After lunch, a few hours later…
"And we're done!" Sadie said as she took 505's phone off the tripod it was sitting on.
"Woohoo!" Melanie cheered loudly.
505 jumped up and down to express his own joy.
"Now, all we've got to do is upload this to YouTube," Sadie said. "Boyo, come over here and upload it to all your socials please."
505 nodded, took his phone back from Sadie, and got to work formatting and adding the music video to his YouTube channel.
"This is great," Melanie said excitedly. "Soon, everyone will see this and know we're okay."
Sadie floated by and said, "Aye, this is a big relief. I sent a short video to my parents yesterday of me singing. We're sending this music video today. They'll be relieved. At least, I hope they will be."
"Sadie, they're seeing you," Melanie said. "I think seeing you without a performance will be enough to calm your parents' nerves."
"I know, but they're always happy when they watch me perform," Sadie explained. "That's why I've been doing it. I love doing it anyway, but right now, it helps me even more. You know what I mean? I mean, I don't think it'll stop their worry but seeing me perform usually makes them smile."
"I think I know what you mean, about part of it anyways. I played the piano and sang a Nirvana song when I was talking on the phone with Lucy. It felt like a prayer, like I could express a part of my heart that wouldn't express itself otherwise, and I felt better," Melanie said, before pausing to let a sad frown form on her brow. "I wish I knew what you mean about your family though. I can't remember the last time my parents or my family were proud of anything I did, even before they knew I was a Nunja. Except for Lunet, sometimes Dita, and occasionally Papi, if it's not evil, they don't care."
Sadie gave Melanie a smile, flew behind her, gave her a hug, and said, "You're wrong, Melanie. You do have a family that's proud of you. I'm right here. Our other sisters think you're amazing too. I know your Father thinks so as well."
Melanie looked back at Sadie and smiled appreciatively.
"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"
The trio turned around to see Flug at the corner of the room.
Flug looked back to see the three of them wearing wild outfits and makeup.
Melanie was wearing a black and red grunge goth outfit complete with a sheer top with a tank top, a red plaid skirt, black boots, and a choker. Her eyes were lined with black eyeliner, black eye shadow, and black lipstick.
Sadie was wearing Melanie's nun outfit that was too big for her with more eyeliner around her eyes along with blacker eyeshadow.
505 wore the most eyeliner with thick black circles surrounding his eyes and black eyeshadow on his eyelids.
An electric guitar and an electric keyboard were set up on the side of the room. Various props covered the floor.
"Ah, the ol' setup," said Sadie with a laugh. "It almost feels like we're not here as prisoners of the evilest man on the planet."
"He's not a man," Melanie corrected.
"Same difference," Sadie said with a shrug.
"That doesn't explain what you three could have possibly been doing that was so loud I could hear it from my lab," pressed Flug. "What were you doing?"
"We were making a music video for 505's YouTube channel," Melanie answered.
"A music video?" Flug asked incredulously. "I thought he did gaming videos, unboxing videos, and reaction videos."
505 pressed the upload button on his YouTube account and quickly switched to his speaking app.
"Sadie and Melanie suggested we sing and dance and make a music video as a way to pass the time," typed 505. "I thought it was a fun idea. I'm sorry, dad. I didn't know we were being loud."
Flug turned from 505 and back to the girls.
505 gestured to the girls to keep Flug occupied while his video was uploading.
"And why did you two want to put on a music video?" asked Flug suspiciously.
"Because we're bored," Melanie explained. "We're prisoners in the basement. It's not like we have anything else to do."
"And performing is fun!" Sadie added, flying in the air next to Flug.
"You sure there was no ulterior motive?" asked Flug with a raised eyebrow.
"We're bored teenage girls in a prison, boyo. What kind of 'ulterior motives' could we have?" Sadie asked sarcastically.
"I don't know, maybe you're trying to send messages to your friends or tell secrets about the organization to the world?" Flug pressed.
Melanie didn't know what to say but Sadie did.
"Hmph," Sadie scoffed as she pulled off her nun's habit. "Well, if you must know, it's a performance we did for our Nunja Camp's Talent Show…"
"We got in second place for it," Melanie interrupted proudly to add.
