Chapter 16: Camp Green Lake's Philosophy
Later, the group was in line at the mess hall. No word had gotten to them YET about Pendanski. But Sakuzy was still a bit apprehensive. Over the PA was their menu.
"Today's menu is green beans, baked beans, refried beans, string beans, garbanzo beans, and banana jello."
"Oh goodie..." Joyex murmured as the lunchroom worker dropped a serving of beans on his tray.
"What, are they running a bean farm on the side?" Sakuzy asked, just behind him.
"If ya don't like the beans, you can have some beans. But if that doesn't strike your fancy, we got beans. And, personally, I recommend the beans." Croccer said.
"Musical ceremony after!" ADHD grinned, right behind Croccer.
Becca looked at the beans with disdain as it was slapped onto her platter.
"I'm... more surprised there's even banana," Stanley remarked quietly.
"Guess 'bean jello' was too much, even for this place," Yozora murmured, a bead of sweat running down his brow.
"Oh boy, yum city..." Lucy groaned as she looked down at her meal. She swore she saw a part of it move.
"Hey, you sit over here!" called Squid.
"Yep, Gotta give ya the right o' passage 'ere," Croccer said as he ushered them over to the table.
"What ya did to Mom, man. That was awesome!" Zigzag said, his usual, unnerving smile on his face.
"Still, didn't dig today." X-Ray said, taking the bread off Stanley's trade, "So, ya wouldn't mind givin' up your bread to someone who DID, right?"
"X-Ray's basically the leader." ADHD said, "I didn't vote for him, but got told 'this isn't a democracy'...then Armpit called me a pinhead, got me in a half nelson, and tossed me in a hole. STILL can't get the smell out of my suit."
"Yeah we're a buncha hoons 'ere, but give it time. They got a certain charm to 'em." Croccer said, giving his plate of beans a stir.
"Bunch of what?" Sakuzy asked.
"They're a bunch of hooligans but they're really pretty cool," Becca said in her faux male voice, simply eating the green beans.
"Wha-bu-" Stanley began in protest... and just stared down at the beans with a grimace.
"Could be worse, I suppose." Yozora suggested... poking at his jello curiously. "Could be eating more of Beck's food, eh Joy?"
"Yeah, part of me wishes I took it. Would've gotten me out of THIS." Joyex said, darkly.
"Okay, there's 'istory 'ere." Croccer commented, "So, 'ow's about ya tell us what got ya 'ere?"
"Uh...shoplifting." Sakuzy said, lamely, "Swiped a lotta...y'know, stuff. Woulda made it, too. But...y'know...security cameras."
Sakuzy made a mental note to get the whole 'lying' thing downpat.
"Same here." Magnet said, "Swiped a puppy from a pet store. Why were they kept in cages? That's criminal. Coulda gotten away from it, but then my pocket started barking."
"Me? I was at a movie theater and these two guys started giving me mouth, they wanted my popcorn! So I laid them out flat!" Armpit laughed, giving Lucy a playful jab in the arm.
She smiled timidly and nodded. "Me too, I was at a park and some bigger kid tried stealing my bike, I popped him in the nose!"
"Mostly for me and Joyex, we got caught joyriding. Of course, if he had just let me do the driving, we wouldn't have been caught," Becca said in her male voice.
"I was driving just fine, but the minute...BECK heard something, he turned into a complete PSYCHO and tried grabbing the wheel." Joyex said, "THAT'S what sent us spiraling into that sand pit!"
Yozora groaned, "What did I just start...?"
"Oh, I'm the psycho now? You were the one hogging the wheel and never letting me drive! And I had no idea we would crash!" Becca said to the Nobody, the two glaring at each other.
"So... trouble with the James brothers?" Stanley whispered to Sakuzy.
"I don't know anymore." Sakuzy said.
"At least I wasn't the one who panicked and opened-fire on those state troopers! 'No, Beck, don't do it', but YOU had to shout that the coppers would never take you alive." Joyex shot back.
