The Wheel and the Butterfly

A Dan X Pinkie Pie saga

Part 16 … Vs. …

Chapter 148 Chris Vs. Golden Times Gone Past

Elise and Chris walked hand in hand as they made their way through the bakery parking lot. Both tried to focus their attention on the beautiful lavender and orange sunset in the distance, and not the large green T-Rex that was tied to a fire hydrant next to the bakery and feasting on a large pile of Burgerphile burgers.

“It was nice of Wally to close early,” Elise said.

Chris nodded. “Well, he was the only one at of the bakery to not fight any of Dan and Pinkie’s enemies when Dan got kidnapped, so Pinkie asked if she could throw a party here as a favor.”

“Makes, sense…” Elise said. “Not sure what use he would have been, anyhow. Aside from taking a few blows, that is… He’s unusually tough-skinned.”

Chris reached for the door which had a large sign that read ‘Closed to the public due to private party’ written in pink glitter pen. The sign also sported a large doodle of a smiling cartoon pony with curly hair holding up a tray of cupcakes and encouraging the reader to ‘Come back tomorrow’. He opened it and held the door open for Elise who walked inside.

“ELISE!”

Elise instinctively braced herself and shifted her body to minimize damage to vital organs as Pinkie’s arms wrapped around her body. She felt her arms squeeze against her sides as Pinkie strong grip held her tightly.

“Oooff… Good to see you too, Pinkie,” Elise said as she looked over Pinkie who was wearing her vest, white shirt, and cut-off jean ensemble.

Chris walked in behind Elise.

“Oh it’s been so long!” Pinkie cried as she released Elise and stood back just far enough to look at Elise. “Where does the time go?”

“Uh… Pinkie?” Elise replied. “We saw each other a few days ago.”

“Really?” Pinkie said, tapping her chin. “To me it feels like we suddenly jumped forward to late December, and then a few days later it was June again!”

“Erm… okay… I’m not sure how to respond to that… ” Elise commented.

“Ooo! Ooo!” Pinkie said excitedly as she bounced up and down. “Maybe we can work together to figure out a way to respond!”

Chris looked past Pinkie and his wife to a familiar-looking short man with an equally familiar grumpy expression.

“Hey, Dan!” Chris said with a cheerful grin.

“I’m not hugging you,” Dan announced flatly.

Chris raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you would.”

Dan nodded. “Good, because I’m not.”

Chris rolled his eyes.

“CHRIS!”

“Hey, Pink—”

‘CRACK!’

“GHA!” Chris exclaimed as he felt a shooting pain in his back.

Dan shook his head. “You should know by now to reposition your spine when she yells your name like that. You have no one to blame but yourself.”

“DAN!”

Dan’s eyes widened and he quickly stiffened up as Pinkie threw her arms around him.

“Oooff. See?” Dan said in a strained tone of voice.

Pinkie began to rub her face against Dan’s, giggling to herself as she did.

“The heck, Goofball? You couldn’t have missed me that much…”

“Hehehe…” Pinkie let go of Dan. “I had an itch on my cheek, your stubble is the perfect itch scratcher.” Pinkie looked up at Chris and Elise again. “Oh! Before I forget…” In a pink flash, Pinkie was gone and back holding two plastic red cups. “I made punch for everyone!” she announced as she held the cups out for Chris and Elise.

“Thanks, Pinkie,” Elise said as she accepted her cup.

“Yeah, thanks!” Chris said happily.

“You’re welcome!” Pinkie said. She gave Elise and Chris a knowing grin. “Now don’t go too crazy with the punch…”

Elise took a sip and gave Pinkie a confused look. “Okay… why?”

Pinkie giggled and leaned close to Elise, raising her hand to block her voice. “Let’s just say the secret ingredient is passion fruit.”

Chris took a sip. “Is that a euphemism or do you just mean—”

“It’s Pinkie,” Dan said rolling his eyes. “Take a guess, monkey face.”

“Junior! So nice to see you again,” a masculine voice called out.