"…And if anything, it's a message to show my parents that I'm okay," Sadie continued. "I figured after you showed the Nunjas that torture video that they deserved to at least know that. It's not like you have anything to worry about. My parents still have no idea where to find me as far as I know."
"So, how do you know this won't spur your parents into doing anything reckless?" asked Flug. "They're bound to have some kind of reaction to see that you're in the house of the most powerful villain the universe has ever seen."
"And you think they didn't react to finding out I was tortured?" asked Sadie.
Flug paused and then replied, "They didn't see you being tortured."
"My parents know you did it," pressed Sadie. "If the Nunjas showed them the video, then my parents will have watched it too."
"What is your point?" asked Flug.
"My parents seeing me dance is not going to upset them any more than they already are," Sadie explained.
"Perhaps, they're already in the process of doing something pointlessly stupid, then," Flug said with a scoff.
Sadie rolled her eyes, "My parents are much craftier than you think."
"Hopefully, considering how your last 'rescue mission' went," Flug snarked.
"Hey!" Sadie snapped, flying straight in his face.
"Okay, okay! Come on!" 505 typed. "Friends don't fight!"
"Oh, uh…right," Flug relented, remembering what he, Melanie, and 505 had discussed earlier.
"Yeah, Flug, you don't have to be a villain all the time," said Melanie. "Just relax and have fun with us. It won't kill you."
"No, but Black Hat might," Flug replied.
"But he's not coming home until tonight and you don't have to stay with us long," Melanie said. "Please?"
Flug shrugged and sighed, "I guess I can try."
"Sweet," Melanie said, landing and taking Flug's hand. "Now, watch us perform our musical number again."
"What?" Flug and Sadie both asked at the same time.
"Come on, guys," Melanie said, bouncing on her heels. "If Flug sees us perform, he'll know our musical number is harmless. Come on, Sadie. Can't we do it? I'm full of energy right now and I know how you'd prefer us to be calm and serene."
"She has a point," Sadie said, floating over to Melanie. "You know I'm always down to dance."
"Ooooh, I want to perform again, too," 505 typed, practically dancing on his feet. "Come on, dad. I'd love for you to watch me."
Melanie and Sadie looked at each other and then looked at Flug, "Please?!"
"Please, dad?" 505 asked again.
With that final plea, Flug finally broke, "Okay, okay, I can watch one performance."
"Woohoo!" Melanie and 505 cheered while Sadie put her nun's habit back on.
Flug sighed deeply and sat down on the couch, not knowing what to expect.
Melanie, Sadie, and 505 got set up in their places with their props and instruments.
Flug was already nervous.
Finally, Melanie cried out from behind her keyboard, "Alright, Flug! Are you ready to rock?!"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Flug replied with an eyeroll.
505 pressed a button on his phone and an instrumental of "Pop Goes the Weasel" started playing.
Immediately, Melanie picked up the mic they had set up and said, "Hi, kids! It's the Captain Happy Show starring me, Captain Happy! I'm picking up my magic mirror…"
Melanie picked up a handheld mirror, looked at Flug, and continued, "I see Bobby! I see Susie! I see Billy!"
"ROCK!" Melanie and Sadie both screamed at once causing Flug to jump.
Sadie played a quick electric guitar solo while Melanie pressed a few buttons on her keyboard to play a prerecorded electric piano segment.
That was when Flug realized what he was in for.
"Filled with joy this time of season, I'm always happy for no reason," Melanie spoke-sang while keeping up with a tempo.
"The big red sun shining down on me, the sweet little birds sing a melody," she summoned her wings and flew onto 505's shoulders.
The bear bounced to the melody with the girl on his shoulders.
"I love to run up through the hills and tippy-toe through the daffodils," Melanie sang as she and 505 looked at each other. "Mr. Butterfly, will you be my friend?"
505 nodded.
Melanie picked up a little net from her pocket, put it over the bear's flower, and finished, "Let me catch you in my little net!"
Then the trio started moving their heads rhythmically.