"Wait, what?" Sakuzy asked.
"Hey, it was a paintball gun! What kind of cops confuse it for a shotgun!" Becca countered.
"And it was your brilliant plan to steal the car for a gated community! I told you to just keep to the street but no you had to drive that Lamborghini!"
"And yet, SOMEHOW, you hit that gas pipe and blew the thing up! When they were handing out intelligence, did you just make a wrong turn and find that STUPID was a clearance sale item?!" Joyex said, voice getting louder.
"I-I have no association with these guys," Yozora said, slowly hiding his face in his palms.
"OH don't you blame me for the gas pipe!" Becca said also getting louder "If anything you didn't check if the thing was working right!"
"I told you to watch your fire, but that's how it is with Beck! In one ear and out the other! And what did you do when I said you done goofed? Laughed at me! Well, think it's funny NOW? Imagine explaining THAT to the paramedics!" Joyex shouted.
"Because you are such a child!" Becca shouted "You know we could have ran but you were the one who brought marshmallows!"
"HEY! ANYTHIN' ELSE!" Croccer suddenly exclaimed, "Yozora, ya ol' sluggah! What'd YOU do to get in this li'l patch o' 'eaven?"
"Huh, me?" Yozora looked up and smiled deviously, before resting his arms behind his head and grinning. "I tore a hole in the ozone layer with one punch."
Sakuzy winced at that. Everyone else at the table, though, nodded and murmured their immediate acceptance of that.
"At this point, nothing surprises me anymore..." Stanley murmured, "They still haven't found Dr. Pedanski, y'know..."
"Ah, he'll make it back. Bogan's resilient." Croccer said, nonchalantly.
"What?" Sakuzy asked.
"Someone not very sophisticated," Becca said. "Fits that guy very well."
"I blinded a guy!" ADHD said. That made the whole table just stop.
"Hey, mate?" Croccer murmured before whispering.
"Oh, right. I ACCIDENTALLY blinded a guy! Y'know, with uh...chemicals and stuff." ADHD said, clearly not understanding what he was SUPPOSED to be saying. Added when Croccer gave him a fairly awkward thumbs-up.
"With ME, well...goes back to when I was a li'l ankle-biter..." Croccer said.
"You're just gonna keep doing this, aren't you?" Sakuzy asked.
"I was in this fried out car, out in the middle o' nowhere. Nothin' to do, nowhere to go. Then I met this strange lady. Never saw anyone like 'er before, so she was makin' me nervous. But, y'know what she did?" Croccer asked.
"What?" Becca said curious
"She took me in. She gave me breakfast. And she said..." Croccer said, in a low, quiet voice...before bursting into song, "Do ya come from a land down under? When women glow and men plunder? Can't ya 'ear, can't ya 'ear the thunder? Ya better run! Ya better take cover!"
The other D-Tent boys began laughing as Croccer hunched over.
"Think ya just got taken for a ride there." Sakuzy said.
"He's been waiting SO long to do that!" ADHD snickered.
Becca sighed smiling but something about that beginning sounded familiar
Yozora was patting on his knees to the beat of that song, "That's a catchy tune."
"How about you Stanley? What got you here?" Lucy asked.
"Someone stole a pair of shoes," Stanley said slowly with a sigh. "I picked 'em up when they got dropped...and the police thought I was the guy who stole 'em."
Some of the D-Tent kids thought this was funny.
"Yeah, right! Did ya swipe 'em from the store or off some guy's feet?" Squid asked.
"Nah, he just killed the dude first. THEN he took 'em off." Zigzag said, perhaps a little TOO eagerly.
"So you're saying they dropped out of the sky. You had them, so they figured you took them? No offense, but that's very circumstantial," Becca said.
"My family is cursed, I am telling you," Stanley groaned, "My dad said it's so. Ever since my great-great grandfather, the Yelnats have been doomed to misfortune and woe."
