Once all of the supervillians and Truthy the Superhero’s backs were turned and they were all huddled together talking quietly, Burke the Bird looked over at Shamrock Girl and Emeralda again and winked wickedly. He then walked a few steps over to the middle of the fallen vending machine and quietly opened fully a slightly ajar compartment on the vending machine where a lone Bomb Pop Popsicle lay. Burke took the Bomb Pop Popsicle out quietly then carefully tore off the wrapper and tossed it aside. He then took a couple of licks of the popsicle then all of a sudden he moved the red part of the popsicle to his left eye, closed his eyelid and circled his eye with it. He did this several times. He then rubbed the red part of the popsicle all over his body then moved the Bomb Pop back to his mouth and began eating vigorously the red part then the white part until he finally came to the remaining blue part of the popsicle. He stopped eating then lifted the remaining blue part to his left eye and began moving it all over his eye, face and body. He then returned the Bomb Pop Popsicle for the last time to his mouth and quickly ate the rest of it. Once he was finished he gave the remaining long wooden stick a long lick before tossing it aside. He then looked fiercely at his yellow collar ring with pieces of the awesome onyx and the lemonhead diamond embedded into it then put one of his hand-like wings to the right side of his face and whispered at Shamrock Girl and Emeralda four words, “Super stick and super bright.” Shamrock Girl and Emeralda watched increduously as the red and blue parts from the Bomb Pop Popsicle stared to glow brightly and boldly. Their mouths fell open in unison as a now extremely battered and bruised looking Burke the Bird winked over at them then he said loudly,
“Okay, everybody, you can turn around now.” All the supervillians, superpets and Truthy the Superhero all turned around in unison and a nanosecond later, all of their mouths fell open in unison just as Shamrock Girl and Emeralda’s had as they took in Burke the Bird’s appearance. With fake surprise in his baby blue eyes and with a smile dancing around the corner’s of his mouth that he deftly managed to keep at bay said almost straight-faced to the crowd in a sugary sweet innocent voice, “Whatever is the matter?” All of a sudden a piercing scream broke the stunned silence as Ebonnyra quickly went to Burke the Bird then carefully picked him up all the while yelling at the top of her lungs, “Call the doctor! Call an ambulance! Call the doctor! Call an ambulance! Omigod! Omigod!” All at once chaos broke out everywhere. Shamrock Girl and Emeralda as if stuck in a bad dream were still rooted to the same spots that they had been ever since they found Burke the Bird staring at them maliciously. They both were in such an incredible amount of shock at the stunning events that had just transpired in the last couple of minutes that neither of them could physically move a muscle. They both just stood there like statues watching the chaos in disbelief. Shamrock Girl and Emeralda didn’t know how long they had been standing there when another voice startled them. “Well, are you two just going to stand there or are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?”
For the third time that evening yet another voice had startled them but this time was different. Instead of groaning both Shamrock Girl and Emeralda smiled bright and let out loud whoops of joy. The voice was like a nice refreshing glass of ice cold water on a hot summer’s day. Shamrock Girl and Emeralda both having regained their ability to move their bodies simultaneously ran over and hugged Dr. Althea Lawgood tightly nearly knocking her to the ground. Dr. Al as she was known was the holder of a doctorate of medicine and a doctorate of law enforcement. Dr. Al was the doctor supreme for the superhero division of the planet of Jytrimillya which was the highest ranking doctor on the planet. She was also the captain and head of Jytrimillya City Justice which was the largest police force on the planet of Jytrimillya. And she was also Shamrock Girl and Emeralda’s beloved godmother. Dr. Al had been best friends with Shamrock Girl’s parents ever since they were small children. Both Shamrock Girl and Emeralda couldn’t believe that she was here. Both of them just remembering why they had come home for a visit which was to spend some of Shamrock Girl’s bonus money and see Dr. Al, but so much had happened that evening that they had completely forgot until now. Dr. Al hugged both Shamrock Girl and Emeralda soundly then she said firmly to them, “Let’s have a seat ladies.” She then let them go and walked over to a three seater table and sat down in the middle. Shamrock Girl and Emeralda took the two seats opposite her. “Now I want both of you to tell me what the hell is going on and Emeralda I want to hear from you first. From the little bit that I was able to make out from Corruptus B. Villianer’s shouting and yelling, you’re at the center of this mess.” (Corruptus B. Villianer was the lawyer supreme for the supervillian division of the planet of Jytrimillya.)
