#i do wonder how my former schoolmates are doing though… i hope that they’ll have a good 2k24 if they can~~~~~

[journeysintowebcomics]

Worm Liveblog #59

UPDATE 59: Superpowers in a Can

Last time Taylor, Lisa and the rest of the group found the person they had to rescue. Cheers! Unfortunately, it seems he’s not here unwillingly, which is...a problem, to say the least. Also, they rescued one of Taylor’s former schoolmates – unnamed and just tagging along. As if things weren’t troublesome enough, Skidmark made his big appearance, announcing there’d be a big brawl and the five winners would receive a big prize: superpowers! Let’s continue, things are going to get ugly in here.

“Is he for real?” I looked to Lisa for an answer.  “Can they do that?”

“Don’t think he’s lying.”

He’s not lying. I knew this ‘superpowers in a can’ thing sounded familiar! It’s what’s happening with the Case 63 people, like I had thought last time. It also is where Coil got his powers – maybe. Won’t lie, if a single one of these containers is so expensive Coil is still paying for it, it must be incredibly expensive, and now this third-rate villain has five of those. Whoever they stole it from is going to get fired from whatever laboratory these powers in a can came from.

It didn’t take long for people to get fired up about the thought of getting some of those neat powers – if they’re lucky they’ll be neat. Not all powers are a fun time, that has been made very clear after ten arcs and half. Some people band together to fight, those foolish enough to trust a complete stranger find themselves betrayed. People on the sidelines throw debris and trash into the ring, pelting the fighters. This is a pretty good description of a pandemonium, how are five people going to be left standing in the end? Heck, I bet when five people are left, three are going to jump into the ring, knock them out, and so on until there simply aren’t more people to jump in.

“We should go,” Lisa said.  She turned to Jaw and ordered, “Bring the boy.”

Hm. On one hand, they’re leaving without doing anything about the stolen vials of superpowers other than having information those were being given away, they won’t ever know who gets them. On the other hand, this is a dangerous situation and they risk a lot by staying for longer. I suppose...leaving has more pros than cons, yeah. The knowledge the Merchants are getting more capes may be enough for them to take measures, and Lisa can find out more later, anyway.

Haul Bryce, Jaw, it’s time to scram! Okay, hm, let’s see, how things can get difficult because this is just the start of this chapter, and who knows how much arc is still left. Obviously the most likely problem is that Bryce may fight back, given he’s not here unwillingly, but only one kid against four trained soldiers is a very one-sided fight. Perhaps other Merchants would fight if they notice Bryce is being taken away?

...

...no, they won’t, what with the fight and the six-feet-under level of empathy this crowd has. Bryce could get hung from the rafters by these soldiers and almost nobody would even turn their heads to look. Could it be that Skidmark or someone else will somehow notice there are enemy villains in the mall? I suppose if somehow Taylor or Lisa slip up that’s a possibility, but it’d be difficult for Lisa to make her power noticeable, and I trust Taylor would be as careful as possible while she’s here.

...I can’t think of other scenarios. I’m not very imaginative when it’s about picturing how things can go wrong.

Oh, goodie, someone has a gun in here. Things are going to get bloody in here very soon. Skidmark is having a lot of fun watching the chaos, nobody’s paying attention to Bryce, although his girlfriend is following the group for a bit before she runs calling for her mom and some guy named Thomas. Did they get dragged into the fight unwillingly, perhaps? Or willingly?

We collectively backed out of the way, but Bryce had other intentions.  The boy wrenched out of Jaw’s grip and threw his shoulder into the small of Senegal’s back.  The man was only barely able to keep from stumbling forward into the charging Merchants, but with his attention elsewhere, Bryce managed to slip past.

Oh my god, he actually managed to do that. I know, Taylor’s group was trying to get out and they were caught off-guard by a nearby fight two other crowds were having, and I know they got pushed into one of those crowds and it’s difficult to hold onto someone in those circumstances, but still...I can’t believe this, Bryce managed to slip away from a few trained elite soldiers and ran away, this untrained teenager slipped away from all them. Goodness gracious, this is a secret they’ll carry with them to the grave.

Okay, finding him again isn’t difficult, despite the thick crowd. He’s following his girlfriend, and his girlfriend went to see her mom and this Thomas guy – the man with the scar on his lips. So that’s the guy Sierra had mentioned, the one that attacked an innocent person with a broken bottle and sent him to the hospital...better be careful with this one, then.

