Chapter 8
Currently in the booth slurping on a large cup of Sprite, April felt very uncomfortable being inside of Chuck E Cheese for a very good reason. For one, she is an adult regardless of the franchise's signature slogan. Two, time is not to be swindled based upon her current mission. And third, she is seriously having doubts about the little NIB agent that she is currently dealing with is her partner from the future. April watched the animatronics during their thing based upon their programming.
April picked up her cup and whispered before drinking. "If only they knew that in the future, Chuck E Cheese are going to retire their animatronics and replace them with just an open area dance floor. Sad."
April sat her cup down before getting out of the booth to go find Karai in this timeline. She looked at the window and saw that the day became night. This motivated April to hurry up and get Little Karai and get back to the main objective. It was quite difficult for April to get past all these running-around kids but she managed to make it happen as she found Little Karai. Which is quite ironic since Little Karai has been binge playing skee ball since the moment they arrived at the place.
"Are you done yet?." April crossed her arms. "You are burning precious time here."
Little Karai eyed the hole that has the highest point of the machine. "What is with all the rushing for?. What is your hurry, hot head?."
April tilted her head with a confused look on her face. "Uh, hello?. Did you forget?. We got to save the timeline from a mutant tiger. Remember?."
Little Karai threw the ball into the hole before looking at April. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."
"Seriously?." April asked in disbelief.
Little Karai gathered her huge amounts of tickets. "No, I am just yanking your chain."
April rolled her eyes. "Of course. So what is this so-called mission that you so desperately needed to accomplish?. And this has better be good."
April followed Little Karai to where the ticket booth is located. Little Karai handed the man the printed ticket that had the total number of tickets that she had gathered after feeding it to the munching machine. After the man looked at the ticket and before looking back at Karai, she leaned over and whispered something to the man who is behind the counter, who then motioned the two to come to the back. This has gotten April interested as she followed right behind Little Karai. They found themselves in some isolated room where the man pulled out a medium briefcase and presented it to Karai. April walked up to see what was so important compared to the real mission.
"Here you go, Agent K. Keep it secure. The fate of this item is the utmost important in the whole world." the man said before unlocking the case.
"Yes, I know." Little Karai opened the case up.
"What is it?." April waited to see it.
Little Karai pulled out an old signed autograph inside a protected plastic sheet and grinned at April. "An actual signed autographed picture of Elvis Presely!."
April's interest went from seriousness to utter tipped off luck. "So, you are telling me that all these precious wasted hours of being in Chuck E Cheese with you playing constantly on that damn sure ball machine, just so you can get your hands on a damn freaking Elvis picture!."
"You forget the part about it being an actual hand-signed picture of the man itself. It is super rare!." Little Karai spoke in defense before eyeing the picture. "That is the secret prize when having the exact amount of tickets."
"This is some BS!." April was quickly kicked in the abdomen by Little Karai.
"Hey, Elvis is a national treasure in America. Put some respect to the man." spoke Little Karai, before leading the way back out of the room.
April painfully holds her stomach while walking and following Little Karai both out of the room and Chuck E Cheese itself. The night had returned to daytime as they got into the car and drove away from sight of the place. April managed to overcome the pain as she relaxed a bit in her seat while listening to Little Karai singing to one of Elvis's songs on the CD player. To April's surprise she is even hearing her imitating the man.
"Elvis Presley." Little Karai spoke while driving. "The King of Rock and Roll."
"Well, actually to be super honest here, Karai, the title of King of Rock and Roll solely belongs to Little Richard." said April.
Little Karai hummed. "Everybody who is not living under a rock knows that Little Richard is the architect of Rock and Roll. Elvis just convinced the white audience to be more interested in black music. Know your history. Shoot, I am not from this country and yet I know more about pop culture than you, American Redhead."
"Oh, whatever." April rolled her eyes.
"Oh, whatever." Little Karai mocked and laughed it off. "Now, on to serious business. Where in New York should we go in the attempt to stop this TigerClaw character?."
This made April sit up after hearing that question. She did not do her full research on the original timeline on what had happened in the Summer of 2006. Little Karai waited patiently for a response from her future partner and saw that there was an error when asking this question. In response to this she pulled the car to the side before pressing the hazard button and looked at April.
"Please tell me that you have the desired information." Little Karai asked.
"Yeah, about that…I do not know what else has happened in this year of the summer." spoke April, looking at her younger partner.
"Why?." Little Karai asked.
"Because…I wanted Ron to get to the point of the most important part of the historic moment of 2006's July." said April.
Little Karai turned the engine of the car off before looking and giving Karai the stink face. "Alright you, if you do not think of anything on what my future Ron said to you, then I will put you back into the big microwave."
"Microwave?." April asked.
"You know what I mean. So start thinking back." Little Karai warned.
