Family is Forever

The Hidden City Job: Part 1

Aria's POV:

I'm in the middle of working my shift at 'Run of the Mill Pizza' when Leo sits at a table requesting Hueso's advice.

Leo: "Ok, Seńor Hueso, my beloved brother Donatello and I had a bit of a spat, so what kind of pizza says 'I'm so sorry I called you a selfish, egg-headed weirdo?"

Hueso: *sighs* "I don't know. Hawaiian?"

Me: "Actually, Donnie considers pineapple and ham incompatible."

Leo: "Like I said, a weirdo."

I nudge Leo in the shoulder when Hueso turns to look behind us with his soup ladle pointed at something, or someone, behind us.

Hueso: "Get out, you miserable cur!"

Leo: "Ok, I'll get the Hawaiian. Mama Mia."

Leo & I turn around as Hueso leaps to engage in a makeshift sword fight against...

Leo & I: "Capitan Piel?"

Leo: "What brings you to this dump? How are things?"

Hueso: "My brother is here. He is up to no good."

Piel: "Hueso, I have gone straight. No more crimes. No more piracy."

Hueso: "I don't believe you!"

Hueso jabs his ladle into Piel, but it gets stuck as Piel wraps an arm around him.

Piel: "My brother, I come to you for help."

Hueso: "I will help you...to the door."

Leo: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't just kick out your untrustworthy criminal brother. He's family. So what do you need, skin man?"

Piel: "Just a favor. I have given up my old life, but to be fully free, there is one last debt I must repay. So I humbly ask your help on one last mission."

Hueso: "No. I do not need my life shaken up like a cheap vinaigrette."

Piel: "Ah, I knew it was a mistake to expect you to give me a second chance."

Leo: "Wait. I know a brother squabble when I see one and there's no one better to un-squabble you than Aria & I."

Hueso: "Aren't you here because you had a fight with your brother?"

Leo: "And if someone didn't try to upsell me on Hawaiian, I'd have fixed it by now. Capitan Piel, you can count on us. Vamanos!"

Hueso: "Aria, querida amiga, surely you do not believe someone like my brother can have a second chance."

Me: "Actually, I do."

Hueso: "What? Why?"

Me: "Because my father is Baron Draxum."

Hueso pauses in surprise. I should've told him before, but in my defense, it's been a lot to take in.

Me: "If someone 'like' my dad can be redeemed, your brother can as well. You don't have to trust him now, but you should know me well enough to trust my judgment."

{Time skip}

So, Hueso's joined Leo & me in helping Capitan Piel succeed in his task.

Hueso: "So what is this mission of yours? And it better not involve theft."

Piel: "Is it theft to take something that already belongs to you? Three weeks ago, someone stole from me the one thing I need to pay the most crucial debt of all."

Leo: "An ethically-acceptable heist. What's the plan?"

Piel: "We must infiltrate an auction tonight for the Hidden City elite. There we will find the treasure we seek, but to fit in with the glamorous guests, we will need a fancy ride to the auction house."

Leo: "No problem. Aria can magic up a carriage made of vines. Right, sis?"

Me: "I can in New York City, but not in the Hidden City. If the locals discover I'm related to Baron Draxum, their police will use me to get to him and arrest us both. So, we need a different strategy."

Piel points our attention to a market stall containing bird-like creatures.

Hueso: "A simurgh? We can't afford-I knew it. You are stealing one."

Piel: "I'm sorry. Without bones, I do not gesture very well. We will tame a wild simurgh."

Piel redirects our attention to a wild simurgh away from the crowded streets.

Leo: "So what's the deal? Break it like a bronco? Kiss it like a coyote? Ride it like a rainbow?"

Hueso: "Sure. Hop on."

Leo leaps to ride the simurgh, but it ducks out of the way, much to Hueso & Piel's amusement.

Leo: "See? We're un-squabbling you two already."

The brothers cease their laughter.

Hueso: "Let's get on with it. Piel, play the jaunty tune."

Piel plays a melody on a flute, attracting the simurgh's attention.

Piel: "Ha, ha! We have caught its eye. Dance the joyful dance."

Hueso: "I will dance, but the childlike joy will not be in my heart."

Leo & I applaud when Hueso finishes the dance while the simurgh bows her head.

Piel: "She has accepted us. Great work, my brother. Now, get into the joey pouch."

Hueso: "What? No."

Piel: "Hey, my invitation is for one. I will need to sneak you three in."

Leo: "Hueso, if your brother asks you to get in a joey much, you get in a joey much. Now, what's a joey pouch?"

{Time skip}

Piel rides on the simurgh's back while Hueso, Leo & I ride inside its joey pouch.

Hueso: "That chicharron stuffs us into a joey pouch? He is just using us."

Leo: "Man, I gotta get one of these for the lair."

Me: "Definitely.-*sighs*-This is almost as comfy as the chair beside my dad's fireplace."

Once we land, the three of us sneak out of the pouch and into the auction hall while Piel distracts the staff. 

Announcer: "She's taken the Hidden City by storm with her new battle nexus champion, Shadow Fiend, and now, she has us all under her 8 iron thumbs. Give a mandatory warm welcome to your host, Big Mama."

TO BE CONTINUED