't really need to try. Guess my dislike of smoke came in handy for something! Who knew?"
"Yohohohou jeheheherk!"
"Sticks and stones won't be breakin my bones~ Now I do believe you gotta hear me out~ Care to accept my help?~"
Rammy manages to stop laughing and looks at him with a cocky grin "That was slightly underhanded. Didn't think you could do such a thing...alright. You have my interest, I'll listen to you I guess. Now how do you expect to help me?"
"Well for starters, with the obvious thing! Wanna be friends?" He gives a beaming smile as he faces her. She simply blinks at his proposal.
"That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard."
"Oh...s-sorr-"
"But hey, I'm in no real position to call anything stupid if I look in a mirror so." She smiles back "Sure mutt. I'll take your offer."
"Great! I know I'll do my best to help you! And I'll do even more so to help rebuild your life and such!" He clings onto her with a big hug.
"H-Hey! Did I say you could hug me?! Stop with the contact you clingy mutt!..." Despite her words, she doesn't really do anything to shove him off "Come on...people are staring…I'm gonna start regretting my decision here…"
"S-Sorry!" He latches off.
"Ugh...whatever...just try not to do that again...or at least not with people around…" She crosses her arms "Alright...now aside from that...what would friends on the overworld do?"
"Well we'd just enjoy what was going on in the immediate area! And currently? We're at a science expo!"
"Yeah sorry, not a fan of geek related things."
"Now now come on! Give it a chance! I can guarantee there'll be things here that even you can't help but be interested in!"
"I highly doubt that." She blows another puff of smoke "But i'm your tagalong now so why not?"
"You're gonna have to get rid of that though...can't smoke in there…"
"Fiiiiine…" she drops the cigarette on the ground and stomps it to extinguish it "Sheesh what a pain…"
"Why smoke at all? It's bad for you!"
"Honestly? I couldn't give two shits about what the hell this does to my insides. All I care is that these things help soothe me down when I enter anxiety hell."
"Eventually they'll do the opposite…"
"That'll be a while, I just started recently so I'm gonna 'keep calm' till then."
"If that's the case then quit it while you're ahead."
"No!"
"Ugh…fine…come on let's go see what there's left to see."
"Fine by me."
"Why do you look like that?..."
Leo drags his hand along his face before turning back to Katy "Ok. As you know, my dad is Parappa, but my mother...currently varies. I will change appearance based on who my dad currently has on his mind…"
Katy puts two and two together "HIS JEALOUSY!...THAT'S WHY YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE MY KID!"
"Bingo. Now the girl on his mind is who he subconsciously assumes he'll ask to be with him. And clearly. The girl will say yes. Originally I would switch between being your son, Lammy's son, Paula's son or Ma-san's son. Now it seems I may have altered the past a bit to much because now I have a chance of being Auntie Rammy's son…"
"Rammy?...Who's-..." Katy recalls someone constantly calling Lammy out throughout the years of her career "H-HER?! AUNTIE?!"
"Yeppers."
"HOW?!"
"Well...after today...she's gonna be your new roomie!"
"WHAT?!"
"Lemme explain. See this part of history is staying the same. Parappa and her meet at the expo! They never told me what happened that caused them to be friends...but after today they slowly become so overprotective of each other! Think of a good cop, bad cop duo! Rammy is naturally aggressive, but with Parappa around she's tame. Parappa is naturally going for the better and would like to handle things passively, but with Rammy around he sparks up a moxie streak that both gets him into and out of trouble. They become like inseparable twins! However...thanks to me it seems that they now have a possibility of being more than just friends…"
"Now how does she end up our new roommate?"
"She says that she better head off to hell again, but her only options of returning are currently closed off for a good while. So Parappa being the generous soul that he is-"
"Offers her to stay with us…"
"Bingo!"
"Oh joy...Lammy is not gonna like...LAMMY! HER CHANCES OF ASKING-"
"Yeah they're destroyed...she had no chance today thanks to Rammy's arrival...and she won't for a while after...However! Thanks to Parappa, Rammy is much more tolerable of Lammy! Eventually becoming true friends! Even a motivator towards Lammy becoming more assertive, as well as being overprotective of her to! Like a big sis! Unfortunately in the meantime before that happens...Lammy will see no feasible chance of getting near Parappa in the romantic sense…"
"Oh no…" Katy rubs the side of her head "I mean it's nice that they become great friends and destroy the bad past they had...but to have the time in between that be a struggle for Lammy...oy vey that's not gonna be fun…also Auntie?"
"Oh! I call all of my dad's female and male friends Auntie and Uncle! It's a bad habit of mine. You all tried to get me to stop it, but that just made me wanna do it more to a point that now I can't stop it."
"So that's why you called PJ Uncle…"
So you heard us?...heh…"
"I thought it was my imagination...why didn't you tell any of us who you were?"
"That's not exactly easy...also I risked ruining everything...such as getting rid of my canonical mother…"
"Who is your real mother?..."
"Can't tell you."
"Well...how are you sure you haven't already ruined your mission?..."
