-Chapter XXXI- Nicholas the Explorer

-Chicago, Illinois

-March 29, 2012

-2:29 P.M.

-Nicholas

"Nick?" I heard.

"In here!" I responded. Wright entered the room, about to say something until he saw me. He stopped dead in his tracks and wordlessly pointed. "What?"

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Do you know where the Big Red Chicken is?" I heard on the TV, immediately turning my attention back to the show that I was watching.

"Oh, come on, Dora, you moron! He's right behind you!" I yelled.

"Nick I-" Wright began until I cut him off with a finger in the air at him.

"Hold on, let this fool figure out where the chicken is! She can teach the basics of Spanish, but is too dull to turn around!"

He sighed irritably, "Where's Saria?"

"I dunno, she's in the bathroom with Rose, last time I checked."

"Why is she in the bathroom with Rose?"

"I'm not sure...this morning she was fine but then around nine or so she started acting weird. Then she started to freak out."

"About?"

"She said she was bleeding."

He looked at me absently, but then seemed to realize what had happened. "Oohh..."

"Glad you understand, 'cuz I don't." I said sternly. "Rose pulled her to the bathroom and when I asked what happened, she told me to watch TV or something."

"And?"

I pointed to the television. "Been watching this channel since ten."

He sighed, and slapped his forehead with his palm like Johnson usually does. "Well-"

"Oh coME ON you TWIT!" I yelled in anger again at the TV. "I told you he was there like five minutes ago!"

"What is going on in here?" Johnson asked frantically. He looked at Wright, who pointed at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Why are you yelling?"

"Because this stupid girl hasn't the brain capacity of a walnut!"

"..." Johnson seemed speechless for a moment or two. "What?"

"Come on, Dora! You're the adventurer, not me! Figure this stuff out yourself! Especially if you won't listen to me!"

Johnson and Wright exchanged glances, but I didn't heed them much attention.

"OH my GOD Boots you tell your 'friend' what the hell's going on, would you?!" I waited for a moment or two, but with no response from the cartoon. "Stupid monkey don't give me that look." I demanded. He stared back at me with a smug little grin on his face.

"Nick it's just a television show." Johnson explained.

"You mean they can't here me?"

"What made you think they'd be able to hear you?" Wright asked.

"I thought America had top-notch technology!"

"We do...sort of." David said with arms crossed.

"All right well I thought that this was some sort of communication device or something."

"No, not at all." Jack said with a concerned look on his face.

"So why has she been asking me questions?"

Johnson shrugged, "I don't know. Probably because it's for little kids."

"You know what screw this bitch." I said angrily. I got up and flipped the channel to the next one. "I'm watching Wonder Pets."

I heard Wright snicker, and I looked at them. They were smiling, trying hard not to laugh. "Nick...why are you watching Dora the Explorer and Wonder Pets?"

I looked at them, confused as to what they saw humourous. I shrugged, irritated with how they seemed to find me amusing. Why are they laughing at me? I'm a high-quality warrior, bred to kill, and with quite possibly one of the best educations in swordsmanship possible. I looked at them very seriously, and gave a straightforward response that I found proper. "Because Backyardigans isn't on." They broke down in laughter. "What is the humour of this?"

After a minute or two, David at last caught his breath while grasping at his side. "Okay, Nick, remember, we've got to go in an hour."

"Don't worry, I'll be ready." I said, turning back to the television.

"No, you'll get ready now." Wright said sternly. He shook his head, "I don't get you, you know that?"

"What are we gonna do with you?" Johnson asked.

I shrugged, "Let me watch TV."

"Hey! Nick, you ready?" I heard Johnson call from downstairs.

"Yeah, just a second!" I looked in the mirror, and straightened my tie. I walked down the stairs in my business uniform feeling like a bigger monkey than Boots. "How do I look?"

"Good, good." Wright said.

Stealth flew past me and out the door. "He's not going to be in my car, is he?" Wright asked, following the little dragon.

Johnson shook his head and rolled his eyes. "So who's coming with us, then?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know."

"Ooh, ooh!" Rayman ran into the room with a floating hand high into the air, "I'll come!" he said.

Johnson looked at me, "translation?"

"He wants to come." I explained.

Sonic and Crash followed close behind. "What about us?" Sonic asked.

"Sorry guys, there's only enough room for four people." Johnson told them.

"And one dragon." I added.

Sonic sighed irritably. "All right, rock paper scissors!" he said, forming a fist with his hand. Crash and Rayman did the same, looking at each other in confusion.

"What about Matthew?" Amy asked, looking from the TV.

"Rains? No." Johnson replied automatically.

"How come?" Cream asked.

"That guy...he gives me the creeps."

"I thought Saria was going." Knuckles commented from the kitchen, where he held a glass of milk.

"I am." she said, entering the room and pushing aside Rayman, Crash, and Sonic and stopping before us with her bag over one shoulder, and her bow and quiver over the other. "Come on, let's go."

"Saria, you sure you'll be all right?" Johnson asked cautiously.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're on your-" Wright began to say outside, holding Stealth. He quickly was shut up when Johnson threw a rock at him.

"I'm fine, let's just go." she said, walking out the door.

Rose came in to see us go, watching Saria as she got into the topless car. "What's going on?" I asked her.

"Nick, how long has Saria not had her memory?" she asked.

I shrugged, "Perhaps...a week, two weeks tops." I wasn't exactly sure, the days were kind of blurred together. "How'd you know she doesn't have her memory?"

She looked at me seriously, began to say something, but stopped. She hesitated, but she spoke after figuring out something to say. "I kinda figured something out."

I looked at her with a confused expression, "How?"

"Don't worry about it. Be careful." she said, pushing me out the door.

I headed towards the car with no roof, and joined Saria in the back. She seemed irritated with something, but I couldn't figure out what. "You all right?" I asked. She looked at me, and wordlessly nodded. Seeing this as abnormal behavior for her, I simply let the subject go, and focused on what we were doing.

"You two set?" Johnson asked, looking at us through a mirror above the dash.

"Yep." I said.

"Yeah." Saria replied.

"All right, let's do this." Wright said enthusiastically.

Johnson started the car, and with a roar, we began to slowly move backwards away from the small apartment building where the Revolution now resided. He reached over to the center of the front seats between them, and pressed some buttons, causing music to play through the speakers throughout the automobile. I nearly instantly recognized the song with the opening tune that it began with.

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio...

"Oh God, David, do we really have to listen to this?" Wright complained.

"We Didn't Start the Fire..." I quietly sang along.

"Well, Jackie, you know the rules." Johnson replied with a smile as he turned onto the road. "Driver picks the music..."

Wright rolled his eyes, "Passenger shuts his cakehole."