Well...forget the possibility of getting out of here without getting involved into the brawl, Bryce and company just went into the ring and are in middle of it all. Nothing to be done than think of a plan. Using bugs is out of the question, says Lisa. Skidmark would be on the hunt for any unfamiliar people in here, and even if they don’t catch Taylor and the rest, they may target innocent people. Yeah, I doubt Skidmark or anyone here knows every single Merchant by sight, especially the new ones.

The big problem I see here is that once you get in the ring, it’s going to be very hard to get out. Skidmark’s power pushes everything to the center, they’d have to get past a wide border and that’s going to be impossible as long as that power is active. Since Skidmark is watching, I suppose it’d be unlikely he wouldn’t see someone managing to pass through that. Hm. Tough conundrum, this is.

Unnamed Collateral Rescued gets a name! Her name is Charlotte. Welcome to the world of Worm, Charlotte, you’re lucky if you get away from this mess uninjured. Her suggestion is to run, unaware Taylor and pals had come here specifically to get Bryce back. Hm....perhaps one of the soldiers could escort Charlotte out while everyone else tries to think of a plan? Charlotte wouldn’t be safe, but she at least would have a chance of running away.

What were our options.  Using Lisa’s power?  I wasn’t sure how it applied here.  If she had a way of addressing the audience, maybe there was something she could say to turn the tide, or turn them against their leaders… but the only way to do that would be to get the microphone Skidmark had.

I doubt that’d have worked, anyway. How does that saying go, again? The one about a crowd’s IQ being directly opposite to its size, or something like that? That’d apply here. Peer pressure is a powerful tool, too. Even if Lisa dropped a verbal bombshell here, it’s unlikely absolutely everyone would turn against Skidmark. Anyone who continues loyal may force others to do the same, and that’s going to devolve into further strife. Dealing with that and with an irate Skidmark is...something to be avoided, I’d say.

There are way too many people for the trained soldiers to fight, so that’s not going to work. The only option there may be is to wait and see what happens, wait for the fight to end so they finally can go retrieve Bryce.

“Sticking around also means we can get more info on what Skidmark’s got in those vials and where he got them.”

Good thing Lisa is here, then. I doubt Skidmark or anyone is going to tell where they got them, but at least by waiting maybe they’ll see who gets the powers. Do you know what’d be quite the plot development for this arc? That Bryce somehow earns one of those. Now that he is in the ring, there is a possibility that’ll happen, but that’d require Bryce to be one of the last five standing.

And if he isn’t one of the last five standing...well...better hope Sierra doesn’t mind her brother returning with a lot of physical trauma. Anyway, time to wait.

Waiting doesn’t mean they have an easy time, though. A lot of people come to them to fight, simply because they were there. While the soldiers are well-trained and they make a formation to keep the squishier and less combat-experienced people in the center of the group, it’s not a perfect strategy because, well, the foes can see very well what this formation is all about. Really, if it hadn’t been for Taylor’s knives, things could have been ugly. Or...uglier, because things are plenty ugly right now!

I’ll say, it must be rather annoying to know you could fight back with superpowers but you can’t do it. Stoically resisting bullies is one thing, but this situation is completely different, more...primal. I wonder how many times Taylor wanted to be all ‘screw this’ and send a bunch of wasps on people to keep them away.

Taylor is still defending and trying to fight back when something unusual starts happening.

And I was somewhere else.  It was like remembering something profound that I’d forgotten.  I’d seen this before.

Huge creatures filled my perception.

...well that sure is a change of scene. One moment she’s about to defend herself, the next moment she’s gazing at creatures of the size of planets. I’m certain this is what Miss Militia had seen when she received her powers, and Taylor here sees this felt like she was remembering something she had forgotten. She must have seen this before. Dang, it’s a shame Miss Militia may never find out someone else knows what she saw.

I noticed something that seems important, though: creatures. In plural, as in more than one. Taylor sees two, Miss Militia had seen only one. Also, Miss Militia had seen a creature dying. Taylor is seeing them very much alive. That has to be significant. Miss Militia must have had her trigger event years before Taylor had hers, so it’s not like they both saw the same creature. Maybe what Taylor sees now isn’t like a memory, but something that’s happening right now? In some sort of...weird metaphysical way?

...does this mean Taylor is having a second trigger event, here and now? Boy that’d be quite the unexpected development!

Some distant part of me realized I’d seen something similar to that folding and unfolding once, in a much simpler form.  A tesseract, a fourth dimensional analogue to the cube.

