chapter three ━ pranks & blackmail
( season one, episode three )

❝ you—you broke out of detention?
this... this is why i don't socialize. ❞

𝐈𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 to know about Veronica Becker, it was how much she didn't like breaking the rules. She was a type-a rule follower—sometimes almost to a fault—but in her mind, rules had been put in place for a reason and should therefore not be broken.

But she somehow became best friends with some of the most troublesome people to walk the planet.

And Jack had somehow convinced her to join them after school for an afternoon of 'sliding on the newly waxed floor on a cafeteria tray'.

She'd much rather be sitting at home reading a book.

"Oh, yeah," Jack said with a nod as Veronica reluctantly trailed behind him. Milton was clutching his bicycle helmet to his chest in anticipation of his ride. "Waxy Wednesday; where a plastic tray meets a freshly-buffed floor and legends are born."

"Or, as I like to call it—" Veronica began and her friends looked at her. "—how idiots become more idiotic."

Jack frowned at her. "You still agreed to come," he reminded her with a smirk. "Which means that everybody owes me five bucks."

"Seriously?" she asked, crossing her arms. "You bet on whether I would come or not? You know, just because I'm a rule follower doesn't mean that I'm pathetic."

He opened his mouth to reply just as Eddie appeared at his side. "Hey, guys," he greeted them. "I got the trays."

"Any problems getting by Marge the lunch lady?" Kim asked him.

He shook his head. "Nah," he replied. "She said they don't pay her enough to care."

Veronica tilted her head. "She's not wrong," she said. "That's why I always bring them brownies every month. Try and brighten their day a little."

"You are too sweet for your own good, Ronnie," Kim told her and she looked at her best friend. "But you will give me that brownie recipe, right?"

"Duh."

"Guys!" The group of friends looked up when they heard Jerry's voice and saw him running down the stairs. "Did I miss anything?"

Kim shook her head. "Not yet," she said before furrowing her brows. "Hey, shouldn't you be in detention for putting a tollbooth in the boys' bathroom?"

"I should be," he confirmed with a smile. "But when you sit me in the back and leave a window open... I'm what they call a flight risk."

"You—You broke out of detention?" Veronica asked him before shaking her head. "This... This is why I don't socialize."

"Jack, your record's about to be broken," Milton said, turning to the brown-haired boy. "Prepare for the new world champion, Milton 'the missile' Krupnick."

The boy tore off his sweatshirt and ripped off his pants to reveal he was wearing a skin-tight purple unitard that made everyone's eyes widen and look away.

"Dude, eat a sandwich," Jerry said with a grimace.

"Oh, look at this." Veronica hung her head when she heard the voice and glanced over to see Truman, their resident bully, walking toward them. "I've walked into the middle of a loser-palooza."

Jack sighed. "What do you want, Truman?"

"I thought I'd just hang out," he replied with a smile.

Jerry side-eyed him from his seated position on the staircase landing. "Do you have to do it here?" he asked.

"It's a free hallway, Jerry!"

Milton put his helmet on. "Truman, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with destiny."

Truman laughed. "Well, that'll be your first date ever."

"And how many have you been on?" Veronica questioned him, moving to stand against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest.

Milton mocked the boy's laugh. "Haha. Very funny. You're about to see my skid marks!" Veronica and Kim looked at him and he let out a breath. "Okay, I thought that was gonna sound different when it came out."

Kim ran over to the farthest door and looked back down the hallway. "Okay, guys, this garbage can marks Jack's record of forty-seven floor tiles."

Veronica quickly moved out of the sliding path and stood beside Jack. Milton yelled out his version of a battle cry and ran down the hallway. Once he landed on the tray, he continued sliding across the ground, going further and further until they heard a crash.

"He just shattered your record..." Jerry said to Jack as Veronica began walking down the hallway in the direction of her redheaded friend.

"And that papier-mâché solar system outside the science room," Kim added.

Jack tilted his head. "It looks like somebody greased his tray..."

"Looks like!" Truman said before laughing and walking away.

Veronica frowned at the boy just Milton walked over to the group, very gingerly. "Looks like Saturn is now lodged in the dark side of the moon," he told them with a grimace and she sighed, shaking her head.

