//------------------------------// // Second Case - Shopping Trip // Story: On the Corner of Straight and Narrow // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Trixie yawned and stretched as she slowly awoke. After finishing up with Brady Culture a month ago, Trixie had recovered slowly. Max and Sam had taken to letting her sleep however long she wanted, and to keeping the noise down until she was awake. Also as per usual, she found a breakfast waiting for her on a shoulder height tray - shoulder height on her, anyway - with the food cut up into bite size pieces for her. Smiling, she buried her face in her plate, devouring her meal messily. Once finished, she washed up in a basin set out for her, then held a drying cloth in her hooves to dry off. She then went upstairs to ask her Daddy to brush her mane just right. Not that she hadn't recovered enough to do it herself already, but she enjoyed having him spoil her. Halfway up the stairs, she nearly bumped into Sam and Max coming downstairs. "Good, you're awake!" Sam said happily. "We have another case!" Trixie grinned eagerly. She hoped to prove herself just as well on this case as she did the last one. "What's the case?" she asked. "Myra Stump's holding her entire audience hostage!" Max proclaims. "You mean the annoying talk show host?" Trixie asked. "The one who mothers everybody whether they like it or not?" "Exactly!" Sam proclaims. "We need to get to the TV station immediately or at our earliest convenience." "When we beat her up, can Trixie have her hair?" "We'll see," Sam allowed. "Can we stop at Bosco's before we go?" Trixie asks. "Trixie wants candy." "Certainly!" Max replied. "And on the way there, I can brush your mane and tail how you like it!" Trixie smiled happily as Max picked her up, grabbing her brush, hat, and cape. On entering Bosco's shop, all three of them were caught off guard by an unexpected development. Bosco was wearing a rather obvious fake mustache, a monocle, and a bowler hat. "What ho!" he greeted with an incredibly fake British accent. "Samuel, Maximillian, Bellatrix!" "What the...?" Sam barked, stunned. "You're probably wondering how I know your names!" Bosco proclaimed. "Daddy," Trixie asked quietly, "why is Bosco in costume? It's not Halloween." "He's certifiable, like me," Max explained. "There's really no explaining his actions." "Psst!" Bosco whispered. "Guys, it's me! Bosco!" "Trixie never would have guessed," the unamused filly said with heavy sarcasm. "I knew this was a great disguise!" Bosco whispered, apparently immune to sarcasm. "So Bosco," Sam asked, "what's with the slanted soup strainer?" "Bosco?" Bosco demanded. "I know not this moniker. I am Lord Reginald Rumplebottom, Earl of Dukedom, the Third." Trixie blinked. She wasn't sure which was more absurd: Bosco's chosen alias, or that he thought anyone would believe his ridiculous cover story. Either way, she still wanted candy. "Mister British Bosco?" she asked sweetly. "Can Trixie have some candy?" "Of a certainty, my good young mare!" Bosco proclaimed, handing her a Cadbury Egg. Trixie smiled as she enjoyed eating the tasty candy, ignoring the conversation around her as she devoured the delicious treat. She managed to finish just as Sam asked about buying something. "Well, I still have one can of shaving cream the blooming skinbodies haven't gotten yet," Bosco mentioned. "Oh, yeah, I love shaving!" Max proclaimed. "That's funny," Sam spoke up. "I've never seen you shave." "I have," Trixie speaks up. "I hold the kitties for him, but they always make such funny noises." "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Sam said carefully. "Hear what?" Max asked. "And..." Bosco tantalized, "I have a most peculiar device behind the counter..." "What is it?" Trixie asked eagerly. "It's the latest in Bosco-tech innovation. A delightful invention I like to call a chemically based voice modulator." "Trixie will take it!" "That will be thirty shillings," Bosco proclaims. Reaching into her hat, Trixie pulled out thirty shillings. "Here you go!" Bosco looked at the shillings for a time, rather nonplussed. "I'm afraid I've made a rather dreadful mistake," he admitted gamely. "Due to local regulations, I can't actually accept payment in shillings. I'll need it in American dollars." "Okay..." Trixie said, pushing the shillings back into her hat. "How much in dollars?" "$1,000,000!" Bosco proclaimed. "A million bucks!" Max proclaimed in shock. "No way are we giving out that many tickets-" "Here you go," Trixie said easily, dropping a million dollars in twenties on the counter from out of her hat. Sam and Max stared in shock as Bosco took the still banded bills, counting them easily. "Excellent! Here you go!" He then handed over a balloon filled with helium attached to an inhaler. Trixie picked it up, staring at it. "What...does it do?" "It uses chemical based alteration to change the modulation of your voice molecules to increase the pitch," Bosco explained. Trixie stared at it for a time. "Well, Trixie's voice is perfect as is. You can have this, Uncle Sam!" She threw the voice modulator to Sam, who deftly caught it and stored it away. "Could British Bosco throw in the last bottle of shaving cream, too? Trixie wants it for pranks." "Hmm...hardly proper to renegotiate after the purchase..." Bosco began. Trixie quickly gave him her cute, begging pout. "Oh dash it all!" Bosco grunted. "Bring it up to the counter and I'll ring it up!" At that exact moment, a rat with everything below the neck shaved bare leapt onto the little table the shaving cream was set on. "Paws off, pigs!" he proclaimed, reaching for it. "The skinbodies rule the streets!" Before he could grab the bottle, Trixie seized it in her magic and proceeded to brain him and his partner in the tiny car who was holding a handgun like a cannon. She then handed the bottle to Bosco to scan while sticking the gun in her hat. She then added the shaving cream to her growing hat store before heading out with Sam and Max. One of the skinbodies groaned. "Ugh...that unicorn's telekinesis is OP..." "...please nerf..." the other groaned out.