Trippy. I can’t even begin to imagine how what Taylor is seeing is akin to this, but it must feel really trippy.

Flakes are falling off these creatures, as if they were falling apart. So it isn’t something that happens only when they’re dying? I’m feeling so lost right now, honestly. This is surreal.

The, uh...let’s call it vision...the vision lasts only for a moment, Taylor is brought back to reality by pain, she was successfully attacked. Someone behind her tries to take her away from danger even if it’s a little bit, but it doesn’t seem to work very well. Lisa may be injured; she’s slumped over with Brooks holding her. Minor and Jaw are holding their ground well, but they’re too busy with their combatants to do much to help Taylor. Senegal is the one closest to Taylor, and he’s actually doing well, but who knows for how much longer he’ll be able to keep the Merchants at bay. All in all, it seems the more time passes, the less likely it is Taylor and the rest of the group will be okay.

The situation has turned so bad Taylor is using her power to try to know exactly what’s going on around her. Not enough bugs to attract undue attention, but there’s lice and flies around here. Pleasant, ain’t it? Ugh. But hey, bugs are bugs and that’s all that matters. She’s getting the information she wanted.

That vision must have left Taylor really disoriented, she’s not thinking straight, and it’s not like she can take a moment to try to evaluate the situation. Her actions make one of her attackers fall on her, Charlotte is right behind her, Senegal is trying to keep people at bay. Opening her eyes make Taylor feel very sick.

Something’s happening! There’s a bright light coming from the stage. Skidmark and the rest of the Merchants capes were slumped over, as if something had happened to them. They recover quickly. In the ring, well...

“Seems like one of you assdrips just earned his stripes,” he cackled.

Assdrips?! I cringed so hard, that’s one of the most infantile insults I have—okay, I’ll move on before groan aloud. Anyway, what’s happening in the stage is that someone is having a trigger event! Someone gained powers, and it doesn’t seem like it was thanks to the vials of powers. Hmmm...in that case, could it be that what Taylor saw was like a prelude? Quick foreshadowing this was going to happen, instead of a vision of the past from when she got her power?

The kid, who definitely isn’t Bryce because if it was then Taylor or someone else would have said something, seems to have quite the violent power.

The man charged, and the boy tried a third time.  The blast intersected the man, and when it faded, the man’s upper arm, forearm, elbow, and the right side of his torso and hip were gone.  Blood gushed from the area where his flesh had been carved away by the light, and his dismembered hand dropped to his feet.

I don’t remember Faultline’s intermission clearly enough to be certain about this, but she was trying to do something like this, wasn’t she? Trying to bypass the Manton effect to be able to do something similar to that to organic matter. Well...this new cape here managed to do it in like a minute after the trigger event. Sounds like this new kid here can be really dangerous, especially if he learns to control this power effectively.

But what had happened to Skidmark’s group, Tattletale and I?  I could vaguely remember something, thought about trying to put it into words, as if describing it could help call it to mind in a way that I could describe it, but they disappeared as I reached for them.

Oh, guess Miss Militia won’t ever hear about this, then. Skitter may not even be able to talk about this with Tattletale. It’s interesting, though, looks like it affected all the capes in the area. Everyone must have had the same vision. I really think it was an indication the trigger event was happening. I wonder if this happens every time there’s a trigger event, all the capes nearby get that sort of vision and they feel weak?

Charlotte added two and two and deduced Taylor’s secret. Suddenly all the capes were affected by...something, and Taylor was affected by something. Not hard to deduce, yeah. At least the exact situation is still a secret, Charlotte can’t know Taylor is a villain or that she is Skitter, right?

Lisa’s having trouble recovering, maybe because of the nature of her power. Could it be her mind is unconsciously trying to understand what she saw?

“They’re like viruses,” she said.  Her voice was thin, as if she were talking to herself.  “And babies.  And gods. All at the same time.”

I had never read such a confusing description of a creature ever before. Are all of those things similar in any way? I can’t seem to make a connection of what kind of...being those creatures are, nor what their purpose is.

Taylor manages to get Lisa out of her delirium, and once Charlotte is the one taking care of Lisa, Taylor joins the soldiers in keeping people at bay. Awesome! Striking non-lethal spots, as usual, I’d guess, and doing that with her eyes closed. She’s relying on her bugs to know what’s going on. Now that the worst part of the onslaught is over, things are starting to look better now!

