Chapter Five- Let Loose
"Holy COOOOW!" Lucy with great excitement as she stepped off the trolley "Did we pick a good night to bust loose or WHAT?"
"Young Lady, please!" Don hushed as he scooped the little woman into his arms, not noticing that he had done so a little tighter than normal "You know if Ralph and Calhoun catch us, we're TOAST out here!"
Lucy mumbled as she pushed herself away from the older man, brushing her sleeves off tartly "Urgh, what's it with you today, DONNIE? I know you're usually a putz, but not this much!"
"Listen, little lady! When someone gives me an order, I do what I can to FOLLOW IT!" the former Nicelander grumped, bending down just enough to ensure that Lucy got the message "This goes against EVERYTHING I stand for!"
"Then why did ya follow us out, big guy?"
The sailor blushed a bit, caught in his own bag of hypocrisy. He thought for a second, trying his best to come up with a good excuse to cover his tracks but for the first time in a long time someone had FINALLY shut the man up.
"Ha, I knew it!"
"Y-you're just trying to black-mail me! When we get back, I'm going to make sure that Felix knows about this!"
"Tattle-tell…" snorted Deanna.
"Am not!" Don retorted, sounding more like a child than ever.
"Ah-huh! I'm sure both he AND Calhoun will take your word, despite what you did to Felix…."
"D-Don't even bring that up!" the man flustered, clearly running out of steam to fight the girl.
"Donnnie, please relax…." Meg said in a worried voice, her little hands nervously going to the man's shoulders. Don looked down and took notice in just how panicked his neighbor looked and realizing her discomfort, he knew it was best to mellow out, at least for now anyway.
It was strange; on any other given day, Don would try all his might to AVOID Meg because of his embarrassment with her unbound infatuation she had with the sailor, but now? With things getting as crazy as they were now, Don couldn't just LEAVE Meg alone in her worries. The best thing any gentleman would do would be to COMFORT a person in need.
"Fine, I will…" Don sighed, his anger quickly dying down, as always "But I still think this is taking too much of a risk. Not only could we be spotted, who knows what could happen to us out here!"
"You guys worry too much!" snickered Lucy "No one is gonna recognize us like this! The arcade is our playground and we can do ANYTHING we want!"
"Anything?" inquired Deanna, giving Lucy a skeptic look, well aware of the risk they were running.
"O-Okay, maybe not ANYTHING but come on! We should at least try to have some fun while we can!" the little Niceland smiled, her arms out "Didn't you say you wanted to go to one of the soccer games Tony? I'm sure they have a freebie night or somethin' goin' on!"
"Well…."
"An' Nolan! Get your butt over to Mario Tennis and kick some….BUTT!"
"Can't I get a say in th-?"
"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" Lucy said in a powerful voice, not even noticing how LOUD she was becoming "LET'S DO THIS!"
The Nicelanders just looked at their neighbor as if she were insane; at that moment they were all starting to regret going out with her.
"You guys SUCK, you know that?"
"Okay, you cannot tell me that the man disappeared off the face of the arcade!"
The group of Blissed Nicelanders squeaked as they jumped to high, seeing the all-too familiar forms of Calhoun and Ralph as they traversed through the falls, looking more frazzled than anything else.
"John hasn't seen him, that…creepy Yeti thing hasn't seen him! How in the world could we lose a vampire who looks he drank STEROIDS?!" growled Calhoun.
"Hey, Turbo managed to hide out for fifteen years. Maybe the creep is doin' the same!" Ralph mumbled, rubbing his temples in frustration.
The marine snarled a bit, her fist clenched tightly "Once I get my hands on him, he won't be BLISSIN' anyone for a while!" and without another word, Calhoun marched off to one of the phone booths on the wall.
The phone booth that happened to be OPPOSITE of where the Nicelanders were hiding.
"SSSSHIT."
"DON!" whispered Lucy, moving back as far as she could from Calhoun's view.
"What are ya doin'?" asked Ralph.
"Callin' Felix to make sure Demitiri hasn't shown up back at your place. Maybe we just got 'unlukcy' an' missed him."
Calhoun shoved a few coins into the phone slot, her brows furrowing.
"Unlucky….he's gonna be the one who's unlucky."
Riiiiiiing.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing.
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.
"That's strange."
"What's up now?"
"No answer…." said Calhoun as she hung up.
"Oooh, that might be a problem!"
"Gah! What do we do now?! Those two are BOUND to go home now!" shivered Roy, ducking in fear.
"Alright, missy. You got us into this mess. Get us out!" growled Don.
"Hey, don't push me like that, CAPTAIN! I can think of somethin'!"