Pinkie’s hair stood up as her eyes widened and she clenched her teeth together. She quickly turned to the source of the voice looking very much like a startled cat. “Just remembered! I have to… muffin… launch…” Pinkie said as she began to walk off.

Dan raised an eyebrow at Pinkie. “Goofball, that wasn’t even a sent—WHA!” he exclaimed as Pinkie reached out for his arm and dragged him along with her.

Elise frowned as her mother and father walked up. Chris tensed slightly as they approached.

“Mom… Dad… You’re…both… here…” Elise said flatly.

Elise Sr. smiled. “Well, I got an invitation from Pinkie… and you know how your father just loves trying new cupcakes and checking out stores to try to expand his own business. So here we are.”

“Riiiight…” Elise said. She leaned her head to the side looking past her parents. “Just the two of you?”

Elise Sr. smiled. “Yes, we just wanted to see how you were doing, Jun—Elise.”

Elise breathed a sigh of relief.

Don looked about the colorfully decorated bakery with its equally colorful assortment of occupants. “So what’s this whole rescuing Dan thing about? Don’t tell me this child’s birthday party setup is some sort of misguided attempt at an intervention for just about everything Dan does.”

Chris shook his head. “Dan got captured by this guy who had something of a back-and-forth grudge with Dan. Almost everyone here came together to help save Dan… some in a more roundabout way than others.”

“GIBSON!” Amber cried out. “Her face is up about a foot from where your eyes are pointed!”

Elise, Chris, Don, and Elise Sr. looked up at a trio of fellow party goers.

Gibson sighed heavily. “Yes, mom…”

“STOP TELLING TRIXIE’S NUMBER ONE FAN WHICH PARTS OF TRIXIE HE’S ALLOWED TO STARE AT!” Trixie snapped back.

Chris continued, “And some are just dates of people who helped saved Dan.” Chris narrowed his eyes at Don.

Elise Sr. cringed and lifted a hand, waving it back it forth in a ‘cut it out’ fashion.

Elise cleared her throat. “Well, I’m glad you two, and not any of my ex’s, showed up.”

Don slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Well, your mother insisted we should work things out”— Don looked at Chris and clenched his teeth—“as a family…”

‘BOOM!’

Without warning, a torrent of muffins slammed into Don and Elise Sr., exploding into a messy mass on impact and covering the pair in a warm and sticky coating.

“Oh, muffins!” Chris said happily was he wiped a finger down Don’s arm, collecting bits of gooey, smashed muffins onto his finger, and placed it all into his mouth.

Don glared at Chris.

“Junior!” Elise Sr. cried. “What the heck is going on!?” She demanded as she shook her hands. Some of the doughy mass of muffins fell off in loud plops.

Elise shrugged. “Beats me… this sort of stuff just happens around here…”

“Hehehe, Sorry!” Pinkie said as she bounded up, Dan close behind. “Just trying new ways of getting the muffins out faster! Looks like the muffin launcher needs a little less power… or more… All part of the trial and error scientiferic process!”

Don’s eye twitched slightly. “Hello Dan… Pinkie… it sure is… seeing you again,” he said, intentionally omitted a word as if his expression and aggravated tone made it clear enough.

Dan looked up into the glaring faces of Don and Elise Sr. “Hello, Elise’s parents,” he said. “Thanks for being our test subjects.”

Don narrowed his eyes further at Dan. “We neither asked nor agreed to be your test subjects.”

Dan nodded. “Oh, I know, but that just made the experiment that much more of a success.”

Don brushed off some of the obliterated mass of muffins from his body; it came off in a gooey mass that spattered on the floor. “How was this a success?”

Dan smiled. “The looks on your faces are letting me know this will be perfect for firing at the customers when they get unruly… or if I just get bored.”

“Well I happen to know a little something about running cupcake stores, and shooting your customers with muffins is not a great way to run a business.”

“Yeah…” Chris uttered. “You really don’t know how things work around here…”

Don turned to Chris and shot him a scowl.

Chris mirrored the expression, sans the smears of muffin residue still on Don’s face.

