(AND WE'RE BACK!!!)

When Alister burst into the warehouse around eleven in the morning one Saturday, Tommie was genuinely worried for about half a second that something was wrong. The brown-and-blonde's circular-lensed glasses were askew, her purse was sliding off of her shoulder, and she was stumbling an unusual amount in her platform boots.

"What's wrong?" Ash yelped, immediately running to go try to help their friend.

"It's terrible," she rasped, her hazel eyes wide with panic.

"What? Is everything okay?" Stratus quickly approached, concern etched into his usually stoic expression.

"Who do we need to beat up?" Amy asked. Everyone looked at her for a moment, to which she defensively replied, "Hey, it's a genuine question."

"I have only myself to blame," Alister sighed, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.

"Just tell us what's wrong already!" Evan protested. "It can't be that bad."

"It's that bad," Alister insisted.

Amy grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her wildly. "Stop being all cryptic and just spill the f*cking beans!"

"I've got nothing wearable in my closet!" Alister blurted. "I don't like to wear any of it anymore!"

Everyone stared blankly at her.

"You've got to be kidding me," Stratus said. He stared at her for a long moment in silent disappointment.

Alister smiled guiltily. "What? It's a serious problem."

"It really isn't," Tommie chimed in, giving her cousin a look.

"You're the reason I lack faith in humanity," Amy said flatly.

"Okay, first of all, ouch," Alister started. "Second, I just want to know if any of you want to go to the mall with me. We can do some shopping or whatever and then maybe get lunch?"

There was a brief moment of silence before Alister added:

"...I'll buy you all boba."

"Done!" Tommie yelled, running over with Narwhale and Evan right on her heels. A slightly-puzzled Jax trailed behind with Jackie right by his side.

"What is a 'boba'?" Dawn asked, tilting her head and pricking her ears forward in curiosity.

"...What," Evan said, staring at her in shock.

"You know what? You'll see, just come with us," Narwhale smiled, grabbing the she-cat's hand and beginning to lead her to the door.

"Hang on, how do you plan on getting there, genius?" Alister called after her. "You don't have your license, last time I checked."

Ash thought for a moment. "If there's eight of us going, then I'd say that we need two cars. So two designated drivers."

"Make that seven, I have actually important things to do," Stratus said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and going to leave.

"Like what?" Amy challenged.

"...Literally anything other than this." And with that, he left.

Everyone stared after him for a moment. After a few seconds, Ash shrugged and said, "Well, I guess that's less people to keep track of."

"Yeah, but do you know how easy it is to keep track of Strats?" Amy objected. "You just follow the sound of someone banging their head on every doorframe. If anything, Narwhale's the short motherf*cker we constantly lose."

"I get sidetracked sometimes, okay?" Narwhale piped up defensively. "And language!"

"So are we going or not?" Alister reminded them. "I can be one of the drivers."

"Alright, I guess I can too," Ash agreed. "Well, everyone, pick your poison."

***

"I should've seen this coming," Alister grumbled, her grip on her steering wheel tightening as she tried to keep her focus directed straight ahead.

In the two back seats, Tommie and Evan were blasting showtunes. Dawn's ears were flat against her head at the sound of the loud, half-*ssed singing.

"Don't worry, they can both sing much better than that. Tommie's in show choir at her school, and Evan's just Evan," Alister reassured her.

"If you do say so," Dawn mumbled.

***

"No, no, she said what?" Amy turned in her front seat to look at Jax, disbelieving what he'd just said.

"She said that I had two b*tches!" Jax repeated, almost unable to speak through his laughter.

"Hey, language! I don't even get it!" Narwhale pouted.

"Oh, you innocent child," Ash chuckled as they drove, keeping their eyes on the road despite the distracting commotion from next to and behind them.

***

"What are you doing here?" Alister teased as she got out of her car, smirking at Ash a few cars down.

"You're a goof, let's just do this already. What stores do you think you need to go to?" Ash asked, slamming their car door shut.