Emeralda sighed loudly then crossed her paws in front of her on the table. She slowly took a breath of air in then with expert eyeball telepathy told Dr. Al what had happened up until the time that Dr. Al herself had arrived in the Main Lounge startling them. Shamrock Girl only interrupted occasionally to confirm Emeralda’s version of the events. It was Dr. Al’s turn to sigh loudly now. She stood up wearily and said, “Alright you two, I want you to stay right here while I go talk to Corruptus and find out what’s going on. Okay?” she said firmly. “Okay.” Shamrock Girl and Emeralda said quickly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” she called back over her shoulder. A few nanoseconds later, Dr. Al was gone. Shamrock Girl and Emeralda now completely back to themselves noticed that they were all alone in the Main Lounge. Emeralda took Shamrock Girl’s hand into her left paw. Shamrock Girl noticed that it was a bit sweaty. Shamrock Girl squeezed Emeralda’s paw reassuringly. Emeralda rewarded her with a nervous looking smile. Ten minutes later, Truthy the Superhero walked cautiously into the Main Lounge and up to the table where Shamrock Girl and Emeralda were sitting. “May I sit down?” he asked them quietly. Shamrock Girl and Emeralda both nodded.
Truthy sat down quickly. “Can I be frank?” he asked. Again Shamrock Girl and Emeralda both nodded. “If the truth be told, this situation totally sucks!” A shy smile quickly crossed his handsome boyish tan face. Like a nasty virus, Truthy’s smile was contagious. Within a couple of nanoseconds all three of them were not only smiling but laughing merrily. Another nanosecond later, SharpPoint the Superhero entered the Main Lounge followed by a hundred superheros. The other superheros heard a little bit about what had happened and wanted to let Shamrock Girl and Emeralda know that they were 100% on their side and would give them their full support. This instantly made Shamrock Girl and Emeralda feel a whole lot better. It made them both feel good that they were not alone. As Shamrock Girl looked around at her fellow brethren looking extremely worriedly at her and Emeralda she realized that Burke the Bird was wrong as usual. Everyone who ever loved her was not dead but also standing right here in this room with her. It was a fact that she had already known but Burke the Bird’s comment had disturbed her all the same but now Shamrock Girl felt like she was on top of the world again and that she could accomplish anything. When she looked over at Emeralda a nanosecond later, the cosmic twins that they were knew that she was feeling exactly the same.
Shamrock Girl was brought out of her reverie by SharpPoint’s voice. He was currently telling Shamrock Girl and Emeralda that if there was anything that they could do for them no matter what it was to please let them know. Shamrock Girl was about to express her thanks when Truthy beat her to the punch. “Well,” he said, “If the truth be told, these lovely ladies could use some extra help cleaning up this mess and some fresh food and drink.” While he said these words he gestured to the vending machine and floor then to the now cold food sitting on the two seater table by the window. All of a sudden there was a mad rush of superheros all over the Main Lounge. A very short time later the Main Lounge was spic and span again. The broken vending machine was now gone and the floor was completely clean. Also, at the polite urging of Truthy and the rest of the superheros, Shamrock Girl and Emeralda were now eating heartily fresh food from the JC Food Court that some of the superheros had gotten them. Trying to keep their minds off of the upcoming trouble that they sensed was coming ahead, Truthy and the rest of the superheros began playing games and sharing superhero tales to keep them entertained.
Four long hours later Dr. Al once again entered the Main Lounge, a big frown and many wrinkles were etched into her forehead. Truthy immediately jumped up from the chair between Shamrock Girl and Emeralda and offered it to Dr. Al who promptly plopped down into it. Truthy ever the superhero gentleman said firmly, “If the truth be told, I think that we should give these ladies a little privacy.” But Shamrock Girl held up her hand then uttered, “If the truth be told, i’d like all of you to stay.” Emeralda nodded her approval. Truthy’s tan cheeks turned a bright pink before he smiled at Shamrock Girl shyly. The superheros all smiled at Shamrock Girl and Emeralda. They looked completely touched. They then pulled up chairs, couches and some of them even sat on the floor as they all waited for Dr. Al to speak. Dr. Al smiled around tiredly then looked at Emeralda and said, “I hate to do this to you kitten but i’m afraid that I am going to have to take you down to the station and book you.”
Immediately a chorus of “no’s” went up into the air. “What for?” Shamrock Girl sputtered. Dr. Al sighed loudly then said, “Emeralda, i’m afraid is going to charged with attempted murder and willful destruction of property.” Many “omigods” and “no’s” again filled the room. “You’ve got to be kidding!” said Shamrock Girl increduously while tears started to brim in her eyes. “We told you what happened. Emeralda simply lost her cool at Burke the Bird’s sick remark. She wasn’t trying to kill anyone! That’s ridiculous! She was only defending me.” “I know, I know, I know.” Dr. Al said wearily. “But unfortunately Ebonnyra, Ivorysour, Burke the Bird and a hundred supervillians all say different. And they’re all claiming that they have an impartial witness to the crimes.” Dr. Al then looked over wearily at Truthy the Superhero. Every superhero including Shamrock Girl and Emeralda did the same. Then Shamrock Girl and Emeralda both looked over at each other. Duel dawns of realization appeared in their matching eyes as they finally put two and two together.
