Chapter 11: Changeling Prince?
"Avast, Yee scurvy mongrels!" A roaring voice called out from a pirate ship, the waves crashing against the sides as the storm ravaged the seas. At the steering wheel of the ship was a tiger cub, wearing captain's clothing, steering the ship with one hand as he waved his cutlass with the other; "The seas won't be claimin' us for Davey Jones today!"
As they fought off the raging sea, a Labrador puppy climbed up the stairs from the bow to the helm. "Captain! We have emnemies coming in from the right!" He pointed towards the side of the ship, 3 ships heading directly for them.
The tiger cub glared at the ships, grinning as he spun the wheel to face the ship towards the 3 enemy ships. "So ya wanna fight, do yee? Then a fight is what yee gonna get! All paws to battle stations!"
Inside the ship, twin Siamese kittens are rolling cannonballs towards the cannons as a little chicken tries her best to load the cannons. After a few seconds, the cannons are loaded. "Ready to fire captain!"
As the ship drew closer to the 3 enemy ships, the tiger snarled as he aimed his sword forward. "All cannons, fire at-"
"Hey wait…is that miss Abby??" The lab pup interrupted, the sea and the ships disappearing to reveal the kids playing in the park, using an old stump as the 'ship'. All the kids looked towards the entrance of the park, seeing Abby walking in next to someone.
Seeing Abby, all the cubs quickly ran towards the entrance, leaving the tiger on the stump. "Hey! Wait for me!" He cried out, carefully climbing down the stump before running to catch up with the others, tossing his stick to the side he was using for his cutlass.
Abby smiled and stepped in front of Ares, spinning around on her heels to face him, holding out her arms. "Welcome to my favorite place to relax!"
She spun back around, looking at the view, holding her hands behind her back. "I love coming here to unwind after a long day of school. And with everything that's happened the last few days, I thought this place would be perfect for us to just sit back and-"
"Miss Abbyyyy!" A tiny voice called out, making her and Ares' ears twitch.
Abby looked to see a group of cubs running towards her, making her smile wide. "Oh my gosh! Hello little ones!~ It's been so long!" Abby kneeled down as the cubs all hugged her; "How are my favorite cubs ever?"
The little Labrador pup jumped up, holding his hands in the air. "We we're playing Dabvey Jomes! We had a pirade ship, and we were sailing the seben seas, and there were monsters and treasure and all sorts of cool stuff!"
Abby giggled, giving him a gentle head rub. "My goodness! That sounds like quite the adventure!" She stood up, holding a hand over towards Ares; "Well, my Brave sailors, this is my new friend Ares. He's-"
Before Abby could finish, the little ones were staring at Ares, their jaws open in shock. The little tiger walked closer, pointing at him. "Whoooah…you look just like the Changeling Prince from miss Abby's story!"
Ares raised an eyebrow curiously, not noticing Abby flinching, her eyes wide and her cheeks a bright red. "Pardon? Changeling…Prince?"
The other little ones stared in surprise as the resemblance was almost perfect, one of the kittens moving closer, her tail flicking wildly. "Oh wow!~ The Changeling Prince in the flesh! He's way more handsome than I thought! Nyah~"
The Labrador pup shifted in place, his tail wagging fast. "Are you here to beat up bad guys? Like the Emperor of ebvil?"
The tiger cub looked at Abby, his eyes filled with excitement. "Miss Abby, are you and the Changeling Prince dating??"
Ares looked at Abby, who jumped in surprise, blushing deep and waving her hands in front of her. "N-N-N-No! It's nothing like that!" She suddenly grabbed Ares' arm; "If you could give us just a second, I need to talk to, uh…th-the Prince really quick!" She then dragged Ares away from the kids.
When Abby had Ares far enough, she clasped her hands together and was bowing. "Sorry, those are some super fans of a story I'm writing."
Ares straightened his tie, looking at Abby as he raised an eyebrow. "Story? You're an Author then, miss Abby?"
Abby blushed deep, flailing her hands. "Th-that's not important!" She shook her head, clearing her head; "Listen, could you please play along with the kids' fantasy about being the Changeling Prince? Just for a little while?"