"And this is why I spend my time watching superhero movies..."

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 the dojo when they heard a loud, high-pitched scream come from the bathroom. Jerry came rushing into the room with bright, florescent pink hair and Veronica's eyes went wide.

"Hold on," Kim said with a laugh. "Something's different. Wait, don't tell me." She snapped her fingers. "New bathrobe!"

Veronica laughed softly to herself. "It's my hair," Jerry told the blonde. "This is what I get for showering." Veronica rested her arm on Rudy's shoulder while he pressed his lips together in amusement. "Rudy, what kind of shampoo are we using?"

He shook his head, looking at the label of the bottle. "That's the same shampoo we always use," he replied in amusement.

Jerry ripped off the label from the bottle. "What? This isn't shampoo, it's pink hair dye!"

"I wouldn't have guessed..." Veronica said sarcastically and Jack chuckled softly at her.

"Dude..." Eddie began, looking at his friend. "Do you shampoo your leg hair?"

Veronica looked down and saw that Jerry's legs were indeed a shade of bright pink. "Bro, when I shampoo, I'm all in," he replied.

She shook her head. "Too much information."

"Love your new look!" Truman exclaimed and Veronica looked over at the boy who walked into the dojo. "Awesome, just awesome!"

She frowned. "Why are you always around?" she asked him, crossing her arms. "Seriously, it's creepy."

"I know you did this, Truman," Jack said, standing up from his seated position on the bench. "Somehow you snuck in here and switched out that shampoo for pink hair dye."

"What?"

Rudy shook his head. "No, it wasn't Truman," he told them. "I've been here all day and I never once saw him 'ooze' his way in here."

Truman shrugged with a smile. "Looks like I've got an airtight alibi. See ya around, Pinky."

"Pinky?" Jerry repeated in confusion. "Why would anyone call me 'Pinky'?" Jack pulled out a lock of his hair and held it up to him. "Ow! Ooh, I get it."

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𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊 in the hallway of the high school while the students were gathered around their principal.

"Come on, people! Let's make some noise!" he said to his students. "As the captain in our pep squad, Kim Crawford, leads our championship girl's basketball team, the Seaford Lady Whales!"

The brunette looked over at the team. "Why are they so tall?" she whispered to Jack, glancing at Kim who barely reached the team's shoulders. "What are they feeding them?"

He shrugged. "A growth serum?"

"Alright girls," Kim said to the team while Veronica chuckled. "When I break through that paper, I want you guys to keep going, throw your hands up in the air, and pep that crowd up! Come on, everyone! Pep, pep, pep!"

As Kim began running to break through the paper, it didn't rip and she got stuck, nearly taking the two girls who were holding the banner down with her.

Veronica rushed over to help her with the boys and they heard Truman's obnoxious laughter in the background. "Looks like you got yourself into a sticky situation."

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𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐉𝐎 and stopped short at the sight she saw. "Um..." She tilted her head, seeing a lizard with a bib, her uncle dressed as a pilgrim, and Lonnie from Reptile World eating his dinner. "What are you doing?"

"You know, just going through every holiday so that a lizard will poop out a grain of rice that belongs to me!" Rudy replied, directing the last part to the lizard sitting in a high chair.

She furrowed her brows. "All this trouble for a grain of rice?" she asked. "It's a grain of rice..."

"ItsagrainofriceIspentathousanddollarson."

Veronica blinked slowly at the fast-paced response. "What?"

Rudy cleared his throat sheepishly. "It's a grain of rice that I spent a thousand dollars on," he repeated.

"You—You spent a thousand dollars on a grain of rice?" she asked incredulously. "What the hell is so special about a grain of rice?"

He shrugged. "It had the Wasabi code written on it?"

She stared at him. "It had the Wasabi code written on it?" she said slowly before shaking her head. "You spent a thousand dollars on a grain of rice? You know, it's stuff like this that makes it very hard not to judge you. So, let me get this straight, you spent a thousand dollars on a grain of rice, but when I suggested that you get a dishwasher for your apartment, you said you didn't have the money?"

"Well, a dishwasher costs more than a thousand dollars," he retorted.

"Well, had you not spent a thousand dollars on that thing, then you'd be a thousand dollars closer to being able to get one," she countered, crossing her arms.