The girls sang while 505 growled along on key, "I'm so happy! I'm so happy! I'm so happy! I'm so happy!"
Without a second to spare, Melanie hopped off 505 and stopped the recording on the electric keyboard.
Then with two beats of the snare drum sitting next to the keyboard, Sadie replaced her electric guitar with a ukulele, flew up to Flug, and continued the chorus, "I'm so happy! They're so happy! They're so happy! Are you happy too? I'm so happy! They're so happy! They're so happy! Wouldn't you like to be happy too?!"
Flug waved his arm in front of him to shoo Sadie away only for her to sit next to Flug on one side with Melanie on the other with them both singing, "He's so happy! She's so happy! He's so happy! Are you happy too? I'm so happy! They're so happy! Wouldn't you like to be happy too?!"
"ROCK!" The girls both screamed right next to Flug's ears before they got back up on their stage.
"Cut that out!" Flug yelled back as the girls went back to performing.
Sadie performed another guitar interval until Melanie pressed the buttons on the keyboard again.
Melanie rode her scythe up to 505, sniffed his flower, and sang, "Dandelions are in the air! Great, big flowers are everywhere!"
505 held a fake bouquet of flowers and Melanie held it around 505's flower, "I love to pick them every day, Arrange and put them on display!"
Melanie dissolved her scythe, hopped on the ground, and danced to her next lyrics, "I whirl, I skip, I jump, I prance! My little feet, they begin to dance!"
She hopped into 505's arms, "Happily sitting in a tree, a friendly owl, he hoots at me!"
505 gave a quick hoot.
The three began their singing chorus with their synchronized rotating heads again.
Then, instead of moving on to the chorus, Sadie started her epic heavy metal guitar solo while Melanie flew over her keyboard to play the other guitar's part.
However, to everyone's surprise right as Sadie was starting to play heavy metal awesomeness, Demencia popped down from the ceiling with her own electric guitar and app and started playing the harmony to Sadie's solo.
"Demencia, what the hell are you doing?!" Flug demanded.
"I'm rocking out with people who appreciate good music, nerd!" Demencia cackled.
"That's it! I'm shutting this off!" Flug yelled, walking towards Demencia's amp.
"Like Hell!" Demencia played some loud chords, so loud that sound caused Flug to plug his ears and fall backwards over the couch.
Melanie, Sadie, and 505 looked at each other, shrugged, and pressed on.
"Let's go!" Sadie cried as she and Demencia started headbanging and shredding on their guitars to the righteous solo.
Melanie played rock chords on her keyboard that complimented their playing while 505 started headbanging next to her.
Flug hid behind the couch until the heavy metal duet was over. Now, he understood where the noise came from.
As soon as the duet ended, Melanie, Sadie, and 505 proceeded to fake cry for a moment, loudly wailing and twisting their faces in grief all the while.
"Now, this is getting too weird," Demencia said, picking up her guitar and her amp. "Later, freaks!"
Flug stood up on the other side of the couch and asked, "What's going on now?"
As if on cue, Sadie played her ukulele again and flew over to Flug, repeating the chorus as she did so, "I'm so happy! They're so happy! They're so happy! Are you happy too?!"
"Get out of my face!" yelled Flug, only for Melanie to ride her scythe over so she could join Sadie in singing in circles around Flug like a pair of annoying birds.
"He's so happy! She's so happy! He's so happy! Are you happy too? I'm so happy! They're so happy! Wouldn't you like to be happy too?!" The girls sang. "ROCK!"
Sadie went back to rocking out on her electric guitar while Melanie played some power chords on her keyboard.
505 was in the background headbanging and skipping up and down all the while until it was time for Melanie's next lyric.
Melanie flew across the stage with her black wings this time and sang, "Graceful floating ladybug, Grandpa gives me a great big hug…"
She hugged herself as she landed on the stage with an exaggerated smile and started swaying rhythmically from side to side, "Little children, great big smiles, as I skip for miles and miles! Grandma knits me a great big sweater! My little life can't get no better! I'm so happy and full of joy…"
Suddenly, all the amps and keyboard recordings cut out and Melanie said normally, "I'm lying. It really sucks!"
