Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000 / SF64Rules91 / DaveMan1000 / Sodormatchmaker
Based on the Railway Series by: The Rev. W. and Christiopher Awdry
Based on the Television Series by: Britt AllCroft, David Mitton, Lionsgate, and Universal Pictures
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED-related Material: Bandai Namco Filmworks
OC(s) owned by: SF64Rules91 / DaveMan1000
Episode 58: Penry and the Astray Angels
Opening up outside of Knapford Hospital, all was fine on a nice, calm evening. Cars were coming and going from the parking lot, and people were either going in or out of the big building. However, there was one patient in particular who would be remaining there for some time.
(inside…)
Inside his room, Thomas was out of bed, propping himself up on a set of parallel bars kindly set up by some of the nurses, and slowly inching along back and forth, trying to get back to walking again. Emily was also there, having stayed by his side whenever she could, providing moral and emotional support. It had only been a few days since waking up in the hospital, but Thomas's healing progress was slow yet steady, making it evident to both teenagers that Thomas wouldn't be out of there for a while yet thanks to the injury inflicted by Captain John.
"Ah…! Okay, just…baby steps… don't overdo it…" Thomas winced to himself, moving slowly along while gripping the bars tightly for balance.
"You can do it, Thomas," encouraged Emily, "You'll be fully back on your feet in no time."
Thomas smiled gratefully at his new girlfriend's words.
"Girlfriend," thought Thomas, happily reminding himself of that.
He was still comprehending the fact that it was finally official between them; something Emily had been slowly informing most of their friends of soon after the incident with Captain John. As Thomas continued to slowly walk forward while keeping himself balanced with the walking bars, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," called Thomas.
The door opened, and the nurse came in, followed closely behind by Rosie and Stanley.
"Rosie! Stanley!" greeted Emily.
"Hi, guys," waved Stanley.
"I was on my way here when I bumped into Stanley," explained Rosie cheerfully, as the nurse turned and left the room, "When I told him what happened and where I was going, he asked if I could bring him…" As she finished her sentence, Thomas seemed to look touched, "…to see you, Thomas."
"Wow… That's nice of you to do, Rosie," praised Emily.
"We're also so glad you're seeing someone as kind as Stanley," admired Thomas, "I got to admit, you and him do go so well together."
"W-We're not an item if that's what you're implying," denied Stanley, embarrassed, causing Rosie to look over in secret surprise, "We're just friends, that's all."
Thomas nodded, understanding that. Speaking of couples, there was something Emily really wanted to bring up to both visitors…
"Now that Thomas mentioned it, we have some amazing news to share about him and I! We've officially confessed our feelings for each other!" beamed Emily, "We're finally boyfriend and girlfriend!"
"Hey, that is amazing! And many more happy returns to the both of you!" smiled Stanley.
On the other hand, Rosie seemed a little disheartened by the confession, hinting that she still had some slight feelings for Thomas—not helping was that Stanley seemingly didn't seem all that interested in wanting to date her despite them growing closer with each passing day. Very quickly, however, Rosie cleared her head of those negativities and smiled after deciding that Thomas deserved to be in a relationship with whom he wanted if it made him happy, and she really wanted him to be happy, which was all that mattered to her. If Emily was the one who made him happy, so be it.
"Congratulations, Thomas and Emily! I'm really happy for both of you," assured Rosie, "I mean it, too."
Emily and especially Thomas were initially surprised by Rosie's words, having remembered she had at once been madly in-love with Thomas if her writing "I love Thomas" on a piece of paper during her first day at Sodor High School was any indication. They knew it was a sign that Rosie was really maturing her personality.
"Thank you, Rosie," smiled Emily gratefully.
"Yeah," agreed Thomas, "That really means a lot to—whoa!"
But before Thomas could finish, he suddenly lost his grip on the parallel bars and collapsed on the floor, landing rather painfully.
THUD!*
"Thomas!" Emily, Rosie, and Stanley exclaimed with worry.
"Owwwwww…!" groaned Thomas in pain, clutching his wound, and trying not to move too much as he was quickly but carefully helped back up by Emily and Stanley, "Emily… Stanley…"
"You gonna be okay, Thomas?" asked Stanley worriedly.
"Nnngh! Yeah… Just…slipped," Thomas answered weakly, as he was gently helped back onto his bed, lying down and staring at the ceiling, "Ugh, this stinks… I can't believe I have to stay stuck in here for at least two more weeks," He was shown starting to clutch the sides of his head, "At this rate, I'm going to go stir-crazy!"
"You were stabbed by a pirate sword, Thomas," Emily pointed out, as she helped Thomas sit up then took and held his hands, "Much of your insides were probably cut up pretty badly. But I know you can easily wait it out."
"But I can't! Two weeks is too long!" complained Thomas, doing so in anguish, as he retracted his hands and looked down at his patched up stomach for a few seconds before gazing upward once more, "Please, God, I need 'something' to help take my mind off this! This is just pure torture!"
Hearing the desperation in Thomas's voice for any kind of distraction, Stanley already had the perfect idea for that, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to the bed.
"Well, since I'm here, why don't I tell you guys a story to pass the time?" suggested Stanley.
"A story?" blinked Thomas, before appearing to be pleading, "Is it a long one?"
"Oh sure!" nodded Stanley, "Now, before I begin, I want to ask you guys… Are any of you familiar with the 'Three Astray Daughters'?"
Thomas, Rosie, and Emily each looked at each other cluelessly, then back at Stanley to give him their respective answer.
"No," began Thomas.
"Not that I know of," put in Rosie.
"Nope! Never heard of them," finished Emily.
"That's what I like to hear," grinned Stanley, "The 'Three Astray Daughters' are a trio of girls who attend the same prep school that I do. The school is known as SEED Academy."
"SEED Academy?" repeated Rosie.
"Yup! This school is split into four different houses," Stanley revealed, taking some pictures from his jacket pocket and showing them to his friends, "They are called Rengou or Alliance, ZAFT, Orb, and Foundation. I'm part of the Orb House."
The four pictures had symbols of the following—the first was a crescent moon inside of a blue circle with stems sprouting from below, giving it the shape of a flower. The second was a red circular "Z" shape with a blue electric strike down the middle, and encircled by a light blue disc. The third was a sun in front of a dark yellow crest in the shape of a pair of wings. The fourth was black and red markings with the word "Foundation" written underneath.
"The 'Three Astray Daughters' are also part of the Orb House," The voice of Stanley went on, as Thomas, Rosie, and Emily each looked up after observing the pictures. He then brought up the main part of the girls he knew, "The notable thing about them is they run a little mystery solvers club on the side."
"What are their names?" puzzled Emily.
"Jocelyne Caldwell, Sarah Nien, and Rebecca Labatt," answered Stabley, "They're some of the friendliest girls you'll ever meet. Anyway, their club mascot is Jocelyne's trained beagle, Penry. Whenever someone in school or town needs help, they would volunteer to solve that mystery no matter how genuinely dangerous it might end up being."
"You know, they do sound interesting," commented Rosie.
"In fact, there was one time around the start of the new year where they aided a few other friends of mine, Chantal and Vanessa," recalled Stanley, "I'll tell you guys the story of that incident."
A lengthy flashback began.
FLASHBACK
Opening up at SEED Academy one morning in mid January, Matt Yamato and his girlfriend, Chantal Clyne, were seen walking to school together. Chantal was a kind girl with long pink hair and a yellow clip, pale cerulean eyes, and a sweet voice. She wore a light blue and white lace dress with slash sleeves, and white slippers. The two were minding their own business when they came across Anna Haw and Richard Koenig, two very good friends of Matt's.
"Hello, Anna, Richard," greeted Chantal warmly.
"Morning, Chantal," Anna replied back, then looked towards the smiling Matt, "Hi, Matt."
"Am I glad we bumped into you," added Richard, who walked over and wrapped an arm around Matt's shoulders, "Professor Kato wanted us to find you."
"What for?" frowned Matt, getting an idea where this was heading.
"Apparently, he needs you to help him out with something again," came from Anna, "I don't know what exactly, but it must be something pretty big."
"Darn. And I'm still not even finished with the stuff he dumped on me yesterday," groaned Matt, exasperated, just as Richard walked away from him, "Why doesn't he just ask someone else for a change?"
Chantal giggled playfully, "Professor Kato must really rely on you for favors."
"Too much," uttered Matt, resting both hands behind his head, "What does he think I am, a robot or something?"