You know, among all this, the thought that Bryce may have been badly injured in that new cape’s trigger event never crossed my mind until now. Oh dear...I hope he’s okay.

There’s not even time to fight anyone before Skidmark orders everyone to stop whatever they’re doing. The five remaining people have been decided! Somehow. I underestimated Skidmark’s control over the crowd’s rowdy demeanor, he just had to yell stop and they stopped after a minute or so. Now there are five, six people left in the ring, if you count the kid with the new superpower.

The new kid still doesn’t control his power very well.

A flash of light marked another uncontrolled use of the new cape’s power.  It struck close to the ground, removing the leg of someone who lay unconscious or dead on the ground, but it left the ground perfectly intact.  Why? When it consumed clothing and flesh but not the building itself?

Well that’s going to be dangerous to counter. Kind of a reverse Faultline, in some vague way, affecting organic matter and leaving inorganic matter intact.

The new kid limps to Skidmark, welcomed into the Merchants’ inner circle, and is told to get a name. Parahumans need names, after all. Eraser is discarded, so Skidmark tells him his new name is—oh you have got to be kidding me.

“Scrub!” Skidmark shouted, and the crowd roared.

How in the hell was Scrub better than Eraser?  In what insane reality?

I should have guessed the guy who thought Skidmark was a good name to have would be awful at giving names.

Since – I hate this name – Scrub has powers, he’s given the liberty of choosing to who he’s giving the vial of superpower. He calls two pals forward and asks if he can give the vial to both.

Skidmark chuckled, and it was a nasty sound with very little humor to it.  “No, no.  You definitely don’t want to do that.  Pick one.”

When I first read this I felt something was off. I wasn’t sure what it was, but after rereading it I think I have pinpointed it. How does Skidmark know it’d be a bad idea to share the contents of that vial? I doubt there were instructions with the vials or something like that. Maybe they weren’t really stolen? Maybe the Merchants are the ones fabricating it or have direct ties to whoever fabricated it, as unlikely as that sounds. That could be the reason for him to know about this.

Apparently Scrub’s power doesn’t get rid of only organic matter, it’s also erasing rubble and metal beams. That’s...inconsistent. I may be thinking too much about something that may not even matter, but maybe the power focuses on organic matter if there’s some, destroying it and not leaving enough energy or power or whatever to destroy the inorganic matter. With no organic matter, then it just...erases whatever it hits. Something like that, perhaps?

Once Scrub rewards the friend who tried to help him when he got into the ring by accident, Taylor and Lisa judge it may be time to leave. Without Bryce? That’s a problem, but yeah, Taylor feels there’s company coming, and since they don’t want to get involved in a fight, they have to leave now. Good thing there’s no deadline to rescue Bryce.

Oh, she knows who exactly is here!

Newter was here, and the rest of Faultline’s crew.

I should have guessed they’d be here. The vials, the relation to the Cases 53...yeah, of course Faultline would take an interest in this. How did they even know the Merchants had superpowers in a can? Something’s going on and I want to find out more.

They didn’t even have time to try to escape before the exits were literally erased, and not by Scrub. This mall is now sealed. Nothing inside will escape, and now Taylor and the rest have no choice but stay while Faultline enters the scene. Will Taylor have to use her power? Maybe she will.

That’ll be for next time, though.

Next update: in seven updates

[bitsy83]

Sing 2 - Duets

(Just the first chapter of my fan-sequel to my new favorite movie. I just hope I can get this posting down ok.)  

Chapter 1 - A New Day

“I remember when I was a kid, my dad always told me to never let failure stop you from achieving your goals. After all, if all roads to success were easy, then everyone would be a winner. And you have to know how to lose in order to know what winning is really all about.

“Less than a year ago, I was an optimistic, but struggling, theater producer who barely had two pennies to rub together. My shows were failing, money was practically nonexistent, and I had more death threats than an Internet troll. My best pal, Eddie, told me time and again to just give up and let the theater go so I could move on to bigger and better things. What he didn’t realize was this was my bigger and better thing and I wasn’t letting it go for anybody. So, in a last ditch effort, I decided to do the one thing I knew would pack my theater to the brim: a singing competition! I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say this was both the greatest idea I ever had and the biggest mistake I ever made. I may have stretched the truth here and there about the prize money and maybe have put a bit too much pressure on my contestants and myself, which eventually led to the collapse - both figuratively and literally - of my beloved theater.