"It can't be... that bad, surely-" Yozora said slowly.
"I am the FOURTH Stanley Yelnats in a row."
...
"That's rough, buddy," Yozora said with a sheepish tone, patting his back.
"And I thought MY parents were cruel." Joyex commented.
"The shoes...were they Sweet Feet's?" Zero said Becca noticed this looking at Zero
That question got all the other D-Tent boys to stop and stare at Zero.
"You got Zero to TALK." ADHD said before looking at Stanley, "Are you magic or something?"
"Y-yeah..." Stanley said, nodding, before he shook his head, "Wait, wha- NO! No, I'm not magic!"
Becca was confused by what Zero said in her mind something was suspicious about how Zero knew that, but leaned over to ask Croccer, "Does he not talk often?"
"Nah, mate. Hasn't said a word 'fore now." Croccer replied, "So...big thing."
"Hey what else can you do, Zero?" Armpit loudly asked.
Zero was just silent again. ADHD just stared at Stanley and said, "Bring joy to our lives, Magic Man..."
"Welcome to the Camp, mates. Ya start tomorrow." Croccer said.
"That gives me a bad feeling." Sakuzy murmured.
That night...
Turns out, the cots were quite...uncomfortable. Sakuzy growled as he tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. He had JUST gotten comfortable enough to start getting some sleep...
When he was suddenly woken up by a bugle.
"This is my life now, isn't it?" he mumbled as he sat up, finding Joyex, Croccer, and ADHD already up and getting their suits on.
Becca fell out of the cot and glared at the bugle noise still in the jumpsuit. Yozora groaned, his head buried under the hard pillow... slowly raising his head, bloodshot eyes blank.
Lucy was the most awake out of everyone, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Come on, let's get this over with..."
"Just remember, we could be in Traverse Town right about now." Joyex said as he zipped up his jumpsuit, "And all Beck had to do was...ANYTHING besides THAT."
"We're all annoyed, Joyex. Don't make it worse." Sakuzy murmured, annoyed.
They met with the other inmates as they got their "breakfast"...which consisted of a canteen of water handed out and a tortilla. All of the guards were handing out shovels.
"Uh...what're the shovels for?" Sakuzy asked.
"Oh, didn't Mr. Sir tell ya?" Croccer asked as he took one, "We're out diggin' 'oles."
"What?" Joyex asked through grit teeth.
"Yep. One hole a day, five feet wide, five feet deep. This'll be yer measurin' stick." Croccer said, "Philosophy over 'ere. Take a bad boy 'n make 'im dig 'oles all day in the hot sun, turns 'im into a GOOD boy. C'n think o' better forms o' rehabilitation, but I ain't a doctor." Croccer shrugged before walking off while singing lowly, "Oh, sinners. Let's go down. Down in the valley to pray."
"So, on top of everything else, we're digging holes in the middle of nowhere." Joyex said. He slowly looked at Becca and held up his shovel, blocking his face from a side view. He had a demented smile on his face as he mouthed what seemed an awful lot like "I'll kill you".
"Give it a rest already," Becca sighed as she stormed off. "Think about it. This is a good thing if we want to find our ship"
Yozora gave Becca and Joyex the dullest of stares, before whispering to Sakuzy, "You sure we can't just drop them in a hole so they have to get over themselves?"
"I'm not AGAINST it, but..." Sakuzy murmured back.
Lucy glanced over at the surrounding mountains and noticed the sun slowly begging to break over the top, "No time for arguing now. We got work to do."
"Smiling faces everyone! The early mole digs the deepest hole!" Pendanski called out after taking a sip of coffee from a thermos. He watched as Yozora and the others made their way through the line, but for the life of him couldn't remember if he greeted yet or not.
As the morning slowly crept over Camp Green Lake, the army of boys, each wielding a shovel, made their way out into the desert.