Elise Sr. looked back and forth between Don and Chris with a slightly nervous expression and reached for Don’s hand. “Let’s just clean ourselves up, alright?”

Don sighed heavily. “Fine, guess I can at least pick the owner’s brain a bit. I can’t believe a place run completely by people who should be in an asylum is this profitable…” Don muttered as Elise Sr. walked the both of them towards the bakery’s restrooms.

“Pinkie?”

“Yes, Elise?”

Elise smiled. “Nice shot.”

“Thanks!” Pinkie’s eyes drifted off into the crowd and she gasped. “It’s Crunchy! Dan, we need to say ‘hi’ and give him some punch.”

Dan gave out a small annoyed growl as Pinkie dragged him off. “I swear you have me running around more than I do when I’m working!”

Elise watched the couple go, then motioned out into the Bakery. “So D.H. brought her family?” she said as she motioned to a tall man in a brown suit and long brown coat whom D.H. had her arms wrapped around, the act looking equal parts affection and attempting to remain upright. They stood next to a young girl in a purple hoodie whose hands waved about as she excitedly explained something or another to Sarge, who had lowered himself to one knee to better get to the girl’s height.

Chris nodded. “Her husband apparently came to her and Crunchy’s rescue when they were captured by androids. He brought their daughter along.”

“Wow…” Elise muttered. “That seems… grossly irresponsible,” she added, watching as Pinkie ran up with an excited Crunchy. Pinkie quickly said something to D.H.

“I said pretty much the same thing,” Chris said. “Though, D.H. insisted it was much safer than leaving her alone… Apparently her daughter there took out an android with a microwave gun or something.”

Elise grinned. “A HERF gun? Awww, that takes me back…” She took another glance at D.H.’s husband. He was easily a few inches over six feet tall and had piercing blue eyes, if a slightly messy-looking coif of spiky brown hair. He seemed slightly pensive regarding something Pinkie said, while D.H., his daughter and Sarge all seemed excited.

Elise’s smile faded slightly. “Still, no offense to D.H., I’m a tad surprised her husband is so handsome.”

“I know, right?”

Elise and Chris looked towards Dan, who had wandered up to them.

Dan continued, “She seems like such a clueless klutz, yet she lands a total dreamboat!”

Elise smirked. “Jealous?”

Dan shook his head. “No way, Pinkie is way hotter than that guy.”

Chris took a sip of his drink. “I am very confused right now, so I’m going to change the subject. Where is Pinkie?”

Wally ran behind Dan with a fire extinguisher in his hands as Dan let out an annoyed grunt. “Pinkie just invited all those grown-up-children plus one regular child to participate in a game of ‘pin the tail on the pony’. Since D.H. is involved, the game catching fire is guaranteed. Figured I better put some distance between it and myself to avoid receiving any blame.”

Elise nodded. “Makes sense… I mean… as much as a fire breaking out during a game that only involves a poster, a pin and a tail does…”

“Well, it’s like I always say,” Dan began, “the more fun people are having, the more likely everything is just going to catch on fire.”

Chris cocked an eyebrow at Dan. “When do you say that?”

“Always!” Dan fired back. “Shut up!”

“I’m back!”

“Gha!” Chris cried in surprise as Pinkie appeared from behind him.

Dan gave Pinkie the barest hints of a smile. “Hey Goofball, that was a short game.”

“Yeah…” Pinkie said in a sheepish tone. “That’s on fire now… In hindsight, I’m not sure what I was thinking about letting D.H. go first. I guess it’s like you always say, ‘the more fun people are having, the more likely everything is just going to catch on fire.”

Dan looked up at Chris and smirked.

Chris let out a defeated sigh.

Dan shook his head and turned back towards Pinkie. “Well let’s try to forget about your many bad decisions and concentrate on your few good ones. Like you going to see Dismemberfest with me!” Dan said with a grin full of unusually clean teeth.

Pinkie suddenly went stiff as a board as her eyes stared off into the distance. Her lips opened into a manic-looking smile.

“Wait, the horror movie festival?” Chris asked. “You can’t be serious.”