“I was a failure. A washed-up clown. A loose cannon, I believe someone stated. I had hit rock bottom, which meant one thing: the only place left I had to go…was up. But I didn’t do it alone…

“While I still had Eddie and dear Ms. Crawley in my corner, the competition introduced me a lively group of characters I would later on call my friends and close knit theater family. Johnny, Rosita, Gunter, Ash, Meena, and Mike. (Well, Mike when he wasn’t avoiding the loan sharks and killer Russian bears).  With their help, I was able to not only put on a fantastic show, but my theater was restored to its former glory, thanks to the illustrious Nana Noodleman.

“I swear, I’ve never seen this place so popular, not even when I was a kid! Obviously, I had to make some changes if I was able to make this second chance last.  Dear Mrs. Noodleman oversees the productions and gives insight on what should and should not be performed. We still put on various plays and concerts, but we’ve even gotten requests to use the stage as a wedding venue and other private events.  This is always good for a little extra spending money for any future shows we have, especially for my little theater family.  They still put on their shows and even help out backstage when their talents are not required onstage.

“For example, Rosita has offered to help out with prop and set design.  I guess when you are raising twenty-five children and one husband, organization and good imagination just come naturally to you.  Gunter has offered to be our official choreographer.  He’s an excellent teacher, though sometimes his students get a bit embarrassed when he breaks out the sequenced leotards.  While Meena has finally gotten over her stage fright and does occasionally perform, she happened to take quite a shine to working as a stagehand.  She’s hoping that it’ll help beef up her college resumes.  Poor girl’s been stressing herself out in getting into a good school so she can major in music and maybe even theater (a girl after my own heart).  

“Our up-and-coming rock star, Ash, has set an all-time record for rebounding after her ugly breakup with what’s-his-name.  Not only has she written countless new songs since her first solo performance, she reunited a few old schoolmates of hers and started a new band: Nature’s Rejects. (Not my first choice for a band name, but what can you do?)  This girl’s been getting gigs all over the city and has become a local celebrity.

“Last, but not least, Johnny.  I knew the second I looked at him that this kid was going to be a whiz on the piano and I was right.  He still gets lessons from Ms. Crawley, but he’s such a pro now that I think he only does it to have access to a piano.  Hearing him sing while tickling the ebony and ivory just melts your heart.

“The hands of fate has given me a new beginning. I may have taken a final bow at my old theater, but this revival will live on for generations to come! Or my name isn’t Buster…”

A knock on the door interrupted Buster’s monologue. “Good morning, Mr. Moon,” said Ms. Crawley as she shuffled into his office, holding a cup of coffee.

“Hold that thought, Ms. Crawley,” said Buster and quickly went to his camera tripod, turning off the recording button. “Looks like my auto-documentary will have to be put on hold. So, what is on the agenda today?”

“Well, let’s see…” With a shaky hand, Ms. Crawley pulled out her notepad. “Meena and Eddie will be working on the new sound system and lighting fixtures we ordered. Johnny will be in for his usual piano lesson. Oh, and Ash and her little friends will be using rehearsal room A for practice until about one, and then we start rehearsals for the new play. Rosita will be here early to help with the set design.”

“Excellent!” said Buster, sipping his coffee. “Just like a well-oiled machine.” He walked over to his window, taking a deep breath. “It’s gonna be a good day, Ms. Crawley. And there will be plenty more to come after that!”

***

“Honey, have you seen my car keys?” asked Norman as he was wiping Casper’s face with a paper towel.

“Coat pocket,” said Rosita, pulling an action figure out of Hannah’s mouth. “Ok, where did I put my binder?”

“On the counter near the coffeemaker.”

It was just another chaotic morning at the breakfast nook for Rosita and family, though the morning routine has had some upgrades. Ever since Rosita performed her song with Gunter, Norman saw her in a whole new light. After a long, heartfelt talk, he realized that he had been taking his wife for granted and should have been helping her with the kids as well as her new job at Moon theater. So now, Norman gets up with Rosita and together they help the kids get ready for school and getting their own schedules on track. Rosita was never one to complain, but she was so happy to finally get a little extra help in the morning as well as around the house. Although they still kept up her strange contraption to get the kids out of bed and do the cleaning while they were both at work.

So, after giving the kids their backpacks (Rosita did the girls while Norman got the boys) and sending them on their way, Norman and Rosita took a moment to fix each other up.

“Bye Norman,” said Rosita, straightening his tie.