With motivation, April thinks really hard about the conversation that she had with Ron from her timeline. Scratching her head which produced a few flakes which Little Karai waved them away from her personal space. Remembering the short information, April recalled about Ron from her future saying about an incident in some roller rink.
"I remember what Ron from my time said something about something that had happened at the Skating Rink Dance House." said April.
Little Karai took in on what April said to her before opening the armrest and pulled out a pack of matches and handed it to her. Confused, April looked at the pack of matches to see a logo of a bowling ball in space with rocket wings and had two planets, one that is red and the other is blue with lots of stars as the background.
"Ok, what does this have to do with what I just said?." April asked while giving it back.
Little Karai shook her head. "If we are partners then I know for a fact that you are still a rookie."
April tried not to get upset about being called a rookie. Karai of her time stopped calling her that for years. "Your point is."
"My point is, April." Little Karai started the car and turned off the hazard lights before driving. "The pack of matches is not just a random item you find on the ground. It is a hinted clue. You see, Roman the Fabulous is a lot of things. A smoker is not one of them. Yes, he has a box of cigars but he does not smoke em, he just likes to hold them in his hand in a fancy manner and puts them in his mouth to feel uppity. In which you can not blame him since what are the chances of being rich?."
"Ok, I see." April adjusted her seatbelt. "So, what do you know about this alien?."
"He is a bowler, rookie." Little Karai spoke while making another right turn. "He and his people are the only race that can bowl strikes in every single turn and game. The only bowling alley that so happens to be a private bowling alley that Roman signed up for membership, and a place for both Alien and Mutant can go and bowl with no disguise."
"Huh, Bowling The Galaxy." April said in an answer.
"Uh, huh. That is the one." Little Karai said when taking the next turn.
During the time on the road while hearing The Weight from The Band, Karai's favorite song as she hummed the tune. April looks at the little girl as she is in wonder as to if this young agent is the same asshole agent from her timeline. Little Karai noticed the curious smile on April's face as she stopped humming the tune of the song.
"Lost something over here, Red Head?." Little Karai looked at April.
"I'm just curious is all." April began while crossing her legs. "How old are you exactly?."
Little Karai looked at April plainly. "I am eight. I'm eight years old. Why?."
"Oh, it is nothing. I just thought that you look way more mature in your age." said April, with a grin.
Little Karai studied April before having her attention back to driving. "Kissing someone's smelly butt can only get you so far, April."
April instantly dropped her grin when hearing this and frowned. Now currently resting the side of her head with the aid of the edge of the window. "Even in this age you are still an ass."
"And you are the sister of Forrest Gump." Little Karai chuckled as she did her best impression. "Our Momma always says that stupid is what stupid does."
April shoots daggers at Little Karai. "You keep on trying me, shorty."
"I already did, Becky with the good hair." Little Karai spoke back.
April started cursing in her head while doing the ride of getting to the desired location that would help them in stopping or preventing TigerClaw of this timeline. In just an hour and fifteen minutes they pulled up to the parking lot and facing the Bowling The Galaxy entrance. The two agents studied the place as they noticed only two cars parked in the parking lot. April was on guard while Little Karai was looking on plainly.
"I do not know, Karai." April feels uncomfortable when looking at the building. "This is kinda like a bust here. I do not want to just walk inside there blindly and unarmed. So, I would like for you to hand me back my gun please."
"Sure, sure and what is that on your left hand wrist?." Little Karai asked when pointing.
"What is on my left hand wrist?." April asked.
As soon as April put her hand out to look at her wrist and see what eight-year-old Karai was talking about, Little Karai quickly handcuffed April's wrist and connected the other handcuff to the wheel.
"Well, it looks like you have got yourself a handcuff on your wrist." Little Karai playfully said while opening her door to exit. "You wait here and I will be right back."
"No, Karai, wait!." April tried to break free from her handcuff. "We need to go in together!. Karai?!."
Karai closed the door and resumed her way to the double doors of Bowling The Galaxy. The inside was so extraterrestrial with such a space-themed gallery as Karai bowls here every so often or just come here to drink the best milkshakes ever. She walked down the steps to where the two disguised aliens were bowling a few rounds in one of the alleys. The two dressed in their employee uniform clothes stopped their playing when seeing Karai coming towards them. Examining the empty area before looking back at the two who were standing there in wait on what she is going to do next.
Little Karai looked at the tall employee who had a cloth material cowboy hat on. "First off, how are you doing guys?."
The two looked at each other before the tall one looked back at Karai with an answer. "We are doing just fine."
Little Karai nodded. "Ya, been busy?."
The other employee who happens to be the same height as Karai answered. "It is a slow week. People are readying themselves for Independence Day."
Little Karai nodded. "I see. Well, do not mind me for too much longer you guys. I am just going to see and have a quick investigation talk with the owner of this establishment."
