Chapter Eleven – True Confessions of a Nicelander Mind
One wrecker, one repairman, and one marine stood outside of a game, each one looking haggard, tired and angry.
What do they do next?
"Ya know, if I didn't feel GUILTY about it, I would totally cram your neighbors into a bucket to make sure they NEVER escape again!" Calhoun growled.
"TAMMY!" shouted Felix but the man stopped himself "I prefer a BOX. They conform into shapes rather well so I think a box look would be GOOD!"
"Guys, c'mon." Ralph moaned, pulling both towards the entrance of Darkstalkers "The sooner we talk to Demitri, the sooner all this can be OVER!"
The three stormed the castle, ignoring the others who were sitting by, wondering what could have caused the three to walk in.
"Great, what did Demi do THIS time?" asked Felicia.
Calhoun kicked upon the front doors of the vampire's mansion, shocking two familiar succubi who sat enar the front, watching what appeared to be a fight on their TV.
"Mpph! Whatever it is, blame Demitiri!" Morrigan mumbled, popcorn in her mouth.
"Where…IS HE?" growled Calhoun, her guns aimed and ready.
The two sisters looked at each for a moment but even with the guns pointed at them, they didn't feel threatened. Lilith reached up and lowered the barrel.
"Like Sissy said, blame Demitri for all of this. He's in his room."
"Doin' what?!"
"Passed out I think. Whatever the guy took in the other night really threw him for a loop…." The small girl said, returning her focus on the TV.
"Oh! And it looks like Sailor Man took a punch to the knee!"
"AUUUUUUURGH!"
Felix blinked worryingly, noticing that the two fighters on the screen looked awfully familiar "Hey, are those-?"
"Leave it Felix, leave it…" Ralph sighed, picking the man up by his collar and pulling him along.
"Coffee and Excedrins. The perfect cure-all!"
"YO, Bat-Butt!"
Demitri jerked forward, dropping his strange caffeinated cocktail on the ground. Seeing the unpleased eyes of Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun did nothing to aid his growing headache but with the way things were heading he knew it would be better NOT to further their fury.
"Ah, my favorite repairman and friends!" the man smiled, walking towards the trio "What brings you here."
"Aw, cut it Demitri! You know EXACTLY why we're here!" barked Calhoun "I don't know how long ya've been cocked up in this castle of yours but are ya aware what your little prank has caused!?"
"Oh, so that would explain that GHASTLY noise I've heard all day…." The vampire said with a sneer "For a moment, I thought it Morrigan's off-key singing."
"I heard that you butt!"
"My fellow characters, you need not worry." the man chuckled, hovering around the three "This spell? This Bliss? It has caused no harm to anyone so there is no need to act as if the arcade is going to fall apart!"
"No harm?" Ralph said, his eye twitching "Your spell hasn't caused…ANY? HARM?!"
Demitri turned but as he did so, Ralph SLAMMED his huge fist on the man, plowing him into a nearby wall, the wrecker having finally lost his temper.
"I've been BITTEN! I've been THROTTLED WITH BOAT OARS! I've been stung, stabbed, and everything else under the sun thanks to your spell, Mr.! DOES THAT SOUND 'HARMLESS' TO YOU!?"
Demitri gasped, his hands going atop those of the enormous wrecker "M-my, MY! Someone is in a foul mood!"
"He's not tha ONLY one!" growled Felix, trying his best to seem as tough as he could "Ya mind undoin' tha Bliss so we can ALL get outta this ALIVE?!"
Demitri looked over at the group. While he wasn't one to toy too much with people, the way the three had busted into his lair was starting to push the man over. He smiled, his form dissipating into smoke and fluttering out of Ralph's grip.
"Hey, what-?"
"There is no need to be so FORCEFUL, goodness…." The vampire sighed, running his hand through his hair "I can assure you that you and everyone else in this arcade will be fine. But just…just give it a moment."
"We don't have a moment…." Calhoun growled, grabbing the man by his collar "You undo this and you undo it NOW!"
Demitri took one look at Calhoun and then one look at her hand. His eyes returned to the woman and then another glance too him back to her hand.
Was she really handling him like this, as if he were a common criminal? The man smiled again, his eyes narrowing and his sharp teeth showing.
