Group Effort; Something by Joy Everlasting and Jelly Bean

[Joy_Everlasting]

Getting dumped into a cart hadn't really been Joy's plan; that had actually involved getting to rest on one of the store's new mattresses, and then awake dramatically, like Sleeping Beauty - except without the kiss - and then going on to do amazingly well on her shopping spree, but needing one second more, which the owner and manager gave to her because she had been weakened by her fainting spell. But that wasn't what happened at all; instead, the owner dismissed her to recover where ever Geneva took her, and Jelly had managed to get Joy in a cart, in a position that wasn't very comfortable for the still-faking-unconsciousness Joy.

The whole experience was rather uncomfortable for Joy, who was still completely awake, though she wished she wasn't by the time the cart was moving; carts were never made to carry humans, at least not in the uncomfortable position Joy was in, and this cart was no exception. Joy could feel every crack in the floor shake the already-shaking cart as if it had just bounced over a deep pothole or something of that sort instead of a tiny, little crack. And she hit her head on the edge of the cart multiple times already, not to mention the bruises forming on her elbows and knees. At least she'd gotten more time to prepare for her shopping spree. You know, I never -bang; her head hit the front of the cart- realized how fast -crash; a quick turn sent her elbow into the cart's side- Geneva can -her knee smacked into bars on the bottom as they went over another crack- push a cart, or how many bumps - "Ow!" Joy hadn't exactly been planning on waking up then, but as Jelly first wheeled the cart into the storeroom, which happened to have a large bump in the doorway, and then did a sharp left turn, Joy's body went first up, then down, then sideways in rapid succession, leaving her groaning slightly with her eyes wide open.

As the cart slowed and stopped behind the shelves of potatoes, Joy finished her dramatic awakening with her usual style. "Oh my..." She sighed as she began stretching, "What happened? Did I faint? I didn't mean too, but I was so surprised." The scripted part of her return to consciousness over, she turned to a question that she figured she wouldn't know if she'd really fainted: "Where are we?"

 

[jelly_bean]

"Oh, Joy." Jelly gushed in a hurried whisper. "You're alive! He was right, you just fainted. Oh, I'm so happy you're okay." She said, her eyes shining with Joy. Er, joy, that is, not.... Joy. "We're in the storage room, but since you've come to, we can go back to the front. He said as soon as you're okay, the grocer, that is, you can do your sprint. But you must be quiet, as we're in enemy territory--two guys playing tic tac toe over there." Jelly whispered, pointing in the direction of the employees. "I wish I could disrupt their game, but your thing is more important, and besides, I can have my fun tonight. Are you ready to go run or do you need rest?" She asked sympathetically, not realizing she had harmed her friend more with the bouncing cart than Joy's fake fainting spell could.

((Joy deserves two extra seconds. One for the fainting spell, and one for the cart ride! Yikes.))

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

Joy was still recovering from the cart ride, causing her to only understand half of what Jelly said.
"You're alive! He... just fainted. I'm so... okay! He said... you're okay... The grocer... can do your sprint. ...Quiet, we're... playing tic tac toe over there." Joy wasn't exactly sure what was going on, and she almost 'fainted' again when Jelly said that they were playing tic tac toe. Thankfully, as her head began to clear, Jelly's sentences began to make more sense too. "I wish I could disrupt their game, but your thing is more important, and besides, I can have my fun tonight. Are you ready to go run or do you need rest?"

Having only mostly pieced together the early part of what Jelly had said, Joy answered her with a confused whisper; "Didn't you say that the grocer is going to do my sprint? Of course, I hope he isn't since he doesn't know what I want at all, and I'd probably end up with a tic tac toe set." She shuddered while mentally adding a five gallon bag of bouncy balls to her shopping list. "Anyway, I think I'm ready," she whispered, "But how are we going to get past those tic tac toe-loving employees?"

 

[jelly_bean]

Jelly sat in mild confusion at Joy's words. What? Had the fainting spell given her amnesia? She had seen it happen once in a soap opera. She had to deal with her very carefully, or her dear friend would go into shock! She was just about to do what she had seen the people do in the soap, but then she remembered Joy usually only heard half of what Jelly said. And with her being rattled around like a sack of potatoes, she actually only picked up a quarter of what Jelly had said. She was glad, because she really didn't want to have to tell her Joy's fiance had ran off with Stella Moran while she was unconscious, because while that happened in the soap, that hadn't really happened in real life.