"Um, I guess any that grab my attention," Alister shrugged, and the group began to walk towards the entrance of the mall. "I know there's a couple cute boutiques to the left when we walk in, so I'm thinking that I'm going to start there.  Oh, and you're helping me, Ash."

The person in question sighed. "Fine.  But if you make me try something on one more time I promise you I'm not helping you anymore."

"Look, that jacket looked fantastic on you last time, okay?" Alister insisted, giving them a look.

"So, uh, can we just roam while you guys are doing whatever?" Tommie asked, knowing that sticking with Alister on a mall trip was literally a death sentence.

"Yeah, just stay nearby so we can head right over to the boba place once I'm done," her cousin answered.

"Alright, just please don't take too long," Amy practically begged. "We don't all have Ash's superhuman patience."

"I won't, I promise!  I'll be under an hour this time," Alister said.

Amy stared at her for a long moment, raising an eyebrow.  Finally, she smirked and said, "Fine. If you can manage that, then I'll pay for the boba."

"Deal." And with that, Alister grabbed Ash's arm and dragged them into the mall.

"...I still don't understand what we're here to do," Dawn said after a moment.

"We're here to support Alister emotionally and from a distance," Tommie explained.

"Ah.  Why from a distance, though?" The she-cat tilted her head to the side.

"Trust me, it's better this way." Evan put a hand on her arm and looked at her with the expression of a man who had seen too much in his time.

"...Oh dear.  Okay." Dawn blinked, visibly disturbed but choosing to not question it.

"It's alright, Dawn, Evan's being dramatic as usual," Narwhale reassured her. "Anyways, it'll be so fun to show you around the mall for the first time, it's really-"

As she swung the door open, she stopped with a sharp gasp.

"You good?" Jax looked at her, concerned, before looking ahead and seeing what had caused her to freeze. "What the-"

Evan pushed open the second set of doors, stepping into the mall and staring at what was before them. "What in the One and Only Ivan..."

Sitting in the massive front atrium of the mall was a large circus tent, its bright white and red stripes sticking out against the cream-colored mall interior.  Sandwich boards were posted around it, announcing the show times and ticket pricings in big, bolded font.

"Since when, though?" Amy asked, puzzled. "I mean, I haven't been here in, like, a year, but still."

"Hm, maybe we can catch a show- that seems fun!" Narwhale went to go check one of the boards for times before stopping and shaking her head. "Nevermind, it's closed today."

"Bummer, I really wanted to see if Stratus was in there with all the other clowns," Amy grumbled.  Evan snickered.

"I'm going to tell him you said that," Tommie said.

Amy glared her down. "Don't you dare."

"Okay, how about we look around, though?" Narwhale suggested. "There's so many cute shops around here, I'm sure we can find something interesting."

The six of them began to walk past the circus tent and down the first hall of stores and shops.  Tommie saw one or two that she definitely wanted to come back to, but reminded herself that she wasn't Alister and would come back by herself at a later date.  Those skin care products and cute tops could wait.

"Hey, a shoe store.  Want some shoes, Dawn?" Evan gestured to a store on their right with shelves upon shelves of varying kinds of shoes.

Dawn eyed it for a second before glancing down at her hind paws self-consciously. "I'm not sure if I'm built to wear foot coverings."

As they continued through the seemingly endless maze of stores, Tommie couldn't help but notice people constantly staring and even pointing at her she-cat friend.  Now obviously these kinds of felines were certainly not common anywhere in the states, but surely people had more respect than to stare at her like an ancient artifact or something.  However, Dawn didn't seem to mind all that much, and simply kept her gaze straight ahead.  Tommie wondered what was going on behind those mysterious emerald eyes.

"Ooh, check this out!  An antique store!" Narwhale exclaimed, pointing up ahead at a store with a dark wood-paneled front. "I love those!  Can we go in?"

"Dangit, I wish I'd brought my photography stuff," Tommie grimaced, tilting her head back in disappointment. "Antique stores are always so photogenic."

"We can go look, maybe I can find something for the grumpy old guy who refused to come, he likes cool steampunk stuff and whatever," Amy said.

"You like making fun of him a lot," Dawn commented quietly.

The freckled brunette laughed. "You know it."

