Chapter Seven: "The Same Old Thing"

Date: Year 2756
 
Location: Acmetropolis Orphan House

 They were best freinds...
 
 They were total troublemakers.....
 
 They were two little orphan boys....
 
 And their names were Duck and Pinkster....
 
 "Pinksta! Wait for me!" A small, six-year old black duck anthro ran after his equally short partner, a six year old pig anthro with a patch of dirty brown hair on the top of his head. The two ran around several trees, playing tag. Tehy stopped when they spotted a girl sitting under a near-by tree, reading a book. She had fire-red hair pulled back in pigtails, which were braided, and dark brown eyes.
 
 The two boys looked at each other a smiled mischeiviously, then began slowly tip-toeing towards the girl.
 
 "Hey!" The five-year-old girl protested as her book was yanked away from her. "That's mine!!!" She stood up and glared at the boys.
 
 Pinkster and Duck were not intimidated. Even though they were all about the same height, guys are normaly stronger than girls, plus, she was outnumbered two to one.
 
 She folded her arms and stomped her foot. "Gimme it back!"
 
 Duck stuck his tongue out at her. "Gimme, gimme never gets!!!" He teased her. Both boys laughed.
 
 The girl growled at them. "Fine!" She stepped up to Duck, and stomped her foot down on his as hard as she could.
 
 "YEOUCH!!" Duck cried, jumping up and down while holding her foot.
 
 "H-hey!! You c-c-can't do that!" Pinkster protested.
 
 The girl said nothing, just did the same to Pinkster as she had done to Duck.
 
 Now both boys were jumping on one foot, crying.
 
 "What's going on here?!" The three turned around to see one of the workers, a tall slim woman with curly red hair, glancing down at them disapprovingly.
 
 "She stomped on my foot!!!" Duck and Pinkster cried, pointing at the coyote girl.
 
 "Cassidy! How many times must I tell you to leave the boys alone!!" The woman scolded her.
 
 "But-!" Little Cassidy protested, but the woman cut her off.
 
 "I don't want to hear any more of this. Now, come along, all of you, it's time to get ready for the visitors.."
 
 Meanwhile, older, super-hero Cassidy and Duck were hiding in some nearby bushes, smirking to themselves. "Those were the days.." Duck muttered.
 
 "You remember that?" Cassidy questioned.
 
 Duck nodded. "Don't you?"

 Cassidy shook her head. "No, why didn't you tell me?"
 
 Duck shrugged. "I thought you remembered...... After all, who could forget THAT face!" He said proudly, pointing at his toddler self.
 
 Cassidy sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're right Duck, that would be almost impossible!"
 
 Suddenly, from behind them they heard a noise in some other bushes. The pair exchanged unsure looks, then slowly krept towards the source of the noise.
 
 "GOT YOU!" A voice shouted as Cassidy and Duck were caught in a large net, immobilizing them. Older, evil Pinkster and his two thugs jumped out of the bush, smirking at the trapped teammates.
 
 "Any last re-re-re-re... words?!" Pinkster threatened, pointing his gun at them.
 
 There was no answer, Cassidy and Duck just sat there, staring at them.
 
 "Answer me!"
 
 Still no reply. Pinkster was just about to fire his gun anway when Duck and Cassidy suddenly started flickering, then disappeared.
 
 "Wha-wha-what the heck?!"
 
 "Looking for someone?!"
 
 The bad guys turned around to see Duck and Cassidy, in the flesh, standing a few feet away. Duck had his arms folded across his chest while Cassidy had her hand placed on her hips.
 
 "OOooohhh... That wasn't fair! And you know what I do to people who don't play fair, right Duck?!"
 
 Duck snorted and shrugged the pig's threat off. "Like I'm scared of you, Pinkstuff!"
 
 "It's not me you should be scared of right now!" Pinkster looked at his thugs. "De-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de...."
 
 Duck lifted his hand to his beak as he yawned. Cassidy folded her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.
 
 "De-de-de-de-de-de-de......... GET THEM!" Pinkster ordered. Bugsy and Stoney lunged at Duck and Cassidy, firing their weapons.
 
 Cassidy backflipped away from Stoney, eyes and hands glowing light blue with a wild fire. Stoney's gun glowed, ready to fire, but Cassidy blasted it with her fire, toasting it and slightly burning Stoney's hand.
 