"Remember, find anythin', tell me or Pendanski." Mr. Sir said.
"So, what're we looking for?" Sakuzy asked.
"No stupid questions." Mr. Sir said.
Sakuzy immediately hopped to keep up.
The members of D-Tent were brought to the middle of the desert. Croccer kept humming his tune as he began tracing out his hole. ADHD, who dragged behind most of the day, immediately got to digging with a manic laugh.
"And THAT'S why we call 'im ADHD." Squid commented.
"Grows on ya, though, gotta admit." Croccer said, "So, with a buncha fellas to dig holes all the way out woop woop. What's not to love?"
With that, Croccer began digging.
"Out WHAT?" Sakuzy asked.
"Middle of nowhere" Becca said before twirling her shovel and started to dig
"HOW do you know this stuff?" Sakuzy asked as he began digging.
"I don't know. I just do," Becca said.
Lucy tightly gripped her shovel and plunged the blade into the dirt, the sound of dirt breaking began to fill the air.
As they began digging, Sakuzy saw something glimmer. Another piece of their Gummi ship.
"Hey." He whispered to the others, "Look for these. I think they're scattered around."
"Okay, okay... but we're all in agreement," Yozora whispered back. "Becca is never allowed near the controls again."
"Okay, I'm serious. Can we stop the blame game now?" Becca whispered annoyed
"That's not the blame game; that's a simple fact," Yozora said, shaking his head, "You're not flying this ship."
"Semantics later. Digging now." Sakuzy said.
Becca went back to digging
And as they continued to dig the scraping of the dirt, the monotonous murmuring of the campers, it began to form a... chorus of sorts.
"Dig, dig, dig, diggity-dig... dig, dig, diggity-dig... dig, dig, dig, diggity-dig... dig, dig-"
"NO!" Joyex shouted to the other boys, "None of that! Shame on you!"
As the work progressed, Lucy glanced up at the sun and groaned. The heat somehow kept getting worse and worse. She wiped her head and took a swig from a beat up looking canteen she had.
"You know, something isn't right about this," Becca said, taking a break from digging to get a small sip of water.
"Huh. This looks interestin'." Croccer said, holding up a piece of blue Gummi.
"Hey, that's MINE!" Sakuzy shouted, lunging at Croccer and grabbing his wrist.
"Easy there, mate." Croccer grinned tossing the Gummi piece into the air and catching it in his other hand, "This important to ya?"
"Just..." Sakuzy said.
Croccer looked Sakuzy in the eye and suddenly, a knowing smile, "Helps if ya use the magic word. 'Please'."
"Really?" Sakuzy asked, flatly.
"But if ya want it THAT bad..." Croccer said, casually handing it back to Sakuzy as if nothing happened.
That's when Yozora hit something. He leaned in... and picked up a golden yellow piece of Gummi Block. "Oho, okay."
Sakuzy returned to his hole. He said to the group, in a quiet voice, "Might wanna watch out for Croccer. He knows...something."
"I noticed... he gives me the creeps." Lucy replied, shaking her whole body.
"I dunno, he seems like a good guy" Becca said to her
"Just keep an eye on him." Sakuzy said, taking a drink from his bottle.
Yozora pocketed his Gummi Block, not paying much heed to the conversation. As he kept on digging without much in terms of signs of tiring.
"I might keep this shovel," he remarked, "It's sinking in pretty well."
"Having the right shovel helps!" ADHD called as he chucked some dirt out of his...already oddly sizable hole, "See Stanley there? Swapped his shovel with X-Ray. It's shorter!"
"Smaller shovel, smaller hole," Squid said, sagely.
"And the Yelnats family tradition CONTINUES..." Stanley grumbled to himself as he dug harder.
"I'm starting to really not like this X-Ray guy," Yozora remarked to himself, "Seems like he's abusing his status as 'the leader'. Not... unlike... 'Ma'."
