52 Lick-Up: Intermission 3

The camera cuts to the Handlers' Quarters, where all the dog handlers are assembled.

"So," Milly says, "Which contestants are still 'left dry' at the end of this day?"

"Only 8," Basil observes, "With there being the same explanation for each pair.  Misty and May entered an alliance from the start, and have somehow been helping each other in alluding the dogs.  C.C and Green are fiendishly clever, and outsmarted the dogs.  The pixies Tinker Bell and Crysta are small, thus not easily detected by the dogs' noses.  And as for Larxene and Tron Bonne, they were simply too fast."

"Larxene's fast naturally," Roll Caskett chuckles, "Tron, on the other hand, is only so fast because she's so freaked out by dogs and desperate to avoid getting caught by them!"

"She's a pirate, right? A sky pirate?" Peter Pan asks, "I think I can find a way around her speed and get her caught!"

"Then make that your first priority tomorrow," Selphie says, "I'll be thinking of some way around the Larxene problem!"

"And as for Misty and May," Ash remarks with a smirk, "They're mine! I'm gonna break that alliance of their's and make sure they both get what's coming to 'em!"

"You got something against them?" Officer Jenny asks.

"Yeah!" Ash replies, "They're two of my best friends, but I also get into a lotta annoying fights with them, especially with Misty, so it'll be great for me to pay them back like this!"

"I can totally relate to you, man!" Ben Tennyson calls out from the studio audience.

"ZIP IT, Ben!" his cousin Gwen shouts back in irritation.

"As for the pixies and the clever girls, well, we'll just have to see," Milly says, "But in the meantime, let's all check back with the contestants and see how they're holding up!"

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Domino was still dripping wet with dog slobber as she walked to the Contestants' Lodge.  Charmcaster, who also still had drool all over her outfit, walked over to her and asked "So which one got you?"

"The sheepdog." Domino replied in a deadpan tone.

"Same here." Charmcaster said.  "The stupid mutt couldn't get enough of me.  Of course, he had some outside influence..."

The young witch seethed as she remembered Gwen casting that spell on her and then egging the sheepdog on in chasing her down.  Domino patted her on the shoulder and said "I know the feeling - before the sheepdog, I had Officer Jenny siccing her Growlithe on me."

"That's what the handlers are here for!" Giselle said as she strolled over and joined in on the conversation, "You need to not let them get to you and roll with the wet, sloppy tongue punches!  I did when Duplica tricked me into an encounter with Toby, the biggest dog in the kennel...of course, it helps that Duplica's a friend whose mischief I'm used to by now."

"Yeah, well, I'm used to Gwen Tennyson too!" Charmcaster shot back, "That doesn't make it any easier for me!"

Giselle shrugged, "I guess it just doesn't come as easy to you as it does me...but then, very few things do!"  

With a flip of her hair, Giselle sauntered further ahead of the two criminal girls, who were then joined by a third villainess...Pamela Isley, wrapped up in a towel due to her leafy dress having been completely licked off her body by Toby.

"I understand," she said to Charmcaster, "I've also got a familiar redheaded nuisance as a dog handler on this show, and she got Toby to....water me, even after he'd already done so earlier in the day!"

An arm suddenly wrapped around Ivy, and she looked to see that it belonged to Misa Amane.  "You poor thing!" Misa said sympathetically, "Just one encounter with Toby was bad enough for me, I can't imagine how two must've felt!"

Airu Suzaki hurried along behind Misa, nodding her head and saying "Yeah, same here!"

"It looks like we bad girls have a lot of frustrations to vent..." Domino remarked as they all continued to walk through the door to the Contestants' Lodge.

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Inside the lodge, Anemone was seated next to Mars and talking about Pluto.  "Isn't he just the sweetest?" she said, a bright smile on her still-wet face.

"Yeah, he's nice and friendly." Mars agreed, "Maybe a little overtly so, heheheh!"

"The more overt, the better for me!" Anemone laughed.

Nearby, Cinderella and Aurora were engaged in conversation about how they both got tricked into being caught by dogs.  "Yuffie and Pluto got you, huh?" Aurora chuckled, "That's better than what happened to me - I got tricked by Chel and got slobbered over by Tiger and Talbot!"

"You don't seem to really mind, though!" Cinderella said with a smile, to which Aurora nodded and said "I was raised a peasant - I'm used to getting wet and dirty, plus I spend a lot of time with animals."

"And I have a dog myself." Cinderella added, "The feeling of slobber is nothing new to me!"

"Of course, it also helps that Chel is such a delightful trickster!" Aurora remarked.

"Yes, Yuffie too!" Cinderella responded with a giggle.

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Euphemia's dress was completely drenched as walked into the lodge, Kallen still chuckling to herself as she walked alongside her, an arm wrapped around her shoulder.  Glancing over at the Japanese tomboy, the princess asked "I suppose it would be too much to ask for my sock back?"

