ELECTRA'S PARTY
Written by Susi in 2003

Wolf cast his blue school shirt into his locker, and in his best Strong Bad voice proclaimed "Don't need THIS anymore...." He whipped his pack out of the locker, leapt off one foot, spun in the air, kicked the locker door shut with a slam, rasped again, "Don't need THIS anymore!" and dropped to one knee as he pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and swiped them expertly onto his face, all in one motion. Clad only in baggy pants, which flapped slightly as he hopped back to his feet, he grinned at his friend Phil four lockers down, a hyena morph with a pierced ear and a Nintendo wristband on his right arm, who was watching him with amusement.

"How long have you been practicing that, Wolf?" he asked, still chuckling.

"Couple months," Wolf laughed, and then set off down the hall. "I'll see you around, thankfully I'll never have to see you inside this building again!"

"Wait, are you coming to play hockey with us this afternoon?" Phil called after him.

"Can't, sorry," Wolf shrugged. "I have plans. I'll see you this weekend at the beach!" He hustled off down the hall, and with over practiced skill he jumped onto the banister and slid down on his feet, like he was riding the greatest wave of all time. His shoe happened to slip near the bottom on a glob of spit someone had left, probably good old Brian pulling his favorite disgusting joke for the last time, and he toppled off, landing in a heap at the feet of a blue-furred bunny, collecting her possessions from her locker.

She looked down at him with a giggling grin. "Wolf the wolf, the graceful wolf."

He just simpered up at her, and climbed to his feet, brushing some dust from his fur.

"Do you ever wear a shirt, besides between the hours of 7:59 and 3:01?"

"Occasionally," Wolf shrugged, half serious. "But I plan on swimming sometime in the next 18 hours, so..."

"Island boy all the way," Electra shook her head in mock exasperation.

Wolf laughed. "Someday I'll call you island girl by your own standards, you'll see."

"Eh, I suppose so," she mused. "Hope so, anyway."

"Well, are you ready to go?" Wolf smiled. Inside of five minutes, they were in his tiny green Jeep, driving the relaxed streets of their comfortable island home. The island was only five or six miles square, and populated by only a few hundred. Still, it seemed like the whole town was out and about today. The short trip between the school's end of the elongated island and Wolf's end was a fairly long one.

Wolf lowered the music in the Jeep to a respectable level and turned to Electra. "I know you've only been here a few months, but what did you think of that place?"

"It was certainly better than my old school. It would not have been nearly as fun if you hadn't been here," she grinned. "I know we're not too far from the mainland, but it's so.... it's so different out here!"

"I've been to the mainland plenty of times before, and I agree. My grandparents live there, and I wasn't much impressed by the living. Things are too... I don't know a good word for it."

"Not as relaxed," Electra finished for him. Wolf shrugged and nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Wolf smiled and nodded. "Anything you want."

"I've only met your mom and dad, and you said your grandparents on the mainland. Do you have any other family?"

"Well, I have an aunt in Austria, but aside from that I couldn't name anyone. How about you? I just know your mom."

"It's been me and her for as long as I can remember. But that's all right. We do well." Electra smiled.

"I imagine so, if you moved here," Wolf laughed. "And very glad to have you here."

"Thanks." They shared a smile, and then the moment was unceremoniously interrupted. Wolf spotted Bill, who seemed to have cut school early on the last day of their senior year. He cranked the knob on the stereo up, and the surprising stereo (for a Jeep) pounded away. He began to bob his head and do his best to look stupidly cool as the Jeep crawled toward Bill in the downtown traffic.

"Come on, El. Bob!" he coaxed, though he had to shout over his own bass. Electra began to move her head with his, though she was new to this inside joke of a ritual, which existed between him and Bill. Bill turned his head and flipped them the bird.

"Sorry about that," Wolf said, turning the music down. "I just have to do that sometimes."

"I've ridden home with you enough times to know that," she grinned. "Where I used to live, doing something like that might get you pelted with objects from the street, especially if you had the top off your car like this."

Wolf was shocked. "Over a little noise? Psh! You're better off here."

"Yeah, I am. I'm a loud one at heart."

"Doesn't show," Wolf joked. He often poked innocent fun at El's shyness, but she did not mind.

They turned onto Wolf's short street, which dead-ended into the ocean. El's house was the first one on the corner, but Wolf's was at the end of the street. She envied him. He had a fair-sized plot of land, dense tropical foliage surrounding the tiny, cozy house, and a path to the beach. Very few people ever used this beach, save for the residents of the small area. The island was far too small for any lodging besides the typical Motel 6 near the school. Wolf was a surf enthusiast, riding the waves almost every day. He normally hit the beach immediately after school, usually with a Jeep-load of friends right after dropping her off. El did not yet know how to surf; something else Wolf bugged her continuously about.

His plans were different tonight, however. In addition to being the last day of their senior year, it was a very special night on Channel 29...

"I have the VCR set," he smirked. She chuckled and shook her head. "I envy you so much."

"I still don't see why I won that contest and you didn't," Electra protested. "You technically won that last game, but they gave it to me."

"Oh you know why," he grumbled. "Dennan! She hates me! Good thing she no longer has lordship over my life from her little office chair. But she ruined a really great chance for me. Fat ho..." He noticed Electra staring at him. "Sorry, I'm not saying I'm not happy for you. I know you had fun. I've just always loved those messy shows, ever since I was a little pup. I used to watch What Would You Do religiously."

"You'll get your shot. I applied you for this season while I was there. They said they certainly can't promise that you'll be picked, but you never know."

Wolf smiled. "Thanks El! It's something I can hope for. But as for now.... Well, you're on in twenty minutes!" He had pulled into the garage, shut off the engine, and hopped over the side of the Jeep. The top being off, as it nearly always was, there was no need to open the door. In fact, he almost never did. Electra followed his example and hopped over the side onto the cool garage floor. She swung her full pack out of the car and followed Wolf in through the screen door. The warm, muggy air of the tropics swelled in on them, very comfortable.

The darkness of the laundry room was startling, but after kicking off their shoes they entered the bright kitchen, bursting with sunlight flowing in through the skylights. Wolf grabbed an armload of sodas, to restock his mini-fridge. He passed the tiny computer room where his dad sat, playing a game of Mah Jongg. Wolf flashed the heavy metal salute to his dad, who just looked up.

"How does freedom feel?" his dad, the almost-black-furred wolf asked.

"It's uh.... free!" Wolf shrugged, and his dad scoffed, turning back to the game.

"Hi Electra," he greeted her. She waved sheepishly, and then they reached the end of the hall. Wolf opened the door to the basement. The entire thing, save for a small storage area, was his room, and the entire thing was carpeted in an old white shaggy carpet. Perhaps it was out of style, but it felt so wonderful on bare feet, especially warmed by the mid afternoon sun.

The door to his room, a massive space that took up nearly half the floor space of the house above, was slightly ajar, and he gave it a boot. Electra had been inside his room plenty of times, but she was a little awestruck each time. She dreamed of a personal space like this. Wolf, however, had acquired it easily. His parents did not use the basement and they were happy to accept the smaller room he had ceded upstairs when he chose to fix the basement up for his own use. A few rolls of unused carpet, some covered up furniture, and a week later, he had the grandest room in the house to himself. Opposite the door was his massive bookcase. For someone who spent so much time on the beach, Wolf certainly read a lot. Moving to the left was his desk, where a few notebooks, a computer monitor, and a cup of pens sat. In the far corner was his bed and a small stand for his reading lamp and a clock. A few shelves stood in front of the near wall between the left wall and the door. On the right, an overstuffed couch faced a fair-sized TV. A guitar amplifier and a drum set sat in the far right corner, and taking up the rest of the wall was the divider of dense foliage plants, which separated the makeshift closet from the rest of the room. Near the "closet" was a door to his private bathroom, another perk of the basement bedroom. The plants, and the abundant sunlight streaming through the windows which fed them, made the room feel like anything but a basement. The walls were covered with band posters, photographs, ticket stubs, and just about anything else flat and tapable. On the ceiling, in addition to the normal lighting fixtures, were several party lights and a spotlight, which pointed down on the corner of the room with the drums and the amp. The whole room was built for fun. Electra smiled.