Rudy shrugged and sat down in his seat. Veronica smiled to herself; I think I won that argument. "Would you like to join us for Thanksgiving dinner?" he asked his niece.

"Uh—no," she replied, disgusted at the thought of sharing a meal with a man whose best friend is a reptile. "Because I would like to eat more than a dinner roll and you only have meat on the table." Rudy nodded; he always seemed to forget that she was a vegetarian. "And, besides, Dad said he was going to try and call soon, so I'm just gonna be in the locker room."

"Alright. Say hi for me."

Veronica gave him a thumbs up and pulled out her phone, starting in the direction of the locker room when she felt water start to drip onto her brown hair. She furrowed her brows and looked up only for half-frozen water to douse her. Chunks of ice fell down her shirt which made her shift uncomfortably and, when she looked up once more, a metal bucket hit her on the forehead.

"Ow!"

"Ronnie, what happened?" Rudy asked, having heard his niece's cry of pain. He looked down to see she had fallen to the floor.

She tilted her head, mildly dazed. "I didn't know you were a twin..." He quirked an eyebrow upward. "Wait, you're not a twin. Mom's the older one. Why are there two of you?"

He nodded. "I think you hit your head a little too hard," he said, helping her up from the floor and she stumbled against him, feeling slightly nauseous. "Okay, Lonnie, enjoy the rest of your dinner. I'm taking Ronnie to the doctor."

"I'm fine, Rudy," she insisted and he frowned, holding up his hand.

"Really?" he questioned. "Then how many fingers am I holding up?"

She looked down at his hand. "Eight?"

"We're going to the doctor."

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐀𝐁𝐈 Warriors continued with Jack's cologne having bleu cheese that had been added to it, causing half of the school to throw up. Meanwhile, Kim still had bits of paper attached to her, and her hair was tangled from the glue.

Veronica was currently holding her head, trying to keep her head from spinning, while sitting on the floor between Jack and Kim.

"Guys, we all know Truman's behind all these pranks," Jack said and Milton.

"We just gotta figure out how he's doing it," he added.

Jerry began counting on his fingers. "Grease, hair dye, sticky paper, metal bucket, bleu cheese—" he answered. "—sounds like my grandmother's medicine cabinet."

Veronica closed her eyes. "Why is everybody yelling?" she asked and Kim looked down at her.

"We're not."

"Oh."

"Truman's picking us off one by one," Jack continued, glancing at Veronica for a moment. "He's got all of us, except for... Eddie."

The boy in question shifted uncomfortably. "What are you guys saying?" he asked.

"We're saying that you're next," Milton told him, walking over to the boy. "If I were you, I'd roll myself up in bubble wrap and sit in the basement." Veronica raised her eyebrows. "I did that when my father showed me my own birth video. Do you guys have any idea where we come from?"

Kim and Veronica both glanced at each other.

"My mother told me it was a pumpkin patch!" Eddie said; oh, sweet, innocent Eddie...

"I wish..."

Jack helped Veronica off the floor and kept her steady. "I think what Eddie needs to hear is that we're gonna be there for him."

"Guys, guys, I can take care of myself," Eddie told them, moving to the other bench away from Veronica, Jack, and Milton.

"No, no, no, Eddie," Jack said, following him while Veronica held her head in her hands. "We'll protect you. We'll walk you to school in the morning—"

Kim nodded. "And after school, we'll walk you back home."

"We'll be the last thing you see at night and the first thing you see in the morning," Milton added, sitting between Eddie and Veronica who blinked slowly. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Well, that doesn't sound creepy..." she muttered.

"Guys, stop!" Eddie exclaimed, standing up. "I can't take it anymore! It wasn't Truman who pulled those pranks on you."

Veronica looked up. "Well, then who was it?"

"It was me."

"What?"

Jack walked toward him while Veronica stayed seated, feeling a little more dizzier than before. "Eddie, why would you prank us like that?" he asked.

"Do you know what you did to me?" Kim questioned, gesturing to herself. "That paper was so sticky, I lost four freckles and half an eyebrow."

Jerry nodded. "And a clown keeps following me around asking me where I get my hair done."

