Trolls Band Together (OC Insert)

Chapter 9

(Third Person POV)

Back at Mount Rageous, Crimp is ironing a shirt for Veneer. The only issue is that Veneer still has the shirt on. But that doesn't seem to bother Crimp, because she's too busy singing to herself.

Crimp:

Tumble out of bed and I stumble to the kitchen

Pour myself a cup of ambition

And yawn and stretch and try to come to life

Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumping

Out on the street, the traffic starts jumping

And folks like me on the job from 9:00 to 5:00

Working 9:00 to 5:00--

When Crimp slams the iron down, it accidentally lands on Veneer's hand. "Ow! You just burned me," he says with a glare.

Crimp starts to freak out. "Oh, my God! I'm sorry! Um, maybe it would be easier if you took your shirt off?"

Veneer groans. "Don't be lazy," he mutters while leaning his head back in a relaxed position on the chair.

Crimp approaches Velvet, who leans against the counter of the makeup table. "Oh, by the way, you know that thing you asked me for?"

"Space from you?" Velvet grumbles.

Crimp only laughs nervously. "Oh, no. Yeah, no...Uh, what?" She shakes her head and says, "Anyways, you said you needed a way to make your smoothies even fruitier on stage."

"You did?" Veneer asks his sister.

Velvet shushes him. "Yes. That is what I want. Go on."

"Well, I had an idea," Crimp says before showing her a chest plate with shoulder pads. And on those shoulder pads are two compartments with purple diamond lids.

"Crimp, honey, that's not an idea. Those are shoulder pads," Veneer says, looking away.

"I beg to differ. It's a high-powered vacuum. Like all my other small gadgets, I put that master's degree in engineering to good use." Crimp grabs a handful of small fruits. "See? You just pop the grape or strawberry or blueberry or guava slice, right in here." She then points to a purple button at the center. "And it releases the fruit's essence through here. Once you're on stage, lightly tap this button, just delicately, you know, like, once."

Once the button is pressed, the compartment with fruit starts to glow and sparkle.

Velvet quickly puts on the shoulder pads and puts Floyd's container into the compartment. She rapidly presses the button and the vacuum drains out some of Floyd's music talent. Her eyes glow pink and she starts to vocalize, a bright glow surrounding her.

"You said that it was for smoothies," Crimp says nervously.

"It's called lying, Primp. Deal with me," Velvet glares.

"If you use too much, you'll kill him. The plum that I tested turned into a prune!" Crimp exaggerates.

Veneer leans closer to Velvet's shoulder pads. "Well, I don't wanna kill the little guy. They're kinda cute when they're up and about, banging on the walls, yelling to go home," he says while tapping on the glass.

Velvet grabs his face and stares at him dramatically. "Do you want to lose all this and go back to the dark place where we had nothing?"

Veneer moves away from his sister and puts his hands on his hips. "Girl, we grew up in the suburbs. Our parents were dentists."

Velvet now holds the perfume bottle in her hand as she takes off the shoulder pads. "Our parents were nobodies, and we were nobodies. And when I met you, you were literally sucking your thumb and pooping all over the place."

"You met me when I was a baby, so..." Veneer starts to say.

"All over the place. It was nuts!" Velvet says, ignoring his statement. She stands back up and points her finger at his chest. "You don't wanna give up all the yachts and the bling and your illegal pet monkey, do you?"

After thinking for a second, Veneer laughs nervously before shrugging. "Okay. I've made my peace with it. Good job, Cringe," he says to Crimp.

"You're smarter than I thought. Now I don't trust you," Velvet says suspiciously as she approaches Crimp.

Crimp adjusts her glasses. "That's maybe not a rational response. I don't--Please don't put me in the closet."

It's too late for her to say anything else because Velvet grabs her and throws her in the small closet that's next to the makeup table.

Once the closet door shuts, Velvet gives the perfume bottle to Veneer. "Now come on. We're about to go from stars to megastars." She smiles evilly while leaving the room.

"Please, Veneer," Floyd says once the two are alone.

Looking down at the bottle sympathetically, he says, "It's nothing personal. I just love my sister." His soft demeanor immediately changes to a smug one. "And all my fame. And money. And things I bought."

"Yeah, sure, dying sucks, but at least it's for some sweet 'Bling-a-ding' and some boho-chic home furnishings," Floyd says sarcastically.

Not noting the sarcasm, Veneer chuckles. "You get it." After spraying some of the essence on himself, Veneer throws the bottle over his head as he walks out of the room.

Floyd lands on the table with a hard thud. He sighs when he notices how more of his skin and hair are turning white.

"My Wi-Fi doesn't work great in the closet," Crimp's muffled voice says from inside the small closet.

(Val's POV)

It's been about an hour or so since we left Vacay Island. As I drive, the radio plays. One song comes on, which sounds pretty catchy. It's a girl and a boy singing together.

Bruce stands to my left. "Oh, my kids love these guys. We're a total Veneer household."

My eyes widen a bit in surprise. "Wait, Velvet and Veneer are the ones singing? Dang. And just when I started to like this song."

John Dory walks by saying, "Yeah, They're the ones who have Floyd."

"Ugh. It's gonna be hard to separate the art from the artist," Bruce mutters.

As I continue to drive, with Tiny in my lap, the announcer on the radio speaks once the song is over. "That's Velvet and Veneer's spicy-hot new single 'Watch Me Work.' Catch them tomorrow night at the Rage Dome where they'll be receiving the Lifer Award?"

Tomorrow? Rage Dome?

Branch, Bruce, and I give worried glances after that announcement. I turn off the radio and pay attention to the road again.