She went and sat down on his bed as he popped the cans into the little fridge, hidden cleverly under the left arm of the couch. It was very narrow, just big enough for a few cans and maybe a small tub of food, but it served the purpose well. She picked up the book, which lay near his pillow.

He doesn't seem like the John Cramer type, she giggled to herself, and then she heard him begin to sing Headstrong to the air, the same song that had blasted out of the well-equipped Jeep sound system just a little while ago. He was a decent singer, but she found it amusing to listen to him try to scream the refrain and remain quiet at the same time.

"We have ten minutes, El. I'm going to change." He bounded up and went behind his little wall of plants to find some clothes, which did not smell of.... of school. Maybe it was more of a mental scent.

"I think I will too," she proclaimed. She rummaged in her bag and dug out a tank top and shorts, a fine replacement for the school-approved clothes they had had to wear. She went into the bathroom, and took a peek at the wall of plants. The creeping vines ran up trellises from floor to ceiling, but here and there was a hole. She then caught herself trying to peek through, and hurried into the bathroom, a little embarrassed.

Inside the bathroom she cast off the polo shirt and long pants, which were a bummer to wear on this June day on the island, and tugged on her shorts and white tank top. She had worn her bathing suit as underclothes, since she planned on staying for a few hours, and Wolf never went long without going swimming.

When she exited the bathroom she punted her old clothes out the door, and saw Wolf surfing the web, wearing his bathing suit as well. She came over to him and rested her elbows on his shoulders as an instant message flashed up on the screen from GreenDayx54. "You got home fast," it said.

"Who is that?" Electra asked.

"Oh, it's Phil." Wolf tapped the keys rapidly, a message scrolling out before them. "What about hockey?" it read.

"It's about time," Electra noticed. "29 usually changes shows a few minutes before the hour."

Wolf typed a quick goodbye to Phil and plopped down on the couch. He stretched his left leg out to reach the remote on the floor, and clicked the On button with his toe. Sure enough, the ending credits for the past TV show, whatever it had been, were scrolling by. He reached down to the left side of the couch, opened the upholstered door of the fridge (which Electra correctly suspected he had installed himself), and offered her a Pepsi. She took it, popped the top, and sipped.

She was beginning to feel a little nervous, both of seeing herself on TV and of her best friend seeing it as well. She had never really trusted anyone the way she now trusted Wolf. She knew she had nothing to worry about, since he had been bubbling with excitement for her ever since he knew she'd been chosen. He had told her all about his own hopes of being on a messy show someday, about memories of a very few times when he had gotten messy in his younger days. He thought it was a blast, but she still couldn't calm those few uncooperative nerves.

They watched the IZ intro scroll by, and Alex's introduction. Wolf watched even this with interest. "You look so scared," he commented.

"I was," she said sheepishly. "Hope it's not too noticeable. For awhile, I didn't want anything to do with that stuff."

"Aww," Wolf purred, and ruffled her hair, and then he snorted at the comical way it frizzed all over the place.

She grinned and gritted her teeth in her classic "Dammit you silly wolf" face, and smoothed her white hair down. He always helped her to feel better.

The games were beginning, and they watched the scene of her and her teammates walking across the rope over the pit of gunk.

"I was pretty nervous there, too," Electra confessed.

"You don't look it. I know it's a wide shot, to capture all of you, but I can't tell. You just look determined."

"Knowing you, you would have probably swam laps through it," Electra giggled at the though.

Wolf nodded. "I might very well have." He saw Electra roll out of the way of a falling splat of blue slime in the hallway on TV. "Wow, nice move there. Very fast. I have to admit, I probably wouldn't have moved," he smirked.

"They hid the cameras from us so we didn't have to think about them, but I bet you couldn't forget. I can see you dancing around, making faces, just being silly for everyone watching. I can see you falling for every trap I avoided, and doing it all on purpose."

He laughed. "You know me pretty well, then."

They watched the next scene, as Gwen plodded around a tiny room where nozzles sprayed frothy foam at her, trying her best to get to the nearest nozzle only to have it shut off before she got there. "Gwen doesn't seem too scared of getting messed up."

"No, she wasn't," Electra smiled. "Gwen was having a good time right from the start. I guess I envied her a little for that. Seemed like it was easy for her. I was just too nervous at first to have any fun."

"Aww," Wolf sighed again. "Well I suppose it can't have been TOO far into the game before you started having fun, for all the times you told me what a great time you'd had."

They watched in silence as Cleo had her round at the keypad under the pod, but both laughed softly at her expression upon getting drenched in the stream of green ooze when she failed to find all the symbols.

"Did you see them all?" Electra asked, referring to the close up of the keypad, which had been displayed.

"I saw all but one pretty quickly. I don't know, I wasn't as, um, motivated as you guys were."

The show went to a commercial, and then rejoined the team in the plant.

"Wah?!" Electra scoffed.

"What is it?"

"There was another scene there! On the way out, in the shuttles! Silicon took over Gwen's shuttle and we had to try to reprogram them. We didn't, and Gwen got slimed. Big time! Why'd they cut it?" she groaned.

"Don't ask me, but it's a disappointment," Wolf nodded.

"At first I was ashamed because I screwed up on the reprogramming, but after I found out that she had fun, I sort of wanted to see what happened."

"Hey, hey!" Wolf exclaimed. "You got picked for this game!" He pointed at the screen and watched with renewed excitement as Electra tried her hardest to answer questions about chemistry.

"Oh, don't listen. I feel kind of stupid, I didn't get many right."

"Don't feel stupid. Ask me about Scandinavian rock bands and I can tell you anything, but chemistry isn't my best subject either. I didn't know a couple of the ones you just got." They both heard the siren on TV, and Wolf watched excitedly to see his friend's first sliming ever. Electra, too, tensed up, anxious to see what she looked like. On the screen, a band of yellow goop dropped down on her and covered her in a sheen of yellow. She yelped, but covered her mouth. "Was it cold?" Wolf asked.

"A little, but I yelped because I was still a little scared."

"We'll see how long that lasts," Wolf chuckled. Electra just grinned at him.

"Yeah, you'll see all right."

Wolf listened intently to the description of the next game, and upon hearing that the new objective was to dunk Electra because she'd had so much fun the last time, he bounced on the couch. "Way to go, El! Lucky rabbit...."

"Trix are for kids!" she finished his statement, and they both cackled. On the TV, Gwen, Rachel, and Cleo worked at opening the valve to dunk Electra into the huge pit of gunge. Wolf waited anxiously to see the result, and he felt Electra bounce in her seat a little next to him. He knew it was bound to be a good scene, the way she was anticipating.

Gwen hauled on the wheel and managed to turn it most of the way. There was a siren, and a big glob of thick muck splattered down on Electra from the ceiling. She giggled a little as she watched. Cleo joined Gwen at the valve, and they managed to crank it all the way. With another siren, the blue bunny on TV dropped into the pit with a wonderful splat. She slowly rose up from the mess, curtains of it slowly slithering away.

"Wow!" Wolf exclaimed. "You got the best game yet!"