"Well, when you put it THAT way…."
"W-wait! I DIDN'T-!"
*POOF!*
~As this was going on...~
"Come on honey, come on!" said Mary as she dragged Gene over to Burger Time, the man still holding his sore eye.
"Nnngh, as thankful as I am to have the power to actually PUNCH someone, something different can be said about how I feel now!"
"Lemme take a look…" Mary said in concern, taking Gene by his fat cheeks. The bruise was starting to get worse, the small spot on his eye spreading and turning a horrid purple color.
"Yikes! You've never taken a blow this bad even when Ralph throws you!"
"Ouch…." The mayor said, his eye twitching "Maybe we should find Felix to fix this but after this wild goose-chase…"
"I'm sure he'll understand…" sighed Mary "But for now, we need to hide. Surge may still be on to us!"
"Then why are we here?" asked Gene, realizing that he and Mary were now going to the BACK of the burger restaurant.
"Shhhh, I'm not taking any chances."
The two then approached the back door of the establishment, Mary knocking three times on the panel. A moment or so later, a small window slid open, an eye looking down at the two.
"What's the password?"
"Blast processing." Whispered Mary, Gene clueless to what was going on.
"Dear, what are you-?"
"Shhh!"
The door slowly opened, Ms. Tomato leading the two in "Hmm, dare I ask how YOU of all people got the password?"
"Trust me dear, we're regulars." Mary smiled nervously "We just…we just had a bit of an upgrade, if you can call it that!"
"GAH! Aw man, what happened to that dude's eye?!" shouted the tomato, backing away "It's like someone busted it in and its fallin' back on itself!"
"Maaaary…." Whimpered Gene, feeling more self-conscious than ever before.
"Dear, if you don't mind. Could we see Pete?" Mary asked, looking back at her fiancé "And could you possibly bring us an ice-pack as well?"
"Lucy! LUCY! Hold up!" panted Tony, trying to make his way through the crowded dance game. He stopped in the middle of the floor, panting in exhaustion.
Darn it; Lucy had escaped him again.
"Urgh, you're ALWAYS like this!"
Unbeknownst to the Nicelander, Lucy was a lot closer than he thought, the little woman looking down at him from the light-room above.
"Sorry Tony but I have business to take care of." Lucy snickered devilishly.
Of course Lucy would somehow find her way into the light-box of the game. She had been to DDR so many times since it was plugged in, she knew each and every spot in the place but this time, her journey had brought her to someone.
Someone she had wanted to talk to for the longest time.
"This is it Lucy. This is it….."
"Mind helping me install these?" Skrillex asked one of the characters, tossing them what appeared to be a microphone. The hand nodded as it walked downstairs and once Skrillex was alone….
"Hey."
The DJ turned, at first not noticing the girl but he did a double take, his eyes wide in surprise at what he was seeing.
"And you are?"
"Skrillex, its ME!" Lucy smiled, pointing to herself. The man looked the changed Nicelander up and down, still not having a clue as to how he was in front of.
"Um, care to run that by me again?"
The Nicelander scoffed, fluffing up the pink streaks in her hair "Who else do ya know with HAIR like this, c'mon!"
Pink streaks, pink streaks, pink streaks?
Bells went off in the man's head, his jaw dropping.
"Lucy? NICELANDER Lucy?!"
"Bingo!" the woman laughed, her arms going out "So what do ya think of the new look! MUCH better than the 80s model huh?"
Skrillex stood silent before the woman, not sure how to react to the sudden change. Granted, how could one react towards the sudden transformation of a woman who was less than three feet tall to one that was…
That was….
That looked SOMEWHAT human.
"Lucy? W-wow….I…."
The man stopped, trying to think of ANYTHING to tell the woman "Er, it's really becomin'!"
Lucy pouted, expecting the man to more or less SWOON at her Blissed form "That's it? It's BECOMIN' of me?! C'mon! Surly seeing me like THIS is impressive or somethin'!"
"Oh, it is!" the man grimaced, scratching his head "It's just…um, why did ya do this?"
"Me? Oh, I didn't do this myself!" the girl twittered "You can thank that scary vampire dude for this!"
"Scary vampire dude?"