They all single-filed into the store, which was dimly lit with a dark-colored interior.  The Victorian-styled chandelier emitted a golden glow that reflected off of rusted metal surfaces and the beaded eyes of taxidermized animals.  Tommie sucked in a breath as she took a step onto a traditionally-styled rug in faded colors, her gaze unable to focus on a single thing.  She really regretted not bringing her photography equipment, but she supposed portrait mode on her phone would just have to do for the time being.

"Hi, welcome in.  Can I help you with anything?"

Tommie turned to see a brunette guy standing behind the counter, with an indigo hoodie on which a name tag read "TB".   He nodded to her in acknowledgement, using a hand with a black glove covering only his palm to wave slightly.

"Yo," Amy said. "This place is pretty neat."

"Thanks," TB responded. "I agree."

"Ooh, look at this!" Narwhale lifted a small music box off of a shelf and began to wind it up.  Her eyes lit up as it began to play a soft, slow tune. "Cool!"

"Hey, I think I know someone who'd find that cool," Amy grinned, approaching and gently taking it from her. "And besides, it'd make a neat belated birthday present."

"Yeah, a month late," Evan grunted. "October was forever ago."

"It was last month, dingus," Tommie elbowed him in response.

"Just, uh, let me know if you need anything," TB said awkwardly, glancing back down at his phone.

"Cool, thanks," Tommie said as she began to explore further.

She began to notice as she neared the back how everything was rather cluttered and tightly packed together, as if there were no room behind the door in the back.  A vintage camera suddenly caught her eye, and she gasped, turning on her heel and practically diving for it.  She'd nearly missed it due to it being in the far corner.  Suddenly, there was a loud slam behind the Employees Only door next to her, and she nearly dropped the camera as she moved to position it on the shelf for a picture.

"What was that?" she asked, her gaze moving to the door.

TB looked up, seemingly unfazed. "Oh, don't worry about it."

A little concerned by his words, Tommie decided that she would, in fact, worry about it.  After a minute, the slam came again.

"Okay, what is it?" she demanded.

"It's just Chip, relax," TB said, not looking up from his YouTube video.

"Who's Chip?" Jax asked.

"My buddy," the store employee shrugged.

"...And why is he back there?" Amy chimed in, her expression puzzled.

"'Cause he's not allowed outside of there except showtime."

"...You lost me," Evan commented.

Exasperated, TB turned his phone off and looked up at him. "The circus at the front of the mall.  Chip and I are an act in it."

"If you're in the circus, why are you working here?" Narwhale asked.

"Pays the bills.  The circus doesn't pay as much as you think."

"Right.  And why is Chip, whatever he is, back there and not at the tent, then?" Amy prodded.

"The elephants take up too much room.  This was the only other option.  Plus, kids get to see me walking a bull through the mall before showtimes," TB said.

Tommie did a double take. "A bull?"

"I thought that was implied." TB frowned.

"...No??" Evan spoke up.

"Oh.  Well, I'm a bull rider.  Cool gymnastic tricks and stuff.  Chip's pretty chill, I promise.  The only things that could possibly trigger him are sudden movement and anything too unfamiliar, which is why he's in the back. Any other questions, or can I get back to just being the cashier?"

"...I have a lot of questions," Jax admitted.  Jackie padded over to the back door next to Tommie and began to sniff at it. 

Tommie wrinkled her nose at the smell of Jackie and wondered how long it had been since Jax gave her a proper bath.

"Jax, your dog smells like *ss," she called to the Aussie's owner.

"Language!" Narwhale squealed angrily.

"Yeah, watch what you f*cking say about my dog!" Jax retorted, narrowing his eyes.  Narwhale gave him a sharp jab in his ribs with her elbow, to which he responded with a yelp.

Then, another large slam came from behind the door, along with heavy grunting.

"Hm.  Must be a bit confused by the dog smell," TB observed, his eyes still on his phone screen.  "Don't worry, though, he doesn't really go into a frenzy unless-"

Jackie suddenly growled at Chip on the other side of the door, baring her teeth as if defending everyone behind her.  If there was one thing Tommie knew about that dog, it was that she would protect the people she liked from even the slightest hint of a threat. Very loudly.