Chantal, Richard, and Anna each shared a friendly laugh at his little misfortune.
"Come on, you three, cut it out," pouted Matt.
"Alright, then how about we change the subject?" cut in Anna, before addressing Chantal, "So, are you and…" As she spoke on, Chantal was still smiling, "…Vanessa going to be singing in the talent show on Wednesday night, Chantal?"
"Why, yes, I am, Anna," confirmed Chantal, "Vanessa isn't going to sing, but she did offer to help by writing up a song for me. She promised it will be her best one yet."
"That sounds like a good plan to me," encouraged Richard, as he winked and gave a thumbs up, "With her writing the song and your amazing ability to sing, you're sure to win the competition for the third time in a row."
Just then, before the conversation could carry on, a minivan suddenly pulled up to the side in order to park, getting the attention of Matt, Chantal, Richard, and Anna. The window rolled down and revealed three teenage girls inside.
"Hey!" The three girls inside called out.
The first girl, the group leader, was Jocelyne Caldwell. She had wavy blonde hair that reached her chin, blue eyes, and her voice was relatively high pitched. She was wearing a green dress with no sleeves and matching heeled slippers. The second girl was Rebecca Labatt. She had short dark red hair and grayish-blue eyes, while her voice was a bit lower than Jocelyne's. Her attire consisted of a striped purple tank top, dark pink pants, and purple sneakers. The final girl, who was also driving, was Sarah Nien. She had shoulder length dark blue hair that was neatly straightened and golden-yellow eyes that were covered by a pair of pink wireframe glasses, and her voice was a middle pitch between her two friends. She donned a red turtleneck sweater, a blue pleated skirt, and red high-heeled boots.
"Well, well! Look who it is," commented Richard pleasantly, "Some of our fellow Orb House members."
"Let's go over and say hi to them," offered Matt, as he started to approach the minivan as Jocelyne, Sarah, and Rebecca each started to look over, "Hey there, you th-"
But before Matt could even finish speaking, he was instead greeted by a very happy-looking beagle dog, who suddenly jumped out of the opened vehicle window and knocked him over before starting to lick his face repeatedly.
"Ha ha ha! Hey there, Penry! Are you that happy to see me?" laughed Matt.
Chantal, Anna, and Richard each found the scene to, likewise, be very funny. Before long, the 'Three Astray Daughters' group emerged from the minivan and approached.
"Morning!" welcomed Rebecca.
"Hello, you three," came from Anna, "Um, Joyce, maybe you'd better…" She pointed towards Matt and the beagle on the ground, "…reign in your dog before Matt looks like he took a tongue bath before arriving."
"Right," agreed Jocelyne brightly, before calling out to her pet still licking Matt's face, "Penry, that's quite enough. Please behave yourself."
The beagle, Penry, overhearing his owner's command, obeyed and jumped off of Matt's chest and approached the three girls. When that was done, Jocelyne walked over and held her right hand out for Matt to take.
"Sorry about the rude greeting from Penry," apologized Jocelyne, as Matt took the hand and was helped back to his feet, "But I have to admit it, he likes you a lot, Matt."
"No kidding about that, seeing as the feeling's very mutual," accepted Matt.
"So, did you three solve another mystery lately?" asked Richard.
"We sure did," confirmed Rebecca, as Sarah and Jocelyne stood beside her. A thought bubble formed above her as she described what had happened, "It turns out that the Black Knight Ghost haunting Ulfstead Castle was just old man Wickles scaring people away so he could go on with his painting forging scheme."
The bubble then popped, and Richard rolled his eyes over the incident.
"Another fake ghost?" snorted Richard, "Man, when will people ever stop coming up with such bogus legends?"
"Beats me," shrugged Jocelyne, "But you know us; we can almost never turn down a mystery whenever people need our help."
"Boy, it's almost as though you three are becoming one of those groups of 'teenage sleuths' from those cartoon shows in the old days," joked Anna.
"Ha! Maybe in another lifetime!" Jocelyne retorted playfully, as she wrapped her arms around the shoulders of Sarah and Rebecca, "The only thing we don't have is a caveman for a mascot," She then got down on her knees, picked up Penry, and smothered him with love, "Oh, but Penry is the next best thing we have for a mascot—isn't that right, Penry?"
Just then, the current students of SEED Academy all heard a female voice uttering something that sounded very much like a swear word. Looking nearby, they saw another girl with blonde hair like Jocelyne, but her hair was more straightened, reached the lower part of her neck, and brighter, had golden-looking eyes like Sarah, and a tomboy-sounding voice that was slightly deeper than Rebecca's vocal tone. It was Vanessa Athha, the best friend of Chantal and a very close friend of Matt's—almost in a sibling-like fashion. She was donning a dark-cream and white sleeveless dress with muted violet accents, light green pants, and high-heeled shoes, and had a grey sash tied around her waist.
"Oh, Lady Vanessa!" realized Jocelyne, but then saw Vanessa with her head bowed and appearing to be upset if her earlier cursing was any indication, "Wh-What's the matter?"
"Why do you look so upset?" soothed Chantal, as Matt and Richard stood beside her.
"Ugh! Remember the song I've been working on for the last few days?" grunted Vanessa, before looking up, "It's gone!"
Cue gasps from Matt, Anna, Chantal, Jocelyne, Sarah, and Rebecca.
"Missing?!" cried Sarah.
"Oh my!" added Chantal, "How could it happen?"
"Missing? Come on," scoffed Richard, walking forth slightly, "Maybe you just misplaced it or something?"
That blunt statement only made Vanessa very cross as she turned and glared fiercely into Richard's eyes.
"ABSURD!" shouted Vanessa, "I've never misplaced anything in my life, you idiot!"
Richard backed away slightly while sweating nervously, and Vanessa then turned and stormed off in a huff.
"Well, that was insensitive of you to say, Dick," scolded Anna, "Now you've upset her further."
Richard realized that it was a little uncalled for from him and felt bad about it.
"Vanessa…" whispered Matt.
(elsewhere…)
Inside the main cafeteria during lunch hour, Chantal and Vanessa were eating at a table—or, rather, Chantal was the one eating, but Vanessa was instead picking at her food with a fork while sulking over the hard work she made being gone.
"This can't be happening," grumbled Vanessa, "It took me several sleepless days to come up with and write the song, and there isn't enough time to write up a new song for the talent show"
"It's alright, Vanessa," comforted Chantal, "We'll figure something out," She then remembered encountering the three Astray girls in the morning and hearing about their mystery-solving skills, "I think I know what we can do. We can ask Joyce and her friends to find out what happened."
"What? Are you sure they can help?" peeped Vanessa, staring Chantal in the eyes, "Do you even know how long they would have until the talent show?"
Chantal just smiled and paid no attention to the objections; she sat up and walked away to find Jocelyne, Sarah, and Rebecca. Realizing her best friend had made up her mind on the matter, Vanessa groaned with annoyance and followed from behind. Sure enough, the mentioned girls were sitting at another table.
"Oh! Miss Chantal! Lady Vanessa!" welcomed Sarah, "What can we do for you two?"
"Well, with the talent show coming up, we're wondering if you three can solve the mystery of the missing song sheets?" offered Chantal sweetly.
"I know this sounds too much since the talent show is tomorrow night, but we're desperate!" begged Vanessa.
"Tomorrow night?" repeated Rebecca, before huddling with Jocelyne and Sarah, "What do you two think?"
"That doesn't give us a whole lot of time," whispered Sarah.
"I'll say," agreed Jocelyne, before she and her friends grinned with anticipation, "But I always did like a challenge," Upon breaking the huddle apart, she faced Chantal and Vanessa, "Don't you worry, you two… The three of us are on the case!"
That brought great relief to both girls, hoping that the mystery would be solved before the talent show. Jocelyne then frowned and started to think…
(elsewhere…)
…as the scene shifted from the cafeteria to her bedroom at home after the school day ended. Also present were Penry, Sarah, and Rebecca.
"Alright, it's Tuesday and we have until tomorrow night to find the missing song sheets Lady Vanessa worked on," noted Jocelyne, "How should we start this investigation?"
"No idea," sighed Sarah.
"I might have something," The voice of Rebecca cut in, causing Sarah and Jocelyne both to look over. She did indeed have something of a theory, "Lady Vanessa couldn't have misplaced those song sheets; for as long as we've known her, she's always keeping a careful eye on her things."