"Yup! I guess he felt a lil playful last night and BLISSED the lotta us Nicelanders into THIS! I'm not complain' though; I LIKE the way this turned out!"
Again, Skrillex was left silent at the sight. He wanted to say something to Lucy, something that wouldn't come across as crass or cold but what could he say? Even worse, it was apparent the Nicelander wanted the DJ to comment on her new look, her eyes batting and her body posed in such a way that he could see every curve of her.
"Sooo? What do ya think? Think I fit in with some of your groupies now?" the Nicelander said in a catty voice.
"Lucy…."
"C'mon tell me." The woman smiled "Or maybe I look better?"
"Ya know, from the way you're goin' on about this, you make it sound like I had a problem with the way you looked before hand."
The Nicelander stopped, shocked that of all the things to happen it seemed like Skrillex had seen right through her.
Of course that was it! What other reason would Lucy had gone through all that trouble to make it to restricted areas JUST to see Skrillex? Having been caught in her trick, the young woman frowned, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment.
"W-what makes ya say THAT?" she sputtered "O-Of course I don't think that. I'm just askin' ya if I would look perfect in your group now!"
Skrillex couldn't help but chuckle to himself, humored at the young woman's pouting "Lulu, seriously? Are ya tellin' me that you went through all this trouble to impress me or somethin'?"
"S-so what if I did?" the woman snapped "From the looks of things now, I guess I wasted my time?"
"No, no, no, no!" said Skrillex "I don't think that! It's just-!"
"Just what then, HUUUUH?" the Nicelander said, getting right into the DJ's face and poking his chest "Ya tellin' me that this is all funny to ya? It's funny that the NICELANDER can't get any appreciation for how she looks, no matter what form she takes?!"
"Lucy, c'mon!"
"Don't C'MON, me mister!" the woman said. A second later she realized what she just said, her face twisting in disgust "URGH! I meant-! Forget what I said there, what I mean is-!"
"Lucy, stop…." The man said, putting his hand on her shoulder "Look, I dunno what's going on in that head of yours but really? I never thought bad of you before."
"R-Really?" Lucy said, her eyes widening "But I always thought, with all the awesome ladies you hang around I didn't stand I chance. I mean, I'm the same age as they are but I usually look like an EGG with legs and hands! I thought-! I thought if I actually LOOKED human then you'd notice me?"
"Are ya kidding?" laughed Skrillex "I notice ya everytime you're on the dance floor! I mean, who couldn't miss a lady dressed like you kicking butt!"
"Yeah, that is fun…." The woman said in a dreamy voice, thinking back to all the nights she spent in the game, bickering with others over what song to put on next "Good times."
"Ms. Lucy, ya don't have ta change for anyone to get them to notice ya. I mean, I thought ya looked FINE before!"
"YA DID?" the Nicelander said in shock.
"Lady, look around us! We have so many different people here so why in the every lovin' code would ya think I would snub my nose at ANYONE? It's not the gentlemanly thing to do..."
Lucy had to admit to herself that she had not expected those words to be given to her. All this time, she had expected Skrillex to fall head over heels for her new form seeing as she was sure that like so many in the arcade, he was turned off by her usual Nicelander form. To hear such sweet words touched the woman.
Not enough to make her cry of course; Lucy may have been love-struck but she wasn't SAPPY.
"Oh, that's so….so AWESOME of ya." The woman smiled, her cheeks turning red "Ya don't know how much that means ta me."
"Hey, anythin' for a fellow music appreciator…." The DJ said as he hugged the woman "But I really wanna know, are ya gonna turn back? How is this gonna work for your game?"
"Oh, right…." Lucy said, looking down at her hands "I dunno know WHEN this is gonna wear off. We all guessed by midnight but since it's past that, maybe…."
Skrillex looked out the window of the light-box, noticing another familiar figure out on the dance floor.
He looked lonely, he looked sad.
Tony.
Niceland Tony.
"Hey, I dunno how much time ya have left but maybe. Maybe ya should spend it with someone special."
"Who?" asked Lucy.
Skrillex bobbed his neck towards the window, Lucy taking a peek out and seeing Tony on the floor.
"Seems kinda lonely, don't ya think? I mean, everyone needs someone so maybe…."