Electra's eyes were glazed over just a little as she looked. She giggled softly and smiled, remembering her dunking. She laughed even more after she watched Rachel help her out, and then her giving Rachel a big messy hug. The jaguar resisted a bit, but it was all in fun. Wolf shook his head and sighed. "And to think, the day you went to the studio for the show, I was stuck here eating cheese doodles and reading comic books."

"Can I play with your guitar while I watch?" she asked, hopping up. She rummaged under his bed and pulled out the guitar case.

"Is it going to be boring for a few minutes?" Wolf asked, not even bothering to answer her question. He had long ago given her free reign over whatever was in the room.

"No, I just need a distraction. It makes me nervous seeing myself on TV." She walked back to the couch with Wolf's shiny yellow Les Paul studio edition guitar, very pretty to the eyes as well as the ears. She didn't plug it in, but just strummed at it while glancing at the screen now and again. Wolf watched with interest the scenes of Rachel being drenched in the tank, and of Cleo's trap, while Electra seemed only mildly interested in these scenes. He knew that she would be receiving her very own copy of the episode from the studio, but it had not yet arrived. He shrugged off her disinterest as she picked softly at the strings of the guitar, which sounded like they needed to be changed.

"I kinda figured you'd be more interested in this," Wolf mused. Electra looked up from the guitar. "No offense or anything," he added.

"Well, I'm not in it for awhile."

"You're still nervous," Wolf nodded with certainty.

Electra said nothing. She just kept on looking up at him, and then lowered her eyes with a little bit of a scoff. "You always know."

"Don't be. You should be feeling happy! Enjoy the memories. I'm feeling nothing but jealousy. I wish I could have been there, too."

She smiled. His words had had a visible effect, for she leaned the guitar against the couch and turned back to the TV. She leaned against Wolf's side and let her ears drape easily, one against his cheek. He felt her relax. They sat in silence and watched for a while, a silence broken only as Wolf contemplated aloud the movements in the chess game and his exclamations as Gwen got her cheese bath.

"Oh, I forgot about this one," Electra said as the next game began, the contest between her and Cleo. "This one was funny."

Wolf leaned forward and watched with keen interest as Electra and Cleo took turns answering the questions, and gunging their opponent. He saw Electra smile out of the corner of his eye when she got soaked in red slop on the screen. He looked at her and he had to smile too. He could almost feel her memories, and the past laughter, which was now reincarnated through the TV sound system. Suddenly an alarm sounded in the game, and Wolf's focus snapped back to the TV. He watched Cleo get smothered with gallons and gallons of beans, and Electra giggle helplessly as she watched.

"I thought it was going to be you, by the way you were grinning," he confessed.

"I hoped it would be. Didn't you see my face when I watched the clip he showed?"

"I saw you all right. Too bad it wasn't you, or I would have teased you about it all the time. It would be a fine addition to my arsenal of bean jokes."

She giggled. "You have an arsenal?"

"Well, they only consist of variations of the Musical Fruit song right now, but any addition is a welcome one."

She burst out laughing, remembering the time when Wolf had begun to sing that infamous song in the middle of Latin class, quite possibly the most inopportune moment ever. She wished she could have made a contribution to his bean joke stash.

"Oh! Oh!" Wolf yelped. "You're going to get egged!" He pointed at the screen again with his indominable enthusiasm. He was disappointed as he watched the eggs drain away, leaving his friend totally dry. "Aww, damn. You looked like you wanted it that time."

"I did," she said with a silly smile. The show continued, on through the conveyor belt and into the basement, where Gwen's big surprise awaited her. Wolf laughed when he saw that it was a former teacher of hers.

"I'm glad they didn't pick someone for you. I don't think any of our teachers deserved that honor, of being a guest on IZ."

Electra coughed out a "Psh!" noise. "No, I can't think of any who deserved it either. I had hoped they'd pick someone for me, though." She looked at him, suggesting her idea.

"You want to know something crazy?" Wolf asked. She nodded. "I entertained the idea that perhaps they WOULD choose someone you knew to be in a game, and I wondered if it might be me."

"If they were going to choose someone for me, it would probably have been you," she nodded. "I mean, you're a logical choice. Probably the only logical choice out of the people I know."

"Wonder if they'd get your mom. Don't they do family members sometimes?"

"Yeah, they do, but I don't think she'd be into that. She was happy enough for me, but she would never have gone. She would have pointed them straight at you."

"And I would have gone, all right. It would have been like in a cartoon, where someone runs off so fast that they only leave a cloud shaped like them." He grinned.

On TV they saw Kyra get the nasty-looking sludge pumped over her, and watched the level in her cube rise to her shoulders as she squirmed around.

"Oh, pity they didn't get me!" Wolf said, his fur bristling slightly at the thought of that muck hitting him.

"You actually WANT to do that?" Electra asked, a little surprised. "I loved it once I got over my nerves, but I thought that stuff looked disgusting."

"Well, you said Alex told you that nothing they dumped was harmful. I wouldn't have minded. It looks like it feels really funky! Besides, it's all in fun, right?"

She shook her head. "You are the most easygoing fellow I've ever met. I've never known ANYBODY who I think could have said that and meant it."

"Oh, I mean it, all right!" He looked at the screen, where they were moving through the base. "So, when do we get to see you get slimed again?"

"Just be patient!" she scolded playfully. Right now, Cleo was getting a bath in the gunge tank.

"Oh, that stuff looks like that wallpaper junk!" Wolf noted.

"It is," she affirmed. "After the show we got to talk more to Alex, and he told us what most of that stuff was made of." She laughed. "I can leave you the recipe if you want."

"Yeah, yeah!" Wolf said happily.

"Will you really make some?"

"I may someday," he grinned innocently. "Maybe I'll put a bucket of it over a door sometime. It's my favorite joke."

"I didn't know you had a favorite," she chuckled, since Wolf rarely ever tired of practical jokes of all kinds. He was never mean with his pranks, but he sure was prolific.

Next was the laser beam game, with Electra as the hostage. Wolf laughed as Alex demonstrated the game, hopping and ducking between beams.

"I bet you could do that," Electra said, "especially for how much you've been practicing your locker kick thing. By the way, did you do that today?"

"Sure did," he grinned proudly. "Phil thought I was bonkers."

"Yeah, that Phil is a smart one," Electra teased. Wolf laughed and ruffed up her hair. His grin grew wider as he watched her get splattered over and over in pasty sludge on TV. "You got all the best games," he said with a shake of his head. "Well, except the beans, but hey, you can't win 'em all."

"No, actually Gwen got the best game. Keep watching."

He did, and he was captivated by the "Ride."

"Would you have done THAT?" Electra prodded.

"Sure!"

"You would have even taken your clothes off? I wouldn't have minded the ride, but I don't think I'd go that far."

"Well, look at the way the straps are set up. It's not like anything's visible. But yeah, I don't see why not. I don't know if I would have taken the goggles or not. I probably wouldn't have sacrificed the points."

She turned to him in humorous disbelief. "I can see you doing a lot of things, but I can't see you caring about the points. I can't see that at all!" He laugh-spluttered and reached over to ruffle her hair again, but she blocked his hand and leaned over to jab him in the sides. He was the most ticklish wolf she knew, and he yelped and laughed. It soon became a battle of side jabbing and blocking. Wolf tried to settle down and watch, but a few seconds later he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and punched her arm casually. She looked at him like "what the hell?" and then turned back to the TV.

As they watched the final game begin, without turning to look at him Electra gave him a return punch. When he turned in surprise she gave him her most innocent look, and managed to keep a straight face.

The team fought through their challenges to get their keys.

Punch.

The time was getting low.

Punch.