It went dead silent for a moment after that.  Without warning, the Employees Only door crashed open, sending Jackie flying and Tommie stumbling backwards as a full-grown bull came charging into the store.  Without missing a beat, TB jumped over the counter and positioned himself in front of the bull, raising his hands carefully.

"Whoa, easy, Chip.  Whoa," he said gently, carefully reaching out to pat the bull's nose.  Chip seemed on edge still, but relaxed enough to nudge his rider's hand.

At the same time, Jackie was scrambling to get to her paws.  As Jax ran over to her, she dizzily stumbled on her way over to him, knocking over a small tabletop globe in the process.  It hit the ground with a loud clang.  Instantly, Chip jerked his head up, alarmed, and began to bolt towards the source of the noise in a burst of confusion and determination to eliminate any possible threats.  As Jax pulled Jackie out of the way, the bull hit the shelf with tremendous impact, sending it crashing down in front of the doorway and causing its contents to either shatter or fly everywhere.  They were all now stuck.

"Stay behind me!" TB called to everyone, his voice never once raising in volume. "And don't make ANY sudden movements."

But as he turned to motion for the group to be careful, Chip seemed to deem him a threat, and the next thing Tommie knew, TB was slumped unconscious against the counter. 

"F*CK!" Amy exclaimed.

"SHUT THE F*CK UP, AMY!" Evan hissed.

"Both of you, language!" Narwhale exclaimed.

"Guys!" Dawn whispered harshly.

Tommie basically dove out of the way as Chip began to gallop towards the new source of noise.  Her heart hammered loudly in her chest, echoing in her ears.  Was this how she died?  They were stuck in a small antique shop with a bull whose trainer was now unconscious- someone would get severely injured, sooner or later.  She glanced out the window, hoping to see a frightened onlooker or, even better, a mall cop.  Someone had to be seeing this.

***

"Yeah, but which shade of purple?!  Violet and lavender give off totally different vibes, especially in sweaters!" Alister complained, looking between the two hangers in her hands.

"Why are you even wearing sweaters in the first place, it's literally eighty degrees out," Ash reminded her.

"You always have to be prepared for that one extra chilly day," Alister shrugged, putting the two choices back on the rack. "And I don't mind sacrificing my body temperature for the sake of looking good.  You still haven't answered my question, though- purple's your favorite color, you have to have an opinion!"

"My opinion's that whatever you choose will have been the right choice." Ash barely had any time to avoid the sweater thrown at their face before they made contact with the purple wool.

"Come on, it doesn't help either of us if you're indecisive too!"

"It doesn't help that you look good in literally everything, there's no possible way to choose in the first place," they argued.

"How about this?  I'll grab a few more options, put them on, and then you'll give me your honest opinion," Alister suggested.

"But this is my honest opinion."

"LIES!"

"You suck," Ash chuckled.  Alister laughed as she diverted her focus to another rack. 

A flicker of movement in the window suddenly caught Ash's attention, and they turned away for a moment to glimpse-

What the f*ck. 

Why the f*ck was the rest of the squad running wildly around a trashed antique shop??  Why was the door blocked off- wait was that a f*cking BULL-

They had zero idea what they were looking at nor were they able to even begin to start processing it.  Were they so bored helping Alister that their mind had resorted to hallucinating as entertainment?  If not, then what the f*ck were they looking at?! 

"...but the chartreuse-y color didn't look that bad either, though it would take some effort to find accessories to match it.  Get what I'm saying?" Alister was asking in the background. "...Ash?  What are you looking at?"

"Ah- nothing," Ash blurted, prying their eyes away from the chaotic scene and forcing a smile. "Chartreuse, eh?  Great color, like, uh, asparagus."

"You know what?  You're right, it kind of does look like that color.  And the fact that I can think of that about this sweater means that it's not a good choice.  See, Ash?  You're not so bad at this!"

As Alister turned to fish through more clothing racks, Ash's gaze shifted back to the scene that they were starting to suspect was real.