"Wait, are ya tryin' ta hook me up with TONY?" Lucy said in a bewildered tone.
"Um, yeah….is there a problem with th-?"
"HE'S MY BROTHER!"
Skrillex's face dropped as he looked at Lucy, the sides of his mouth twitching "….PARDON?"
"Tony is my older BROTHER." The Nicelander said "Didn't ya know?"
"Apparently, I DID NOT."
Lucy broke into a fit of laughter, her hand going to her head "Oh my-! OH MY PROGRAMMERS! This is just too much!" she laughed, slapping the man hard on his back, succeeding in knocking his glasses off.
"Glad ya like it?"
"Oh my…." The woman sighed, coming off her laughing fit "Ya really do know how to make a girl feel good, ya know that? But seeing as ya did make the suggestion, can I ask for one thing?"
"Er, sure. Hopefully it's not somethin' ta show that you're angry at me."
"Far from it!" beamed Lucy "In fact-!"
Down below in the main dancehall Tony sat alone at one of the booths in the game, his chin resting in his hand.
"So I lose Deanna, I lose Don, and I lose my own sister. The heck is wrong with me?"
"Toooooony?" sang a voice.
The man turned, seeing Lucy standing before him and grinning from ear to ear "Lucile! Oh, thank goodness you're okay!"
"'Course I am, Tony…" the woman laughed, flicking her brother on the nose "Since you've been such a good boy durin' this entire debacle, I think you deserve a treat."
"A treat?"
The light began to dim in the room, several characters beginning to gather around the dance-floor and awaiting the announcement of the next song.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Skrillex called over the loudspeaker "PER REQUEST, HERE IS TONIGHT'S SPECIAL SONG!"
A few notes began to play, Tony's eyes starting to light up.
"I-is that?"
"Yup!"
"Oh my GOOOOOBS!" cried the Nicelander in pure jubilation "Its tha POKERAP!"
Electrode, Diglet, Nidoran, Mankey!
Tony was beside himself in joy as the song played loudly on the loudspeakers, not caring a lick that the other patrons of the game had no idea what was going on or even how to dance to the song. The man didn't miss a beat, running out into the dance floor and tearing up a storm to the oddly hypnotic song.
"Do you know how long I've requested this song and it's been looked over? DO YA?"
Lucy chuckled, looking up at the light-box and seeing Skrillex waving down to her. She gave a small wave back returned her eyes to her brother, the sight of his happiness making her own better.
"Well, at least one of us had a good night."
"C'mon! C'mon! Who knows the names? I can't be the only one! Dance with me!"
"Well, it's starting to look better." Mary smiled, taking the ice-pack off of Gene's face "But once we get home, I'm sure we can convince Felix to work on it."
"MMPH?" the man said, in-between bites of his burgers, pure bliss in hand "What did you say honey?"
"Why Mr. Mayor Nicelander Gene. It has been such a while since I've seen you smile!" the woman laughed "Are you enjoying your meal?"
Gene only nodded, his mouth much too full to do anything but smile. Mary leaned over and kissed her fiancé on the cheek, glad to see him so happy.
"I only give my love the best…." She twittered, giving the man kissy lips as she pulled him slightly "After all, who was the one who beat up that nasty brute who sad those awful things to me?"
The man whined, his hand reaching out for more fries "Mmmph, love-pie!"
The pink Nicelander let out a laugh as she pushed her fiancé back, amused that he now cared more for stuffing his face than his black eye.
"Oh, never change dear. Never change…" she sighed, hugging the man tightly "Ya greedy thing…"
Gene pouted, his chubby cheeks making him look more childlike than ever "I am not *HIC* greedy."
"OOOOOH!"
The two looked towards the main portion of the restaurant, a large crowd gathered around the TV. Apparently something was going on and despite knowing better, the two Nicelanders HAD to know what was going on. Mary moved forward first, trying to get a view of the TV.
"Well?" asked Gene "What is it?"
"Honey? Remember when we joked about Deanna sneaking off to Street Fighter or Teken or one of those games to get self-defense classes?"
"Yeaaaaah?"
"I think our jokes are true."
Gene shot up, running towards the entrance of the door to see in plain view Deanna kicking the living pecan pie out of Don, the woman sitting atop the man and bending his legs back.