“As serious as a school bus fire!” Dan said happily.

Elise gave Pinkie a concerned look. “Pinkie, are you sure about this? You hate those types of movies.”

Pinkie’s teeth began chattering uncontrollably. “I tha-tha-think it’s a ga-ga-good time to fa-face my fa-fa-fa-fears…”

“Well… if you’re sure…” Elise uttered.

“I remember when Dan and I would go...” Chris said wistfully. “Sometimes I still wake up screaming remembering scenes from ‘Camp co-ed slaughter party four’…”

Dan nodded. “They’re playing the entire series this year.”

“Ya…yay…” Pinkie said weakly. Her eyes suddenly shifted, focusing out into the bakery dining area. “OH! Becky and Ninja Dave! They need punch!”

Dan sighed and extended a hand as Pinkie quickly grabbed hold of it and dragged him off.

Chris watched them go with a sad expression on his face. “Guess that’s another Dismemberfest I’ll be missing.”

Elise scrunched her brow up in confusion as her lips attempted to purse and open at the same time. She attempted to work them for a few seconds in silence before she could manage to get words out. “You… you hate those types of movies.”

Chris shook his head. “It’s not about the movies… Dan just doesn’t really invite me to anything anymore, except bingo that is.”

“I thought you told me you and Dan squared that away… Plus between dealing with Pinkie’s near assassination and Dan’s kidnapping, it’s not like you haven’t had plenty of crazy, life-threatening adventures.”

Chris shook his head. “It’s not about the vengeance runs. It’s the other things… Like Dan dragging me to places he wants to go to, that I don’t really want to go to… or trying to get me to go with him when it’s inconvenient for me… You know the things that when I can’t go that lead to vengeance runs.”

Elise blinked a few times as she took a large gulp of her drink. “And this is something you miss…”

Chris sighed. “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, I guess…”

“Pretty sure no one has thought that about years of being dragged off to movie marathons they don’t actually want to watch.”

“Maybe I should do something to remind Dan I’m still an option to just hang out with…” Chris mused.

“You could always just talk to Dan and tell him how you feel.”

Chris cocked an eyebrow. “This is Dan we’re talking about. How far do you think I’d get before he starts making fun of me for having feelings?”

Elise scrunched her lips to the side. “Alright, point taken.”

Chris stared at Pinkie and rubbed his chin. “In Dan’s case I’m probably better off making me his number one option.”

“Alright, but I’m pretty sure Pinkie has quite a number of advantages over you that you can’t really compete with,” Elise said before raising her cup to her lips.

“I know that. That’s why I need to eliminate Pinkie as an option…”

Elise’s eyes widened in surprise as she sprayed punch out of her mouth. “WHAT?! Chris, that’s completely and utterly crazy! I mean… you know what happened to the last group that kidnapped Pinkie.”

“I don’t want to kidnap or hurt her!” Chris exclaimed. “But… maybe I could detain her for a day somehow… I mean… she pretty much has the attention span of a goldfish.”

Elise gave Chris a worried expression. “Okay… I guess there’s a possibility that can be pulled off without hurting anyone… But this still sounds pretty crazy… I know spending time with Dan is important to you, but you’ll just have to accept Dan is going to want to spend more time with Pinkie!” Elise said. “I mean… Dan had to do the same when you started dating me.”

Chris simply dropped his eyelids slightly and stared at Elise as he let his expression do the talking for him.

Elise frowned. “Alright… bad example…”

Chris sighed. “See! Dan has been in my shoes, and he didn’t just let some... er… incredibly smart and beautiful woman stand between him and spending time with his best friend!”

“Nice save,” Elise said before taking another sip of punch. “But I think this is really an opportunity for you to be the better man here. If you’re lonely, just try going out to do something you actually like with some of the other guys here!”

Chris said nothing and simply stared longingly at Pinkie and Dan as Dan mimed attacking someone with a chainsaw to Ninja Dave and Becky. Next to Dan, Pinkie forced a nervous grin as began to shiver uncontrollably next to Dan.

Elise frowned. “Chris, did you hear what I just said?”