"I said the grocer said you could do your run as soon as you were ready, no worries about him picking your stuff." She said, in her tried reassuring voice again. Geneva's brow furrowed thoughtfully as she considered the situation. In every novel she had read, when people grew thoughtful, their brow furrowed and they frowned, just a little bit, to get a slight crease between the eyebrows, making for the perfect studious, serious look. How would they get past the tic tac toe players? Then, she had an idea. They were both actors(they'd sure had enough practice) so why not act like they were doing a scene? They'd even get the employees in the skit, to confuse them. Then, in a whirlwind, the pair would exit and the reluctant volunteers of the scene would be so confused they'd just go back to their game. Geneva nodded with a smile, quickly relating her idea to Joy, hand motions included. "So, how about it?" She whispered. She had suggested doing a scene from a soap opera, as those were more confusing than usual plays. "I mean, other than that, I'm fresh out of ideas." She added, not wanting to be pushy.

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

"Oh..." Joy said, trying not to think about lunch even that was what Jelly's semi-reassuring voice made her think of. "That's good. I've been planning out what to do with these ten seconds all morning." Planning might not have been the right word for randomly thinking of things she wanted and forgetting what se'd thought of before, but that was the word Joy had used. She watched admiringly as Jelly furrowed her brow. Joy had never been able to master that look; her attempts usually ended with her looking like she'd just eaten something that tasted really funny. But she tried anyway, for a moment, concentrating more on the expression than the problem. Thankfully, Jelly came up with the perfect idea, and Joy didn't have to hold her expression for long.

Joy listened to Jelly's idea, paying careful attention to every hand motion, which was hard, since Jelly used a lot of hand motions and used them quickly. She could barely refrain from shouting at how wonderful the plan was, but managed to keep her volume at a rather loud whisper. "That sounds perfect! Doing a soap opera scene is pure genius. But should we plan out every line before we start, or should we improvise?" After a moment's thought, complete with her attempt at a thoughtful expression, Joy continued. "I think it would take to long to plan it all out, so we should just make it all up as we go. What should our roles be?" Joy loved acting, and soap operas were the most fun because they were always so dramatic. She kept a careful eye on the tic tac toe game while she talked to Jelly, to make sure that they weren't paying attention to the conversation going on behind the shelves.

 

[jelly_bean]

"We should improvise, as--" She replied in a hurried whisper, just as Joy interrupted and moved on to greener pastures. "Joy, you're a genius." Jelly said, as she quickly thought of how they were going to pull off such a weird stunt. "I have it! Joy, you've just come out of a coma, and you don't remember who you are so you've decided you must be the Empress of China. I will play a little lost orphan girl who has super powers and is attempting to draw your memory back. Are you ready? We'd better get going!" She said, and before Joy had any time to agree or object Jelly thrust herself out behind the shelves of peppered corn.

"Oh, cruel world! The only person who cares a thing about a little lost orphan girl like me is Stella Moran, and she's lost her memory ever since she came out of her coma. She now thinks she's someone completely different and disowns me! How shall I ever find happiness? If only my Super Stupendous Ray would work consistently, maybe I could bring her memory back!" She cried, oblivious to the looks of confusion and horror on the two employees faces. She held a dramatic pose and waited impatiently for Joy to join her.

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

Joy nodded for most of what Jelly was saying, to signify that she'd actually heard what was being said this time. Of course, she stopped nodding understandingly and started nodding absently as soon as Jelly mentioned her role. Joy's mind immediately went to what Stella should say and do, and in doing so completely missed the rest of what Jelly said. "Wait? What?" she started to ask, but it was too late; Jelly was already on the other side of the shelves performing for the tic tac toe players.

There was a brief moment of confused silence held by both the employees and Joy, as she tried to remember what she was supposed to be doing. "Oh yeah..." She muttered, before dashing out by Jelly, moaning and groaning. "Where have my servants gone? An empress needs her servants. And mine have abandoned me, just because I was in a coma for six months... Now the only person who helps me is this orphan girl, who thinks that my name is Stella..." She heaved a gigantic sigh and put her hand on her forehead, just like she'd seen people do in the soap operas.