"SAY IT NOW! SAY IT NOW!" bellowed the woman.
"AUUUURGH! I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER HITTING YOU THERE! GET OFF!"
"WRONG ANSWER!"
The painful SNAP of something break sent waves of pain throughout the audience, Don screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Aaaaah!"winced Mary, ducking down "I guess you're black eye isn't looking too bad is it?"
By now, EVERYONE was tuned into the incredible show but it wasn't just the fact that two 'unknown' figures were fighting that was so incredible but rather no one was doing anything to stop it. If something were to happen to either Nicelanders, it could either spell great harm or a game over for both but no one seemed to stop them, everyone just gathered around and cheering for either even though they still had no clue they were rooting for NICELANDERS.
"I place my bets on the foxy one!" shouted a spectator.
"No! The thick dude with the awesome accent! HE'S gonna win this one!"
Meg remained in the crowd, her hands on her face and panicking on what to do.
"Guys, stop! STOOOOOP!"
Don had managed to pin Deanna down but it was clear to everyone that he was beginning to tire out. The power of the Turbo Pie was draining but even so there was no way he was going to let Deanna get the better of him, especially not in front of a crowd.
"Young lady, I'mma show you how we fight on the SEA!"
"Oh, BULL Don!" Deanna growled, struggling to push Don back "Y-You're all talk an' n-no MUSCLE, old man!"
"Programmers, I'm only FORTY-TWO! How is that OLD?!"
"STOP IT!" cried Meg, her voice shaking "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!"
Both wrestlers didn't notice the cries of agony before them, Meg leaping up to the stage and running towards them both. She had seen enough for the night, wanting nothing more for both of her friends to stop before they really got hurt.
"STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" sobbed Meg, tears streaming everywhere "I never wanted to see you fight like this! Please stop!"
"Not until Don apologizes!" Deanna snarled.
"FOR WHAT?!"
"Donald, Deanna, can't you hear me?!" the other Nicelander wailed "This is nuts! We have the entire arcade gawking at us and you're STILL too preoccupied to notice how much you're hurting each other?! Aren't you two FRIENDS?!"
Friends mean nothing when you've consumed so many Turbo Pies and received a rather painful blow to the bosom!
The crowd continued to chant for the two fighters, Meg feeling more and more corned by the shouts and jeers. Her room felt like it was starting to spin, it felt like everything was closing in around her. She only wanted what was best for everyone, she only wanted the best for EVERYONE!
"You want a fight?!" she yelled "FINE!"
Meg moved back and with a pathetic like squeal of a yell, she jumped on BOTH Don and Deanna, the two splitting apart as another person fell on them.
"GAH!"
"AURGH!"
"Now is this good enough?!" Meg said, slapping Don on his chest but her hits were so weak they were barely registering to the man.
"What are ya-?!"
Meg then turned towards Deanna, pulling the woman's arm "I'm giving everyone what they wanted! They wanna see Nicelander fights! FINE!"
"Honey, calm down!"
"WHY SHOULD I!?" the smaller Nicelander yelled "You don't care! You don't care about ANYTHING other than showing off in front of everyone here!"
"Dear, that's not true. I was just trying to-!"
Meg slapped Deanna's hand away, backing away from the two "You're trying to WHAT!? You two could have stopped at any time but you kept going! You just wanted to show off didn't you?!"
Deanna continued to hold a floundering Don in a strong hold, the man trying to pull back.
"I'M GONNA GET YA WHEN WE GET BACK HOME!"
"Is this the best time to ask this?!"
"If you care about all this fighting, then fine!" the periwinkle Nicelander said angrily, crossing her arms "But I'm going home! I don't want to hang out with such violent-!"
Wrong step.
Had Meg watched where she was going, she would have noticed the fact that the last step from the grandstand to the floor was a rather BIG one, the woman finding herself falling forward and dropping like a rock.
"MEGAN!" both Don and Deanna cried, suddenly forgetting their own spat and diving right towards Meg, all three of them heading towards the floor!
*POOF!*
"OOF!"
Meg let out a little squeak as she landed on the ground but to her surprise, the ground she had fallen upon was rather soft.
Rather squishy.
"Hmm?"