"I think you might be right, Becky," agreed Sarah, "The song sheets might have been stolen by someone somehow."
"In that case, let's get off our butts and get the search started!" ordered Jocelyne, standing up, "We don't have a lot of time before the talent show, and we don't want to let our friends down."
"YEAH!" Sarah and Rebecca cheered at the same time.
Penry even added in a bark for additional enthusiasm.
(elsewhere…)
Somewhere in the middle of Knapford City, the three Astray girls and Penry arrived to begin their search.
"This is where we split up," said Jocelyne, "Penry and I will search here."
"Got it," obeyed Rebecca.
"We'll meet up back here in an hour with any clues we find," added Sarah.
And the search began. As an hour passed, the sun started to go down while the girls and Penry met up in the same area, clearly disappointed by their lack of finding.
"I got nothing," mumbled Sarah.
"Me neither," complained Rebecca.
"Same with Penry and I," finished Jocelyne, as she knelt down and petted a discouraged Penry, "We looked everywhere, but didn't find a single clue."
"There has to be a scene of the crime somewhere," figured Rebecca, before pulling her phone out, "I'll check in with Lady Vanessa about that," After about three minutes of talking on the phone with Vanessa—including enduring some brief yelling—she hung up, "Apparently, she says the song sheets went missing at the outdoor ice cream shop."
Jocelyne and Sarah both nodded, knowing that they weren't far from the named place. With no time to waste, the three Astray girls left for the local outdoor ice cream shop.
(elsewhere…)
Upon their arrival, Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah discovered that the owner of the shop was closing up for the night. They weren't bothered by that, since the outdoor seats were all they needed to check.
"Alright, let's get started," declared Jocelyne.
Penry let out a bark to signal he agreed. The girls immediately started searching around for clues, with Jocelyne dusting some of the tables for fingerprints as Sarah used her camera to take pictures for analysis.
"When we're at school tomorrow, we'll dust a few lockers for fingerprints and snap pictures," explained Sarah, as she looked up from her camera and held up the pictures, "Then we'll analyze the pictures and see if we have a match."
The three Astray girls believed they would have the mystery wrapped up in more than enough time for the talent show. However, it was not meant to be… Someone wearing a heavy coat and face covering 'accidentally' bumped into Sarah and then snatched the freshly made pictures when they fell out of her hands before fleeing.
"Hey!" yelled Sarah, as the mysterious person continued running, "Give those back!"
"Come on, we can't let him get away!" stated Rebecca.
A chase ensued, but when the girls and Penry reached one alleyway, the mysterious person had seemingly disappeared.
"Oh man, we lost that guy and the pictures…" groaned Rebecca, before leaning against the wall, "Great… That means we have to start over the investigation from scratch."
"But now we have a suspect," Jocelyne pointed out, "Someone is actively trying to stop us."
"A heavy coat, hat, and mask isn't exactly subtle either," mused Sarah, taking off her glasses and cleaning them. When they were good, she put them back on and gave some more bad news, "It's getting late now, so we'll just have to resume the investigation at school in the morning."
"Agreed," replied Jocelyne, who picked up Penry and held him in her arms, "See you two tomorrow."
With that said, they each left the alleyway and went their separate ways for home, hoping for some better luck come tomorrow at SEED Academy.
(elsewhere…)
The next day inside SEED Academy, the three Astray girls arrived early to resume their investigation, with permission from the principal. Jocelyne was dusting some of the lockers for fingerprints, with Sarah again snapping pictures for analysis. Rebecca, meanwhile, was starting to think this was all a waste of time and effort.
"Ugh! We're still stumped! All our progress, gone, and no other leads aside from that masked guy!" grunted Rebecca, still miffed that the last batch of pictures were stolen by some jerk, "And I swear, if I ever catch the slimeball wearing that coat…" She punched her right fist into the palm of her left hand, "POW! He'll be really sorry!"
That was then Chantal and Vanessa approached the trio.
"Hello, you three. How's the investigation coming along?" greeted Chantal.
To her dismay, Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah each looked unsettled by the question, making it clear they were nowhere close to being done. Vanessa was likewise upset over the revelation; in fact, she was so angry over it that she turned and punched a locker before sinking to a knee in grief.
"Well, now, you three haven't solved the mystery yet?" A sneering female voice echoed.
Vanessa looked up, not getting any happier. Meanwhile, Chantal and the three Astray girls were also looking particularly unhappy with the voice. Before long, three teenagers from the Rengou House walked up. The first one, male, was named Ian Bayang and had styled silver hair, purple eyes, and had a stern, cold demeanor about him. He was wearing a blue tunic, white baggy pants, and blue shoes. The second figure, another male, Deven Couza, had dark skin, brown hair, hazel-colored eyes covered by a matching pair of hazel shades, and sported a confident smirk. He wore a black shirt, covered by a light blue jacket, gray pants, and black shoes. Despite wearing glasses, Deven's eyesight was perfectly fine. The final individual, a female known as Kazumi Holcroft, had flattened black hair that curled round from under her ears, brown eyes, complemented with some light lipstick and eyeshadow. She was wearing a black and red blouse that was covered by a purple sleeveless half-jacket, and blue miniskirt, black tights, and matching white boots and gloves. She sauntered towards the group with an aura of superiority, with a condescending smile plastered on her face the whole time.
"Ugh… Great, just what we need," Sarah remarked sarcastically.
"What do you want now, Kazumi?" pressed Rebecca.
"What? I'm just here to remind Chantal here that she stands no chance in the talent show this year," insisted Kazumi.
"'cause Kazumi's gonna sing circles round you and your 'maid'," added Deven with a grin.
"My advice for you is to throw in the towel now, for the sake of your own image," commented Ian stoically.
Chantal huffed at the three of them mocking her, but Vanessa sure had a few things to say about it after standing back up.
"You're well overdue for a good ol' fashioned thrashing, Kazumi!" she declared hotly, "And mark my words; Chantal will easily defeat you in the talent show!"
Kazumi scoffed at the thin-sounding threat from the hotheaded Vanessa Athha.
"You know, one of my teachers once said something to me," remembered Kazumi deviously, "'The only good person in the world is a winner—and there is no room for losers'," She reached over and placed a finger under Vanessa's chin and looked into her eyes, "And we all know who the losers are, don't we?"
Vanessa fumed from the stinging comment, while Chantal instead felt sad.
"Let's go, boys," ordered Kazumi, snapping her fingers, "These losers aren't worth our time."
Kazumi strutted away with her head held high as Deven and Ian followed her.
"As you wish, Kazumi," obeyed Deven.
"Sure, fine," said Ian half-heartedly.
Jocelyne, Sarah and Rebecca just glared at the three teens as they left, while Chantal and Vanessa were both distraught. They knew that if Jocelyne and her friends didn't find the song sheets soon, Chantal would have to withdraw from the talent show since she had no other song available to sing. Seeing as Kazumi had entered to sing as well, the lack of Chantal meant she had a very high chance of winning the competition. As Ian, Devon, and Kazumi walked away, Jocelyne was busy glaring at the last member of the rival trio—something Sarah and Rebecca noticed.
"Joyce, are you feeling okay?" asked Sarah.
"It's the way Kazumi was speaking," replied Jocelyne, "Her tone sounded much more uppity and sly than normal," She brought her right hand to her chin, "Something in the pit of my stomach is telling me she might be behind this whole thing."
"What?! You think it's Kazumi?" gawked Rebecca.
"Impossible!" objected Vanessa, roughly grabbing Jocelyne by the shoulder and forcing her to look over, "Listen, even if you think Kazumi is behind the whole thing, you have no solid proof she did the crime!"
"Vanessa, please calm down," urged Chantal, managing to get Vanessa to let go of Jocelyne, "If there's a chance Kazumi knows anything about what's happened, I think the girls need to find that out."
"So far, everything's been a bust since the pictures we took outside the shop were taken from us," reminded Sarah, "But I think I have a new idea—the security cameras."
"Security cameras?" Vanessa, Chantal, and Rebecca each repeated.
"The ones outside the ice cream shop," explained Sarah, as a thought bubble formed above her and she described her idea, "We'll use the footage taken at the time when Lady Vanessa last had the song sheets, and catch our culprit in the act!" The bubble popped, "If someone can sneak into the room the guard usually occupies daily, they can view the footage and get our lead."
"Sarah, are you crazy?!" berated Vanessa, "Do you know how bad of an idea that is? Get caught, and you could risk being arrested!"