“That should be me next to Dan, shaking because I’m terrified of the movies I’m being dragged to.”

Elise narrowed her eyes at Chris as she took a sip of her drink. “Chris, I’m not convinced you actually think about some of the things you say before you say them… Dan either…” Elise frowned. “Also Pinkie…” Elise’s brow pulled forward as she stared up towards the corners of her eyelids. “In fact, I think I need to go consult someone who isn’t any of you three and hope they have something sensible to say about this.”

Chris nodded. “Alright, beautiful… I’ll be right here when you’re done… Just… just lamenting about golden years gone past.”

“Yeah, I really need to talk to someone else about this…” Elise said as she wandered off.

Across the bakery, the now-routine call of “Look out!” was exclaimed as a tray of cupcakes sailed through the air on a collision course for an unlucky occupant of the bakery.

‘SPLAT!’

“TRIXIE IS COVERED IN FROSTING!” Trixie looked down at her light blue blouse, and puffed out her lower lip. “And this is one of my favorite blouses too! I only have about a dozen just like it…”

“It’s okay!” Gibson said. “You can clean up in the kitchen!” He grinned. “I can help get the frosting off, and—”

“Gibson!” Amber snapped. “Keep your hands off of her.”

“Alright, mom, geez!” Gibson cried.

“And stop calling me that!” Amber cried.

Trixie narrowed her eyes at Amber and walked up to her. “Trixie can make her own decisions regarding who gets to touch her sexy body, thank you very much.”

Amber gave Trixie a smug smirk. “And this includes options that might land you in jail?”

Trixie gritted her teeth. “Oh, you better watch your back, old lady. Trixie doesn’t like other people getting into her business.”

“Anytime, anywhere, you third-person talking floozy.”

Trixie shot Amber one last sneer, did an about face, and trudged away.

Gibson watched as Trixie stormed off towards the back of the store, then turned and looked at Amber.

“What?” Amber said. “You were trying to take advantage of the situation and you know it!”

Gibson shook his head. “It’s not that… I mean… that was pretty blatant even for me. It’s just… Trixie really doesn’t like you.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” Amber said.

“Well, you’re getting under her skin and I think she’s actually trying to figure out how to get back at you.”

Amber’s expression softened. “Wait… are you worried she might attack me?”

Gibson shook his head. “No, I was wondering if you could forbid her from sleeping with me or something… I mean, if you tell her not to, she might just do it out of spite.”

“I… WHAT?!” Amber cried. “You’re actually that desperate you’d let your first time sleeping with someone be over the girl trying to get back at someone else?!”

Gibson crinkled his brow slightly. “… Is this a trick question?”

Amber made a disgusted sound as she turned and walked away.

“Think it over!” Gibson shouted after Amber. “You’d really be doing me a solid!”

“Mom!” Dinky cried in an exasperated tone as she leaned over D.H.. “I wanted to eat one of those! And now they’re all smashed!”

“Sorry Dinkums…” D.H. said from the floor. “Momma just doesn’t know what went—”

“Momma, you trip all the time!” Dinky cried. “How can you not know what went wrong?!”

D.H. shot Dinky an annoyed look as the Doctor leaned down and helped D.H. back to her feet.

“Dearest?” the Doctor began. “You know I hate to be one to add insult to injury, but why did you try to carry a full tray of cupcakes?”

“Dinky said she wanted one!” D.H. protested as she looked up at her husband with puffy red cheeks. “I was just trying to be helpful…”

“Yes, there’s a whole bloody building full of your co-workers who could have done it if you’d just asked.”

D.H. narrowed her eyes at her husband. “I…” she frowned heavily as she thought about this. “I don’t actually have a response to that.”

Dinky looked down at the mess of cupcakes on the floor than back up to her mother. “Momma, can I still have a floor cupcake?”

D.H. blushed slightly. “Er… I know it was my fault they ended up on the floor, but…”

The Doctor sighed. “Dinky, I’m sure there are plenty of other cupcakes that haven’t been on the floor you can have.”

“But Pinkie’s eating one!” Dinky protested as she pointed at Pinkie Pie.