Earlier, when Shamrock Girl and Emeralda were about to go over and apologize to Burke the Bird but stopped when they saw the malicious glee in his eye and a smirk on his face they now realized at some point while Shamrock Girl and Emeralda were talking that Burke had spotted Truthy the Superhero probably sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the supervillians and put two and two together much earlier than they did. Burke had realized that Truthy had witnessed almost everything and he had all he needed to nail both Shamrock Girl and Emeralda to the wall. Shamrock Girl immediately became frightened at the realization. “Oh my god!” Shamrock Girl said loudly then put her hand to her mouth. The rest of the superheros except Shamrock Girl, Truthy, Dr. Al and Emeralda looked puzzled so Emeralda filled them in.
Shamrock Girl’s worst fears were confirmed when Truthy told them that he had ran into SharpPoint in the JC Food Court and learned that Shamrock Girl and Emeralda were here for a visit. SharpPoint told Truthy that he saw Shamrock Girl and Emeralda heading in the direction of the Main Lounge then Truthy hurriedly headed off to Ticker Tacos. Once Truthy was in the Ticker Taco line, he suddenly remembered that he forgot to tell him and Shamrock Girl and Emeralda for that matter that all of the superheros were avoiding the Main Lounge because of Burke the Bird’s singing when he received an unexpected call from his mother and he completely forgot. Truthy then told them how he came to the Main Lounge to eat with the girls and say “hi” when he came upon the struggle between Shamrock Girl and Emeralda and Burke the Bird screaming for help on top of the vending machine.
After Truthy finished his story, the Main Lounge full of superheros suddenly went deadly quiet and bleak. The terrible silence was finally broken by Manowi Midnight otherwise known as Midnight White the Superhero. Midnight was a very tall and good looking black man with gleaming midnight black skin and perfect sparkling white teeth. Midnight was the lawyer supreme for the superhero division for the planet of Jytrimillya. He would obviously be Emeralda’s lawyer. “Hi everybody, so good to see all of you. I just wished it could of been under more pleasant circumstances. I hate to break this up but we really need to get down to the station gals.” he said looking at Emeralda, Dr. Al and Shamrock Girl. “And Truthy, we need you to come with us too.” Midnight said quietly. Shamrock Girl, Emeralda, Dr. Al and Truthy all nodded bleakly then stood up. Before they left, they again received many hugs and kisses from their brethren.
Three exhausting hours later, puffy eyed and bone tired, Shamrock Girl and Emeralda arrived back at the condo apartment. Each of them went into the bathroom and brushed their teeth at the dual sinks and took long hot showers in the dual shower compartments then fell into their beds tiredly. Neither spoke to each other but instead laid awake a long time then fell into troubled sleeps.
It was Shamrock Girl who awoke first the next day. She started violently when she heard loud knocking on the front door and the doorbell buzzing furiously. Before Shamrock Girl threw off the covers she automatically looked over at the clock on her bedside table. It said 11:41 am. The loud knocking and the doorbell buzzing continued, this time waking Emeralda. Shamrock Girl quickly said, “I’ll get it.” Then dashed off to the front door. Once the door was open, Dr. Al rushed in carrying a large square box with Dunkin Donuts printed on it and on top of the donut box was a holder with three large cups in it. Dr. Al set the items on the cherrywood coffee table in front of the couch. Emeralda ambled in looking like hell. She yawned loudly. Her beautiful jet black fur was sticking up all over the place and she had bags under her eyes and sleepy crust in the corners. Shamrock Girl didn’t even want to think about what she looked like. Emeralda seated herself on the floor at the end of the coffee table. Dr. Al sat on the couch opposite her. Shamrock Girl then sat down next to Dr. Al on the couch.
“Unfortunately i’m afraid that I have two pieces of bad news, ladies.” Dr. Al said quietly then took one of the cups from the holder, popped the lid off then drank deeply. Emeralda held up her left paw as if to say, “Wait! Don’t tell me yet!” And it was her turn to take a cup from the holder, remove the lid and drink deeply. Shamrock Girl was so nervous and scared about what she was about to hear that she didn’t know what the hell to do so she followed the others and took the last cup from the holder and took a small sip of the hot robust Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. She then began circling the rim of the cup with her finger. When Dr. Al had practically drank all of her coffee she looked over at Emeralda for a signal. A couple of nanoseconds later, Emeralda lowered her cup from her mouth and nodded her head. Shamrock Girl held her breath.