"Tee hee hee… Don't you worry, Lady Vanessa," giggled Jocelyne, sounding mischievous, "Leave that little detail to me."
Rebecca smiled, knowing that Jocelyne already had a plan brewing…
(elsewhere…)
…but that smile was long gone once it was time to actually put that plan into action. Standing outside the minivan and near the ice cream shop shortly after school, Rebecca was currently decked out in a very convincing female security guard uniform stitched together by Jocelyne during one of her classes. Why was Rebecca chosen to infiltrate the security room? Because she lost at a game of rock-paper-scissors to her two best friends to see who would be the one to go undercover.
"Why me?" Rebecca bemoaned, feeling as nervous as could be.
"Come on, Rebecca!" encouraged Jocelyne, sitting inside the minivan with Sarah, "You go girl!"
"We know you can do it!" vowed Sarah.
Rebecca gulped, hoping that was true. Facing the shop entrance and taking a deep breath, she first adjusted the hat on her head and finally walked towards the door before opening it.
(inside…)
Walking inside the ice cream shop, Rebecca was surprised to find so many customers being served and attended to by the staff.
"Wow, it sure is busy here today," Rebecca thought to herself, "I can hopefully use this to my advantage."
Studying her surroundings carefully, the red-haired girl carefully made her way past the customers towards the back room without any trouble. But just before she could open the door, one of the employees spotted her.
"Hey, you!" The male employee called out. Rebecca froze with fear as she heard him say something else, "What are you doing?"
"Oh no…" Rebecca uttered quietly. Thinking quickly, she smiled, straightened up, and presented her story, "G-Good day. I was just coming in for my afternoon shift."
The male employee only frowned in response, having heard from his boss earlier that a male guard would be coming by shortly—yet they opted to instead send a female one at the last second, one whom he had never seen before? Not to mention this young woman seemed to look more like a teenager than an adult. He quickly figured out that something was amiss, and Rebecca started to fear the same thing. But before the male employee could grab the nearby phone to call the police, he was immediately informed by his boss to take over the counter. Realizing the customer rush was too great to ignore, the male employee turned to Rebecca one more time.
"Fine, whatever," The male employee huffed irritably, "Just…make sure to do your job properly."
"R-Right away," obeyed Rebecca, saluting.
(elsewhere…)
Inside the security office, the door opened with Rebecca walking inside and closing it behind her. Now that the hard part was over, Rebecca sighed to herself and resumed her focus on the task at hand.
"Alright, now let me see the security footage," she murmured.
Spotting the security console nearby, she sat down on the chair, cracked her knuckles, then set to work to find footage from the day the song sheets were stolen. She soon found some footage of Vanessa sitting at an outdoor table and played it on the monitor in full… Vanessa was busy working on the song Chantal would sing in the upcoming talent show before finishing it up—and getting thirsty. Figuring it wouldn't take her long to just buy some water inside the ice cream shop, she sat up and walked towards the front door, leaving her stuff all behind in broad daylight. Rebecca had to pause the footage while appearing to process how stupid that was of Vanessa to do.
"Really, Lady Vanessa? Really?" deadpanned Rebecca. Shaking her head, she started playing the footage again, "Let's see…"
The footage on the monitor resumed, and Rebecca saw that lots of people were walking by the table until one person in particular walked up. With a gasp, Rebecca discovered that the mysterious person resembled the same one that robbed her and her friends of some pictures they took. When Vanessa returned, she was horrified that the song sheets went missing and looked around for any sign of them before sinking into despair on the table.
(elsewhere…)
Meanwhile, Jocelyne and Sarah were waiting inside the minivan for Rebecca's return when trouble was coming… A male security guard was walking towards the ice cream shop to begin his shift.
"Uh-oh!" fretted Sarah.
"Hurry, Rebecca! Get out of there!" pleaded Jocelyne.
(elsewhere…)
Back in the security office of the ice cream shop, Rebecca was finishing up with taking pictures of both the time the song sheets were stolen and the previously taken pictures were stolen using a camera of her own.
"Done!" rejoiced Rebecca, "Now all I have to do is-!" She then heard the doorknob beginning to turn, "Huh?"
A new security guard had shown up! Beginning to panic, Rebecca quickly shut the console off and looked around for some way to conceal herself before it's too late. The door opened up, and the male security guard walked inside the seemingly empty room while closing the door behind him. He sat down at his seat and got to work. From inside one of the supply cabinets, Rebecca stood as still as she could and didn't make a sound that would get her caught.
"Alright, think now, Becky," she thought to herself, "You've gotten out of tighter spots before."
Taking out a penny from her pocket, Rebecca peeked through the grate gaps in the cabinet and looked at the office door. With a deep breath, she silently opened the cabinet and tossed the penny at the door.
TAP!*
The guard jolted to attention at the sound as he looked at the door. Thinking someone had tapped on it from outside, he got up and made his way over. Rebecca then slipped out the cabinet and slowly crept behind the guard. Thankfully the floor was carpet, which helped her to stay silent throughout. The guard then opened the door and peaked out, seeing nobody there, and Rebecca tossed another penny back at the cabinet.
CLINK!*
The guard turned around to the noise, and using her smaller frame and silent speed, Rebecca ducked out of his peripheral vision and slipped past him out the door.
(elsewhere…)
Back outside the ice cream shop and inside the minivan, Sarah and Jocelyne were waiting anxiously for Rebecca to return to them. They were worried that she had been caught by the guard and was likely going to be arrested, causing them to wonder if this whole plan really was a bad idea as stated by Vanessa.
(outside…)
But when both girls looked out the window of the vehicle, there they saw the front doors of the ice cream shop opening up and Rebecca emerging in a hurry.
"BECKY!" Jocelyne and Sarah cried out, relieved.
Rebecca ran as fast as she could to the minivan. Once she got there, she removed the hat and turned to the window as Jocelyne rolled it down.
(inside…)
When Jocelyne was done, Rebecca had finished running up to the minivan and presented the pictures to her friends.
"H-Here," she offered tiredly, as Jocelyne took and looked them over, "You would not believe how close I got to being caught in there."
"Don't worry, you did everything just right," reassured Jocelyne, as Sarah leaned in.
(outside…)
Outside, Rebecca opened the door to the backseat and climbed inside. Seconds after the door closed, Sarah fired up the engine and drove away for Jocelyne's house to do some analyzing.
(elsewhere…)
Outside the Caldwell household, a conversation was going on inside the building.
"Alright, this is what we have so far," The voice of Sarah was saying.
(inside…)
Within Jocelyne's bedroom, Sarah was on the floor presenting the pictures that Rebecca took from the security footage at the ice cream shop. Jocelyne and Rebecca were trying to figure out if there was a connection between both thefts.
"It has to be the same guy," figured Rebecca, leaning against the wall, "He had the exact same getup and everything."
"No doubt about that. Only we still have no idea who he is," reminded Jocelyne, sitting on the bed. She then addressed Penry on her lap, "What do you think, Penry?"
Penry whimpered, showing he didn't know either. Distressed, the little beagle dog jumped onto the floor, walked to the nearby window, jumped up, and watched.
(outside…)
A sad-looking Penry looked outdoors before perking up when he saw someone walking down the street in a suspicious manner. Remembering the mysterious person from the pictures, he started to bark loudly.
(inside…)
Back inside the bedroom, the three Astray girls were left wondering why Penry was barking like that.
"Penry, what's the matter?" asked Jocelyne, walking over. She looked out the window, "What do you see?"
(outside…)
Observing what was outside, she saw the same mysterious person walking down the street.
"It's him!" realized Jocelyne.
(inside…)
Back inside the bedroom…
"Becky! Sarah! It's that guy from the pictures!" Jocelyne announced, causing Rebecca and Sarah both to look over, "That thief!"
"What?!" exclaimed Rebecca.
"Are you sure?" added Sarah.
"Penry just spotted him walking by the house," insisted Jocelyne, as Penry jumped down and ran out of the opened door, "Look! Penry wants to follow!" She and the other girls immediately went after the little dog, "Come on, we can't fall behind!"
"Just remember we don't have a lot of time until the talent show," warned Sarah quickly.
(elsewhere…)
Sure enough, the snooping and following led Jocelyne and her friends, plus Penry, to another part of town. They watched as the mysterious person entered a nearby alleyway.
"He went into that alley," whispered Rebecca.