It looked like they weren't going to make it...

Punch.

"Okay!!! God..." Electra light-heartedly protested. Wolf laughed.

"For a minute there, I thought you guys were going to actually make it," Wolf admitted.

"I thought so too, but oh well."

"Yeah, I would have been happier with a nice gunging rather than a trophy or whatever. I have enough junk in my room as it is." He flicked the TV off as the credits began to scroll. He clapped for her, an audience of one. "That was great!"

She smirked and took a bow. "Thank you, thank you."

"Tell me how that stuff felt!" Wolf prodded, getting up. He picked up the guitar and leaned it against the amp. He connected the cord to the guitar's jack, and plugged the other end into the amplifier.

"It was warmer than I thought," Electra said, "and it was heavy! It felt really wet too, even more than water. The way it clung to me and crawled over me.... Whoof, it was something!" She shivered with the memory, and smiled again.

Wolf shook his head as he turned on the amp. "I wish I could feel it."

"I hope you do someday," Electra encouraged. "You never know about that entry. Maybe it will score you a place later in the season."

"Hope so," Wolf mused. He began belting out a riff on his guitar, a nice fast-paced rock number.

Electra cocked an eyebrow up. "Is that the Bob and Tom music?" she asked with laughter.

Wolf smirked. "Sure is. Booooob aaaand Tom! Booooob aaaaaand Tom..." he sang along.

She shook her head, and then suddenly remembered something. "Oh hey, put the guitar down and come here. You want to know what the stuff feels like?"

She had grabbed his attention. He trotted over to see what she was removing from her backpack.

"I picked up a couple of souvenirs for you there." She pulled out two jars filled with green, marked with the IZ label. "They gave us jars of their official gunge, as mementos."

"Oh, cool!" Wolf yipped. "I'm going to put one of them on my shelf!"

"And the other?"

He grinned and unscrewed the top. He dunked his fingers in, and rubbed the stuff between his hands. It was cool and smooth, like the stuff into which Electra had fallen. "Wow, I always imagined it to be just like this," he mused. He screwed the lid back on and went to wash his hands.

"Get in the bathtub," Electra laughed, "I'll dump it on you."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll wait until later for that," he grinned. "I don't want to use it up right away."

The evening passed by quickly for the two friends, and soon Wolf was walking Electra home in the quickly fading island twilight. The street was still warm on Wolf's bare feet from the sun, and Electra could feel it through her sandals.

"Would you like to come swimming at the beach with me tomorrow?" Wolf invited.

"I'd love to. I don't have anything else going on. You going to teach me to surf?"

Wolf grinned broadly. "Absolutely."

"I'm glad you liked the show," she smiled at the pavement, turning back to watch where she was going. "It was fun to watch it with a friend, too. You know you're my best pal here, I was happy you could share it."

"Aww," Wolf purred yet again. "You're my best pal too! I'm glad you moved here."

"So am I. I'd never get to learn to surf otherwise!" They snickered.

Wolf took a peek around the side of Electra's house. "Your mom isn't home yet?"

"No, she was going to work until closing time tonight. She'll be back in about an hour or so."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"What time?" she asked as she opened the porch door.

"Island time, honey. Whenever you get there. Chances are I'll be there already." He grinned, and she grinned back. "Good night!" he called. She waved after him, and then disappeared inside. He hurried back to his house, and picked up the phone once back in the comforts of his room.

"Hello, may I speak with Gwen please? ....... Hey, Gwen! My name's Wolf, I'm a friend of Electra's...... Yep!.... Well, I called you because it was her birthday not too long ago, and between her going to be on IZ as well as our final exams, I never got to have a party for her. I'm going to this weekend. I wanted to invite you....."

 

 

PART TWO

 

 

For once, Wolf's radio was turned off as he cruised down the street, heading for the ferry dock. He was almost home.

"Thanks for picking us up," the pink dragon girl turned to him and said from the passenger seat. "Must have been quite a trip for you."

"No, not really," Wolf shrugged, slowing down as the light before him turned red. "None of you live more than a couple hours from shore. I figured you'd all be fairly close, since WKNX is a regional station, and you were. Not a big deal."

"It's really nice of you to do this for her," said Cleo from the back seat. "Do you always do parties up big?"

Wolf chuckled. "Well, 18 is a number you only hit once. I wanted it to be extra special for her, but yeah I am a party person anyway. I love to celebrate. Island mentality," he added in a light tone.

"How's El doing, anyway?" Rachel asked. She had been fairly quiet until then.

"She's doing wonderful, why?"

"Well, she seemed so nervous, especially at the beginning of the games... I just wanted to make sure she wasn't..." She shrugged and laughed. "I don't know, traumatized or anything."

"Oh, no," Wolf scoffed. "She's far from traumatized. She kept telling me over and over again what a great time she had."

"She said you almost went on instead of her," Rachel continued. "She said you really won the competition."

"Yeah, don't remind me," Wolf sighed. "The administration at my school never really liked me, and they were the judges, so..."

"They didn't like you? You don't seem like the kind of person to make trouble," Gwen commented.

"I didn't. See, in such a small school, we were no-names in everything. They hounded me for a long time about getting into sports and everything, but I never did. I like sports, especially surfing, which unfortunately was not a school activity, but I didn't want to give them my life. Many of the people who went there were from the school side of town. Now, I don't like to stereotype, but a lot of the people over there are.... I don't know quite how to say it, but they were willing to give up lots of time for that place. I wasn't, and they didn't like that. Also the fact that I was the surfer type... They told me that I gave them a bad image."

"That's ridiculous!" Cleo grumped.

"I hear that most of the admins are leaving the island over the summer. They can't take the atmosphere anymore. They only came here to work, they're from way inland."

"Just in time for you and Electra to miss out on that one," Gwen said.

"You're telling me! They probably waited this long so they could keep on tormenting me and my friends."

They had parked on the ferry, and the boat began to pull away.

"It's only about forty-five minutes over the water. These boats are fast. We should get in about..." Wolf checked his watch. "About quarter after three. I told Electra that she could come over at five, so that will give us just enough time to get everything set up."

"You're a really great friend, you know?" Rachel smiled. "Going through all this trouble for her."

Wolf tried to be modest. "I hope she thinks so once she sees what we're going to do."

"Don't worry about that," Gwen shook her head. "She definitely will."

They rode in silence for a little while, and then Gwen spoke again. She was quite chatty. "I guess you must still be disappointed that you couldn't have come on the show. Electra told us before we all parted that you had loved messy shows since you were young."

"I have," Wolf sighed. "I used to always want to be on one of them. I had gotten messy a couple of times in my life, but I always wanted to do it big-time, and not have to clean up the mess myself."

"How have you gotten messy before?" Rachel asked.

"Well mostly it was playing in the mud when I was younger. A little ways behind my house, into the woods, there is a little pool there, where I love to swim. There's a mud pit right next to it and when I was younger I used to like to slide on my belly through the mud, stomp around in it, whatever. I haven't been to that pool in awhile, though. Then, I remember at my eleventh birthday..." He trailed off and laughed.

"What happened?"

"Well, my cake was sitting right there, and I leaned over to the other side of the table to get my glass of pop, and someone tripped or something, I don't know what happened. Anyway, they fell into me, and my face went SPLAT! Right in the cake!" Everyone giggled at the thought. "I still tease them about doing it deliberately, but even though we had to get a new cake it was still funny. I remember my mom, who was the one who fell into me, had this embarrassed look on her face, and I was just laughing as hard as I could. I smeared some of it on her muzzle, and she started to laugh too. She grabbed a handful and mashed it back in my face, and before I knew it I was in the midst of a big cake fight! Both my mom and dad had grabbed what they could of the mashed up cake and in about ten seconds I was covered with frosting from the chest up." His three guests were in hysterics.

