Chapter Two- High-Definition
It took a while for Felix to calm to finally calm the gaggle of Nicelanders down, the group shutting up just long enough for Calhoun to give them a once over.
Well, all except for Deanna. Even with all the commotion that was going on, Deanna was still passed out on the couch, not caring an OUNCE for what had happened to her.
"Hmmmm…interesting…." The marine said as she looked over the bunch one after the next, the now high-def Nicelanders nervously muttering to themselves.
"So? SO!? What's wrong with 'em?!" asked Felix anxiously "Did someone fiddle with their code?! Is it a VIRUS?! Is it-?!"
"Babe, babe. There's no need to get yourself in a tizzy…." Calhoun chuckled as she pulled her husband's hat over his eyes "I think even you can guess what happened here."
"Me?! Who should I know?!"
"Lemme give ya a clue…" Calhoun smiled "We have a few shape shifters here in the arcade, right?"
Felix looked a tad confused, one of his eyebrows arching "Yeah?"
"An' we have a few that can SHIFT others, right?"
The repairman put a hand to his chin, thinking of the many people in the character that possessed the ability to change their forms. His mind then went back to the party, trying to shift through the countless guests that had attended. Surly, ONE of them had to be the culprit but who?
The man's eyes lit up, a spark going off in his brain. He looked up at Calhoun, his jaw dropping.
"NO!"
Calhoun suddenly let out a laugh as she put her hands to her sides "I knew you'd figure it out!"
"What?! WHAT?!" asked a panicked Mary, handing Gene a glass of Alka-Seltzer to clear up his massive hangover "What's happened here?!"
"Miss Mary, calm down." chuckled the marine "It seems that you an' tha rest of you guys just got….well, BLISSED."
"Wait, BLISSED?" Ralph cut in "Hold on a second, I know that move well enough! ALL of us would have seen it pulled off with the amount of flash it makes!"
Felix leaned a bit closer to Ralph, a might curious "What do ya mean, YOU know about it?"
"Don't ask…." The wrecker responded, shivering.
Calhoun crossed her arms "Well, perhaps the Bliss occurred when we were all sleeping. That's the only way it could have happened undetected!"
Gene moaned as he tried to stand on his feet, his stomach still aching and his head feeling as if someone were jumping on it "W-wait! You mean that *BWARP!* upstart VAMPIRE was the one who did this to us?!"
The mayor was so close to losing his temper but he was so close to losing his balance again. A moan escaped his throat as he teetered on his new, longer legs.
"Whoa…the apartment's movin' again…."
"Honey, calm down…." Mary said in a gentle tone, trying to push the man back on the couch. She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose "Well, at least we have a definite answer to all of this. Even if it's stupid."
Gene once again tried to get back on his feet but the lurch he felt in his stomach quickly made him change his mind "Urgh! I should have known! He was going at us last night about s-SOMETHING an' then-!"
The mayor paused, trying to remember ANYTHING from his previous encounter with Demitri the night before but like all drunken memories, it was buried a WEE bit too far for the man to dig up. As much as he tried, he just couldn't remember the IMPORTANT details needed to help himself AND his neighbors.
Calhoun approached the mayor. She was a little shocked to see him in the same level of design as herself but she still found the form pretty funny.
He may have been high-def, but he was still the short, plump man he had always been.
Calhoun hid her laughter, trying to remain as stoic as possible.
"And then?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly.
Gene winced, his headache returning "I….I can't remember!"
"Puh. FIGURES." Snorted Ralph, the man also trying to hold back his laughter.
"Meh, don't sweat it guys!" smiled Calhoun, waving a hand "I mean, what's so bad about looking like this anyway?"
"What's so bad?!" Gene shouted, the sudden rush of anger blowing away any nausea he had. He MARCHED right up to Calhoun, standing on his tip-toes to face her "WHAT'S SO BAD?! LOOK AT US YOUNG LADY! We look-! We LOOK-!"
"We look AWESOME!"
Gene turned around, seeing Lucy admire herself on one of the mirrored walls. It had taken a bit for everything to settle in but the more Lucy looked at herself, the more she began to LOVE what she saw!
The HD Bliss was nothing more than an IMPROVEMENT in her eyes!
She took off her hat and ran her fingers through her hair, captivated by the amount of detail and softness she saw and touched. She looked at her eyes, the blue shining through even brighter than ever. She was still short and plump but with the new designs, she wasn't EGG-SHAPED anymore; she was 100% human!
100% curves!
Sure, there was still a smidge of cartoonish exaggeration here and there, not unlike some of the details that Calhoun had, but Lucy was blown away by how REAL she looked!
She turned around towards her neighbors, her smile growing wider the more she took in.
"Guys…..do you know what we can do like this?"
"Yeah. HIDE" Roy said with a bit of shame in his voice, not feeling comfortable with the way he looked.
"No! I mean, think of all the things we can do now like this! We LOOK better! We can finally REACH things! Heck, we can even MOVE like proper people now!"
Lucy looked over to Felix. Ironic enough as it was, being only five three, she was still an inch or two shorter than the repairman but at the same time, she could see that she had details that the game's hero did not. A catty grin spread on her face as she reached up and poked Felix on his nose, the surface making a little *beep* noise.