"You seem to have some issues here." Sakuzy said to Stanley, "What's this tradition you're talking about?"
Stanley sighed, as he looked back at Sakuzy. "It's often said in my family that we're cursed with bad luck. Every last one of us, since my great-great grandfather... 'the no good, dirty, rotten, pig-stealing Elya Yelnats.'."
"Pig-stealing?" Becca asked.
"Pig stealing, yeah," Stanley repeated, "They say he broke a promise to a fortune-teller named Madame Zeroni who asked his help with her pig... so he could barter with it to marry a girl, if the family story is true. Didn't work out, clearly."
"Wait, hold up, so your family is cursed because of a pig?" Yozora asked, looking up.
Lucy quickly pocketed a few more Gummi blocks and looked at Stanley, "I've heard of bad luck, but that's ridiculous."
"I've heard weirder." Joyex commented.
There was a loud song blaring over a speaker. Sakuzy peeked out to see Pendanski next to a truck.
"Ah, would ya look at that? Ma's back." Croccer said. He shook his canteen, "Think I could use a li'l extra water."
With that, Croccer hopped out of his hole, right behind ADHD. Sakuzy looked over, finding the blonde kid had already dug about three feet deep.
"HOW?" he asked, shocked.
"He's not the only one," Becca said seeing Zero's own hole
"How much do you reckon he remembers?" Yozora asked, somewhat jokingly as he pointed at Pendanski's truck.
"Probably this fist coming into him and the rest's a blur." Sakuzy replied.
Becca walked over with her jug in hand, figuring she could use a refill.
"'Eya, ma! How's that concussion o' yers doin' for ya?" Croccer asked as he walked up and held out his jug to Pendanski.
"Eh zip it..." Pendanski growled, only to put his smile back on again. "Remember everyone, a hydrated camper is a happy camper!"
Becca got her water going back into her hole taking her shovel digging before finding another piece of the Gummi ship.
"How many pieces did I break it into?" Becca asked as Yozora unearthed another one.
"I don't know. How many DID you break it into?" Joyex asked, flatly.
"Hey look, something else." Sakuzy said, unearthing something-a fossil of a fish, "Huh...now this is something."
"Well this place was a lake, so fish fossils make sense," Becca said.
Sakuzy looked at Becca with a bewildered expression, "How do you know that?"
"I...I don't know I just have a feeling..." Becca said "This place...it feels like a lot of negative events happened here."
"Say, you think Pendanski might like your fish?" Lucy asked Sakuzy.
"I dunno...think I should ask?" Sakuzy asked.
"It wouldn't hurt to try..." Lucy said, taking a swig from her canteen.
"Best o' luck there, mate." Scott commented as Sakuzy stepped out of the hole, ADHD right behind him.
"Mom! My hole's done!" he said, happily.
"How'd you work so fast?" Sakuzy asked, holding up his fish fossil, "Hey, saw this. Mr. Sir said if I found anything interesting, I should bring it to YOU."
"Oh would you look at that!" Pendanski said, looking at the fossil before handing it back to Sakuzy. "Well I hate to break it to you kid, the Warden isn't interested in fossils."
Sakuzy deflated a bit, but asked, "So...there really WAS a lake here once?"
"There was a TOWN here, too. The Warden's grandfather owned the lake and half the town," Pendanski nodded.
"I see..." Sakuzy said.
"Well, I'm off!" ADHD said, cheerily as he walked away, shovel over his shoulder.
Becca had been listening when she heard that statement she touched her head like she was getting a headache
Her vision swam before it was consumed by light.
POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH
The land was suddenly...alive. Still hot and dominated by sand, but right next to a beautiful lake and speckled with plant life. The town was alive and bustling with trade. Especially one salesman that Becca found...familiar. A black man, wearing a broad-brimmed hat, wearing a button-up shirt and overalls and standing next to a donkey.
