A/N: ... Just to be clear, for some unknown reason... this episode freaks me the **** out... majorly... Enjoy ^^
Chapter Eighteen:
The Strange Tale of the Crack Fox
Salem stood next to a bunch of boxes taking inventory, when Vince walked through the door, late for work as usual. Howard began scolding him for his laziness, putting him on trash duty.
"What did you just do with that garbage?" Howard asked.
"I threw it out the back." Vince said.
"You can't just throw it out the back, You're suppose to go put it in the bin..." Howard began, speaking in the technical terms and procedures for waste management.
"And how do you know all this?" Vince asked.
"I was a bin man at one point." Howard said. Vince chuckled and stood from his seat.
"What's so funny?" Howard asked.
"This is great. It's going on Myspace." Vince said.
"You're not going anywhere, you're going to get the trash from the back and put it all into the bin." Howard said, grabbing his briefcase.
"And where are you going?" Vince asked. Salem came out from the back, watching the scene before her.
"Jazzersise." Howard said. She smiled, and looked over to Vince as Howard left the shop.
"I'll help you, Vince. I'm done with my part anyways." She said, walking to Vinces side.
"Thank you, but you really don't have too." He said. She smiled up at him.
"It's fine. I'd love to help." She said, melting his heart.
He opened the door, the pair looking up at the mounds of garbage bags that had piled up. They sighed and began digging the bags out, Vince pausing when he found an entrance of some kind. He motioned for her to follow him, and stepped into the cave like structure. Salem clung onto his hand, not liking the place at all.
"Vince, I've got a bad, bad feeling about this." She whispered. Vince shrugged it off and kept going, her behind him.
"Hey there!" A high pitched voice said. They looked over to see a dirty looking fox, with needles for fingers. Her grip tightened on his hand. The creature began to talk with Vince, glancing at Salem every few minutes. Vince tried to get them out of there, but kept getting distracted. The fox started telling his tale to Vince, with the help of some home drawn animations running through a projector.
"Can I come in your house?" The fox asked. Salem cringed, not liking the idea at all.
"No. Now I'll see you around." Vince said, trying to back up and shield the trembling girl at the same time. The fox then started begging for Vince to kill it, and got Vinces sympathy.
The fox sat on the counter top, looking around the dwelling.
"Vince, I've got a bad feeling about this. Plus the needles on his fingers freak me out." She said, shaking still from the feelings wracking her body.
"It's alright, love. I'll get him some tea and he'll be gone." Vince said, holding the girl close to him. She stayed close to him, helping him in the kitchen. The fox had wanted in the potions cabinet, Vince had told him no but flashed the key at him.
Vince turned to the other counter where Salem stood watching the tea pot with the oven off. He wrapped an arm around her. The fox had said something in a deep and dark voice. The pair turned to see what he had said, only for the fox to hop up, and blow a kind of knock out gas out of his rear. Their world went black and they fell to the floor.
Naboo and Bollo walked into the shop, a terrible smell burring their noses.
"Vince." Naboo called. Vince began to stir and stood up from the floor. He looked down, noticing the girl stirring, he helped her to her feet. Naboo rushed into the kitchen.
"What happened?" He asked, looking through the cabinets as Vince explained about the fox.
"He cleaned us out. The Shaman juice is missing as well. This is serious. Who through the garbage out the back?" Naboo asked. Salem, still a bit dazed, looked up at Vince.
"Howard did it." He said. Salem shook her head.
"Vince, tell the truth!" She scolded him.
"And where is Howard?" Naboo asked, at that moment Howard walked through the door, returning from his jazzersise.
"Howard, what have you done?" Naboo began scolding him. Salem watched as Naboo turned his back on him, while Vince got a multi-colored cape. Howard begged Vince to tell the truth, while he twirled in the new piece of clothing.
"Vince, seriously? You're lying to keep a cape?" Salem scolded, feeling empathetic for Howard as he was pushed out the door by Bollo.
"Go ready the Carpet." Naboo said to Bollo, who took off in a rush. Salem stared at the door, while Vince was given a promotion. Naboo and Bollo left to see the Shaman Council.
Vince held a party that night at the shop. Salem stood in the corner, her arms crossed over her mid section. She eyed the party goers around her, making sure they didn't steal anything or destroy any valuables. She walked up to Vince, who was talking to another girl.
"Sorry to interrupt, but, Vince, can I have a word with you for a moment?" She asked. He looked down at her.
"Can't it wait? I'm trying to put my moves on this girl." He said. Salem felt her heart start to break, feeling tears try to escape her eyes. Time paused before she could reply.
"Vince, Vince." Naboos voice came out of the other girls mouth. Vince turned back to her confused.
"Vince it's me, Naboo. I'm using this girl as a medium to talk to you." He said. Vince was skeptical.
"If you're really Naboo, tell me something only we would know." He said.
"I caught you licking a picture of Terry -" Naboo started before Vince told him to be quiet.
"We don't have much time. You need to find the Shaman juice before the fox can use it and destroy the world. You're our only hope Vince." Naboo said.
Time unfroze, and Salem looked away from him.
"I'm leaving to find Howard and set things right. Come join me when you've gotten you priorities straightened out." She said, throwing on her black cardigan.
"Salem, love. Don't be like that. Come on, enjoy yourself." Vince begged, watching her walk out the door. His heart felt heavy at the sight of her walking down the street through the windows of the shop.
"So anyways, how about we go out sometime?" Vince said, putting his most charming smile across his face. The girl shot him down, finding out about his freaky experience with licking the magazine.
Vince shut the party down, and began forming a plan to save Naboo and Bollo. He sat down and began to draw, ending up with a plan pony, and decided to go find Howard.