The Doctor and D.H. turned towards Pinkie, giving her a disapproving look and receiving a sheepish grin in return.

“What?” Pinkie protested. She shoved a slightly smashed cupcake into her mouth. “Thewy’re stiwll gwood!”

“Geez, I know right?” Dan said as he raised his own smashed cupcake to his mouth. He took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “Heck, Wally even insists we clean the place once a day!” Dan looked around. “It’s practically as sterile as a hospital in here.”

The Doctor looked down at D.H. “Dearest, is everyone you work with a loony?”

D.H. smirked. “It’s a place that hired me and hasn’t fired me despite nearly daily accidents,”—D.H.’s smile widened as she gave her husband a knowing look –“Mr. Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey.”

The Doctor’s cheeks turned slightly red as he cleared his throat. “I retract my previous statement…”

“Hi, Amber,” Elise said as she walked up to Amber who stood staring angrily out a window.

“Elise, hi!” Amber said cheerfully as she turned and put a smile back on her face. She raised her plastic cup. “Great punch, huh? Pinkie really knows how to throw a ‘thanks for helping me rescue my boyfriend party’.”

Elise smiled back at Amber. “Parties are kind of her thing… literally.”

“… Oh? What makes you say that?”

“Erm…” Elise nodded towards Gibson. “Couldn’t help but notice you’re playing chaperone.”

Amber sighed. “I’m just trying to keep Gibson from doing something he’ll regret…”

Elise raised an eyebrow. “By the looks of things, Gibson’s life is mostly composed of things he regrets. Mostly using the kid as walking moral support or not, I’m guessing this is a pretty high on the list of things Gibson considers a ‘win’.”

Amber sighed heavily. “I just think he can do better than that crazy, self-centered psycho.”

“… I’m not sure we’re talking about the same person here.”

Amber gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry, but did you need something?”

Elise sighed. “Yes actually, I need your psychological expertise.”

“Oh!” Amber said her smile returning. “Well in your case there’s probably a lot to cover, but we can start with the obvious issue of your parents…”

“Not for me!” Elise cried. “I think Chris has an unhealthy attachment to Dan.”

Amber raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure that’s called ‘being friends with Dan’.”

Elise sighed heavily. “I know, I know! Believe me, I’ve tried to intervene there, but Dan has been Chris’s one and only friend since they were just kids! Well… had been until very recently, that is…”

“Alright, so why doesn’t Chris branch out and try hanging out with someone else?” Amber suggested as she gently motioned towards the others in the bakery.

“I suggested that, too!” Elise bemoaned. She made a frustrated growl. “But Chris is really hung up on Dan… He can’t seem to adjust to the fact that Dan now wants to spend most of his time with Pinkie. Even though it means less of Dan dragging Chris off to some movie marathon he doesn’t want to watch or being forced to dress like a jester for Dan’s amusement.”

“Hmmmm…” Amber hummed thoughtfully. “Well new relationships certainly can disrupt old friendships. The completely bizarre nature of Chris and Dan’s friendship aside, I can see Dan focusing less of his attention on Chris as something Chris is having trouble adjusting to. ”

“Trouble doesn’t begin to describe it! He wants to somehow distract or detain Pinkie so she’s too busy to go to see a bunch of cheap horror movies with Dan so Dan will get Chris to come with him instead! And Chris hates those types of movies!”

Amber took a long sip of punch as she considered this information. “Yes… ‘Completely bizarre’ was definitely the correct phrase…”

“Well, what should I do?” Elise asked. “Chris is really serious about this… I don’t think even a few gallons of ice cream topped with whipped cream will make him get over it…”

Amber glanced up as she thought over Elise’s predicament. She smiled as she looked back at Elise. “Well, I think you should help Chris see this through…”

“... Really? You think helping Chris temporarily detain Pinkie so he can go out to watch movies he hates with his psychotic friend is the best solution?”

“Elise, Chris is currently in a delicate focal point in his life and it’s clear to me things are moving far too fast to be mentally healthy for him. He really needs the support of his spouse at such a crucial junction.”

