Chapter 12: Professor Rotwood's Thesis
Once again, Jake and Huntsgirl spent a night battling each other. Unbeknownst to either of them, Professor Hans Rotwood was spying on them and hoping to take a photograph that'd prove dragons are real. Right after taking a photograph he hoped would do the job, a cop arrested him under the belief he's a peeping tom. Rotwood claimed he was trying to prove the existence of dragons and, thanks to the photograph he just took, he was about to become the world's most respected scientist. The cop sarcastically said he'd reserve a special cell for respected scientists.
The next school day, Rotwood presented copies of his "proof" but the picture was so blurred the students had no idea of what it was supposed to be. As usual, Trixie Carter was the most vocal about the notion that Rotwood's belief in the existence of magical creatures was a mere delusion. Arthur "Spud" Spudinski said it looked like his mother's lasagna.
Rotwood then shocked the whole class by offering a five-hundred-dollar reward for evidence that proves dragons are real. Jake was glad for Trixie's skepticism.
After school day was over, Jake, Trixie and Spud went to Trixie's house and played a videogame there. They were so excited with the football-themed game and decided to play for real and learned the worst way why certain games shouldn't be played indoors when they broke a vase.
"I… am… busted!" Trixie exclaimed in horror and then explained how that was a one-of-a-kind thing her father gave her mother for their anniversary. Upon looking at the base of the broken vase, they figured out there were actually five hundred of them.
After some search, they eventually found a similar vase at a curio shop. "We'll take it!" Trixie happily said. "Wrap it up!"
"That'll be six hundred dollars." The salesman said.
"Uh, how much if it's unwrapped?" Trixie hesitantly asked.
Rather than uttering any word, the salesman simply returned the vase to the display case until Jake interrupted him. "She's just kidding, Sir." He said. "We'll pay for it."
"What?" Not knowing who Jake's Dad was, Trixie was surprised by the idea Jake could spare six hundred dollars.
"Will it be cash, check, or charge?" The salesman sarcastically asked.
"I'll come back with the cash later." Jake explained.
"Bring the money before someone else buys the item and it'll be yours, kid." The salesman replied.
"Okay." Jake said and then he and his friends left the shop.
"What was that, Jakey?" Trixie asked. "Since when are you that loaded?"
"I'll tell you later, Trixie." Jake answered and they went to the nearest ATM. After he withdrew the required cash, they returned to the curio shop and bought the vase. The salesman was so shocked he spent a good time checking the bills against the light to be sure Jake wasn't deceiving him with counterfeit cash. Even after realizing it's real money, he briefly suspected the kids stole it from somewhere but he decided not to ask questions s, if necessary, he could honestly tell the cops he didn't know.
Trixie quickly took the new vase to the place where the old one used to stand. "Phew, I'm saved." She commented. "Now, Jake Long, where did you get that money?"
"Didn't you see it, Trixie?" Spud asked in confusion. "He got it from that ATM."
"That's not what I meant, Spudinski." Trixie clarified. "I meant about how Jake could have all that available cash. It's not like it's no mere coincidence he has the same surname as billionaire Jonathan Long."
"Actually, it's no coincidence." Jake eventually admitted. "He's my father."
"WHAT?"
"Shhhhhhh." Jake asked. "It's supposed to be a secret."
"Jake! Spud and I are your best friends! How could you hide it from us?" She asked in outrage.
"Actually, Trix, we hid it from you." Spud hesitantly explained.
"We hid it for safety reasons, Trixie." Jake explained. "Spud was privy to the secret because of his father's position at Long Enterprises but Dad doesn't know your family. I wasn't even supposed to let you in yet but I couldn't let you wonder how I got six hundred dollars."
"I… I'll need some time to think about it." Trixie asked.
Jake's cell phone then rung. "Hello, G." Jake answered. "Yes, G, I'm going there right now. Bye." Jake ended the call. "Sorry, Trixie, I'll give further explanations if needed but please don't tell anybody what I told you."
"Okay, Jakey." She reluctantly replied. "Bye."
"Trixie, I'm sorry I didn't tell you." Spud said after Jake left.
"It's okay, Spud." Trixie comforted Spud. "I can understand since the secret wasn't yours to tell."