"In fact, I think we have more frames than YOU, Felix!"
Felix blushed as he gave the young Nicelander a pout, "Alright, Lucile. That's enough! An' as fun as this seems to ya, there is no way I'm gonna let tha lotta of ya stay like this!"
"But why NOOOOOOT?!" whined Lucy.
"Aw, great. Now ya got her mad…" groaned Don, rolling his eyes.
"A-HEM. Ya guys do know tomorrow IS a work day, RIGHT?" Felix said crossly, much to the surprise of the others "What are tha gamers gonna think when they see ya like this?!"
"Aw c'mon Felix! Ya know that dependin' on what game you're in, your graphics match up with it! We'll still be 8-Bit!"
"Yeah, but ya won't look like Nicelanders anymore…." Ralph said with a sigh "I'm sure SOMEONE would notice an' who knows what kinda drama would stir up from that!"
The Nicelanders talked amongst themselves, all of them agreeing with the exception of Lucy, the small Nicelander standing in the middle of the group all a huff that no one wanted to take advantage of the 'gift' that they had been given.
"So what do you propose that we should do?"
"What else?" sighed Felix "We go an' find Demitri, get him ta turn these guys BACK an' then we can finally rest!"
"Sounds good to me!" smiled Ralph.
"Hold on, lemme give Darkstalkers a call…" Calhoun said as she went to the penthouse phone.
"Felix, this isn't fair!" Lucy whined again, her little hands balled into fist "Can't ya let us have fun, just this ONCE!"
"Fun?" snorted Gene "If you really think having your code twisted and warped is FUN, need I remind you what happened to ME only a few weeks ago!"
"Oooh, that was DIFFERENT, Mayor Booty Shorts!" Lucy growled, taking Gene by his cheeks and pinching them "THAT was a GLITCH! This is MUCH safer!"
Gene took Lucy's little wrist into his hands, surprising himself at how easy it was to move her around in his new form.
"Young lady, this is no laughing matter! Who knows what could happen if we even so much as walk of this place like this!"
"So what you're sayin' is that you're SCARED, huh mayor?"
Gene turned a shade of scarlet as he looked down at the young woman, his mustache twitching "SCARED?! Who in the world says I'm SCARED?!"
"From the way you make it sound like we could just DIE from takin' one step outta this place, you make it quite clear that you're scared, GEEEEENE!"
The mayor growled as he peered down at the woman "Lucile, if there is one thing I am NOT, it is a COWARD and no bit of cowardice is keeping me here!"
The little woman gave Gene a snide grin, edging him on "Then what is it? Why won't ya go out?"
"I-I'm just concerned for all of you!" Gene blurted, trying to recover "I mean….I AM the mayor here, right? What kind of MAYOR would allow his fellow citizens to put their lives in danger! That would be irresponsible of me!"
Still standing on the side-lines, Felix put his face in his hands "Gene, you DO know she's toying with your right?"
"Oh! But Gene! WHAT about the others! They don't like to be cooked up in here!"
Lucy then walked over to Deanna, flopping herself down on the couch next to the taller woman and putting her hand around her shoulder.
"Dee-Dee, don't you think it would be GREAT if we could see the arcade like THIS?"
"Please go away…."
Lucy then walked over to Don, wrapping her arms around the man who was looking at her as if she were insane.
"An' what about Don? He's SO OLD! Who knows if he'll get a chance to enjoy something like this again?!"
"Lucile, I swear to programmers…"
"See?! We've been given an OPPORTUNITY here, Genie!" the woman said happily, SHOVING Don out of the way "We can't just let it go to waste! Let's go out!"
Once more, the mayor blushed but not because he was angry but rather because Lucy was finally starting to get him to break. The more she talked about going out into the arcade, the more he began to think….
Perhaps, PERHAPS….things weren't that bad.
The man then turned towards his fiancé, his heart starting to flutter once he got a better look at her. The two eyed each other for a moment but in a split second, Gene was hit by something. Something that made him go back on his previous spur of curiosity.
"Er, I-!"
Mary took a step forward, a hand reaching out "Gene?"
Without saying another word, Gene quickly ran from the penthouse, the doors slamming shut behind him.
"Oh, honey! Come back!" Mary said, following suit.
Ralph and Felix looked at each other, a little confused as to what had happened to cause Gene to just bolt from the room like that.
"Wow, wonder what's up?"
"WHAT?!"
The group of characters flinched as Calhoun's angry voice echoed throughout the room.
"What do ya mean ya can't find him?!"
"Tammy, Tammy!" Felix called out, walking over to his wife "What's wrong?"
"Guys, you're not gonna believe this but Demitri? No one has seen him!"
"WHAT?!"
"Ya gotta be KIDDIN' me!"
"Wait, hold on!" said Ralph "He left with Morrigan and Lilith right? Even THEY haven't seen 'im?"
"No! They said they woke up this morning and he was gone! Not a trace of him to be found!"
"Oh, this is bad! This is really bad!" Felix said in worry.