The mysterious person walked further into the alley before looking around and removing the trench coat, hat, and mask, revealing himself to be Deven.
"It's Deven!" hissed Jocelyne, "I knew it!"
"Shh! I think someone else is in there," hushed Sarah, "Let's listen in."
Emerging from the shadows at the end of the alleyway was none other than Kazumi.
"Deven, you've made it back," smiled Kazumi, "Thanks so much for helping me pull off this caper."
"You know I'd do anything for you," blushed Deven, who had a crush on Kazumi. He then stopped smiling, "Still, I really wish Ian agreed to help us, but he just had to bail out because he believed this is wrong of us to do."
"We didn't need his help with this scheme," corrected Kazumi, "He has his principles, and that's fine with me," Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out a few pieces of paper—the stolen song sheets, "But what Vanessa wrote for Chantal to sing is the key for me to winning the talent show, and we finally got our hands on them."
"You're a really good singer, after all," Deven pointed out, "In fact, I bet you can out-sing even Chantal Clyne with that song."
"Of course!" agreed Kazumi, before looking at the pieces of paper and sneering in regards to Chantal, "Heh! So Chantal believes she's the best singer in the whole school? Well, with this song, I'll definitely knock her down a peg when I win the talent show tonight."
Nearby, the three Astray girls had their heads peeking into the alleyway, and they heard more than enough from Kazumi and Deven.
"So that's what this is all about," growled Rebecca, "Kazumi did this just to beat Miss Chantal in the talent show."
"How dare she do something like that," Jocelyne agreed, before raising her voice, "Hey, you!"
Deep in the alleyway, Deven and Kazumi both heard the female voice and turned around.
"Who's there?!" demanded Kazumi.
At the alley entrance, Jocelyne, Rebecca, Sarah, and a growling Penry all made themselves known.
"You're-!" began Deven.
"It's those girls from the Orb House," scowled Kazumi, as the three Astray girls glared, "You're those friends of Vanessa and Chantal," She then smiled scornfully, "I am surprised to see you here. But since you listened in on Deven and I, I'll admit my guilt to you."
"You're seriously doing something so petty and selfish just because Miss Chantal's been winning the school talent show for a few years now?" accused Sarah hotly.
"Call it what you want," shrugged Kazumi, shrugging, "But, right now, you've caught me."
The three Astray girls were pleased with themselves for another case solved—just before the talent show, even. However, Kazumi wasn't quite licked yet… In fact, she still had a scheme planned out to ensure she won in the end.
"Do it, Deven," she uttered dangerously.
Deven smirked, having waited to hear those words from his long time friend and crush. Without warning, he charged in and snatched up Penry before returning to Kazumi's side, even as the dog growled and tried biting him, only for Deven to clamp a hand over Penry's mouth.
"PENRY!" The three Astray girls gasped at the same time.
"Back off!" yelled Kazumi, stepping forward as Deven kept Penry in his grasp, "I promise you you'll never see this mutt again if you don't do what I say!"
Sarah and Rebecca both gritted their teeth in anger, but Jocelyne, who loved Penry very much, was the first to back down.
"Stop, don't hurt him!" begged Jocelyne, clearly very scared for the safety of her dog, "Okay, we'll go along with you! Just please leave him out of this."
Rebecca and Sarah looked at each other, knowing that Jocelyne was right and that they should surrender so that Penry would remain safe. With that, they both backed down. Kazumi grinned coldly, before motioning with the index finger of her right hand, signaling for Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah each to follow her into the old building—which they did without fuss.
(inside…)
Later inside, the three Astray girls were sitting side by side on the floor against a wooden table with Deven tying them up with plastic storage rope found nearby; Jocelyne on one side, Rebecca on the other, with Sarah between them. Their hands were bound behind their backs and their ankles were tied together, with the remaining strands securing them to the table legs. Kazumi merely sat at another nearby table and watched while a muzzled Penry was leashed up too far away to help them. Once Deven had finished tying up Rebecca, he retreated to Kazumi's side.
"Consider this a warning," advised Kazumi, standing back up and beginning to approach the captives, "You should…" As she berated them, Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah each glared in response, "…never stick your noses in other people's businesses."
"You really have sunk to a new low, Kazumi!" spat Rebecca defiantly, wincing as she felt the rope dig into the skin of her wrists, "Stealing Miss Chantal's song…"
"Sending your lapdog to do your dirty work…" added Sarah, glaring at a grinning Deven.
"And now 'kidnapping' us?!" finished Jocelyne angrily.
After getting close enough, Kazumi leaned down to their eye level with the ever dominant smile once again on her face, making the girl trio even angrier.
"You three still don't understand the hierarchy here, do you?" Kazumi quizzed smugly, before standing tall with both hands on her hips once more, "'I' rank above 'you'. And if I want something, I get it, no matter who gets in my way."
"What a pathetic sight you three are," mocked Deven, "We would love to stick around, but we have to bounce, now."
"You're not gonna leave us here, are you?!" accused Sarah, thrashing about with her heels banging against the floor.
"I swear… When I get out of this, I'm gonna…!" threatened Rebecca, trying in vain to get her hands free.
"Oh, don't worry, we'll be back for you," promised Kazumi, before holding up and waving the stolen song sheets in the faces of the meddlers as a taunt, "Long after I win the talent show, that is," She turned to Deven, "Deven, we'll take the dog with us."
Deven walked over, unleashed Penry, and carried him in his arms. Since Penry was muzzled, he couldn't try attacking the black teenage boy.
"Penry!" wailed Jocelyne, struggled against her restraints, "Penry! PENRY!"
But it was too late, Deven and Kazumi exited from the building and closed the door behind them, leaving the three Astray girls trapped for who knows how long.
(outside…)
Back outside, Kazumi smugly dusted her hands off.
"This is perfect; we finally have those annoying Orb House girls out of our hair," remarked Kazumi.
"But what will we do with him?" Deven asked, looking down at a frightened Penry.
"We can leave him at my house until the talent show is over" suggested Kazumi, "That way, he won't interfere with my plans. And there's no real rush; those three won't be going anywhere anytime soon."
With that said, Deven and Kazumi began their trip to the Holcroft household in Vicarstown in order for the latter to get ready before they both head for the school to meet up with Ian and perform in the talent show.
(elsewhere…)
One hour later, inside Vicarstown Station, Matt and another teenage boy, Samuel Zala, were hanging out on one of the over rail bridges, waiting for their train to arrive. Sam had wavy dark blue hair that flowed down to his chin, and green eyes. He was dressed in a green shirt covered by a black jacket with white accents, dark grey pants, and black loafers.
"I feel so horrible for Chantal," sighed Matt, "She was really looking forward to competing in the talent show. Who in the world would want to do this to her?"
"Sorry, Matt. I really wish I could give you an answer," agreed Sam gravely, "We all know Chantal loves to sing, and the talent show gives her the chance to perform for an audience," He then looked at his long time best friend, "Are you sure that Jocelyne and her friends will solve this mystery in time?"
Before Matt could answer back, both boys heard the sounds of a whining dog and some angry voices at the same time.
"Grr! Will you shut up already, mutt?!" The voice of Kazumi yelled out.
"This is why I really don't like dogs," The voice of Deven grumbled.
Matt and Sam watched Kazumi and Deven approaching from the mini overpass, and in Deven's arms was a muzzled, frightened Penry, whimpering for someone to come and help him.
"That's Penry, Jocelyne's dog," remembered Sam, narrowing his eyes.
"She never lets him out of her sight except at home," agreed Matt.
Knowing something was amiss, Matt and Sam looked at each other, nodded, and ran towards the stairs leading to the platform below. Halfway down they both vaulted over the railing and landed in front of a surprised Kazumi and Deven. Penry was overjoyed at seeing the familiar faces of Matt and Sam.
"Stop right there!" demanded Sam.
"It's you two," said Deven unhappily, while Matt and Sam stood their grounds, "Matt Yamato of Orb, and Samuel Zala of ZAFT," He narrowed his eyes, greatly disliking the pair, "And what pleasure do Kazumi and I owe for seeing you, the respective, so-called 'warriors' of Freedom and Justice, at this time?"
"Deven and I don't have any beef with you," reassured Kazumi coldly.
"You do now! Penry doesn't belong to you, so let him go!" ordered Sam.
"And where are Joyce and her friends?" pressed Matt, "What did you do to them?"