"You're not all that self-conscious," Gwen observed when she stopped laughing. "I don't know too many people who would be able to tell that story. They'd be too embarrassed."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what that word means," Wolf winked. "In short, yes, I am disappointed that I didn't get on. I would have loved to play those games and get drenched in slime. It would have been a blast, but I'm also glad Electra got to go. I mean, I'll always have the cake story and the mud slide, but I don't think she ever did anything like that until IZ. I'm glad she got the chance."

"I am too," Gwen said. "Watching her loosen up over time, and really have fun. It made me happy to watch her."

"Although, it would have been nice to have a cute boy on the show," Cleo snickered from the driver's side back seat, and clamped her hands around his (still) bare, furry chest, warmed by the sunlight. Wolf laughed.

"Whoa Cleo!" Rachel exclaimed. "That came out of nowhere!"

"I'm just messing, Wolf," she giggled, releasing her hold.

"Yeah, you are," Gwen pretended to snarl. "I'm the one in the passenger seat, I get dibs."

"I'm staying out of it. Let me know when you decide who owns me," Wolf declared, then cackled.

They chatted amiably for the next half an hour, fast friends. Then the ferry reached the small island port and the few cars on board departed.

"See that blanket on the floor back there?" Wolf asked without looking from the road. "You better throw that over you. We have to cruise past Electra's house, and I don't want her to see you yet." Rachel and Cleo covered up with the beige blanket. "Gwen, see if you can fit back there, too, okay?" Wolf slowed down as Gwen crawled into the back seat between Rachel and Cleo and ducked under the blanket. "Okay, I'm turning onto our street now. Keep quiet! She's outside, and she's walking to the road."

Wolf slowed to a stop as Electra came over to lean on the side of his Jeep. "Where've you been? I tried calling you this morning. I even went down on Main Street to see if I could find your Jeep, but I never saw you."

"I was just out, getting some things for our little party tonight," Wolf smiled.

"What's under the blanket?" she asked immediately.

"Oh," Wolf grinned. "That's your present. No peeking."

"Wow, that's a hell of a present! What time to I get to come over and see it?"

"Five o'clock, no earlier."

"Not even four fifty nine? Of course, I guess you need time to wrap it."

Wolf laughed and gunned the engine, speeding away. He pulled into his garage and lifted the blanket off the other three. "You heard her," he shrugged. "Start rapping."

Gwen tapped her foot and made a beat, while Cleo and Rachel pretended to think it was funny. "What all do we have to do to get ready?" Gwen then asked.

"A lot of it is done. I just need your help with mixing things. There are a bunch of buckets over there in the corner, so let's get started..."

 

Five o'clock finally rolled around. Electra bounded up to Wolf's door and rang the bell. Her friend opened the door and let her in with a smile. "Happy birthday!" he said, giving her a big hug.

"Thanks," she smiled, scratching his back.

"Well, come on downstairs, I've got dinner ready."

"And after that I get to see that bigass present?" she teased.

"Actually, you get to see it now," Wolf smiled. He threw open the door to his room, and Electra's mouth dropped open when she saw the three faces looking back at her.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused, and she threw her arms around all three of them.

"Oh God, you were the last people I expected to see here! Thanks!" She hugged them all together, and then one by one. When she pulled away from Gwen, her last hug, she hugged Wolf again tightly. "Thanks! They're the greatest birthday present I ever had!"

"So you're not going to return us? You promise?" Rachel teased, and in her delight Electra laughed with vigor.

"Return you where? Nobody'd take you back, even if I had the receipt!"

"Hey, let's eat while it's hot!" Wolf encouraged, pulling out the chairs from the table he had set up in the middle of the room, and the five laughing friends sat down together around a piping hot pizza and a can of soda for each of them. The basement echoed with their loud chatter and rambunctious laughter. When they had finished, Electra sighed and shook her head. "I still can't believe it. How'd you do it?"

"The magical phone book," Wolf joked.

"How long are you guys staying?" she asked eagerly.

"How long do you want us around?" Gwen shrugged.

"As long as possible!" Electra cried. "You shacking up here?"

"It's fine with me if you guys do," Wolf said. "I love guests, but you might be more comfortable staying with Electra. You know, girl time."

They laughed. "I know what you're saying. Is that okay with you, El?" Gwen asked.

"It's great!" the ecstatic bunny laughed. "This has been the greatest birthday present ever! I missed you guys after the show."

"Are you ready for present number two?" Wolf grinned.

"Another one? I don't know if I can handle another one, if it's anything like this." But she was already on her feet. "Well, let's go swimming in the pool for a little while, first. Want to change into your swimwear, El?"

"Be right back!" She excitedly ran into the bathroom and closed the door.

Wolf and Gwen looked at each other. "She's definitely going to love it." Gwen, Rachel, and Cleo tossed their brand new tropical shirts aside, revealing their swimsuits. Wolf was already wearing his, and in record time Electra ran out of the bathroom, ready to go. They marched outside, and Electra stopped dead when she saw what stood by the pool, erected in record time by her four friends. It was a stall about the size of a shower, with plastic walls and a chair in the very center. She gawked at it, and at the many buckets sitting near it.

"Oh my God..." she muttered to herself, wide eyed, and then she saw everyone smiling at her. "That's for me? I'm going in there?"

"In a few minutes," Wolf nodded with a smile. "But I think we should have dessert first. What do you think, guys? Some dessert first?"

"Oh, definitely," Gwen smiled. "Sorry to make you wait, dear, but you'll be glad you did." She put her arms behind Electra's back and led her into the shed, where the worktable was piled high with cream pies. She gaped as Gwen, Cleo, Rachel, and Wolf each grabbed a pie.

"Going to make a wish first?" Wolf teased.

"Umm..." Electra began a little nervously, and then a smirk spread over her face. "I wish for four of those to be left when you're done."

"Sounds doable," Wolf shrugged, and then mashed his pie straight in Electra's face. She felt a cool wet smoosh! Fluffy whipped cream splattered off her face and onto the top of her head, her ears, and over her shoulders. Wolf laughed and took his hand away, and the paper plate slid slowly off her face, revealing an unrecognizable mien. Electra's eyes were glued shut with the cream, only the contour of her face being visible through the mess. Then a wide smile broke through. Electra laughed and licked a little bit of the cream off her lips. "What did you think?" her gray-furred host asked.

"It's not over, is it?" she smiled, managing to open one eye.

"Of course not! Let 'er rip, guys!" Wolf commanded. Gwen and Cleo smashed their pies on either side of Electra's face, sending two splashes of cream into the air to rain down on the laughing bunny. Rachel dropped her pie onto Electra's head like a hat, which sent globs of cream rolling down her face and onto her chest. Electra's head was nothing more than a white globe atop her shoulders with a paper plate on top. She reached up and picked it off, holding it with both hands like it was heavy. Her companions cheered. Electra wiped her eyes and grinned openly.

"How does it feel?" Rachel asked.

"Good!" she proclaimed. "Here, see for yourself." She darted to the table, grabbed a pie, and caught Rachel by the shoulder. Rachel let out a startled "Eep!" before Electra clobbered her with a particularly big pie. Her tail flicked a bit, and then draped with playful resignation. A tide of white cream poured down her neck. When Electra removed the plate everyone laughed at the sight. Her face, layered with cream, abruptly broke her yellow and black spotted fur. She brought her hands to her face rather delicately and wiped handfuls of pie from her eyes, thought about wiping them on Electra, but in the end just wiped them on her legs.