Ares rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. "Very well. How should I act, as the Changeling Prince?"
Abby smiled. "Thank you so much! Just act like a modest hero type." She wrapped her arms around his arm; "I promise I'll make it up to you later."
A few seconds later, Abby and Ares returned to the kids, who were poking at a caterpillar crawling on the ground. The tiger cub looked up, seeing them walking back to them, and ran over to them, the rest of the cubs following. "You're back! Are you gonna do some super hero stuff now?"
Ares looked at the kids, all looking at him with excitement in their eyes, smiling happily with their tails wagging. Ares cleared his throat, then leaned down to the cubs. "Actually, I'm on a super secret mission at the moment."
The cubs' eyes all lit up with excitement hearing this, Abby smiling as Ares played along. "I'm on the hunt for the evil villain trying to…to drag the world into darkness."
The tiger cub hissed, clinching his fist in front of him. "I bet it's the sinister Dragon Lord! He's always up to no good."
Ares raised a finger to his lips. "Shhh…Be cautious. The Dragon Lord is always listening. Even now he's on the hunt, trying to silence me." He looked around, pretending to see if anyone was watching, then back at the cubs; "In fact, just earlier I defeated an evil subordinate of the Dragon Lord that was after miss Abby and I."
Hearing that, the cubs got super excited, the tiger cub jumping excitedly. "Oh! Oooh! Did you use your Chimera style on him?!" He then started doing punches and kicks; "I bet you got him with a POW! And a Bam!"
Ares raised his eyebrow slightly, watching the cubs play fighting, unaware that a slight smile snuck onto his face. Abby was smiling as she watched the cubs playing, then looked at Ares, seeing him smiling as he watches the cubs.
The little Labrador pup walked up to Ares, holding the bottom of his shirt nervously. "Um…mister Prince?" He looked at the ground nervously, his cheeks a bright red; "Do…Do you phink…I could be as stwong as you when I get big?"
For a brief second, Ares saw a glimpse of himself in the little pup. He saw his younger self asking that to Ticoré, which made Ares stand up. "As strong as me?" Ares reached down, resting his hand on the pup's head; "You can do whatever you set your mind to, little one." The lab pup's tail wagged happily as he smiled up at Ares. Ares then looked at the other cubs, smiling and nodding. "The same goes for all of you."
Abby giggled softly as she and Ares started playing with the cubs, Abby spinning around with the male Siamese kitten and Lab pup as Ares play fought the others. Before Abby knew it, her phone was going off. She reached into her pocket and checked it. It was the alarm going off, letting her know the time was 7:30. "Ah!" Abby tucked her phone away; "Sorry little ones, but we gotta go! Ar-uh…Prince! It's time for us to head to the meeting!"
Ares' ears twitched, checking his watch. "So it is." He looked at the cubs, bowing slightly; "Sorry, little heroes, but I'm afraid miss Abby and I have to leave."
The sound of all the cubs whining and awes quickly followed, the female Siamese kitten jumping slightly. "Will we see you again?"
Ares chuckled and nodded. "I suppose I could swing by from time to time." The cubs all smiles excitedly as they waved, heading back towards the stump to get back to their pirate game.
Abby and Ares headed out of the park and made their way towards the school, Abby giggling softly. "I think they like you." She looked up at Ares, smiling; "You looked so happy watching them playing."
Ares cleared his throat. "Well seeing them being so happy and care free…it reminded me of a past I long to have back."
Abby tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean?" As Abby looked at Ares, she noticed his eyes change from happy, to an almost vacant and empty stare.
Ares, lost in his memories, felt a gentle tug on his sleeve, making his ears twitch as he came back to reality. He looked at Abby, who now has a slightly concerned look on her face. "Oh. Apologies. I guess I never did tell you about my past, have I?" He gave her a gentle smile; "I suppose I'll tell you after our meeting." He then gave her a sly smirk; "But only if you let me read a few of your stories about this 'Changeling Prince'."
Abby blushed a deep red, letting out a bleat of shock. "Wh-Why?? You don't wanna read those! Th-They're not any good! J-Just scribbles really!"