 Meanwhile, Bugsy was trying, and failing, to blast Duck's tail feathers off with his gun, as Duck kept quacking back and forth, adding a splash of style by performing several flips and cartwheels as well. Duck's hand and eyes glowed bright orange as he gathered one of his 'eggs' and fired it at the midget badguy. A tar egg quickly stuck the villain's feet to the ground. He turned to face Cassidy, who was dodging and returning Stoney's attacks.
 
 "Hey, Princess!" Duck called out.
 
 Cassidy glanced in his direction, wondering what he wanted.
 
 Duck gave her a wink, gestering her to come towards him.
 
 Cassidy smirked, knowing his idea. With one last kick to the large villain's gut, Cassidy turned and ran towards her equal-sized teammate, who just happened to be standing right in front of a large chain-link fence. Duck cupped his hands together, and just as Cassidy had her left foot in his hands, Duck lifted her up and over his head. Somersaulting in the air, Cassidy springboarded off of the fence, sending her at twice the force at Stoney. The chubby villain tumbled straight over backwards as the coyote's foot came into contact with his face.
 
 Duck and Cassidy exchanged mischeivious smiles before facing Pinkster.
 
 The short pig, finding himself outnumbered, and outwitted, backed away from the superheroes. Remembering what Optimatus and Andrew had drilled into their heads, Pinkster quickly pressed a blue button on his wris****ch, causing a large worm-hole-like portal to appear. Stoney picked himself up and pulled his partner out of the tar before running after their boss, disappearing with him in the portal.
 
 Duck and Cassidy sighed. Once the villains had gotten into the portal, there was no way to track them until they began travelling to another place in time.
 
 Cassidy quickly faced Duck and slapped him hard upside the head.
 
 "OOWW!" Duck whined, rubbing his head. "What the heck was that for?"
 
 "That. Was for calling me 'Princess.'"
 
.ORANGE TRIANGLE.
 
Still at the Acmetropolis Orphan House:

 The little black mallard rolled his eyes in boredom. It was like this every time. They'd line up to be shown to a bunch of prospective parents, encouraged to smile and look cute, and for Duck and his freind, Pinkster, they were overlooked. It had gotten to the point where the boys gave up on being hopeful. He looked down the line. Even the little coyote girl they had been buggin earlier was soon chosen.
 
 Suddenly, a young couple came up to them. The woman crouched down beside them. "Hello, boys, what are your names?" She asked, her voice soft and sweet.
 
 "I'm Duck!"
 
 "I'm Pi-pi-pi-pinkster!"
 
 The man and woman spent the next few minutes asking the boys other questions. Finally! Maybe they would get a home for themselves! After talking to the orphanage workers for a few moments, the woman knelt beside Duck and Pinkster again. "I know you two want to be adopted together.... But we can't afford that right now...."
 
 The boys exchanged worried looks.
 
 Duck perked up. "I got an idea!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin. "Heads, you get me. Tails, you get Pinkstah!"
 
 The couple looked at each other and shrugged.
 
 Little Duck flipped the coin up in the air. It landed on the ground, heads up.
 
You all know what happens......
 
.BLUE TRIANGLE.
 
"Welcome home, Cassidy.."
 
The little girl glanced around the large room. Her brown eyes searched over the several large paintings a photographs, but none really interested her four-year old attention span. What did was the baby playpen in the living room. She took a few hesitant steps towards it, still not sure if she was supposed to leave her guardian's side yet.
 
The dark-haired woman looked at the female skunk anthro. "I must leave now, I'll come and check on her tomorrow."
 
The skunk nodded, smiling down at the little coyote. "Thank you very much."
 
The woman smiled back, then knelt beside young Cassidy. "I have to go now.. Be a good girl."
 
Cassidy watched her curiously as she left. She really wasn't sure about this family. They seemed so.. different from her old family. The woman had black fur with a white stripe starting at her nose and running up and down the top of her head and then down her back to the tip of her tail.
 
She wondered who was in the playpen. Maybe it was a baby. She hoped so, she liked babies.
 
"Cassidy, this is Alyssa.." The skunk picked up a little skunk from the playpen and set her on the floor in front of Cassidy.
 