"And why should we tell you?" huffed Deven, "Now do me a favor and get out of the way!" When he noticed that Matt and Sam weren't budging from their spot, he looked just about ready to fight them, "If you don't leave us alone, I'll force you to move!"
"Now, hold on there a second, Deven," cut in Kazumi, who had no more reason to keep Penry prisoner any longer, "There's no need for violence," She then addressed Matt and Sam, "You know what, I'll actually be more than happy to fill you two in, 'no strings attached'."
Matt and Sam eased up when they heard that, causing an evil sparkle to be shown in Kazumi's eyes as she suddenly grabbed Penry from Deven and roughly threw the dog at Sam, who caught him. Deven, meanwhile, rushed towards Matt and shoulder tackled him, knocking the brown-haired boy into the nearby rubbish cans and allowing Kazumi and him to flee.
"See you later, suckers!" taunted Deven.
"Matt!" cried Sam, as he, still carrying Penry, ran over to see if Matt was alright, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… just fine," groaned Matt, a little winded but not hurt badly. Once he was back on his feet, he looked towards Penry while resting in Sam's arms, "Penry, do you know where Joyce and the girls are?"
Once the question was asked, Penry suddenly jumped out of Sam's arms and ran back towards the station, clearly aiming to lead both boys to where the three Astray girls were being held captive.
(elsewhere…)
Back inside the abandoned building back at Knapford, Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah were still tied up to the table.
"Ugh! Come on…!" grunted Rebecca painfully, trying in vain to loosen the ropes around her wrists but only felt the sharp chaffing on her skin, "Agh!"
"Rebecca, we need to be realistic here," stated Sarah firmly, "There's no way we're getting out like that."
"It's been over two hours, darn it!" Rebecca shot back angrily, "We have to find 'some' way out of here, or else we'll never catch Kazumi or Deven in time!"
"I know…" bemoaned Sarah, looking up at the empty space in front of them, "But I don't see anything we can use…"
"Penry…" breathed Jocelyne, doing so heavily, getting the attention of Rebecca and Sarah as they stopped their brief argument, "What are they going to do to him…?"
"Joyce?" peeped Sarah, watching as Jocelyne started to hyperventilate from a growing panic attack, "Joyce, please try to stay calm."
"I can't! Unless it's for school or family trips, I've never been apart from Penry for this long!" panicked Jocelyne, starting to think of the worst thing that could happen to her beloved Penry, "What could those two be doing to him?! What if they've locked him up in the dog pound?! O-Or what if they've left him all alone in the woods?!" She shut her watered eyes and let some tears fall down, "Wh-What if they… they-"
A nearly sobbing Jocelyne then felt Sarah leaning against her, causing her to open her eyes.
"Shh! It's okay," soothed Sarah, "Kazumi and Deven are real jerks, but even 'they' would never stoop so low as to hurt Penry or abandon him somewhere. Listen, I'm worried about him, too, but panicking about it will only make it worse."
Jocelyne let Sarah's words sink in as she slowly started to calm down. Meanwhile, a very frustrated Rebecca finally lost all of her patience with the lack of progress in getting freed and threw her head back—only to accidently hit the table leg.
"Ouch!" cursed Rebecca, only to hear a sort of tapping sound shortly after, "Wait, what was that?"
"Is there something on the table?" added Sarah.
"I'll have a look," offered Jocelyne, as she stretched as best she could from her bound position to see. What she saw peaking out on the table top looked to be a rim of some kind, "There's a glass bottle up there."
"Yes! We can use that!" deduced Sarah excitedly, "Becky, try to knock it down hard enough for it to break. We can use a glass shard to cut the ropes."
"Alright, I'll try," Rebecca accepted, as she knocked herself back against the table again, being careful not to bang her head this time, "Okay, here we go…"
THUMP!*
On the table above the three Astray girls, the glass bottle began to wobble from the shock.
Tap, tap, tap*
"It's working! Keep it up!" encouraged Sarah.
"Right, just a little more…" hissed Rebecca, repeating the technique again.
THUMP!*
The bottle began to wobble even more as Rebecca kept it up.
Tap, tap*
THUMP!*
Tap, tap*
With one more shake, the bottle finally fell onto its side with a *tink, and began to roll towards the table's edge. Hearing the distinct sound of glass rolling, Rebecca scurried backwards under the table as far as the ropes let her as the bottle rolled off the edge and smashed on the floor in front of them.
SMASH!*
"Nice," commented Rebecca proudly, as she moved her feet into the shattered glass and fished out a piece big enough to use while slowly sliding it towards her side to grab with her hands, "Come to mama…"
"Careful, Rebecca. Make sure you don't cut yourself," advised Sarah, as she and Jocelyne watched with anticipation.
Heeding her friends' advice, Rebecca nodded and slid the glass shard close enough to where she could cautiously grab it with her hand. Once she had it in her grasp, she leaned her head back to look as best she could as she began to slowly cut through the ropes on her wrists.
"Come on…" The voice of Rebecca urged, as the ropes started to weaken from being cut, "Almost…there…"
Eventually…
SNAP!*
…Rebecca felt her wrists loosen up as she pulled the rope apart.
"I'm out, girls!" she declared, as she began vigorously tearing the ropes off her before using the glass to cut her ankles free before standing back up, "And there we are!"
"Hurry, Becky! You need to get us loose, too!" reminded Jocelyne.
Rebecca wasted no time and immediately untied Jocelyne and Sarah. Once all three Astray girls were free they quickly exited the building.
(outside…)
Once they were outside the building, they hurried out of the alleyway where the whole mess began.
"Okay, so how do we go about finding Kazumi and Deven?" wondered Rebecca.
"I think I overheard them saying they were heading to Kazumi's house in Vicarstown to get ready for the talent show," figured Sarah.
"Then let's get going!" exclaimed Jocelyne, "We've got to reach them so we can save Penry."
Before they could get any further, they turned around and found Penry running towards them.
"PENRY!" cried Jocelyne, breaking into a run of her own.
Once they were close enough to each other, Penry jumped into his owner's arms as a very relieved Jocelyne hugged and cuddled with her little beagle dog. Both sides were shedding tears after that nasty scare.
"Oh, Penry! Thank goodness you're safe!" sobbed Jocelyne, "I'm so relieved those two didn't hurt you in any shape or form!"
"Girls!" The voice of Sam echoed.
The familiar voice caused Jocelyne and Penry to look up, while Sarah and Rebecca looked towards the alley entrance and saw Matt and Sam approaching in a hurry.
"There you three are!" Matt panted, relieved.
"We found Penry at Vicarstown with Kazumi and Deven," explained Sam, "What on Earth happened?"
"Kazumi happened, that's what," stated Rebecca bluntly, before holding up her hands and showing the two boys her badly chafed wrists, "She had Deven lure us here as a trap so we couldn't ruin her plans."
Sarah rolled up her sleeves, revealing her own chafe marks on her wrists, and pointed inside the open building door, where the pile of ropes they were bound in were probably sprawled out on the floor. It didn't take the boys long to put two and two together.
"So…" realized Matt, "It was 'Kazumi' who was behind the theft of Chantal's song."
"Bingo," confirmed Rebecca, "She also had some help from Deven."
"All of this just about wraps up our investigation," proclaimed Sarah, folding her arms together, "All that's left is for us to find a way to get Kazumi to confess to her crime."
"That will be tricky," noted Sam, "Based on what we know about her, she's smart enough to cover her tracks very easily."
Jocelyne pondered on that before giving Penry a knowing look, with him seemingly responding to her by nodding.
"I think we can leave that to our star mascot," commented Jocelyne, "Right, Penry?"
Penry jumped out of her arms and barked eagerly, ready to crack the case.
(elsewhere…)
Before long, it was night time, and various families were arriving at SEED Academy for the talent show.
(inside…)
Inside the auditorium, young kids, teenagers, and adults alike were slowly filling the seats. Among those arriving to watch the show were Bill, Anna, Keith, and Richard, hoping that Chantal would be alright and be able to sing. Vanessa was seen from behind the curtains backstage, where she and Chantal both were waiting and holding onto hope that Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah would be successful in getting the song sheets back before it was too late. Due to the night being very important, both girls were wearing very different outfits than they usually wore… Chantal was now wearing a black underdress with blue and pink accents, covered by a draping purple and white jacket gown with pink accents that almost reached the ground, and white high-heeled shoes. Her long pink hair had also been stylized. Vanessa, meanwhile, was dressed in a white and blue jacket suit with golden yellow trimmings, with a red turtleneck shirt peeking out from the jacket collar, white pants, and black shoes.