"Get your sweet, sweet, magical onions! Get your elixirs, health potions, onion tonics! Nature's magical vegetable!" he called out. With a ringing bell, the schoolchildren were let out. Immediately, they flocked to him. The merchant smiled...but it was mostly aimed at their schoolteacher, a very pretty blonde woman with her hair done up and wearing a conservative dress, "The ancient Egyptians knew the secrets of the onion. How it could cure toothaches, stomachaches, measles, mumps, rheumatism, hemorrhoids...why, if you don't believe me, just ask Mary Lou!"
To illustrate his point he fed an onion to his donkey.
"All she eats is onions and she's almost a hundred years old."
"How do you know that, Sam? You're not a day over twenty-five." The schoolteacher said, amused.
"Nature's magic vegetable, Miss Katherine." The merchant, Sam, said. Immediately, a wagon carrying some prospectors rode up. Well, four prospectors and a corpse. Sam, though, took a bottle off his cart, "See your friend there wasn't so smart. Too bad he didn't know that Yellow Spotted Lizards don't like MY onion juice!"
A small crowd had gathered. One man tipped his hat to the teacher, Miss Katherine, who looked away, clearly uninterested. Sam, though, approached her with a warm smile and a bag of onions.
"And, for you, Miss Katherine? I have this SPECIAL bag of onions." Sam said.
"Thank you." Miss Katherine beamed as she gave Sam a jar in return, "And your peaches."
"Thank YOU." Sam smiled.
All the while, the crowd spoke among themselves, "Sometimes, I think Green Lake's Heaven on Earth."
"I'll say. Miss Katherine's spiced peaches are the work of an angel."
"I like peaches." Said the man who tried wooing her a moment ago.
POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH
Much later...
"HEY! I got my hole dug!" Sakuzy shouted. The more seasoned hole-diggers had left by that point.
Well, Yozora finished his hole shortly after ADHD and Zero, but he stuck around.
Now, it was that five and Stanley left behind.
"Jee, can't imagine what situation we'd be in if you hadn't landed us here, Beck." Joyex said, flatly, as he got out of his hole, "Hope YOU'RE enjoying it. SOMEONE has to."
Becca just ignored Joyex still thinking on the vision she had it seemed so real.
"Alright guys, pony up." Lucy said, pulling all of her Gummi Blocks out of her pockets. "Let's see how much you got."
Sakuzy emptied his pockets. The pieces gathered and expanded into two large, square blocks.
"This stuff's amazing." Sakuzy said.
"Yeah, it expands. It's how you can fit them into treasure chests." Joyex said. The Gummis he gathered formed the cockpit.
Becca took out the few she gathered out there, giving a "Hmm" as she did so.
"Ugh, it's not much but we're getting there." Lucy said, taking notice of the sun going down. "Come on, let's get back to camp. Don't want Mr. Sir to chew us out."
"Yeah, take what we can get." Sakuzy said. Joyex kept shooting Becca dirty looks as they made their way back to the camp.
When they got there, they saw it was dark. Everything was quiet and...almost abandoned. Everyone was probably in their tents or cabins.
"Boy, this is creepy." Sakuzy commented.
No sooner had he said that when Mr. Sir came up, pistol in hand.
"Don't move!" he hissed, pulling the hammer back.
Lucy gulped quickly and slowly raised her hands, silently hoping to whoever was listening that she wasn't going to get blown away. But the silence of the situation was broken by the sound of something rustling behind the group. Everyone slowly turned their heads to look behind them and noticed a lizard with yellow spots on its back slowly climbing up a wall. The small creature turned its head to look at Sakuzy and the others.
"KAAAHH!" It hissed, revealing two small fangs and a frill around its head!
It jumped off the wall and began running at them.
BLAM!
A shot from Mr. Sir killed the lizard. Sakuzy looked shocked. Yellow spots...was that one of the Yellow-Spotted Lizards Mr. Sir warned them about earlier?
"Just get to your tent." Mr. Sir said, still looking wary.