"Whoa! I thought you wanted us to save yours for the end!" Wolf feigned surprise.

"I'm impatient, you know that," she grinned. "Besides, I decided that four was definitely not enough." She flung one in his direction, and he had time only to squeeze his eyes shut before soft wetness smothered his face. The plate flew off to the side, leaving blobs of cream stuck all over his right cheek and totally covering his muzzle. He burst out laughing, a little surprised by the feeling. He hadn't worn a dessert in a long time, after all.

Electra made short work of Cleo, who seemed fairly resigned to her fate. She stopped before clobbering Gwen, who seemed almost anxious for her splattering. Electra just contemplated her for a moment, and then grabbed two pies. Gwen giggled, and then Electra let her have it. Wolf thought Gwen's pies-in-the-face looked like the wettest ones of all. A little bit of it splattered away, but most of the cream oozed down her draconic face and covered her with white froth from her neck up. "Mmf!" she mumbled as she peeled the plates off.

"Get her!" Wolf screamed, flecks of cream flying off his muzzle, and everyone grabbed an armload of pies. Electra was bombarded from all directions, and a shower of sprayed cream filled the air in the shed. The melee lasted only a few seconds, but when it was over everyone was panting with exhaustion, and Electra was a hilarious sight. She wore pie plates like a suit of armor all over her, and from her knees up she was utterly painted with white. Everyone looked around, laughing with their gasps and wiping spattered cream from their eyes. Electra slowly peeled plate after plate off herself, and wiped one hand from her forehead to her chin. She smiled broadly.

"One pie left," Wolf observed, looking at the plate piled highest with cream, still sitting in a back corner of the table. "It belongs to the birthday girl." He handed it to her. Electra looked around, contemplating who would get it, and then another mischievous smile spread over her face. She looked down at it. Everyone knew what she was thinking.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" they began to chant. She grinned up at them, and smashed it viciously into her face. Her friends erupted with cheers and clapped her on the back as she took her hands away, leaving the pan mired to her face. They all gathered together to give her a creamy hug, and when she swiped the plate away she laughed loud and long, putting her arms around everyone.

"Wow! I've fought over dessert before, but never WITH it!" she cried, and laughed again.

"Look over there," Wolf pointed at the corner of the shed. He could see the little red light behind the miter box.

"What am I looking... Oh God, your camera!" she groaned, and broke into another round of laughter. She waved at the red light.

"That was great!" Gwen exclaimed. What do we do next?"

Wolf tossed her a towel. "We'll think of something," he said with a wink. He passed a towel to everyone, and they wiped nearly all the pie off of themselves. Everyone's fur still smelled sweet, but it was no problem.

"What are you going to do about the shed?" Rachel asked. There was cream all over the floor, on the walls, and even on the ceiling. A glob on the exposed incandescent bulb was starting to burn and filling the air with a powerful smell of baking sweets.

"We'll worry about it later. But right now, I say we give Electra her next gift!" He hoisted Electra up in his arms and she squealed as he carried her outside to the waiting stall. He set her gently on the bench, and then placed the camera in front of it a few feet away, to catch all the action. "I'm not even going to talk this one up," he laughed.

"Why not, you're such a good presenter?" Electra teased, drumming her hands on her thighs in excitement.

"Want me to talk or pour?" Wolf asked.

"Oh!" she yelped. "In that case, shut up!" Everyone laughed, and Gwen, Rachel, and Cleo stood before the stall to watch. Wolf hoisted a huge bucket of chunky yellow slop and stood on the stool behind the wall.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Do it!" Electra cried. Wolf tipped the bucket and the yellow glop slipped over the edge. It landed on her head with a wonderful spattering noise, and it was thick enough to stay together in a slow wave, which oozed its way down her face. She sat straight up, laughing like an idiot until it covered her mouth. They could still see her body bouncing with her laughs as the thick ooze blanketed her further.

About ten seconds later the bucket ran out, and Electra was drenched in lumpy yellow goo from her waist up. She threw up her arms and hooted with delight, and Wolf tossed the bucket aside. "Wow, that one made me shiver just to watch!" he declared.

"That was better than some of the stuff they did to us on IZ!" Gwen piped up in agreement.

"It feels gross!" Electra whined. "Dump some more!"

"Someone else's turn," Wolf said, stepping down from the stool. Cleo hopped up immediately.

"Let me!" she said, and she walked behind the stall. Wolf had left the buckets there so Electra had no idea of what she could expect. He saw her immediately go for the beans, one of only two foods that he had chosen. Electra had narrowly missed getting slopped up with beans on the show, and Cleo intended to rectify that problem.

Cleo stepped onto the stool and looked down at Electra. "Look up!" she said. Electra swiped the goo from her head and looked up at Cleo, beholding her with excited eyes. "Well, you better close your eyes too." She did, and Cleo tipped the heavy bucket. The mess of beans gushed down on Electra's upturned face, and she let out a loud "Mmmrrf!" and clenched her fingers, but she didn't hunch down. She kept her face turned up into the gunge and raised her arms into the stream. The stuff slithered down her arms and down her sides. It was obvious that it tickled a lot, for she squirmed and wiped at the lumps flowing down her sides.

The beans ran out all too soon. Cleo was laughing too hard to pour by the end anyway. Electra stood up in the stall and let the tide of ooze in her lap pour down her legs. Gwen, Rachel, and Wolf clapped. "YUCK!" she screamed, and laughed crazily. She wiped the mess off her face again and sat down. Rachel took the next bucket. It was filled with eggs. She smiled, thinking about how disappointed Electra had been when she had not been slimed with the tank full of eggs during the show. She bounded up onto the stool and very slowly tipped the bucket, so that the slimy eggs dropped out almost one by one. Electra yelped as the cold, slippery blobs drenched her in stringy slime.

"I know it was just a bucket and not a tankful, but how was it?" Rachel asked her after the eggs were gone.

Electra just let out another loud "Whoo!" and stood up to shake her arms. "It's in my swimsuit!" she moaned with a grin. "Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck!"

"Okay, I think I have a good idea of what to do next, but why don't you step out of there? I don't want this getting all over the stall," Wolf said. Electra's eyes went wide.

"If it's paint, you better know how to get it out of fur!" she demanded as she obediently stepped out of the stall, leaving beany, eggy footprints.

"Maybe it's pink and green fur dye!" Gwen teased.

Electra rolled her eyes. "Who knows what he came up with?"

Wolf hustled over to the grass where she now stood, but he dragged the camera over to the edge of the deck first. He didn't let Electra face the buckets, so she still didn't know what she was in for. He took Gwen by the hand, pointed silently at one of the biggest buckets there. Gwen looked into it, and grinned at him devilishly. She picked it up with difficulty and struggled to carry it to Electra. "Better take a really deep breath for this one!" she grunted, lifting it. Electra squeezed her eyes closed and grimaced a little bit. Gwen managed to get the bucket over Electra's head, and tipped it with great effort. Slowly a tide of thick brown mud slid out and totally covered Electra. She gasped as the cold mud first slithered down her back, but then enveloped her face in a very heavy blanket. She smelled the earth and she was careful to keep her lips pursed.

"Ohhhhh," Cleo groaned, and shivered with the thought of what was happening to Electra. The mud made thick splat sounds as it continued to flow from the seemingly bottomless bucket. Electra had thick rivers of mud pouring down both shoulders, over her chest and down her stomach, and glopping off her chin to splat thickly on the ground.

When Gwen felt the mud starting to run out, she giggled to herself, and then dumped a huge load down Electra's swimsuit bottom. "EEEE!" the bunny screamed, and whirled around, right into the pouring mud. The last load slopped down her stomach, crotch, and thighs. Gwen fell to the ground laughing at Electra's start, and Electra just stood, a brown mess, still in a mild shock.