"It won't be much longer now," murmured Chantal, starting to lose hope.
"Hey, come on! What happened to your upbeat attitude?" encouraged Vanessa, "Jocelyne and her friends will get the song sheets back before it's your turn. You have to keep your chin up and believe in those three."
Chantal smiled slightly, playfully wondering where that all came from. Before long, a teacher from the Orb House, Adam Kisaka, walked up to both girls. He was a rather tall and professional-looking man with dark skin, long neatly combed gray and silver hair, and green eyes. He was dressed in a light purple and dark grey dress suit with a light yellow neckerchief tied around his collar.
"Miss Chantal, you will be up after three more performances," advised Mr. Kisaka.
Chantal looked down, becoming very worried. Mr. Kisaka saw that the pink-haired girl was very unsettled for some strange reason and tried giving her a reassuring smile before walking off to address the audience. If anything, the smile didn't make Chantal nor Vanessa feel any better. They then heard a knock on the nearby door and turned to find the nearby door opening, revealing both Matt and Sam, now wearing more formal attire like Chantal and Vanessa. Matt was dressed in almost the same outfit as Vanessa, though his was lacking the golden yellow trimming, and there was also a black belt neatly wrapped around his waist. Sam, meanwhile, had a similar clothing choice to his friend, except his uniform was colored dark red and black, the belt around his waist being white instead of black, and a pair of white boots reaching his mid lower legs. The robe-like redcoat also reached all the way to his lower thighs.
"Matt?" began Chantal.
"Sam?" finished Vanessa.
Both teenage boys smiled as they informed their respective girlfriends the good news.
(elsewhere…)
Inside an empty classroom, a dressed up Kazumi was busy rehearsing the stolen song as Deven and Ian watched. While the two boys remained in their usual clothing, Kazumi was now wearing a black sleeveless dress with silver trimmings, black evening gloves, and matching heeled slippers.
"Man, I can't wait to see the looks on those girls' faces when Kazumi wins the talent show," chortled Deven, talking about Vanessa and Chantal while fixing the glasses on his face, "It's gonna be priceless!"
"This is just wrong," uttered Ian quietly, causing Deven to look over in surprise. He had his arms folded, "I dislike those three as much as you do, but kidnapping and leaving them tied up is going way too far."
"Come on, Ian, chill out!" berated Deven, placing a hand on Ian's shoulder, "You really got to learn to lighten up and cut loose a little! So 'maybe' Kazumi and I went a little far by actually kidnapping those three. But once the talent show is over, we'll go back and let them out, simple as that."
Ian merely glared coldly at his friend before excusing himself from the classroom to go and watch the other students participate in the talent show. Once Ian was gone, Deven frowned over how much of a killjoy he supposedly was—mostly due to a lack of social skills.
"Pfft! What a pansy," Deven snorted to himself.
Meanwhile, Kazumi was so busy singing the stolen song that she paid no attention to the discussion between Ian and Deven. She was soon finished and soothed her vocal cords with a glass of ginger ale.
"I'm getting better and better with each practice session," beamed Kazumi triumphantly, as Deven walked up to her, "That lousy Chantal is so doomed!"
"Think we should head to the auditorium and wait for your turn?" offered Deven, "Maybe taunt Chantal and Vanessa while we're at it?"
"Nah! I think I'll rehearse once more to kill some of the remaining time," Kazumi declined, before looking at the first sheet's set of lyrics, "Alright, from the top!"
And she started singing again. Deven grinned to himself and decided to go and keep an eye on the door to make sure no one disturbed Kazumi. Overall, he was sure nothing could spoil this perfect night.
(elsewhere…)
Somewhere in the hallway, Sarah and Penry were outside an air vent shaft—with the former pulling it open, then letting the little beagle dog jump into her arms before climbing into the open shaft, which was just his size.
"Good luck, Penry! We're counting on you!" winked Sarah.
Penry let out an enthusiastic bark in response and began his search through the vents for the classroom containing the two Rengou House students. During the search, Penry overheard the singing voice of Kazumi, signaling he was getting close to the action.
(elsewhere…)
Sure enough, Penry arrived at the classroom Kazumi and Deven were currently in, with the former still rehearsing and the latter guarding the door yet enjoying listening to his friend sing. Carefully kicking the shaft open with the back legs, with Kazumi's singing drowning out the clatter, Penry looked around the classroom before finding the song sheets on the table beside Kazumi. He jumped out and made his wave to the table, the sound of Kazumi's singing keeping him from being heard. Deven continued to listen to the song when a reflection was caught in his glasses…
"Huh?" quizzed Deven, seeing what appeared to be something moving on the table. He turned around and saw Penry stealing the song sheets, "It's that meddling dog again!"
Kazumi, overhearing Deven's outburst, turned around to see Penry immediately jump off the table as Deven dove onto it and missed, causing a loud *CRASH!* to ensue before Penry managed to escape the classroom with the song sheets in his mouth.
"Come on, after him!" commanded Kazumi.
"Don't let that mutt get away!" put in Deven.
The duo left the classroom in hopes of catching Penry.
(elsewhere…)
A long chase throughout the hallway ensued, with Penry running hard to avoid being captured by Kazumi and Deven once again. Speaking of whom, Kazumi and Deven were running hard to make sure they got their hands of Jocelyne's beagle dog before he reached the auditorium.
"Stop moving so we can grab you!" hollered Deven aggressively.
Outright ignoring the demand, Penry dashed up the stairs and took a sharp turn towards the back entrance to the auditorium, slipping through the open backstage door and made a mad dash towards where Chantal and Vanessa were.
(elsewhere…)
Backstage, Chantal and Vanessa were glumly waiting for any additional good news when they got it in the form of a muffle bark. Looking down, they saw Penry carefully drop some sheets of paper at their feet. Kneeling down to pick up one of the sheets, Vanessa had to smile big when she realized what they were.
"Chantal, they're here!" she cried out, causing Chantal to gasp, "These are the missing song sheets!"
"They are?!" pleaded Chantal.
"Yes!" confirmed Vanessa, before going to pet Penry, "Thank you so much for bringing them to us, Penry!"
Chantal knelt down and picked up Penry and held him in her arms as she stood back up, while Vanessa gathered up the song sheets and stood back up, too.
"Thank you, Penry," praised Chantal kindly, "Vanessa and I knew you, your owner, and her friends would help us."
Penry happily and proudly listened to the words of praise before sitting up and licking the faces of Chantal and Vanessa, making the two girls giggle. The good mood atmosphere changed, however, when Kazumi and Deven burst into the area from the nearby doorway.
"You two-!" accused Vanessa, while Penry growled.
"Give…me…those song sheets!" threatened Kazumi, pointing a finger at Chantal, "They're mine!"
"Then Joyce's theory was right on the button," Vanessa told herself, before getting angry, "'You' were the one who stole the song I wrote for Chantal!"
"And so what if I did?" snarled Kazumi, "Chantal has always won a talent show competition at SEED Academy because of her amazing ability to sing, and I'm totally sick of losing to her! That's why this was supposed to be the year she finally loses because that song you wrote for her is the key to my own victory!"
There was a brief silence in the area.
"Let me get this straight," Chantal was saying, frowning but remaining gentle and calm. She was not the kind of person to hold a grudge against anyone, "This is all because you were jealous of me?"
"Jealous of you?! What for?" spat Kazumi, disgusted by such a question, "I just don't like you. Got a problem with that?" As she ranted, Chantal and Vanessa both listened with different reactions, "You think you're so much better than me because you're so goody-goody and nice to everyone!"
"I never once believed myself to be better than you or anyone else," Chantal pointed out.
"And besides, it's wrong to steal somebody else's song and claim it as your own!" argued Vanessa, "Have you ever heard of the word 'plagiarism'?"
"I don't care!" Kazumi bellowed, losing what was left of her patience, "I want to beat Chantal in the talent show, no matter the cost!" She smiled deviously, "Besides, once I found out you sent those three friends of yours to investigate," As she finished confessing to her crime, Deven seemed to look proud of what he did, "I had Deven here help me to 'tie up' those loose ends."
"Now, you two be good girls and give Kazumi back those song sheets," urged Deven, "And do it quickly."
