"Can't we break the door down?" Lace asked as she walked over to Crush.
"Not just the two of us. I'll text the others to let them know we're here," Crush said and turned to his phone, while Lace tried not to panic.
Marmie, Harry and Jim arrived shortly after. "What's up? Did Loudmouth lock you in here?" Marmie said from the other side.
"I don't feel too good," Crush said quietly behind Lace as she was about to answer. She sent a sympathetic glance in his direction and was about to turn towards the door to answer Marmie, when she noticed Crush glowing blue. Then a green light started emanating from her. The light around them felt strangely warm and cold at the same time and then whoosh. They both felt their stomachs turn like they were on a rollercoaster, the lights disappeared and in the room were now an owl and a fruit bat.
All of a sudden, there was a cacophony of various animal sounds from both sides of the door before the voice of Marmie rang out.
"Hey y'all. Listen up, we're in luck. We're still able to speak so we won't have to try to communicate through hoots and bellows and whatever the sound I'm able to make is!"
"By all means that shouldn't be possible as none of these animals have the organs of speech needed to produce the complex sounds humans make when they speak, but this is Freak Week, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Jim added.
"Whatever, lil duck dude. Harry's about to save the day. Stand back on the other side of the door!" Harry said loudly, and the two winged beings fluttered a couple of meters back.
A series of louds bangs later and the door flew off its hinges into the room landing where Crush and Lace had stood before. In the doorway was a large bull grinning widely. Behind him was a duck and a platypus standing side by side.
"Wow, Harry. I like it when you use your head this way," Marmie the platypus said.
If a bull could blush, Lace was sure that Harry would've been beet red at that comment.
"Thanks Harry, but we don't have time to celebrate. Loudmouth has taken Banana. We need to find her!" Lace said.
"Oh fudge, well let's divide and conquer! Flying beasts in one direction and land walkers in the other," Marmie quickly commanded.
"That seems like a good idea, even if I am sad to leave you in the other group. That bill is fascinating to me," Jim said. Harry looked at him and let out a big huff of air from his nostrils.
Jim quickly spread out his wings. "Like I said: It's a good idea. Let's fly guys!"
With that Lace, Crush and Jim all flew down the hall.
"Am I the only one who hears that scratching noise?" Lace said a short while after.
"No, I hear it as well," Crush responded.
"A scratching sound?" Jim said. "Oh right, you guys' hearing. Of course being the mammal with the keenest sense of hearing and an owl you would..."
As Jim went through the sense of hearing for owls and bats, Crush stopped in midair shaking his head. Lace stopped shortly after while Jim Duck flew further away.
"Crush? What's wrong?" Lace said as she noticed his eyes turn dark for a second. He let out a screech, stretched out his talons and flew directly at Lace who quickly dodged him.
"... of course normally, the two animals wouldn't combine their sense of hearing the way that you two do, given that an owl is a bat's natural predator," Jim finished his thought as he looked back at the scene behind him.
Crush quickly maneuvered around in midair launching for a second attack.
"Crush! What are you doing?" Lace demanded as she tried to fly away from him towards her brother. His speed was greater than hers and he would've been upon her, had he not stopped himself in the last second.
"I'm so sorry, Lace! All of a sudden I had this instinct. I didn't mean to... I..."
Jim flew between Crush and Lace. "Well, you and your instinct better fly away, or I'll have to use some dirty duck moves on you, you big bird of prey," he threatened.
Crush lowered his head and without argument, he flew away.
Lace watched him leave, then turned around to follow the scratching sound. She quickly found the source, as she heard the scratching behind a door.
"Banana? Is that you?" Lace asked.
"Lace, you're here!" Banana's voice came from the other side of the door.
Lace turned to Jim. "Find the others. We could use Harry's head again!"
Jim saluted her with a wing and flew away.
"Lace, I'm not sure you should be here. He could come back any moment," Banana said, but before she could finish her sentence, Lace was distracted by a loud growl nearby. She turned around to see a lion ready to pounce.
As the lion leapt towards her, time seemingly stood still, and Lace had time to both realize and reflect upon the fact that she wouldn't be fast enough to avoid the feline's attack.
*whoosh*
A pair of talons grabbed her wings and she was carried to the top of a locker.
Crush quickly released Lace from his painful grip.
"I'm so sorry Lace!" Crush said.
"It's okay," Lace wanted to say, but before she had the chance, Crush continued.
"I love you, Lace and I've made a terrible mistake. The lion. Loudmouth. Whatever. She is you, or more accurately, her name is Ace Purgatorymedium. I've loved you for a long time, but I never thought I was going to have a chance with you, so I created an online personality based off of you. I didn't realise that I had accidentally created an A.I. but soon she started working together with your brother to gain knowledge from him. I think I know why she's after you, Lace. I think she learned that if she destroyed you during Freak Week, the person she was based off, she would gain a true physical form. Unlike the one she has now, which is just a temporary host. A host we haven't seen in the last day: Mr. Kevin."
"Wait, did Lace's brother date someone based off of her?" Banana said from the other side of the door.
"Banana, now is not the time!" screamed Lace overwhelmed by what she had just learned.
"No, now is the time for me to have a little snack. A fruit snack. You know. A fruit bat snack is what I mean. I am going to eat you, Lace!" Ace said as she readied another pounce attack.
"Banana, I'm here to knock down a dooooor!" Harry yelled as his bull form charged into the door, that broke open. Ace jumped in fear and surprise, and Lace used that moment to yell to the others.
"Guys, run and hide from the lion!"
The bat, the bull, the duck, the owl and an arctic fox all fled down a hallway, meeting the platypus on the way and hiding in the nearest classroom, which Harry started barricading by pushing everything he could in front of the door.
Lace glared at Crush, who was sitting still on the windowsill looking down.
"Crush!" she yelled across the room, staying away from him. "I loved you as well, and I have for quite a while. Maybe I didn't act on it either, but at least I haven't send an A.I. upon you to kill you, just cause I wanted to play pretend. I wrote fan fictions about us, but that's it. All of this is on you. Freak Week. Mr. Kevin's death. I'm scared to be in the same room as you!"
As the others questioned the Mr. Kevin part (really all of the parts), a loud thud and a growl was heard from the other side of the barricade.
"Well it seems like you've all made a very good prison cell for yourselves. I was looking forward to mauling you with my claws, but seeing you all starve to death is good enough I guess."
A while later, Crush received a series of private messages on his phone.
Ace: You know what. I'm super bored, so I'll give you an offer you hopefully can't refuse. Given that your "love" doesn't seem to love you anymore, my offer to you is that if you bring her to me or just take care of her yourself, I shall love you back, when I gain her form!
Ace: So there's that, I mean, that's a pretty good offer, if I do say so myself.
Ace: Also that way you would live.
Ace: And not die as you otherwise would.
Ace: Alright I'll stop now. Go ahead and make your decision.