"He is not here." spoke from the short employee with quickness.
Little Karai looked over to where the owner's office is located before looking back at the two. "In that case, I will just have a good look around in his office."
Before the tall employee could utter a word, Karai pulled out a badge from her pocket. "I just got my renewed investigation search without the eyewitness or without the desire to talk to the suspect card. Which, by the way, the Galaxy Peace Organization council members are soon going to vote on letting NIB investigate without any limitations or be asked to have certification cards. Even though they have been debating about it for decades."
As Little Karai put her badge back into her pocket she then walked through the two for a good reason. She tested them to see if they were going to fall for her fooled trick since there is no such thing as NIB having an investigation card. If her test give her the answer that she expected them to do, then she is going to get physical with the two aliens. Which is exactly what happened. Without any hesitation, Karai instantly turned around with her blaster out and pointed at the tall man who had six guns pointing at her, due to the alien having six arms.
Little Karai had a serious pointed look on her face as she spoke in a fake and pretended Southern accent. "Well, it looks like we have got ourselves in an old-fashioned western standoff, partner."
"Yeah, I can see. Whoever blinks gets shot." the tall alien spoke seriously.
"I like the rules of the game." Little Karai said while having her finger on the trigger.
The two stare at each other to see who is going to blink their eyelids first and who is going to shoot first. But that has never got its conclusion due to the tall alien got hit by a bowling pin on top of his head, and causing him to collapse to the floor unconscious. All thanks to April. This made Karai put down her gun and had a shocked facial expression.
April threw the bowling pin to the side before straightening up her ninja outfit before looking at Karai. "You always hide your keys inside the head of the car seat. You put the key in the driver's head seat or the passenger's head seat in a pattern of the day of the week. You are quite confusing. Even for an eight year old."
"Lucky guess, April." Little Karai put her blaster back to where it was before looking at her with an upset tone. "And why did you hurt my friend?."
This made April confused. "Huh?."
"My brother and Karai always play Pinhead and Dirty Dan when they see each other. It is their thing every time they meet at this bowling alley." said the short employee, all upset.
"Pinhead?. Dirty Dan?." April's face went from confusion to slight frown. "Ya, two are roleplaying your versions of Pinhead and Dirty Dan from SpongeBob?. Seriously?!."
"What?." Little Karai shrugged. "Me and Ober just love watching SpongeBob Squarepants. It is up there with my all time favorites like, Kim Possible, Lilo and Stitch, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Powerpuff Girls, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ed Edd n Eddy, and…"
"I GET IT!." April yelled before looking at the other alien.
"Since you are being rude I want you out. Now!." the short employee said.
"Oh, do not be like that, Tber." Little Karai spoke while pushing April to go where they needed to go. "My redneck of a partner is just being a mood killer."
"Hey, I am not a mood killer." April argued.
"Tell Ober that I apologize for her being a jerk and I will make it up to him in a game of bowling." said Little Karai. "You are cramping my style here, April."
"Cramp your style?. Since when do you have style?." April questioned while stopping for being pushed.
Little Karai went around April as she approached the door to the office of the owner. "Since I became a NIB Agent."
As Little Karai opened the door the two were in utter shock at what they saw in front of them. There behind the desk and in his seat all limped is the dead owner with a blast wound hole in his forehead. The owner is a brown big forehead bug-like alien with short antennas. April automatically knew who did this and from the looks of it the kill had happened an hour ago.
"Damn, Tiger Claw beat us here." April examined the corpse.
"No fooling." Little Karai pulled out her flip phone and went speed dialing a contact.
April paused her examination of the dead alien to see Karai with that flip phone in shock. "Dang, I forgot how those phones look in this timeline. Much less the last time I saw those is when I last saw my grandma."
"Really?. When was the last time you saw her?." Little Karai asked when re-dialing the number.
"The day when I decided to leave everything on what I know and who I know when deciding to join NIB." explained April. "Who are you calling?."
"Ron." Little Karai started to pull the antenna up and re-dial again before placing the phone into her ear.
"Hey, do not put that in your ear, girl." said April, being all uncomfortable about the phone of yesteryears."
Little Karai ignored April's plea as she gained cellular connection and got Ron on the line. Ron is currently on another planet with Zed as he is currently eating his salad.
"Hello?." Ron answered his phone.
"Hi, Ninja Dumpling." Little Karai spoke all sweetly.
Ron spoke with cheerfulness. "Oh, hi, Kit Kat. How are you?."
Little Karai played with her hair a bit with her index finger. "I'm doing great. How is the meeting?."
"Pretty well so far. We are having lunch." Ron stuffs a fork of salad into his mouth. "What can I do for you, sweet thing?."