"Howard." Salem called, going down the street, seeing a garbage truck and many workers. Howard looked up from emptying one of the bins.
"Salem, what are you doing here? And this early in the morning no less." Howard said as the girl ran up to him. He noticed the tears in her eyes and held her tightly.
"He's a jerk, and an idiot... He's blind to what's around him and he's self absorbed..." The girl ranted on in his arms. Howard sighed.
"But yet, you still love him." Howard said. The girl nodded and sniffled. He stroked her hair as she began to calm down.
"Come with me. I'm sure my friends would understand the situation." Howard said, leading Salem to one of the disposal trucks.
Vince walked down the street, looking for any sign of Howard or Salem.
"Excuse me, do you have any change?" A homeless man asked.
"No, I don't have any change." He said.
"Not even a little bit?" The homeless man pleaded.
"No. I don't even have pockets." Vince said showing the man his suit.
"The only way I can give you anything is if you take plastic." Vince said.
"That I do." The homeless man said, holding out a transaction machine. Vince filled out the information, taking the receipt from the man.
"Have you, by chance, seen a man with bushy hair, looks like a jazz freak anywhere around? Goes by Howard." Vince asked.
"No." He replied. Vince listed all the other features of Howard, receiving the same response from the homeless man.
"... Beady tiny shrimp like eyes?" Vince asked.
"Yea, ol' shrimp eyes. He's just around the corner." The homeless man said.
"Yes. What about a red headed girl?" He asked hoping to find them both.
"Beautiful creature with big jugs?" The homeless man asked.
"Yea..." Vince said, not liking the description of Salem.
"Yea, she's with ol' shrimp eyes, had tears running down her face. Poor thing looked heart broken..." He said. Vince nodded and ran towards the pair, digging threw the trash cans and depositing the bags in the truck.
"Howard? Salem?" Vince said, walking up to the pair.
"What do you want?" Howard asked.
"I need your help." Vince said pleadingly. He looked over at Salems' tear stained face as she looked back at him. Howard began talking about his friends taking him back in with open arms as a bin man, and how Vince had thrown him aside for a stupid cape.
"...I'm sorry alright? To both of you." Vince said.
"It's going to take more than that this time, Vince. I'm going to need a gesture." Howard said. Vince made a face and moved his hands.
"Stop that. I mean it, Vince." Howard said shaking his head.
"Alright. Watch this." Vince said, yelling over to the homeless man and giving him the cape. Salem watched as the man took the cape with a great amount of gratitude. She smiled, still angry with him, but the gesture proving he could change if he wanted to.
"I'll pay you back for this." the homeless man swore.
"...Don't get your hopes up..." Her mind argued. She sighed.
"Alright, I'll help you, but you turn on me for a hat next week and I'm done. You need to make it up to Salem at some point too." Howard said, glancing at the red head standing a yard away from them.
The light from the truck made a halo around her entire body. Her skin illuminated by it, giving her the look of an angel. Vince stopped, stunned by the sight of the woman in front of him. She turned and smiled to them. Vince felt his knees go weak, and his body start to move on its own. He felt himself move over to her and wrap her in his arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm an idiot for not seeing it sooner..." He said. She chuckled nervously.
"What are you talking about?" She asked. Vince moved one of his hands to her cheek, stroking the skin with his thumb.
"You're beautiful, Salem... And I think -" Vince started to say, the horn of the truck ruining the moment. They all sighed, and went back to the shop.
Going back through the trash pile made Salem tremble. Not finding any sign of the fox, Vince pulled out the plan pony.
"Where is he plan pony?" Vince asked.
"Look beneath you." The picture replied.
Howard held the flashlight as Vince opened a man hole, leading down into the sewer. The trio made there way down, walking along the concrete paths made for management.
"It stinks down here." Vince complained.
"You get use to it, Vince." Howard said, going on to explain how he had worked in sanitation before being a bin man. The trio looked around and soon came upon a small gathering of animals, the fox leading them, waiting for the light of the full moon to activate the potion. As soon as it activated, the fox stuck one of his needled fingers into the juice and began making the garbage bags float around the room.
Vince pushed Salem back, sensing her slight fear of the creature, and stepped into the light. He tried to be assertive, but the fox had different ideas. The homeless man, ran into the scene, confronting the fox.
With the fox distracted, Vince walked over and grabbed the Shaman Juice. He made it back to Howard and Salem before the fox had noticed.
"Give me back my Shaman Juice!" The fox screeched. The trio began to run. Vince grabbed Salems' hand to make sure she didn't get lost, as they ran through the tunnel and out onto the street. A garbage truck backed up to the end of the tunnel as the trio lept out, causing the fox to smash into the back of it and be killed by the crusher.
"We have to get this to Naboo!" Howard said.
Naboo was knelt down, his head in the guillotine, waiting to be put to death. The council all stood around him, when a white car appeared into view.
"We have the Shaman Juice." Vince said. The council cheered and released Naboo and Bollo, while Tony complained about how he had prepped his mind for that day.
The apologies were all exchanged, and everyone went back to their daily routines. Vince sat in a chair, watching as Salem restocked some of the shelves, over the top of his magazine. As he watched her, he started to notice little things about her. He noticed how she danced while humming a tune while she restocked, how her nose twitched when she dusted something. He found her sneezing adorable.
"What's the matter with me?" He thought, sighing and trying to go back to reading the magazine in his hand. He found himself unable to concentrate on the articles, and his eyes moving to watch the red head.
Howard noticed Vince staring at something and followed his line of sight. He allowed himself to chuckle and shook his head.
"Let's just see how this plays out." He thought, going back to taking inventory.