 

[jelly_bean]

The employees were now exchanging horrified looks, trying to silently plan a way to get away from these two strange girls. But Jelly was too quick for that, and grabbed both of them at once. "You MUST help me! I'm only a little lost orphan girl! You know, like Annie! Help me bring long life and happiness to my guardian Stella! She could never have that as the Empress of all China! So help me!" She pleaded quite convincingly. After an awkward pause, one of the employees cleared his throat and said, "Why not just tell her she's not the Empress of China?" Jelly beamed at him, glad he hadn't turned to stone like his friend did. "Because she'll just sentence you to the plank if you tell her that! Nobody backtalks the empress! Not a bad idea, though."

She released the two guys and cracked her knuckles. "SUPER DE-EMPRESSING BEAM!" Geneva hollered, holding out a hand as if a beam really was going to come out of it. "DRAT! Foiled again! Well, I suppose I should go see a hypno-therapist about getting her back to normal, like everyone does in these situations. Come, Empress Stella! I think I know where some of your servants have run off to." But then, something unexpected happened. The stone employee regained his senses and jumped up, glaring at Jelly. "Who do you think you are?! A bunch of imposters, that's what you both are! You think you can hide behind the peppered corn and parade your way out of here? Well, it won't work! Your evil scheme almost worked, except you didn't anticipate one thing--running into the real Empress of all China! Now bow, ingrates!" He cried, with a look of dead seriousness that was awe-inspiring for Jelly. So much so she nearly broke character, but the first rule to impromptu acting was to never, never, ever break character.

"Now, now do you believe me, Stella? You can't be the Empress if he's already occupying the position. Please, Stella, you must believe me! I have no one else in the world but you! I would've had your fiancee, too, but he ran off with your identical twin sister Stella. Please! Without you, I'll never have the courage to use my super powers for good!" Geneva begged of her in-character friend, who was still wearing yours truly's antannae.

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

Joy was smiling, forwning, and looking positively indifferent at all the right parts of Jelly's exchange with the non-stone employee, until the other one spoke up. Thankfully, it was in character for "Stella" to look completely shocked when he announced who he was. "But.... but..." she stammered a few times, to stall for time until she thought of an idea. At last one came to her in a brilliant flash that happened to be the light bulb above them giving out its last light before going out. "But isn't the empress a woman's job?" she asked in the semi-darkness. "He's the imposter!" She pulled away from Geneva, before turning back in confusion for a moment. "I had a fiancee?" But now wasn't the time; someone was trying to steal her role.

She marched straight up to the now-not-stone employee, and started lecturing him. "Do you want the job of being empress? I assure it is a job, and a hard one at that; people are constantly trying to assassinate you, or impersonate you. And you have to be careful of your every word so the people that you're taking care of don't rebel... And sometimes people mock your..." She trailed off for a second, having forgotten what she was going to say, but Jelly's antennae bobbing on her head reminded her. "Your antennae! But you still have to treat them nicely." Joy fumbled for a moment. "But I love my Chinese people, so you can't be empress." And with that she started walking out of the storage room, hoping that Geneva would follow her, but she tripped over one of the cracks in the floor and fell. It wasn't a very bad fall, but she started groaning anyway. "Oh, my head... What happened? Do you know, little orphan girl who I've sworn to protect? And where's my fiancee?"

 

[jelly_bean]

"In China, there is no such gender discrimination!" Stone employee shot back, still looking marvelously indignant. Geneva, taking advantage of the moment, mouthed to Joy, Yes, you had a fiancee! before turning back to face the two guys, wanting to applaud the imposter's imposter. Shaking his head during "Stella"'s lecture, his answer was quick and firm.

"I already have the job of being the empress! I never lost it--I was kidnapped! By your fiancee! So you could steal my identity and eat all of China's chocolate cake! Not to mention that the antannae are the key to the secret treasure of jelly beans! So, begone!"