"Because I'm still changing."
"What?"
"Once I stop changing and end up looking like my canonical body...then I'll know I failed and changed the timeline...right now I'm still changing so it shows that my future will still be the future of this timeline! I haven't made it an alternate timeline yet!"
"How do you know so much?"
"Grandpapa Rappa gave me a book on it!" He pulls out the book he tried giving to PJ "Here!"
"Time Paradoxes and you-" She throws the book to the side "I am not reading that."
"Uncle PJ did the exact same thing...honestly it wouldn't hurt to read...saves me the explaining…"'
"YOU can explain it to the TWO of us later."
"Fine fine…"
She crosses her arms "What else can you tell me?..."
"Well not much...but while I think up some things I can say...you gotta promise to not tell ANYONE else!"
"Why not?!"
"This will most likely complicate so many things! It may even ruin everything!..."
"..." she rests her head on her hand "Ok…"
"Good...thank you...ok so...yeah...once Parappa's back he'll be bringing Rammy with him…Will...you let her stay with you two?..."
"I don't know...how can I sure you're telling me the truth about her?"
"Well...here!" He pulls out the photo he showed to PJ and hands it to her "As you can clearly see. She's part of the group dynamic! Granted it currently shows her as my mom due to...well yeah as you can clearly see."
"Oh man...you're right…" she groans "She's the dream girl he's been talking about isn't she…"
"Dream what now-"
"Well now that it's like THAT! I can't say NO to him since he's trying to help her…" she slaps her forehead "I'd be a hypocrite if I told him to kick her to the curb…Oh...I'm sorry Lammy…"
"I'm sorry…"
"So now that I know why you were panicked over the expo AND what you look like and who you really are...I'm just exhausted...but hey! It does make sense as to how you were also light on your feet with skating, like me! And how you could best me in the laser tag! I clearly taught you!"
"Bingo."
"Man what a struggle to keep this a secret…" she looks at the apartment she's in "Nice place though...The sun really is a bother though…" She covers her eyes as she tries to find the shades she had. Leo hands her a new pair.
"You get used to it against your will…"
She places on the new sunglasses as she looks at him "You look nice to…you certainly inherited little in appearance from Parappa...but there's still some little traits...like your eyes, nose and tail. Also blotches in your fur are white like his! And the blonde part of your hair making dog ears that look like his ears! I'm amazed that something like that is possible!"
"Future you said the same thing to me growing up!" He self consciously grabs his hair "But thanks I guess.."
"Your personality is so weird...I can't get a definite grasp on what it is. The only thing that stays the same is that you're kind and always worry over the others around you. I can take a hint to who passed that down."
"Yeah...as for the schizophrenic rest of me...that's all the cause of constantly swapping who my true mother is...I inherit that from you gals as well...but swapping it isn't exactly fun for my mental stability. Sometimes I'm rarin to go! Ready for everything! Then the next thing I know I'm incredibly angry over everything! Even little things set me off! Next I'm either incredibly competitive or incredibly reserved! Knowing it's for the better to just lay low till I can manage. And finally I'm overly anxious about EVERY little thing! I panic and worry if things will go this way...or that way...I fear interacting with others in case something goes wrong…" He sighs "And NOW i'm gonna be heavily crude and snarky...just my luck…"
Katy soon feels bad due to being a contributing factor in his poor life "I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. I chose to go through all this. And I still will. To make sure I can change all your conjoined future! And by extension mine! I mean I managed twelve years without ruining anything! What's the harm in letting you and PJ in on it?"
"Knock on wood…"
"Relax! It'll be fine. Trust me!" He gives a thumbs up. The demeanor he gives is equal to Parappa's "All you gotta do is believe!" A flash happens as she hears Parappa's voice instead of Leo's. Katy has to rub her eyes to make sure she really is talking to Leo.
Katy smiles "You really are his son." she claps her hands together "Though it isn't a definite guarantee that you're my son...I will dote on you from time to time if that's fine!"
"I mean yeah? Won't it be awkward though?...I'm a twenty year old dude and not an eight year old kid so..."
"It's not awkward unless you make it awkward!"
"And you DEFINITELY stay the same in the future...that I can safely tell you." He rolls his eyes playfully before ending it with a wink. After he winks he changes into an orange and red lamb "Oh would you look at that...he must be doing something sweet right about now…" he then reverts back to his cat appearance "Aaaaaand he fucked it up..."
"Yikes...poor Lammy…"
Leo tosses her the cellphone he got from her "Wanna call?"
"NO! She'll question how i'll know!"
"'Best friend' senses?"
"...Not a bad idea...but no! I'll help her once they get back...seeing as Parappa's gonna be busy with Rammy…" she rubs the side of her head again "Can we go dance now at your club? I'm in one hell of a mindfunk and I need to dance this tension off…"
"You got it!" They head out the door.
"How do you commute when you're at the top floor?"
"Eheh...about that...you better hold on tight when going down the elevator…"
Katy gulps once she hears him mention that.
My poor sweet boy...what hell have you gone through for 12 whole years?...