The group walked to the tent. Becca looked at herself and noticed the shower and then grabbed a clean jumpsuit then Joyex
"Seems like a bad idea, buster." Joyex said.
"Just because I look like a guy doesn't mean I have to smell like one," Becca said as they reached the shower taking off her hat.
"So, keep an eye out and we'll be done quick!" Lucy said as she took off her hat, placing it next to her boots and socks. "I promise, we'll be in and out before you know it!"
"So, the guys clearly don't clean their socks. Big whoop. Trust me, the corn chip smell grows on ya." Joyex said, turning away while muttering, "Yeah, sure." He then said in a mockingly sing-song voice clearly meant to be an impression of Becca, "I'm just gonna take a shower, Joyex. Y'know, the thing that would DEFINITELY get us found out. Just add 'our secret' to the things I'm planning on wrecking." He turned to see Sakuzy quickly walking away, "THANKS, ACE CARD! NICE TO SEE WHO'S GOT MY BACK!"
BANG!
Joyex flinched as everyone heard Mr. Sir squeeze off another shot. Clearly still jumpy after their lizard encounter.
Becca glared before squirting Joyex with the cold water.
"THAT DOESN'T STOP ME FROM BEING RIGHT!" Joyex shouted.
"DON'T CARE LET IT GO ALREADY!" Becca shouted
"NOT UNTIL YA OWN UP TO YOUR SCREW-UP!" Joyex shouted back.
"Oh, get a room already!" one of the inmates shouted.
"Yeah, seriously! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
"I hate ALL OF YOU." Joyex growled.
Later back at the bunks Becca layed tossing and turning. Cleaner, yes. But she was feeling uneasy about this whole world. It was trying to tell her something, but what was it?
"Hey. Hey, Beck," said a voice as someone tapped Becca. Croccer was standing next to her bed, a sly look on his face. "Hey, Beck. Could ya 'elp me out for a sec? Thought there was a scorpion in me bed and might help to have another set o' eyes. Be right embarrassin' if I slept with a scorpion in me bed. I'd ask ADHD to do it, but..."
"No, I don't wanna...the Enterprise needs its captain..." ADHD murmured in his sleep.
"When 'e's got THOSE dreams, best not disturb 'im." Croccer said.
"Sure, I'll help," Becca said in her male voice
"How's about we check under. They're tricky li'l things." Croccer said, looking under the cot. Becca looked under the cot, trying to find one of the little creatures. The moment they were both under the cot, though, Croccer leaned in with a knowing smirk. "Level with me, mate. You an' those other four newbies are from another world, aincha? Reckon Stanley's the only one from 'round these parts."
Becca looked at Croccer with a concern look, asking him with what she hoped was a convincing male voice, "If we were, how do you know we were unless you and your friend are also not from here?"
"Yer a sharp 'un, aincha?" Croccer asked with a chuckle, "The li'l guy 'n I are from different worlds...and that voice yer usin'? Might fool the kids an' the adults with dust bunnies fer brains, but not me. Yer no bloke. Yer a sheila."
Becca smiled and chuckled a little, feeling sheepish, "Really? I thought I was a convincing actress..."
"Well, not as good as ya thought." Croccer chuckled. He held out his hand, "Name's really Scott. Scott Highflier. Picked it out meself."
"Scott? Nice name. You can call me Becca," Becca said taking his hand with her own
"Becca?" Croccer said, taking her hand. He then grinned, "Good name. Nice to make yer acquaintance, Becca."
"You too, Scotty," Becca smiled.
"Just Scott'll do fine. But Croccer in fronta the blokes. They're particular 'bout nicknames." Croccer said, "So, that thing ya found? It's a Gummi, ain't it?"
Becca nodded, flushing a little in embarrassment, "Yeah I sort of crashed our ship..."
"Ah. So, uh...Ponytail?" Croccer asked.