The music then picked up again with Melanie and 505 repeating the chorus while Sadie fake-cried and cried, "I'm so very happy! I really am! So very, very happy! I'm so happy! Very, very happy! I'm so happy!"
With that the singing ceased and Melanie played the end of "Pop Goes the Weasel" on her keyboard.
The girls and 505 headed to the front of the room and took their bows while Flug stood there weirded out completely by what he just saw.
"So, what did you think of our performance, me boyo?" asked Sadie.
Flug stood there absolutely offended in every sense and absolutely drained.
"That won you second place?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yep," Melanie said proudly.
Flug wasn't sure if he wanted to know who first place was. At least, he got to see 505 perform live.
"Wasn't it great?" asked Sadie.
"We try to do a weird or offbeat musical number every year for our show," Sadie explained, flying over to Flug. "Lucy said the other Nunja judges enjoy it even if they consider us the odd kids."
"Oh, imagine that," Flug said sarcastically.
Melanie and Sadie both rolled their eyes.
"We love it," Sadie said. "It's helped Melanie get out of her shell and improve her musical performance skills. It's given me a chance to perform too. I'd say it's a win-win."
"Would you like to see what we did for our other performances?" asked Melanie.
"If they're anything like this performance, I'd rather pass," Flug said.
Just then, a hat butler-bot rolled in with a box of Flug's stuff and moved it next to the couch, calling the scientist's attention.
"Hey! What are you doing?" asked Flug. "Why are you moving that here?"
"There's a leak in your library," the butler bot said as a few other butler bots rolled in with even more boxes of stuff that they stacked by the couch.
"What?" Flug asked incredulously. "How long has this been happening?"
"A while," the first butler bot said as a few others moved books into the room and departed.
"Why wasn't I told about this?" Flug asked in shock.
"You said not to bother you while you were with the prisoner and that we should only come here when it's time for the prisoner, the guest, you, and/or 505 need meals," said the butler bot.
"Why are you coming in here to bring in the books here and not somewhere else?" asked Flug with a raised eyebrow.
"Because it's leaking almost everywhere else too," the butler bot replied matter-of-factly.
"What?!" Flug yelled in a panic as he, the girls, and 505 looked out into the hallway to see while the evil scientist pressed the button to hold the door open.
There were pipes leaking all over the lab. Butler bots shuffled down the halls with boxes of papers, books, and inventions. A few more of them rolled in and dropped off a few more boxes.
Flug screamed out in horror and turned back to the first butler bot, "Why didn't you tell me this was happening?!"
"Because you said we couldn't bother you," the butler bot said with a shrug.
"AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Flug cried out in frustration before he decided to start delegating orders.
"Well, I guess even "evil geniuses" mess up," Sadie said as they looked out from the doorway at the leaking pipes all over the lab.
"Well, it is weird that you and I didn't notice it earlier either, especially when 505 was bringing us our stuff," Melanie commented.
"Well, duh!" Sadie replied. "Weren't we having us a grand ole time?"
"Ay," Melanie said with a chuckle.
"Okay, okay, new plan, everyone," said Flug. "505, clean up the mess you and the girls made for your show. Butler bots, stop bringing boxes in here. Leave these boxes alone and direct all future boxes to other storage rooms so these girls don't escape in the confusion…"
"Hey!" both girls said at once.
"You two, sit on the couch, read books, and/or watch TV until dinner comes," Flug said. "I don't care as long as you don't leave this room. Just don't leave the couch until the butler bots leave and 505 is done cleaning up your mess."
"Why?" Melanie asked. "Why can't we help 505?"
"Refer to my previous statement," replied Flug.
"Oh, no! We're forced to watch TV, read books, and relax. What a nightmare!" Sadie said sarcastically.
"Don't test me," Flug retorted before turning to 505 and the butler bots. "Now, 505, get moving, buddy. Butler bots, follow me. Let's move out!"
505 saluted and went to work.
Flug left the room without another word with the butler bots following behind him and 505 got to work cleaning up the props and instruments.