Alyssa stared at Cassidy with big green eyes. Cassidy returned the look, then moved closer. The baby skunk crawled up to Cassidy and well.... pretty muched glomped her, nearly knocking the little coyote over.
 
The baby's mother chuckled quietly and picked both of them up, cradling one in one arm, and the other in her other arm. Cassidy, at first, did not like it and tried to scramble out of the strange woman's arms. The woman set her down, and Cassidy scooted away from her. The woman then pur her attention on her real baby, who was beginning to fall asleep. She gently rocked her while singing sweetly.
 
Cassidy inched closer, gazing at the sleeping baby skunk. She hesitantly stood beside her new mother, looking up at her curiously. The skunk smiled and sat cross-legged on the floor, so her skirt became a little hammock. Little Cassidy hesitated before curling up in her lap. Her foster mother then stroked her hair softly.
 
Suddenly, the door opened and in walked another skunk. He called out cheerfully. "I'm back!"
 
The baby skunk automatically sat up and giggled. "Da!"
 
The male skunk scooped the baby up into his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He glanced down at his wife, who seemed to be having someone using her as a hideout.
 
Poor little Cassidy had been so startled by the man's sudden entry that she scrambled out of her adoptive mother's lap and hid behind her.
 
The man knelt down on the other side of his wife. "Hey there... Don't be afraid.." He said, smiling at her.
 
Cassidy peeked out from one side, her brown eyes shining with curiousity and with fear. The man slowly stretched his hand out towards her. The little girl hesitated before setting her hand in his.
 
Little did she know, that about ten years later, she would look upon that decision as a grave mistake.....
 
(END CHAPTER)
 
I hope this chapter was worth the wait!!!

Sapphire A. Star wrote:

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Saph : *glomps Ice* XD

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 Can't....breathe. HELP!

Chapter Eight: "Not the Actin' Type...."

Date: Year 2763

Location: Downtown Acmetropolis

"Mom, please!!! I really don't want to do this!!" Twelve year old Ace Bunny pleaded to his mother.

"Ace, you're just nervous. You'll do fine." Ace's mother reassured him.

Ace sighed and slouched further in his seat. It had been like since for as long as the grey-hued rabbit could remember. All his mother wanted him to do was become some famous movie star. What his mother failed to realize is the fact that Ace absolutely despised those people. In reality, those people were no better than anyone else. Only the media seemed to make them better.

Ace's father, who was driving their car, turned to face his wife. "Flora, you shouldn't pressure Ace into this..."

"I am not pressuring him! He has amazing talent and needs a push in the right direction."

Ace covered his face with his cap and groaned. 'Dad, you know it won't work.... just drop it...'

Finally, they arrived at their destination, Acmetropolis Film Studios.

Ace kept his cap covering his face as he followed his parents. He had a bad feeling that a scene was about to be made, and if it involved his parents, Ace hoped that he could just pretend to be an innocent bystander with no relation to those people whatsoever.

Like that would work.

'Can't blame a guy for trying...'

"Awww! You look so cute when you're embarrassed!!" Lexi squealed quietly, nudging Ace in the stomach.

Ace's face went red, but he tried to hide it. "Yeah, yeah, rub it in. Just be glad your mother didn't force into stuff you didn't want!"

"Alright, next is.... Ace Bunny?" A man wearing a grey suit and sunglasses on his head studied his clipboard.

Ace's mother gave him a nudge in the arm. "Ace..."

Ace straightened up in his seat and stood up slowly. "Uh... That's me.."

The man sighed. Another amatuer. "Alright, follow me..." He lead Ace and his parents to another room, where several large cameras were set up, and another man with a strange-looking hat and a large speaker-horn.

SEVERAL MINUTES LATER:

"Alright, now. From the top!"

Ace cleared his throat. "Please, Lianna! Don't do this to me!" He attempted to beg the young female fox in front of him. The girl was trying to hand him something, while tears were streaming down her face. Ace, however, was not acting very convincing on his part..

"CUT!" The director yelled, then sighed, rubbing his temples. "Ace.... Ace... Ace. You are going to have to learn how to fake the emotions if you want this part."

Ace shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn't want this part. His mom wanted him to have the part.

"I'm very sorry, but I do not think that you are going to work for this part..." The director tried to sound upset, but failed as miserably as Ace had done.