Geneva had real tears shining in her eyes as she and Joy started with phase two of the act, which was whirlwind it out of there. She helped Joy up after the stumble, and managed to say, "Stella! Stella, you're back! I'm right here. Now we can go and save the world! Starting with this brave man!" Feeling real pain at this act, she swiped the antannae from Joy's head and plopped it onto Stone. "Take the antannae and go back to your throne! They have the power to conquer your enemies! Let's go home, Stella!" She said, and grabbed her friend's hand. Waving regally, she dragged her friend along and as soon as they were out of the storage room, she broke into a run.

"That was..." She started, but couldn't finish. What was that?

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

"Which is why they allowed me to be empress; they don't discriminate against women!" Joy replied semi-calmly, while trying to read Geneva's lips. It was a rather hard job, especially when she was trying to listen to the rantings of someone who was either a good actor, an insane madman, or the empress of China. Her final comprehension of the message dawned on her just as the man's accusations became too much. She ignored him, and continued her storming exit, which was soon interupted by her fall, and the continuation of their plan.

Joy, too, felt real pain at the loss of Geneva's antennae, and she was pretty sure that the water in her eyes was not from the fall. Or maybe it was; her head was a little sore after all... Either way, she follwed Jelly out of the storage room, attempting to wave regally as well, at least until she almost tripped again, after which she resorted just to concentrating on not tripping until they got out of there.

"Was that the real empress of China?" Joy gasped as they ran, confused because the man hadn't looked Chinese. "He was pretty good, for a tic tac toe player." And with that she lapsed into the silence of a slightly growing anxiety, and the desire to laugh at the events of the last ten minutes. Of course, she didn't bother to block the desire to laugh, and laughing in a way that some would call maniacal, she rounded the corner and barely managed to avoid smacking into the woman who had won second place and was running through the aisles as far from the checkout she dared go with her mere minute of shopping spree-ness.

 

[jelly_bean]

Geneva's stomach chose that very moment to release a very loud growl, but she paused that thought for a moment to reply. "I think it was, actually. If he wasn't, he should be. He deserves it. Maybe we should see if he can drink black coffee... now that he has antannae, he may be one of us. Maybe. Not." But by then, Joy was howling with laughter and probably didn't hear Geneva's reply.

Shoving her way politely to the front of the store with Joy in tow. "Now, we've got to boogey because I'm starving to death. So put all of your track training to use and do us proud!" She coached, and she had taken on the reassuring tone again. Approaching the grocer, she didn't acknowledge his loud moan of disapproval. "She's ready, your Highness---uh, Mr. Grocer." She spoke up, before Joy had any time to back out or warm up some more.

Abandoning her friend, she sat down on the ground a few feet away, yoinked a bag of yam chips from an unsuspecting customer and began to eat, looking at Joy and the grocer expectantly. "You can do it!" She hollered around a mouthful of chips.

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

"Okay, here you go," the grocer said, rolling his eyes slightly as he shoved a cart into Joy's shaking hands. These two girls were insane, and he couldn't wait to get rid of them. "Five more minutes..." he muttered under his breath, as he ushered Joy to the starting line, and stepped back to stare at the clock on the wall. After a couple seconds, he began the countdown.

“3...” Joy’s mind was racing as the grocer counted down to the beginning of her shopping spree; it was finally going to happen, after all this time, or rather, this morning since she found out. She was panicking slightly, and glanced nervously at Jelly as the grocer called...
“2...” She took a deep breath, tightening her grip on her cart’s handle. Two more seconds…
“1…” Barely managing to keep from taking off at the sound, Joy waited tensely for the last word.
“GO!” With an audible sigh of relief, the manager waved his flag. Finally he could get rid of this crazy orange-haired girl and her weird friend.

Joy was off like a shot, or as like a shot as someone pushing a cart can come. She could hear the countdown in her head, reminding her of every second as it disappeared.
"10..." She rushed from the line toward the nearest display, taking a brief moment to wonder at the fact that almost everything that was on her list (that she could remember) was in that display. But moments were not to be wasted, and as the word "7" reverberated in her mind, she reached the display, taking three frantic seconds to knock everything off the stand and into her cart. Half of it missed, but she didn't have time to worry about the mess. (the grocer would later) She grabbed a handful of what had fallen, which happened to include a few packages of waterballoons and some blue hairdye, and dropped it into the cart as she turned and pushed it back to the checkout and the finishline.