***

"Don't you dare try throwing that!" Dawn gasped, shaking Amy's arm as the latter slowly lowered a small antique box that she had been about to the throw.

"Yeah, Dawn, I think I'll gladly let Narwhale get trampled by a bull," Amy retorted sarcastically.

"Wait, Amy! You're a Taurus, try communicating with your brethren!" Evan called to her.

"Oh, shut up or I'll send him after you!" she threatened.

"Guys, can we please figure this out first and save the fighting for when we hopefully make it out alive?" Tommie cut in, carefully traversing the room away from Chip.

Jax slowly and carefully made his way to where TB was slumped against the desk. He gently reached out and grabbed the employee's wrist to check for a pulse. Thankfully, between that and his slow but steady breathing, it seemed like he was doing pretty well for someone who had been thrown across the room.

"Jackie, stay with him," Jax whispered to his dog, who seemed to understand the assignment immediately and snuggled up against the unconscious man as she laid down.

He glanced to his right out the window, scanning the hall outside for any movement. Of course, they'd chosen the one day where the mall was the least crowded. Perfect. His gaze flicked between the stores across from them in hopes he could find someone in there, and his gaze suddenly landed on a traumatized-looking Ash. Their orange eyes stares blankly towards him, as if trying to comprehend what on earth was happening. Jax wasn't sure how much of a help they would be if they were just gawking like that.

"Okay, let's just stay calm until we can find someone to help," Dawn decided. "If we can manage to calm Chip down, then we can at least have him relaxed until we can get to safety."

"Hang on, Narwhale, do you think you're small enough to somehow get out of here and go find help?" Amy suddenly asked the short teen.

Narwhale thought for a second, her jade gaze locked on the shelf blocking their only way out. "I can try."

"I'll help you," Jax offered. He turned to the rest of the crew and added, "Can you make sure that Chip doesn't come after us?"

"Will do," Evan agreed. He pulled his jacket off and threw it across the room. Immediately, Chip's eyes fixed on it, and he charged after it, his hind quarters now facing Narwhale and Jax.

Carefully, Jax gave his girlfriend a leg up so she could reach the top of the shelf. Using the little strength he had in his weak arms, he placed his hands under her foot and lifted it as high as he could. After a little too much squirming and swinging for his liking, he finally saw Narwhale disappear over the top, and glimpsed her running down the hall. Thank goodness. He let out a deep exhale of relief. If things ended badly, at least she would be okay.

"Alright, uh, let's try to keep him chill," Amy said. She took a deep breath before taking a slow step towards Chip.

Oh god, Jax was about to witness a murder. He could see Amy's headstone already: Amy Diaz, stubborn as a bull.

But to his surprise, the usually reckless and aggressive woman crept closer to the bull's face, quietly mumbling words of reassurance to him. Jax forced himself to look away before he could have an anxiety attack. After a few seconds, though, he gave in to temptation and looked back. Amy was softly whispering to Chip as she ran her hand from his forehead to his nose gently. A few moments later, she was petting his neck.

"Oh my f*cking god." Evan slowly pulled out his phone and snapped a few photos. "Please tell me someone has this on-"

"Already on it," Tommie interrupted, her phone aimed at Amy.

Luckily for Amy, she didn't have to wait too long before a few mall security guards came to help get them out safely, courtesy of Narwhale. As they moved the shelf as carefully as possible without spooking Chip, TB began to stir. He sat up groggily before taking in the sight of the destroyed antique shop around him, Jackie licking his fingers tenderly.

"Welp. I'm fired," was all he said.

When Dawn began to make her way out, she suddenly stopped, bent down, and picked up the antique music box from earlier. "How much?"

TB waved her off. "Just take it."

"O-okay. I wish you well, TB," she replied as she was helped up and out of the store.

"You coming?" Jax asked the bull rider as he turned to leave as well.

"Nah. Someone's gotta keep Chip in line until we figure out what to do with him," he answered.

Jax nodded, then let the security guards help him out. At the sudden realization that his dog was still in there, he turned back towards the shop just in time to see Jackie being lifted out and over. She immediately ran up to him, her tail wagging as if nothing was wrong.