"Okay, what's so bad about this again?" asked Lucy, her hands on her hips.
"Demitri is tha only one who can set ya guys back ta normal, ya know that!" the repairman said rather snippy. He took a deep breath, trying his best to regain himself "S-sorry 'bout that but-! Aurgh! Just when I thought things were gonna go smoothly here!"
"Think we should call up an arcade search?" Calhoun said as she stepped forward, looking determined.
"Sounds like a good idea…" the repairman mumbled "But just keep it LOW, alright? I don't want anyone else here ta know what's goin' on or for people ta get panicked!"
"Ya know she's gonna send out her entire game. Ya KNOW that…" Ralph whispered to Felix, the other man nodding in agreement.
"An' what are WE supposed ta do?!" asked Lucy, looking more peeved than ever "Ya can't TELL me ya want us ta-!"
"STAY!" Felix said in a powerful voice, pointing to the Nicelanders "I don't want ya guys ta leave this building, ya hear?!"
At that sudden explosion of anger, ALL of the remaining Nicelanders got to their feet and rushed over to the repairman, nearly knocking him over in the process!
"How could you?!"
"Stay here!? But I don't wanna!"
"You're putting us under BUILDING ARREST?!" shouted Don as he picked Felix up without thinking "Private, surly there has to be some other way!"
Programmers, the Bliss had worked wonders on ALL of the Nicelanders and thanks to it, some of them were actually TALLER than Felix now.
And in Don's case, TALLER and much more BUILT as well!
Felix gulped, a little nervous at how Don could lift him up so easily "Um, Captain Donald? Sir? Um, I'm just doin' this so nothin' else happens, OKAY? Th-there's no need ta get upset okay?"
"Donnie, just put him down…" sighed Deanna, putting her hand on her neighbor's shoulder. Doing as he was told, Don put the repairman down, Felix adjusting his cap.
"Ya know what….maybe I should stay here and watch you guys…."
"Aw come on Felix, we're all adults here! We don't need to be babysat, ESPECIALLY me!" Lucy pleaded.
"HA!"
"SHUT UP, TONY!"
"Ooooh, NO! I'm not riskin' it!" the repairman said as he gave the group a glare "Tammy an' Ralph can take care of the heavy stuff without me! SOMEONE is gonna hafta hold down the fort considerin' I can already TELL ya guys are just ITCHIN' to break out!"
The Nicelanders all looked each other, the expressions on their faces no different from those of children who had been caught trying to swipe something.
Well, again, with the exception of Deanna.
Deanna's concern with what was happening was so low that the only thing she cared about at the moment was trying to remember what character had called her 'BOUNCY' during the party.
"Are ya sure ya can handle 'em, honey-glows?" asked Calhoun "I mean, they AREN'T their usual TRAVEL-SIZE anymore! They could overpower ya if they wanted to!"
"Overpower me? Those guys?" snickered Felix "Tammy, please! They're my FRIENDS! An' I'm sure they understand NOW just how concerned I am for 'em! They won't be ANY trouble!"
"Oooookay….." Ralph said nervously "But if anything happens, just call us or somethin', alright?"
Felix smiled, giving both wrecker and marine a salute "Not a problem! Things will be fine here!"
Calhoun and Ralph exchanged glances but knowing they had very little time on their hands, they left anyway, watching the doors of the penthouse slowly closing behind them as Felix continued to smile and wave.
"Be honest with me Calhoun….Felix can handle NICELANDERS, right?"
Calhoun said nothing to Ralph, her eyes darting towards the elevator "COME ON! WE DON'T WANT TO WASTE TIME DO WE?"
THAT wasn't the sound of confidence….
With a plan put into motion, the only thing everyone could do now was wait.
And waiting was going to be PAINFUL.
Calhoun and Ralph made their way to the trolley, gearing themselves up for the search but as they left, they didn't notice the HAND laying underneath one of the bushes.
"SNNNNNNNNRK!"
A duck waddled up to the hand and eyed it curiously. After a few small pecks, the little thing suddenly made a nip.
"Urgh, huh?"
The hand pulled back and startled the duck in the process, the chubby mallard flying off as fast as it could but had it stuck around, it would have seen just WHO the hand was attached to. A tall, muscular figure rose from the ground, its other hand placed atop its head.
"Nnngh, wh-what happened last night?"
Demitri.
Apparently, his little snooze on the lawn wasn't as plush as he THOUGHT it was going to be. The vampire looked to the left of himself and then the right, finally catching sight of Niceland in front of him. All at once the memories of the party started to come back to him but there was ONE SMALL detail that still evaded the man.
"Hehe, oh yeah….I did party didn't I?" the man said in a weak laugh, his head hurting worse if he laughed harder "But why am I still-?"
Demitri shook his head and got back to his feet. He needed to get home. He needed some fresh blood.
HE NEEDED SOME EXCEDRIN.
Much to the vampire's annoyance, he found the trolley had taken off without him and he didn't know WHEN it would arrive back. He grumbled, levitating with a wobble.
"Would it KILL these Nicelanders to install a second trolley or something here?! I don't know how far I can fly like this!"