"0..." And right then, she crossed the line, collapsing and wondering if a tie went to her. Her wondering was interupted by another "0" and a "Good job, Miss" by the grocer.
"Please step to the side so you can catch your breath while we finish up the details." The grocer smiled briefly, his smile straining as he glanced at the ruined display, bevore leaving to 'finish up the details' as quickly as he could, before these twin destroyers wrecked more of his store. Joy was left sitting on the floor trying to figure out how she had heard two zeros. It was a few seconds before she realized that she had counted down in her head a little faster than the real seconds had happened, and had toned out the grocer's countdown in the process.

Smiling happily, she stood up and walked over to Geneva, while the grocer took her cart, and checked out the jumbled mass of things inside, so she wouldn't have to worry about the alarm going off as if she'd stolen what she'd won. "Did you see me? Was I fast? I think I got most everything I wanted, but I can't remember what all I wanted, or what all I got, so we'll find out later. I thought I was out of time for a moment there. Oh I'm glad it's done..." were just a few of her happy ramblings.

 

[jelly_bean]

Jelly was up and dancing by the time Joy came back to rejoin her. She had never witnessed anything so spectacular in her life! "You finished even before time ran out! It was music, Joy!" It was not really, but elevator music had been piped in right as Joy's race started, so she was quite a bit confused on that part. "You ran like the wind!" Wind runs, right? Never mind, it's a saying. "A real shopping spree champi-o-nee!" She exclaimed, upsetting her bag of chips with her grand hand gestures.

Walking over to Joy's cart, she marveled at all the free stuff her friend had collected. "Hair dye, dish soap, water balloons..." She counted off, beaming. "This is awesome. I was worried that you'd forget what to get, but you remembered like an elephant!" Geneva suddenly noticed the grocer standing behind them, conspicuously glaring at them. And then just as conspicuously glaring at the display mess and the yam chips scattered all on the floor. "Ahhh... but on that note, we need to get going to prepare for tonight! Let's go cart this stuff to your place and then I'll buy you lunch!" Jelly said quickly, smiling brightly at the grocer.

Turning away quickly, she began to beam once again at Joy with pride.

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

"Music? You really think it was that good?" Now that she didn't have to worry about the time or anything of the sort, Joy was bouncing up and down a little. "Really? That fast?" she shouted happily, before pausing a second to debate whether Geneva had meant a strong, 25 mph wind, or a mere 10 mph breeze, or even a hurricane. But her thoughts couldn't stray too far from the cart in front of her, and she skipped over to it with Jelly, and beamed in at all her free stuff. "I think I'm going to dye my hair tonight," she chattered cheerfully, pulling a huge package of Sharpies out of the cart, and looking at all the different bright colors before putting them back, and following Jelly's glance to the grocer. "Yeah, I don't really think he's happy that I knocked over that display over there, but I didn't really have time to do things nicely," she sighed slightly, before smiling beautifully at the stony grocer.

"Lunch?! Oh good, I'm starving; shopping sprees do take a lot out of people, don't they? But they're so fun too." She smiled back at Geneva, before noticing the approaching figure of the empress of China (complete with antennae) and his employee friend, who's gaze was alternating between them, the mess, and the angry grocer. "Um... Yeah, we'd probably better go. What's the plan for tonight? I've forgotten." She grabbed her cart, and started pushing it toward the exit, glancing inside every once in a while, to remind herself of what was there.

 

[jelly_bean]

Soon after the pair made a hasty retreat, ((godmodding for the sake of moving on, hope you don't mind )) Joy and Jelly went to Joy's place, and Jelly made good on her promise to buy Joy lunch. After wrecking havoc over at their local Chinese restaurant, they went back to Joy's where she promptly dyed her hair a stunning shade of blue. Jelly, by untold means, now has blue streaks in her hair now. They spent the afternoon watching Gilligan's Island and wrestling, and before they knew it, it was just about time to get headed out to terrorize the big tic tac toe championship.