"Brave girl," he mumbled to her, bending down to give her a good rub on the head. "You really don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Oh, hey guys! Great timing!" He looked up to see Alister and Ash emerging from the store across from them, Alister carrying a shopping bag proudly.

"Did you find something?" Tommie asked her, and she nodded happily.

"We, uh... yeah, we found some stuff," Ash chimed in, their gaze fixated on the antique shop.

Alister followed their line of sight to the destroyed store and frowned. "Huh, I wonder what happened there."

"Yeah, sure looks like something went down," Amy grunted. She then glanced at the time on her phone and scowled. "Forty-eight minutes. Damn."

Alister smiled triumphantly. "You know what that means."

***

"One brown sugar milk tea with tapioca, one matcha milk tea with tapioca, one taro milk tea with rainbow jelly..." the brunette barista in a red jacket and black apron with a name tag reading "Addie" listed off as she slid the drinks across the counter.

"So this is 'boba'?" Dawn asked as Narwhale handed her a cup.

"Yup. I got you the same one I ordered, strawberry milk tea with tapioca balls," the French-American teen answered proudly.

Dawn nodded before taking a small sip, pondering for a moment, and then saying, "It's unlike anything I've ever had before. It's rather good."

"Yes! Dawn likes boba!" Tommie cheered, taking a triumphant sip from her own drink.

Amy slid her credit card back into her wallet and sighed. "That's good to hear, given I'm a college student and can't afford to waste too much money."

Alister laughed and took a sip from her boba drink. "Same, girl, same."

Ash tapped the side of their cup anxiously. "Are you planning on going home now to put everything away, Alister? I can take everyone in my car back to the warehouse."

Alister thought for a moment, swirling the straw around in her beverage. "Hm. Sure, that would be great."

"Awesome, see you around then!" Ash then practically forced the rest of the group out of the food court, back through the mall, and out into the parking lot.

Once everyone was in the car, Ash slammed their door shut, buckled their seatbelt, and whirled around to face everyone. "Alright, what the hell did you guys do?"

"It's... a long story," Evan said from his spot in the back row with Jackie. "Maybe we should wait to get back to the warehouse so you don't crash the car."

"Good idea," Ash muttered, shifting the car into reverse and backing out of the spot.

***

When Amy opened the door to the warehouse, she did not expect Stratus to be standing there with a first-aid kit in one hand and his phone in the other.

"Any chance you all know what this was about?" he extended his phone towards them so they could all see the headline 'TEEN GROUP SURVIVES BULL ATTACK AT THE MALL' on the news article pulled up.

"Damn, that was fast," Evan murmured.

Stratus raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, fine, I'll explain!" Narwhale spoke up. "But nobody's to blame here. It was all a big misunderstanding."

"...A bull running amok in a store with you is a ''misunderstanding'," Stratus repeated.

"Yes! So first of all, Ash and Alister went to go do clothes shopping, so the rest of us..."

As Narwhale dove into the story, Amy's eyes drifted to where Dawn stood in the corner, holding a piece of paper and a pen along with the music box from the antique store. As Amy approached, the she-cat smiled sheepishly.

"Do you think... you can write something?" Dawn asked.

Amy hesitated. "Uh, sure. Why?"

Dawn paused for a moment before hanging her head and sighing. "I cannot read or write. I use text-to-speech and the microphone button when texting you all."

"Oh." Amy took the pen and paper from Dawn and leaned against the wall for a flat writing surface. She scribbled a quick message from her and Dawn before handing it back over, and the she-cat set the note and box down in the corner.

Satisfied, the two walked away, the sound of Narwhale still telling the utterly ridiculous but nonetheless true story in the background.

***

(4759 words :0)

I PINKIE PROMISE THE NEXT PART WILL NOT TAKE THIS LONG AGAIN-

AND SUPER BIG SHOUTOUT TO @SquishyWritesStories AND @TheAddieDragon, thank you guys for participating in the cover contest!

You all can actually see Squishy's cover being used now!!