"Then think of it QUICK, because I think they're startin' to go back!" panted Tony, nearly biting on is nails at this point.
Lucy looked around as fast as she could before spying another group of phones on the other side of the wall. They were positioned well enough that one could not see who was talking from their own position so….
"DON!"
"What?!" the sailor said with a jolt.
"You're good at impersonating voices!"
The big man glared down at Lucy, not in the mood to be led by her for another second "And that is going to get us out of here HOW?!"
Calhoun and Ralph continued to ponder on what to do about the situation. Felix hadn't answered the phone, Demitiri was still nowhere in sight and as the clock was ticking they knew it was only getting closer and closer to work. The marine rubbed her chin, trying to make the best of the situation but she had a gut feeling this was something both she and the wrecker could not leave unattended. They couldn't just HOPE for the Nicelanders to turn back over time; what if they never did? A problem would arise if the little citizens were stuck in that form during a work day.
"Okay, we're gonna give this place another round. If we don't find that vampire then, I'm calling my boys!"
"Geeze, hope we find him then!" hissed Ralph, rubbing the back of his neck "If he's hiding because he's scared of what we're gonna do, then he'll be in for a BIG surprise once your team-!"
RIIIIIIING!
Both marine and wrecker turned towards the wall of phones, a little surprised that the one Calhoun had just hung up had started to ring.
"Was that-?"
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
Calhoun walked over, picking up the phone "Hello?"
"OOOOH HELLO HON-EY!"
"Felix?"
"Ye-YEAH! Saw-REY ah didn't AWN-SIR the phone!"
Calhoun looked at the phone as if it were some sort of foreign object to her "Dear? Are you alright? You sound…..OFF."
"O-oh?! Its just tha RECEPTION, dat's all! I'm perfectly fine an' so are da NICELANDERS!"
"Really now?" Calhoun huffed, leaning on the wall and giving Ralph a suspicious look "From the way you sound, SOMETHING is up!"
Not too far away, the Nicelanders huddled in fear, Don sweating bullets as he gripped tighter into the phone.
"Hahn-hahn-hahn! No, EVERYTHIN' is FINE!"
"Told ya Gene was better at doin' voices!" whispered Tony, ducking lower.
"ANTHONY!"
"Will both of you shut up!" hushed Nolan, nearly shoving both Nicelanders' heads to the ground.
"Well, if things are that good….I'll leave ya an' the others be! Just be sure to pick up the phone next time I call, okay?"
"Sure thing HAW-NEY!" Don said, his voice shaking a bit as he continued to flounder with his Southern accent "I'll be there!"
"Good….."
There was a bit of an awkward pause, everyone feeling their blood run cold.
"Well?"
"W-well WHAT?"
"Aren't ya gonna say 'I love you'?"
Everyone around could see Don's face turning the most HORRID of grey colors as he was forced with the task of telling another woman, someone else's WIFE, that HE LOVED HER.
"Y-Yeah! A-A-A-AH-!"
"Yes?"
"A-A-A-A-A-AH!"
"Honey, do I need to go back an' check?"
"Luuuuuuuurve-!"
"DON!"
"I LOVE YA TAMMY! GOOD BYE! AND NOW TO CHECK THE THING I PUT IN THE OVEN!"
And with that, the man SLAMMED the phone on the receiver, sliding down to the ground as he buried his face in his hands.
"NEVER. AGAIN!"
Back with the marine, the woman was smiling from ear to ear, the beeping phone still in her hands. Calmly and slowly, she put the phone back on the receiver, her smile still plastered on her face. Ralph looked down, a might confused as to what was going on.
"Er, Calhoun. Are you okay?"
"That was Don." The marine said calmly, nodding her head.
"W-what?! How could you tell?!" Ralph gasped.
"One, he did a pretty poor job of making a Boston accent sounds like a Southern one….and two? HE DID A PRETTY BAD JOB OF MAKING A BOSTON ACCENT SOUND LIKE A SOUTHERN ONE."
"So, I guess that's it? The guys are out?"
Calhoun slapped her forehead, the tension in her mind only rising "Just when I thought we had ONE problem on our hand! Now we have THIS?!"
"Ya know what, I know this is a HORRIBLE thing ta say, but we need to split up!" said Ralph "Ya look for Demitiri, I'm goin' back ta Niceland!"
"An' what about the other Nicelanders! I can't handle 'em by myuself big guy!"
"Oh-HO, I'm sure ya can! An' once they see ya, they'll hop to anyway!" the wrecker said as he began running back to the game.
"Hope you're right…." The marine said to herself as she ran in the opposite direction "I don't want to spend all night chasin' after people!"