"JOY!!" Geneva shrieked suddenly, although it sounded a touch hoarse. She had spent much time yelling during the wrestling and her voice was acknowledging that. "LOOK at the time! We need to get going and I still need to change!" She had a good deal of ketchup on her shirt thanks to a hot dog accident in which Joy had forgotten she wasn't in Antarctica. "One must look good while at a tic tac toe competition... especially if you're there to spoil it. Should we meet there or do you care to say hello to Spike while I change?" Spike was Jelly's pet cactus, who was pampered beyond... what was normal pampering for cacti.

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

Joy, who had changed her clothes after she got a big, blue spot of hair dye on her shirt, was still mourning her favorite wrestler's loss. Of course, she was only mourning on the inside, in a very small spot behind her left elbow; on the outside, she was her normal self. When Geneva remembered the time, Joy dropped the goldfish bowl she was carrying. It was empty, and plastic, so it didn't break and the fish didn't die, but it did roll down the street and get run over by a random car. By then, Joy was expressing her happiness at the idea of visiting Spike, and had almost forgotten the fishbowl. She couldn't remember why she'd been carrying it in the first place. "...I haven't seen him in a whole three days. He still likes melted chocolate, right? Because I think I have a little in one of my pockets..."

 

[jelly_bean]

"He does! He thinks it's sweet soil, you know. He really puffs up when he gets melted chocolate!" Geneva enthused, as they walked down the street to her apartment. Quickly letting both of them in, Geneva changed into her black shirt with a green 1-up on it, and quickly went into the bathroom and opened up her makeup case.

Getting her green lipstick, she drew a tic tac toe board on her cheek. "Gotta blend in," she muttered, using eyeliner to draw a few tiny X's, "though tic tac toers aren't too bright, they are likely to recognize me without some sort of tic tac toe fandom." Jelly always had so much to say, she usually had to say quite a bit to herself when Joy wasn't with her. She thought about wearing her extra pair of antannae, but decided against it as it would be a dead giveaway.

Jelly pulled Joy away from Spike and proceeded to drag her towards the recreational center, where the tournament was to be held. Halting a few feet away from the door, Geneva stopped to tell Joy something. "We're going to need code names, Joy, as they will be able to recognize 'Joy' and 'Jelly' and our usual codenames. Got any good ideas?"

 

[Joy_Everlasting]

Joy had been pouring melted chocolate all over Spike's flower pot, which was near overflowing when Geneva pulled her away... The resulting small trail of chocolate dribble off the small table and onto the floor, joining many other small chocolate stains from the other times Joy had visited. The small blue tic tac toe board that she had unartistically drawn on her left cheek made her feel like a little kid again, which was not a rare occasion, but still made her happy.

"New codenames, right," Joy replied, still glancing at Spike and his chocolate every few minutes. "Um... I could be Mara - like "sorrow" you know? - and you could be Peanut Butter? They'd never guess it was us if our names were the opposite of our other names." Her brow almost furrowed this time, but she still couldn't quite achieve that perfection of thought. Someday... But that didn't mean that she couldn't have fun tonight.

 

[jelly_bean]

Jelly beamed yet again at her friend Joy. (She seems to beam a lot) "This is why you're a genius, you have such genius ideas!" She proclaimed, moving the cactus to her right hand to pat Joy on the back. "But I don't know about peanut butter, I have this cousin who's allergic, so it'd be disloyal for me to be Peanut Butter. How about just Butter?" Of course, it wasn't as great considering it wasn't the opposite of sadness, and Jelly took that into consideration. So, she did Jelly mathematics.

"Butter reminds me of mashed potatoes, which reminds me of gravy, which reminds me of a gravy boat, which reminds me of the Titanic, which reminds me of ice cubes, which reminds me of plastic, which reminds me of recyclables, which reminds me of green, which reminds me of celery..." And at that point people were giving them dirty looks because they were blocking traffic into the building. "All right, Mara, Celery is ready to rock." Geneva announced, beaming. Deciding Spike would be out of his element inside, she placed the planter right next to a giant water fountain. "You'll have a good view. Plus, it's homey... it'll remind you of the desert."

With that, she turned back to Joy. "Are we ready? Remember, it is imperative to win the first preliminaries, so as to allay any last suspicions, since we usually just walk in and cause trouble." Geneva warned, before remembering that she had never seen Joy play tic tac toe before. Well... this is Joy we're talking about. If she puts her mind to it, she can do it. Hopefully.