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Cheerleader Tryouts

Arriving in the gym, Kiki and Hana found there to be quite a line for cheerleader tryouts. How long would this take? Four hours? Kiki hoped that wouldn't be the case, but who knew?

Quietly, Kiki conversed with Hana, telling her of what she had found. When it came to the paper with the writing, she wondered: "Could there be a clique that worships the Tazelwurm? They might call themselves 'The Reptiles.'"

Giving a shrug, Hana answered: "I don't know, Kiki. That sounds more like a cult than a clique."

"What's the difference?"

Hana paused. What was the difference? Feeling like an answer was needed to be given, she replied: "Something for the experts to answer." It wasn't the best answer, but it was one.

Tapping a finger against her cheek, Kiki thought about the prank four years prior. That had happened here in the gym and the things required for such a prank had been up in the rafters. Could it have been possible there was something up there to be found?

Four years after? No, that could not have been the case!

Yet what if it was? What if there was something up there?

Something to check afterwards. Kiki had gone to drama camp, perhaps she could pretend to break down crying in the event she was rejected and go backstage to get up to the rafters. It may have caused people to view her as a crybaby, but sacrifices had to be made in the name of getting this mystery solved, though she would never dare sacrifice a friendship or a chance at love. However, if there were a few criers, maybe it would not have caused her to be viewed as a crybaby. One could never be sure how people would react.

Sticking her head out, Kiki tried to see who the head cheerleader was. Alas, all she could see was the back of the girl's head. She had blonde hair, that was the extent of her knowledge.

Sighing, she watched as some girls tried out on stage. Didn't this need more than a day? Didn't there need to be weeks of practice? Kiki was told this was simply the way it was at A. Nigma, but this still seemed more than a little bit rushed.

Was this really something she wanted to do? With how rushed it was, did Kiki really want to be a cheerleader is she wasn't given enough time to practice?

Still… When was she going to get a chance like this to go backstage and look up in the rafters? Could she really just come back here on her own time and take a look up there?

Better to take the chance she had now.

Returning her gaze to what was going on up onstage, Kiki could see some girls break down in tears when rejected, so at least one more would not seem too bad.

The line continued to move and as Kiki got ever closer to the front, she could see a girl who looked like a somewhat older version of June. She'd heard something about June having an older sister or cousin, she couldn't remember which. What was her name? Mie? May? She couldn't remember that either.

Soon enough, June walked up on the stage, a smug smile upon her countenance. She waved her pom-poms like all the other girls, did a few jumps, but other than that there was nothing to differentiate June from any girls who had come before her. When all was over, June's sister or cousin, whichever she was, shook her head and pointed her thumb off the stage.

Almost immediately, June went into a screaming fit, jumping up and down, shaking her fists to the point of seeing semi-comical. "Are you kidding me? I'm your sister! How can you do this? To your own flesh and blood, I'll claw your eyes out!"

June then proceeded to throw herself from the stage, after which she was carried out of the gym. Kiki was not entirely sure if she had expected that, but it had certainly been a sight.

Before Kiki knew it, it was her turn. When her name was asked for, she answered proudly: "Kiki Hu-Hagen!"

June's sister said: "Okay, show us what you've got."

Taking a deep breath, Kiki gave it her all. She leapt while waving pom-poms, putting all her heart into it. Alas, all heart or no heart, June's sister and her fellow cheerleaders were not impressed. June's sister shook her head and then pointed with her thumb off the stage.

Still, successful or not, Kiki knew an opportunity when she saw one. This was her chance! Trying her best to fake crying, she then vanished behind the curtain while Hana was called up. Had her crying been convincing? She certainly hoped so, otherwise people would see her as… A drama queen… Was that the term? She could not remember, but that was not important.

It was time to see what was to be found backstage.

Looking up to the rafters, Kiki walked over to the nearest ladder and made her way up. She doubted she'd fine anyone up there, this wasn't like "The Phantom of the Opera", great book, too bad Andrew Lloyd Webber had butchered it.

As she reached the rafters, Kiki scanned her surroundings. There had to be something around here that could give her a clue of some kind, one that could tell her where that wooden duck of Barrage's was… Did Lee Ping ever find himself looking for a belonging of Barrage's that had been stolen?

Sighing, Kiki wondered what she was even doing. Maybe she would have been better off just doing normal high school things… At A. Nigma? It could have happened, but in all honesty ever since the stories of what had been going on, could there be?

Seeing something laying on the catwalk in the distance, Kiki approached and found the head of a wooden duck. Well, Barrage was going to be angry. What was it he had said? "Who is responsible for this?" That was an excellent question.

Who was responsible for this?

Picking up the head of the wooden duck, Kiki returned to the stage and then made her way out of the gym. After that, she made her way to the principal's office.

Knocking on the door, Kiki heard Barrage come walking. When it opened, she immediately held up the wooden duck head and said: "I found this up in the rafters in the gym, sir."

His eyepatch opening, his organic eye widening, Barrage quietly uttered "Rear Admiral Duckington…" before screaming "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?"

Kiki winced and took a small step back. Being right in front of Barrage when he screamed must have been like being next to a cannon when it went off.

Handing him the head of Rear Admiral Duckington, Kiki inquired: "Sir, did Lee Ping ever find himself looking for a belonging of yours?"

"Ping got up to a lot of things in his time here, private." Barrage replied. "You get back to class and if you find the rest of Rear Admiral Duckington, inform me immediately."

And with that Barrage closed the door to his office. Kiki could only wonder what was going on in his head, but she had an idea, however it involved questioning Barrage's sanity and considering an easy way to get to him was to steal a wooden duck and behead it, it suggested Barrage was possibly somewhat insane, if somewhat harmless if you were not his enemy.

Had he any enemies left? Kiki tried to remember. What she could remember was that at least one of the clones of Art Wurst was unaccounted for, but would he really stoop so low as to steal a wooden duck in the name of revenge or was it just a distraction from something else, something bigger, grander, more sinister? Who could say? For all Kiki knew she was getting ahead of herself.

But what if she wasn't? What if Rear Admiral Duckington was just a distraction? What did that piece of paper mean by whoever wrote it meaning they would not fail? The Council she knew of, but who were these Reptiles? Was there something that had not become public knowledge, something known only to Lee Ping, Barrage and the rest?

There had to be, but would Barrage be the one to tell? No, there had to be someone else. Mrs. Ping probably wouldn't, meaning Kiki would have to go to Lee Ping himself… Which college or university was he attending? It was doubtful that was public knowledge, but still, she had to find answers somehow, why not go to someone who had been there and would be willing to talk?

What was it Barrage had cried? "Who was responsible for this?" Yes, what a wonderful question. Who was responsible for all of this and more importantly what was their objective? Wasn't her mind all over the place? Still, there were so many questions and they needed answers. Someone must have been able to provide some, even murders and thefts had to be investigated by getting questions answered and this was certainly the latter, at least the distraction was.

Sighing, Kiki walked back into class, images of Stonehenge suddenly racing in her mind. Why? Who could say? Sometimes people just had random images racing through their mind, but Stonehenge was especially random.