"No can do, Doll Princess!" Kallen replied with a smirk, "It's my best bet for keeping my rank above your's in this competition - and for having fun at your expense!"

After giving a resigned sigh, Euphemia managed to smile and said "Well, all right.  I wouldn't necessarily object with more meetings with Max...as improper as his displays of affection may be for a princess, he's still cute and good-hearted, and I'd like to be friends with him."

After a pause, her smile grew more playful as she turned to Kallen and said "Actually, that's a perfect description for you as well!"

Kallen blushed, surprised to be feeling temporarily disarmed by the Britannian princess, but then managed to laugh, removing her arm from around Euphemia and then lightly punching her shoulder.  "Good one, Euph, I'll give you that!"

Euphemia rubbed her shoulder, smiling fondly at the redheaded rebel.

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Milly smiled as Elie and Reina approached her, with Reina saying "All right, Miss Ashford, we're here, so what it is you wanted to discuss with us?"

"Alliances!" Milly said, getting right to the point, "Contestants are allowed to form alliances with each other for mutual advancement and at the detriment of others.  Just look here..."  She gestured behind her, drawing their attention to her monitor screens.

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Misty and May gave each other a high-five as they both met at the lodge.  "Great job, May!" Misty said, "Your Hoenn soil and grass did wonders for me in avoiding the dogs!"

May blushed and replied "Well, your Cerulean water really helped me out too!  We might just be at the top of the ranking right now!"

Suddenly, Green walked over to them with a smirk on her face and said "No, I think that'd be me.  I didn't have soil and grass or water, and I wasn't working with anyone else!  I got by with my wits alone, as always!"  

Misty smirked back in a challenging way and said "Our luck probably can't hold out, so let's just see which one of us gets sniffed out first tomorrow!"

"Spoiler alert: it's not gonna be me!" Green replied cheekily.

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Other alliances were forming among the contestants at that very moment.  Following their conversation with each other, Misa and Poison Ivy had cut a deal to have each other's backs, as had Charmcaster and Domino.  And they weren't the only villainesses to do so.

"Help me out in this game and I'll put in a good word with Carmen for you!" Patty said.

"Deal!" Alice May replied, shaking her hand, "And I'll teach you better stealth techniques!"

Some good girls were also getting in on it.  Kairi and Namine were naturally shaking hands on an agreement to help each other out, while across the way Tea had an arm around Mana, saying "Without use of your magic, you're gonna need a girl who knows how to pull things off without.  Well, I'm that girl!"  

Mana grinned and nodded her head, saying "I'd love that, Tea! Thank you!"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Tea replied with a wink.

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"Soooo..." Elie said, "You think me and Reina would work well in an alliance like that?"

"I sure do!" Milly replied, "Reina's common sense and your athletic energy would make a fantastic combination in keeping each other clear of trouble, and redirecting the dog's attention to other targets!"

"That sounds fine with me." Reina said, turning to Elie with a smile, "Elie?"

"All right!" Elie exclaimed with a wide grin, raising her hand and giving Reina a high-five.

The two girls walked back toward their quarters, completely missing the other girl walking the way they came.  "Hey, Milly!" Videl said as she entered the room, her hand lifted in a wave to the peppy blonde.

"Ah, Videl! You're here!" Milly said, then turned around and shouted down the hall "HEY! VIDEL'S HERE!"

Immediately, there was the sound of loud barking and heavy footsteps.  Videl stumbled backward as Toby burst into the room, his tongue out and flying at her, sweeping up her body in a loud slurp.  "Pahahahahahahahahaha!" Videl laughed, "Toby! Hey, boy!"

Petting the side of Toby's face which he licked the side of her's, Videl asked Milly "All right, Milly, so what angle are you playing here?"

Milly smiled at the tomboy coyly and said "Well, you told me before that you've worked with Toby in law enforcement missions.  And that got me thinking...who says that the only alliances on this show have to be between contestants?"

It took awhile before Videl realized what Milly was getting at.  "You don't mean-?"

"I do!" Milly said happily, "I want you, in addition to being a contestant, to join up as an honorary handler!  You'll work specifically with Toby to help him specifically sniff out criminal ladies!  How does that sound to you?"

Videl was grinning from ear to ear as she replied "Fantastic!"  She looked up at Toby and said "You think so too, don'cha, boy?"

Toby panted and nodded his head exuberantly before giving Videl another lick, followed by him turning around toward Milly and giving her an equally wet one.  Both Milly and Videl laughed in unison, Milly extending a hand outward and Videl slapping her's against it to signify that the deal had been struck.

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As the sun rises the next day, the contestants, handlers and studio audience all wake up and get into position once again.  The contestants had been all provided with showers the previous evening, and their clothes washed and dried for them...with the understanding, of course, that they would likely get soaked in dog slobber all over again the next day.

"All right, everyone!" Milly's voiceover announces, "Day Two is a GO!"

Soon the sound of barking fills the air, and the contestants are off and running once more!