LINE BREAK – CANAL STREET ELECTRONICS
"I'm here, G." Jake said. "What happened?"
"Jake, your father called and then asked you to call him as soon as possible." Lao Shi explained.
"You'd better do it, kid." Fu Dog suggested. "He seemed too worried."
"Okay, Fu." Jake replied and then activated the shop's magic mirror.
"Oh, Jakers! Are you alright?" Jonathan Long asked out of worry.
"Yes, Dad." Jake answered. "What's wrong?"
Susan Long then showed up at the mirror. "Jake, your father and I were worried because he got word an unusually big amount of cash was withdrawn from your account." She explained.
"Oh, you mean the six hundred dollars, Mom?" Jake asked.
"Exactly, Jake." Susan answered.
"You weren't robbed, were you?" Jonathan asked.
"No, Dad." Jake answered.
"Did you use the money to buy an expensive gift to impress that Rose girl?" Haley teasingly asked.
"If only." Jake moaned. "I accidentally broke a vase at Trixie's home and I gave the six hundred dollars as a compensation."
"Well, if the vase was worth that much and the Carters are satisfied, there's no harm." Jonathan commented under the impression Trixie's parents knew of the incident. Jake saw no need to correct his father's assumption.
"There's no complaining on their part, Dad." Jake commented.
"Did they find it suspicious that you had all that money?" Jonathan asked.
Jake hesitated before answering. "Well, Dad. Trixie now knows the truth."
"The Long secret or the dragon secret?" Susan asked in worry.
"Long secret, Mom." Jake answered.
"Okay." Jonathan commented.
"Aren't you angry, Dad?" Jake asked in surprise.
"Jake, as far as I'm concerned, it's only a reason for concern if too many people find out." Jonathan explained. "If not for the whole dragon thing making it dangerous to attract fame in the human world, I'd have already publically introduced you, your sister and your mother into high society."
"Thank you, father." Jake was touched by his father's words.
"Only time will tell if we can trust her or not, young ones." Lao Shi stated. "Just in case, I'll have Fu brew a potion to make her forget."
Later on, Jake got himself fighting Huntsgirl again. Unlike the previous battle, this one ended with Jake falling unconscious in an alley. Huntsgirl would take that opportunity to slay Jake but she saw two skateboarders approaching and the Huntsclan rules said that avoid being seen by civilian humans not involved with the Magical World was the priority so she left.
The skateboarders turned out to be Trixie and Spud, who were shocked upon seeing a dragon falling off the sky since, until then, neither of them (especially Trixie) believed dragons to be real. Trixie used her yo-yo to open the dragon's mouth and find out he did breathe fire. Spud then lifted the dragon's tail and found out the mouth isn't the only extremity that dragon breathed fire from.
"Spud, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Trixie greedily asked.
"Yes!" Spud exclaimed. "Someone must warn my Mom her lasagna can fly."
"No, Spud!" Trixie felt like the Brain whenever Pinky failed to ponder what Brain was pondering. "We can sell this dragon to Rotwood. If he'd willing to pay five hundred for evidence of dragons' existence, imagine how much he'll pay for a real living dragon."
"Probably he won't be able to pay much since he's a middle school teacher." Spud suggested.
"Point taken." Trixie conceded and then they went to Rotwood's place.
"What do you hoodlums want?" Rotwood asked upon answering the door.
"Look at what we found, Professor Rotwood." Trixie gladly showed their dragon.
Rotwood was excited and looked at the dragon from several angles to be sure it wasn't a fraud. "How did you hoodlums get it!"
"It fell into an alley." Spud explained.
Rotwood figured out the dragon must have been knocked out during a fight given the circumstances of when he took that photograph. "Yes, Yes. Ze five hundred dollars are all yours!"
"Oh, no!" Trixie replied. "Five hundred dollars were for mere evidence of dragons. A living dragon warrants more money than that!"
"How much more do you want, hoodlums?" Rotwood asked with a frown.
A few minutes of haggling later, Trixie and Spud left the place with seven hundred and fifty dollars. Three hundred and seventy-five for each of them. They then went to Canal Street Electronics to share the good news with their best friend Jake Long.
"Young ones, Jake isn't here at the moment but you may wait for him here if you want to." Lao Shi explained.
