Chapter 6 Floating Scissors

Bob had just been waking up when he got the text. When he initially saw it was from Ludwig, his whole heart welled. He scurried to unlock his phone, imagining all the things that Ludwig had to share with him. He also thought about all the things he would like to share with Ludwig; all the stories and anecdotes, the jokes and the laughs. There was so much to share and so little room in the textbox. He didn't even know where to start.

It was probably this excitement that made the text come off as weirder and more out of the ordinary than it otherwise was.

Hey Bob, I need a favor. Can you get a DNA sample from Jackie, like a lock of hair or something like that?

That made Bob wonder. Why in the world would Ludwig need a DNA sample from Jackie? Were they going to clone her? He typed into the textbox, asking Ludwig what the reasoning behind this was.

Iggy wants to perform a DNA test on Aria and Jackie, Ludwig replied.

"Oh," Bob said out loud. That made sense. Actually, it made more than sense; it made perfect sense. After coming across two identical girls… well, wouldn't performing a DNA test on the two of them make sense? Wouldn't it be the next logical step?

Okay, Bob ultimately typed back to Ludwig. I'll see what I can do. After getting a smiling emoticon from Ludwig in response to this, Bob went to text Jackie.

Hey Jackie. Please meet me on the Bridge of Flowers in twenty minutes. I want to hang out ;)

He got a response from Jackie within no time at all, telling him that she would be able to do as he wished. Bob grinned and put his phone away in his hammerspace. Once he did that, he got right into thinking. How was he going to get a DNA sample from Jackie? Obviously, he needed to do it in a stealthy way. He needed to be as sneaky as possible, and of course he needed to make sure Jackie didn't find out.

With these thoughts in mind, he got out of bed and opened the junk drawer of his bureau. He giggled as he pulled a pair of scissors out. Once he had those in his possession, he made his way downstairs and out the door. He didn't want to be late for his meeting with Jackie, after all.

…

Licking ice cream off of a plastic spoon, with Jackie leaning against his shoulder, was the perfect way to start the day. Bob wrapped his arm around her, all while songs and lyrics flew around in his head in a similar way to how they usually did when he was around her. He hummed the melody to one of these songs, all while keeping his eyes on Jackie's face.

"You look tired," Bob said to her, barely above a whisper.

Jackie nodded. "Craziness at the hotel. Someone started a fire."

"Oh!" Bob furrowed his brow. "Did everyone get out okay?"

Jackie squirmed a little. "Um… I think so." Her face fell a little bit. "That's what I would like to believe." She shuddered. She didn't say anything for a good two minutes; just sat there shaking like a spooked puppy.

"Oh, Jackie." Bob squeezed her more tightly, rocking her back and forth as he hummed a little louder. Jackie's breathing came out at a shallow, tighter rate, and her heartbeat was detectable when he took hold of her hand. "No worries." He stopped rocking her back and forth and just decided to full on hug her. "Everything is fine. The people are safe, the hotel is safe." He smiled. "And you're here. That's what's most important."

Jackie returned the hug after a second. "Thanks Bob." The tone of voice, while still shaky, also sounded a lot less… burdened. Bob pulled away to get a look at her face, beaming when he saw the beginnings of a smile.

"Of course, sweetie."

They sat in silence for a little bit. When Bob wasn't looking at Jackie, he looked up at the clouds in the sky. He saw one that looked like a dog, and another that looked like a pig. He giggled to himself upon seeing these sights. He then looked at the people, making their way through the town. While the candy colored shells and hairstyles of the koopa race could clash with the bright colors of Sparksville, to Bob, color was just the gift that kept on giving. He beamed as he looked at the very pretty, very paintable hues. Man, he had picked the perfect day to spend time with his new girlfriend.

And with that thought, the reason why he had asked her here in the first place was restored. Bob nearly did a facepalm at his forgetfulness before reaching into his hammerspace. With the scissors gripped firmly in one hand, he looked over at Jackie. She hadn't noticed this maneuver of his, which came as a relief to him as that meant his mission hadn't been foiled.

Now, Bob hesitated. He looked down at the scissors, wondering how he was supposed to do this next part. Eventually, he moved the scissors telekinetically. The smile on his face returned as he looked at Jackie, all while making the scissors float through the air like dandelion fluff.

"So, tell me Jackie." He kept the scissors just out of her view. "What were your opinions on meeting yours and my evil twins?"

Jackie blinked before snickering. "It was fun." She twiddled her thumbs as Bob opened the scissors and inched them closer and closer to the hair resting so perfectly on her head. "They were nice."

"That they were." Bob was almost close enough to snip Jackie's hair. He smiled to himself, just on the cusp of doing it…

Only for Jackie to sneeze. She leaned forward while doing so, meaning that the scissors missed their mark. Bob frowned at this, pulling the scissors back as he did.

"Bless you," he said.

"Thank you." She rubbed her nose. "Anyway… I wouldn't mind seeing them again."

"Oh really? That's good." Bob bit his lip, dedicating all his energy to focusing on the floating scissors. "Maybe we should call them up sometime."

Jackie nodded. "Yeah. We could ask them on another double date." She hesitated. "Although, with everyone staring at us… at me…" she stopped, just noticing Bob's expression as he made the scissors move closer and closer to her head. "Are you okay? What are you looking at?"