"I'm still seeing some things in twos," Veronica added. "Oh, and did I mention that I got a concussion from that metal bucket that landed on my head?"

Kim tilted her head. "That explains why she thought we were all yelling..."

"Wait, so everything you see is double?" Jerry asked, walking over to her and holding up his hand. "Okay, V, how many fingers am I holding up?"

She swatted his hand away while Eddie groaned. "I didn't want to," he said, sitting down in defeat. "Truman's been blackmailing me."

Veronica frowned. "He's fourteen," she said, leaning against Jack to keep herself steady. "What kind of fourteen-year-old blackmails someone?"

"How is he blackmailing you?" Milton asked, just as confused as the brunette.

"Truman's father owns the security company that watches the mall," Eddie began explaining.

"So...?"

He sighed. "One night, Rudy let me stay in the dojo to work on some moves," he continued, looking up at his friends. "The thing is, I wasn't working on karate moves. I may or may not have kissed a dummy. Truman saw everything from his father's office. He put it on a flash drive and unless I do whatever he says, he's gonna put it on the internet. I'm sorry, guys."

"It's okay, Eddie," Jack said and Veronica nodded. "He's not gonna get away with it."

Milton nodded. "Truman's gonna be sorry he messed with us." He sat down beside his friend. "When you poke a bear, do you know what happens?" He looked around at the group. "Seriously, does anybody know?"

Veronica sighed. "Not the time, Milton."

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𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 be dressed in all black, Veronica would never know. Nevertheless, the group of misfits were standing in the dojo with a large sheet of paper spread out in front of them.

"Okay," Jack said dramatically and Veronica rolled her eyes. "Our mission is to get into the security office and grab the flash drive out of the safe. Let's go over the plan one more time."

Eddie nodded. "I'll get Truman out of the office by taking him to the parking lot and letting him shoot paintballs at me," he said and Veronica furrowed her brows.

"Is that going to work?"

"I think so," he replied, opening his jacket to reveal an already paint-filled shirt.

She nodded. "Alright, then..."

"Once we're inside, I'll disarm the security system," Jack continued, getting the discussion back on track.

"And I'll crack the safe," Milton added.

Kim pointed at her position on the map. "Out in the courtyard, I'll distract the security guard," she said and Jerry nodded.

"And I'll distract the guard's dog."

Jack looked at the boy. "How are you gonna distract the dog?" he asked.

"See, I don't know if you know this about me, but I was partially raised by wolves," he said making Kim and Veronica share a chuckle.

"That actually explains a lot," the blonde commented.

"Check it." Jerry howled and a short time later, there were howls in response. "Those are my peeps."

Veronica nodded. "Well, you all better be going," she said, pulling out her phone. "While you all do the... physical effort, I have a plan of my own."

"And are you going to tell us?" Jack asked, following his friends to the door.

She shook her head. "Nope. Good luck! And don't get caught!"

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𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 a success would be an understatement. Milton and Jack had succeeded in getting the flash drive from the safe and the group was back in the dojo.

"Breaking into my father's office?" Truman exclaimed, bursting through the doors of the building and they looked over at him. "You guys are in so much trouble!"

Veronica stepped forward. "I'm going to stop you right there," she said and he looked at her. "I had a wonderful phone call with one of my father's friends earlier this evening." She gestured outside and they all followed her gaze. "Meet Officer Ben Whitlock—an officer who met my father in training camp for the Army before quitting."

She shrugged. "He doesn't like to talk about that. But, anyway, he said that if there's ever another issue involving Lieutenant Becker's daughter and her friends, he would be happy to intervene. But... he never needs to be told if there are no more pranks from you. Are we in understanding, Truman?"

"Um..." He nodded. "Yes."

"Good. You can go now." Veronica turned back to her friends and found them staring back at her in surprise. "What?"

"You—That—What?"

She shrugged. "Uncle Ben isn't a fan of pranks," she said, glancing at the man outside. "Plus, he doesn't live here. He's just here to visit for the weekend." She smiled to herself. "So... pizza anyone?"

"I didn't know you could do that," Jack told her and she looked back at him.

"It seems there's a lot you don't know about me, Jack."

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━ author's note:

oh, ronnie... the girl who can casually call up a police officer and threaten a teenage boy... i love you