Once Calhoun was out of sight, the other Nicelander began to slowly creep from their hiding spot, all looking worse than the other.
"That was close!" sighed Lucy.
"NEVER AGAIN!" Don bellowed, his face turning red "I am never, EVER allowing you to swindle me like that over something this stupid!"
"Don, we got off the hook didn't we?! You should be HAPPY!"
"HAPPY!? WHY SHOULD I BE HAPPY!?" the man continued to scream, causing quite the ruckus as a few characters began to look over "OUR BUTTS ARE ON THE LINE ALL BECAUSE I CHOSE TO BE STUPID AND FOLLOW YOU! IF WE EVER GET OUT OF THIS, I-!"
Before Don could even say another word, the contents of an ENTIRE pie were SHOVED right into his mouth, the man falling on his back as Lucy continued to force the wad down his throat.
"AUGHR! YOU'RE GOING TO CHOKE HIM, LUCILE!" Meg cried in anguish.
"No I won't! I'm just insuring that grumpy Don is gone!"
"Aaaaaan' you're replacing him with WHO?" asked Tony, still confused as to what was going on.
"Fun loving Don, of course!" beamed Lucy, standing up and not even caring that Don was still lying on the floor.
"Wait…what did you fed him?!" asked Nolan.
"Oh, just a Turbo Pie!"
"LUCY, ARE YOU NUTS?!" gasped Roy "You KNOW what those things do to us so-!"
"It's just ONE!" the little lady smirked "One shall be enough to make him-!"
"OHMYGOSH! ICAN'TWAITTOHAVESOMEFUN! LET'SGETMOVING! DOESEVERYONEFEELLIKETHEYNEEDTORUNBECCAUSEIDO!IWANNARUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!"
Lucy looked back, seeing Don SPRING to his feet and look about the entire arcade like an over-active child who had eaten his weight in sugar. She smirked, everything falling into line just like she wanted it to.
"Just enough to make him a bit more susceptible to our coxing, that's all!"
"I will admit, you seem to have everything planned out ahead…." Said Deanna, her eyes still on Don as he hopped and twitched about.
"Why do you think I brought my bag with me? This thing is FULL of pie!"
"CAN WE LEAVE?!" asked Don spastically "I WANNA DO SOMETHIN'! LIKE PUNCH A SHARK IN DA FACE!"
Lucy put her hands on the man's shoulder and led him out of the corner "So Donnie wants to have fun? We're gonna have us some fun but if Don wants ta have FUN, he has to promise NEVER to bring this up to anyone once we get back!"
Don nodded his head rapidly, the effect of the pie working wonders on him "I PROMISE NOT TA OPEN MAH MOUTH!"
"Good boy!" Lucy grinned as she patted the tall man on the head "Now let's get ya somewhere you can punch the living pixels outta a shark!"
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Uh, guys? Didn't Don end up NAKED the last time he ate a Turbo Pie?" asked Tony, not seeing Meg turning as red as a beet as she buried her face in her hands.
Walking into the thick of the busy station, the Nicelanders has somehow once again found a way to disappear, even Don's voice fading in the crowd. Unbeknownst to them, two more sets of eyes were looking for the group, the couple managing to sneak out of the trolley long before Ralph had thought to return home.
"Do you see them?!" asked a frantic Mary.
Gene looked around, seeing nothing "Not a trace! You'd think I could-! NYAAAAAGH!"
"Honey!"
Gene fell with a WHOMP on his back as his feet gave way under him, his shoes slipping on something on the floor.
"Urgh, would it KILL people to clean this place up?!" the mayor growled as his held his aching back "That's DISGUSTING!"
"That's….PIE!" said Mary, looking down at the remains of the pie mush on Gene's shoe.
"Pie? What's so special about-?!"
PIE.
The two looked at each other, their brains quickly deducing that their neighbors had been there. After all, what other pie filling flashes RAINBOW colors once it has been bitten or in this case, STEPPED ON?
Turbo Pie of course.
"Oh no….oh no no no no no!" shouted Gene "THEY BROUGHT TURBO PIE OUT OF THE GAME?!"
Mary walked over to the nearest wall and put her head against it, "They had to know this would cause calamity. Why else would they do this?"
Wasting no time, Gene reached over and took Mary by the hand, dragging her further into the arcade.
"Come on! The sooner we find them, the sooner we can get home and the sooner we can set everything back up so Calhoun won't roast our butts if she finds us missing!"
The chubby woman stumbled on her feet a bit as Gene continued to pull her roughly through the crowd. She groaned, an angry look on her face.
"I just wanted to throw a simple party. I didn't want it to turn into THIS!"