Ace shrugged. Honestly, he could care less, he was just worried about his mother's reaction.

"How did you do, honey?" Ace's mother asked him as he exited the camera room.

"Uhhh...." Ace hesitated. How could he tell her that he failed? "Well........ I didn't get the part." He blurted.

"What?!" She gasped. "But how?"

Ace shrugged again. "I don't know... He just said I wouldn't work."

Ace's mother huffed. "Some people can't see talent if it was staring them in the face..." With that, she strode off.

Ace rolled his eyes. 'Here we go again....' He sighed as he sat down beside his father. "Dad? How am I gonna tell Mom that I don't like actin'?"

Ace's father was silent for a moment, thinking. "I guess you're just gonna have to tell her. She doesn't get hints very well."

"I know that. But she won't believe me! She'll just insist that I'm just discouraged and that I try again!"

Ace felt his father set his hand on his shoulder. "Well, then. If you don't like this... then what is it exactly that you want to do?"

Ace paused in thought. "Well... I'd like a job with some action! Y'know, like this!" He then jumped up and began showing off his karate skills to his father. That's right..... in the waiting room.

Ace's father chuckled. "Alright, settle down there, sport." He placed his arm around his son's shoulder. "How about we both try talking to her?"

Ace nodded, smiling. "Ya, dat might work!"

Just then, a man, who Ace recognized as one of the camera operators. He walked up to the two bunnies. "Hey, I saw you do those moves. You're pretty good."

Ace smiled. "Thanks, doc. I've been practicing since I was six."

"Listen, if you really want a job here, my boss is looking for a stuntman. You might wanna give it a shot."

Ace nodded. "Thanks. I'll think about it."

The man gestured a goodbye and walked off, just as Mrs. Bunny came back into the room, huffing angrily. "Come on Ace, time to go."

But Ace was't listening. His eyes were planted on the floor, his mind deep in thought. His father nudged him "Ace..."

Ace's head shot up and he blinked. "Oh, sorry... I was just... thinking."

For the rest of the trip home, Ace was silent, lost in thought once more. Sure, he was looking for a job with action, but he knew that the job was dangerous. How would his mom react? His father seemed to be okay with it, but he was very laid-back, plus he knew that this sounded like what he wanted. What did he think?................................. He wasn't too sure. Sure, the job discription sounded like something he would like.... but it still involved acting... sort of, and being around actors and actresses all day. That didn't please him.

"Ace..?" Ace glanced upwards to see his mother gazing at him in concern. "Is there something bothering you?"

"... No........" Ace's voice trailed off. His mother contiued to have her gaze locked on her son.

"Ace. Tell me. Now."

Ace sighed. "Mom... I've been trying to tell you this for a while, but I guess I haven't done a good job.."

"Get to the point, please."

"Mom... I really, really, really, really don't like this actin' stuff." Ace finally blurted out.

Ace's mother paused.

Ace gulped. 'Not a good sign..'

"Why did you not tell me this earlier, Ace?"

"I tried, Mom! But I really didn't know how to tell you..."

"Alright then. I know now..." She said flatly. She was disappointed. She believed that this is what her son wanted.. that he could go all the way...

But no. That would never happen. Her dream of Ace becoming a star would never come true.

"Uh.. Mom?" Ace spoke up hesitantly.

"Yes, Ace?"

"Are you upset?"

"... No. No I'm not Ace." She turned her head to smile warmly at her son.

"Well.... Mom... one of the camera men... he told me that the director was looking for a stuntman..."

"...... You don't mean you want that job?! Ace, you're much too young..."

"Maybe now but in a few years! I think I'd like it."

"What if you get hurt?! I'd rather not have to worry every single day about my son's life!"

"I won't get hurt. That's the thing about stuntpeople! They do the dangerous-looking stunts for the actors so the actors don't break a nail or something!"

To this, Ace's father disguised a laugh with a cough.

"We'll just have to wait and see, Ace..... It's a big decision and it needs time to be thought over..."

(END CHAPTER)

Now, I know all of you guys are going to attack me for posting such a short chapter but! I worked WAY too hard on this and I really need to move on. I'm terribly sorry it took this long to update! But, stuff has been more than insane lately and I hadn't had a chance to even try to write until last night!

Next chapter will be a mix of Lexi, Ace, and Cassidy!
3 Danielle!