"How does THAT feel?" Wolf prodded.

"Really, really dirty!" Electra managed to say. "Not just messy, it feels dirty."

"Makes sense, since mud is wet dirt," Rachel shrugged with a wink.

Wolf scratched Electra's mud-covered head. "Well, we better wash some of that stuff off of you, or you'll never feel anything else we dump on you."

"There's more?" she gasped, and smiled once again.

"Of course there's more! We’ve only been out here fifteen minutes!" Wolf grinned, and Cleo came with the garden hose. She sprayed the warm water over Electra, washing the thick, heavy mess away. She washed Electra's back for her, and then Electra took the hose. She rinsed out her swimsuit, looking a little embarrassed to be sticking the hose in her shorts.

"Gwen...." she shook her head, and Gwen howled with laughter again.

"What do you want to do next?" Wolf asked, and Electra seized his arm in a surprisingly powerful grip and began dragging him back to the deck.

"I'll tell you what I want to do. I want to get back in that tank, but I'm not going alone."

Wolf's heart gave a leap as she plopped him down on the bench next to her. While this evening had been planned for Electra, he had desperately hoped not to escape it clean. The pies were fun, but he had really wanted to get gunged along with his friend. He saw two shadows overhead, and he looked up to see Cleo and Electra standing above them, each with a big bucket.

"Hold up a second," Gwen said from somewhere outside, and then she ran around to the front of the tank with the camera. She looked into the viewfinder, centering the two of them. "Put your arm on her shoulder, that's it," she said. Wolf wrapped his right arm around Electra's shoulder, already smiling, and she put her left arm around his waist. "Whenever you two are ready."

"We're ready! Go for it!" Wolf cried.

"Not you, them!" Gwen teased, and pointed up at Cleo and Rachel. Wolf might have made the mistake of looking up, but a thick stream of sloppy green slime poured down on his head before he could. He jumped with a yip and grinned excitedly through the gunge. It splashed outward like an umbrella over his head, running down Electra's shoulder just before she got her bucket tipped on her. Wolf screamed and shivered as the muck sloshed everywhere, smothering his perpetually bare chest in a blanket of messy green.

The buckets ran out too soon, but the green lupine's laughter did not run out with them. He swiped his hands over his head, allowing his ears to stand up again, and howled with delight. Electra was laughing as well, not just from the sloppy feeling of the slime but from watching her friend enjoy it.

"Your first time getting slimed, Wolf," Gwen peered in at him. "What did you think?"

"I loved it!" he barked, and lifted his arms to let curtains of ooze sway from them. "It felt great!"

"Give her a hug, we need a picture of this."

Wolf wrapped his arms around Electra and pressed his gungy cheek against hers; giving the camera the biggest grin he could manage. The flash went off, and Electra shrugged out of his hold. "Let me dump one!" she insisted, climbing around to the back of the tank. She hopped up onto the stool a few seconds later, holding a big green plastic bucket, which Wolf recognized easily. He had managed to locate one old bucket of wallpaper paste in his garage, and he had been proud of himself. He had thought how much Electra would have enjoyed getting soaked with it again, but now he found himself hunching down under the weight of the whitish sludge. He couldn't keep himself from giggling helplessly as it enveloped him and pushed the dark green away. His medium length shaggy hair hung in wet, sloppy dreadlocks over his face, plastered by the gunge. Gwen took a few more pictures as he luxuriated under the slime bath. It took him a few seconds to realize it was over. He wiped his hand down his face again and leaned against the back wall in utter bliss.

"That was awesome!" Rachel declared.

"Heehee, you're telling me," Wolf gasped, wiping some muck out of his eyes.

"Oh darn, only three buckets left," Electra said. "What a coincidence. There are three people here who like to get messy, but are still clean."

Wolf hopped out of the stall to watch, still laughing every time he felt a glob of paste scurry down his back. "Aren't you even going to put them in the tank?" he asked Electra, who was grinning evilly at Rachel. Rachel herself was looking a little nervous.

"Nope, here's good enough." She tipped a bucket of slick, syrupy blue slime over Rachel's head. The jaguar shivered under it, but it was obvious that she enjoyed it. Electra finished the bucket off fast, and left Rachel standing there, dripping blue and giggling softly. Next she turned her attention to Cleo. Electra searched around for something good with which to douse her chipmunk friend. She spotted a second bucket of wallpaper goo, and seized it. "C'mere Cleo," she beckoned. Cleo dropped her arms to her side and stifled a bigger smile than she showed, and strode toward Electra. With a chuckle, Electra hurled the whole bucket while Cleo was several feet away. With a loud, wet slopping sound, the good splattered Cleo from head to toe. Her back was untouched, but her front was laden with paste. She yelped, and laughed.

A quiet laugh danced from the left. Electra turned to see Gwen anxiously awaiting her sliming. Poor Gwen, she had been the most open lover of mess on the show, and it seemed that she had been last to get clobbered every time this evening. Electra picked up the last bucket, another pail of slick, smooth green slime, and marched toward Gwen. She lifted it to head level, gave Gwen an exaggerated grin, and the planted the bucket right over Gwen's snout! It rushed down her face and her front in one massive flood, but Electra didn't dump it all. She reached down and grabbed Gwen's swimsuit, and dumped the rest of the goop inside. Gwen jumped and squealed.

"How do YOU like it?" Electra smirked, and this time it was Gwen's turn to present the not-so-exaggerated smile.

"We're quite a sight," Rachel commented, looking at the others and then at herself.

"I know. Let's take a group picture!" Gwen suggested. Everyone raced to the camera, dripping with their various colors, and gave the camera their best smiles, none forced.

"Well, what do we do now?" Electra asked Wolf, who was rubbing at the slime on his shoulders.

"First we need to get the stuff in that tank back into buckets. Then we can clean up, and we have one more little game for you."

"ANOTHER?" she asked incredulously. "Wow..." Her eyes sparkled.

"This one's the best yet!" Gwen said.

"Maybe even better than some of IZ's games," Cleo added.

Electra needed no further prompting. She helped them get five buckets of mixed slime scraped out of the tank, and then they all bathed under the warm shower of the hose.

"We'll be right back, El. Don't go anywhere!" Wolf said, and he and the others disappeared down the path to the beach.

"I won't!" she called. She hopped back and forth with excitement. What a wonderful surprise it had been, and more to come? She was having so much fun! It was amazing; she was not shy at all about having her fun under the buckets. It's that damned canine's fault, she smiled to herself. Silly wolf. Gotta love him.

Her friends soon returned and hauled her off into the woods. "Close your eyes, we'll lead you," Wolf said.

"Is this a trick?" she asked, but she obliged.

"No, we just want it to be a big surprise." He took her by the hand and led her to a clearing in the foliage, halfway to the beach. He stopped her. "Stay here, don't open your eyes until we tell you to." Then he and the other three ran to the other end of the clearing to watch. "Okay, open your eyes!"

She did, and she gasped. Wolf had set up his old water slide in this clearing! The blue plastic surface was spread before her, slicked with green slime, all the way up to a curtain. She could not see the pool on the other side, but she could easily guess what was in it. Her friends stood near the pool, waiting to see her slide in.

"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" They began to chant, and she backed up a little. With a flying leap, she hurled herself onto the slide. She flew across the slippery surface, droplets of slime flying in her face, letting a Tarzan-like howl bellow out of her lungs. She soared through the curtain, over the ramp, and was airborne over the pool. She only caught the briefest of glimpses before shutting her eyes tightly and plunging in.