“Bye bye, Rosita,” said Norman, handing her her purse. “Tell Gunter I said…what’s hello in German again?”

“Guten Tag. And I will.” Rosita chuckled and gave her husband a loving kiss. “See you tonight, honey. Have a great day at work.”

With that, Norman went to the car while Rosita hummed down the street in the opposite direction. It was gonna be a good day; she could feel it.

*** Meena hummed to herself as she was preparing the pancake batter. Since she was plugged into her tunes, she didn’t hear her grandfather come up behind her, trying to steal a few extra chocolate chips. His attempt was thwarted thanks to Meena’s mother smacking his trunk.

“No dad,” she scolded. “You remember what the doctor said about your blood pressure: cut back on the sweets!”

Grandpa just harrumphed and went to sit down at the breakfast table. “I still think I need a second opinion. That doc’s a quack.”

“He’s a duck, dad…”

“So I got a bit of a sweet tooth,” he continued. “I’ve been eating like that since I was Meena’s age and I still made star quarterback on the college football team.”

“Well, you’re not her age now, so you’re gonna have to follow doctor’s orders. Besides, I made you a nice bowl of oatmeal instead.”

“I can make something else,” said Meena, who had taken off her headphones.

But her mother shook her head. “You finish up on the pancakes, sweetie. You know how you grandma loves them. Speaking of which, I better go see if she’s having trouble finding her glasses again.”

After placing the bowl of oatmeal in front of her disgruntled father, Meena’s mom left the kitchen to head upstairs. Once the coast was clear, Meena picked up the bowl of chips and went over to the table. She held a finger to her lips and sprinkled a few chips on his oatmeal. Grandpa chuckled. “That’s my girl.”

“Mom does have a point though,” she said. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

Grandpa laughed as he took a bite of his breakfast. “Aw, I’m as fit as a fiddle, Meena. Don’t you worry about me. Or should I say ‘Don’t you worry ‘bout a thiiiing!”

Meena giggled. “Very cute, Grandpa.” She gave him a small kiss on his head, then went back to the stove.

“That reminds me, baby girl. Did you ever hear back from that dream school of yours?”

“Lincoln?” Meena shook her head. “No, not yet. Although I’m starting to wonder if I still have a shot…”

“Of course you do! So the other schools you applied for turned you down. So what? If they had half a brain, they’d have taken you in a heartbeat! Once you become a world-famous singer, they’ll be kicking themselves to their graves.”

Meena rolled her eyes. Once again, her grandfather was promoting her as a superstar singer. “Grandpa, I know you want me to make it big, but I want to do more with my life than just sing. I wanna learn everything I can about music. The history, the styles, the impact it has on different cultures. And thanks to Mr. Moon, now I’m kinda interesting in theater production.”

Grandpa coughed. “You mean, you’d rather go back behind the curtain again? I thought you were over your stage fright.”

“I am!” she said, placing the fresh batch of pancakes on the table. “I just want something to fall back on, that’s all. I can’t put all my eggs in one basket.”

Shaking his head in both admiration and frustration, Grandpa took another bite of his oatmeal. “Well, I can’t argue with your logic, baby girl. Just don’t deny the world your gift, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Who says I only have one gift to give?”

Grandpa laughed. “That’s true, that’s true. Nice to finally see some backbone growing outta you. Make me some coffee, baby. I’m gonna get the paper.”

***

Ash grumbled as she dragged her feet to the kitchen. She hated mornings, whether they be the crack of dawn or eleven o’clock. She was strictly an afternoon, evening, and night kind of girl.  She was about to start the coffee when she saw a cup for her was already made. Ash smirked and reached for the creamer. “Thank you, Olive,” she said over her shoulder.

Ever since her breakup with Lance, Ash wasted no time in moving forward as much as possible. One step forward including patching things up with her old friend, Olive; a raccoon Ash knew back from the third grade. Olive was loyal and friendly, though gifted with a sarcastic wit that she wasn’t afraid to unleash. They had been very close in the past, but once Ash started dating Lance during their junior year in high school, their friendship faltered.  Once the breakup happened, Ash contacted Olive again and the two of them were finally able to talk things over.  Everything connected to Lance (including music posters, clothing, old CDs, and his weird collection of bottle caps) was successfully removed from the apartment, Olive moved in and they got along swimmingly.

Olive chuckled as she sat at the table with the morning paper. “Figured it was either that or break out the air horn. How is it that I’m a nocturnal animal and still get up before you do?”