Little Karai giggled at hearing this. "Well, that all depends…"
April tried her best to ignore all that mushy lovey-dovey stuff between the two young agents. April just can not believe that Karai is actually being so open to her emotions. It was quite scary in April's opinion since the Karai in her time did not show any emotions. She was stiff to cold in letting any emotions come loose. She shrugged it off as she looked at the deceased victim's desk for any clues. So far she only sees an old fat computer that is not on. Only a few stacks of blank papers and an issued magazine.
"From what I have gained. What exactly is the Skating Rink Dance House to an alien?." asked Little Karai, after being so girly with her boyfriend.
Ron looked through the papers on his side as he recalled one of the aliens saying something about. "The place is a place to skate and dance but the name itself is an alien term for the language of a planet."
"Meaning?." Little Karai looked at where April is holding a magazine and read the title. "Huh, Galactavius."
"Yeah, that is the name of the planet. The people honored the planet and its people by having a fun private place to relax and do fun things. Galactavius in Earth language is Skating Rink Dance House." said Ron.
"Huh, who knew. Well, I know that someone is going to get killed there." April put the magazine back down.
Little Karai hangs her phone up after saying thank you and saying goodbye to Ron with kiss noises. "Then let us go and stop it from happening. I know a guy who can aid us in this investigation on which direction we should go."
"Cool beans." responded April.
As time went on the two found the building which so happens to be like a wide stand alone apartment. April looked at the building and saw that there was no sign saying the name of the place. It blended in with all the other buildings in New York. Little Karai locked the car and walked up to April.
"If you do not want to give me my gun back then let me have a gun of this timeline." April said, trying to have common ground.
"Hmmm, I do not know." Little Karai rubbed her chin in wonder. "Is that a wise thing to do since I do not know if you are trigger-happy."
"What?. Look, I have been an NIB Agent for years and I have seen a lot of things in the line of outside work. I saved the world from coming to doom in my first year and some on my own solo belt. So, I deserve the right to have a piece." April pointed.
Little Karai looked to the side in thought before going back into the car in just a brief moment, and then returned back to April. "Ok, April, here is your gun."
As soon as Little Karai handed April a gun, she looked at the weapon and saw that it was not a blaster but an old fashioned gun with only one round of ammo.
"Oh, no, I want a space gun." April followed Karai.
"The words that I only hear from your mouth, April, is that you are saying thank you friend. And I say you are most certainly welcome." Little Karai responded.
April rolled her eyes as she looked at the bullets. "Really?. Rubber bullets?. I have not carried these since my days as a police junior."
The two entered inside the building and took a few flights of stairs as they saw a few people coming down or coming up the steps. Some were normal people and the others were disguised mutants and aliens. Once reaching the steel door, Little Karai made catchy tuned knocks on the door before seeing someone pulling back the eyesight slide to see who was knocking.
"Applesauce." Little Karai spoke the password.
The person closed the slide and then opened the door to let them inside. Little Karai and April entered inside and saw a huge sight of a skating rink mixed with a dance floor as a lot of people were hanging about either talking, eating, drinking, or even taking fancy pictures. Little Karai eyed their target who is dressed in an all white biker outfit wearing a helmet with dark visor, currently taking pictures of people who wanted to have something to remember.
"That is our guy. Come on." Little Karai led the way to where the guy is.
"Excuse me, sir?. We need to talk in private." said April.
The biker stopped at what he was doing as he looked at the two and then looked at Karai. He spoke with a deep masculine voice. "No, Not today. I'm busy."
"But it is the utmost important, sir." said Little Karai, trying not to cause a scene.
The biker again stopped taking pictures. He looked back at the two again. "Leave me alone, please."
"Ok, we are not getting anywhere." April started pushing and overpowering the biker. "We are trying to save Earth's future. Corporate will ya?."
Little Karai follows the two as they find themselves going behind a big thick blue curtain. The biker got frustrated as he took off his helmet and spoke in a voice that everyone in the whole world can recognize.
"Forget it Karai. You know that this is my day to live a normal life."
April stood up and looked at the man in utter awe, shock, and disbelief. "No freaking way."
Little Karai hugged the man tightly before letting go and smiled. "I'm sorry, Agent MJ. But we need your assistance."
Michael took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "And how long will this take?."
"Hopefully not too long." Little Karai responded.
"Wait…Agent MJ?." April looked at Little April with a look of disbelief while pointing at the man in front of them. "Shut the front door. Karai, are you seriously telling me that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, is one of us?!. An NIB Agent?!.
(A/N): And a cliffhanger!. Hope you guys enjoy this long awaited chapter. Enjoy and you see guys again.
And if you guys have the time, come check out and review my Busting It To The Afterlife story. A Ghostbusters Afterlife story. I encourage you guys to please to check out and leave reviews. Excelsior!.