"So, alone at last, but we can't do anything till 505's done," Melanie complained.
"But we have free reign of the TV," Sadie reminded her.
"True, at least, he seems to have forgotten about us sending the music video to your parents," Melanie said.
"Also true," Sadie conceded. "We just have to wait for our sisters to confirm they saw the message, so in the meantime, let's hang out some more."
"Just remember what he said, Sadie," Melanie whined. "We can't leave the couch till 505 is done."
Sadie took off into the air and said, "He's busy fixing pipes. The doctor won't know."
"Oh, yeah, but doesn't obeying Flug fall into the category of loving our enemies right now?" asked Melanie.
Sadie paused and said, "Maybe, but Flug's evil. We shouldn't be listening to him."
"But we're supposed to be good to those who wish us harm, right?" Melanie insisted.
"Yeah, that's in the Bible," Sadie said, crossing her arms in frustration. "But I don't feel like it."
"Jesus says we need to be good to people even when we don't feel like it," Melanie reminded her.
"Haven't you been a jerk to everyone since you got here?" Sadie asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I said we should follow what's in the Bible, not that I'm good at it," Melanie admitted.
"Uh huh," Sadie pressed.
Melanie sighed and said, "Look, I'm not saying we should be compliant. I'm saying that we should pick our battles. It seems like the smart thing to do, and it honors God. Besides, we're becoming friends with Flug now. We shouldn't hurt him when we don't need to. Maybe we can find a balance between being good to him and being there for our sisters?"
"I guess," Sadie conceded as she sat back on the couch. "But I'm not gonna start kissing his ass."
"Dios mio, I'd never ask you to do that," Melanie said. "Heck, I'm never going to do that for any of them."
"From you, I'd expect nothing less," Sadie said with a chuckle.
Melanie looked at a box of books and pulled one over, "I just had the best idea. Let's check out the books. They could contain secrets."
"Melanie, I seriously doubt that the good doctor would have left the books with us if he thought there were any secrets in them," Sadie said, pulling another box of books over.
"You're probably right, but we might learn something useful about Flug or his interests or something," said Melanie, opening her box.
"How much do you want to bet that Flug reads cheesy romance novels?" Sadie asked with a chuckle as she opened her own box.
"Flug reading romance? There's no way," Melanie replied. "You heard what he said at breakfast."
"Those are the type of people who hoard the most romance novels," explained Sadie, scooting next to Melanie to get her attention. "You see, the people who act like they don't care about romance are usually the most lovesick of all. They act on the outside like they don't care about that mushy stuff so that people don't bother them, but they secretly long for it like crazy."
"You are sure that applies to everybody?" asked Melanie skeptically. "Flug seems like he's obsessed with Black Hat and his job."
"Absolutely," Sadie replied. "Most of the time, even if they have careers that they're satisfied with and they're super serious, I can guarantee that they have at least one romance novel or movie in their collection to fulfill that secret longing."
"Whatever you say," Melanie said with a playful eye roll as she reached into the box and pulled out a book. "Oh, my God!"
Melanie held the book in front of her, "It's Flug's scientific logbook."
"And Demencia's diary," Sadie read.
"You know what this means?" Melanie asked, practically shaking in excitement. "We could discover so many secrets about the most important things!"
"Flug's love life!" Sadie exclaimed.
"About the organization," Melanie corrected with another eyeroll. "I seriously doubt Flug will write any romance stuff in here. It's probably just a bunch of experiment stuff, but it'll still be helpful."
"Well, I bet the opposite, but either way, I'm always up for being a bit nosy if it means helping us out," Sadie said.
505 grunted in concern, passing by the couch with his arms carrying Melanie's electronic keyboard and all its accessories.
"Don't worry, 505," Melanie said. "Flug won't know."
"Bauw!" 505 grunted, still not feeling reassured.
"We'll be super-duper careful," Sadie added.
"Yeah, we'll put the book back after we give the information to the Nunjas," Melanie said. "We'll tell you things we learned too. It'll be no big deal. We swear."
505 reluctantly shrugged and went back to work while the girls started reading Flug's logbook.