the departed heist | halloween special

IX

"Ooh, when you were logging in the dugs, you missed some awesome stuff!" Jay babbled excitedly as they entered the dining room, "A guy walked by in full astronaut costume, and gave me a high-five!"

"He gave me a high five too!" Jay stopped and frowned. That didn't sound like Pixal; the voice was far too deep, and it sounded a lot like...

"Dareth?!"

"Dang it!" The supposed Brown Ninja of Hot Air pulled off the skeleton mask, "I wasn't supposed to talk, but I got so excited about that astronaut."

"What is happening?"

"Pixal paid me 50 bucks to get out of working with you and trade places with me for the rest of the night."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." He grinned excitedly, "I'm gonna use that money to buy two suits!"

Sighing dejectedly, Jay turned away. Maybe Halloween wasn't everyone's favourite holiday.

Back with Kai, he flopped on the couch of the living room, "Well, I was gonna ask you to tell Sensei that I brought in Royal Babies for Nya, Lloyd and Cole, but I'm sure he already knows, since he's always one step ahead of me." Wu's room door was ajar, and he was on the phone, the receiver to his ear. Kai gave a little wave, and the old man returned it with a simple nod. Skylor sighed, "Why so down, little clown?"

"I'm just sick of losing to Wu. I want that scroll."

"It's not real Cloud Kingdom parchment," the redhead admitted, "I tried selling it online. Zero bids. But here's some advice I gave to the employees at the noodle house. That advice was "Cook. Cook! Cook!"

Kai clicked his teeth, "Yeah, I'm not really sure that applies here, Skye." She reached forward, slapping the side of his head lightly, "It does apply. It means don't give up. We would have won the Best Chef Award if Claire's water hadn't broken." The porcupine raised an eyebrow, "Oh Claire had her baby?"

"You know Claire?"

"Yeah!"

They both chorused at the same time, "Her dog has lupus," before bursting into light chuckles. Huh, small world.

Giving a groan, Kai stood up, "Alright, I'm gonna go cry." He disappeared, and Skylor picked up the phone hiding in the fruit basket, "I kinda feel bad for him."

"Don't." Wu's voice came through the speaker, "He bought this on himself. You can hang up now."

Back in the dining room, now fully dressed in his ninja attire, Jay ambled towards the female nindroid, "You paid money to get out of working with me?"

She sighed guiltily, looking up from her paperwork, "Jay, I had to. Tonight has been awful. Day of the Departed is the worst, and I don't understand why you like it so much."

The Master of Lightning with the Mouth of Lightning, courtesy of Nya, placed his hands on his hips, "No, all the things that you think are bad about Day of the Departed are what make it great. The big kids egg you. Then you and your friends run away together! Friendships are forged in the crucible of Day of the Departed adversity. That's all I wanted for us." Pixal opened her mouth to talk, but was cut off by Jay tossing his wig down on the table, "You can keep the wig. I don't need it anymore." 

As he slumped off, Pixal murmured, "I don't really need it either..."