Suddenly, Chantal and Vanessa smiled as they heard several gasps and boos from beyond the curtains, causing Kazumi and Deven to freeze up with concern. Their worry then turned into outright horror when a new, but familiar, voice was added to the jeers and boos.
"Smile, Kazumi Holcroft! And welcome to SEED Academy's crime catch video!" The voice of Sarah teased.
Kazumi turned around to see Sarah Nien pointing one of the stage cameras at her, with Jocelyne Caldwell and Rebecca Labatt both emerging from behind some props.
"It can't be! How did you three escape?" wailed Kazumi, before she covered her mouth in realization.
"Go on, tell the whole school about how you and Deven kidnapped us," laughed Rebecca, with Sarah still pointing the camera.
Kazumi and Deven could only react with further horror as they realized the camera had been broadcasting everything to everyone in the auditorium—meaning those three Astray girls might have planned for this to happen. Matt and Sam then arrived, ensuring the two guilty students couldn't get away in time. They were then held down by both teenage boys long enough for several teachers from the other houses, including Mr. Kisaka of Orb, to arrive and glare angrily at Kazumi and Deven for what they did.
"Kazumi, what are we gonna do?" whispered Deven fearfully, "There's no way out for us."
"Hmph! I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling Orb House girls and their little dog," grumbled Kazumi bitterly.
From there, she and Deven were led away in disgrace by the several teachers to be taken to see the principal regarding their punishment.
"Joyce, Chantal and I owe you and the other two girls big time!" exclaimed Vanessa, as she hugged Jocelyne, Rebecca, and Sarah at the same time, "Thank you so much!"
"Anytime, Lady Vanessa," smiled Jocelyne, as Vanessa backed off, "We'd do anything to help our friends out."
"But we can't take all of the credit, you see," reminded Rebecca, as Penry was shown jumping into Jocelyne's arms, "Penry played a big part in our success here."
Penry barked in agreement, as Jocelyne once again snuggled with him.
"Speaking of which… Miss Chantal, what do you think of the song?" asked Sarah.
Chantal was then handed the song sheets by Vanessa, who then looked them over very, very carefully. After going over it at least twice, she looked up and smiled warmly, indicating she had it all fully memorized. In no time, Mr. Kisaka returned from taking Kazumi and Deven to see the principal.
"Miss Chantal, you're up now," advised Mr. Kisaka.
Chantal nodded, handed Vanessa the song sheets, then went out to face the audience on stage and, after a few seconds, began to sing the song in full. The audience took in the beautiful singing voice that Chantal had before breaking into massive applause when she was finished. Among the crowd was Stanley, who was a big fan of Chantal. Also in the crowd was Ian, who, even with his arms folded and looking stoic as ever, seemed to manage a small smile when the song ended. Chantal took a bow before a teacher from the Orb House, Lisa Ramius, emerged to give out the final results of the talent show. Mrs. Ramius had short brown hair that reached her shoulders, along with matching brown eyes. She was wearing the same style suit as Vanessa, also lacking the golden yellow trimming, and also sporting a long white skirt and grey tight socks.
"Well, judging by the crowd and the judges giving her a perfect score, I can safely announce that the winner of the talent show for the third year in a row is…Chantal Clyne!" called Mrs. Ramius.
The cheers immediately intensified as Vanessa emerged from backstage to take a bow with her best friend since she wrote the song in the first place. Another Orb House teacher, Trevor La Flaga, walked up the stage, carrying a trophy for the talent show winner. Mr. La Flaga had long blonde hair that reached his shoulders and bright blue eyes. He was wearing the exact same white and blue suit as Matt, but it was the adult's version and the jacket sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.
"Well done, Chantal," praised Mr. La Flaga, "You did a dang good job wowing all of us with your singing," He then eyed Vanessa for a moment, "And you, Vanessa, wrote an amazing song."
"Thank you, Mr. La Flaga," replied Chantal bashfully, taking the trophy, "But, in all seriousness, Vanessa and I wouldn't even be here right now if it weren't for some friends of ours."
"Really?" Mr. La Flaga chuckled, as Mrs. Ramius joined by his side, "Well, I'm glad you and Vanessa both have some great friends looking out for you."
Anna, who was shown wearing the same suit style as Mrs. Ramius except for it being the student's version, soon stepped on stage herself to snap a picture of Chantal and Vanessa for the eventual yearbook out near the end of the year. Just before she could begin to take the picture…
"Hold on!" cried Vanessa, causing Anna to look up from her camera, "Chantal and I can't be in this picture alone," She looked nearby at the three Astray girls as they listened and became surprised by what was said next, "Come on, you three! Join Chantal and I here on stage!"
"Wh-What? You want us in the photo with you and Miss Chantal?" blinked Sarah, "Gosh, I don't know…"
"You three helped Chantal and Vanessa," encouraged Matt.
"None of this would have been possible without you," added Sam, when he heard Penry bark. He got down on his knee and petted the beagle dog affectionately, "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you, Penry."
That was all Jocelyne, Rebecca, Sarah, and Penry needed to hear; they joined Chantal and Vanessa on stage for a group picture. Just before Anna snapped the picture, Penry (who was in his owner's arms) let out a multitude of joyful barks as a white *FLASH!* was followed quickly, causing a colored picture of Chantal, Vanessa, Jocelyne, Rebecca, Sarah, and Penry to emerge from the camera.
END FLASHBACK
The flashback sequence finally ended.
"And that's what happened at SEED Academy back in January," concluded Stanley.
Thomas, Emily, and Rosie each looked to be very entertained by the story.
"Wow… that Kazumi sounds as devious as Diesel, and as stuck up as Daisy when she's having a bad day," stated Rosie.
"So, whatever happened to Kazumi and Deven when they were caught in the act?" urged Emily.
"Well, they weren't expelled or suspended for their actions. Instead they were given three months of after school detention and barred from all school-related talent shows until they learned their lesson," revealed Stanley.
Despite being entertained by the story Stanley told, Thomas couldn't help but sigh and lay down on the bed now that it was over.
"What's wrong, Thomas? I thought you liked it?" worried Stanley.
"Yeah, I did like it… except for the fact you only managed to kill eleven minutes," grouched Thomas, looking at the bedside clock as it struck '7:58', "That story was way too short."
That snarky comment caused Stanley, Rosie, and Emily to laugh a little bit. Just then, the nearby door opened up and revealed the same nurse from before.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but visiting time is over. The patient needs his rest now," she advised.
Stanley nodded in confirmation, before turning to address Thomas one more time.
"Don't worry, the next story I tell you guys will be much longer," promised Stanley.
"It better be; I can't stand being cooped up in this prison for two weeks with nothing to do," groaned Thomas, sitting up again.
Stanley grinned big, glad that Thomas's sense of humor was at least still intact. Just before leaving the room, Stanley went and gave Thomas a bro hug.
"Get well soon, buddy," encouraged Stanley.
Thomas vowed to do just that, while Rosie approached, gently embraced, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Hehehe… I guess that's 'one' perk about being here," joked Thomas, "I'm being kissed by every girl I know."
Rosie giggled sheepishly, while Emily watched and smiled, showing absolutely no jealousy over it. As soon as Stanley and Rosie were gone, Emily put on her coat and fancy winter hat upon deciding she'd better leave and return to the Brighton household—but Thomas was dismayed when he saw her beginning to depart.
"Emily! You're not leaving me, too, are you?!" whined Thomas.
"Sorry, Thomas, but I need to head back to your house. I promised Annie and Clarabel I'd help them with their homework," apologized Emily, causing Thomas to collapse on the bed and stare at the ceiling again. She then smiled and made him an offer, "However, when I come back to see you, I'll bring along a freshly baked cake with me. How does that sound?"
"A cake…" repeated Thomas, "Mmm… that actually works for me," He loved the idea of getting a baked goodie, "Can it be a white cake with chocolate frosting?"
"Your Mom and I will make it just the way you like it," Emily winked, before she leaned down and kissed Thomas on the lips, with him returning the gesture, "I'll see you soon, Thomas. Good night."
"Night, Emily," Thomas waved back.
Standing tall again, Emily giggled and soon left the hospital. As soon as he was left alone, Thomas relaxed back and stared at the ceiling. After a while, the same nurse came back and turned out the lights, allowing him to close his eyes before drifting off to sleep; the feeling of Emily's lips still lingered on his own, making him smile warmly. Despite his recovery being a slow process, something was telling him that the worst was over, and things were only going to get better from then on.