Darn it! Bob made the scissors zip away into the bush that was right behind the bench. As Jackie looked back there, wide-eyed and with a frozen posture, Bob laughed. "I'm fine!" He chuckled some more, chuckled so much that the action lost all meaning to him. "Just enjoying this beautiful day!" His face grew warm, extremely warm. He looked back at Jackie, hoping that doing so would erase the awkwardness of this whole interaction. "And, above all else, I'm enjoying spending time with you." He pulled her closer. As he smiled at her, he noticed the alarm in her expression melting away. "I don't want to jinx anything, and I also don't want this relationship to go too fast." He cringed when he said that, his mind wandering to all too familiar places. "But… but you're awesome. You really are."

Jackie's face grew red as a cherry. "Thanks, Bob," she whispered. She hugged him a second time. "You're pretty awesome too."

Bob's heart fluttered. He returned Jackie's hug. His whole being felt lighter than air, his mind couldn't help but dive into the pool that was the emotional high. He hugged her back, tightly yet gentle. He thought about all the other dates he had with her so far. He couldn't help but wish for more while giggling about the thought of their first date.

That is, until he once again remembered what he needed to do. He lifted his left hand, retrieving the scissors out of the bush. "Thanks Jackie. That means a lot." He focused on the scissors, all while keeping a firm enough grasp on Jackie so she wouldn't feel the need to pull away just yet. He opened the scissors, about to take a lock of her sky blue curls…

Until a scream erupted close by. "GHOST!"

Jackie and Bob both turned. They saw a little kid, less than ten feet away from their bench, pointing at the scissors and sporting the widest eyes in the world. "THERE'S A GHOST! IT WAS MAKING THOSE SCISSORS FLOAT!"

Bob insides froze up. He dropped the scissors, but unfortunately didn't do it in time, as the boy's mother had also seen them and screeched at the top of her lungs too.

"GHOSTS! THERE ARE GHOSTS HAUNTING THE BRIDGE!"

She screamed, and before long, her screams started a chain reaction. People who hadn't even seen the floating scissors shrieked and ran around, trying to get as far away from the Bridge of Flowers and the benches situated next to it as possible. Bob felt a pang while watching this.

And, unfortunately, the pang he felt only got worse as Jackie turned and looked at him while shaking. "There are ghosts here, Bob!" She shook so much that if she were a soda can, she would probably explode and send her contents spraying everywhere.

Bob shook his head. "No! No, there are no ghosts, Jackie! I promise you there are…"

"GHOSTS!"

Jackie yelped. With tears in her eyes, she got up and started running away from the bench. Bob whimpered before running after her. It was only when he had run about a meter that he realized he needed to go back for the scissors.

This was not going well at all…

…

Bob actually panted when he stopped flying and stood in front of the door to Bowser's Castle. He stole a glance down at the lock of Jackie's hair, contained within a ziploc bag. He could hardly believe he was holding it at all. Really, the fact that he was able to get it, all without Jackie even noticing what he was doing, was a miracle. If only he hadn't scared everybody at the Bridge of Flowers in the first place.

He shook his head. Best not to think about that too hard; it would only make him feel worse. Opening the door, he flew into the castle and toward Iggy's lab in the east wing (Ludwig had told him that was where he would be via texts). When he got there, he let out a breath. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this relieved to set eyes on his creator.

Ludwig and Iggy looked up at him, all while Iggy leaned over another ziploc bag that also contained a lock of sky blue hair. "Hey!" Ludwig said. "You got it?"

Bob nodded. "Yeah, I got it." He floated into the lab, shaking his head as he handed the hair over to Iggy. "And let me tell you, getting it was… so not easy!"

Ludwig blinked. "Really? How come?"

Bob chuckled. "I tried to be as stealthy as possible. Unfortunately… I ended up causing an uproar at the Bridge of Flowers." His whole body sank into the ground. "Probably going to be reading that in the newspaper sometime soon."

Iggy smirked. "Well, it does not matter one way or the other to me how you got it; only that you got it." He picked up both bags and took them over to his PCR machine.

All the while, Ludwig gave him the strangest of looks. "How could you start an uproar while trying to do such a simple task?"

Bob blinked. "You think it's simple?" When Ludwig nodded, Bob furrowed his brow. "How, uh… how exactly did you get Aria's DNA sample?"

Ludwig shook his head as Iggy conducted the test. "Uh… I just asked her for one."

Bob's spirits sank. "Oh… you asked her…" he turned away from Ludwig as his face grew scorching hot. "Yeah, that would've made much more sense to do…"

"Yeah, just a little bit." Ludwig shook his head as he sighed. "But let's not focus on that." He turned toward Iggy. "The results for the test should be ready in a minute."

Bob smiled. "Yeah, you're right." He went over to Ludwig, watching Iggy conduct this test with anticipation building in his heart. Sure, he had no idea what the test would reveal in the end, but he was at the very least intrigued.

His intrigue only grew more pronounced when Iggy finished the test. "Oh, my word." He shook his head, his eyes wide as he took off his glasses. "Oh, my word!" His jaw dropped. He stared down at the machine, looking like he had just been told the world would end tomorrow.

"What is it?" Ludwig asked.

Iggy's jaw remained dropped as he put his glasses back on. "Well… I think it's a good thing that we conducted this test. The results are… well, they are most certainly intriguing."

Bob's heart skipped a beat. "How so? Are they related?"

"They're not just related." Iggy looked over at them, his eyes wide. "They're identical twins."