“First, in two weeks Emeralda you’ll have to appear at the Jytrimillya City Municipal Court House where you will be formally arraigned for attempted murder and willful destruction of property. Midnight White says the trial will probably take place in about six months after the arraignment.” Dr. Al said, a big frown covering her lovely brown face. Tears started to form in Shamrock Girl’s eyes. With expert eyeball telepathy and in a slightly shaky way Emeralda asked, “If I were to be found guilty of this nonsense which I know that there is no way that I will ever be, but let’s just suppose that I am. What am I looking at?” Dr. Al lowered her eyes and voice and said, “25 years for the attempted murder charge and 3 years for the willful destruction of property charge.” Shamrock Girl’s coffee slid from her hands and fell to the floor. Shamrock Girl immediately jumped up and shrieked, “28 years!” “Well, let’s look on the bright side.” Emeralda said with false brightness, “If I go to jail, at least i’ll get some peace and quiet.” A huge grin then spread across her face and she began to laugh. Dr. Al chuckled heartily. Shamrock Girl in spite of her fear couldn’t help but to laugh too.
To let you all in on the joke, Junker or its formal name, Junker Correctional Planetary Prison was Jytrimillya’s one and only prison. It was a gigantic structure located on the south side of Jytrimillya City. It was designed to house both superheros and supervillians. There were two divisions of the prison. The “SHSP” division that stood for the superhero/superpet division and the “SVSP” division that stood for the supervillian/superpet division. While the supervillian division was filled with thousands of supervillian inmates all caught on video and weren’t able to talk, lie or buy their way out of their crimes the superhero division had exactly zero inmates currently. Only a small number of superheros over the years had ever been imprisoned and they had all been innocent. The only reason that they had been sent to Junker at all was that each of them consented to go and that had only been to keep the supervillians quiet and from whining about injustice and favortism. The maximum sentence that a superhero had ever received had been one week which had satisfied the supervillians because to them a superhero in jail for a few days was like years.
From what Dr. Al had told her and several bits of overheard conversations of supervillians who had been in Junker over the years, all in all it was actually a very nice place mostly due to the supervilllians urgent insisting that all kinds of comfort features be installed in the prison like luxury carpeting in every cell, public bathrooms with whirlpools in them, five star food, security officers and prison personnel who attended to your every need, daily conjugal visits and much much more. The only drawback to Junker was like any prison you were confined to the prison itself and the grounds for your entire stay which the supervillians could care less about because most of them were still able to do their dirty work from behind bars but the very idea of Emeralda not being able to go anywhere for 28 years was unfathomable. “What are we gonna’ do?” Shamrock Girl wailed miserably.
Dr. Al looked at Emeralda then patted the space beside her on the couch. Emeralda immediately jumped up beside her. Dr. Al then put both of her arms around Shamrock Girl and Emeralda. Both of them snuggled up against her. Dr. Al then kissed both of them on the cheek and said, “Well, here’s what you’re not going to do. For the time being I want both of you to stay in this apartment. You are not to go anywhere. The supervillians are all itching to confront you face to face and the last thing we need is any more trouble. We’re not going to give them anymore ammunition. I mean it, girls, you are to stay in this apartment. I’ve already arranged for groceries and take out to be delivered to you daily. Plus, I want you girls to get some rest. You both look terrible. And Midnight White wants you well rested for your court appearance. If there’s anything that you need, write it down and let the delivery person know and they will bring the items to you the next day with your daily groceries. Okay?” Dr. Al said firmly. “Okay.” Shamrock Girl and Emeralda said in unison. Dr. Al continued. “I’ll be stopping by daily to give you girls an official report on what’s going on.”
Dr. Al then looked at her wrist watch. It said 11:58 am. “Now for the second piece of bad news. There’s no way to say it but to just say it. ” Dr. Al sighed loudly then said, “Burke the Bird is giving a press conference at 12:30 after the 12:00 news and unfortunately girls, I think that we better watch it.” Both Shamrock Girl and Emeralda groaned loudly then sank back in the cushions. Dr. Al again gave them a kiss on the cheek then removed her hands from around them. She stood up and grabbed the remote control off of the coffee table then turned on the television. She sat back down heavily and waited for the news to come on. It was one of the worst hours of television that Shamrock Girl had ever watched. She wanted to turn it off so bad the nanosecond that it came on but she knew that she couldn’t which made the situation even worse. In between the supervillian reporters happily trashing the hell out of her and Emeralda on Nano News (The Noon Edition) and Burke the Bird’s fake tears, fake heroism in the face of near death, Burke calling Emeralda a psycho assassin out for his blood and being called an incredibly unfit pet owner who ought to be locked up too, Shamrock Girl had reached her boiling point. She was rapidly rotating between extreme sadness and white hot anger. And unfortunately, this is how it went for Shamrock Girl and Emeralda for the next 10 days then something neither of them expected happened.