Wolf watched the whole thing with delight. It was like she was in slow motion. First the palms of her hands disappeared beneath the slop. Then her head and face went straight in, with hardly any splash at all. Then time resumed its normal pace and the rest of her body crashed down into the pool, sending a wave of slop over the edges of the pool. With the five buckets from the tank, plus a few extra ones, he had filled the six-foot-diameter pool almost to its top.

Electra felt an unbelievably disgusting, and unbelievably pleasant, mixture of gunges envelop her body as she blasted into the pool. It was cool, lumpy, thick, slimy, and horrid, and she loved it. The drag of the slop mired her at the bottom of the pool and the pulse of her splashdown yanked her swimsuit bottom halfway down her thighs. She nearly screamed in embarrassment before she realized that she was deep under the opaque ooze, and that if she screamed she would suck a mouthful of it in, not so pleasant. She reached back to pull her bottoms back up, but stopped as she felt a particularly lumpy pocket of ooze slither between her legs. She shivered, and slowly continued to reach down, feeling the lovely gunge bath in which she lay. She just as slowly pulled her shorts back up, loving the squish she felt and she did so even more. She finally permitted herself to raise her head from the mess with a loud slurp. Everyone cheered madly for her, and she cleared her eyes very slowly and delicately. She beheld the mess around her, almost disgusted to look at it. It was an odd mix of browns and greens, lumps here and there from the beans and wallpaper goo. Wolf, laughing so hard he was crying, leaned over to help her out. Electra, however, had other ideas. With a simultaneous tug from her and a shove from behind by Gwen, Wolf toppled into the gunk with a shout. Only his feet, draped over the side of the pool, were above the surface. He kicked his feet comically as he pretended to have difficulty righting himself, and then a wolf head exploded from the mess with a gasp.

No one else needed a shove. Gwen hopped right in and sat down next to the two of them, the gunk going up over her belly. Rachel and Cleo were a little slower about it, but they got into the bath too, Cleo letting out a startled squeak.

"You look beautiful," Electra teased Wolf.

"Why, so do you," Wolf grinned. "You are as lovely as a spring meadow.... After a herd of extremely nauseated buffalo passed through."

She threw a load of slop in his face and laughed. It took less than two seconds for a gunge fight to erupt. The muck was flooding over the sides of the pool, and after five minutes of their wrestling, dunking, and throwing, it was all but empty, the stuff slowing away into the grass. They lay on the wet, slippery surface, panting and laughing.

"This is the best birthday party I've ever been to!" Electra said with joy.

"Sure beats the hell out of those stupid things we all did when we were six, where someone had a clown at one of those kids' places or something, and we had to drop clothes pins into the jar or something," Gwen nodded.

"Eew, I remember those," Cleo nodded. "I only went because we got free candy."

"I punched the clown once," Rachel declared with a completely serious face. They stared silently at her for a moment, and then all collapsed with bouncy splats on the inflated sides of the pool. They were still on the high of the gunge bath, in fact, of the whole evening.

"That came outta nowhere!" Wolf howled. He pictured a young Rachel bitch-slapping a party clown and redoubled.

"No, really! I did!" she insisted, unable to keep from cracking up herself.

They finally calmed down, and picked themselves out of the pool. "It's too bad it's over," Electra said, "but it was great!"

"Nothing's over!" Wolf insisted, a few renegade beans slipping down his muzzle. "We're out of slime, but the night is young!"

"What should we do now?" Gwen asked.

"Any of you know how to surf?" Wolf asked immediately. Electra's face lit up. Of course, she and Wolf were the only ones. "...Nobody?" Wolf asked. "That's simply not acceptable. I have some extra surfboards. What do you say we go to the beach? The full moon is great for night swimming."

A rousing chorus of "Yeah!" roared through the forest, and for the next four hours the five friends rode the waves, and swam and played in the warm tropical water. By eleven o'clock that night, Gwen, Rachel, and Cleo were official surfers, even to the point of having shouted the classic (and playfully stereotypical) "Gnarly dude!" before falling into the waves.

"Whoof, I'm tired!" Cleo declared, dropping her board on the beach and sitting down.

"We all are. Let's pick it up here tomorrow," Wolf suggested. "We can get a good night's sleep, some breakfast, and spend all day here tomorrow. We'll barbecue lunch, play some volleyball, and catch the midmorning waves. They're always best around eleven."

As they were heading back to the house, surfboards under their arms, Cleo spotted the nearby shower. "You've got an outdoor shower?" she cried.

"Of course!" Wolf declared. "Any self-respecting beach dweller does."

"Wow!" she gushed. "I vacationed in a little cottage at the beach once with my family, and there was an outdoor shower. I used it every night. It felt so great to bathe outside! Can I use it?"

"Of course you can!" Wolf smiled. "You're just as welcome to shower out here as you are inside."

She smiled as she continued to look it over. She saw that the shower stall was made of trellises covered in flowering vines. It was beautiful and functional as a wall. The pipe leading to the showerhead split, and in fact fed two heads. One pointed down on the stall, and another pointed at the ground next to it, around which there were no walls. "One of them is for when you're feeling extra sexy, right?" she teased.

Wolf laughed. "Well actually that one is if you just want to wash the salt off of you from the beach, not take a real shower, but... I have showered there before..."

"Well I'm going to take a shower," she said, stepping into the stall. The walls rose to her neck, so she did not hesitate to drape her bathing suit over the side and turn on the water. She purred as the surprisingly warm water played gently down on her head. "Wow, it's even better than I remember... Oh! Soap on a rope!" She reached down to the bar of soap hanging conveniently from the knob. She immediately began reciting the whole Tom Greene skit from Freddy Got Fingered, and laughing to herself.

"I'm taking a shower too," Rachel decided. She faced away from them, towards the showerhead, and looked over her shoulder. "Go on, go on," she smiled. "Just a little privacy?"

"I think I'm going to go to that pond you told us about," Gwen said. "I just want to take a really quick mudbath."

Wolf laughed. "Not a problem. We'll see how quick it is, once you get in there. You won't want to come out."

"Yeah, but I don't want to sleep in there. I'll come out when those two are done showering," she said, already crashing through the leaves.

Wolf and Electra walked together to the end of the beach and back, waiting for Rachel and Cleo to finish. Halfway back, Electra abruptly stopped, picked at the leg hole of her swimsuit, and shook her leg. "Heh, even after swimming so long I still had a bean in there."

Wolf laughed. "I've still got a couple in my suit too. We'll throw 'em in the wash tomorrow."

Electra stopped walking and took his hands. "I want to thank you again. I had so much fun tonight. You can't imagine how much I loved this! All of it, the gunging, the party, and getting to see my friends again! I could have guessed for a long time about what was under that blanket today, but they would never have come to mind."

Wolf grinned. "I'm really glad you had fun. So did I. I loved getting slimed too!"

"Was it a dream come true?" she teased.

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it was."

She suddenly leaned over and noisily kissed the side of his muzzle. He broke into a big smile. "That's for getting my friends together." She then grabbed his neck and held him in a headlock long enough to ruffle his hair beyond all hope. "That's for smashing a pie in my face!" He laughed and wiggled out of her hold. She grinned at him, and then reached up more gently and kissed him on the lips. "And that's for being so nice that you went through all this trouble for me."

He grinned back, a little surprised by her gesture. "It was my pleasure." They walked in silence for a few minutes, basking in the moonlight and in the happiness of the moment.

"We should do this more," Electra said. "You know, get messy. But next time, I'll make the gunge."

Wolf laughed. "Okay, sounds good. I bet this won't be the last time someone gets messy before they go home, though."

"Oh, it won't be," she grinned. "I promise!"