Ares chuckled, seeing Abby react like that. "Well then I guess you'll never know about all the grizzly details about me, will you?"
Abby's face was a deep red. She was in the palm of his hand, and she knew Ares was aware of it. She let out a defeated sigh. "Ok, fine. But you're only reading ONE!"
As they playfully bickered, they saw the school coming into view. And to their surprise, miss Phoenix was standing in front of the door, making Abby let out a bleat of surprise. As they got closer, Phoenix smiled and gave a slight bow. "Ah, good! You're both here. Lady Gumball and Sir Starlight are already inside with Lady Vampirium and her guest."
Abby and Ares bowed politely back, Abby looking up slightly. "Mistr-uh…I-I mean, Miss Phoenix, will you be joining us?"
Phoenix stood up from her bow, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not, Angel." When she said that, Abby's cheeks went pink; "You see, this is a meeting between the royal families and Ares. Lady Gumball decided the school was the safest place for the meeting to avoid any flies on the walls."
Abby and Ares stood up, Abby nodding. "I see." Her ears flicked slightly as Abby remembered something; "Wait, then why am I allowed? I'm not royalty."
Ares looked towards Abby. "Royal meetings allow each party member one guest of their choosing, if they choose. Normally they bring a guard for protection, but in this case, the guests are involved in one way or the other."
Phoenix clapped her hands to Ares' response. "Impressive! You know a fair amount of intel regarding the Royal families." She then reached for the door, holding it open, revealing a swirling veil of colors; "Sadly, the meeting is about to start, so you two should hurry." As the two stared in confusion at the ever changing colors, Phoenix held up one finger. "Oh, and since this is your first time, I suggest holding your breath."
Ares walked up and cautiously tapped the veil, which suddenly sprang out and engulfed him, making him disappear, making Abby bleat in shock.
"No worries, my little Angel." Phoenix said softly; "It's just a teleportation veil." She then walked up to Abby, resting her hand gently under Abby's chin, making her look into her eyes; "Now be the good girl I know you are and hurry up~" Phoenix leaned in next to Abby's ear, whispering; "After the meeting. Eleven o'clock. The usual spot. And make sure to bring my favorite kitty."
Abby blushed deep hearing Phoenix. Her heart was racing with excitement as she knew she was talking about Sadie. "Y-Yes Mistress."
Phoenix smiled, giving Abby's cheek a soft kiss before standing up straight. "That's my Angel~ Now head on inside. You don't want to be late, do you?"
Abby looked back towards the veil, walking over to it. "But…But Mistress…" Abby looked back towards Phoenix; "How do I-"
Before Abby could finish the sentence, Phoenix swatted her rump with her tail, making Abby jump forward, bumping into the veil. Just as quickly as the veil engulfed Ares, it engulfed Abby, sending her screaming into a spiraling tunnel of colors.
After what felt like forever, Abby felt herself on her hands and knees, one hand over her mouth as she felt the urge to vomit rising. After she fought her urge down, Abby started noticing she was in a room with a long coffee table and 3 couches, the couches having 5 figures sitting already.
"Yay! The last one is here at last!" A bubbly voice cheered. Abby looked towards the voice, the figures on the couches starting to look familiar. There was Ares sitting alone, then Starlight and Gumball, who was happily jumping on the couch, and finally Vamps and Vanessa.
Ares stood up and walked over to Abby, offering her a hand. "I hope you faired better than I did in that trip." Ares whispered, helping Abby stand up and walk to the couch. As they sat down, Gumball smiled happily. "Everyone it here! Yay! Now we can get down to our master plan!"
Abby looked around confused. "Master plan?" Abby noticed Vamps and Vanessa had a serious look on their faces, which made her a little uneasy; "Um…what's the master plan?"
Vamps clenched her fists, her wings opening slightly as she looked over to Abby. The words that came out of her mouth took Abby by surprise, making her cover her mouth in shock. She knew this meeting was big, but she had no idea it was going to lead to this!
Vamps' words were "The plan is mine. We are to eliminate my father and have me claim the throne, ending his tyrannical reign once and for all."
To be continued.
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