“You got messed up DNA?” said Ash. “So, anything about zombies in the paper?”

Olive shook her head. “Not yet, though apparently a piece of sand covered in oyster mucus is touring the country.”

Ash looked over Olive’s shoulder to see what she was referring to. The front page of the paper said Priceless 600 Year-Old Pearl To Be Displayed at City Museum. Below the headline, a picture of a large white orb was displayed on a velvet pillow in glass box. Ash let out a low whistle. “Wow, imagine having that on your eBay page.”

“Seriously. Hey, we rehearsing at the theater today?”

Ash’s second step forward was working on her music career and Olive was just the boost she needed. Olive was already great at the bass and was friends with a drummer named Brandy: a sweet, bubbly teenage skunk who was addicted to all forms of social media.  This actually wasn’t a bad thing since Brandy was in charge of the band’s Facebook page and Twitter account.  

“Yup,” said Ash as she downed the rest of her coffee. “Be sure to text Brandy.  I don’t want her missing the warm-up again.”

“Don’t worry; she’ll be there,” said Olive, wiping her glasses on the corner of shirt. Especially if she wants to see Johnny…

***

“Thirty-six…thirty-seven…thirty-eight…”

Johnny blinked away the sweat in his eyes as he finished up another set of curl-ups while hanging upside down.  He kept catching glimpses of the news broadcast during his sets.  

“The pearl will be displayed at the Cornea Museum for exactly one month before continuing its global tour,” said the cat announcer. “The pearl has been in the Mundabi family for nearly ten generations and is part of a very important tradition.  Whenever the current owner of the pearl passes away, the pearl must make a global voyage to various cities in the world before being handed down to the next heir. The pearl is said to be worth over five-billion dollars in American currency. Mayor Olsen has promised the Mundabi family that the pearl will have only the best security protecting it. Mr.  Mundabi almost rejected the city of Cornea after learning about the botched gold heist that took place last year.  The culprit was none other than Marcus “Big Daddy” Greystone, who is still currently serving time…”

Johnny turned off the TV and sighed heavily. He hated it when the news brought up his dad’s gang. Sure, his dad was a criminal, but he only stole money. He had never broken into homes or stolen personal items, even if the item in question was beyond priceless.

Thinking of his father led Johnny over to the collection of pictures he had sitting on the makeshift shelf in his room. All the pics were of happier times when he still lived in England and before his father had become “Big Daddy Greystone.” Most of all, it was when he still had his mother. His eyes fell upon his favorite photo of her.  Unlike Johnny and his dad, his mother was brown-furred gorillia.  She had a kind face and hazel eyes that always eased Johnny’s heart.  In the photo, she was wearing her favorite pink sweater and was holding Johnny when he was a toddler.  The young ape in the picture wouldn’t look at the camera, but kept his eyes on his mother, who returned the gaze with a beautiful smile on her face.  But what Johnny remembered the most was her voice.  Her passion for singing matched his own.  Every night before bed, he would sit on his father’s lap while she played the piano and sung him a lullaby, her melodious voice lulling him to dreamland. She was the exact opposite of his dad: kind, gentle, soft-spoken. She really brought a sense of balance to their family, until…

Johnny shook away the memory. Don’t think of that now, Johnny thought to himself.  He then looked over at the picture of him and his dad.  He must have only been about three or four and was propped on his dad’s shoulder, smiling and waving to the camera.  His dad had a large smile on his face as he looked up at his son, every bit of him shining with pride.  Next to the photo was the newspaper article of his father getting arrested, complete with mugshot.  It was like they were two different apes.  The news would always see his father as a notorious, heartless criminal who didn’t deserve a second chance.  But to Johnny, he’d always be his dad.  

Johnny picked up a marker and scratched another day off the calendar.  “Almost there, dad.”  Flipping ahead, he saw that there were only six months left before his father’s parole.  The prison visits had been helping him cope with the absence.  It was the first time he and his dad actually sat down and really spoke to each other as father and son and not gang leader and henchman.  Marcus promised Johnny, over and over, that things would be different once he got out.  Johnny believed him, but was still worried.  He knew that having a criminal record meant it’d be difficult to get a job.  Still, he couldn’t afford to give up hope.  

Looking down at his watch, he saw that it was time for him to get cleaned up and head to the theater.  After a quick shower and breakfast, Johnny grabbed his skateboard and locked up the garage.