Elise scrunched her lips and thought about this. “I guess that makes sense… and if I help I can make sure no one gets hurt…” Elise gave Amber a small smile. “Thanks Amber, you really helped clear this up for me,” she said before turning back to find Chris.

“Anytime,” Amber said with a smile. She chuckled to herself as Elise walked away. “You get a PhD in psychology and they listen to anything you say…”

“So, maybe it’s time I reach out to someone else than Dan, you know?” Chris posed to the group sitting at the table with him.

Crunchy rested a hand on Chris’s shoulder. “Brah, I sense this is a big step into the big, wide, rainbow-colored world of friendship.”

Sarge nodded. “Yeah, Dan’s a stand-up guy and a natural born leader, but it wouldn’t hurt to hang out with other people from time to time.”

Jean looked up from a notepad he was writing in. “Hey, Chris? About how much do you weigh? I just need to know for… uh… a normal reason someone would say to ask about someone’s weight.”

Chris raised an eyebrow. “Most people don’t ask about someone else’s weight unless they’re a doctor.”

“But I am a doctor!” Jean said.

“… And you were examining me.”

Jean smiled wide. “Could I? That would make this all much easier…”

“Hey sweetie,” Elise said as she walked up. “So I was thinking and I thought it would be a good idea if I helped with your… uh… little plan…”

Chris’s face lit up. “Really? That sounds great!”

Sarge and Crunchy groaned as they pushed their chairs away from the table, grabbed their cups, and stood up. Jean looked at both of them, then placed his notepad and pen back into his lab coat. He pushed his own chair away from the table and stood up, grabbing his drink.

The three walked away from the table.

Crunchy sighed. “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, brahs…”

Sarge gave Crunchy a confused look. “I don’t think that expression fits here…”

“Sorry dude,” Crunchy said as he held up his cup. “Must be the passion fruit talking…”

“Oooookay… How about we just go for a nice, relaxing ride on the dinosaur!”

“Whoa!” Crunchy said as he smiled wide. “Who could say no to that?”

Jean reached into his lab coat and pulled out a massive syringe full of a neon-pink liquid. “And we can inject it with this!”

Sarge frowned. “No! No more injections! Tyra was hard enough to handle before she could shoot radioactive fire from her mouth.”

“But think of the possibilities!” Jean said with an excited smile. “Imagine if she could fly.”

Sarge shook his head. “She’d be unstoppable.”

Crunchy chimed in, “Truly a living and terrifying monument to man’s folly at playing with Mother Nature.”

“See!” Jean said. “It’s win-win all around!”

Elise watched the other three guys walk away. “Wait… what were you three talking about?”

“Oh… nothing…” Chris said. “Just… just happy you’re supporting me on this one, beautiful.”

Elise smiled. “Anything for my handsome husband.”

Chris nodded. “Alright, just one thing.” Chris handed Elise his drink. “Here, hold this.”

“Uh… Sure…” Elise said as she took Chris’s plastic cup in her free hand.

Chris quickly made a run for the front doors of the bakery, making his way outside. Chris balled his hands into fists, threw his arms into the air, and shouted at the heavens.

Elise sighed heavily and shook her head.

“… Did someone just call my name?” Pinkie asked as she looked up, her head darting from side to side.

“Pinkie!” Wally called out. “Your game of musical chairs has erupted into fire… unsurprisingly.”

“Dan!” Becky exclaimed. “What the heck?!”

“Dude, not cool!” Ninja Dave cried.

Dan held up his lighter and glared at Ninja Dave as Becky folded her arms across her chest and glared at him, a flaming chair behind her.

“Hey, if I can’t have the chair, no one can!” Dan exclaimed. “That’s just how things work in the high-stakes world of musical chairs!”

“Coming!” Pinkie said cheerfully as she bounded over to the now smoky part of the bakery, pulling a fire extinguisher out of her huge mop of curls.

From a corner of the bakery, Don and Elise Sr. followed Pinkie with their eyes, serious, contemplative expressions on both their faces.