"Yeah, but I didn't do it on purpose," Becca said...though she felt Joyex giving her a death glare. "Okay, a LITTLE on purpose, but still!"
"Yeah. Not hard to put that together." Croccer said, "Hey, how's about me an' ADHD help ya find your Gummis?"
"As long as you promise not to run off with them," Becca said.
"I won't, sheilah." Croccer said, shaking Becca's hand, "I trust ya."
"Same," Becca smiled.
Yozora... was wide awake in his bed. He held his outstretched palm up towards the ceiling as if he were trying to summon something to his hand. And yet... nothing.
"Hmm..." again nothing. Only the faint glimmer of his ring. His only real clue as to who, or what, he was.
"It's the Klingons! LOOK OUT!" ADHD yelled as he bolted up. He looked over at Yozora and asked, "Got any comic books? Left all mine at home. HUGE mistake there."
"Sorry, pal, don't own any," Yozora admitted sheepishly, "Whatever those are... or... well, honestly, I don't own a whole lotta anything, as far as I remember."
"Oh, they're the best!" ADHD said, "They're these pagey things made of paper and, every time you turn a piece of paper, there's some new pictures and words! Wait, that's a book. Well, they're much better than books! They've got SUPERHEROES!"
"Superheroes?" Yozora repeated in confusion, "What's a 'superhero', exactly?"
"They're people with costumes, sometimes powers, and who go around and fight evil and beat up bad guys." ADHD said, "People like Scott...SUMMERS! Also known as Cyclops. He shoots lasers from his eyes. I prefer Nightcrawler, though. He's this demon-looking guy, but is really good. But I'm not much into X-Men. Teen Titans, though? THEY'RE the coolest!"
"Huh." Yozora slowly nodded, taking it all in. "That sounds pretty cool, actually. Going around in a colorful costume, fighting bad guys, saving people..."
"It's the BEST!" ADHD said, "The coolest thing you could do! And I..." he then stopped himself, as if remembering something, "Left them all at home. That's what I was going to say. I'm just a kid who blinded people by accident...with chemicals and just left all my awesome comic books at home."
Yozora just gave him an amused smile. "Y'know, the 'chemicals' story could at least be sold a little more convincingly. Least I could say 'I punched a hole in the ozone' with a straight face."
"Yeah, Croccer keeps saying that. One of the best guys ever...but I only get about half what he says at any time. Half the time, all I hear is 'mate' and 'shrimp on the barbie'...okay, he's never SAID 'shrimp on the barbie', but it's fun to imagine him saying it." ADHD nodded. He then said, "Y'know, my name's not ADHD. The guys just call me ADHD 'cuz that's what Pendanski says I have. And that's why I swipe Mr. Sir's sunflowers! So I can shove them in places that would annoy him the most. Like his shoes and his hat and...anyway, my name's actually Ryan. Ryan Syrus."
"Ryan," Yozora repeated, before he chuckled. He didn't mind the kid's rambling. In fact, he thought it was endearing. "It's a much cooler name than ADHD, for sure. Hey, Ryan...maybe, when we get outta this dust bowl... you could tell me a bit more 'bout these superheroes you're so fond of?"
"COULD I?!" ADHD asked, eagerly. He then said, "Hey, Croccer said you guys are looking for those Gummi things! How about I help ya! I dig fast! REAL fast!"
Lucy smiled and gave them a nod. "We'd really appreciate that!"
ADHD looked over and simply asked, "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to hear you're a good digger!" Lucy replied with an excited grin.
"Well, glad to be of assistance," ADHD said, lying down and immediately falling asleep.
"Heh, whatever you say." Lucy giggled in response.
Hitchhiker Entries:
Yellow-Spotted Lizard
A very deadly creature native to the area of Green Lake. Small, vicious, and incredibly venomous. If you encounter one, it's generally advised to "make peace with your god, since you'll be meeting them soon enough". They poisoned viewers in Holes (2003).