She opened an eye, seeing that she was sitting upon her neighbors but no longer were they in their Blissed form.
"We're back?"
Once more, the trio were their normal, small, chubby Nicelander selves!
"WE'RE BACK!" Meg cried in joy, reaching down and hugging both Deanna and Don, not seeing the aggravated looks on either of their face "Oh, I'm so glad everything is back to normal!"
"Normal…." huffed Deanna "Riiiiight….."
"Uuuurgh…." moaned Don, his stomach lurching inside of him "I swear, I'm gonna kick Lucy's butt when I see her…."
"Can we please not fight anymore? Please?" Meg asked sweetly, Don looking up and feeling the very weight of her guilt crashing onto him. He moaned again, pulling himself out of the pile only to pop out and land on his face.
"Trust me, Meg. I'm in no condition to…."
*lurch*
"URPHR." The man choked, rising to his feet "I need to-"
Don took off, pushing the crowd away in his haste.
"Donald? DONALD?!"
"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAURGH!"
"Yup, Turbo pie will do that to ya…." said Deanna, rolling her eyes.
"GAH! I've got Nicelander puke on my shoes!"
Meg was elated to be back to her own self but she, Don, and Deanna weren't the only three going through their own little 'transformation.'
+In Burger Time+
"Should we leave?" asked Mary.
"Yes, yes that would be a capital idea…." Gene said, slinking back towards the kitchen "Maybe then we can-!"
"Surge, what are YOU doing here?" called someone from the front of the game.
Both Nicelanders jolted back, throwing themselves into the kitchen.
"Great, he's here?!"
"I'm looking for two unknown characters who have been going around with stolen IDS. I've been checking around and I've heard that they may be hiding out here."
Mr. Pickle looked back towards Peter with a guilty look "Um, Pete? We have some trouble in the front?"
"Yeah?"
"Surge here is confident that some criminals came here tonight. Care to correct him on that notion?"
"Sir, sir. I can assure you that no one suspicious has come here tonight!" Peter smiled as he looked up at Surge.
*CLANK!*
"OW!"
Peter didn't flinch but Surge knew better.
A suspicious sound? That could only become from SOMEONE suspicious!
"Really?" the man said as he arched a brow "Mind if we had a look then?"
Surge pushed his way towards the back of the kitchen, both Gene and Mary panicking as the man got closer.
"Okay, count of three, run like hell and don't look back!" said Gene.
"Agreed!" said Mary.
"One, two-!"
*POOF!*
The two squeaked, feeling as if the floor had been pulled from under then. They both fell forward, Mary tumbling on top of and causing the man to let out a painful yell.
"Gene? Mary?"
The two looked back, seeing Surge standing over them "Are you alright?"
"O-Oh course we are!" Gene laughed nervously, trying to hide his eye "We just-!"
"Goodness, Mayor!" the man said as he looked down "What in the world happened to your face?!"
"Oh-oh THIS? I just-!"
"He just protected me from these two HORRIBLE people!" Mary said suddenly, leaping in front of Surge "It was AWFUL! This really chunky man and his freaky looking girlfriend calm rushing in here and tried to kidnap me! But then Gene swooped in and kicked the man in the knee!"
"Uh, Mary?"
"The man punched him but I don't think they got that far! Not with the way they're shaped!"
"I knew they were here." Surge cursed to himself "Don't worry you two. I'll get them and once I do, I'll make them PAY for what they did!"
"Oh thank you, thank you." Said Mary in a sweet voice, clutching her hands together "You might want to get started now though, dear. They may have gotten away!"
Surge said not another word as he bolted from the door, leaving both Nicelanders alone. Gene looked over towards his fiancé, in disbelief that she was able to spin a lie that fast.
"You don't have to say anything, dear." The woman smiled smugly "How about I get you another burger? Or two?"
It seemed that wherever there was a Nicelander, a small *POOF* happened. In DDR, Tony returned to normal just as the Polkamon started to play, in Mario Tennis both Nolan and Roy were just being offered another slice of tea cake when their *POOF!* happened.
It seemed that throughout the arcade, there was a small *POOF!* and there was a small Nicelander.
Finally, after so much chaos, after so much trouble it seemed that things were back to normal.