"Mr. Luong, did Jake tell you about the reward Rotwood offered for proof that dragons are real?" Trixie happily asked.
"No." Lao Shi answered while being internally fearful for the conversations' destination.
"Well, Rotwood offered a five-hundred-dollar reward for this." Trixie explained.
"Young one, you're not saying you actually found evidence. Are you?" Lao Shi nervously asked. "Everybody knows dragons don't exist."
"I used to think the same a few hours ago but it changed when Spud and I found a real dragon." Trixie happily said. "Fortunately it was sleeping otherwise it could fly away or eat us before we could sell it to Rotwood."
"How could you?" Lao Shi asked in outrage and was so shocked Trixie and Spud were afraid he's having an attack.
"What's wrong, Mr. Luong?" Trixie asked. "Do you need some medicine?"
"Was it a red dragon?" Lao Shi desperately asked.
"How do you know that?" Spud asked.
"The dragon… Jake." Lao Shi tried to tell.
"The dragon ate Jake?" Spud sadly asked. "What a horrible way to die?"
"The dragon is Jake!" Lao Shi angrily stated. "You and Trixie sold your best friend!"
"They didn't know, old man." Fu Dog told Lao Shi.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Trixie was shocked. "That dog talks!"
"One thing at each time, young one." Lao Shi replied. They then took a van and went to Rotwood's place. To Trixie's horror, it was Fu Dog and not Lao Shi at the wheel.
"Sir, shouldn't it be you to be driving?" Trixie asked.
"I don't have a license." Lao Shi explained.
"But the talking dog has." She sarcastically stated.
"It's a dog license." Fu replied.
In spite of this, they arrived unharmed (unless psychological damage counted) at their destination. "Professor Rotwood!" Trixie and Spud desperately shouted while banging at the door.
"You again?" Rotwood asked.
"Professor Rotwood, Sir, we made a mistake and need the dragon back." Trixie pleaded. "We'll even give you a total refund."
"Not a chance, hoodlums." Rotwood replied.
"Fine, I'll be honest!" Trixie confessed. "I know someone who'd pay a lot more for the dragon. You can become a millionaire!"
"Ze fame that comes vith being the one who proves magical creatures are real is more important that trivialities like money." Rotwood declared. "I'm taking zis dragon to ze Hoboken Science Institute and show it to ze press." He then shut the door at their faces.
As Rotwood drove towards the Hoboken Science Institute, Trixie, Spud, Fu and Lao Shi tried to follow him by van but Rotwood dropped oil to make them stop. Fortunately, Jake's rescuers had another idea. They went to the Hoboken Science Institute with a dragon costume. Once Trixie and Spud reached Jake's cell, he was happy at seeing them. "Trixie? Spud?" He then realized he's in his dragon form. "I mean, I'm a big and ferocious dragon. Aren't I?"
"Quit it, Jakey." Trixie said. "We know it's you."
"Wha?" Jake was shocked.
"No time to explain." Trixie replied. "Can't you burn your way out of this?"
"Rotwood was smart enough to fireproof the cage." Jake sadly said.
"That's why we brought you this." Spud replied while showing a dragon costume.
Later on, when Rotwood was about to show his "dragon" to the press, he got the shock of his life when, instead of a dragon, he found Jake and a costume. Rotwood ended up being arrested for abducting one of his students.
The next day, the good guys were at canal Street Electronics discussing the events. "So, the real reason you've kept it a secret that you're the son of Jonathan Long is that you're worried the attention it'd bring would make it too hard to hide the fact you're a dragon?" Spud asked.
"The main reason, at least." Jake explained. "There's also the fear of being abducted by kidnappers wanting ransom money."
"Well, it doesn't matter to us if you're a dragon, a billionaire…" Trixie commented.
"…or Mom's lasagna." Spud added.
"We're friends." Trixie said. "Friends for life. Friends for real."
After that, Trixie and Spud left and Fu and Lao Shi approached Jake. "Young dragon, I'm glad you're safe but now we must make them forget everything." Lao Shi stated. "I don't care if both of them know you're the son of Jonathan Long but they mustn't be allowed to know about the magical world. Can you really trust him?"
"As a matter of fact, Grandfather, I can."
Meanwhile, at jail, Rotwood was wondering if Jake Long was the dragon.
End chapter.