by Grimm, GoozX and thedoctor
Mick Harrison continued flipping through the channels until he saw something that gave him pause. "Oh, hell, no!"
It was the parade in honor of the PSI-Unit, and the town had gone all out with ticker tape, confetti, streamers, and giant balloons in the shape of famous cartoon characters.
"Is that a Smurf?" Sam Dawson asked, plopping down next to Mick.
"I think so," Mick replied.
"Hey, do you remember that guy who was always chasing the Smurfs?"
"Yeah, what was his name?" Mick asked. "Gargle...? Gargamel?"
"Yeah, he had a cat, too," said Sam. "What was his cat's name?"
"I don't know."
"Me neither." Sam saw Danny walking into the room.
"How can you guys watch that primitive receptor set?" said Danny. "It gives me headaches just thinking about it."
Sam said, "Thanks ever so much for your enlightened wisdom, Futureboy."
Danny glared at Sam. "What's your problem? You trying to fill in for T.C. or something?"
Sam flinched. "No, I'm sorry, man. I guess I'm just still a little stressed from that fight in the Castle."
Danny nodded and looked at his bandages. "Yeah, me too."
Mick said, "Will you look at this shit? We do all the work, and those guys get all the fucking credit!"
Danny and Sam looked at the screen and saw the La Perdita PSI-Unit being driven down the street in a convertible, waving to the adoring public.
Sam said, "Danny?"
Danny turned to him. "Yeah?"
"Do you know the name of Gargamel's cat?" Sam asked.
Danny turned around. "I'm going back to bed."
Grimm walked in, passing Danny on his way out.
Sam said, "Hey, Grimm!"
Grimm grunted, "Yeah?"
Sam said, "Shirley said to tell you Kit's back and ready to see you."
"Great. I'll head over to his office now." Grimm continued on out of the room.
Mick watched as Grimm left, then turned to Sam and said quietly, "Be careful around Grimm, Sam."
Sam frowned. "Why?"
Mick was wide-eyed and serious. "It's not paint."
Grimm walked down the hallway that led to Kit's office. He heard voices as he approached.
"I tell you, Shirley, those burritos are killing me! If I ever eat at that sorry excuse for a Taco Bell again, I'm..."
Kit Piper noticed a large shadow covering the room.
"...gonna..." He began to turn around.
He turned and looked up at Grimm. And up. And up. And up.
"...die."
"Kit, this is Grimm," said Shirley Francis. "The boys picked him up during that mission in Uruguay."
"N-nice to meet you..." Kit said, then fell backward onto the floor, having fainted.
"Does he do this with every new applicant?"
"Get him up off the floor. I've got some smelling salts in my purse." She looked up at Grimm. "I need them for when Mick does his little change..."
As Grimm headed back to his room, he noticed Kristofer Schanz standing in the hallway looking depressed. Hey, isn't that...? What was his name again? Oh yeah. "Schanz!" Grimm said, startling the man out of his reverie.
"Huh? Grimm? You know my name?"
"Yeah."
"You mean you recognize me?"
"Yeah."
"You know who I am?"
"Yes. You're the ghost who tried to possess me in Uruguay, the one who's always hanging around Pete. Where is he anyway?"
Kristofer Schanz's heart sank again. "No. It's not right. Pete's the ghost, not me."
Mick quickly flipped through the channels. "The stupid parade's on EVERY channel!"
He continued clicking the remote, getting more and more frustrated. "They even pre-empted the cartoons!"
Finally, he gave up and threw the remote at the TV. "Bastards!"
Sinking into the couch seat, he calmed down and turned toward Sam, only to be met with Grimm's appearance. Mick's eyes shot out of his head, and he fell backward, taking the couch over on its side. Sam, now standing, shifted into Mick's appearance.
"Hey, look at me. I'm scared shitless," Sam said as Mick laughed and attempted to get to his feet.
"Help me up, you ugly bastard!" Mick said, joking around.
Mick fell back to the ground. Sam's expression changed, and he shifted back to himself. Mick finally got to his feet and looked toward where Sam was, but he was gone.
After Danny's little confrontation, Dirk Bell had walked away from the bathroom. Dirk didn't care if Danny didn't like the fact that he was being private or not. He had his reasons, and that was that. To hell with what everyone else thought.
The gunslinger had returned to his room and went back to the business of sorting everything out. Even with a cast on, he still insisted on wearing as much of his gear as he could. The fact that the goblinoids had caught him off-guard did not bode well with him.
After an hour or two, someone, Dirk wasn't sure or even cared who, told him that someone named Kit was waiting to meet him. The gunslinger hobbled down to the man's office. The guy looked like he was pretty shaken up by something. Dirk wasn't sure what. Kit began to ramble on about the paperwork and so forth with a slight tremble in his voice.
"Wait!" Dirk said in the midst of the spill. "Do we get dental? And health? That's all I want to know." He began to use one of his knives to scratch under his cast. Kit continued on.
"I just need you to sign here," the man said, handing a document to the gunslinger with his slightly quaking hand while searching for a pen.
"No prob," Dirk said, motioning to Kit. "I got one myself." He began to search through the many pockets in his coat. Guns, knives, throwing stars, and the like were deposited on Kit's desk from the pockets in the search for a pen. Out of one pocket came a small grenade. "Can you hold that for me?" he asked while handing it to a Kit whose heart almost stopped. "Don't drop it, now."
The slight quake of Kit's hands began to climb to a five-point-five on the Richter scale. His face became as pale as possible for the African-American man. Dirk found what he was looking for, signed the document, and tossed it back toward Kit.
"I guess that does it," Dirk said as he limped out the door. As Kit lost control of his bodily functions, Dirk returned to the office. "Oops. Forgot something." The gunslinger snatched the grenade out of the man's hands and left.
After several awkward, quiet moments, Kit pushed the intercom and managed to squeak out a few words to Shirley. "Shirley, if anyone needs me, I'm taking the rest of the day off."